CHAPTER XXXV.
With clouds and storms Around thee thrown, tempest on tempest roll'd.--Thomson.
Passing over all the consultations that took place between theprioress of Richborough, Dr. Wilbraham, and Lady Constance de Grey,regarding the means of crossing the sea to France with greatersecurity, although manifold were the important considerations thereindiscussed, we shall merely arrive at the conclusion to which they cameat length, and which was ultimately determined by the voice of theprioress. This was, that for several days Lady Constance and MistressMargaret should remain at the convent as nuns, paying a veryrespectable sum for their board and lodging, while Dr. Wilbraham wasto take up his abode at a cottage hard by. By this means, the superiorsaid, they would avoid any search which the cardinal might haveinstituted to discover them in the vessels of passage between Franceand England, and at the end of a week they would easily find someforeign ship which would carry them over to Boulogne. Such a one sheundertook to procure, by means of a fisherman who supplied theconvent, and who, as she boasted, knew every ship that sailed throughthe Channel, from the biggest man-of-war to the meanest carvel.
We shall now leave in silence also the time which Lady Constancepassed in the convent. Vonderbrugius, who, as the sagacious reader hasdoubtless observed, had a most extraordinary partiality for detailinglittle particulars, and incidents that are of no manner ofconsequence, here occupies sixteen pages with a correct and minuteaccount of every individual day, telling how many masses the nunssang, how often they fasted in the week, and how often they ate meat;and, not content with relating all that concerned Lady Constance, heindulges in some very illiberal insinuations in regard to theprioress, more than hinting that she loved her bottle and had a petconfessor.
Maintaining, however, our grave silence upon this subject, as not onlyirrelevant but ungentlemanlike, we shall merely say, that the dayspassed tranquilly enough with Lady Constance, although, like the timidcreatures of the forest, whom the continual tyranny of the strong overthe inoffensive has taught to start even at a sound, she would trembleat every little circumstance which for a moment interrupted the dullcalm of the convent's solitude.
A week passed in this manner, and yet the prioress declared her oldfisherman had heard of no vessel that could forward Constance on herjourney, though the young lady became uneasy at the delay, and pressedher much to make all necessary inquiries. At length, happening onemorning to express her uneasiness to Mistress Margaret, the shrewdwaiting-woman, who, with an instinctive sagacity inherent inchambermaids, knew a thousand times more of the world than either hermistress or Dr. Wilbraham, at once solved the mystery by saying--
"Lord love you, lady! there will never be a single ship in the Channelthat you will hear of, so long as you pay a gold mark a-day to theprioress while we stay."
"I would rather give her a hundred marks to let me go," repliedConstance, "than a single mark to keep me. But what is to be done,Margaret?"
"Oh, if you will let me but promise fifty marks, lady," replied themaid, "I will warrant that we are in France in three days."
Lady Constance willingly gave her all manner of leave and license; andaccordingly, that very night Mistress Margaret told the chamberer,under the most solemn vows of secresy, that her lady intended to givethe prioress, as a gift to the convent, fifty golden marks on the daythat she took ship. "But," said the abigail, "it costs the poor ladyso much, what with paying the chaplain's keep at the cottage, and mywage-money, which you know I must have, that her purse is running low,and I fear me she will not be able to do as much for the house as sheintends. But mind, you promised to tell no one."
"As I hope for salvation, it shall never pass my lips!" replied thechamberer; and away she ran to the refectory, where she bound therefectory-woman by a most tremendous vow not to reveal the tidings shewas about to communicate. The refectory-woman vowed with a great dealof facility; and the moment the chamberer was gone she carried in ajelly to the prioress, where, with a low curtsey and an importantwhisper, she communicated to the superior the important news.Thereupon the prioress was instantly smitten with a violent degree ofanxiety about Lady Constance's escape, and sending down to thefisherman, she commanded him instantly to find a ship going to France.To which the fisherman replied, that he knew of no ship going exactlyto France, but that there was one lying off the sands, which woulddoubtless take the lady over for a few broad pieces.
Thus were the preliminaries for Constance's escape brought about in avery short space of time; and, the fisherman having arranged with thecaptain that he was to take the lady, the chaplain, and waiting-maidto Boulogne for ten George nobles, early the next morning LadyConstance took leave of the prioress, made her the stipulated present,and, accompanied by the good Dr. Wilbraham and her woman, followed thefisherman to the sands, where his boat waited to convey them to avessel that lay about a mile from the shore.
The sea was calm and tranquil, but to Constance, who had little of aheroine in her nature, it seemed very rough; and every time the boatrose over a wave, she fancied that it must inevitably pitch under theone that followed. However, their passage to the ship was soon over;and as she looked at the high, black sides of the vessel, the ladyfound a greater degree of security in its aspect, imagining it bettercalculated to battle with the wild waves than the flimsy little barkthat had borne her thither.
The ship, the fisherman had informed her, was a foreign merchantman;and as she came alongside, a thousand strange tongues, gabbling allmanner of languages, met her ear. It was a floating tower of Babel. Inthe midst of the confusion and bustle which occurred in gettingherself and her companions upon the deck, she saw that one of thesailors attempted to spring from the ship into the boat, but wasrestrained by those about him, who unceremoniously beat him back withmarline-spikes and ropes' ends; and for the time she beheld no more ofhim, though she thought she heard some one uttering invectives andcomplaints in the English language.
For the first few moments after she was on deck, what with thegiddiness occasioned by her passage in the boat, and the agitation ofgetting on board, she could remark nothing that was passing aroundher; but the moment she had sufficiently recovered to regard theobjects by which she was surrounded, a new cause of apprehensionpresented itself; for close by her side, evidently as commander of thevessel, stood no less distinguished a person than the Portingalcaptain, of whom honourable mention is made in the first portion ofthis sage history, and whose proboscis was not easily to be forgot.
It was too late now, however, to recede; and her only resource was todraw down her nun's veil, hoping thus to escape being recognised. Forsome time she had reason to believe that the disguise she had assumedwould be effectual with the Portingal, who, as we may remember, hadseen her but once; for, occupied in giving orders for weighing anchorand making sail, he took no notice whatever of his fair passenger, andseemed totally to have forgotten her person. But this was not thecase: his attention had been first awakened to Lady Constance herselfby the sight of Dr. Wilbraham, whose face he instantly remembered; anda slight glance convinced him that the young nun was the bright ladyhe had seen in Sir Payan's halls.
Though there were few of the pleasant little passions which make a mana devil that the worthy Portingal did not possess to repletion, itsometimes happened that one battled against the other and foiled it inits efforts; but being withal somewhat of a philosopher, after acertain fashion, it was a part of his internal policy, on which heprided himself, to find means of gratifying each of the contendingpropensities when it was possible, and, when it was not possible, tosatisfy the strongest with as little offence to the others as mightbe. In the present instance he had several important points toconsider. Though he felt strongly inclined to carry Lady Constancewith him on a voyage which he was about to make to the East Indies,yet there might be danger in the business, if the young lady hadreally taken the veil: not only danger in case of his vessel beingsearched by any cruiser he might encounter, but even danger from hisown lawl
ess crew, who, though tolerably free from prejudices, stillretained a certain superstitious respect for the church of Rome, andfor the things it had rendered sacred, which the worthy captain hadnever been able to do away with. This consideration would havedeterred him from any evil attempt upon the fair girl, whom heotherwise seemed to hold completely in his power, had it not been forthe additional incentive of the two large leathern bags which had beencommitted into his charge at the same time with the young lady, andwhich, by the relation of their size to their weight, he conceivedmust contain a prize of some value. Determined by this, he gave ordersfor making all sail down the Channel, and the ship being fairly underway, he could no longer resist the temptation which the opportunitypresented of courting the good graces of his fair passenger.Approaching, then, with an air of what he conceived mingled dignityand sweetness, his head swinging backwards and forwards on the end ofhis long neck, and his infinite nose protruded like a pointer's whenhe falls upon the game--"Ah, ah! my very pretty gal," cried he, "yousee you be obliged to have recourse to me at last."
"My good friend," said Dr. Wilbraham, struggling with the demon ofsea-sickness, which had grasped him by the stomach and was almostsqueezing his soul out, "you had better let the lady alone, for she isso sick that she cannot attend to you, though, doubtless, you mean tobe civil in your way."
"You go to the debil, master chaplain," replied the captain, "andpreach to him's imps! I say, my very pretty mistress, suppose you wereto pull up this dirty black veil, and show your charming face;" and hedrew aside the young lady's veil in spite of her efforts to hold itdown.
At the helm, not far from where the young lady sat, stood a sturdyseaman, who, by his clear blue eye, fresh, weather-beaten countenance,and bluff, unshrinking look, one might easily have marked out as anEnglish sailor. Leaning on the tiller by which he was steering thevessel on her course, he had marked his worthy captain's conduct witha sort of contemplative frown; but when, stooping down, thePortingallo tore away Lady Constance's veil, and amused himself bystaring in her face, the honest sailor stretched out his foot, andtouched him on a protuberant part of his person which presented itselfbehind. The captain, turning sharply round, eyed him like a demon, butthe Englishman stood his glance with a look of steady, _nonchalant_resolution, that it was not easy to put down.
"I say, Portingallo," said he, "do you want me to heave youoverboard?"
"You heave me overboard, you mutinous thief!" cried the captain; "I'llhave you strung up to the yard-arm, you vaggleboned! I will."
"You'll drown a little first, by the nose of the tinker of Ashford!"replied the other; "but hark you, Portingallo: let the young lady nunalone; or, as I said before, by the nose of the tinker of Ashford,I'll heave you overboard; and then I'll make the crew a 'ration, andtell them what a good service I've done 'em; and I'll lay down thematter in three heads: first, as you were a rascal; second, as youwere a villain; and third, as you were a blackguard: then I will showhow, first, you did wrong to a passenger; second, how you did wrong toa lady; and third, how you did wrong to a nun: for the first youdeserve to be flogged; for the second you deserve to be kicked; andfor the third you are devilish likely to be hanged, with time andGod's blessing."
For a moment or two the Portingallo was somewhat confounded by theeloquence of the Englishman, who was in fact no other than TimothyBradford, the chief of the Rochester rioters. Recovering himselfspeedily, however, he retaliated pretty warmly, yet did not dare tocome to extremities with his rebellious steersman, as Bradford, havingtaken refuge in his vessel, with four or five of his principalassociates, commanded too strong a party on board to permit verystrict discipline. It was a general rule of the amiable captain neverto receive two men that, to his knowledge, had ever seen one anotherbefore; but several severe losses in his crew had, in the presentinstance, driven him into an error, which he now felt bitterly, notbeing half so much master of his own wickedness as he used to bebefore. Nevertheless, he did not fail to express his opinion of thehelmsman's high qualities in no very measured terms, threatening agreat deal more than he dared perform, of which both parties were wellaware.
"Come, come, Portingallo!" cried the helmsman; "you know very wellwhat is right as well as another, and I say you sha'n't molest thelady. Another thing, master: you treat that poor lubberly Jekin like abrute, and I'll not see it done, so look to it. But I'll tell youwhat, captain: let us mind what we are about. These dark clouds thatare gathering there to leeward, and coming up against the wind, meansomething. Better take in sail."
The effect of this conversation was to free Constance from thepersecution of the captain; and turning her eyes in the direction towhich the sailor pointed, she saw, rolling up in the very face of thewind, some heavy, leaden clouds, tipped with a lurid reddish huewherever they were touched by the sun. Above their heads, and towindward, the sky was clear and bright, obscured by nothing but anoccasional light cloud that flitted quickly over the heaven, drawingafter it a soft shadow, that passed like an arrow over the gay waves,which all around were dancing joyously in the sunshine.
By this time the English coast was becoming fainter and more faint;the long line of cliffs and headlands massing together, covered withan airy and indistinct light, while the shores of France seemedgrowing out of the waters, with heavy piles of clouds towering abovethem, and seeming to advance, with menacing mien, towards the rocks ofEngland. Still, though the eye might mark them rolling one overanother, in vast, dense volumes, looking fit receptacles for thethunder and the storm, the clouds seemed to make but little progress,contending with the opposing wind; while mass after mass, accumulatingfrom beyond, appeared to bring up new force to the dark front of thetempest.
Still the ship sped on, and, the wind being full in her favour, madegreat way through the water, so that it was likely they would reachBoulogne before the storm began; and the captain, now obliged toabandon any evil purpose he might have conceived towards LadyConstance, steered towards the shore of France to get rid of her assoon as possible. From time to time every eye on board was turnedtowards the lowering brow of heaven, and then always dropped to theFrench coast, to ascertain how near was the tempest and how far thehaven; and Constance, not sufficiently sick to be heedless of danger,ceased not to watch the approaching clouds and the growing shore withalternate hope and fear. Gradually the hills towards Boulogne, thecliffs, and the sands, with dark lines of tower, and wall, andcitadel, and steeple, began to grow more and more distinct; and thePortingal was making a tack to run into the harbour, when the vane atthe mast-head began to quiver, and in a moment after turned suddenlyround. Cries and confusion of every sort succeeded; one of the sailswas completely rent to pieces; and the ship received such a suddenshock that Constance was cast from her seat upon the deck, and poorDr. Wilbraham rolled over, and almost pitched out at the other side.Soon, however, the yards were braced round, the vessel was put uponanother tack, and from a few words that passed between the captain andthe steersman, Constance gathered, that as they could not get intoBoulogne, they were about to run for Whitesand Haven as the nearestport.
"Go down below, lady; go down below and tell your beads," cried thesteersman, as he saw Constance sitting and holding herself up by thebinnacle. "Here, Jekey, help her down."
"Lord 'a mercy! we shall all be drowned; I am sure we shall!" criedour old friend Jekin Groby, coming forward, transformed into thelikeness of a bastard sailor, his new profession sitting upon him withinconceivable awkwardness, and the Kentish clothier shining forth inevery movement of his inexpert limbs. "Lord 'a mercy upon us! we shallall be drowned as sure as possible! Mistress nun, let me help you downbelow. It's more comfortable to be drowned downstairs, they say.There's a flash of lightning, I declare! Mercy upon us! we shall allgo to the bottom. This is the worst storm I've seen since thatPortingallo vagabond kidnapped me, by the help of the devil and SirPayan Wileton. Let me help you down below, mistress nun. Lord blessyou! it's no trouble; I'm going down myself."
Constance, however, preferred staying upo
n deck, where she could watchthe progress of their fate, to remaining below in a state ofuncertainty; and consequently resisted the honest persuasions of goodJekin Groby, who, finding her immoveable, slipped quietly belowunobserved, and hid himself in an empty hammock, courageously makingup his mind to be drowned, if he could but be drowned, asleep.
In the mean time the storm began to grow more vehement, the windcoming in quick violent gusts, and the clouds spreading far and wideover the face of the sky, with a threatening blackness of hue, andheavy slowness of flight, that menaced their instant descent. As yetno second flash of lightning had succeeded the first, and no drop ofrain had fallen; and though the ship laboured violently with thewaves, excited into tumult by the sudden change of wind, still,running on, she seemed in a fair way of reaching Whitesand in safety.Presently, another bright flash blazed through the sky, and seemed torend it from the horizon to the zenith, while instant upon the redpath of its fiery messenger roared forth the voice of the thunder, asif it would annihilate the globe. Another now succeeded, and another,till the ear and the eye were almost deafened by the din and blindedby the light; while slow, large drops came dripping from the heavens,like tears wrung by agony from a giant's eyes. Then came a still anddeath-like pause; the thunder ceased, the wind hushed, and the onlysounds that met the ear were the rushing of the waves by the ship'sside, and the pattering of each big raindrop as it fell on the deck;while a small sea-bird kept wheeling round the vessel, and screaming,as with a sort of fiendish joy, to see it labouring with the angrybillows. Soon again, however, did the storm begin with redoubled fury,and the lightnings flashed more vividly than ever, covering all thesky with broad blue sheets of light, while still in the midst of thewhole blaze appeared a narrow zigzag line of fire, so bright that itmade the rest look pale.
Still Constance kept upon the deck, and drawing her hood over herhead, strove to fix herself, amidst the pitching of the vessel, byclinging to the binnacle, which in ships of that day was oftensupported by a couple of oblique bars. Seeing, in a momentarycessation of the storm, the eye of the steersman fix upon her with alook of somewhat like pity, she ventured to ask if they were in muchdanger.
"Danger! bless you, no, lady," cried the man; "only a little thunderand lightning; no danger in life. But you had better go below; there'sno danger."
As he spoke, another bright flash caused Constance to close her eyes;but a tremendous crash, which made itself audible even through theroar of the thunder, as well as a heavy roll of the vessel, gave hernotice that the lightning had struck somewhere; and looking up, to herhorror she beheld the mainmast shivered almost to atoms by thelightning, and rolled over the ship's side, to which it was stillattached by a mass of blazing cordage.
"Cut! cut! cut!" vociferated the steersman, amidst the unavailingshouts and bustling inactivity of the crew; "cut, you Portingallovagabonds! You'll have the ship on fire. The idiots are staring as ifthey never saw such a thing before. Here, captain, take the helm.D---- you to h--! take the helm!" And springing forward, with anenergy to which the danger of the moment seemed to lend additionalimpulse, he scattered the frightened Portuguese and impassiveDutchmen, who were uncluing ropes and disentangling knots; and,catching up a hatchet, soon cut sheer through the thicker rigging; andwith a roll the blazing remnants of the mast pitched into the sea,leaving nothing on fire behind but some scattered cordage, which theEnglishman and his companions gradually extinguished.
In the mean while the mast, still flaming in the water, swung roundthe ship; and the Portingallo, whose presence of mind did not seem ofthe very first quality, brought the vessel's head as near the wind aspossible, to let it drift astern, and thus, by this lubberly action,bore right upon the shore, carried on imperceptibly by a strongcurrent.
At that moment the Englishman raised himself, and looking out ahead,vociferated, "A reef! a reef! Breakers ahead! Down with the helm!where the devil are you going? Down with the helm, I say!" and rushingforward, he seized the tiller, but too late. Scarcely had he touchedit with his hand, when with a tremendous shock the ship struck on thereef, making her very seams open and her masts stagger. "Ho! down inthe hold! down in the hold! heave all the ballast aft!" criedBradford; "lay those cannon here; bring her head to wind, let it takeher aback if it will. She may swing off yet."
But just then an immense swelling wave heaved the ship up like a cork,and dashed her down again upon the hidden rocks without hope orresource. Every one caught at what was next him for support; for thejar was so great that it was hardly possible for even the sailors tokeep upon their feet. But the next minute the ship became more steady,and a harsh grating sound succeeded, as if the hard angles of the rockwere tearing the bottom of the ship to pieces. Every one now occupiedhimself in a different way. Bradford sat quietly down by the tiller,which he abandoned to its own guidance, while the Portingal ranwhispering among his countrymen, who as speedily and silently aspossible got the boat to the ship's side. In the mean while, Dr.Wilbraham crept over to Lady Constance, who, turning her meek eyes toheaven, seemed to await her fate with patient resignation.
"I need not ask you, my dear child," said the good man, "if you beprepared to go. Have you anything to say to me before we part? soon Ihope, to meet again where no storms come."
"But little," answered Constance; and according to the rite of herchurch, she whispered all the little faults that memory could supply,accusing herself of many things as sins which few but herself wouldhave held as even errors. When he had heard the lady's confession, theclergyman turned to look for the waiting-woman, to join her with hermistress in the consolations of religion; but Mistress Margaret, whogreatly preferred the present to the future, was no longer there; andlooking forward, they saw that the Portuguese and Dutch had got outthe boats, and were pouring in fast; but that which most astonishedthem was to find that the selfish waiting-woman had by some means gotthe very first place in the long-boat, from which the captain wasstriving to exclude two of the Englishmen, pushing off from the shipwith the boathook. The lesser boat, however, was still near, and Dr.Wilbraham looked at Constance with an inquiring glance; but Bradford,who had never stirred from his position, interposed, saying, "Don'tgo, lady! don't go; stick to the ship; she can't sink, for the tide isnear flood, and we are now aground, and it may be a while before shegoes to pieces. Those boats can never live through that surf. So don'tgo, lady! Take my advice, and I'll manage to save you yet, if I cansave myself."
Even as he spoke, the two Englishmen made a desperate jump to leapinto the lesser boat, which was pulling away after the other. One manfell too short, and sank instantly; the other got hold of the gunwale,and strove to clamber in; but the boat was already too full, and a seastriking it at the moment, his weight put it out of trim; it shipped aheavy sea, settled for a moment, and sank before their eyes.
It was a dreadful sight; and yet so deep, so exciting was theinterest, that even after she had seen the whole ten persons sink, andsome rise again, only to be overwhelmed by another wave, Constancecould not take her eyes off the other boat, although she expectedevery moment to see it share the fate of its companion. Still,however, it rowed on. The thunder had ceased, the wind was calmer, andthe waves seemed less agitated. There was hope that it might reach theshore. At that moment it was hidden for an instant below a wave, roseagain, entered the surf, disappeared amidst the foam and spray.Constance looked to see it rise again, but it never was seen more; andin a few minutes she could distinguish a dark figure scramble out fromthe sea upon the shore, rise, fall again, lie for a moment as ifexhausted, and then, once more gaining his feet, run with all speedout of the way of the coming waves.
"Oh dear! oh dear!" cried a dolorous voice from below; "we shall allbe drowned for a sure certainty: the water's a-coming in like mad!"and in a moment after, the head, and then the body, of honest JekinGroby protruded itself from the hold, with strong signs and tokens inhis large thick eyelids of having just awoke from a profound sleep."Lord 'a mercy!" continued he, seeing the nearly empty deck. "Whereare
all the folks? Oh, Master Bradford, Master Bradford! we are in abad way! The water has just awoke me out of my sleep. What's themeaning of that thumping? Lord 'a mercy! where's the Portingal?"
"Drowned!" answered Bradford, calmly, "and every one of his crew,except Hinchin, the strong swimmer, who has got to land."
"Lord 'a mercy! only think!" cried Jekin. "Must I be drowned too?Hadn't I better jump over? I can swim a little too. Shall I jump over,Master Bradford? Pray tell me--there's a good creature!"
"No, no; stay where you are," replied Bradford. "Help me to lash thisyoung lady to a spar. When the tide turns, which it will at fouro'clock, that surf will go down, and the ship will keep together tillthen. Most likely Hinchin will send a boat before that to take us alloff. If not, we can but trust to the water at last. However, let usall be ready."
Bradford now brought forth from the hold some rough planks, to one ofwhich he lashed Lady Constance, who yielded herself to his guidance,only praying that he would do the same good turn to the clergyman,which he promised willingly. He then tied a small piece of woodacross, to support her head, and fastened one of the heavy leathernbags to her feet, to raise her face above the water; after which, asshe was totally unable to move, he placed her in as easy a position ashe could, and speaking a few frank words of comfort and assurance, heleft her, to perform the same office in favour of Dr. Wilbraham.
In the mean time Jekin Groby had not forgotten himself; but, willingto put his faith rather in the buoyancy of deal boards than inhis own powers of natation, had contrived to find a stout sort ofpacking-case, or wooden box, from which he knocked out both the topand bottom, and passing his feet through the rest, he raised it uptill it reached his arm-pits, where he tied it securely; and thusequipped in his wooden girdle, as he called it, he did not fear totrust himself to the waves.
All being now prepared, an hour or more of anxious expectationsucceeded. Little was said by any one, and the tempest had ceased; butthe grinding sound of the ship fretting upon the rock still continued,and a sad creaking and groaning of the two masts that remained seemedto announce their speedy fall. The wind had greatly subsided, but theair was heated and close; while the clouds overhead, still agitated bythe past storm, every now and then came down in thick small rain.Towards four o'clock the tide turned; and, as Bradford hadprognosticated, the surf upon the shore gradually subsided, and thesea became more smooth, though agitated by a heavy swell, foaming intobreakers along the whole line of reef on which the ship had struck.After looking out long, in the vain hope of seeing some boat coming totheir assistance, Bradford approached Lady Constance, and addressingher, as indeed he had done throughout, with far more gentleness andconsideration than might have been expected from a man of his roughand turbulent character, "Lady," said he, "there seems to be no chanceof a boat; the sea is now nearly smooth; I can't warrant that the shipwill hold together all night, and we may have the storm back again. Ifyou like to go now, I will get you safe to land, I am sure. I can'tanswer for it if you stay."
"I will do as you think right," said Lady Constance, with aninvoluntary shudder at the thought of trusting herself to the mercy ofthe waves. "I will do as you think right; but pray take care of Dr.Wilbraham."
"No, no!" said the good chaplain; "make the lady all your care. Ishall do well enough."
"Here, good fellow!" said Constance, taking a diamond of price fromher finger; "perhaps you may reach the shore without either of us:however, whether you do or not, take this jewel as some recompense foryour good service."
The man took the ring, muttering that, if he reached the shore, sheshould reach it too; and then, after giving some directions to Dr.Wilbraham in regard to rowing himself on towards the land with hisarms, which were free, he carried Lady Constance to the side of thevessel, which had now heeled almost to the water's edge. Returning forDr. Wilbraham, with the assistance of Jekin he brought him also to theside; and then it became the question who should be the first to trusthimself to the waves. Constance trembled violently, but said not aword, while Jekin Groby, holding back, exclaimed, "Lord 'a mercy! Idon't like it--at all like!"
It was upon him, however, that Bradford fixed, crying, "Come, jumpover, Jeky; there's no use of making mouths at it. I want you to helpthe clerk to steer. Come, jump over!" and he laid his hand upon hisshoulder.
"Well, well; I will, Master Bradford," cried Jekin, "don't ye touchme, and I will. Oh dear! oh dear! it's mighty disagreeable. Well,well, I will!" and bending his hams, he made as if he would have takena vigorous leap; but his courage failed him, and he only made a sortof hop of a few inches on the deck, without approaching any nearer tothe water. Out of patience, Bradford caught him by the shoulder, andpushed him at once head-foremost into the water, from which he rose ina moment, all panting, buoyed up by the wooden case under his arms.
"Here, Jekey," cried Bradford, "take the doctor's feet, as your armsare free;" and with the assistance of the worthy clothier, who bore nomalice, he let down Dr. Wilbraham into the water, and returned to thelady.
As pale as death, Constance shut her eyes and held her breath, whilethe rough sailor took her in his arms, and let her glide slowly intothe water, which in a moment after she felt dashing round heruncontrolled. Opening her eyes, and panting for breath, she stretchedout her arms, almost deprived of consciousness; but at that momentBradford jumped at once into the sea, and seizing the board to whichshe was tied, put it in its right position; so that, though many adomineering wave would rise above its fellows, and dash its salt foamover her head, her mouth was generally elevated above the watersufficiently to allow her full room to breathe.
The distance of the ship from the land was about a quarter of a mile;but between it and the shore lay a variety of broken rocks, raisingtheir rough heads above the waves that dashed furiously amongst them,making a thousand struggling whirlpools and eddies round their sharpangles, as the retiring sea withdrew its unwilling waters from thestrand. Constance, however, did not see all this; for, her face beingturned towards the sky, nothing met her sight but the changeable faceof heaven, with the clouds hurrying over it, or the green billows oneither side, threatening every moment to overwhelm her. Often, oftendid her heart sink, and hard was it for the spirit of a timid girl,even supported by her firm trust in God's mercy, to keep the spark ofhope alive within her bosom, while looking on the perils thatsurrounded her, and fancying a thousand that she did not behold.
Still the stout seaman swam beside her, piloting the little raft hehad made for her towards the shore, through all the difficulties ofthe navigation, which were not few or small; for the struggle betweenthe retiring tide and the impetus given by the wind rendered almostevery passage between the rocks a miniature Scylla and Charybdis.
At length, however, choosing a moment when the waves flowed fully inbetween two large rough stones, whose heads protruded almostperpendicularly, he grasped the plank to which Constance was tied withhis left hand, and striking a few vigorous strokes with his right,soon placed her within the rocky screen with which the coast wasfenced, and within whose boundary the water was comparatively calm.The first object that presented itself to his sight, within thishaven, was the long-boat, keel upwards; while, tossed by the wavesupon one of the large flat stones that the ebbing tide had left halfbare, appeared the corpse of the Portingal captain, his feet and bodyon the rock, and his head drooping back, half covered by the water. Ina minute after, the sailor's feet could touch the ground; and gladlyavailing himself of the power to walk upon _terra firma_, he waded on,drawing after him the plank on which Constance lay till, reaching thedry land, he pulled her to the shore, cut the cord that tied her, andplaced her on her feet.
Constance's first impulse was to throw herself on her knees, and tothank God for his great mercy; her next to express her gratitude tothe honest sailor, who, weary and out of breath with his exertion, saton a rock hard by; but bewildered with all that had passed, she couldscarcely find words to speak, feeling herself in a world that seemedhardly her own, so near had she
been to the brink of another. After afew confused sentences, she looked suddenly round, exclaiming, "Oh,where is Dr. Wilbraham?"
The sailor started up, and getting on the rock, looked out beyond,where, about two hundred yards off, he perceived honest Jekin Grobymaking his way towards the shore in one direction, while the plank towhich the amiable clergyman was attached was seen approaching therocks in another, at a point where the waters were boiling withtenfold violence.
Constance's eye had already caught his long black habiliments, mingledwith the white foam of the waves; and seeing that every fresh billowthreatened to dash him to pieces against the stones, she clasped herhands in agony, and looked imploringly towards the sailor.
"He will have his brains dashed out, sure enough," said the man,watching him. "Zounds! he must be mad to try that. Stay here, lady; Iwill see what can be done;" and rushing into the water, he waded asfar as he could towards Dr. Wilbraham, and then once more beganswimming.
Constance watched him with agonizing expectation; but before hereached the point, an angry wave swept round the good old man, andraising him high upon its top, dashed him violently against the rock.Constance shuddered, and clasping her hands over her eyes, strove toshut out the dreadful sight. In a few minutes she heard the voice ofthe sailor shouting to Jekin Groby, who had reached the shore, "Here,lend a hand!" and looking up, she saw him drawing the clergyman toland in the same manner that he had extricated herself.
Jekin Groby waded in to help him, and Constance flew to the spot whichhe approached; but the sight that presented itself made her blood runcold. Dr. Wilbraham was living indeed, but so dreadfully torn andbruised by beating against the rocks, that all hope seemed vain, andthose who had best loved him might have regretted that he had not metwith a speedier and more easy death.
Opening his exhausted eyes, he yet looked gladly upon the sweet girlthat he had reared, like a young flower, from her early days to herfull beauty, and who now hung tenderly over him. "Thank God, my dearchild," said he, "that you are safe. That is the first thing: for me,I am badly hurt, very badly hurt; but perhaps I may yet live: I couldwish it to see you happy; but if not, God's will be done!"
Constance wept bitterly, and good Jekin Groby, infected with hersorrow, blubbered like a great baby.
"There, leave off snivelling, you great fool!" cried Bradford, wipingsomething like a tear from his own rough cheek, "and help me to carrythe good gentleman to some cottage." Thus saying, with the assistanceof Jekin he raised the old man, and, followed by Constance, bore himon in search of an asylum.
Darnley; or, The Field of the Cloth of Gold Page 36
