OUT OF SCYLLA AND INTO CHARYBDIS.
We left our hero, Frederick Morley, fast asleep in the inner cellar at
Capt. Cooper's house. He slept soundly--for he was quite exhausted--and
dreamed of Alrina, whom he fancied he saw bending over him, and watching
him as he slept; but it seemed as if he had lost all power over
himself,--he could not speak to her. At last she glided gently away, and
beckoned him to follow her, but he could not move. He seemed spellbound;
and she faded away in the darkness, leaving him to lament his fate on
his cold, damp couch. He continued to sleep on for some time, until he
was roused by a voice which seemed to come from the innermost recess of
the dungeon. He started up--for he thought his hour was come--and
prepared himself to yield to the cold-blooded assassination which he
believed was now to put an end to his earthly career. He could not
defend himself, for he could not see from what point the blow would
come. It was, however, a gentle voice that called him,--a woman's voice,
he thought; he could not hear it distinctly, but still it called to him
in the distance. Could it be Alrina? Had she, whom he had followed so
long, hoping to be her deliverer, come to rescue him? But how could she
have discovered him, and how did she get there? He knew not what to
think. He answered in the same low tone, and approached the spot from
whence the sound appeared to come, and was taken by the hand by
someone--not by Alrina, however, but by his little attendant, Bill!
"Hush!" said the boy; "follow me, and you will be saved,--quick! before
we are discovered."
The boy still held him by the hand, and drew him on; for the place was
still very dark. They entered a narrow passage, and the boy dragged him
on and on through the darkness. At last he heard the sea, and saw a
glimmer of light in the distance; and presently a gentle breeze, which
was wafted towards him, convinced him that they were approaching the
outer world once more. They were now in a large cavern, into which the
sea flowed, and he saw a small boat moored to a rock within the cavern.
The boy told him to jump into the boat; and in a moment, the mooring was
loosened, and the boy was by his side in the boat, which he skilfully
pushed out with one of the oars, and they very soon rode on the open
sea. The boy then gave Morley the other oar, and they pulled out with
all their might; for Morley felt that he was being rescued from the jaws
of death.
When they were fairly out on the broad ocean, the boy said, "Now, sir,
you take both the oars--you are stronger than I am--and I'll steer." So
they glided swiftly over the still blue water;--for Morley had practised
the use of the oar, both at home and abroad; and the feeling that every
stroke of his oar placed a greater distance between him and the vile
wretches who had evidently sought his life, gave additional strength to
his arm, and he struggled against nature, and for a time forgot the
weakness and exhaustion which had overcome him in the cellar and caused
him to fall asleep in the midst of the danger that surrounded him.
The subterranean passage through which they had passed, had been
excavated many years before. There was a large natural cavern running in
for some distance under the cliffs from the sea, in the entrance to
which there was water enough to float a boat at high-tide; and beyond
the flow of the tide were large rocks, which prevented the water, except
at very high tide, from encroaching on the interior of the cavern. In
this cavern the smugglers formerly secreted their contraband goods: and
many of them, being miners as well as smugglers, and being in the
employ of a former owner of the house long before Cooper occupied it,
they, at his suggestion and by his order--he being a great smuggler
himself, and having made a large fortune by the trade--excavated a
communication between that cavern and the cellar underneath his house,
by which means smuggled goods could be secreted easily and safely. Very
few people knew of this passage except the parties immediately
concerned. The boy, however, had been found useful on many occasions, in
watching the revenue officers, and putting them on a wrong tack, and,
thus knowing the secret passage, formed this plan for rescuing Morley
from almost certain death.
The night was calm and serene, and everything around them was still.
Several small vessels were lying in the little cove--some ready to go to
sea again with the next tide, having discharged their cargoes,--and
others just come in, waiting for the dawn of day to begin their work of
discharging their cargoes of coal and timber into the merchants' yards;
and as the little boat glided by, the watch on deck would sing out,
"Boat ahoy! what ship?" or, "Good night, shipmates;" and then all was
still again; for the appearance of a small fisherman's boat going out at
that hour of night did not arouse the least suspicion, and on they went
swiftly and steadily.
The moon was shedding her soft pale light all around; and the oars, as
they were "feathered" by the skilful rower, cast showers of silvery
spray back into the water again at every stroke. Some of the white
granite cliffs shone brightly in the moonlight, as its rays fell full
upon them; while others, hid in shadows, seemed like some huge monsters,
indistinct and terrible, towering above their lighter companions until
they appeared almost lost in darkness, and imagination pictured them
higher by many degrees than they really were.
On, on they went, bravely and swiftly; for the fear of pursuit impelled
the rower to exert his strength to the utmost. But the strength of man
will not always obey his will, and ere long he fell back in the boat
exhausted and faint. He had but very recently, it will be remembered,
risen from a bed of sickness, and the exertion and anxiety had been too
much for him. His pluck had not deserted him, but he had exerted his
strength beyond its power. Nature at last gave way, and he fell back
insensible. His fall was sudden, and he dropped both the oars into the
water. The boy was too much frightened to think of anything but his
companion at the moment; so the oars drifted away, and the boat was left
to the mercy of the waves, while the boy did all he could to revive the
prostrate man.
He had brought no provisions with him--not even a can of water; for he
thought that a few hours' rowing would bring them to the next cove,
where they would land without suspicion, and procure anything and
everything they wanted. Poor boy! he could do nothing but watch the
invalid, and support his head on one of the thwarts of the boat, and
this he did for a considerable time,--it seemed to him an age. At last
kind nature came to his rescue, and the invalid opened his eyes to the
boy's infinite relief, and in a short time he had so far recovered as to
be able to comprehend their perilous situation. Fortunately it was a
calm night, but there they were helpless and exhausted, and drifting out
to sea with no provision on board. Morley gradually regained his former
vigour of mind, if not of body, but it was only to bewail their sad
fate.
Out, out they went to sea, drifting further and further from the land,
with no power to control the course of their frail bark. At length, as
morning dawned, the current changed, and they were drifted back again;
and here they exchanged the calm tranquillity of their former position
for the rough encounter between the two channels--always turbulent and
often dangerous, but in a little boat without oars to guide her course
doubly so. The rudder was of very little use in that turbulent sea. They
saw the rocks with which that part of the coast abounds, and dreaded
lest an unfortunate roll of the boat or an angry wave should drive it
headlong upon one of those rocks and dash her in pieces. Hour after hour
passed away in dreadful uncertainty. The turn of the tide again drifted
them out to sea in another direction. They heard the roar of the Wolf
Rock, and knew from that circumstance that they were drifting towards
the Scilly Islands. They now gave themselves up to despair; for it
seemed almost next to impossible that they could pass this Wolf Rock
safely without oars or any means of keeping the boat under control.
Want of food for so many hours in his already weak and exhausted state,
rendered Morley entirely helpless, and listless to all that might happen
to them. He lay down in the bottom of the boat without the power to move
or speak. The boy bore up as bravely as he could, and tried to support
his companion; but he too gave way after a time, and then they lay side
by side in the bottom of the boat, expecting every minute to feel a
crash against the rock, and then all would be over.
At last it came--a bump! a crash! The water seemed filling their mouths
and ears. They revived for a moment, and were fully alive to their awful
position. All the actions of their past lives rushed into their minds,
and they seemed to live their lives over again, in that short moment of
time.
Alrina's form was vividly present to Morley's mind for an instant, and
then all was blank!