Let us turn back a little at this point, and see how the watchers on
Ramsgate pier behaved themselves on that night of storm and turmoil. At
the end of the east pier of Ramsgate harbour there stands a very small
house, a sort of big sentry-box in fact, of solid stone, which is part
and parcel of the pier itself--built not only _on_ it but _into_ it, and
partially sheltered from the full fury of wind and sea by the low
parapet-wall of the pier. This is the east pier watch-house; the marine
residence, if we may so express it, of the coxswain of the lifeboat and
his men. It is their place of shelter and their watch-tower; their
nightly resort, where they smoke the pipe of peace and good fellowship,
and spin yarns, or take such repose as the nature of their calling will
admit of. This little stone house had need be strong, like its inmates,
for, like them, it is frequently called upon to brave the utmost fury of
the elements--receiving the blast fresh and unbroken from the North Sea,
as well as the towering billows from the same.
This nocturnal watch-tower for muscular men and stout hearts, small
though it be, is divided into two parts, the outer portion being the
sleeping-place of the lifeboat men. It is a curious little box, full of
oilskin coats and sou'wester caps and sea-boots, and bears the general
aspect of a house which had been originally intended for pigmies, but
had got inhabited by giants, somehow, by mistake. Its very diminutive
stove stands near to its extremely small door, which is in close
proximity to its unusually little window. A little library with a
scanty supply of books hangs near the stove-pipe, as if the owners
thereof thought the contents had become somewhat stale, and required
warming up to make them more palatable. A locker runs along two sides
of the apartment, on the coverings of which stand several lanterns, an
oil-can, and a stone jar, besides sundry articles with an extremely
seafaring aspect, among which are several pairs of the gigantic boots
before referred to--the property of the coxswain and his mates. The
cork lifebelt, or jacket of the coxswain, hangs near the door. The
belts for use by the other men are kept in an outhouse down among the
recesses of the pier near the spot to which the lifeboat is usually
brought to embark her crew. Only five of the lifeboat men, called
harbour boatmen, keep watch in and around the little stone house at
nights. The rest are taken from among the hardy coast boatmen of the
place, and the rule is--"first come first served"--when the boat is
called out. There is never any lack of able and willing hands to man
the Ramsgate lifeboat.
Near the low ceiling of the watch-house several hammocks are slung,
obliging men to stoop a little as they move about. It is altogether a
snug and cozy place, but cannot boast much of the state of its
atmosphere when the fire is going, the door shut, and the men smoking!
On the night of the storm that has already been described in our last
chapter, the coxswain entered the watch-house, clad in his black oilskin
garments, and glittering with salt-water from top to toe.
"There will be more work for us before long, Pike," he said, flinging
off his coat and sou'-wester, and taking up a pipe, which he began to
fill; "it looks blacker than ever in the nor'-east."
Pike, the bowman of the boat, who was a quiet man, vigorous in action,
but of few words, admitted that there was much probability of their
services being again in demand, and then, rising, put on his cap and
coat, and went out to take a look at the night.
Two other men sat smoking by the little stove, and talking in lazy tones
over the events of the day, which, to judge from their words, had been
already stirring enough.
Late the night before--one of them said, for the information of the
other, who appeared to have just arrived, and was getting the news--the
steam-tug and lifeboat had gone out on observing signals from the Gull,
and had been told there was a wreck on the sands; that they had gone
round the back of the sands, carefully examining them, as far as the
east buoy, encountering a heavy ground swell, with much broken sea, but
saw nothing; that they had then gone closer in, to about seven fathoms
of water, when the lifeboat was suddenly towed over a log--as he styled
it, a baulk--of timber, but fortunately got no damage, and that they
were obliged to return to harbour, having failed to discover the wreck,
which probably had gone to pieces before they got out to the sands; so
they had all their trouble for nothing. The man--appealing by look to
the coxswain, who smoked in silence, and gazed sternly and fixedly at
the fire, as if his mind were wandering far away--went on to say,
further, that early that morning they had been again called out, and
were fortunate enough to save the crew of a small schooner, and that
they had been looking out for and expecting another call the whole day.
For the truth of all which the man appealed again by look to the
coxswain, who merely replied with a slight nod, while he continued to
smoke in silence, leaning his elbows on his knees, with his strong hands
clasped before him, sailor fashion, and gazing gravely at the fire. It
seemed as if he were resting his huge frame after the recent fatigues to
which it had been exposed, and in anticipation of those which might be
yet in store.
Just then the little door opened quickly, and Pike's dripping head
appeared.
"I think the Gull is signalling," he said, and vanished.
The coxswain's sou'wester and coat were on as if by magic, and he stood
beside his mate at the end of the pier, partly sheltered by the parapet
wall.
They both clung to the wall, and gazed intently out to sea, where there
was just light enough to show the black waves heaving wildly up against
the dark sky, and the foam gleaming in lurid patches everywhere. The
seas breaking in heavy masses on the pier-head drenched the two men as
they bent their heads to resist the roaring blast. If it had been high
water, they could not have stood there for a moment. They had not been
there long before their constant friend, the master of the steam-tug,
joined them. Straining their eyes intently in the direction of the
floating-light, which appeared like a little star tossed on the far-off
horizon, they observed a slight flash, and then a thin curved line of
red fire was seen to leap into the chaos of dark clouds.
"There she goes!" cried the coxswain.
"An' no mistake," said Pike, as they all ran to get ready for action.
Few and to the point were the words spoken. Each man knew exactly what
was to be done. There was no occasion to rouse the lifeboat men on such
a night. The harbour-master had seen the signal, and, clad in oilskins
like the men, was out among them superintending. The steam-tug, which
lies at that pier with her fires lighted and banked up, and her water
hot, all the year round, sounded her shrill whistle and cast loose. Her
master and mate were old hands at the perilous work, and lost no time,
for wreck, like fire, is fatally rapid. There was no confusion, but
there was great haste. The lifeboat was quickly manned. Those who were
most active got on the cork lifebelts and leaped in; those who were less
active, or at a greater distance when the signal sounded, had to remain
behind. Eleven stalwart men, with frames inured to fatigue and cold,
clad in oiled suits, and with lifebelts on, sat on the thwarts of the
lifeboat, and the coxswain stood on a raised platform in her stern, with
the tiller-ropes in his hands. The masts were up, and the sails ready
to hoist. Pike made fast the huge hawser that was passed to them over
the stern of the steam-tug, and away they went, rushing out right in the
teeth of the gale.
No cheer was given,--they had no breath to spare for sentimental service
just then. There was no one, save the harbour-master and his assistant
with a few men on duty, to see them start, for few could have ventured
to brave the fury of the elements that night on the spray-lashed pier.
In darkness they left; into darkness most appalling they plunged, with
nothing save a stern sense of duty and the strong hope of saving human
life to cheer them on their way.