DISAPPOINTMENTS.
It was late afternoon when land loomed up blue on the horizon. Mr.
Snape had taken the tiller, and Noll stood leaning over the rail by
him, eager and watchful for the first look at Culm. "Mought as well
wait a bit," Jack Snape had drawled out; "we sha'n't get there fur a
long while yet, lad."
But the boy chose to keep his place, and kept his eyes unweariedly on
the distant point for which the "Gull" was making. Yet it was but
tiresome watching, after all, and the brisk breeze seemed to have
failed them somewhat, for the vessel's speed had sensibly diminished.
"He'll be glad 'nough to look t'other way arter he gits there,"
muttered Skipper Ben, between the whiffs at his pipe; "my lads 'ud
think they's killed for sartin to be shut up there a week." He got up
at last, knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and disappeared down the
hatchway, returning presently with a spy-glass, which he carried to
his passenger with, "Lookee here, boy, take this an' make out what ye
ken. 'Tain't much ye'll see yet, but mebby ye'll get a look arter a
time." He sat down again, looking at the boy's face from time to time,
and wondering if this sending him to Culm Rock was not some of that
Lawyer Gray's work. The skipper had not a very high opinion of
lawyers.
Slowly, slowly the blue point began to take shape, and Noll's glass
brought it to his eyes all too faithfully. The skipper saw the eager
look and the warm color which had been on his face fade slowly out as
the "Gull" drew nearer and nearer the journey's end, and the
warm-hearted sailor waxed indignant. "Mought ha' told him what ter
expect, anyhow!" he muttered, shaking a great bale with his brawny
hands as if it had been Lawyer Gray's shoulders.
The "Gull" stood in toward shore. First, the pine woods, vast and
sombre, showed themselves; then, a little way on, Culm Rock came
slowly into view, bald, ragged, and desolate. Noll's face was very
grave, but he kept his place and said nothing. Slowly the curve of
the shore unfolded itself, a long line of yellow sand, length after
length of scarred and jagged rock. The sound of the surf came faintly
out, sounding over the ripple of water about the "Gull's" prow. Not a
sign of life, as yet, had showed itself. The vessel kept steadily on
till, at last, the whole great breadth of the Rock lay before them,
rising huge and massive out of the sea, and, in a sheltered hollow on
the shore, a great stone house stood up, gray and weather-beaten as
the cliffs about it.
"Is that the house?" Noll asked, turning to the skipper, and laying
down his glass.
The old sailor nodded assent, thinking to himself that he had never
seen it look darker and gloomier, and wondering what the boy thought.
"Aren't you going to stop?" Noll asked, as the "Gull" kept on, and the
stone house dropped astern.
"Goin' round to the landin'," explained Mr. Snape; "'tain't good
moorin's till ye git half a mile fu'ther round. Ye'll git ashore
pretty quick."
Under the cool and heavy shadow of the Rock they crept, coming out of
it at last into the full glory of the sun's setting. All the west was
aflame, and the sea glowed and sparkled like molten gold. Even the
wretched little Culm fish-huts looked almost fair and comely in this
flood of light.
Noll Trafford scanned the little wharf, where a motley collection of
men were gathered, with a quick-beating heart. Which of them could be
Uncle Richard? Would he give him a kind welcome? The boy's spirits
began to rise somewhat under the influence of the broad, cheerful glow
of sunshine and the speedy prospect of meeting this uncle who was to
be as a father to him. The remembrance of the gray old house under the
shadow of the rocks around the curve of the shore still lay somewhat
heavily on his heart; but if Uncle Richard were only glad to see him,
all that would not matter, he thought. He stood by the prow as the
"Gull" moved slowly up to the wharf, eagerly scanning every face that
was watching the craft's motions. A sudden pang of disappointment
chilled him from head to foot, for among that idle, shiftless-looking
group, there was not one whom he could possibly mistake for his uncle.
They were all fishermen, dull-faced, dirty, and out at their elbows.
Some frowsy, ill-clad women had come out of their houses, and, with
children clinging to their skirts, looked on with idle curiosity.
So this was Culm Rock! Noll's bright fancies had all fled, and his
heart was suddenly very heavy. He looked back across the sea toward
Hastings, longingly, and thus verified the skipper's prediction. If
Uncle Richard had only been there to greet him, he thought, chokingly,
it would not have mattered so much, but now, it was all forlorn and
dreary enough.
"'Tain't much uv a town arter all; is it?" drawled Mr. Snape, with a
broad grin on his thick features.
"Shut up, Jack!" growled the skipper. "Can't ye see the lad's got all
he ken weather?" Then he turned to Noll, proffering his rough
sympathy. "Sorry fur ye!" he said. "Culm ain't the place for the like
o' you, an' what ye cum here fur, I can't see. But keep a stout heart,
lad, an' rough it out best way ye can; ain't no other way now."
"I'm going to," said Noll, with an effort; "I won't mind after a
little, I guess. Good-by, skipper;" and he stepped out on to the
little wharf among the fish-folk, who made way, regarding him
curiously.
"Keep 'long up the shore," called the master of the "Gull" after him,
"and you'll cum to the house afore long. I'll send yer trunks up by
some o' these 'ere good-fur-nothin' Culm folks. Good-by, lad!"
The skipper watched the boyish figure walking away up the sands, and
remarked to his mate, "Ef I knew that was some o' Gray's work, I'd
jes' like the fun o' bringin' the ole chap down here on the 'Gull,'
an' lettin' him loose to browse on the rocks,--jes' to see how _he'd_
like it!"
Noll walked briskly, trying to keep up good heart by whistling and
humming snatches of tunes, looking back over his shoulder at the
wonderful gleaming of the west, and the queer picture which the
fish-huts and the group of idlers made, with the "Gull" lying by the
little wharf, her cloud of canvas yet unfurled and its shadow gleaming
white as ivory in the depth of water on which she floated. At his feet
the tide was murmuring. How far and vast stretched the sea! What a
minute atom of earth was Culm Rock, compared with the boundless waste
of waves which compassed it about! Bending over all, the evening sky
lay cool and serene, flushed, where it met the water, with lovely
stains of color. Noll was but dimly conscious of these things as he
hurried on, because his heart was filled with conjectures about the
stone house and the friend he was to find there. The disappointment of
not finding his uncle awaiting him with a warm greeting still lay
heavily on his heart; and as he passed the curve of the shore, and the
stone house came in sight, his quick pace slackened, and he walked but
slowly.
There was no one visible on the piazza. All the doors and windows were
closed, though the evening was warm and mild.
The boy wondered if his uncle was absent. Perhaps, he thought, with a
little thrill of pleasure, that, after all, was the reason why Uncle
Richard had failed to meet him.
A thin blue film of smoke crept up from one of the tall chimneys,
telling him that some one was within the gloomy old structure, which,
it seemed to him, looked much more like a grim fortress than a
_peaceful_ dwelling. Not a blade of grass or anything green flourished
about it; all was rock and sand and stranded kelp.
His heart beat fast as he went up the piazza-steps, and noted how his
footsteps echoed in the silence. He rapped on the great oaken
front-door. No one answered the summons. He rapped again, wondering if
Uncle Richard was really gone, and his heart began to grow heavy
again, as it had done upon his first disappointment at the wharf. The
lonely voice of the sea stole up to his ears, and he turned about to
look. Twilight was fast settling down upon it, and already the far
horizon was hidden; but along the shore the waves shone and gleamed
whitely. Noll's first pang of genuine homesickness came upon him here.
It seemed as if he had not a friend this side of the wide, dark sea.
This second summons met with no better success than the first. Noll
turned away, went back down the steps, and there stopped to look about
him. He discovered some straggling footprints in the sand leading
around the corner of the house, and these he followed for lack of a
better guide. They led him to a long, low projection from the main
body of the house, a kitchen it appeared to be, and here he found a
wide-open door, from whence came the strains of a hymn half chanted,
half sung. Noll rapped. The singing ceased. A slow step came across
the kitchen floor, and a voice said, "Bress us! who's dis?"
Noll looked up at the wrinkled black face framed by a great yellow
turban, and said,--
"I'm Noll Trafford. Didn't--didn't Uncle Richard expect me?"
Old Hagar threw up both hands crying, shrilly, "Bress de Lord! is dis
Noll Trafford's boy?" and then stared blankly at him.
"Yes, if you mean Uncle Richard's brother," said Noll, still very
sad-hearted; "and wasn't he looking for me at all?"
"Bress ye, honey!" said Hagar, recovering her senses, "he didn't say
one single word to me 'bout ye! Dun forgot it, I 'spose. But don't ye
stan' on dem yer steps another minnit; come right in, honey. I'll see
Mas'r Dick dis instant."
Noll followed her into the little kitchen, where on the hearth a fire
was crackling and flashing its red flicker over the walls. He sat down
on a rough wooden bench by the door, wondering if his uncle could
really have forgotten that he was coming, and feeling not all
light-hearted, while Hagar clattered away to "see Mas'r Dick." She
came back pretty quick, saying,--
"You's to go right in to de lib'ry, chile, right in jes' as soon as I
git dis yer candle lit;" and getting down on her knees she puffed away
at the coals and burned splinters till she succeeded in coaxing her
tallow candle to burn. She got up, came back to where Noll was
sitting, and holding the light close to his face, looked down at him
long and steadily.
"Bress de Lord!" she said, stroking his curly hair, "you's de bery
picter ob yer father. 'Pears like 'twas him I see'd dis minnit 'fore
me! Did ye drop down frum de sky, or what, chile?"
"I came down on the 'White Gull,'" Noll answered.
"Well, now!" said Hagar; "an' why didn't yer father come too?"
"Papa? Oh, why--papa is dead," said Noll, with a little quiver in his
voice which he could not possibly prevent, he was so lonely and
homesick.
Old Hagar gave a shrill wail and set her candle down.
"Now don't tell me dat!" she cried. "Mas'r Oliver dead? Well, well,
honey, we dunno nuffin on dis yer Rock? De whole ob creation might cum
to an' end, an' we nebber hear on't. An' you's all alone now, chile?"
"Yes," said Noll, feeling at that moment as if there wore never truer
words spoken.
"An' you's come down to lib wid yer Uncle Dick?"
"Yes."
"Well, bress de Lord fur dat!" said Hagar, joyfully; "couldn't a
better ting happened to dat yer man, nohow. Jes' what he wants,--a boy
like yerself, wid yer own father's face. An' did Mas'r Dick know ye's
comin'?"
"Yes, he knew," said Noll; "he--he told me I'd be welcome. Do you
think I am?"
"Why, yes, honey! What made ye ask dat? Yer Uncle Dick is a strange
man, an' ye mustn't mind if he don't say much to ye, an'--but come
right in de libr'y, chile, fur he's waitin' fur ye. Come right along;
I's lit de lamp in dar;" and taking up her candle, she led the way.
"Don't yer mind dis ole hall," said Hagar, by way of apology as they
entered a long, bare, chilly corridor; "nobody comes here but me, an'
I don't mind. It's only my road frum de libr'y to de kitchen. _He_
nebber comes out here."
From this hall they passed into the dining-room, where stood a
supper-table very plainly spread.
"Mas'r Dick didn't eat nuffin to-night," said Hagar, glancing around
as she clattered on. At one end of the dining-room they came to a door
which the old housekeeper softly opened.
"Go right in, honey," she said to Noll, in a whisper; "he's dar," and
then turned away.
Richard Trafford sat by one of the great bookcases, reading. The
lamplight fell full upon his worn and sorrowful face. He did not hear
the door open, did not hear Noll's light step, and was first conscious
of the boy's presence when two arms were suddenly clasped about his
neck, and a voice, trembling with a mixture of joy and sadness, cried,
"Oh, Uncle Richard!"