Tide was low when they started. They had nearly three miles to walk. The pools in front of Deal and Walmer had often been searched, but they hoped that once round the Foreland they might light upon specimens4 differing from any which they had hitherto found. For some hours they searched the pools, retiring as the tide advanced. Then they went up to the foot of the cliffs, and sat down to open their cans and compare the treasures they had collected. The spot which they had unwittingly selected was a little bay. For a long time they sat comparing their specimens. Then Frank said, “Come along, it is time to be moving.”
As he rose to his feet he uttered an exclamation5 of dismay. Although the tide was still at some little distance from the spot where they were sitting, it had already reached the cliffs extending out at either end of the bay. A brisk wind was blowing on shore, and the waves were already splashing against the foot of the rocks.
The whole party leaped to their feet, and seizing their cans ran off at the top of their speed to the end of the bay.
The water soon reached Frank's waist. He waded7 on until it was up to his shoulders, and he had to leap as each wave approached him. Then he returned to his friends.
“I could see round,” he said, “and I think I could have got round without getting into deeper water. The worst of it is the bottom is all rocky, and I stumbled several times, and should have gone under water if I could not have swam. You can't swim, Ruthven, I know; can you other fellows?”
Goodall could swim, as could one of the others.
“Now, Ruthven,” Frank said, “if you will put your hand on my shoulder and keep quiet, I think I could carry you around. Goodall and Jackson can take Childers.”
But neither of the other boys had much confidence in their swimming. They could get thirty or forty yards, but felt sure that they would be able to render but little assistance to Childers, and in fact scarcely liked to round the point alone. For some time they debated the question, the sea every minute rising and pushing them farther and farther from the point. “Look here, Frank,” Ruthven said at last; “you are not sure you can carry me. The others are quite certain that they cannot take Childers. We must give up that idea. The best thing, old boy, is for you three who can swim to start together. Then if either of the others fail you can help them a bit. Childers and I must take our chance here. When you get round you must send a boat as soon as possible.”
“I certainly shall not desert you, Ruthven,” Frank said. “You know as well as I do that I'm not likely to find a boat on the shore till I get pretty near Walmer Castle, and long before we could get back it would be settled here. No, no, old fellow, we will see the matter out together. Jackson and Goodall can swim round if they like.”
These lads, however, would not venture to take the risk alone, but said they would go if Frank would go with them.
“Chuck off your boots and coats and waistcoats,” Frank said suddenly, proceeding8 to strip rapidly to the skin. “I will take them round, Ruthven, and come back to you. Run round the bay you and Childers, and see if you can find any sort of ledge9 or projection10 that we can take refuge upon. Now, then, come on you two as quick as you can.”
The sea had already reached within a few feet of the foot of the cliff all round the bay.
“Now, mind,” Frank said sharply, “no struggling and nonsense, you fellows. I will keep quite close to you and stick to you, so you needn't be afraid. If you get tired just put one hand on my back and swim with the other and your legs; and above all things keep your heads as low as possible in the water so as just to be able to breathe.”
The three lads soon waded out as far as they could go and then struck out. Jackson and Goodall were both poor swimmers and would have fared very badly alone. The confidence, however, which they entertained in Frank gave them courage, and they were well abreast11 of the point when first Jackson and then Goodall put their hands on his shoulders. Thanks to the instructions he had given them, and to their confidence in him, they placed no great weight upon him. But every ounce tells heavily on a swimmer, and Frank gave a gasp12 of relief as at last his feet touched the ground. Bidding his companions at once set off at a run he sat down for two or three minutes to recover his breath.
“It is lucky,” he said to himself, “that I did not try with Ruthven. It's a very different thing carrying fellows who can swim and fellows who can't. What fools we've been to let ourselves he caught here! I had no idea the tide came so high, or that it was so dangerous, and none of us have ever been round here before. Now I must go back to Ruthven.”
Frank found it even harder work to get back than it had been to come out from the bay, for the tide was against him now. At last he stood beside Ruthven and Childers.
“We can only find one place, Frank, where there is any projection a fellow could stand upon, and that is only large enough for one. See!” he said, pointing to a projecting block of chalk, whose upper surface, some eight inches wide, was tolerably flat. “There is a cave here, too, which may go beyond the tide. It is not deep but it slopes up a bit.”
“That will never do,” Frank said; “as the waves come in they will rush up and fill it to the top. Don't you see it is all rounded by the water? Now, Childers, we will put you on that stone. You will be perfectly13 safe there, for you see it is two feet above this greenish line, which shows where the water generally comes to. The tides are not at spring at present, so though you may get a splashing there is no fear of your being washed off.”
The water was already knee deep at the foot of the rocks, and the waves took them nearly up to the shoulders. Ruthven did not attempt to dispute Frank's allotment of the one place of safety to Childers. Frank and he placed themselves below the block of chalk, which was somewhat over six feet from the ground. Then Childers scrambled14 up on to their shoulders, and from these stepped onto the ledge.
“I am all right,” he said; “I wish to Heaven that you were too.”
“We shall do,” Frank said. “Mind you hold tight, Childers! You had better turn round with your face to the cliff, so as to be able to grip hold and steady yourself in case the waves come up high. The tide will turn in three quarters of an hour at the outside. Now, then, Ruthven, let's make a fight for it, old man.”
“What are you going to do, Frank?”
“We will wade along here as far as we can towards the corner, and than we must swim for it.”
“Don't you think it's possible to stay here,” Ruthven said, “if the tide will turn so soon?”
“Quite impossible!” Frank said. “I have been nearly taken off my feet twice already, and the water will rise a yard yet, at least. We should be smashed against the rocks, even if we weren't drowned. It must be tried, Ruthven. There is no other way for it. The distance is a good deal farther than it would have been if we had started at first; but it isn't the distance that makes much matter. We've only got to go out a little way, and the tide will soon take us around the point. Everything depends on you. I can take you round the point, and land you safely enough, if you will lie quiet. If you don't, you will drown both of us. So it's entirely15 in your hands.
“Look out!”
At this moment a larger wave than usual took both boys off their legs, and dashed them with considerable force against the cliff. Frank seized Ruthven, and assisted him to regain16 his feet.
“Now, old fellow, let me put you on your back. I will lie on mine and tow you along. Don't struggle; don't move; above all, don't try and lift your head, and don't mind if a little water gets in your mouth. Now!”
For a moment Ruthven felt himself under water, and had to make a great effort to restrain himself from struggling to come to the surface. Then he felt himself lying on his back in the water, supported by Frank. The motion was not unpleasant as he rose and fell on the waves, although now and then a splash of water came over his face, and made him cough and splutter for breath. He could see nothing but the blue sky overhead, could feel nothing except that occasionally he received a blow from one or other of Frank's knees, as the latter swam beneath him, with Ruthven's head on his chest. It was a dreamy sensation, and looking back upon it afterwards Ruthven could never recall anything that he had thought of. It seemed simply a drowsy17 pleasant time, except when occasionally a wave covered his face. His first sensation was that of surprise when he felt the motion change, and Frank lifted his head from the water and said, “Stand up, old fellow. Thank God, here we are, safe!”
Frank had indeed found the journey easier than that which he had before undertaken with the others. He had scarcely tried to progress, but had, after getting sufficiently18 far out to allow the tide to take him round the point, drifted quietly.
“I owe my life to you, Frank. I shall never forget it, old fellow.”
“It's been a close thing,” Frank answered; “but you owe your life as much to your own coolness as to me, and above all, Ruthven, don't let us forget that we both owe our lives to God.”
“I sha'n't forget it,” Ruthven said quietly, and they stood for a few minutes without speaking. “Now, what had we better do? Shall we start to run home?”
“I can't,” Frank laughed, for he had nothing on but his trousers. These he had slipped on after the return from his first trip, pushing the rest of his things into a crevice19 in the rocks as high up as he could reach.
“You had better take off your things, Ruthven, and lay them out to dry in the sun. The boat will be here in half an hour. I wonder how Childers is getting on!”
“I think he will be safe,” Ruthven said. “The tide will not rise high enough for there to be much danger of his being washed off.”
“I don't think so either,” Frank agreed, “or I would try and swim back again; but I really don't think I could get round the point against the tide again.”
“They are laying out well,” Ruthven said. “They couldn't row harder if they were rowing a race. But had it not been for you, old fellow, they would have been too late, as far as I am concerned.”
As the boat approached, the coxswain waved his hat to the boys. Frank motioned with his arm for them to row on round the point. The boat swept along at a short distance from the shore. The boys watched them breathlessly. Presently as it reached the point they saw the coxswain stand up and say something to the men, who glanced over their shoulders as they rowed. Then the coxswain gave a loud shout. “Hold on! We'll be with you directly.”
“Thank God!” Frank exclaimed, “Childers is all right.”
It was well, however, that the boat arrived when it did, for Childers was utterly21 exhausted22 when it reached him. The sea had risen so high that the waves broke against his feet, throwing the spray far above his head, and often nearly washing him from the ledge on which he stood. Had it not been, indeed, for the hold which he obtained of the cliff, it would several times have swept him away. About eighteen inches above his head he had found a ledge sufficiently wide to give a grip for his hands, and hanging by these he managed to retain his place when three times his feet were swept off the rock by the rush of water. The tide was just on the turn when the boat arrived, and so exhausted was he that he certainly would not have been able to hold out for the half hour's buffeting23 to which he would have been exposed before the water fell sufficiently to leave him. After helping24 him into the boat the men gathered the clothes jammed in fissures25 of the cliffs. These were, of course, drenched26 with water, but had for the most part remained firm in their places. They now pulled round to the spot where Frank and Ruthven were awaiting them.
“Childers must have been pretty nearly done,” Frank said. “He must be lying in the bottom of the boat.”
Childers gave a smile of pleasure as his schoolfellows jumped on board. He had, glancing over his shoulder, seen them drift out of sight round the point, and had felt certain that they had reached shore. It was, however, a great pleasure to be assured of the fact.
“You have made quite a stir upon the beach, young gentlemen,” the coxswain of the boat said. “When they two came running up without their shoes or coats and said there were three of you cut off in the bay under the Foreland, there didn't seem much chance for you. It didn't take us two minutes to launch the boat, for there were a score of hands helping to run her down; and my mates bent27 to it well, I can tell you, though we didn't think it would be of any use. We were glad when we made you two out on this side of the point. Look, there's half Deal and Walmer coming along the shore.”
It was as the boatman said. Numbers of persons were streaming along the beach, and loud were the cheers which rose as the coxswain stood up and shouted in a stentorian28 voice, “All saved!”
Frank put on his things as they approached Walmer. His shoes were lost, as were those of Ruthven, and he had difficulty in getting his arms into his wet and shrunken jacket. Quite a crowd were gathered near the castle as the boat rowed to shore, and a hearty29 cheer arose as it was run up on the shingle30 and the boys were helped out. Frank and Ruthven, indeed, required no assistance. They were in no way the worse for the adventure, but Childers was so weak that he was unable to stand. He was carried up and laid on a fly, the others sitting opposite, the driver having first taken the precaution of removing the cushions.
There were among the crowd most of the boys from Dr. Parker's. Goodall and Jackson had arrived nearly an hour and a half before, and the news had spread like wildfire. Bats and balls had been thrown down and every one had hurried to the beach. Goodall and his companion had already related the circumstance of their being cut off by the water and taken round the point by Frank; and as Ruthven on jumping out had explained to his comrades who flocked round to shake his hand, “I owe my life to Hargate,” the enthusiasm reached boiling point, and Frank had difficulty in taking his place in the fly, so anxious were all to shake his hand and pat him on the shoulder. Had it not been for his anxiety to get home as soon as possible, and his urgent entreaties31, they would have carried him on their shoulders in triumph through the town. They drove first to the school, where Childers was at once carried up to a bed, which had been prepared with warm blankets in readiness; Ruthven needed only to change his clothes.
The moment they had left the fly Frank drove straight home, and was delighted at finding, from his mother's exclamation of surprise as he alighted from the cab, that she had not been suffering any anxiety, no one, in the general excitement, having thought of taking the news to her. In answer to her anxious inquiries32 he made light of the affair, saying only that they had stupidly allowed themselves to be cut off by the sea and had got a ducking. It was not, indeed, till the next morning, when the other four boys came around to tell Mrs. Hargate that they were indebted to Frank for their lives, that she had any notion that he had been in danger.
Frank was quite oppressed by what he called the fuss which was made over the affair. A thrilling description of it appeared in the local papers. A subscription33 was got up in the school, and a gold watch with an inscription34 was presented to him; and he received letters of heart felt thanks from the parents of his four schoolfellows, for Childers maintained that it was entirely to Frank's coolness and thoughtfulness that his preservation35 was also due.
On the following Wednesday the school broke up. Frank had several invitations from the boys to spend his holidays with them; but he knew how lonely his mother would feel in his absence, and he declined all the invitations. Mrs. Hargate was far from strong, and had had several fits of fainting. These, however, had taken place at times when Frank was at school, and she had strictly36 charged her little servant to say nothing about it.
One day on returning from a long walk he saw the doctor's carriage standing37 at the door. Just as he arrived the door opened and the doctor came out. Upon seeing Frank he turned.
“Come in here, my boy,” he said.
Frank followed him, and seeing that the blinds were down, went to draw them up. The doctor laid his hand on his arm.
“Never mind that,” he said gently.
“No, indeed,” Frank said with a gasp of pain and surprise.
“It is so, my boy. I have been attending her for some time. She has been suffering from fainting fits brought on by weakness of the heart's action. Two hours since I was sent for and found her unconscious. My poor boy, you must compose yourself. God is good and merciful, though his decrees are hard to bear. Your mother passed away quietly half an hour since, without recovering consciousness.”
Frank gave a short cry, and then sat stunned39 by the suddenness of the blow. The doctor drew out a small case from his pocket and poured a few drops from the phial into a glass, added some water, and held it to Frank's lips.
“Drink this, my boy,” he said.
Frank turned his head from the offered glass. He could not speak.
“Drink this, my boy,” the doctor said again; “it will do you good. Try and be strong for the sake of your little sister, who has only you in the world now.”
The thought of Lucy touched the right chord in the boy's heart, and he burst into a passionate40 fit of crying. The doctor allowed his tears to flow unchecked.
“You will be better now,” he said presently. “Now drink this, then lie down on the sofa. We must not be having you ill, you know.”
Frank gulped41 down the contents of the glass, and, passive as a child, allowed the doctor to place him upon the sofa.
“God help and strengthen you, my poor boy,” he said; “ask help from Him.”
For an hour Frank lay sobbing42 on the sofa, and then, remembering the doctor's last words, he knelt beside it and prayed for strength.
A week had passed. The blinds were up again. Mrs. Hargate had been laid in her last home, and Frank was sitting alone again in the little parlor43 thinking over what had best be done. The outlook was a dark one, enough to shake the courage of one much older than Frank. His mother's pension, he knew, died with her. He had, on the doctor's advice, written to the War Office on the day following his mother's death, to inform the authorities of the circumstances, and to ask if any pension could be granted to his sister. The reply had arrived that morning and had relieved him of the greatest of his cares. It stated that as he was now just fifteen years old he was not eligible44 for a pension, but that twenty-five pounds a year would be paid to his sister until she married or attained45 the age of twenty-one.
He had spoken to the doctor that morning, and the latter said that he knew a lady who kept a small school, and who would, he doubted not, be willing to receive Lucy and to board and clothe her for that sum. She was a very kind and motherly person, and he was sure that Lucy would be most kindly46 treated and cared for by her. It was then of his own future only that Frank had to think. There were but a few pounds in the house, but the letter from the War Office inclosed a check for twenty pounds, as his mother's quarterly pension was just due. The furniture of the little house would fetch but a small sum, not more, Frank thought, than thirty or forty pounds. There were a few debts to pay, and after all was settled up there would remain about fifty pounds. Of this he determined47 to place half in the doctor's hands for the use of Lucy.
“She will want,” he said to himself, “a little pocket money. It is hard on a girl having no money to spend of her own. Then, as she gets on, she may need lessons in something or other. Besides, half the money rightly belongs to her, The question is, What am I to do?”
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1
naturalists
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| n.博物学家( naturalist的名词复数 )；（文学艺术的）自然主义者 | |
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2
anemones
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| n.银莲花( anemone的名词复数 )；海葵 | |
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3
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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4
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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5
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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6
wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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waded
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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11
abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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12
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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13
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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14
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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16
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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buffeting
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| 振动 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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fissures
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| n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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stentorian
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| adj.大声的，响亮的 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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30
shingle
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| n.木瓦板；小招牌(尤指医生或律师挂的营业招牌)；v.用木瓦板盖（屋顶）；把（女子头发）剪短 | |
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entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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subscription
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| n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方） | |
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inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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ailing
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| v.生病 | |
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stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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40
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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41
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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42
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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43
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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44
eligible
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| adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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45
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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46
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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