With a lighter heart and firmer faith, Paul Burns followed his leader, silently thanking God as he went along for thus far, and so opportunely, demonstrating His own faithfulness.
They had to wander some time before a suitable camping spot was found, for that part of the Newfoundland coast on which they had been landed was almost inaccessible. The cliffs in many places rose sheer out of the water to a height of full three hundred feet. Only in a few places little strips of shingly beach lay between the base of the cliffs and the sea, so that the finding of an opening in those stupendous ramparts of rock was no easy matter in a dark night.
At last they came to a place where the cliffs appeared to rise less precipitously. After careful clambering for some minutes they discovered a sort of gap in the rampart, up which they climbed, amid rugged and broken masses, until they reached a somewhat level plateau, or shelf, covered with small bushes. Here they resolved to encamp.
Whether its the top o the cliffs or not, theres no findin out, remarked Trench, as he tried to survey the ground; but whether or not dont matter, for it looks level enough to lie on, an were as like as not to break our necks if we try to go further.
Agreed, said Paul; but now it occurs to me that our pork may be raw, and that we shall want fire to cook it. Have you got flint and steel in your pocket, Master Trench?
Aynever travel without it; but by ill-luck Ive got no tinder. Flint and steel are useless, you know, without that.
If ill-luck troubles you, returned Paul, good luck favours me, for I have got a bit of tinder, and
The porks raw, exclaimed Oliver, who had been hastily investigating the contents of the canvas bag; but, I say, theres more than pork here. Theres a lot o the little flour-cakes our cook was so fond of makin.
Good. Now then let us have a search for wood, said Paul. If we find that, we shall get along well enough till morning. But have a care, Olly, keep from the edge of the cliff. The ledge is not broad. Have an eye too, or rather an ear, for water as you go along.
Success attended their search, for in a few minutes Paul and the captain returned with loads of dry branches, and Olly came back reporting water close at hand, trickling from a crevice in the cliffs.
Your shirt-front tells the tale, Olly. Youve been drinking, said Paul, who was busy striking a light at the time.
Indeed I have; and we shall all be obliged to drink under difficulties, for we have neither cup nor mug with us.
Neither is wanted, boy, as Ill soon show you, said Paul. Why, a bit of birch-bark, even a piece of paper, forms a good drinking vessel if you only know how to use it. Ha! caught at last, he added, referring to some dry grasses and twigs which burst into flame as he spoke.
Another moment and a ruddy glare lit up the spot, giving to things near at hand a cosy, red-hot appearance, and to more distant objects a spectral aspect, while, strangely enough, it seemed to deepen to profounder darkness all else around. Heaping on fresh fuel and pressing it down, for it consisted chiefly of small branches, they soon had a glowing furnace, in front of which the pork ere long sputtered pleasantly, sending up a smell that might have charmed a gourmand.
Now, then, while this is getting ready let us examine our possessions, said the captain, for we shall greatly need all that we have. It is quite clear that we could not return to our shipmates even if we would
No, and I would not even if I could, interrupted Oliver, while busy with the pork chops.
And, continued his father, regardless of the interruption, it is equally clear that we shall have to earn our own livelihood somehow.
Upon careful examination it was found that their entire possessions consisted of two large clasp-knives; a sheath hunting-knife; flint, steel, and tinder; the captains watch; a small axe; a large note-book, belonging to Paul; three pencils; bit of indiarubber; several fish-hooks; a long piece of twine, and three brass buttons, the property of Oliver, besides the manuscript Gospel of John, and Ollys treasured letter from his mother. These articles, with the garments in which they stood, constituted the small fortune of our wanderers, and it became a matter of profound speculation, during the progress of the supper, as to whether it was possible to exist in an unknown wilderness on such very slender means.
Olly thought it wasas a matter of course.
Master Trench doubted, and shook his head with an air of much sagacity, a method of expressing an opinion which is eminently unassailable. Paul Burns condescended on reasons for his beliefwhich, like Ollys, was favourable.
You see, he said, wiping his uncommonly greasy fingers on the grass, we have enough of pork and cakes here for several dayson short allowance. Then it is likely that we shall find some wild fruits, and manage to kill something or other with stones, and it cannot be long till we fall in with natives, who will be sure to be friendlyif not, we will make them soand where they can live, we can live. So I am going to turn in and dream about it. Luckily the weather is warm. Good-night.
Thus did our three adventurers, turning in on that giddy ledge, spend their first night in Newfoundland.
Chapter Six.
Difficulties met and Overcome
The position in which the trio found themselves next morning, when daylight revealed it, was, we might almost say, tremendously romantic.
The ledge on which they had passed the night was much narrower than they had supposed it to be, and their beds, if we may so call them, had been dangerously near to the edge of a frightful precipice which descended sheer down to a strip of sand that looked like a yellow thread two hundred feet below. The cliff behind them rose almost perpendicularly another hundred feet or more, and the narrow path or gully by which they had gained their eyrie was so steep and rugged that their reaching the spot at all in safety seemed little short of a miracle. The sun was brightening with its first beams an absolutely tranquil sea when the sleepers opened their eyes, and beheld what seemed to them a great universe of liquid light. Their ears at the same time drank in the soft sound of murmuring ripples far below, and the occasional cry of sportive sea-birds.
Grand! glorious! exclaimed Trench, as he sat up and gazed with enthusiasm on the scene.
Paul did not speak. His thoughts were too deep for utterance, but his mind reverted irresistibly to some of the verses in that manuscript Gospel which he carried so carefully in his bosom.
As for Oliver, his flushed young face and glittering eyes told their own tale. At first he felt inclined to shout for joy, but his feelings choked him; so he, too, remained speechless. The silence was broken at last by a commonplace remark from Paul, as he pointed to the horizonThe home of our shipmates is further off than I thought it was.
The rascals! exclaimed the captain, thinking of the shipmates, not of the home; the place is too good for em.
But all of them are not equally bad, suggested Paul gently.
Humph! replied Trench, for kind and good-natured though he was he always found it difficult to restrain his indignation at anything that savoured of injustice. In occasionally giving way to this temper, he failed to perceive at first that he was himself sometimes guilty of injustice. It is only fair to add, however, that in his cooler moments our captain freely condemned himself.
Humph! is a very expressive word, observed Paul, and in some sense satisfactory to those who utter it, but it is ambiguous. Do you mean to deny, Master Trench, that some of your late crew were very good fellows? and dont you admit that Little Stubbs and Squill and Grummidge were first-rate specimens of
I dont admit or deny anything! said the captain, rising, with a light laugh, and I have no intention of engaging in a controversy with you before breakfast. Come, Olly, blow up the fire, and go to work with your pork and cakes. Ill fetch some more wood, and Paul will help me, no doubt.
With a good grace Paul dropped the discussion and went to work. In a few minutes breakfast was not only ready, but consumed; for a certain measure of anxiety as to the probability of there being an available path to the top of the cliffs tended to hasten their proceedings.
The question was soon settled, for after ascending a few yards above their encampment they found an indentation or crevice in the cliff which led into an open spota sort of broader shelfwhich sloped upwards, and finally conducted them to the summit.
Here, to their surprise, they discovered that their new home, instead of being, as they had supposed it, one of a series of large islands, was in truth a territory of vast, apparently boundless, extent, covered with dense forests. Far as the eye could reach, interminable woods presented themselves, merging, in the far distance, into what appeared to be a range of low hills.
Newfoundland is bigger than we have been led to believe, said Paul Burns, surveying the prospect with great satisfaction.
Ay is it, responded Trench. The fact is that discoverers of new lands, bein naturally in ships, have not much chance to go far inland. In a country like this, with such a wild seaboard, its no wonder they have made mistakes. We will find out the truth about it now, however, for well undertake a land voyage of discovery.
What! without arms or provisions, father? asked Oliver.
What dye call the two things dangling from your shoulders, boy? returned the captain, with some severity; are these not arms? and have not woodsgenerally got lakes in em and rivers which usually swarm with provisions?
Thats so, father, returned the lad, somewhat abashed; but I did not raise the question as a difficulty, only Ive heard you sometimes say that a ship is not fit for sea till she is well-armed and provisioned, so I thought that it might be the same with land expeditions.
Before the skipper could reply, Paul drew attention to an opening in the woods not far from them, where an animal of some kind was seen to emerge into an open space, gaze for a moment around it, and then trot quietly away.
Some of our provisionsuncooked as yet, remarked Oliver.
More of them, returned his father, pointing to a covey of birds resembling grouse, which flashed past them at the moment on whirring wings. How we are to get hold of em, however, remains, of course, to be seen.
There are many ways of getting hold of them, and with some of these I am familiar, said Paul. For instance, I can use the long-bow with some skillat least I could do so when at school. And I have no doubt, captain, that you know how to use the cross-bow?
That I do, returned Trench, with a broad grin.
I was noted at school as bein out o sight the worst shot in the neighbourhood where I lived. Indeed, Ive bin known to miss a barn-door at twenty yards!
Well, well, you must learn to shoot, thats all, said Paul, and you may, perchance, turn out better with the sling. That weapon did great execution, as no doubt you know, in the hands of King David.
But where are we to get long-bows and cross-bows and slings? asked Oliver eagerly.
Why, Olly, my boy, excitement seems to have confused your brain, or the air of Newfoundland disagrees with you, said Paul. We shall make them, of course. But come, he added, in a more serious tone, we have reached a pointI may say a crisisin our lives, for we must now decide definitely what we shall do, and I pray God to direct us so that we may do only that which is right and wise. Are you prepared, captain, to give up all hope of returning to our shipmates?
Of course I am, returned Trench firmly, while a slight frown gathered on his brow. The few who are on our side could not make the rest friendly. They may now fight it out amongst themselves as best they can, for all that I care. We did not forsake them. They sent us away. Besides, we could not return, if we wished it ever so much. No; a grand new country has been opened up to us, and I mean to have a cruise of exploration. What say you, Olly?
Im with ee, father! answered the boy, with a nod of the head that was even more emphatic than the tone of his voice.
With a laugh at Olivers enthusiasm, Paul declared himself to be of much the same mind, and added that, as they had no boxes to pack or friends to bid farewell to, they should commence the journey there and then.
I dont agree with that, said the captain.
Why not, Master Trench?
Because we have not yet made our weapons, and it may be that we shall have some good chances of getting supplies at the very beginning of our travels. My opinion is that we should arm ourselves before starting, for the pork and cakes cannot last long.
This being at once recognised as sound advice, they entered the forest, which was not so thick at that place as it at first appeared to be. They went just far enough to enable them to obtain a species of hardwood, which the experienced eye of Paul Burns told them was suitable for bow-making. Here they pitched their camp. Paul took the axe and cut down several small trees; the captain gathered firewood, and Oliver set about the fabrication of a hut or booth, with poles, bark, turf, and leaves, which was to shelter them from rain if it should fall, though there was little chance of that, the weather being fine and settled at the time.
The work which they had undertaken was by no means as easy as they had anticipated. Paul had indeed made bows and arrows in former years, but then all the materials had been furnished in the rough to his hands, whereas he had now not only to select the tree best adapted to his purpose, but had to choose the best part of it, and to reduce that portion from a massive trunk to suitably slender proportions. It was much the same with the arrows and cross-bow bolts. However, there was resolution and perseverance in each member of the party far more than sufficient to overcome such little difficulties; only, as we have said, they were slower about it than had been expected, and the work was far from completed when the descent of night obliged them to seek repose.
Not a bad little bower, remarked Paul, as they sat down to supper in the primitive edifice which Oliver had erected.
The said bower was about four feet high, eight wide, and five deep, of irregular form, with three sides and a roof; walls and roof being of the same materialbranchy, leafy, and turfy. The fourth side was an open space in which the inhabitants sat, facing the fire. The latter, being large enough to roast a sheep whole, was built outside.
Why, Olly, youre a selfish fellow, said the captain, during a pause in the meal; youve thought only of yourself in building this bower. Just look at Pauls feet. They are sticking out ten or twelve inches beyond our shelter!
That comes of his being so tall, daddy. But it does not matter much. If it should come on to rain he can draw his feet inside; theres room enough to double up. Dont you think so, Paul?