XIII.
Where"s Solomon?--An anxious Search.--The Beach.--The cavernous Cliffs.--Up the Precipice.--Along the Sh.o.r.e.--Back for Boats.
The loss of Solomon had filled the boys with anxiety, and even Captain Corbet shared in the common feeling. He had preferred to set out, as he said, with a coil of rope; but the sight of this seemed to make Solomon"s fate appear darker, and looked as though he might have fallen over a precipice, or into a deep pool of water. They all knew that a serious accident was not at all improbable. They had seen the lofty and rugged cliffs that lined the bay sh.o.r.e, and knew that the rising waters, as they dashed over them, might form the grave of a man far younger and more active than the aged Solomon. He was weak and rheumatic; he was also timid and easily confused. If the water had overtaken him anywhere, he might easily fall a prey. In his efforts to escape, he would soon become so terrified that his limbs would be paralyzed. He might then stumble over the rocks, and break some of his bones, or he might be intrapped in some recess of the cliffs, from which escape might be impossible without external help.
Full of thoughts like these, the boys went on, with Captain Corbet, up through the village, looking carefully around as they went on, and making inquiries of every one whom they met. No one, however, could give them any information. At last they reached the end of the village. Here, on the left, there arose a high hill. The road wound round this, and descended into a valley, through which a stream ran to the bay. In this valley there was a ship-yard, where the half-finished fabric of a large ship stood before them, and from which the rattle of a hundred axes rose into the air. The valley itself was a beautiful place, running up among steep hills, till it was lost to view among a ma.s.s of evergreen trees and rich foliage. Below the shipyard was a cove of no very great depth, but of extreme beauty. Beyond this was a broad beach, which, at the farthest end, was bounded by the projecting headland before alluded to. The headland was a precipitous cliff of red sandstone, crowned at the summit with a fringe of forest trees, white at its base were two or three hollow caverns, worn into the solid rock by the action of the surf. One of these was about thirty feet in height at its mouth, and ran back for sixty or seventy feet, narrowing all the way, like a funnel, from its entrance to its farthest extremity.
The tide was now nearly at its height, and progress down the beach and along the cliff was impossible. The caves were cut off also, and the water penetrated them for some distance. At low tide one could easily walk down to the extreme point of the headland, and rounding this, he would find it possible to go along in front of the cliffs for an immense distance, either by walking along the rough beach at their foot, or, if the water should rise again, by going along rocky shelves, which projected for miles from the surface of the cliff.
Reaching the head of the beach, Captain Corbet paused, and looked around.
"Before goin any further," said he, "we"d better ask the folks at this ship-yard. It ain"t possible to tell whether he"s gone by the beach or not. He may have gone up the valley."
"O," said Bart, dolefully, "he must have gone by the beach."
"I rayther think I"ll ask, at any rate," said the captain.
So saying, he walked up towards a house that was not far off, and accosted some men who were standing there. On hearing his question, they were silent for a few moments; and at last one of them recollected seeing an aged colored man pa.s.sing by early in the morning. He had a basket on his arm, and in every way corresponded to the description of Solomon. He was on his way up the sh.o.r.e.
"Did he go down to the pint," asked Captain Corbet, "or up to the top of the cliff?"
The man couldn"t say for certain; but as far as he could recollect, it seemed to him that he went down to the pint.
"About what time?"
"Between eight and nine o"clock--in fact, about eight--not much later."
"Did he speak to any one here?"
"No; he walked past without stoppin. An do you say he ain"t got back?"
"Not yet."
"Wal," said the man, "for an old feller, an a feller what don"t know the country hereabouts, he"s gone on a dangerous journey; an ef he"s tried to get back, he"s found it a pooty hard road to travel."
"Isn"t there any chance of his gettin back by the cliff?"
"Not with the water risin onto his path."
"Is there any way of gettin up to the top of the cliff?"
"Wal, fur a active young feller it wouldn"t be hard, but for a pore old critter like that thar, it couldn"t be done--no how."
"Wal, boys," said Captain Corbet, sorrowfully, "I guess we"d better get on, an not lose any more time."
They walked away in silence for some time, until at last they reached the foot of the cliff. A path here ran up in a winding direction so as to reach the top.
"It seems too bad," said Captain Corbet, "not to be able to get to the beach. I wish I"d come in the boat. What a fool I was not to think of it!"
"O, I dare say the top of the cliff will do," said Bruce.
"Wal, it"ll have to do. At any rate I"ve got the kile of rope."
"We shall be able to see him from the top just as well, and perhaps better."
"Wal, I hope so; but we"ll be a leetle too far above him for my fancy,--ony we can use the rope, I s"pose. Can any of you youngsters climb?"
"O, yes," said Bart, "all of us."
"What kind of heads have you got--stiddy?"
"Yes, good enough," said Bruce. "I"ll engage to go anywhere that I can find a foothold; and here"s Bart, that"ll go certainly as far, and perhaps farther. And here"s Phil, that can do his share. As for Pat, he can beat us all; he can travel like a fly, upside down, or in any direction."
"Wal, I"m glad to hear that, boys, for it"s likely you"ll be wanted to do some climbin afore we get back. I used to do somethin in that way; but since I"ve growed old, an rheumatic, I"ve got kine o" out o" the way of it, an don"t scacely feel sech confidence in myself as I used to onst. But come, we mustn"t be waitin here all day."
At this they started up the path, and soon reached the top of the cliff.
Arriving here, they found themselves in a cultivated meadow, pa.s.sing through which they reached a pasture field. After a walk of about a quarter of a mile, they came to the cliff that ran along the sh.o.r.e of the bay, and on reaching this, the whole bay burst upon their view.
It was still a beautiful day; the sun was shining brilliantly, and his rays were reflected in a path of dazzling l.u.s.tre from the face of the sea. The wind was fresh, and the little waves tossed up their heads across where the sunlight fell, flashing back the rays of the sun in perpetually changing light, and presenting to the eye the appearance of innumerable dazzling stars. Far away rose the Nova Scotia sh.o.r.e as they had seen it in the morning, while up the bay, in the distance, abrupt, dark, and precipitous, arose the solitary Ile Haute.
Beneath them the waters of the bay foamed and splashed; and though there was not much surf, yet the waters came rolling among the rocks, seething and boiling, and extending as far as the eye could reach, up and down, in a long line of foam.
Reaching the edge, they all looked down. At the bottom there were visible the heads of black rocks, which arose above the waves at times, but which, however, at intervals, were covered with the rolling waters that tossed around them in foam and spray. Nearer and higher up there were rocks which projected like shelves from the face of the cliff, and seemed capable of affording a foothold to any climber; but their projection served also to conceal from view what lay immediately beneath.
Along the whole beach, however, up and down, there appeared no sign of human life. Anxiously they looked, hoping to see some human form, in some part of that long line of rock; but none was visible, and they looked at one another in silence.
"Wal, he don"t turn up yet; that"s clar," said Captain Corbet.
"We can see a great deal from here, too," said Bart, in a despondent tone.
"Ay, an that"s jest what makes the wust of it. I thought that one look from a commandin pint would reveal the wanderer to our eyes."
"Perhaps he is crouching in among the rocks down there."
"Wal, I rayther think he"d manage to git up a leetle further out of the reach of the surf than all that."
"He may be farther on."
"True; an I dare say he is, too."
"There don"t seem to be any place below these rocks, where he would be likely to be."
"No; I think that jest here he could climb up, as fur as that thar shelf, certain. He may be old an rheumatic, but he"s able enough to climb that fur."
"I don"t think anything could have happened to him here, or we should see some signs of him."