The time glided on and the war did not trouble us, for we were too busy
in the Gap, where everything had been restored and even improved, and my
father was fighting bravely to recover from the terrible loss the French
descent had caused to the property, for the rebuilding of cottages and
repairs of machinery, after the store of silver had been taken, left him
very much impoverished; but, as he used to say, it was only a question
of time to get right.
Bigley worked regularly with me, living at the smuggler's cottage with
Mother Bonnet for his housekeeper; and he used to hear regularly from
his father, who expressed no intention of ever returning, merely saying
that he was glad that his son was doing so well, and quite accepting the
position. He used to send money, but now Bigley had ceased to use it,
for he received a regular payment from my father, and this other money
used to be sent to a bank.
The mine was fairly productive, but I knew that my father had been
compelled to borrow a good deal, and this preyed upon his mind so much
that one day he said to me:
"Sep, I think I shall be obliged to sell the Gap, with the mine and all
it holds. I don't like this life of debt, and the prospect of years of
toil before I can clear it off."
"But it would be such a pity, father," I exclaimed.
"It would, my boy, but I am not so sanguine as I was. That terrible
night shook me a great deal, and if it were not for the thought of you I
should give up at once."
He repeated this to me two or three times, and it made a very unpleasant
impression that troubled me a very great deal.
Bob Chowne, who was shortly going up to London to study at one of the
hospitals, came over one evening, and we all three, as in the old days,
had tea at the smuggler's cottage, Mother Bonnet beaming upon us, and
never looking so pleased as when we wanted more of one of her home-made
loaves.
Then after tea we decided, as the sea was so calm, to have a few hours'
fishing, and taking the boat we rowed out as far as the Goat and Kids,
the grapnel was thrown out, and we began to fish.
It was a glorious evening, and we took rock-whiting, pout, and small
conger at such a rate that I cried, "Hold, enough!"
"No, no, keep on," said Bob Chowne. "Let's see how many we can catch."
"It will be a good feast for the work-people," said Bigley, as I
hesitated; and knowing how glad they all were of a bit of fish I turned
to again, throwing in my baited hooks, and hauling in the fine fellows
every minute or two.
But at last the darkness forbade further work, so the lines were
reeled-up, the fish counted over into the two baskets, and Bigley
proceeded to haul up the grapnel.
The intention was good, but the grapnel refused to be hauled up. The
boat's bows were dragged right over it, and Bigley stood up and tugged
till the boat was perceptibly pulled down, but not an inch would the
grapnel budge.
"It has got between a couple of rocks, I suppose," said Bigley.
"Here, stand aside!" cried Bob Chowne, "let the doctor come."
He caught hold of the stout line, stood in Bigley's place, and hauled
till his wrists ached.
"Here, come and pull, Sep," he cried; and I joined him and hauled, but
in vain.
Then we changed the position of the boat, and dragged and jerked in one
direction and then in another. Every way we could think of did we try,
but could not stir the anchor, and as we were giving up in despair Bob
said:
"I know; some big sea-monster has swallowed the hook and he won't move.
Here, let's get ashore."
"But we must not lose a new grapnel," cried Bigley. "Here, I know what
we'll do."
He hastily unfastened the rope from the ring-bolt in the bows, and
secured it to the boat-hook by a hitch or two, and then cast it
overboard.
"There!" he said; "that will buoy it, and I'll come out to-morrow and
get it up somehow."
Then taking the oars he rowed us ashore, where a couple of the mine men
were smoking their pipes and shining like glowworms as they waited to
see what sport we had had.
The news spread respecting our exceptionally good fortune; and as soon
as the two men had helped to haul the boat right up beyond the reach of
the tide, as the grapnel was gone, they ran up to the miners' village
and came trooping back with the rest, armed with baskets, dishes, and in
some cases only bare-handed, to receive their portions of our big haul.
They gave us a cheer, and soon afterwards we parted, Bob Chowne to sleep
at the smuggler's cottage, while I went back to the Bay.
I woke at daylight next morning, and not feeling disposed to sleep, I
dressed and started off for the Gap to rouse up Bigley and Bob and
propose a bathe; but as I came in sight of the Gap mouth I found Bigley
already astir and just going down to the boat.
I shouted and ran down to him waving my towel, to which he answered by
waving another, showing that he had risen with a similar idea to my own.
"I thought I would have a bathe, and do some business too," he said; and
then, in answer to my inquiring look, "Try and get up the grapnel," he
added.
"Oh!" I exclaimed; "but why didn't you rouse up Bob?"
"Rouse up Bob!" he said gruffly. "Go and try and rouse up that block of
stone!"
"What! Have you tried?" I said.
"Tried! I've shaken him, and punched him, and done everything I could
but drenched him, and that would be a pity. He don't want to get up; so
let him lie. Here, help me run the boat down."
I laid hold of one side, we balanced her on an even keel, and as it was
down a steep slope we soon ran her into the water, jumped aboard, and
began paddling out down the narrow part that formed the bed of the river
on the seaward side of the pebble ridge.
The tide was very low, the sun up bright and high, and the water so
clear that there was every rock below us so close that it seemed as if
we could not go over some of them without touching.
"We'll row out to the buoyed grapnel," said Bigley; "make fast, and
while you have your bathe I shall dive down, follow the rope, and see if
I can find out how the grapnel has got fast."
"If you can," I said.
"Well, I'm going to try," replied Bigley. "I don't suppose it's above
three fathoms deep."
"You can't dive down three fathoms?" I said.
"Can't I?" replied Bigley laughing. "I'm going to show you. Look
here!"
He pointed to a big long stone in the bows of the boat weighing some
twenty-pounds. To this a thin line was attached, and I saw his meaning
at once.
"Yes," I said, "that will do it, only don't forget to let go."
"No fear," he replied; and we paddled on, with the beautiful view of the
cliffs opening out as we rowed farther from the shore.
We had nearly a quarter of a mile to go before we struck against the
floating boat-hook close to the now exposed rocks, when Bigley threw in
his oar, hoisted the rough buoy aboard, unhitched the rope, ran it
through the ring-bolt, and hauled on till he had the boat's stem right
over the grapnel, which still refused to come; so we made fast.
Bigley then began to undress rapidly, while I proceeded to work more
slowly, being curious to watch what he was doing.
I had not long to wait, for after making fast one end of the thin line
to the thwart of the boat he poised the stone on the gunwale, leaped in,
and then putting his left arm round the grapnel rope he got well hold of
the stone, and drew it over to descend with it rapidly to the bottom.
I crept to the bows and looked over to see his white body far below in
the clear water, and then he came up again to rub his eyes, pant, and
hold on by the side of the boat.
"Why, what's the matter?" I said; "seen a shark?"
"No," he cried, "but I've seen something else. Here, haul up the
stone."
"Bother the stone!" I exclaimed, "I came to bathe."
"Haul it up quickly," he said; and I obeyed, and afterwards lifted it on
to the gunwale.
He seemed very excited, but he would not speak about what he had seen,
only beg me to do what he told me, which was to untie the line from the
stone and then make a running noose and put it loosely round.
I did all this, wondering at his mysterious way, but only expecting that
it was to fasten round the grapnel so as to pull in a fresh direction.
As soon as I had done he took hold of the loop that was round the stone,
drew a long breath, and asked me to lift it over into the water.
This I did, and he went down head-first, while I again watched him below
among the waving weeds all indistinct in the troubled sea.
He was down for a full minute as I crouched there with my head over the
side. He seemed to be so long that I began to grow alarmed lest he had
become entangled, and I was about to haul up the line attached to the
stone. I looked down anxiously with my face closer to the surface, but
only to make him out in a bleared indistinct manner, and then he shot up
like a line of light and swam to the side and held on.
"Thought I shouldn't be able to do it," he said; "but I've got the line
round."
"Well, what next?" I said. "But I say, is a grapnel worth all this
trouble?"
"A grapnel?" he said with a peculiar smile.
"Yes."
"Wait a minute till I am in the boat."
He climbed in, and came to my side.
"Now," he said; "haul up steadily. I think she'll come."
I tightened the line, and for a moment or two there was a dead
resistance. Then something heavy began to stir, and I hauled away
steadily, hand over hand.
"I've got it," I said as I gazed down. "It was right in amongst some
strong weed. Here it comes."
I pulled away till I had nearly got it to the top, and then Bigley came
to my help, reached over, and the object I was dragging up bumped
against the boat, slipped out of the noose, and went down rapidly just
like a mass of stone.
"What did you fasten the line to that for?" I said.
"What did I do it for, Sep?" he panted. "Didn't you see what it was?"
"No," I said bluntly.
"What did it look like?"
"Box covered with sea-weed," I replied.
"Well, don't you see now?"
"No," I replied.
"Why, Sep, how dull you are this morning!" he cried. "Didn't you see
that you had hold of one of your father's silver chests?"
"_One of my father's what_?" I roared.
"One of the silver chests. Sep, it was over these rocks, against that
one, I suppose," he cried, pointing to a huge block just below the
surface, and a favourite haunt of conger, "that the Frenchman's boat
capsized."
"What, the one with the silver?" I cried.
"Yes, and I believe all the chests are at the bottom there."
"And they were coming back to try for them when the frigate came in
sight!" I shouted.
"Yes, yes, yes."
"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" I cried, leaping up in the boat, and waving
my arms about like an idiot. "Why, Bigley, it will set father free of
all his troubles. Here, I'm half mad. What shall we do? Hold hard a
moment: I'm going down to see."
I had only my breeches on, and tearing these off, I stepped on to the
gunwale, leaped up, turned over, and dived down into the clear cold
water, trying with all my might to reach the bottom, but only describing
a curve, and coming up again about twenty feet from the boat.
I swam back to have another try, but Bigley stopped me as I was about to
dive off.
"No, no," he said; "it's of no use. You can't get down there without a
killick or some other weight."
"But I'm not sure it is the silver," I cried in a despairing tone.
"But I am," he said. "The boxes are lying all about. They look like
stones if you stare down, because they are all amongst the weed; but
when I got down to feel for the grapnel I was right upon them. It's in
amongst them somehow. That was why I came up again and tried to fasten
the line round one."
"But are you quite sure, Big?" I said, trembling with eagerness.
"Quite sure," he said. "There can't be any mistake about it. The
Frenchman's boat ran on the rock and capsized, and all the chests must
have gone to the bottom like a shot."
"And my poor father suffering all that worry, when here lay all his
silver at the bottom, close to the shore. Here, what shall we do,
Bigley? We must stop and watch it, for fear anybody else should come
and find it."
"No fear of that," he said, drawing the rope once more through the
ring-bolt, and then securing the boat-hook to the end, and throwing it
overboard to act as a buoy. "Here, let's dress and go and tell him."
"Yes, yes," I cried, trembling with eagerness, and hurrying on my
clothes, as he did his, we rowed ashore, and after hauling the boat back
to its safe place, climbed up the slope, and prepared to walk to the
Bay.
"Big," I said; "I'm afraid to leave it. Suppose while we are gone
someone goes and takes it all away."
"Ah! Suppose they do," he said. "But it isn't such an easy task.
Nobody knows of it but us, Sep, and we can keep the secret."
"You are right," I said. "Come along, and let's make haste and tell
him."
We strode along the cliff path that morning faster, I think, than we had
ever gone before, and when we came in sight of our place I was going to
rush in and tell my father, but something struck me that it would be
only fair to let Bigley go, as he had made the discovery, so I told him
to go first.
He would not, though, and we went up to the cottage together, to find
Kicksey kicking up a dust in the parlour with a broom.
"Is father up yet?" I cried.
"Yes, my dear, hours ago, and half-way to Barnstaple before now."
"What!" I cried.
"He's going to London, my dear, and here's a letter that Sam was to
bring over to you if you didn't come back to breakfast."