The Lighthouse | Page 7

but, being a stout, lethargic man, he soon fell fast
asleep! It was just at the spot where this man lay that Ruby reached the
summit. The ascent was very difficult. At each step the hunted youth
had to reach his hand as high above his head as possible, and grasp the
edge of a rock or a mass of turf with great care before venturing on
another step. Had one of these points of rock, or one of these tufts of
grass, given way, he would infallibly have fallen down the precipice
and been killed. Accustomed to this style of climbing from infancy,
however, he advanced without a sensation of fear.
On reaching the top he peeped over, and, seeing that no one was near,
prepared for a rush. There was a mass of brown turf on the bank above
him. He grasped it with all his force, and swung himself over the edge
of the cliff. In doing so he nearly scalped poor Dalls, whose hair was
the "turf" which he had seized, and who, uttering a hideous yell, leaped
upon Ruby and tried to overthrow him. But Dalls had met his match.
He received a blow on the nose that all but felled him, and instantly
after a blow on each eye, that raised a very constellation of stars in his
brain, and laid him prone upon the grass.
His yell, however, and the noise of the scuffle, were heard by those of
the press-gang who were nearest to the scene of conflict. They rushed
to the rescue, and reached the spot just as Ruby leaped over his
prostrate foe and fled towards Arbroath. They followed with a cheer,
which warned the two men in ambush to be ready. Ruby was lithe as a
greyhound. He left his pursuers far behind him, and dashed down the
gorge leading from the cliffs to the low ground beyond.
Here he was met by the two sailors, and by the lieutenant, who had
joined them. Minnie was also there, having been conducted thither by
the said lieutenant, who gallantly undertook to see her safe into the

town, in order to prevent any risk of her being insulted by his men. On
hearing the shout of those who pursued Ruby, Winnie hurried away,
intending to get free from the gang, not feeling that the lieutenant's
protection was either desirable or necessary.
When Ruby reached the middle of the gorge, which we have dignified
with the name of "pass", and saw three men ready to dispute his
passage, he increased his speed. When he was almost up to them he
turned aside and sprang nimbly up the almost perpendicular wall of
earth on his right. This act disconcerted the men, who had prepared to
receive his charge and seize him, but Ruby jumped down on the
shoulders of the one nearest, and crushed him to the ground with his
weight. His clenched fist caught the lieutenant between the eyes and
stretched him on his back--the third man wisely drew aside to let this
human thunderbolt pass by!
He did pass, and, as the impetuous and quite irresistible locomotive is
brought to a sudden pause when the appropriate breaks are applied, so
was he brought to a sudden halt by Minnie a hundred yards or so
farther on.
"Oh! don't stop," she cried eagerly, and hastily thrusting him away.
"They'll catch you!"
Panting though he was, vehemently, Ruby could not restrain a laugh.
"Catch me! no, darling; but don't be afraid of them. They won't hurt
you, Minnie, and they _can't_ hurt _me_--except in the way of cutting
short our interview. Ha! here they come. Goodbye, dearest; I'll see you
soon again."
At that moment five or six of the men came rushing down the pass with
a wild cheer. Ruby made no haste to run. He stood in an easy attitude
beside Minnie; leisurely kissed her little hand, and gently smoothed
down her golden hair. Just as the foremost pursuer came within fifteen
yards or so of them, he said, "Farewell, my lassie, I leave you in good
hands"; and then, waving his cap in the air, with a cheer of more than
half-jocular defiance, he turned and fled towards Arbroath as if one of

the nor'-east gales, in its wildest fury, were sweeping him over the land.

CHAPTER III
OUR HERO OBLIGED TO GO TO SEA
When Ruby Brand reached the outskirts of Arbroath, he checked his
speed and walked into his native town whistling gently, and with his
hands in his pockets, as though he had just returned from an evening
walk. He directed his steps to one of the streets near the harbour, in
which his mother's cottage was situated.
Mrs. Brand was a delicate, little old woman--so little and