Fred's visit was now drawing fast to a close, and the boys among
themselves were comparing notes as to how wonderfully swift the days had
glided away.
"Oh, dear; oh, dear," said Harry, with a sigh; "only think, next week we
shall be back at school, and learning that beastly old Latin again; a
nasty dirty old dead language. It isn't right: if a language is dead,
it ought to be buried. They ought to make a cavibus in terribus, and
bury the old blunderbuss. Shouldn't I like to have smothered old
Valpy!"
"Ah," said Philip; "Latin isn't half so bad as that old Euclid, with all
its straight lines, and angles, and bother. Heigho! wouldn't it be nice
to be a bird, and not have any lessons to learn! I should like to be an
eagle, to circle up and up towards the sun, and--"
"Ho--ho--ho!" laughed Harry, who was not at all a poetical young
gentleman; "you wouldn't do for an eagle; if you turned into a bird,
like that chap in `Evenings at Home,' you'd be only an old cocksparrow,
and cry `chizzywick, chizzywick,' all day long."
Hereupon Philip thought it was his duty to resent this great insult, and
gave chase to Harry, who dodged him about in the field where they were;
and the tormentor, being the more nimble of the two, escaped his
well-merited punishment.
"Come, I say," said Fred, shouting as loudly as he could, "it's time to
start. The car has gone round to the door."
This announcement brought Fred's cousins tearing up to the spot where he
stood, and then, going round to the front, they found Mr Inglis with
what few things he required, just giving orders to Sam to go and look
for the boys.
"Oh! here they are," said Mr Inglis. "Come, lads, jump up; you are
just in time. What would you have said if I had gone without you?"
"We weren't afraid of that," said Harry; "were we, boys? I know Papa
wouldn't say he'd take us, and then leave us behind."
They were off once more to the sea-side, but this time for the afternoon
only. The day was a regular scorcher, and the poor horse began to show
symptoms of the heat, in spite of the careful driving of Mr Inglis; and
a regular cloud of flies about his head so teased it, keeping regularly
on at the same pace as the horse, whether a walk or a trot, that Mr
Inglis was at last compelled to stop and let Harry cut a couple of
little elm branches, and fix them in the harness, so that, by their
constant vibration and shaking, they might keep the tiresome insect
pests at a distance. But the travellers soon began to find that they
ought to have boughs secured to their own heads, for the flies,
disappointed of their feast upon the horse, turned their attention to
the party in the dog-cart, and, until they were quite clear of the
wooded part of the country, bothered them terribly.
The day was so hot that the whole atmosphere seemed to tremble and
quiver, while everything else was motionless. Not a breath of air was
stirring to wave the grass or to ruffle the surface of the great
land-drains, whose waters shone like molten silver; while the road was
powdered into an almost impalpable dust, which rose in clouds as the
horse's hoofs beat and the wheels spun over its arid surface.
At last, however, as they neared the sea-bank, a soft and cooling breeze
began to fan the travellers' cheeks; the horse tossed his head and
snuffed the air, as though delighted with the grateful sensation it
imparted; and at the end of another quarter of an hour the car wheels
were sinking deep in the dry sandy road which led up to the inn, where
they were going on this occasion to leave the horse, as this afternoon's
trip was only for a quiet ramble by the sea to collect a few stranded
sea-weeds and shells.
When they reached the shore, they found the tide coming in, while the
sands were as level and smooth on the elevated parts as a table, though,
in the lower, beautifully and regularly traced all over with the little
ripple-marks left by the sea when the tide is going out upon a calm day.
There was no difficulty about gathering specimens, for the gentle waves
landed plenty of beautiful weeds at their feet, while many shells and
prettily-marked pebbles lay about the sands.
"Oh! how hot," said Harry; "shouldn't I like a dip! I say, Papa, mayn't
we have a bathe?"
"Oh! yes, Papa, do let us," said Philip; "it would be beautiful. I
should like to go in so much."
Fred was as anxious to have a dip as his cousins; and as the tide was
coming in, and the water as smooth as possible, Mr Inglis gave his
consent, and stopped upon the sands while the boys all jumped into the
bathing-machine; and the old horse being fastened to it, they were
dragged a short distance into the water, and there left. They soon had
the door opened, and then one at a time made their appearance in the
sea, where they swam about to their hearts' content; of course, Harry
and Philip performing all the swimming, and Fred the splashing. And
delightful was that bathe, for the sun shone so warmly that the water
felt quite tepid, and there was no disposition to shiver or feel cold,
but every little wave that rolled in seemed to be laden with freshness
and vigour. The boys enjoyed their dip so much that Mr Inglis had to
call them out, or they would have stopped in for an hour. But he had
them out when they had been in about twenty minutes; and as soon as they
were dressed, the collecting of specimens went on. At the mouth of one
little inlet they found a dead puffin--a singular little bird that makes
its home on the rocky shores further north, and remarkable for its
curious wedge-shaped bill, looking like the point of an old Roman sword,
and to all appearance a rather formidable weapon. There were plenty of
gulls and kittywakes running about at the edge of the waves, picking up
the little insects and small crustaceans that abounded upon the sands.
Fred here made further acquaintance with the little hermit crab, and saw
how it protected itself, and chose its habitation from amongst the empty
shells upon the beach; and when it had found one that it considered a
good fit, thrust in its little tail, and dwelt there until it grew too
confined for it.
Numberless were the objects of interest to be seen all along the coast,
and pleasant was the ramble the party enjoyed until it grew towards the
hour for returning, when they walked back to the opening in the
sand-bank, so as to reach the inn and get the horse and car ready for
starting. The tide was now nearly at its height, and a brisk evening
breeze had commenced blowing, so that, as the tide rolled in, the
breakers began to be of a tolerable size. There were several people,
old and young, enjoying an evening bath; and, after ordering the car to
be got ready, Mr Inglis and the boys strolled back and watched the
waves come tumbling in upon the beach or rush up the opening that led
into the great land-drain--an opening that was staked on each side in
the shape of a cage-work tunnel, and ran down for some distance into the
sea on the one hand, and right under the great sea-bank on the other.
Just as the party were turning to leave the shore, a piercing cry rose
from off the water, and then another, and another, evidently proceeding
from some one in distress.
A moment's glance served to show Mr Inglis that the cry proceeded from
one of the bathers, and, in company with many more people, he ran down
to the water's edge, when he could see that a boy was battling with the
waves, his head just above water, and crying for help in the most
heartrending tones. People were running about wringing their hands,
while those who had been bathing were huddling on their clothes, and
others, again, had gone to seek for a boat; but it was very plain that,
if assistance were not immediately rendered, the boy would be drowned.
"Is there no one here that can swim?" said Mr Inglis. "A sovereign to
the man who fetches the poor fellow in."
But only one person came forward, and that was Harry, who began to strip
off his jacket and shoes ready for the plunge.
"Back! you foolish boy; you have not strength," said Mr Inglis; and
then, without waiting to make a further appeal for aid, he stripped off
his coat, and dashing through the waves was soon swimming towards where
the boy was still shrieking loudly, but in a fainter tone, for help; for
every now and then the waves washed over his head, which seemed to get
lower in the water every moment.
Mr Inglis was a powerful swimmer, and clove swiftly through the water
in spite of his clothes, which clung to him and bore him down. In a
very short space he was by the side of the drowning boy, who clutched at
him, and would have no doubt put him in great peril but for an effort
which he made to get behind. He then grasped the boy by the hair, and
turned to swim ashore; but to his horror he found that the poor fellow
was caught in some way in the piles of the outlet, and, in spite of
every effort, Mr Inglis could not set him free: he essayed to dive, but
the tide ran so strongly that he was unable to effect his object; he
dragged the poor fellow backwards and forwards, and tried to reach
beneath the waves at the obstruction, but without success; and, as a
last resource, tried to keep the poor boy's head above water until
assistance arrived; but this even he found impossible, for the tide had
so risen that it now covered him completely with every wave that washed
in. Mr Inglis made one more desperate effort to free the poor fellow,
but without success; and then, feeling his power failing, he turned to
reach the shore, just as Harry swam up to beg of him to come back, for
he was fearful lest his father should be too fatigued to return. And it
was time he did return, for it required all his strength to reach the
shore, where he arrived just as a boat was launched, and four men put
off to try and save the poor boy.
Mr Inglis and Harry hurried into the inn, where they borrowed dry
clothes, and when dressed they heard the mournful news that the body had
not been recovered, for the men could not even find the place from the
fact of the rapid rise of the tide. But Mr Inglis felt now how
hopeless was the case, even if the poor lad's remains were found; and
heart-sick, he hurried down to the car, and drove rapidly off homewards,
the sad incident they had witnessed having deeply impressed them all,
and brought strongly to their recollection the misfortune that so nearly
fell upon their own home but a short time back.
The journey was soon performed, and in almost perfect silence; for, in
addition to the natural fatigue felt by the party, the past adventure
hung like a cloud over their spirits till they reached the rose-hung
porch just in the dusk of evening.