Chapter XII: Concerning Two Afternoon Calls

WITHIN the course of a few days Mrs. Compton called at No. 8 Fore Street. Her visit was so entirely unexpected by Miss Warren, that it put that lady into a flutter of excitement. She was in the sitting-room with Dick, who was employed in writing to his mother, when she glanced out of the window and saw Sir Richard Gidley's carriage draw up in front of the house.

"Dick!" she cried, "here's the carriage from the Manor House! Dear me, it's Mrs. Compton! I suppose she wants to see you! Why, she's getting out!"

The little boy ran to the open window. His aunt had just alighted; she smiled and nodded to him, whilst he shouted with a glad note of welcome in his clear voice,—

"I'm coming to open the door to you, Aunt Arabella!"

He darted from the room; and a minute later returned with Mrs. Compton, who held out a hesitating hand to Miss Warren, not being quite certain of the reception she would receive.

Miss Warren was slightly put out that Dick had not shown his aunt into the drawing-room, but she greeted her visitor politely, if not very cordially. She could not forget that this handsome, fashionably-dressed lady had always ignored Dick's mother, so her manner was tinged with reserve. But Mrs. Compton had come with the laudable desire to be friendly; she took the comfortable easy-chair to which her nephew led her, and explained that Lionel, who had gone to the post-office on an errand for his grandfather, wanted his cousin to join him for a walk.

"Oh, may I go, Aunt Mary Ann?" Dick asked.

"Certainly, my dear," Miss Warren answered, "you will have plenty of time to finish your letter this evening. But don't be in such a hurry! What will your aunt think of your manners if you rush off the very minute of her arrival?"

"Oh, let him go!" Mrs. Compton said smiling. "I am sure he is longing to be out-of-doors this beautiful weather, and Lionel wants a companion!"

So Dick went off in search of his cousin, and presently the two boys were seen walking up the village street side by side, in animated conversation.

"What a bright little fellow Dick is," Mrs. Compton remarked, as soon as she and Miss Warren were alone together. "He must keep you and Dr. Warren from being dull!"

"Oh yes! We are so pleased to have him here! And he is getting better and stronger every day! The poor child was very low-spirited when he first arrived; he missed his parents, especially his mother, to whom he is devoted, but he feels quite at home with us now, and is as happy as the day is long. He has been writing to his mother, as you see."

Mrs. Compton glanced at the table where Dick's writing materials were scattered about; her eyes softened as they fell on the sheet of notepaper, covered with writing in a laboured, childish hand, which had been hastily flung aside in the excitement attending her arrival.

"How his mother must miss him!" she exclaimed involuntarily. "I know what I should feel if my children were parted from me! Oh, Miss Warren, I am glad Dick is with you instead of at the Manor House! My father regrets he did not have him there, but I am sure he is better with you!"

Miss Warren flushed with pleasure, and presently, encouraged by her visitor's evident wish to be friendly, she grew chatty and communicative. Mrs. Compton listened with interest to all the details she could learn about her brother and sister-in-law, and expressed the hope that they would return to England the following year.

"It is so sad that my brother and I should know so little of one another now-a-days," she sighed; "it has been a real trouble to me; but you know what Sir Richard is—how hard and unforgiving! However, he seems to have taken a great fancy to Dick, and I hope that in time he will forgive my brother!"

"It must make him very miserable to be so unforgiving," Miss Warren said thoughtfully; "I hope God will show him how wrong it is, before it is too late for him to set things right. It has been a great grief to my niece that she has been the cause of trouble between her husband and his father, and I hope Dick will never learn the truth. He is so deeply attached to his mother; he thinks there is no one equal to her!"

"You brought her up from babyhood, did you not?"

"Yes. Her parents died when she was only a few months old, and she had no one in the world to care for her but Theophilus and me. In my opinion, your brother could have found no better wife, although she brought him no money, and was only a country surgeon's adopted child! There! I've spoken out, and told you what I think, and now my mind will feel more at ease!"

There was a bright gleam in Miss Warren's dark eyes; she held her head high, and her smooth cheeks were flushed rosy red. A brief silence followed her little outburst, during which Mrs. Compton sat with her gaze fastened on the ground; presently she glanced at her companion, and said with a ring of sincerity in her voice,—

"I wish I had known you before, Miss Warren! I like you all the better for speaking out!"

After that the ladies talked without reserve. Before Mrs. Compton left she asked Miss Warren to return her call, but the invitation was firmly though politely declined, and the reason frankly given—Miss Warren would not enter the doors which were shut against her niece, and she desired Sir Richard Gidley might be told so.

Meanwhile, Lionel and Dick were hurrying up the hill towards Granfer Cole's cottage.

"I'm glad you could come," Lionel said cordially; "I thought it would be better if we could go together."

"I hope we shall find Granfer Cole at home! Does Aunt Arabella know where we're going?"

"No. There was no need to tell her, and she didn't ask. Ruth would have been here, but she's in disgrace. All her own fault too, the little silly! Grandfather caught her sliding down the bannisters yesterday, and he was waxy and told her not to do it again, and she promised faithfully she wouldn't! Just as we were starting this afternoon, and only waiting for her, she must needs come sliding down the bannisters at an awful rate, and there was grandfather in the hall looking on! When she saw him she was so frightened that she gave a great yell, and he ordered her to go back and spend the afternoon in her bedroom, for punishment, for having disobeyed him! She cried, but he didn't care; he was in a dreadful temper, and called her a hoyden, and said one of these days she would break her neck! I don't think she will; she's pretty careful!"

"Do you think she forgot she'd promised not to do it again?" Dick enquired, feeling extremely sorry for the little girl's disappointment.

"I don't know, I'm sure. Perhaps she did," Lionel replied, though in his heart he believed to the contrary. "It's rather rough on her," he continued, "for she made up her mind to go with us this afternoon, but we're just as well without her—girls are so fussy and full of chatter!"

They were within sight of Granfer Cole's cottage by this time, and paused, warm and breathless—for they had been walking at a great rate—to look back the way they had come. Before their eyes lay the village of Holton, with a vast stretch of blue sea beyond. An excursion boat laden with passengers was steaming up the channel, not so far from land but that the boys could distinguish movements on board; and a schooner, with sails unfurled to catch the fresh breeze, was making for the nearest port, towed by a pilot-boat; whilst far in the distance, against the horizon, a fleet of trawlers caught the sunlight against their red-brown sails. Around the cliffs seagulls hovered, their wings gleaming like silver, now soaring upwards, now dipping into the unruffled bosom of the ocean.

"Isn't it a grand view from here?" Lionel exclaimed admiringly. "Has there been a storm since you've been in Holton?"

"No," Dick replied. "I came in June, and the weather has been very fine, except for a few wet days—the sea was not rough even then."

"Last year there was a terrible storm whilst we were staying at the Manor House," Lionel told his cousin; "we did not go back to London until the end of September, and a few days before we left the weather was dreadful. The sea dashed against the cliffs in great waves like high walls of water, and you could hear it miles away—a sort of muffled roar. Fortunately the fishermen knew bad weather was coming, so they were all safe at home; but sometimes there are fearful wrecks off this coast, so I've heard grandfather say. He remembers several."

They proceeded up the hill, talking of storms and shipwrecks till they came upon Granfer Cole seated in the porch of his cottage, where he spent most of his days in warm weather. He looked up eagerly at their approach, but did not move until Lionel spoke to him, when he recognised the boy's voice immediately, and rising, invited his visitors to come in; but they declined entering the cottage, saying it was pleasanter outside.

"Do you remember me?" Dick asked, as he and Lionel sat down on one of the benches in the porch, and Granfer Cole reseated himself on the other.

"Surely!" the old man responded, smiling. "You are Captain Gidley's son. Ah, young gentlemen, my ears have to do double duty now my sight's so bad! I can always recognise a voice I've once heard! My hearing is sharper than it ever was! I've much to be thankful for!"

"We're here to consult you upon a very important matter," Lionel said, coming to the point at once. "My cousin and I have made up our minds to find that secret passage you know about."

Granfer Cole chuckled, and wagged his head from side to side as if much amused, but made no reply.

"How would you advise us to begin the search?" Lionel asked anxiously.

"I wouldn't advise you to search at all," the old man answered. "Do you fancy you'll succeed where others have failed? The entrance to the secret passage by the sea-shore was lost years ago. Think how the cliffs have fallen and crumbled away during the last half century only!"

The boys' countenances clouded, and they both looked grievously disappointed.

"There may be valuable treasures hidden in that passage!" Lionel cried regretfully.

"There may be," Granfer Cole allowed, "but I never heard tell of 'em. A few casks of brandy, and bundles of silks, and dress goods which would be rotten by now would be about the extent of what you'd find there, I reckon!"

"Sometimes one hears of jewels and money hidden away in places like that," Lionel said; "we mean to find the secret passage if we possibly can! I am sorry you cannot tell us anything that would assist us in our search. Are you sure your father never hinted to you where the passage was?"

"Quite sure, sir. I mind when I was a little chap hearing him tell tales of the smugglers; but he died when I was only eight years old. My memory of him is faint after so long. He was a cautious man, was my father; and perhaps he had reason to be, for I've often thought he must have had something to do with smuggling himself, he knew so much about it and how it was managed. He certainly used to tell of a secret passage; but he never let on where it was."

"What a pity!" cried Dick. "I wonder why he didn't tell you all about it? It is so very strange that no one should know where it is!"

"They who did know, most of them came to violent deaths," Granfer Cole said, lowering his voice to a mysterious whisper; "there was a fight on the sea-shore one night with the custom-house officers, and the smugglers preferred to fight to the death rather than be taken prisoners. They were desperate men, these smugglers!"

"Did the custom-house officers know about the secret passage?" Lionel inquired.

"They might have known there was such a place, but not where it was!"

After that the conversation veered into another channel. Granfer Cole was a most interesting person to talk to, he knew so much about boating, and fishing, and the wonders of the sea. He entertained his visitors with stories of all the wrecks he remembered; and being fond of recounting the experiences of his youth, he was delighted to find two such attentive listeners. Like most men of his class, accustomed to see God's wonders in the deep, he possessed a firm faith in the great Creator, and was a simple-hearted, pious soul, who had never doubted the wisdom and goodness of Him in whom he trusted. He was fond of assuring people he had much to be thankful for, and was perfectly contented and happy in the peaceful evening of his days.

"What a lot you remember!" Lionel exclaimed, after Granfer Cole had come to the end of a story about the capturing of a whale not a mile from land. "It is marvellous you should have such a memory!"

"I sit here and think of all the people I've known during my long life, and all the wonderful adventures I've had, and the sights I've seen," the old man said, turning his almost sightless eyes upon the boys. "I can picture the sun rising above the sea in the rosy sky as I've watched it many and many a time; and then I think how the grandest sight here on earth is not to be compared to what we shall see in the presence of God!"

There was a great solemnity on the aged face which filled the boys with a sense of awe. It, was Dick who replied, his animated face all aglow as he said,—

"I wonder if you're thinking of a verse in the Bible which Uncle Theophilus said to me the other day? 'Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.' Were you thinking of that?"

"Yes, sir, I was. Thank you for repeating it. I'd 'most forgotten how it went, but I shall mind it now."

There was a little further conversation, then the boys took leave of the old man, and retraced their footsteps down the hill.

"We've done no good by going to see him," Lionel said in disappointed tones; "we have only wasted our time. He knows no more about the secret passage than we do! Still, it was fun hearing him talk, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Dick agreed. "I think he's a splendid old fellow! I'm glad I remembered that verse, because he was so pleased, wasn't he? I must tell Uncle Theophilus!"

"Is Dr. Warren religious?" Lionel asked. "I don't like religious people, they're so dull and melancholy."

"I'm sure Uncle Theophilus isn't," Dick retorted. "He isn't quite so lively as father; but then he's older. You don't know how jolly he is; I expect, if you did, you'd wish you had an uncle like him!"

"Come to the Manor House to-morrow, if you can," Lionel said, as he parted from his cousin outside No. 8 Fore Street; "I've got something to show you—something Ruth and I found yesterday amongst a heap of rubbish in one of the shut-up rooms!"

"What is it?" Dick asked curiously.

But that Lionel declined to tell. He went on his way whistling softly, his hands deep in his trousers' pockets, his cap on the back of his head, leaving uncovered the crop of fair curls which clustered around his forehead. Dick gazed after him as he swung down the street with a care-for-nothing air, and thought what a very nice boy he was. He liked him better than he had done at first, and admired him because he looked so capable of taking care of himself, and was so apparently brave and strong. Then, when his cousin was out of sight, he entered the house to find Aunt Mary Ann in high good-humour, having been most agreeably impressed with her late visitor.