At length a faint voice came from the interior. He hurried on. There
lay Jack on the ground.
"Is that you, Bill?" he asked, in a low voice. "I was afraid you were
caught. I fancied I heard voices, and crept away, intending to get into
our hiding-place, when I fell down, and I suppose I must have gone to
sleep, for I remember nothing more till I heard you calling to me. Have
you brought any food?"
"Yes," said Bill; "sit up and eat as much as you can; it will do you
good, and you will soon be all to rights."
Jack did not require a second invitation, but munched away at the bread
and cheese, and dried fish and figs, with right good will, showing that
he could not have been so very ill after all. He quickly regained his
strength and spirits, and listened eagerly to what Bill had to tell him.
"Well, it's a comfort to think that we are not likely to be starved," he
observed; "and I will bless Miss Jeannette as long as I live. I wish we
could do something to show her how much obliged we are. And now, Bill,
what about the boat? Is there a chance of our getting one?"
"A very poor chance at present, I am afraid," answered Bill.
"Jeannette, however, will let us know if her father and brother can find
one to suit our purpose, or if a smuggling lugger comes into the
harbour."
"We'll have, after all, to do as I proposed, and take one without asking
the owner's leave," said Jack. "I tell you it will be perfectly fair.
The French are at war with us, and we have a right to take any of their
property we can find, whether afloat or on shore."
"That may be, but I can't get it out of my head that we shall be robbing
some poor fellow who may have to depend on his boat for supporting
himself and his family," answered Bill.
They argued the point as before, till Bill proposed that they should lie
down and go to sleep, as he felt tired after his long walk.
They allowed two days to pass, when Bill set off as agreed on to obtain
the provisions he hoped Jeannette would have brought.
She had not deceived him; there was an ample supply, and two or three
more candles.
Several more days passed by. Jeannette regularly brought them
provisions, but she left no note to tell them of any arrangements which
her father had made. They were becoming very weary of their life, for
they had nothing whatever to do--no books to read, and not even a stick
to whittle.
The weather had hitherto been fine, the cavern was warm and comfortable,
and the dry sand afforded them soft beds. They might certainly have
been very much worse off.
Bill always went to fetch the food from the cave where Jeannette left
it. He had hitherto not met her, which he was anxious to do, to learn
what chance there was of obtaining a boat. She, however, was always
before him, the fact being that the path from her house to the cave was
practicable before that from the large cavern was open.
"I don't quite like the look of the weather," observed Bill one day to
Jack, just before the time Jeannette was due at the little cave, and all
their provisions were expended. "If it comes on very bad she may be
stopped, and we shall be pressed. I'll slip down the moment the water
is shallow enough, and try to get along the shore; and if she has not
reached the cave, I'll go on and meet her."
Bill at once put his resolution into practice. He did not mind wetting
his feet; but he had here and there a hard job to save himself from
being carried off by the sea, which rolled up the beach to the very foot
of the cliff. Twice he had to cling to a rock, and frequently to wade
for some distance, till he began to regret that he had ventured so soon;
but having made up his mind to do a thing, he was not to be defeated by
the fear of danger; so waiting till the wave had receded, he rushed on
to another rock. The sky had become overcast. The leaden seas,
foam-crested, came rolling in with increasing force, and had not the
tide been on the ebb his position would have been perilous in the
extreme.
He knew, however, that every minute would make his progress less
difficult; so with a brave heart he pushed on. At last he reached the
little cave by the side of the gorge. It was empty! He knew,
therefore, that Jeannette had not been there.
According to his previous determination, he went on to meet her, hoping
that before this she might have set out.
The rain now began to fall, and the wind blew with fitful gusts. He did
not care for either himself, but he was sorry that Jeannette should be
exposed to the storm. He felt nearly sure that she would come, in spite
of it. If not, he made up his mind to wait till dark, and then to go on
to her cottage. There was no great risk in doing so, as the soldiers
would long before this have given up their search for him and Jack.
He had gone some distance, and the fishing village would soon be in
sight, when he saw a figure coming towards him, wrapped in a cloak.
Hoping that it was Jeannette, he hurried forward to meet her. He was
not mistaken.
Bill told her that he had come on that she might be saved from a longer
exposure to the rain than was necessary.
"Thank you," she answered. "I was delayed, or I should have set off
earlier, but a party of soldiers came to the village pretending that
they wanted to buy fish. I, however, suspected that they came to look
for you, and I waited till they had gone away again. We sold them all
the fish they asked for, and put on an unconcerned look, as if
suspecting nothing, I saw them, however, prying about, and I recognised
one of them as the sergeant who came in command of the party which
carried you off. I am not at all certain, either, that they will not
return, and I should not have ventured out, had I not known that you
must be greatly in want of food, and that, perhaps, should the storm
which is now beginning increase, many days might pass before I could
supply you."
The information given by Jeannette made Bill very glad that he had come
on to meet her. He, of course, thanked her warmly, and then asked what
chance there was of obtaining a boat.
"My father wishes you well, but is afraid to interfere in the matter,"
she answered. "He does not, perhaps, enter into your feelings about
getting back to England, because he thinks France the best country of
the two, and sees no reason why you should not become Frenchmen. As the
detachment of soldiers quartered in the neighbourhood will soon,
probably, be removed, you may then come back without fear, and resume
the clothes you before wore, and live with us, and help my father and
brother; then who knows what may happen? You will not have to fight
your own countrymen, and the war may some day come to an end, or perhaps
the French may conquer the English, and then we shall all be very good
friends again."
"Never! Jeannette; that will never happen," exclaimed Bill. "You are
very kind to us, and we are very fond of you, and would do anything to
serve you, and show our gratitude, but don't say that again."
Jeannette laughed. "Dear me, how fiery you are!" she exclaimed.
"However, it's foolish to stop talking here, and I ought to hurry home,
in case the soldiers should pay us another visit and suspect something.
Do not be angry, my dear Bill. I did not wish to offend you; only, you
know, we each think our own country the best."
Bill assured Jeannette that he was not angry, and again thanked her very
much, though he could not help saying that he was sorry her father would
not obtain the boat for them.
"Well, well, you must have patience," she answered. "Now go back to
your cave as fast as you can, or you will be wet to the skin."
"I am that already," answered Bill, laughing; "but it's a trifle to
which I am well accustomed."
Once more they shook hands, and exchanging baskets. Jeannette, drawing
her cloak around her, hurried back to the village, while Bill made the
best of his way to the cavern.
He was now able, in spite of the wind, to get along where he had before
found it difficult to pass. In one or two places only did the waves
rolling up wash round his feet, but the water was not of sufficient
depth to carry him off, and he gained the mouth of the cavern in safety.
Jack was eagerly looking out for him, and both of them being very sharp
set, they lost no time in discussing some of the contents of the basket.
As they looked out they saw that the wind had greatly increased. A
heavy north-westerly gale was blowing. It rushed into the cavern filled
with spray from off the now distant foam-tipped waves. What it would do
when the tide was again high was a matter of serious consideration.
"We shall have to go as far back as we can," observed Bill, "and the
sooner we pick out a safe berth the better. I should like, too, to get
my wet clothes off, for the wind makes me feel very cold."
Jack was of the same opinion, and he taking up the basket, they groped
their way to the inner cave round the rock, where it turned, as before
described, to the left. Here they were completely sheltered from the
wind, and had it not been for the loud roar of the waves beating on the
shore, and the howling of the gale in the outer cavern, they would not
have been aware that a storm was raging outside.
They had, it should have been said, collected a quantity of drift wood,
which Jack had thoughtfully employed himself in carrying to the spot
where they were now seated. As they could not possibly run any risk of
being detected, they agreed to light a fire, which they had hitherto
avoided doing.
They soon had a cheerful one blazing up, and it made them feel much more
comfortable. Bill was able to dry his wet clothes, and by its light
they could now take a better survey of their abode than they had
hitherto done.
The cavern was here not more than eight or ten feet in height, but it
was nearly thirty broad, and penetrated, so it seemed to them, far away
into the interior of the cliff.
"I vote we have a look and see where the cave leads to," said Bill,
taking up a long piece of fir-wood which burnt like a torch.
Jack provided himself with another of a similar character, and, by
waving them about, they found that they could keep them alight. They
also took one of their candles and their match-box in case their torches
should go out.
Having raked their fire together, so that it might serve as a beacon to
assist them in their return, they set out.
The ground rose as they had before supposed when they explored it in the
dark, but the roof continued of the same height above it.
Suddenly Jack started.
"What is that?" he exclaimed, seizing his companion's arm. "There's a
man! or is it a ghost? Oh Bill!"