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Cormorant Crag; A Tale of the Smuggling Days, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 11. The Sea Palace |
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_ CHAPTER ELEVEN. THE SEA PALACE
"Let's get back--quick, somehow," gasped the lad. "Yes: come on. We can feel our way," replied Vince. "Keep hold of hands. No, that would make it harder. Here, give me a piece of the rope, and I'll put it round my waist, then you can hold on by that and follow me. I think I can recollect exactly how it goes." "Be quick!" said Mike, in an awe-stricken whisper, as he passed several yards of the rope to his companion in misfortune; and this Vince fastened round his waist, and then uttered an ejaculation. "What is it?" cried Mike: "don't say something else is wrong." "Wrong? No," cried Vince, whose hands had come in contact with the creel: "I forgot the tinder-box." "Ah!" cried Mike joyfully; and he pressed close to Vince, as the latter sat down, took out the box, and began nicking away with the flint and steel, making the scintillating sparks flash and send their feeble light in all directions. "Oh, do make haste!" panted Mike; "that dreadful roaring's coming nearer." "I can hear it," muttered Vince, as he kept on nicking; but not a spark took hold of the tinder. "Here, let me try," cried Mike. "No, not yet: I'll do it. The tinder must have got damp." "Turn it over, then," cried Mike piteously. "Oh, do make haste." Vince thrust his fingers into the tinder-box to follow out his companion's instructions, and uttered an impatient sound. "What is it now?" "Such an idiot!" cried Vince. "I never took the tin off the top of the tinder." And so it was that after the disk, which damped out the sparks after a light had been obtained, was removed, the first blow of the flint on the steel sent down a shower, a couple of which caught at once, and were blown into an incandescent state, the match was applied, began to melt, and after a little trouble the sputtering candle once more burned brightly behind the semi-transparent horn, while the roaring sound did not now seem to be so loud. "I say," said Vince, with a forced laugh, "isn't it easy to feel scared when you're in the dark?" "Scared? It was awful!" "But we're not going to give up till we've seen where the water runs?" Mike remained silent. "We must do what we meant to do?" "Very well," said Mike, drawing a deep breath, which was followed by a gasp. "Come on, then, and let's get it over." Setting his teeth firmly, Vince once more attacked the unknown, and came upon another sharp turn, where the water must have eddied round, and was reflected almost back upon itself, and then turned away, after another rounded hollow, almost at right angles. Here the slope became a little more inclined, still not enough to make progress difficult; but as soon as the two windings had been passed, they knew that the goal they had marked out for themselves was at hand, for the noise suddenly became louder, and was unmistakably caused by water rushing over stones. "Take care!" cried Mike warningly. "You're close to it." "Yes," cried Vince excitedly; "we are close to it;" and he stopped and held up the lanthorn, so that his hand struck against the roof. "Look there!" Mike pressed close, and looked at the object which had taken his companion's attention; but for a few moments he realised nothing save that the passage had grown more contracted, and that the roof seemed to be formed by two huge pieces of glistening granite leaning together. Then he looked down and saw that the floor, which was smoother than ever, ran down suddenly, while a faint, damp, salt odour of sea-weed struck upon his nostrils as a puff of air was suddenly wafted up. "Mind, mind!" he shouted. "Ah!" For the lanthorn was once more darkened, but not by the candle being extinct. On the contrary, it was burning brightly still, but hidden by Vince drawing his jersey suddenly over the sides. "It's all right," cried Vince, for there before him was the shape of the end of the passage marked out by a pale, dawn-like light. "Can't you see? We've been fancying we've come down such a tremendous depth, and all the time we were right: the hole has led us to the shore." But Vince was not quite right, for, upon his drawing the lanthorn out-- and none too soon, an odour of singed worsted becoming perceptible--they found that the sudden sharp slope of the granite flooring went down some twenty feet, and upon lowering the light by means of the rope the lanthorn came to rest in soft sand. "It isn't very light down there," said Vince, whose feelings of nervousness were being rapidly displaced by an intense desire to see more; "but light does come in, and there's the waves running in and out round here. You don't want to go back now, do you?" "No," said Mike quickly. "Who's to go down first?" "I will, for I found out what it was." "All right," said Mike; "but we shall want the rope. How are we to fasten it?" "There's plenty," said Vince, "and we'll go back and tie it round that last great stone in the hole." This was done, Mike lighting him; and then, upon their returning, the rope coil was thrown down. "Here goes!" cried Vince. "Hold the light high up." Mike raised it on high, and leaned forward as far as he could; while, sitting down and grasping the rope, Vince let himself glide, and the next moment his feet sank deep in soft sand. "Come on!" he shouted back to where Mike was anxiously watching from twenty feet or so above him. "It's easy as easy. Never mind the lanthorn." He looked round as he spoke, to see that he was in a large cavern, floored with beautifully smooth, soft sand, and lit up by the same soft grey dawn that had greeted him at the end of the passage, but how it entered the place he could not make out, for no opening was visible, and the rushing, roaring sound of the water came from the lofty roof. Vince's was only a momentary glance, for Mike was coming slowly down the smooth shoot, sliding on his back, but lowering himself foot by foot, as he held on to the rope. "There!" cried Vince, as his companion stood beside him, gazing at the rugged walls and lofty roof of the great dry channel; "wasn't this worth coming to see?" "Why, it's grand," replied Mike, in a subdued voice. "I say, what a place!" "What a place? I should think it is. I say, Ladle, we've discovered this, and it's all our own. You and I ought to come and stay here when we like. I say, isn't it a size? Why, it must be thirty feet long." He paced across the rugged hollow, tramping through the soft sand. "Twelve paces," he cried from the other side. "It's splendid; but I wish it was a bit lighter. There must be somewhere for the light to come in. Yes, I see!" Vince pointed up at the side farthest from him where he stood, and a little closer investigation showed that the pale soft light appeared to be reflected upward against the roof, coming from behind a screen of rock. Crossing to this spot, they found that they could pass round the rocky screen, which reached half-way to the ceiling, and they now stood in a narrow passage lit by a soft green light, which came through a low arch, and on reaching and passing through this the boys uttered a shout of delight, for before them was another cavern of ample dimensions, whose low flattened roof was glorious with a lovely, ever-changing pattern, formed by the reflection of the sunlight from the waves outside. They were fascinated for the time by the appearance of the roof, which seemed to be all in motion--lights and shadows, soft as silken weavings, chasing each other, opening, closing, and interlacing in the most wonderful way, till they grew dazzled. "It's too much to see at one time," whispered Mike at last. "I say! look at the arch with ferns hanging all round like lace." "Yes, and what a colour the sea is!" "And the anemones and limpets and coral! Look at those pools, too, among the rocks." "Yes, and outside at the sea-birds. I say, Ladle! did you ever see anything like it?" "Never thought there was such a beautiful place in the world," replied Mike softly. "Shall we go any farther?" "Go any farther? I should think we will! Why, Mikey, this is all our own! Two beautiful caverns, one opening into the other, and all a secret, only known to ourselves. Talk about luck! But come on." They passed under the arch, and stood in a cavern opening by another arch upon the sea, which rippled and played amongst the sand below, the mouth of the place being protected by ridge after ridge of rock just level with the surface, and sufficient to break the force of the wild currents, which boiled as they rushed by a short distance out. This cavern appeared as if, at some distant period, it had been eaten out of soft or half-decayed strata by the waves; and its peculiarity was the great extent of low, fairly level roof, which in places the lads could touch by tiptoeing and extending their fingers. It ran in at least a hundred feet; and apparently, from the state of the sand, was never invaded by the highest tides, which were pretty exactly marked by the living shells and sea-weed at the mouth. Everywhere the place was carpeted with soft sand, through which stood up smooth blocks with flattened tops, readily suggesting tables, chairs and couches of the hardest and most durable nature. They were not long in examining every cranny and crevice inward, fully expecting to find some low arch leading into another or a series of caverns; but they found nothing more, and did not spend much time in examining the place, for the great attraction was the mouth, through which, as if it were a frame, they gazed out at the glittering cove and the barrier of rock, dotted with sea-birds, which hid the open sea beyond. Making their way, then, to the mouth, and hastily taking off shoe and stocking, they tucked up and began to wade, so as to get outside; but the huge buttresses which supported the rugged arch completely shut them in, running out as they did to where the sea swirled along with tremendous force, and looked so deep and formidable, that the two lads grasped in a moment what the consequences of a slip would be,--no swimmer could have stemmed such a rush. "It's jolly--it's grand--it's splendid!" cried Vince at last, after they had been paddling about for some time in the shallow water, and stepping on to the low ridges of rock which barred the entrance; "but it's precious disappointing." "Yes," said Mike; "for we can't see much now, shut-in like this." It was quite true; for when they had stepped from rock to rock as far as they dared go, they were still in the mouth of the cave, which projected far out over them like a porch, and completely hid the cove on either side and the precipice extending upward to the ridge. "I want to get round there to the left," said Vince, after gazing thoughtfully along the foot of one large buttress. "It looks shallow there, for the water's pale green. I can't see from here, but I don't believe it's up to one's knees." "We'll try," said Mike, springing on to the rock, flush with the water, upon which Vince stood, with none too much room. "Mind what you're doing!" "Oh my! how sharp the rock is!" shouted Mike, who stood on one leg to pet and comfort an injured toe. "I shall go along there," said Vince, "and then keep close to the wall." "But you'll mind and not get in the current. It would take you away directly." "Just as if it was likely I should risk it, with my clothes on!" said Vince scornfully. "Do you suppose I want a soaking? I think, you know, that if I get along there I shall be able to hold on and look up at this part of the cliffs. 'Tis a pity there isn't a narrow shore, so that you could walk right round." "Well, take care," said Mike. "Mind, I'm not coming in after you, to get wet." Vince laughed, and, picking his way, he stepped from stone to stone, till he was only a short distance from the massive wall of the buttress, and not far from where the sun shone upon the water. "Why, it's as shallow as shallow!" he cried. "I thought it was, it looked so pale and green. I don't believe it's a foot deep, and it's all sand, just like a garden walk; you can wade right out here, Mike, and round by the corner, and I dare say all round the cove like this." "Oh, do mind!" cried Mike. "Of course I'll mind. Don't suppose I want to drown myself, do you? What are you afraid of?" "I'm not afraid." "Yes, you are. You keep thinking of old Joe's nonsense about the place being full of water bogies and things, when all the time there's nothing but some dangerous rocks, and the sharp eddies and currents. Why, I haven't even seen a fish!" "Well, I have," said Mike. "I can see the mullet lying down here in the still black water, so thick that they almost touch one another." "You can? Well, I'll come and have a look presently. Here goes for a wade." Vince gave the bottoms of his trousers an extra roll, so as to get them as high as possible above his knees, and leaning forward from where he stood upon a detached block of stone, he rested his hands upon the side of the great buttress, and lowered one foot into the water over ankle, calf, and knee; and then he uttered a cry, and nearly went headlong, but making a violent effort, he wrenched himself back, thrusting the rock with all his might, and came down in a sitting position upon the great stone. _ |
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