"Ha! Very glad he has come, Nic," said the Captain. "Fine fellow, Jack Lawrence! Never forgets old friends. Now I"ll be bound to say he can give us good advice about what to do with those scoundrels."
"Not much in his way, father, is it?" said Nic.
"What, sir?" cried the Captain fiercely. "Look here, boy; I never knew anything which was not in Jack Lawrence"s way. Why, when we were young lieutenants together on board the _Sovereign_, whether it was fight or storm he was always ready with a good idea. He will give us--me--well, us--good advice, I"m sure. There he is, being carried ash.o.r.e. Go and meet him, my boy. I like him to see that he is welcome. Tell him I"d have come down myself, but the climb back is a bit too much for me."
Nic went off at a trot along the steep track which led down to the sh.o.r.e, and in due time met the hale, vigorous, grey-haired officer striding uphill in a way which made Nic feel envious on his father"s behalf.
"Well, Nic, my boy," cried the visitor, "how"s the dad? Well? That"s right. So are you," he continued, gazing searchingly at the lad with his keen, steely-grey eyes. "Grown ever so much since I saw you last.
Ah, boy, it"s a pity you didn"t come to sea!"
Then he went on chatting about being just come upon the Plymouth station training men for the king"s ships, and how he hoped to see a good deal now of his old friend and his son.
The meeting between the brother-officers was boisterous, but there was something almost pathetic in the warmth with which they grasped hands, for they had first met in the same ship as middies, and many a time during Captain Lawrence"s visits Nic had sat and listened to their recollections of the dangers they had gone through and their boyish pranks.
William Solly was in the porch ready to salute the visitor, and to look with pride at the fine, manly old officer"s greeting. He made a point, too, of stopping in the room to wait table, carefully supplying all wants, and smiling with pleasure as he saw how the pleasant meal was enjoyed by the guest.
"We were lying off the river late last night, but I wouldn"t disturb you," he said. "I made up my mind, though, to come to breakfast. Hah!
What delicious fried salmon!"
"_Hur-r-ur_!" growled Captain Revel, and Solly c.o.c.ked his eye knowingly at Nic.
"Hallo! What"s the matter?" cried the visitor.
"The salmon--the salmon," growled Captain Revel, frowning and tapping the table.
"De-licious, man! Have some?--Here, Solly, hand the dish to your master."
"_Bur-r-ur_!" roared the Captain. "Take it away--take it away, or I shall be in another of my rages, and they"re not good for me, Jack--not good for me."
"Why, what is it, old lad?"
"Tell him, Nic--tell him," cried Captain Revel; and his son explained the cause of his father"s irritation.
"Why, that was worrying you last time I was here--let me see, a year ago."
"Yes, Jack; and it has been worrying me ever since," cried Captain Revel. "You see, I mustn"t cut any of the scoundrels down, and I mustn"t shoot them. The law would be down on me."
"Yes, of course; but you might make the law come down on them."
"Can"t, my lad. Summonses are no use."
"Catch them in the act, make them prisoners, and then see what the law will do."
"But we can"t catch them, Jack; they"re too many for us," cried the Captain earnestly. "They come twenty or thirty strong, and we"ve had fight after fight with them, but they knock us to pieces. Look at Solly"s forehead; they gave him that cut only a few nights ago."
The old sailor blushed like a girl.
"That"s bad," said the visitor, after giving the man a sharp look.
"What sort of fellows are they?"
"Big, strong, idle vagabonds. Sc.u.m of the town and the country round."
"Indeed!" said the visitor, raising his eyes. "They thrash you, then, because you are not strong enough?"
"Yes; that"s it, Jack. Now, what am I to do?"
"Let me see," said the visitor, tightening his lips. "They only come when the pool"s full of salmon, you say, after a bit of rain in the moors?"
"Yes; that"s it, Jack."
"Then you pretty well know when to expect them?"
"Yes; that"s right."
"How would it be, then, if you sent me word in good time in the morning?
Or, no--look here, old fellow--I shall know when there is rain on the moor, and I"ll come round in this direction from the port. I"m cruising about the Channel training a lot of men. You hoist a couple of flags on the staff some morning, and that evening at dusk I"ll land a couple of boats" crews, and have them marched up here to lay up with you and turn the tables upon the rascals. How will that do?"
Solly forgot discipline, and bent down to give one of his legs a tremendous slap, while his master made the breakfast things dance from his vigorous bang on the table.
"There, Nic," he cried triumphantly; "what did I say? Jack Lawrence was always ready to show the way when we were on our beam-ends. Jack, my dear old messmate," he cried heartily, as he stretched out his hand--"your fist."
CHAPTER SEVEN.
THE CAPTAIN WILL "WHERRIT."
Captain Lawrence spent the day at the Point, thoroughly enjoying a long gossip, and, after an early dinner, proposed a walk around the grounds and a look at the river and the pool.
"What a lovely spot it is!" he said, as he wandered about the side of the combe. "I must have such a place as this when I give up the sea."
"There isn"t such a place, Jack," said Captain Revel proudly. "But I want you to look round the pool.--I don"t think I"ll climb down, Nic.
It"s rather hot; and I"ll sit down on the stone for a few minutes while you two plan where you could ambush the men."
"Right," said Captain Lawrence; and he actively followed Nic, pausing here and there, till they had descended to where the fall just splashed gently down into the clear pool, whose bigger stones about the bottom were now half-bare.
"Lovely place this, Nic, my boy. I could sit down here and doze away the rest of my days. But what a pity it is that your father worries himself so about these poaching scoundrels! Can"t you wean him from it?
Tell him, or I will, that it isn"t worth the trouble. Plenty more fish will come, and there must be a little grit in every one"s wheel."
"Oh, I"ve tried everything, sir," replied Nic. "The fact is that he is not so well as I should like to see him; and when he has an irritable fit, the idea of any one trespa.s.sing and taking the fish half-maddens him."
"Well, we must see what we can do, my boy. It ought to be stopped. A set of idlers like this requires a severe lesson. A good dose of capstan bar and some broken heads will sicken them, and then perhaps they will let you alone."
"I hope so, sir."
"I think I can contrive that it shall," said the visitor dryly. "I shall bring or send some trusty men. There, I have seen all I want to see. Let"s get back."
He turned to climb up the side of the gorge; and as Nic followed, the place made him recall his encounter with Pete Burge, and how different the pool looked then; and, somehow, he could not help hoping that the big, bluff fellow might not be present during the sharp encounter with Captain Lawrence"s trusty men.