A MEETING WITH OLD FRIENDS, AND AN EXCURSION
Next morning the captain and his nephew "bore down", as the former
expressed it, on the workyard, and Ruby was readily accepted, his
good qualities having already been well tested at the Bell Rock.
"Now, boy, we'll go and see about the little preventive craft," said
the captain on quitting the office.
"But first," said Ruby, "let me go and tell my old comrade Dove that
I am to be with him again."
There was no need to enquire the way to the forge, the sound of the
anvil being distinctly heard above all the other sounds of that busy
spot.
The workyard at Arbroath, where the stones for the lighthouse were
collected and hewn into shape before being sent off to the rock, was
an enclosed piece of ground, extending to about three-quarters of an
acre, conveniently situated on the northern side of the Lady Lane, or
Street, leading from the western side of the harbour.
Here were built a row of barracks for the workmen, and several
apartments connected with the engineer's office, mould-makers'
department, stores, workshops for smiths and joiners, stables, &c.,
extending 150 feet along the north side of the yard. All of these
were fully occupied, there being upwards of forty men employed
permanently.
Sheds of timber were also constructed to protect the workmen in wet
weather; and a kiln was built for burning lime. In the centre of the
yard stood a circular platform of masonry on which the stones were
placed when dressed, so that each stone was tested and marked, and
each "course" or layer of the lighthouse fitted up and tried, before
being shipped to the rock.
The platform measured 44 feet in diameter. It was founded with large
broad stones at a depth of about 2 feet 6 inches, and built to within
10 inches of the surface with rubble work, on which a course of
neatly dressed and well-jointed masonry was laid, of the red
sandstone from the quarries to the eastward of Arbroath, which
brought the platform on a level with the surface of the ground. Here
the dressed part of the first entire course, or layer, of the
lighthouse was lying, and the platform was so substantially built as
to be capable of supporting any number of courses which it might be
found convenient to lay upon it in the further progress of the work.
Passing this platform, the captain and Ruby threaded their way
through a mass of workyard _debris_ until they came to the building
from which the sounds of the anvil proceeded. For a few minutes they
stood looking at our old friend Jamie Dove, who, with bared arms, was
causing the sparks to fly, and the glowing metal to yield, as
vigorously as of old. Presently he ceased hammering, and turning to
the fire thrust the metal into it. Then he wiped his brow, and
glanced towards the door.
"What! eh! Ruby Brand?" he shouted in surprise.
"Och! or his ghost!" cried Ned O'Connor, who had been Appointed to
Ruby's vacant situation.
"A pretty solid ghost you'll find me," said Ruby with a laugh, as he
stepped forward and seized the smith by the hand.
"Musha! but it's thrue," cried O'Connor, quitting the bellows, and
seizing Ruby's disengaged hand, which he shook almost as vehemently
as the smith did the other.
"Now, then, don't dislocate him altogether," cried the captain, who
was much delighted with this warm reception; "he's goin' to jine you,
boys, so have mercy on his old timbers."
"Jine us!" cried the smith.
"Ay, been appointed to the old berth," said Ruby, "so I'll have to
unship _you_, Ned."
"The sooner the better; faix, I niver had much notion o' this fiery
style o' life; it's only fit for sallymanders and bottle-imps. But
when d'ye begin work, lad?"
"To-morrow, I believe. At least, I was told to call at the office
to-morrow. To-day I have an engagement."
"Ay, an' it's time we was under weigh," said Captain Ogilvy, taking
his nephew by the arm. "Come along, lad, an' don't keep them
waiting."
So saying they bade the smith goodbye, and, leaving the forge, walked
smartly towards that part of the harbour where the boats lay.
"Ruby," said the captain, as they went along, "it's lucky it's such a
fine day, for Minnie is going with us."
Ruby said nothing, but the deep flush of pleasure that overspread his
countenance proved that he was not indifferent to the news.
"You see she's bin out of sorts," continued the captain, "for some
time back; and no wonder, poor thing, seein' that your mother has
been so anxious about you, and required more than usual care, so I've
prevailed on the leftenant to let her go. She'll get good by our
afternoon's sail, and we won't be the worse of her company. What say
ye to that, nephy?"
Ruby said that he was glad to hear it; but he thought a great deal
more than he said, and among other things he thought that the
lieutenant might perhaps be rather in the way; but as his presence
was unavoidable, he made up his mind to try to believe that he, the
lieutenant, would in all probability be an engaged man already. As to
the possibility of his seeing Minnie and being indifferent to her (in
the event of his being a free man), he felt that such an idea was
preposterous! Suddenly a thought flashed across him and induced a
question--
"Is the lieutenant married, uncle?"
"Not as I know of, lad; why d'ye ask?"
"Because--because--married men are so much pleasanter than----"
Ruby stopped short, for he just then remembered that his uncle was a
bachelor.
"'Pon my word, youngster! go on, why d'ye stop in your purlite
remark?"
"Because," said Ruby, laughing, "I meant to say that _young_ married
men were so much more agreeable than _young_ bachelors."
"Humph!" ejaculated the captain, who did not see much force in the
observation, "and how d'ye know the leftenant's a _young_ man? I
didn't say he was young; mayhap he's old. But here he is, so you'll
judge for yourself."
At the moment a tall, deeply-bronzed man of about thirty years of age
walked up and greeted Captain Ogilvy familiarly as his "buck",
enquiring, at the same time, how his "old timbers" were, and where
the "bit of baggage" was.
"She's to be at the end o' the pier in five minutes," said the
captain, drawing out and consulting a watch that was large enough to
have been mistaken for a small eight-day clock. "This is my nephy,
Ruby. Ruby Brand--Leftenant Lindsay. True blues, both of ye--
'When shall we three meet again?
Where the stormy winds do blow, do blow, do blow,
And the thunder, lightenin', and the rain,
Riots up above, and also down below, below, below.'
Ah! here comes the pretty little craft."
Minnie appeared as he spoke, and walked towards them with a modest,
yet decided air that was positively bewitching.
She was dressed in homely garments, but that served to enhance the
beauty of her figure, and she had on the plainest of little bonnets,
but that only tended to make her face more lovely. Ruby thought it
was perfection. He glanced at Lieutenant Lindsay, and perceiving that
he thought so too (as how could he think otherwise?) a pang of
jealousy shot into his breast. But it passed away when the
lieutenant, after politely assisting Minnie into the boat, sat down
beside the captain and began to talk earnestly to him, leaving
Minnie entirely to her lover. We may remark here, that the title of
"leftenant", bestowed on Lindsay by the captain was entirely
complimentary.
The crew of the boat rowed out of the harbour, and the lieutenant
steered eastward, towards the cliffs that have been mentioned in an
earlier part of our tale.
The day turned out to be one of those magnificent and exceptional
days which appear to have been cut out of summer and interpolated
into autumn. It was bright, warm, and calm, so calm that the boat's
sail was useless, and the crew had to row; but this was, in Minnie's
estimation, no disadvantage, for it gave her time to see the caves
and picturesque inlets which abound all along that rocky coast. It
also gave her time to--but no matter.
"O how very much I should like to have a little boat," said Minnie,
with enthusiasm, "and spend a long day rowing in and out among
these wild rocks, and exploring the caves! Wouldn't it be delightful,
Ruby?"
Ruby admitted that it would, and added, "You shall have such a day,
Minnie, if we live long."
"Have you ever been in the _Forbidden Cave?_" enquired Minnie.
"I'll warrant you he has," cried the captain, who overheard the
question; "you may be sure that wherever Ruby is forbidden to go,
there he'll be sure to go!"
"Ay, is he so self-willed?" asked the lieutenant, with a smile, and
a glance at Minnie.
"A mule; a positive mule," said the captain.
"Come, uncle, you know that I don't deserve such a character, and
it's too bad to give it to me to-day. Did I not agree to come on this
excursion at once, when you asked me?"
"Ay, but you wouldn't if I had _ordered_ you," returned the captain.
"I rather think he would," observed the lieutenant, with another
smile, and another glance at Minnie.
Both smiles and glances were observed and noted by Ruby, whose heart
felt another pang shoot through it; but this, like the former,
subsided when the lieutenant again addressed the captain, and devoted
himself to him so exclusively, that Ruby began to feel a touch of
indignation at his want of appreciation of _such_ a girl as Minnie.
"He's a stupid ass," thought Ruby to himself, and then, turning to
Minnie, directed her attention to a curious natural arch on the
cliffs, and sought to forget all the rest of the world.
In this effort he was successful, and had gradually worked himself
into the firm belief that the world was paradise, and that he and
Minnie were its sole occupants--a second edition, as it were, of Adam
and Eve--when the lieutenant rudely dispelled the sweet dream by
saying sharply to the man at the bow-oar--
"Is that the boat, Baker? You ought to know it pretty well."
"I think it is, sir," answered the man, resting on his oar a moment,
and glancing over his shoulder; "but I can't be sure at this
distance."
"Well, pull easy," said the lieutenant; "you see, it won't do to
scare them, Captain Ogilvy, and they'll think we're a pleasure party
when they see a woman in the boat."
Ruby thought they would not be far wrong in supposing them a pleasure
party. He objected, mentally, however, to Minnie being styled a
"woman"--not that he would have had her called a man, but he thought
that _girl_ would have been more suitable--angel, perhaps, the most
appropriate term of all.
"Come, captain, I think I will join you in a pipe," said the
lieutenant, pulling out a tin case, in which he kept the blackest of
little cutty pipes. "In days of old our ancestors loved to fight--now
we degenerate souls love to smoke the pipe of peace."
"I did not know that your ancestors were enemies," said Minnie to the
captain.
"Enemies, lass! ay, that they were. What! have ye never heard tell o'
the great fight between the Ogilvys and Lindsays?"
"Never," said Minnie.
"Then, my girl, your education has been neglected, but I'll do what I
can to remedy that defect."
Here the captain rekindled his pipe (which was in the habit of going
out, and requiring to be relighted), and, clearing his throat with
the emphasis of one who is about to communicate something of
importance, held forth as follows.