The necessity for building another tower was thus made; as it were, urgently obvious; nevertheless, nearly four years elapsed before any one was found with sufficient courage and capacity to attempt the dangerous and difficult enterprise.
During this period, our friend John Potter, being a steady, able man, found plenty of work at the docks of Plymouth; but he often cast a wistful glance in the direction of “the Rock” and sighed to think of the tower that had perished, and the numerous wrecks5 that had occurred in consequence; for, not only had some vessels6 struck on the Rock itself, but others, keeping too far off its dreaded locality, were wrecked7 on the coast of France. John Potter’s sigh, it must be confessed, was also prompted, in part, by the thought that his dreams of a retired8 and peaceful life as a light-keeper were now destined9 never to be realised.
Returning home one evening, somewhat wearied, he flung his huge frame into a stout10 arm chair by the fireside, and exclaimed, “Heigho!”
“Deary me, John, what ails11 you to-night?” asked the faithful Martha, who was, as of yore, busy with the supper.
“Nothin’ partikler, Martha; only I’ve had a hard day of it, an I’m glad to sit down. Was Isaac Dorkin here to-day?”
“No, ’e wasn’t. I wonder you keep company with that man,” replied Mrs Potter, testily12; “he’s for ever quarrelling with ’ee, John.”
“No doubt he is, Martha; but we always make it up again; an’ it don’t do for a man to give up his comrades just because they have sharp words now and then. Why, old girl, you and I are always havin’ a spurt13 o’ that sort off and on; yet I don’t ever talk of leavin’ ye on that account.”
To this Martha replied, “Fiddlesticks;” and said that she didn’t believe in the friendship of people who were always fighting and making it up again; that for her part she would rather have no friends at all, she wouldn’t; and that she had a settled conviction, she had, that Isaac Dorkin would come to a bad end at last.
“I hope not, Martha; but in the meantime he has bin14 the means of gettin’ me some work to do that is quite to my liking15.”
“What may that be, John?” asked Mrs Potter in surprise.
“I’ll tell you when we’re at supper,” said John with a smile; for he knew from experience that his better half was in a fitter state to swallow unpleasant news when engaged in swallowing her meals than at any other time.
“Where is Tommy?” he added, looking round at the quantity of chips which littered the floor.
“Where is ’e?” repeated Mrs Potter, in a tone of indignation. “Where would you expect ’im to be but after mischief16? ’E’s at the mod’l, of course; always at it; never at hanythingk else a’most.”
“O yes, of course ’e was at school.”
“An’ did he git his lessons for to-morrow after comin’ ’ome?”
“I suppose ’e did.”
“Ah then, he does something else sometimes, eh?”
Mrs Potter’s reply was interrupted by Tommy himself emerging from a closet, which formed his workshop and in which he was at that time busy with a model of Winstanley’s lighthouse, executed from the drawings and descriptions by his father, improved by his own brilliant fancy.
Four years make a marked difference on a boy in the early stage of life. He was now nearly ten, and well grown, both intellectually and physically18, for his age.
“Well, Tommy, how d’ee git on wi’ the light-’ouse?” asked his father.
“Pretty well, faither: but it seems to me that Mr Winstanley had too many stickin’-out poles, an’ curlywurleys, an’ things o’ that sort about it.”
“Listen to that now,” said Mrs Potter, with a look of contempt, as they all sat down to supper: “what ever does the boy mean by curlywurleys?”
“You’ve seed Isaac Dorkin’s nose, mother?”
“Of course I ’ave: what then?”
“Well, it goes in at the top and out at the middle and curls up at the end: that’s curlywurley,” said Tommy, with a grin, as he helped himself to a large potato.
“The boy is right, Martha,” said John, laughing, “for a lighthouse should be as round an’ as smooth as a ship’s bow, with nothin’ for wind or water to lay hold on. But now I’ll tell ’ee of this noo situation.”
Both mother and son looked inquiringly up, but did not speak, being too busy and hungry.
“Well, this is how it came about. I met Isaac Dorkin on my way to the docks this mornin’, an’ he says to me, says he, ‘John, I met a gentleman who is makin’ very partikler inquiries19 about the Eddystone Rock: his name he says is Rudyerd, and he wants to hire a lot o’ first-rate men to begin a new—’”
“A noo light’ouse!” exclaimed Mrs Potter, with sudden energy, bringing her fist down on the table with such force that the dishes rattled20 again. “I know’d it: I did. I’ve ’ad a settled conviction that if ever they begun to put up another ’ouse on that there rock, you would ’ave your finger in it! And now it’ll be the old story over again: out in all weathers, gettin’ yer limbs bruised21, if yer neck ain’t broke; comin’ ’ome like a drownded rat, no regular hours or meals! Oh John, John!”
Mrs Potter stopped at this point to recover breath and make up her mind whether to storm or weep. Heaving a deep sigh she did neither, but went on with her supper in sad silence.
“Don’t take on like that, duckey,” said John, stretching his long arm across the table and patting his wife’s shoulder. “It won’t be so bad as that comes to, and it will bring steady work, besides lots o’ money.”
“Go on with the story, faither,” said Tommy, through a potato, while his eyes glittered with excitement.
“It ain’t a story, lad. However, to make it short I may come to the pint22 at once. Isaac got engaged himself and mentioned my name to Mr Rudyerd, who took the trouble to ferret me out in the docks and—and in fact engaged me for the work, which is to begin next week.”
“Capital!” exclaimed Tommy. “Oh, how I wish I was old enough to go too!”
“Time enough, lad: every dog shall have his day, as the proverb says.”
Mrs Potter said nothing, but sighed, and sought comfort in another cup of tea.
Meanwhile John continued his talk in an easy, off hand sort of way, between bite.
“This Mr Rudyerd, you must know (pass the loaf, Tommy: thank ’ee), is a Cornish man—and fine, straightforward23, go-ahead fellows them Cornish men are, though I’m not one myself. Ah, you needn’t turn up your pretty nose, Mrs Potter; I would rather have bin born in Cornwall than any other county in England, if I’d had my choice. Howsever, that ain’t possible now. Well, it seems that Mr Rudyerd is a remarkable24 sort of man. He came of poor an’ dishonest parents, from whom he runned away in his young days, an’ got employed by a Plymouth gentleman, who became a true father to him, and got him a good edication in readin’, writin’, an’ mathematics. Ah, Tommy, my son, many a time have I had cause for to regret that nobody gave me a good edication!”
“Fiddlesticks!” exclaimed Mrs Potter, rousing up at this. “You’ve got edication enough for your station in life, and a deal more than most men in the same trade. You oughtn’t for to undervally yourself, John. I’d back you against all your acquaintance in the matter of edication, I would, so don’t talk any more nonsense like that.”
Mrs Potter concluded by emphatically stabbing a potato with her fork, and beginning to peel it.
John smiled sadly and shook his head, but he was too wise a man to oppose his wife on such a point.
“However, Tommy,” he continued, “I’ll not let you have the same regrets in after life, my son: God helping25 me, you shall have a good; edication. Well, as I was sayin’, John Rudyerd the runaway26 boy became Mister Rudyerd the silk-mercer on Ludgate Hill, London, and now he’s goin’ to build a noo light’ouse on the Eddystun.”
“He’d do better to mind his shop,” said Mrs Potter.
“He must be a strange man,” observed Tommy, “to be both a silk-mercer and an engineer.”
Tommy was right: Mr Rudyerd was indeed a strange man, for the lighthouse which he ultimately erected27 on the Eddystone Rock proved that, although not a professional engineer, and although he never attempted any other great work of the kind, he nevertheless possessed28 engineering talent of the highest order: a fact which must of course have been known to Captain Lovet, the gentleman who selected him for the arduous29 undertaking30.
The corporation of the Trinity House, who managed the lighthouses on the English coast, had let the right to build on the Eddystone, for a period of 99 years, to this Captain Lovet, who appointed Mr Rudyerd to do the work.
It was a clear calm morning in July 1706 when the boat put off for the first time to “the Rock,” with the men and materials for commencing the lighthouse. Our friend John Potter sat at the helm. Opposite to him sat his testy31 friend, Isaac Dorkin, pulling the stroke oar4. Mr Rudyerd and his two assistant engineers sat on either hand, conversing32 on the subject that filled the thoughts of all. It was a long hard pull, even on a calm day, but stout oars33 and strong arms soon carried them out to the rock. Being low water at the time, a good deal of it was visible, besides several jagged peaks of the black forbidding ridge34 of which the Eddystone forms a part.
But calm though it was, the party could plainly see that the work before them would be both difficult and dangerous. A slight swell35 from the open sea caused a long smooth glassy wave to roll solemnly forward every minute or two, and launch itself in thunder on the weather side, sending its spray right over the rock at times, so that a landing on that side would have been impossible. On the lee side, however, the boat found a sort of temporary harbour. Here they landed, but not altogether without mishap36. Isaac Dorkin, who had made himself conspicuous37, during the row out, for caustic38 remarks, and a tendency to contradict, slipped his foot on a piece of seaweed and fell into the water, to the great glee of most of his comrades.
The others laughed, and so did John Potter; but he also stretched out a helping hand and pulled Dorkin out of the sea.
This little incident tended to increase the spirits of the party as they commenced preliminary operations.
The form of the little mass of rock on which they had to build was very unfavourable. Not only was it small—so small that the largest circle which it was possible to draw on it was only twenty-five feet six inches in diameter, but its surface sloped so much as to afford a very insecure foundation for any sort of building, even if the situation had been an unexposed one.
The former builder, Winstanley, had overcome this difficulty by fastening a circle of strong iron posts into the solid rock, but the weight of his building, coupled with the force of the sea, had snapped these, and thus left the structure literally40 to slide off its foundation. The ends of these iron posts, and a bit of chain firmly imbedded in a cleft41 of the rock, were all that the new party of builders found remaining of the old lighthouse. Rudyerd determined42 to guard against a similar catastrophe43, by cutting the rock into a succession of flat steps or terraces, so that the weight of his structure should rest perpendicularly44 on its foundation.
Stormy weather interrupted and delayed him, but he returned with his men again and again to the work, and succeeded in advancing it very considerably45 during the first year—that is to say, during the few weeks of the summer of that year, in which winds and waves permitted the work to go on.
Many adventures, both ludicrous and thrilling, had these enterprising men while they toiled46, by snatches as it were, sometimes almost under water, and always under difficulties; but we are constrained47 to pass these by, in silence, in order to devote our space to the more important and stirring incidents in the history of this the second lighthouse on the Eddystone,—one of which incidents bade fair to check the progress of the building for an indefinite period of time, and well-nigh brought the career of our hero, John Potter, and his mates to an abrupt48 close.
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1
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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2
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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3
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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4
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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5
wrecks
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| n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉 | |
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6
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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7
wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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8
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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11
ails
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| v.生病( ail的第三人称单数 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳 | |
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12
testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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13
spurt
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| v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆 | |
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14
bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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15
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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16
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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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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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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21
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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straightforward
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| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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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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runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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27
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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28
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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29
arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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30
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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testy
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| adj.易怒的；暴躁的 | |
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conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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33
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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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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caustic
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| adj.刻薄的，腐蚀性的 | |
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39
maroon
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| v.困住，使（人）处于孤独无助之境；n.逃亡黑奴；孤立的人；酱紫色，褐红色；adj.酱紫色的，褐红色的 | |
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40
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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41
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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42
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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43
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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44
perpendicularly
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| adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地 | |
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45
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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46
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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47
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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48
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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