CHAPTER FIVE.
DESCRIBES A WRECK AND SOME OF ITS CONSEQUENCES.
While the miner had been pursuing his toilsome work in the solitude andsilence of the level under the sea, as already described, a noble shipwas leaping over the Atlantic waves--homeward bound--to Old England.
She was an East-Indiaman, under close-reefed sails, and although shebent low before the gale so that the waves almost curled over her leebulwarks, she rose buoyantly like a seagull, for she was a good ship,stout of plank and sound of timber, with sails and cordage to match.
Naturally, in such a storm, those on board were anxious, for they knewthat they were drawing near to land, and that "dear Old England" had anugly seaboard in these parts--a coast not to be too closely hugged inwhat the captain styled "dirty weather, with a whole gale from thewest'ard," so a good lookout was kept. Sharp eyes were in the foretoplooking out for the guiding rays of the Long-ships lighthouse, whichillumine that part of our rocky shores to warn the mariner of danger anddirect him to a safe harbour. The captain stood on the "foge's'l" withstern gaze and compressed lip. The chart had been consulted, thebearings correctly noted, calculations made, and leeway allowed for.Everything in fact that could be done by a commander who knew his dutyhad been done for the safety of the ship--so would the captain have saidprobably, had he lived to be questioned as to the management of hisvessel. But everything had _not_ been done. The lead, strange to say,had not been hove. It was ready to heave, but the order was delayed.Unaccountable fatality! The only safe guide that remained to the goodship on that wild night was held in abeyance. It was deemed unnecessaryto heave it yet, or it was troublesome, and they would wait till nearerthe land. No one now can tell the reasons that influenced the captain,but _the lead was not used_. Owing to similar delay or neglect,hundreds upon hundreds of ships have been lost, and thousands of humanlives have been sacrificed!
The ship passed like a dark phantom over the very head of the miner whowas at work many fathoms below the bottom of the sea.
"Land, ho!" came suddenly in a fierce, quick shout from the mast-head.
"Starboard! starboard--hard!" cried the captain, as the roar of breakersahead rose above the yelling of the storm.
Before the order was obeyed or another word spoken the ship struck, anda shriek of human terror followed, as the foremast went by the boardwith a fearful crash. The waves burst over the stern, sweeping thedecks fore and aft. Wave after wave lifted the great ship as though ithad been a child's toy, and dashed her down upon the rocks. Her bottomwas stove in, her planks and timbers were riven like matchwood. Fardown below man was destroying the flinty rock, while overhead the rockwas destroying the handiwork of man! But the destruction in the onecase was slow, in the other swift. A desperate but futile effort wasmade by the crew to get out the boats, and the passengers, many of whomwere women and children, rushed frantically from the cabin to the deck,and clung to anything they could lay hold of, until strength failed, andthe waves tore them away.
One man there was in the midst of all the terror-stricken crew whoretained his self-possession in that dread hour. He was a tall, sternold man with silver locks--an Indian merchant, one who had spent hisyouth and manhood in the wealthy land collecting gold--"making afortune," he was wont to say--and who was returning to his fatherland tospend it. He was a thinking and calculating man, and in theanticipation of some such catastrophe as had actually overtaken him, hehad secured some of his most costly jewels in a linen belt. This belt,while others were rushing to the boats, the old man secured round hiswaist, and then sprang on deck, to be swept, with a dozen of hisfellow-passengers, into the sea by the next wave that struck the doomedvessel. There was no one on that rugged coast to lend a helping hand.Lifeboats did not then, as now, nestle in little nooks on every part ofour dangerous coasts. No eye was there to see nor ear to hear, when,twenty minutes after she struck, the East-Indiaman went to pieces, andthose of her crew and passengers who had retained their hold of heruttered their last despairing cry, and their souls returned to God whogave them.
It is a solemn thought that man may with such awful suddenness, and sounexpectedly, be summoned into the presence of his Maker. Thrice happythey who, when their hearts grow chill and their grasps relax as thelast plank is rending, can say, "Neither death, nor life, nor any othercreature, is able to separate us from the love of God, which is inChrist Jesus our Lord."
The scene we have described was soon over, and the rich cargo of theEast-Indiaman was cast upon the sea and strewn upon the shore, affordingmuch work for many days to the coastguard, and greatly exciting thepeople of the district--most of whom appeared to entertain an earnestbelief in the doctrine that everything cast by storms upon their coastought to be considered public property. Portions of the wreck had thename "Trident" painted on them, and letters found in several chestswhich were washed ashore proved that the ship had sailed from Calcutta,and was bound for the port of London. One little boy alone escaped thewaves. He was found in a crevice of the cliffs the following day, withjust enough vitality left to give a few details of the wreck. Althoughall possible care was bestowed on him, he died before night.
Thus sudden and complete was the end of as fine a ship as ever spreadher canvas to the breeze. At night she had been full of life--full ofwealth; in the morning she was gone--only a few bales and casks andbroken spars to represent the wealth, and stiffened corpses to tell ofthe life departed. So she came and went, and in a short time allremnants of her were carried away.
One morning, a few weeks after the night of the storm, Maggot the smithturned himself in his bed at an early hour, and, feeling disinclined toslumber, got up to look at the state of the weather. The sun was justrising, and there was an inviting look about the morning which inducedthe man to dress hastily and go out.
Maggot was a powerfully-built man, rough in his outer aspect as well asin his inner man, but by no means what is usually termed a bad man,although, morally speaking, he could not claim to be considered a goodone. In fact, he was a hearty, jolly, reckless fisherman, with warmfeelings, enthusiastic temperament, and no principle; a man who, thoughvery ready to do a kind act, had no particular objection to do one thatwas decidedly objectionable when it suited his purpose or served hispresent interest. He was regarded by his comrades as one of thegreatest madcaps in the district. Old Maggot was, as we have said, ablacksmith to trade, but he had also been bred a miner, and wassomething of a fisherman as well, besides being (like most of hiscompanions) an inveterate smuggler. He could turn his hand to almostanything, and was "everything by turns, but nothing long."
Sauntering down to Priests Cove, on the south of Cape Cornwall, with hishands in his pockets and his sou'-wester stuck carelessly on his shaggyhead, he fell in with a comrade, whom he hailed by the name of JohnCock. This man was also a fisherman, _et cetera_, and the bosom friendand admirer of Maggot.
"Where bound to this mornin', Jack?" inquired Maggot.
"To fish," replied John.
"I go with 'ee, booy," said Maggot.
This was the extent of the conversation at that time. They were notcommunicative, but walked side by side in silence to the beach, wherethey launched their little boat and rowed out to sea.
Presently John Cock looked over his shoulder and exclaimed--"Maggot, Isee summat."
"Do 'ee?"
"Iss do I."
"What do un look like?"
"Like a dead corp."
"Aw, my dear," said Maggot, "lev us keep away. It can do no good towe."
Acting on this opinion the men rowed past the object that was floatingon the sea, and soon after began to fish; but they had not fished longwhen the dead body, drifted probably by some cross-current, appearedclose to them again. Seeing this they changed their position, but erelong the body again appeared.
"P'raps," observed Maggot, "there's somethin' in its pockets."
As the same idea had occurred to John Cock, the men resolved to examinethe body, so they rowed up
to it and found it to be that of an elderlyman, much decomposed, and nearly naked. A very short examinationsufficed to show that the pockets of such garments as were still upon itwere empty, and the men were about to let it go again, when Maggotexclaimed--
"Hold fast, Jack, I see somethin' tied round the waist of he; a sort o'belt it do seem."
The belt was quickly removed and the body released, when it sank with aheavy plunge, but ere long reappeared on the surface. The fishermenrowed a considerable distance away from it, and then shipped their oarsand examined the belt, which was made of linen. Maggot sliced it up ashe would have ripped up a fish, and laid bare, to the astonished gaze ofhimself and his friend, a number of glittering gems of various colours,neatly and firmly embedded in cotton, besides a variety of rings andsmall brooches set with precious stones.
"Now, I tell 'ee," said Maggot, "'tis like as this here will make ourfortin', or else git we into trouble."
"Why, whatever shud we git into trouble 'bout it for?" said John Cock."'Tis like as not they ain't real--only painted glass, scarce wuth thetrouble o' car'in' ashore."
"Hould thy tongue, thee g'eat chucklehead," replied Maggot; "a manwouldn't go for to tie such stuff round his waist to drown hisself with,I do know, if they worn't real. Lev us car' 'em to MaisterDonnithorne."
John Cock replied with a nod, and the two men, packing up the jewels,pulled in-shore as fast as possible. Hauling their boat beyond thereach of the surf, they hastened to St. Just, and requested a privateaudience of Mr Donnithorne. [See note 1.]
That excellent gentleman was not unaccustomed to give private audiencesto fishermen, and, as has been already hinted at the beginning of thistale, was reported to have private dealings with them also--of a veryquestionable nature. He received the two men, however, with the heartyair of a man who knows that the suspicions entertained of him by thecalumnious world are false.
"Well, Maggot," said Mr Donnithorne, "what is your business with me?You are not wont to be astir so early, if all be true that is reportedof 'ee."
"Plaise, sur," said Maggot, with a glance at Rose Ellis, who sat sewingnear the window, "I'm come to talk 'bout private matters--if--"
"Leave us, Rose dear, for a little," said the old gentleman.
As soon as she was out of the room Maggot locked the door, a proceedingwhich surprised Mr Donnithorne not a little, but his surprise was muchgreater when the man drew a small parcel from the breast of his roughcoat, and, unrolling it, displayed the glittering jewels of which he hadso unexpectedly become possessed.
"Where got you these?" inquired Mr Donnithorne, turning them overcarefully.
"Got 'em in the say--catched 'em, sure 'nough," said Maggot.
"Not with a baited hook, I warrant," said the old gentleman. "Come, myson, let's hear all about it."
Maggot explained how he had obtained the jewels, and then asked whatthey were worth.
"I can't tell that," said Mr Donnithorne, shaking his head gravely."Some of them are undoubtedly of value; the others, for all I know, maynot be worth much."
"Come now, sur," said Maggot, with a confidential leer, "it's not thefust time we have done a bit o' business. I 'spose I cud claim salvageon 'em?"
"I don't know that," said the old gentleman; "you cannot tell whom theybelonged to, and I suspect Government would claim them, if--But, by theway, I suppose you found no letters--nothing in the shape of writing onthe body?"
"Nothin' whatsomever."
"Well, then, I fear that--"
"Come now, sur," said Maggot boldly; "'spose you gives John and me tenpounds apaice an' kape 'em to yourself to make what 'ee can of 'em?"
Mr Donnithorne shook his head and hesitated. Often before had hedefrauded the revenue by knowingly purchasing smuggled brandy andtobacco, and by providing the funds to enable others to smuggle them;but then the morality of that day in regard to smuggling was very lax,and there were men who, although in all other matters truly honest andupright, could not be convinced of the sinfulness of smuggling, andsmiled when they were charged with the practice, but who, nevertheless,would have scorned to steal or tell a downright lie. This, however, wasa very different matter from smuggling. The old gentleman shrank fromit at first, and could not meet the gaze of the smuggler with his usualbold frank look. But the temptation was great. The jewels he suspectedwere of immense value, and his heart readily replied to the objectionsraised by his conscience, that after all there was no one left to claimthem, and he had a much better right to them, in equity if not in law,than Government; and as to the fellows who found them--why, the sum theyasked would be a great and rich windfall to them, besides freeing themfrom all further trouble, as well as transferring any risk that mightaccrue from their shoulders to his own.
While the old gentleman was reasoning thus with himself, Maggot stoodanxiously watching his countenance and twisting the cloth that hadenclosed the jewellery into a tight rope, as he shifted his positionuneasily. At length old Mr Donnithorne said--
"Leave the jewels with me, and call again in an hour from this time.You shall then have my answer."
Maggot and his friend consented to this delay, and left the room.
No sooner were they gone than the old gentleman called his wife, whonaturally exclaimed in great surprise on beholding the table coveredwith such costly trinkets--
"Where _ever_ did you get these, Tom?"
Mr Donnithorne explained, and then asked what she thought of Maggot'sproposal.
"Refuse it," said she firmly.
"But, my dear--"
"Don't `but' about it, Tom. Whenever a man begins to `but' with sin, itis sure to butt him over on his back. Have nothing to do with it, _I_say."
"But, my dear, it is not dishonest--"
"I don't know that," interrupted Mrs Donnithorne vigorously; "you thinkthat smuggling is not dishonest, but I do, and so does the minister."
"What care _I_ for the minister?" cried the old gentleman, losing histemper; "who made _him a_ judge of my doings?"
"He is an expounder of God's Word," said Mrs Donnithorne firmly, "andholds that `Thou shalt not steal' is one of the Ten Commandments."
"Well, well, he and I don't agree, that's all; besides, has he neverexpounded to you that obedience to your husband is a virtue? acommandment, I may say, which you are--"
"Mr Donnithorne," said the lady with dignity, "I am here at yourrequest, and am now complying with your wishes in giving my opinion."
"There, there, Molly," said the subdued husband, giving his better halfa kiss, "don't be so sharp. You ought to have been a lawyer with yourpowerful reasoning capacity. However, let me tell you that you don'tunderstand these matters--"
"Then why ask my advice, Tom?"
"Why, woman, because an inexplicable fatality leads me to consult you,although I know well enough what the upshot will be. But I'm resolvedto close with Maggot."
"I knew you would," said Mrs Donnithorne quietly.
The last remark was the turning-point. Had the good lady condescendedto be _earnest_ in her entreaties that the bargain should not beconcluded, it is highly probable her husband would have given in; buther last observation nettled him so much that he immediately hoisted aflag of defiance, nailed it to the mast, and went out in greatindignation to search for Maggot. That individual was not far off. Thebargain was completed, the jewels were locked up in one of the oldgentleman's secret repositories, and the fishermen, with ten poundsapiece in their pockets, returned home.
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Note 1. It may be well here to inform the reader that the finding ofthe jewels as here described, and the consequences which followed, arefounded on fact.
Deep Down, a Tale of the Cornish Mines Page 5