In which we change the scene, and the sex of our performers.
We must now leave the cutter to return to Portsmouth, while we introduce
to our readers a new and strange association. We stated that the boats
had been ensconced in a very small cove at the back of the Isle of
Wight. Above these hung the terrific cliff of the Black Gang Chyne,
which, to all appearance, was inaccessible. But this was not the case,
or the smugglers would not have resorted there to disembark their cargo.
At that time, for since that period much of the cliff has fallen down,
and the aspect is much changed, the rocks rose up from the water nearly
perpendicularly, to the height of fifty or sixty feet. At that height
there was a flat of about one hundred feet square in front of a cave of
very great depth. The flat, so called in contradistinction to the
perpendicular cliff, descended from the seaward to the cave, so that the
latter was not to be seen either by vessels passing by, or by those who
might be adventurous enough to peep over the ridge above; and fragments
of rocks, dispersed here and there on this flat, or platform, induced
people to imagine that the upper cliff was a continuation of the lower.
The lower cliff, on which this platform in front of the cave was
situated, was on the eastern side as abrupt as on that fronting the sea
to the southward; but on the western side, its height was decreased to
about fifteen feet, which was surmounted by a ladder removed at
pleasure. To this means of access to the cave there was a zigzag path,
used only by the smugglers, leading from the small cove, and another
much more tedious, by which they could transport their goods to the
summit of this apparently inaccessible mass of rocks. The cave itself
was large, and with several diverging galleries, most of which were dry;
but in one or two there was a continual filtering of clear pure water
through the limestone rock, which was collected in pits dug for that
purpose on the floor below; these pits were always full of water, the
excess being carried off by small open drains which trickled over the
eastern side of the platform. Some attention to comfort had been paid by
the inhabitants of these caverns, which were portioned off here and
there by sail-cloth and boards, so as to form separate rooms and
storehouses. The cookery was carried on outside at the edge of the
platform nearest the sea, under an immense fragment of rock, which lay
at the very edge; and by an ingenious arrangement of smaller portions of
the rock neither the flame was to be distinguished, nor was the smoke,
which was divided and made to find its passage through a variety of
fissures, never in such a volume as to be supposed to be anything more
than the vapours drawn up by the heat of the sun.
In this abode there were at least thirty people residing, and generally
speaking, it might be called a convent, for it was tenanted by women.
Their husbands, who brought over the cargoes, returning immediately in
their boat to the opposite shore, for two reasons; one, that their boats
could only land in particular seasons, and could never remain in the
cove without risk of being dashed to pieces; and the other, that the
absence of all men prevented suspicion; the whole of the interior
smuggling being carried on by the other sex, who fearlessly showed
themselves on every part of the island, and purchased their necessary
supplies of provisions here and there, without exciting any misgivings
as to the nature of their employment. A few isolated cottages, not far
from the beetling brow of the cliff above, were their supposed abodes;
but no one ever troubled them with a visit, and if they did, and found
that they could gain no admittance, they imagined that the occupants had
locked their doors for security, while they were busied with their
labours in the field. Accustomed to climb up the tortuous path from the
cave to the summit, the women would, on the darkest night, carry up
their burdens and deposit them in the cottages above, until they had an
opportunity of delivering their contraband articles into the hands of
their agents; and this traffic had been carried on for many years,
without the government or excise having the slightest suspicion by what
means the smuggling was accomplished. As we before observed, the great
articles in request, and which were now smuggled from France, were
alamodes and lutestrings. The attention of government had been called to
check the admission of these goods, but hitherto their attempts had not
been attended with much success.
At the grey of the morning after the attempt to seize the smugglers had
been defeated by the instrumentality of Snarleyyow, upon the top of the
immense fragment of the rock which we have described as lying upon the
sea-edge of the platform, was perched a fair, slight-made little girl,
of about twelve years of age. She was simply clad in a short worsted
petticoat and bodice of a dark colour; her head was bare, and her hair
fluttered with the breeze; her small feet, notwithstanding the severity
of the weather, were also naked, and her short petticoat discovered her
legs half way up to the knee. She stood there, within a few inches of
the precipice below, carelessly surveying the waves as they dashed over
the rocks, for she was waiting until the light would enable her to see
further on the horizon. By those who might have leaned over the ridge
above, as well as by those who sailed below, she might have been taken,
had she been seen to move, for some sea bird reposing after a flight, so
small was her frame in juxtaposition with the wildness and majesty of
nature which surrounded her on every side. Accustomed from infancy to
her mode of life, and this unusual domicile, her eye quailed not, nor
did her heart beat quicker, as she looked down into the abyss below, or
turned her eyes up to the beetling mass of rock which appeared, each
moment, ready to fall down and overwhelm her. She passed her hand across
her temples to throw back the hair which the wind had blown over her
eyes, and again scanned the distance as the sun's light increased, and
the fog gradually cleared away.
"A sharp look out, Lilly, dear; you've the best eyes among us, and we
must have a clue from whence last night's surprise proceeded."
"I can see nothing yet, mother; but the fog is driving back fast."
"It's but a cheerless night your poor father had, to pull twice across
the channel, and find himself just where he was. God speed them, and may
they be safe in port again by this time."
"I say so too, mother, and amen."
"D'ye see nothing, child?"
"Nothing, dear mother; but it clears up fast to the eastward, and the
sun is bursting out of the bank, and I think I see something under
the sun."
"Watch well, Lilly," replied the woman, who was throwing more wood on
the fire.
"I see a vessel, mother. It is a sloop beating to the eastward."
"A coaster, child?"
"No, mother, I think not. No, it is no coaster--it is that king's
vessel, I think, but the glare of the sun is too great. When he rises
higher I shall make it out better."
"Which do you mean, the king's cutter on the station, the _Yungfrau_?"
"Yes, mother," replied Lilly, "it is. I'm sure it is the _Yungfrau_."
"Then it is from her that the boats came last night. She must have
received some information. There must be treachery somewhere; but we'll
soon find that out."
It may appear singular that Lilly could speak so positively as to a
vessel at a great distance; but it must be remembered that she had been
brought up to it, nearly all her life. It was her profession, and she
had lived wholly with seamen and seamen's wives, which will account for
her technical language being so correct. What Lilly said was true; it
was the _Yungfrau_, which was beating up to regain her port, and having
to stem a strong ebb-tide during the night, had not made very
great progress.
"There are three other vessels in the offing," said Lilly, looking
round, "a ship and two brigs, both going down channel:" and as she said
this, the little thing dropped lightly from rock to rock till she stood
by her mother, and commenced rubbing her hands before the now
blazing fire.
"Nancy must go over to Portsmouth," observed the mother, "and find out
all about this. I hardly know whom to suspect; but let Nancy alone,
she'll ferret out the truth--she has many gossips at the Point. Whoever
informed against the landing, must know of this cave."
But we must introduce the mother of Lilly to the reader. She was a tall,
finely-featured woman, her arms beautifully moulded, and bare. She was
rather inclined to be stout, but her figure was magnificent. She was
dressed in the same costume as her daughter, with the exception of a net
worsted shawl of many colours over her shoulders. Her appearance gave
you the idea that she was never intended for the situation which she was
now in; but of that hereafter. As the reader may have observed, her
language was correct, as was that of the child, and proved that she had
not only been educated herself, but had paid attention to the bringing
up of Lilly. The most perfect confidence appeared to subsist between the
mother and daughter: the former treated her child as her equal, and
confided everything to her; and Lilly was far advanced beyond her age in
knowledge and reflection; her countenance beamed with intelligence;
perhaps a more beautiful and more promising creature never existed.
A third party now appeared from the cave; although not in canonicals,
his dress indicated his profession of a priest. He approached the
mother and daughter with, "Peace be with you, ladies."
"You forget, good father," replied the elder of the females, "my name is
Alice--nothing more."
"I crave pardon for my forgetting who you were. I will be more mindful.
Well, then, Alice--yet that familiar term sounds strangely, and my
tongue will not accustom itself, even were I to remain here weeks,
instead of but two days--I was about to say, that the affair of last
night was most untoward. My presence is much wished for, and much
required, at St Germains. It was unfortunate, because it proves that we
have traitors among us somewhere; but of that, and of the whole affair,
I will have cognizance in a few days."
"And should you discover the party?"
"His doom is sealed."
"You are right."
"In so important and so righteous a cause, we must not stop at aught
necessary to secure our purpose. But, tell me, think you that your
husband will soon be here again?"
"I should think not to-night, but to-morrow or the next he will be off;
and if we can show the signals of surety he will land, if the weather
will permit."
"'Tis indeed time that I were over. Something might now be done."
"I would so too, father; it is a tedious time that I have spent here."
"And most unfitting for you, were it not that you laboured in a great
cause; but it must soon be decided, and then that fair lily shall be
transplanted, like a wild flower from the rock, and be nurtured in a
conservatory."
"Nay, for that, the time is hardly come. She is better here, as you see
her, father, than in the chambers of a court. For her sake I would still
remain; but for my husband's sake, and the perils he encounters, I wish
that one way or the other it were decided."
"Had there been faith in that Italian, it had been so before how,"
replied the priest, grinding his teeth, and turning away.
But the conversation was closed at the appearance of some women who came
out of the cave. They were variously clothed, some coarsely, and others
with greater pretensions to finery: they brought with them the
implements for cooking, and appeared surprised at the fire being already
lighted. Among them was one about twenty-five years of age, and although
more faded than she ought to have been at that early age, still with
pretensions to almost extreme beauty. She was more gaily dressed than
the others, and had a careless, easy air about her, which suited to her
handsome, slight figure. It was impossible to see her without being
interested, and desiring to know who she was.
This person was the Nancy mentioned by Alice in her conversation with
Lilly. Her original name had been Nancy Dawson, but she had married one
of the smugglers, of the name of Corbett. Her original profession,
previous to her marriage, we will not dwell upon; suffice it to say,
that she was the most celebrated person of that class in Portsmouth,
both for her talent and extreme beauty. Had she lived in the days of
King Charles II., and had he seen her, she would have been more renowned
than ever was Eleanor Gwynne; even as it was, she had been celebrated in
a song, which has not been lost to posterity. After a few years of
dissipated life, Nancy reformed, and became an honest woman, and an
honest wife. By her marriage with the smuggler, she had become one of
the fraternity, and had taken up her abode in the cave, which she was
not sorry to do, as she had become too famous at Portsmouth to remain
there as a married woman. Still she occasionally made her appearance,
and to a certain degree kept up her old acquaintances, that she might
discover what was going on--very necessary information for the
smugglers. She would laugh, and joke, and have her repartee as usual,
but in other points she was truly reformed. Her acquaintance was so
general, and she was such a favourite, that she was of the greatest use
to the band, and was always sent over to Portsmouth when her services
were required. It was supposed there, for she had reported it, that she
had retired to the Isle of Wight, and lived there with her husband, who
was a pilot, and that she came over to Portsmouth occasionally, to
inquire after her old friends, and upon business.
"Nancy Corbett, I must speak to you," said Alice. "Come aside: I wish
you, Nancy, to go over immediately. Can you go up, do you think, without
being perceived?"
"Yes, Mistress Alice, provided there is no one to see me."
"The case is so important, that we must run the risk."
"We've run cargoes of more value than that."
"But still you must use discretion, Nancy."
"That's a commodity that I've not been very well provided with through
life; but I have my wits in its stead."
"Then you must use your wit, Nancy."
"It's like an old knife, well worn, but all the sharper."
Alice then entered into a detail of what she would find out, and gave
her instructions to Nancy. The first point was, to ascertain whether it
was the cutter which had received the information; the second, who the
informer was.
Nancy, having received her orders, tied the strings of her bonnet,
caught up a handful of the victuals which were at the fire, and bidding
the others a laughing good-bye, with her mouth full, and one hand also
occupied, descended the ladder, previously to mounting the cliff.
"Nancy," said Lilly, who stood by the ladder, "bring me some pens."
"Yes, dear; will you have them alive, or dead?"
"Nonsense, I mean some quills."
"So do I, Miss Lilly; but if you want them dead, I shall bring them in
my pocket--if alive, I shall bring the goose under my arm."
"I only want the quills, Nancy," replied Lilly, laughing.
"And I think I shall want the feathers of them before I'm at the top,"
replied Nancy, looking up at the majestic cliff above her. "Good-bye,
Miss Lilly."
Nancy Corbett again filled her handsome mouth with bread, and commenced
her ascent. In less than a quarter of an hour she had disappeared over
the ridge.