There is Sorrow on the Sea | Page 7

you
threw the lantern, and, catching his arm, you ran with him towards the
dyke.
"'Ready for a great jump!' you said. 'Your life hangs on it.' He was even
longer of leg than you. 'Is it a dyke?' he whispered, as the shots from
three muskets rang after you. 'A dyke. When I count three, jump,' you
answered. I have read somewhere of the great leap that one Don
Alvarado, a Spaniard, made in Mexico, but surely never was a greater
leap than you two made that night, landing safely on the other side, and
making for the sea-shore. None of the coast guardsmen, not even Lancy,
could make the leap, for he was sick and trembling, though he had fired
upon his own brother. And so they made for the bridge some distance
above, just as the faint moon slipped behind a cloud and hid you from
their sight.
"That is no country to hide in, as you know well, no caves, or hills, or
mazy coombes, just a wide, flat, reedy place, broken by open woods.
The only refuge for both now was the sea. 'Twas a wild run you two
made, side by side, down that shore, keeping close within the gloom of
the sand-hills, the coast-guards coming after, pressing you closer than
they thought at the time, for Tom Doane had been wounded in the leg.
But Lancy sent one back for the horses, he and the other coming on;
and so, there you were, two and two. 'Twas a cruel task for Lancy that
night, enough to turn a man's hair grey. But duty was duty, though
those two lads were more to each other than most men ever are. You
know how it ended. But I want to go all over it just to show you that I
understand. You were within a mile of Mablethorpe, when you saw a
little fishing smack come riding in, and you made straight for it. Who
should be in the smack but Solby, the canting Baptist, who was no
friend to you or my uncle, or any of us. You had no time for bargaining
or coaxing, and so, at the musket's mouth, you drove him from the boat,
and pushed it out just as Lancy and his men came riding up. Your sail
was up, and you turned the lugger to the wind in as little time as could
be, but the coast-guardsmen rode after you, calling you to give in. No
man will ever know the bitter trouble in Laney's heart when he gave the
order to fire on you, though he did not fire himself. And you--do I not

know, Cousin Dick, what you did? Tom Doane was not the man to fire
at the three dark figures riding you down, not knowing which was his
brother. But you, you understood that; and you were in, you said to
yourself, and you'd play the game out, come what would. You raised
your musket and drew upon a figure. At that moment a coast-guard's
musket blazed, and you saw the man you had drawn on was Lancy
Doane. You lowered your musket, and as you did a ball struck you on
the wrist.
"Oh, I have thanked God a hundred times, dear Cousin Dick, that you
fired no shot that night, but only helped a hunted, miserable man away,
for you did get free. Just in the nick of time your sail caught the wind,
and you steered for the open sea. Three days from that, Tom Doane was
safe in the Low Country, and you were on your way back to
Lincolnshire. You came by a fishing boat to Saltfleet Haven, and made
your way down the coast towards Mablethorpe. Passing Theddlethorpe,
you went up to Faddo's house, and, looking through the window, you
saw Faddo, not dead, but being cared for by his wife. Then you came
on to Mablethorpe, and standing under my window, at the very moment
when I was on my knees praying for the safety of those who travelled
by sea, you whistled like a quail from the garden below--the old signal.
Oh, how my heart stood still a moment and then leaped, for I knew it
was you! I went down to the garden, and there you were. Oh, but I was
glad to see you, Cousin Dick!
"You remember how I let you take me in your arms for an instant, and
then I asked if he was safe. And when you told me that he was, I burst
into tears, and I asked you many questions about him. And you
answered them quickly, and then would have taken me in your arms
again. But I would not let you, for then I knew--I knew that you