Bluff Crag Part 3

Didn't old Joe Gafler warn them there was a squall a-coming! but no, she is so grasping, she wanted the money for the fish, and she let him go.

It was a shame!'

"'But father often says the boat may be found yet,' said Rachel; 'and you know even old d.i.c.k says the thing is likely.'

"'Well, if so be's it should happen that Will Dampier comes to land again, I hope he'll know how his Polly has been treated when he was away,' said Martha.

"'Oh, I wouldn't mind for myself not one bit,' said Polly. 'It's when she strikes Willie that I can't bear it; and I somehow think Willie is not so well this last week.'

"'Then you mustn't think of running away, Polly,' said Vea. 'Wasn't that what Martha was urging you to do? If you went away, who would take care of Willie? Do you know, I have a brother I am very anxious about too, Polly?' said Vea. 'He is lying in d.i.c.k's cottage, with his leg broken, and the doctor is setting it while we are waiting out here.'

"'Oh, I am very sorry indeed, miss,' said Polly, forgetting her own troubles in turn. 'Is that the young gentleman who is living with Mrs.

Berkley?'

"'Yes, Polly,' said Vea. 'Mrs. Berkley is my aunt.'

"'He's a very kind young gentleman, miss. Is there anything I could do for him, miss? I should like to do something so much, for he helped me more than once.'

"Vea naturally looked a little surprised, for Patrick was so often in trouble, that it was rather astonis.h.i.+ng to hear any one praising him.

"'I don't think it could be my brother Patrick,' said Vea.

"'Oh yes, miss, that was his name,' said Polly. 'He told me his name was Patrick.'

"'And what did Patrick do for you?' said Vea, looking much pleased.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ANCHOR.]

"'I was playing with Willie one day at the harbour, and young d.i.c.k was showing me a great anchor some of the men had left on sh.o.r.e for a new boat they were going to build, when my step-mother called from the cottage door, and bade me take the ropes and carry home the drift-wood she had been gathering all the morning. d.i.c.k said as how he was sorry he couldn't go to help me, as he had to go out in his grandfather's boat that afternoon; and so, after leaving Willie beside old d.i.c.k, I took the ropes and went down on the beach. My step-mother had called after me I was to drag them in three bundles, but they were so heavy that I had to separate the first one into two; and for doing this she beat me. I was going back to the next one, crying a good deal, for I was wis.h.i.+ng I could go to my own mother and to father, when a boy jumped up from behind a stone, and asked me why I was crying; and so I told him. And when he heard it, he called my step-mother some hard names; and then says he, "Are you the little girl young d.i.c.k helps when he has any spare time?" And when I answered "Yes," he says, "Well, then, give me the ropes and I'll help you, for d.i.c.k is away to-day." I couldn't help saying that dragging drift-wood wasn't fit work for a gentleman; but he just laughed, and said there were lots of people would be glad to know Patrick Berkley was so usefully employed.'

"'And did he drag the wood for you?' said Vea, the tears standing in her eyes.

"'That he did, miss. And whenever he sees me carrying a heavy load along the beach, he just slips up to me, and, without saying a word, takes it out of my hand. And then if he sees any of the boys frightening me, he won't let them. I was so sorry, miss, for the cut he got on his eye; that was from wild Joe throwing a stone at him when he was carrying my basket for me round the Bluff Crag.'

"'You have no idea how happy you have made me, Polly,' said Vea. 'Aunt Mary always says there is a great deal of good in Patrick, only his love of mischief sometimes chokes the good seed. It is very strange he never lets us see him doing a kind or a generous action.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: BY THE BEACH.]

"At this moment Natilie opened the cottage door and called to her young mistress to come up. I waited by the beach, and taking off my shoes and stockings, waded into the cool water. The girls were much amused at my delight, and I may say terror also, as, looking down into the clear blue water, I saw various small fishes darting in and out among the stones; and even Polly forgot her angry step-mother at home, and screamed with laughter at my sudden fright when a small crab seized hold of my great toe, and hung tenaciously to it, even when I was far up on the sandy beach.

"Then Natilie came and called to me to come up also; and there I found Patrick lying very quiet and still on the bed, and Vea sitting by the side of it holding his hand. It was arranged that I should return to the house with Natilie and Alfred, while Vea remained with her brother till Natilie returned; but just as we were setting out, my Uncle John came down to see after the patient, and I was told I might amuse myself for an hour outside till the maid returned with the articles required by the doctor. I would have liked to have stayed with Vea, but both the doctor and my uncle thought that as the cottage was so small, the fewer there were in it the better for Patrick.

"'I would like to get home,' said poor Patrick in a faint voice.

'Couldn't I be carried home, sir?' he pleaded, turning to the doctor.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DOWN AT THE COVE.]

"'Not for some days, my boy,' replied the doctor kindly. 'If you lie very still, and attend to orders, we shall see what can be done for you then.'

"But when the doctor had gone, Vea came slipping out, and bidding me follow her, went round to where some boats lay moored. A ladder was placed against the side of one of these, and up this Vea mounted before I knew what she was going to do. 'I feel sure,' she said, looking over the side of the boat to me, as I stood on the beach below, 'if we could only get Patrick hoisted up here, we might get him taken home quite safely.'

"'Ah, but I don't think the doctor will allow you to do that,' I replied; 'I fear he must remain here for some weeks.'

"'He seems very anxious to get home, poor boy. I cannot make it out,'

said Vea. 'He says he will tell me the reason once he finds himself in his own bed at Aunt Berkley's. I wonder who this boat belongs to.'

"'Polly said it belonged to Martha's father,' I replied; 'she told me so just before they left me to go home.'

"'Polly, I hope, has quite made up her mind not to run away,' said Vea.

"'Oh yes, I think she has given up that idea; indeed, I heard her say to Rachel she would try to bear it a little longer.'

"'There is d.i.c.k returned already,' said Vea; and she scrambled out of the boat, and ran down to the beach to meet d.i.c.k, who was coming from the doctor's house with a basket containing medicines for the sick boy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: d.i.c.k RETURNING WITH THE MEDICINE.]

"'Oh, you are a good boy, d.i.c.k,' said Vea. 'How fast you must have gone!'

"'Well, yes, miss, I did go fast,' said d.i.c.k, pleased with Vea's speech apparently. 'I went by the beach, the tide being out, and it is nigher that way by a good mile. I would go faster than most folks for the young master.'

"'Why, has Patrick been kind to you too, d.i.c.k!' said Vea, in much surprise.

"'That he has, miss,' said d.i.c.k gratefully. 'When I lost grandfather's knife, didn't he buy me a new one with the new half-crown his aunt gave him to spend at the fair! And didn't he let grandfather think he had broken the gla.s.s in the window, when all the time it was me, and n.o.body else! And hasn't he often and often brought me a bit of his own dinner tied up in his handkerchief, or a pie he would find lying handy in the pantry, when he knowed I'd had nothing for my dinner that day at all!'

"Vea said nothing, but she evidently thought her brother was a very curious boy, and that she had not understood him at all.

"When Natilie had returned with the things required by the sick boy and his attendants, Uncle John and I set off home, he promising that we would return the next afternoon to inquire after Patrick. The sun was just shedding its last rays of golden light over the sea, lighting it up with a strange lurid light, which, with the stillness of the scene, and the great rocks on the coast, left a strange impression on my mind.

"'And you say you have enjoyed yourself, my dear!' said Uncle John, after we had walked on in silence for some time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GOING HOME WITH UNCLE JOHN.]

"'Oh, very much indeed, uncle,' I replied. 'I like Vea so much, and Alfred is such a funny boy. Isn't it a pity that Patrick is so fond of mischief, when he seems to have such a kind heart?'

"'I've always liked that boy Patrick,' said my uncle; 'and, what is more,' he continued, as if to himself, 'I never liked Alfred.'

"'That is very strange, uncle,' I replied; 'he is such a polite boy, and so quiet in the drawing-room. He is so funny too; he nearly set me off laughing at the funny faces he made behind his aunt's back; and he can speak just like her, in that queer low drawling tone.'

"'Exactly,' said my uncle; 'that is the very thing I dislike about him.

He has the power of mimicry, and is also able to keep a grave face when others are forced to laugh--a thing poor Patrick is not able to do, and the consequence is he gets into sad disgrace for laughing, and, to save his brother, won't tell what he is laughing at. Alfred is a mean boy, for twice I have seen him allow his brother to be punished, when, by simply telling he was the cause of it, the punishment might have been avoided. Now, who do you think was the actual culprit who cut that nice table in the summer-house?'

"'It must have been Patrick, uncle; he never denied it,' I replied.

"'That is the strange thing, dear. Patrick is greatly to blame in this, that he will not tell upon his brother, but is so easy-minded, that, rather than exert himself to make his friends think well of him, he allows every one to suppose that he is the offender; and, as I said before, Alfred is so mean, that, knowing this, he plays the tricks and lets his brother take the blame. A tale-teller is to be despised; but a boy who is so lazy that he cannot say a good word for himself when his character is concerned, is almost as bad.'

"'But how did you find all this out, uncle?' I inquired.

"'Well, I overheard the two boys speaking about it in the shrubbery; and what struck me most was, even when Patrick had an opportunity to reprove his younger brother he did not do so, though a good word costs nothing, and might save his brother much misery in the end. I am half glad he has met with this accident; it will give him time to think.'

"At this moment a boat sailed past, filled with gay company, who waved their handkerchiefs to us, and cheered most l.u.s.tily. One little girl held up her doll, and made it wave its hat to Uncle John's polite bow, which made them all laugh very much.