We were two hours after time at St. Peter-Port; and then all was hurry
and confusion, for goods and passengers had to be landed and embarked
for Jersey. Tardif, who was afraid of losing the cutter which would
convey him to Sark, had only time to give me the address of a person
with whom I could lodge until he came to fetch me to his island, and
then he hastened away to a distant part of the quay. I was not sorry
that he should miss finding out that I had no luggage of any kind with
me.
I was busy enough during the next three days, for I had every thing to
buy. The widow with whom I was lodging came to the conclusion that I had
lost all my luggage, and I did not try to remove the false impression.
Through her assistance I was able to procure all I required, without
exciting more notice and curiosity. My purchases, though they were as
simple and cheap as I could make them, drew largely upon my small store
of money, and as I saw it dwindling away, while I grudged every shilling
I was obliged to part with, my spirits sank lower and lower. I had never
known the dread of being short of money, and the new experience was,
perhaps, the more terrible to me. There was no chance of disposing of
the costly dress in which I had journeyed, without arousing too much
attention and running too great a risk. I stayed in-doors as much as
possible, and, as the weather continued cold and gloomy, I did not meet
many persons when I ventured out into the narrow, foreign-looking
streets of the town.
But on the third day, when I looked out from my window, I saw that the
sky had cleared, and the sun was shining joyously. It was one of those
lovely days which come as a lull sometimes in the midst of the
equinoctial gales, as if they were weary of the havoc they had made, and
were resting with folded wings. For the first time I saw the little
island of Sark lying against the eastern sky. The whole length of it was
visible, from north to south, with the waves beating against its
headlands, and a fringe of silvery foam girdling it. The sky was of a
pale blue, as though the rains had washed it as well as the earth, and a
few filmy clouds were still lingering about it. The sea beneath was a
deeper blue, with streaks almost like a hoar frost upon it, with here
and there tints of green, like that of the sky at sunset. A boat with
three white sails, which were reflected in the water, was tacking about
to enter the harbor, and a second, with amber sails, was a little way
behind, but following quickly in its wake. I watched them for a long
time. Was either of them Tardif's boat?
That question was answered in about two hours' time by Tardif's
appearance at the house. He lifted my little box on to his broad
shoulders, and marched away with it, trying vainly to reduce his long
strides into steps that would suit me, as I walked beside him. I felt
overjoyed that he was come. So long as I was in Guernsey, when every
morning I could see the arrival of the packet that had brought me, I
could not shake off the fear that it was bringing some one in pursuit of
me; but in Sark that would be all different. Besides, I felt
instinctively that this man would protect me, and take my part to the
very utmost, should any circumstances arise that compelled me to appeal
to him and trust him with my secret. I knew nothing of him, but his face
was stamped with God's seal of trustworthiness, if ever a human face
was.
A second man was in the boat when we reached it, and it looked well
laden. Tardif made a comfortable seat for me amid the packages, and then
the sails were unfurled, and we were off quickly out of the harbor and
on the open sea.
A low, westerly wind was blowing, and fell upon the sails with a strong
and equal pressure. We rode before it rapidly, skimming over the low,
crested waves almost without a motion. Never before had I felt so
perfectly secure upon the water. Now I could breathe freely, with the
sense of assured safety growing stronger every moment as the coast of
Guernsey receded on the horizon, and the rocky little island grew
nearer. As we approached it no landing-place was to be seen, no beach or
strand. An iron-bound coast of sharp and rugged crags confronted us,
which it seemed impossible to scale. At last we cast anchor at the foot
of a great cliff, rising sheer out of the sea, where a ladder hung down
the face of the rock for a few feet. A wilder or lonelier place I had
never seen. Nobody could pursue and surprise me here.
The boatman who was with us climbed up the ladder, and, kneeling down,
stretched out his hand to help me, while Tardif stood waiting to hold me
steadily on the damp and slippery rungs. For a moment I hesitated, and
looked round at the crags, and the tossing, restless sea.
"I could carry you through the water, mam'zelle," said Tardif, pointing
to a hand's breadth of shingle lying between the rocks, "but you will
get wet. It will be better for you to mount up here."
I fastened both of my hands tightly round one of the upper rungs, before
lifting my feet from the unsteady prow of the boat. But the ladder once
climbed, the rest of the ascent was easy. I walked on up a zigzag path,
cut in the face of the cliff, until I gained the summit, and sat down to
wait for Tardif and his comrade. I could not have fled to a securer
hiding-place. So long as my money held out, I might live as peacefully
and safely as any fugitive had ever lived.
For a little while I sat looking out at the wild and beautiful scene
before me, which no words can tell and no fancy picture to those who
have never seen it. The white foam of the waves was so near, that I
could see the rainbow colors playing through the bubbles as the sun
shone on them. Below the clear water lay a girdle of sunken rocks,
pointed as needles, and with edges as sharp as swords, about which the
waves fretted ceaselessly, drawing silvery lines about their notched and
dented ridges. The cliffs ran up precipitously from the sea, carved
grotesquely over their whole surface into strange and fantastic shapes;
while the golden and gray lichens embroidered them richly, and bright
sea-flowers, and stray tufts of grass, lent them the most vivid and
gorgeous hues. Beyond the channel, against the clear western sky, lay
the island of Guernsey, rising like a purple mountain out of the opal
sea, which lay like a lake between us, sparkling and changing every
minute under the light of the afternoon sun.
But there was scarcely time for the exquisite beauty of this scene to
sink deeply into my heart just then. Before long I heard the tramp of
Tardif and his comrade following me; their heavy tread sent down the
loose stones on the path plunging into the sea. They were both laden
with part of the boat's cargo. They stopped to rest for a minute or two
at the spot where I had sat down, and the other boatman began talking
earnestly to Tardif in his _patois_, of which I did not understand a
word. Tardif's face was very grave and sad, indescribably so; and,
before he turned to me and spoke, I knew it was some sorrowful
catastrophe he had to tell.
"You see how smooth it is, mam'zelle," he said--"how clear and
beautiful--down below us, where the waves are at play like little white
children? I love them, but they are cruel and treacherous. While I was
away there was an accident down yonder, just beyond these rocks. Our
doctor, and two gentlemen, and a sailor went out from our little bay
below, and shortly after there came on a thick darkness, with heavy
rain, and they were all lost, every one of them! Poor Renouf! he was a
good friend of mine. And our doctor, too! If I had been here, maybe I
might have persuaded them not to brave it."
It was a sad story to hear, yet just then I did not pay much attention
to it. I was too much engrossed in my own difficulties and trouble. So
far as my experience goes, I believe the heart is more open to other
people's sorrows when it is free from burdens of its own. I was glad
when Tardif took up his load again and turned his back upon the sea.