*CHAPTER XVII.*
*"DON'T PERSUADE ME NOT TO, ANY MORE."*
Meanwhile, how had the missing trio been spending their time?
With delight, after walking about a quarter of a mile along the cliff,they found some old, uneven steps leading down to its base. They werevery unsafe-looking, as several were missing at intervals; but, neitherof the three girls being troubled with nerves, they proceeded to descendcautiously. Amethyst was the last to climb down, and it was her whitehandkerchief, fluttering in the breeze, which Mrs. Drury and Elsa hadseen.
"I say, girls, mind how you get down here," cried Monica, who wasleader. "It's an awful stretch." And she dropped a distance of severalfeet, to gain a foothold on a lower step.
"It's a good thing we have a gymnasium at school," said Olive, who hadlost a considerable amount of breath over her scrambling; "that kind ofpractice helps one in experiences of this sort."
"Oh, Olive, I can't possibly get down there, my legs won't reach!" AndAmethyst looked hopelessly at the long distance between the step she wason and the next one below.
"Drop down, you'll be all right," said both the girls encouragingly.
"Oh, I couldn't, I should fall!" cried the smaller girl, a spice of fearin the shrill tones.
"Oh, come along! Don't be a coward, Thistle!" said Olivecontemptuously. "Here, I'll give you a hand."
Either the hand or the sneer had the desired effect, for Amethyst was aplucky little girl really; and in another moment she was landed safelyon the lower step.
That proved to be the worst difficulty, and eventually, the shore wasreached without further trouble.
"I wish Jack was here; he would like a race along this sand, poor oldchap," said Monica, whose one sorrow had been the leaving of her devoteddog behind.
"Yes, isn't it jolly down here, and not a soul to be seen," cried Olive."I wonder if there are any shells about?"
A search was instituted, and a collection of various kinds quicklygathered together, and tied up in a handkerchief. Then paddling wasproposed, and a merry time ensued of splashing about, off and on thelarge flat rocks with which the sand was thickly studded at thatparticular spot.
"What's the time, Monica?" Amethyst enquired at length.
"Why, past three already," was the horrified reply; "how quickly thetime has flown! We must give this up, girls, and get our shoes andstockings on."
The drying process was accomplished as satisfactorily as was compatiblewith only two very minute handkerchiefs, and seizing the bundle ofshells, the girls reluctantly bade farewell to the charming and secludedlittle cove.
"I vote we find some other way up the cliff," suggested Monica; and theidea was received with acclamation by Olive, on account of variety, alsoby Amethyst, who thought any other means would be preferable to thelast.
"There's no other way nearer the caves," said Olive, as her glance sweptthe dangerous-looking rocky cliffs, which seemed to be almostperpendicular. "But perhaps if we go a little further on we shall findsome better steps."
They walked along the sands some little distance, eagerly scanning thecliffs, but alas! no other steps were to be seen anywhere. However, thecliff seemed to be more sloping, and not quite so forbidding-looking,and Olive declared that she could see what looked like a pathway,running zig-zag upwards.
"Let's try it," she said, and leading the way, she began scrambling upthe rocky cliff.
Monica followed suit, and Amethyst, determined not to be thoughtcowardly again, tried her very hardest to keep up with them. But,partly on account of her being smaller and a little more nervous thanthe others, and also because they had thoughtlessly rather thanintentionally left her to carry the bundle of shells, she made very slowprogress.
Thus it came to pass that she had got a very little way up the steepincline, when a cry of fear, and a quantity of loose sand, and smallrocky stones, falling about her, made her look up in alarm. Monica andOlive had managed, by hook or by crook, to get within fifteen or twentyfeet of the top of the cliff, but a false footing had caused Olive toslip; a projection which she had imagined to be firm hard rock, and towhich she had trusted her whole weight, having crumbled away beneathher, and she had gone slipping down with it!
"Oh!" Amethyst's eyes grew round with terror, and she felt rooted tothe spot; suppose Olive should go on falling all the way down. Howdreadful it would be, and no one near to help do anything!
Monica, separated from her friend by several feet of crumbling cliff,tried her hardest not to lose her nerve, but an irresistible feelingcame over her that, if once she looked back, she must fall, too.
"Are you hurt, Ollie?" she called out, while she clung to a tuft ofgrass which happened to be near, and tried to steady herself. But noanswer came, and fearing she knew not what she looked down the cliff.
"Oh! Ollie, have you hurt yourself?" she cried again, in an agony offear, for Olive looked so white and strange, half-standing, half-lyingon a sloping bit of rock.
"I--don't--know." The answer came back, slowly, this time, in tones sounnatural that Monica shuddered and grew cold. What had happened toOlive that she should speak and look like that? Supposing she shouldfaint, then all chance of getting her either up or down would be at anend. Monica did not know that her friend was simply paralysed withfear, and for the time being could neither speak nor move.
"Try to hold on, Ollie dear, and I'll come down to you," said the eldergirl bravely, although she well knew that it was certain danger toattempt to descend that shifting, crumbling portion of cliff."Amethyst," she called out to the shivering child below, "try to getdown, and run as hard as ever you can to the bottom of the cliff, wherethe others are, and shout to them to come."
Slipping and sliding, Amethyst reached terra firma once more, and setoff running as fast as her trembling legs would carry her; and Monicabegan her perilous task.
"O God," she whispered, aloud, in her dire extremity, "do help me now!Do keep Olive safely, and let me reach her, and oh, please send some oneto help us quickly!"
She did not know what made her pray, but some unseen power impelled herto utter those few short words in her agony of helplessness and fear;and even as the words died on her lips she felt a peculiar sensation ofcalm stealing over her, and her hands and feet seemed to be guided tojust the places which would hold.
A few moments, and she had reached Olive's side, and steadying herselfupon a small, but firm piece of rock, she put her arm tenderly round hercompanion's waist, and begged her to tell her if anything serious wasthe matter.
"Oh, Monica!" Olive murmured, with a convulsive shudder which nearlycaused them both to lose their foothold, "I am so frightened! I lookeddown as I fell, and it seemed as if I _must_ go rolling all the way downto the bottom, and if I had.... Oh, Monica, I should have been killed, Iknow I should!" And Olive burst into tears.
"Don't cry, dear," said Monica, soothingly; "if we can manage to hold onuntil help comes, we shall be all right. I--have asked--God to let usboth be saved, Ollie," she added, in a lower tone, "and--I believe Hewill."
"Oh, Monica," wailed Olive, as she clung to her friend, "I tried so hardto pray when I felt myself falling, but I _couldn't_! And then Iremembered all I said last Sunday morning, and it seemed as if God waspunishing me for my wickedness, by giving me no more chance."
"I don't think He is like that," said Monica. "I think He loves us toomuch. I am sure I have heard something about Him not wanting anybody toperish. I am going to try to serve Him after this, Olive, so don'tpersuade me not to, any more."
"Oh, I won't! I am so miserable. I would rather be good, too, but Ican't!" cried the unhappy girl, who had caught a glimpse of her realself during those moments of agonised suspense.
"I will try to help you, dear, but I shan't know quite what to domyself," said Monica; "but if God hears our prayers, and lets us getrescued, it would be mean not to try to please Him after that."
"He may hear your prayers," was
Olive's desponding reply, "but I _can't_pray."
"Try, dear," whispered Monica, closing her own eyes, and asking onceagain that help might be speedily forthcoming, for she did not feel asif she could hold on much longer. But, even as she prayed, a voicecalling both their names came floating over the cliff, and Elsa's face,white and strained, but with hope written all over it, looked down atthem.
"Hold tight, Monica and Olive, just for a minute more. Mr. Herschel iscoming down to help you."
And in a moment more, the young clergyman, his body encircled by a stoutrope, which was secured at the other end to the stump of a tree on thecliff path above, climbed carefully but quickly down to them.
"Thank God, we were near at hand!" he said, as he realised the spentcondition both girls were in; "but you will soon be safe now."
"Please take Olive first," urged Monica, and Leslie, filled withadmiration for the pluck and unselfishness the girl displayed, made hisway cautiously to the summit, half-leading, half-carrying the almosthelpless Olive, the rope which was slowly pulled up as he neared thetop, affording him a sense of security.
It was the work of a very few moments to lay his burden down upon theshort heather, to be tenderly cared for by Elsa, and to return for hercompanion. Marcus eagerly suggested that he should take a turn, butLeslie waved him back, saying: "No, no, Drury; you do the holding,that's the hardest, really," and was scrambling down again before hecould be gainsaid.
"Your friend is safe," he said, as he reached Monica's side, and at hiswords a tinge of colour appeared in her face, which was white even tothe lips, but quite calm. "You're not afraid to trust yourself to me?"he added, more as an assertion than a question, for he had observed,with satisfaction, that Monica had heaved a little sigh of content asshe felt herself supported by his strong arm.
"No, oh! no," she whispered, and a smile, pathetic in its wanness,illumined the girlish features, causing the young clergyman's heart tobeat strangely, in a fashion hitherto unknown to him. Then she nervedherself for the necessary climb, which was accomplished in silence, andneither of the couple was sorry when the brow of the cliff waseventually reached in safety, and Marcus cried: "Bravo!"
"I can never, never thank you enough, Mr. Herschel," Monica murmured, asLeslie gently pushed her to a heather-covered mound, and, bidding herrest a bit, threw himself on the grass beside her.
"Please say no more," he entreated earnestly, "it was a mere nothing; Ihave always been a climber. But I am afraid this afternoon's mishap willcause you to have unpleasant recollections of Gullane Head."
A happy little smile played about Monica's lips. "No, indeed, I shallalways be glad----" she began, earnestly; but before she could finishher sentence, Elsa, whose whole attention had been taken up by Olive,came to express her delight at the happy ending to what had seemed analmost unavoidable accident.
"How is Olive? I must go to her," said Monica, rising, vexed withherself for having forgotten her friend, even for a moment.
"She is feeling more herself now," replied Elsa, "but I don't believeshe can walk a step, her legs tremble so, she says. And I don't knowhow we shall get back to Mrs. Drury," and Elsa looked troubled.
"We'll manage that," said Marcus, cheerfully. "Come on, Herschel, let'smake a bandy chair, as the youngsters call it, and carry her betweenus."
Olive demurred feebly, but it was very palpable when she tried to standthat she was far too exhausted to walk, so without more ado the twoyoung men bore her off, Monica and Elsa bringing up the rear.
The former was glad to slip her arm in Elsa's, for she felt surprisinglyshaky, and as they walked along the heather-grown cliff path, Monicalearned how it was that Elsa had procured help; a question she had beenlonging to ask.
It was soon explained--Elsa, going in search of the belated trio, hadmet Marcus and his friend leisurely strolling along the cliff, but notnear enough to the edge to see what was happening. Fearing she knew notwhat, but instinctively feeling that they were in danger of some kind,Elsa told her fears to the young fellows, who at once proceeded to helpin the search.
With long strides they made for the cliff-side, in order to scan theshore, and were horrified to see the perilous position the two girlswere in, less than twenty-five feet below them. A fisherman's littleshanty, presumably used in connection with lobster catching, close athand, was hastily ransacked, and a stout coil of rope produced withintense satisfaction; and while young Herschel fastened on the rope,Elsa had encouraged the girls with words of hope.
"What _will_ Mrs. Drury be thinking?" queried Monica, as they neared theGullane Caves, following closely in the wake of the young men, who werestill carrying their burden. "Oh, dear, what a lot of anxiety I do givepeople!"
"I don't think you must blame yourself specially, Monica dear," saidElsa gently; "you all seem to have agreed to attempt the climbtogether."
"It didn't really look difficult; not anything like so bad as the stepswould have been to get up; and we should have reached the top all rightif Olive hadn't slipped and lost all her nerve. Oh, there are Mr. andMrs. Drury. They are looking _so_ worried," added Monica; "and Amethysthas actually got up to them. How _did_ she do it?"
It was some little time before everybody knew just what had happened toeverybody else; but eventually all was explained, and expressions ofthankfulness were heard that the results were no worse than they were.
"I was getting dreadfully frightened about you all," said Mrs. Drury,whose face still bore traces of the anxiety she had passed through,"especially when Elsa had been gone some time. I was thankful to findMr. Drury close at hand; but I had no sooner told him what had beenhappening during his absence, than we heard shouts, and descriedAmethyst down on the sands below, trying to tell us something, but whatit was we could not hear, on account of the wind. However, in a veryfew moments Mr. Drury had gone down the steps and helped her up, andjust as she had made us realise the danger you girls were in, we wereimmensely relieved to see the cavalcade approaching. It has been amerciful escape." And Mrs. Drury shuddered as she thought of what theresult of their foolhardiness might have been, but for God'sprovidential care.
"Now, what shall we do for this girlie?" she enquired tenderly, as sheendeavoured to improve Olive's dishevelled appearance, without muchsuccess, for both she and Monica were covered with sand, which no amountof rubbing would remove from their clothes. "Shall we drive to thecoastguard station and get some tea; or will you have some lemonade andcake that was left from lunch, and get off home as quickly as we can?The waggonette is here."
All were unanimously of opinion that the second proposal was most totheir taste, and in a very short time the party set off homewards, thehorse, well knowing he had his head turned towards his stable, going ata brisk trot.
Olive, whom they made as comfortable as they could with cloaks and alarge rug, seemed powerless to talk or exert herself in any way; indeed,her lethargic attitude somewhat alarmed Mrs. Drury, who felt she wouldbe glad when Sandyshore was reached. But the motion of driving seemedto have a soporific effect upon the exhausted girl, and with her head onElsa's shoulder she fell asleep, and did not awaken until the waggonettepulled up at Rocklands.
"Are you very angry with me, Mrs. Drury?" Monica asked penitently,during the homeward drive, for that lady had been very silent, andMonica could not but feel that she was displeased with their rashness,as indeed she was.
"Not more with you than the others, my dear," was the somewhat gravereply.
"If you will forgive me this time, Mrs. Drury, I hope I shall not go onbeing quite so troublesome to every one after this." Monica spoke witha quiet decision and earnestness unusual to her.
Mrs. Drury, who, of course, knew nothing of the new and unwontedthoughts passing through the mind of the girl beside her, was touched byher remark, but thought it would be a good place to say a word ofcaution.
"I daresay you do feel, now, as if you would not willingly cause troubleand anxiety to your friends by your thoughtlessness, just as present.But
it is not enough to _mean_ well, Monica; we always fail to keep ourresolutions if we make them in our own strength."
Her eyes sought those of the girl who sat beside her, and something thatshe read in them told her what had happened, even before Monicadiffidently whispered the good news.
The vicar's wife bent and kissed the earnest face, with glad tears inher eyes, as she murmured: "May God bless and keep you always, mychild."
Amethyst, turning round from her seat on the box, where she had beenamusing the old coachman with her chatter, was amazed at what she saw,and looked curiously at Monica. But her mother, merely saying quietly:"Monica has some news to tell you another time," turned the conversationinto a fresh channel.
Elsa, who had caught a word or two now and then, as she sat silentlysupporting her sleeping sister, flashed a radiant look at Monica, whichwas acknowledged by a loving little smile; and the young girl's heartwas almost overwhelmed with joy at this fresh answer to prayer.
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