AN EXPEDITION PROPOSED.
When Jerry O'Brien said there was absolutely nothing to be done in
Kilcash, he had told the naked truth. The weather was still far from
genial, and Jerry and Alfred Paulton were the only visitors in that
Waterford village. For a man of active habits, in full bodily and
mental vigour, the place would have been the very worst in the world;
but for an invalid who had never been a busy man, it was everything
the most exacting could desire. If Alfred's mind had only been as
peaceful as his surroundings, he would have picked up strength visibly
from hour to hour.
But his mind was not at ease. For good or evil, he did not care which,
he had given his heart to that woman, and now once more the shadow of
this objectionable, this disreputable man Blake, had come between her
and him. The most disquieting circumstance in the case was that Blake
had not intruded, but had been summoned by her. It is true that on
closer examination this did not seem to point to a love affair between
the two; for unless a woman was fully engaged to a man, she would
scarcely, he being her lover, summon him to her side, under the
circumstances in Mrs. Davenport's case.
Such thoughts and doubts were not the best salve for a hurt
constitution; and although Alfred recovered strength and colour from
day to day, he did not derive as much benefit from Kilcash as if his
mind had been even as untroubled as it had been when the journey from
Dulwich began.
Jerry was by no means delighted with affairs. He put the best face he
could on things, but still he was not content. As far as he was
concerned, the detested Fishery Commissioners had gone to sleep, but
there was no forecasting the duration of their slumber. Any moment
they might shake themselves, growl, wake, and swallow up all his
substance.
"Until they are done with this part of the unhappy country, I shall
feel as if the country was overrun by 'empty tigers,' and I was the
only wholesome piece of flesh after which the man-eaters hankered."
O'Brien did not pretend to be a philosopher when his own fortune or
comfort was threatened or assailed. He chafed and fumed when things
went wrong, or when he could not get his way. Now he was compelled, in
a great measure, to keep silent, for there would be a want of
hospitality in displaying impatience of Kilcash to Alfred. He had
confided to the latter the secret of his love for Madge, and the
brother had grasped his hand cordially and wished him all luck and
happiness. No man existed, he had said, to whom he would sooner
confide the future of his sister. How was O'Brien to act with regard
to writing to Madge? There had been nothing underhand or dishonourable
in telling the girl of his love that day on the Dulwich Road. The
declaration had in a measure slipped from him before any suitable
opportunity occurred of talking to Mr. Paulton. But speaking to Madge
under the excitement of the moment and the knowledge of approaching
separation was one thing, and writing clandestinely to her quite
another. If he wrote to her openly, inquiries as to the nature of the
correspondence would certainly be made at home, and then their secret
would be found out, and the thought of being found out in anything
about which an unpleasant word could be said was unendurable. In the
haste of leaving Carlingford House he had made no arrangement with
Madge as to writing to her. It was absolutely necessary for him to
risk a letter. He would not be guilty of the subterfuge of writing
under cover of one of Alfred's letters. Accordingly he wrote a bright,
cheerful, chatty note to Madge, beginning "My dear Miss Paulton," and
ending "Yours most sincerely, J. O'Brien." To those who were not in
the secret, nothing could have been more ordinary than this letter.
But its meaning was plain to Madge. Among other things, he said the
Commissioners had not yet done with him, and until they had he could
not count upon another visit to Dulwich; and he begged her to give his
kindest regards to Mr. Paulton, and to express a hope that he might
soon enjoy the pleasure of a walk on the Dulwich Road, when he would
tell her father all about the Bawn salmon and the wretched
Commissioners. Until then he should not bother either of them with any
account of himself or the villains who were lying in wait for him.
This he intended to show that he would not write to her again until he
had cleared up matters with her father. And now that he had got rid of
this letter--it was a task, not a pleasure, to write it--what should
he do? He had told himself and Alfred that even in summer there was
not anything to be done in Kilcash. But he, O'Brien, was in full
health and vigour, and began to feel uneventful idleness very irksome.
Boating even with the pretence of fishing was out of the question, and
one grew tired of strolling along the strand or downs when fine, and
looking out of the windows at the unneeded rain when wet. Against the
weariness of the long evenings he had brought books, cards, and chess
from Kilbarry. Time began to hang heavily on his hands. Nothing more
had been heard or seen of the ghost of Fahey, and the two friends had
been a couple of times to see the outside of Kilcash House, whither,
he believed, Mrs. Davenport had not yet arrived from Dublin.
The weather was mild, moist, calm.
"I'll tell you what we shall do, Alfred," said Jerry briskly at
breakfast one morning.
"What?" asked the other, looking up from his plate.
"There isn't a ripple on the sea. I'll go see Jim Phelan, and get him
to launch his boat."
"Capital!" cried Alfred, who was in that state of convalescence when
the daily addition to physical strength begets a desire to use it and
yields indestructible buoyancy. "I should like a good long-sail of all
things--or, indeed, a good pull. I'm sure I could manage an oar nearly
as well as ever."
"Nonsense!" said Jerry, dogmatically. "I will not be accessory to your
murder, or allow you to commit suicide in my presence. I have had
enough of inquests for my natural life. It's too cold for sailing, and
you're not strong enough for rowing. But there are the caves. The time
of the year does, not make any difference in them, so long as the sea
is smooth. They are as warm in winter as in summer. We can bring
torches and guns, and a horn and grub with us. A torchlight picnic
would be a novelty to me, anyway. The echoes in some places are
wonderful, and I'll answer for the food being wholesome. I'll go down
to Phelan immediately after breakfast."
Big Jim Phelan was at home in his cottage--not the shelter that
covered him in the summer, but the one which the high and mighty of
the land could rent for eight to twelve pounds a month when they
wished to enjoy the sea.
O'Brien explained his design.
"Are you mad, sir?" said Jim, drawing back from the chair which he had
placed for his unexpected guest.
"No. Why? What's mad about it? I and my friend want to see the caves,
and they are just as good at this time of year as in summer. Will you
take us?--Yes or no? Or are you afraid?"
"I'm not afraid of anything that swims or walks or flies, Mr.
O'Brien," said Jim in a tone of indignant protest. "But nature is
nature, and it's not right to fly in the face of nature."
"Face of fiddlesticks!" said O'Brien. "What has nature to do with our
going to visit the caves? If you don't take us, some one else will.
what on earth do you mean by 'flying in the face of nature'?"
"Go to the caves at this time of year!" said Jim, in a musing tone of
voice. "Why, no one ever thought of such a thing before!"
"What difference does that make? No strangers are here, except in
summer; and of course the people of the village never want to go to
the caves either winter or summer, unless they are paid. Come on, Jim;
don't send me off to look for some one else. I like to stick to old
friends."
Phelan reflected awhile. There was no greater danger on such a day as
this in going to the caves than on the finest day in July. But the
novelty of the idea was almost too much for Jim. That any man in his
sober senses could even during the dog-days want to go to the caves
was wonderful enough; but that a man, and, moreover, a man who had
lived most of his life hard by, could think of exploring those gloomy
vaults in the chilly, damp days of spring, was too much for belief.
O'Brien was liberal, and if he happened to spend a couple of the
summer months at Kilcash, as he had hinted, Jim was certain to be a
few pounds the better for it. But it wouldn't do to give in too
easily.
"Mr. O'Brien, if you're bent on going, of course I must take you. I'll
go to the Cove of Cork for you, sir, single-handed, in my own yawl.
But mind you, sir, it wasn't I that put you up to going. If you ask me
my advice, I say don't go. I won't take any of the responsibility,
mind, sir."
"All right," cried O'Brien, with a laugh. "You know as well as I do
that there is no danger on a calm day like this. How soon will you be
ready?"
"I'll have to get a man to go with me, and gather a few hands to help
to launch the yawl. Will an hour be soon enough, sir?" said Jim, who,
now that he had decided on action, was already busy in preparation.
"Yes; an hour will do. How is the tide?"
"About an hour flood."
"And how will that answer for the Red Cave?"
"Red Cave!" said Phelan, pausing suddenly in his preparation. "Is it
Red Gap Cave you're thinking of going to, sir?"
There was a sound of uneasiness in the boatman's voice.
"Yes. Isn't it the largest? Isn't it the one they say has never been
explored?"
"Ay, sir. It never has been explored fully, and I don't suppose ever
will--for what would be the good?--and it isn't over agreeable in
there, with its windings and twistings, I can tell you. I don't mind
much about the Red Cave itself; but, Mr. O'Brien, it's only a little
bit beyond the Whale's Mouth, and you have some queer notions about
that cursed place; and, mind, I'll have nothing to do with it for love
or money."
"I didn't say anything about the Whale's Mouth," said O'Brien, in a
tone of irritation. "I asked you how is the tide for the Red Cave?
Can't you answer a simple question?"
"The tide is always right for the Red Cave," answered Phelan,
sullenly. "You can always go into it when the water is smooth."
"Very well. I'll expect you on the strand by the rocks in an hour;"
and saying this, O'Brien left the cottage and set out for the hotel.