Cecil was so absolutely transfixed with amazement that for a moment he remained with his mouth wide open, staring at the newcomer as though the latter had dropped from the skies. The Rokebys were not well-trained children; they did not possess either the moral courage or the good manners which Charlie Chester, madcap though he might be, would undoubtedly have displayed in the same situation, and instead of meeting the matter bravely and making the best apology he could, Cecil flung down the ferns, and without a word of excuse took to his heels and ran back up the wood at the top of his speed, closely followed by Winnie, Bertie, and Arnold.
Belle for an instant wavered, but recognizing the old gentleman as the same whose acquaintance she had cultivated on the beach with such unsatisfactory results, she decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and turning away, vanished through the trees like a little white shadow.
Isobel, the only one of the six who stood her ground, was left to bear the whole brunt of the matter alone. She looked at the broken branches of mountain ash and the damaged ferns which the Rokebys had dropped in the panic of their flight, and which surrounded her like so much guilty evidence of the deed, then s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g up her courage, she faced the outraged owner in a kind of desperation.
"I"m _very_ sorry," she began, twisting and untwisting her thin little hands, and colouring up to the roots of her hair with the effort she was making. "We oughtn"t to have come. But, indeed, we didn"t know it was your ground; we thought it was only just part of the Scar. And I don"t believe the others would have taken the ferns if they"d thought for a moment, because they would have known maidenhair doesn"t grow wild out of doors like bracken or hart"s-tongue."
"But it _was_ wild," said the colonel--"that"s the unfortunate part of it. It wouldn"t have distressed me if I could have replaced it from the conservatory. This happens to be one of the few spots in the British Isles where _Adiantum Capillus-Veneris_ is found in an undoubtedly native situation."
"Oh, then that"s worse than ever!" cried Isobel, with consternation. "I know how very, very rare it is, because mother and I once found a little piece in a cave in Cornwall."
"Did you? Are you sure it was an absolutely genuine specimen and not naturalized?" asked Colonel Stewart, with keen interest.
"No; it was quite wild, for it was in a very out-of-the-way place by the seash.o.r.e."
"I hope you didn"t take it?"
"Oh no! we didn"t even pick a frond; and mother made me promise never to tell any one where it grew, she was so afraid some one might root it up."
"A sensible woman!" exclaimed the colonel. "Pity there aren"t more like her! Why people should want to grub up every rare and beautiful thing they find in the country to plant in their miserable town gardens, I can"t imagine. It"s downright murder. The poor things die directly in the smoke. Look at these splendid roots that have been growing here since I was a boy! I would rather they had destroyed every flower in my garden than have worked such wanton havoc in the spot I value most in all my grounds."
"It"s most unfortunate we came this particular walk," said Isobel, almost crying with regret. "You see, the Rokebys aren"t used to the country, so they don"t seem to think about spoiling things. I believe I could manage to plant these roots again; they"re not very bad, and if I tucked them well into the crevices of the rock I really fancy they"d grow."
She picked up some of the ferns as she spoke, and began carefully to replace them in the little ledges on the side of the rock, moistening the roots first in the stream, and sc.r.a.ping up some soil with a thin piece of shale which she made serve the purpose of a trowel.
"They haven"t taken quite all," she said. "That beautiful clump up there hasn"t even been touched, and it may spread. I wish I could put back the mountain ash. I simply can"t tell you how sorry I am we ever came."
The colonel smiled.
"I don"t blame _you_," he said. "It was those young heathens who ran away. Their methods of studying botany were certainly of a rather rough-and-ready description. I should have thought better of them if they had stayed to apologize. Your friend with the light curls, whom, by-the-bye, I have met before, seemed also unwilling to enter into any explanations. In fact, to put it plainly, she left you in the lurch."
"I think she was frightened," said Isobel, wondering what possible excuse she could frame for Belle"s conduct. "You came so--so very suddenly. There! I"ve put all the ferns back. They"re rather broken, I"m afraid; but there are plenty of new fronds ready to come up, so I hope you"ll find that, after all, we haven"t quite spoilt everything."
"Think I"m not so much hurt as I imagined?" said the colonel, with a twinkle in his eye.
"Oh, I didn"t mean that!" replied Isobel quickly. "I know we"ve done a great deal of harm. Please don"t think I wanted to make out we hadn"t."
"All right; you"ve done your best to repair the damage, so that"s an end of the matter."
"I ought to be going now," continued Isobel. "The Rokebys and Belle will be wondering what has become of me, and the coaches were to start at seven o"clock. It must be after six now."
"Exactly half-past six," said Colonel Stewart, consulting his watch. "If you follow that footpath it will take you through a side gate and straight up the hillside; I expect you will find the others waiting for you on the top of the Scar. Good-bye. Give my compliments to your friends, and tell them to learn to enjoy the country without spoiling it for other people; and the next time they get into a tight place to show a little pluck, and not to run off like a set of cowardly young curs."
CHAPTER XI.
THE ISLAND.
"Oh! had we some bright little isle of our own, In a blue summer ocean, far off and alone."
Though the United Sea Urchins were still very faithful to their cricket ground under the cliffs, the older and more daring spirits were always ready to ramble farther afield in quest of new scenes and adventures.
Every day seemed to bring with it some fresh delight, whether it were a shrimping expedition among the green sea-weedy pools of the rocks on the far sh.o.r.e, or a c.o.c.kle gathering on the gleaming banks left by the ebb-tide, where the breath of the salt wind on their faces or the feel of the wet, oozing sand under their bare feet was a joy to be garnered up and held in memory. Sometimes it was a scramble over the moors, between thickets of golden gorse and stretches of heather so deep and long that to lie in it was to bury oneself like a bee in a bed of purple fragrance, or a hard climb would take them to the summit of some neighbouring hill, where, watching the sun sink from a primrose sky into a pearly, shimmering sea, they would all grow a little silent and quiet, even the roughest spirits restrained in spite of themselves by the sight of that indescribable majesty and calm which marks the parting of the day. It is hours such as these--glad, exhilarating, glorious hours, when the world seems as young as ourselves, and merely to live and breathe is a delight--that lay up in our hearts a store of sunshine to be drawn upon in after life as from a treasure-house of the mind, and to brighten dark days to come with the rapture of the remembrance.
It was, perhaps, somewhat against her natural tastes that Belle found herself included in the many and various excursions of the Sea Urchins.
She was no country lover, and the stir of a promenade in a fashionable watering-place gave her more pleasure than the dash of waves or the scent of wild flowers. She did not enjoy splashing her pretty clothes with sea-water among the rocks, or tearing them in search of blackberries on the hedgerows; and it was only her love of society, and a dislike of being left behind, which induced her to follow where the others led. The rough walks and hard scrambles were often a real trial to her, though with Isobel to tow her up steep hills, help her across stiles, disentangle her laces from insistent brambles, jump her over pools, and take her hand in dangerous spots, she managed to keep up fairly well. Isobel, to whom these excursions were the topmost summit of bliss, and who was apt to measure others" standards by her own, never suspected for a moment that Belle was beginning to grow tired of it, and received an occasional outburst of petulance or fretful complaint with such amazement that the latter would, for very shame, desist, and for a time the friendship continued to remain at high-water mark. That Belle was selfish and exacting never once crossed Isobel"s mind, and though she could not help frequently detecting in her certain little meannesses, exaggeration, or even occasional wanderings from the truth, there always seemed to be some exonerating circ.u.mstance which would in a measure either clear her from blame or give her the benefit of a doubt.
It is often so difficult to find fault with those for whom we care very dearly: we are ready to make excuses, condone their mistakes, overlook their shortcomings, anything but allow to ourselves the unfortunate and yet unmistakable fact that our idol has feet of clay; and so Isobel went on from day to day blinding her eyes with her adoration for her namesake, and investing Belle with a halo of virtues and attractions which certainly did not exist except in her own imagination.
Apart from Belle, I think that among the various members of the Sea Urchins" Club Isobel found the Chesters the most congenial. They had all the dash and daring of the Rokebys without the over-boisterous manners which characterized that rough-and-tumble family, whose friendship at times was apt to prove a trifle wearing. Little Hilda had taken a great affection for Isobel, and Charlie, since the adventure in the _Stormy Petrel_, was disposed to consider her in the light of a chum, and to cultivate her acquaintance. As knowing Isobel meant including Belle, the four children therefore might often be found in each other"s company, and it was at Charlie"s suggestion that they determined one afternoon to pay a visit to a certain small island which lay a short distance along the coast, at the other side of the rocky headland that jutted out at the far side of the bay.
"I"ve not been close to," said Charlie, "but you can see it very well from the top of the Scar. It looks a regular Robinson Crusoe desert island kind of a place, just given up to sea-gulls and rabbits. I don"t believe a soul ever goes there."
"It would be grand if we were the first to set foot on it," said Isobel.
"It would be our own island, and we"d claim it in the name of the club, like travellers do in Central Africa when they run up the Union Jack, and then mark the place pink on the map, to show it"s a British possession."
"And then all the others could be settlers," added Hilda, "and we"d light a fire and cook fish and have _such_ fun!"
"It would be exactly like the coral island in "The Young Pioneers,""
said Belle. "Perhaps I might become the queen, like the mysterious white lady they found living among the natives, and have a throne made out of sand and sh.e.l.ls, and wear a garland of flowers for a crown."
"Oh, we won"t go in for nonsense like that!" declared Charlie, who was not romantic, and, moreover, enjoyed squashing Belle on occasion. "But we might build a hut there, and rig up a sort of camp, and then, if the whole lot of us came, we could have a regular ripping time. It"s worth while going to see, at any rate."
Armed with a mariner"s compa.s.s, a tin pail full of biscuits, Isobel"s botanical case for specimens, and a stout stick apiece, the four friends set out on their pioneering expedition with all the enthusiasm of a band of explorers penetrating into the heart of an unknown continent, or a Roman legion bent on the conquest of some distant Albion. As the geography books determine an island to be "a piece of land surrounded by water," the particular spot in question could only claim to justify its name at high tide, since at low water it was joined to the mainland, and by scrambling over the rocks and jumping a few channels which the sea had left behind, any one could reach it quite easily dry shod. The children marched st.u.r.dily along over the wet sands, with a pause here and there to dive after a particularly interesting crab, or to float a jelly-fish left stranded by the tide, in the deeper water. Charlie, however, would not allow many digressions, and hurried them as fast as possible towards the object of their journey. The island, on a nearer view, proved to be a bare, craggy spot, about half a mile in length by a quarter in breadth, bounded by steep cliffs which supported a rocky plateau covered with short rough gra.s.s and sea pinks, and honeycombed in every direction with rabbit burrows. It seemed the haunt of innumerable gulls, guillemots, and puffins, for whole flocks of them flew away, wheeling overhead in wide circles, and uttering loud, piercing cries in protest at the invasion of their rocky stronghold.
"We"d better do the thing thoroughly. Suppose we start from this big rock and walk right round the island," suggested Isobel. "I have a piece of paper and a pencil in my pocket, and I"ll draw a map of it as we go along, and we"ll give names to all the capes and bays and headlands."
"Stunning!" agreed Charlie. "This rock can be "Point Set-Off," and we can take it in turns to christen the other places. I don"t believe the island itself has a name; we shall each have to suggest something, and then put it to the vote. I"m for "Craggy Holme" myself, but we won"t decide anything yet until we have been completely over it."
Thrilled with the excitement of the occasion, the pioneers started on their tour of inspection, noting with approval that the pools at the foot of the cliff were full of sea anemones, star-fishes, hermit crabs, periwinkles, whelks, pink sea-weed, and a wealth of desirable treasures; that the brambles which grew on the slopes above were already covered with fast ripening blackberries; that there were flukes quite seven inches long in the narrow channel on the north sh.o.r.e; and that the sands beyond showed a perfect harvest of c.o.c.kles and other sh.e.l.ls. They had gone perhaps halfway round the coast, and were on the south side, facing the open sea, when suddenly, turning a corner, they found themselves in a spot which made them stand still and look at one another with little gasps of delight. Surely it was the ideal place for a camp. They were in a small creek between two great overhanging crags, where brambles and wood vetch hung down in delightful tangled ma.s.ses, the fine white sand under their feet alternated with soft green turf, spangled with tiny sea-flowers, and there was quite a bank of small delicate sh.e.l.ls left by the high spring tides. Close under the rocks lay the wreck of a schooner, driven ash.o.r.e by winter storms, and stranded upon the shingle, the broken spars and a fragment of the hull lying half buried in the silvery sand, surrounded by a forest of sea-weed and drift-wood.
"Why, it just beats "The Swiss Family Robinson" or "The Boy Explorers"
hollow!" said Charlie, turning to his companions with something of the look that Christopher Columbus may have worn when he stepped with his followers on to the sh.o.r.es of the New World. "Here"s the very place we were hoping for! We"d soon get that old trail tilted out of the sand; she only needs propping against the cliff, and she"d make a regular Uncle Tom"s cabin. With the Wrights and the Rokebys to help, we"d haul her up in a jiffy. Some of these spars and planks would do for seats and tables, and we could light fires with the drift-wood. It"s a camp almost ready made for us, I declare."
"And look!" cried Hilda, pointing to a sand-bank which lay at the mouth of the creek; "the tide seems to have thrown up a great many things down there." And she hurried to the water"s edge, where the drifting current had lodged a variety of miscellaneous articles--walking-sticks, tin cans, a child"s boat, a straw hat, several baskets, gla.s.s bottles, and even a lady"s parasol, all lying tangled among the sea-weed, washed across the bay no doubt from the beach at Ferndale. "I"ve fished out a little horse and cart, and there"s something here that looks like the remains of a gentleman"s top hat. We can use the tins for the cabin.
They"ll do for flower-pots. O Charlie! aren"t you glad we came?"
"It"s quite romantic," said Belle, sitting down on a spar, and twisting some pink bindweed round her hat. "We could have tea here, and get up a dance on the sands afterwards. I"ve found such a pretty pencil-case among the drift-wood. I mean to keep it."
"I don"t think any one else has discovered the island," said Isobel. "So we"ve quite a right to take possession, haven"t we?"
"It"s the very thing we want, and we"ll annex it at once," said Charlie; and drawing the empty sh.e.l.l of a sea urchin from his pocket, he slipped it on to the top of a stick, which he planted firmly in the sand as an ensign; then climbing on to the summit of a rock close by, he waved his handkerchief to north, south, east, and west, exclaiming, "We hereby take solemn possession of this island in the name of the United Sea Urchins" Recreation Society, and are prepared to hold the same in legal right against all comers. If any one has just cause or impediment to offer why the said society should not occupy this territory in peace and prosperity, let him speak now, or hereafter for ever hold his peace.
Rule, Britannia! G.o.d save the King!"
With a burst of cheers the others unanimously declared themselves witnesses to the deed, and decided that possession being nine-tenths of the law, the island, for the time at any rate, was undoubtedly their own, and until any one appeared to dispute their claim they would make what they pleased of it.
"To-morrow we"ll rig out a real pioneer party of settlers, and come with hammers and nails and axes and all the rest of it," said Charlie. "Then we can put up a flag and decide on names and everything. We haven"t time to explore the top now, though it looks jolly upon those cliffs; we must get back before the tide turns. It"s a ripping place, but it would be no joke, all the same, to be surrounded and have to spend the night here."