within the dark recesses of a great cavern in the western cliffs, in the midst of a mass of wreckage, there sat one morning a man whose general appearance might have suggested to a beholder “the wild man of the cave”—or, at the least, an unhappy maniac—for his grey locks were long and unkempt, his eyes bloodshot and wild, his garments torn, so that his wasted limbs were exposed in numerous places, and his beard and moustache dishevelled and bristling.
no one looking at that gaunt creature—not even the mother who bore him—would have easily recognised john mitford; yet it was he.
on the day when he mysteriously disappeared he had come upon a great hollow, or hole, of about sixty yards in diameter, which appeared to descend into the very depths of the earth. the sides of the hollow sloped towards the centre, and were covered with bushes. noting this, our romantic friend resolved to explore the spot. he descended cautiously till he came to a place where the hole had narrowed to about twenty feet in diameter, and the herbage ceased because of the absence of the earth to sustain it. filled with eager curiosity, the reckless man held on to a branch and stretched his head over the edge of the hole. he saw nothing but blackness. he soon felt something, however, for the branch suddenly broke off, and john went headlong down into that hole!
then and there he would certainly have paid for his curiosity with his life, had not a mass of earth, a few feet further down, and against which he struck, broken his fall in some measure, and shunted him off to the opposite wall of the rock. this latter proved to be a slope so steep that it let him slide, like lightning, to the bottom, a depth of about thirty feet or more, where he was stopped with such violence that he lay stunned for a considerable time.
recovering, he found that no bones were broken, and that, indeed, he was not much damaged considering the violence of the fall; but the satisfaction and thankfulness that this undoubtedly caused him were diminished by the fact that he was in total darkness, and at the bottom of a hole of unknown depth. a feeling of horror rushed over him at the thought of being thus, as it were, buried alive. springing up, he felt all round the walls of his prison for some inequalities or projections by which he might climb out, but none such could he find. the place was like a well of not more than about ten feet wide, with smooth rocky sides, which were almost perpendicular as far up as he could reach. on looking upward, he could see the mouth of the hole, through which he had fallen, glimmering like a little star above him.
after a fruitless search of nearly half-an-hour the poor man sat down on a piece of fallen rock, over which he had stumbled several times in his search, and a deep groan burst from him as he began to realise the fact that escape from the place was impossible, and that a lingering death awaited him—for he could scarcely hope that his companions would find him in such a place. hope, however, is hard to kill in the human breast. perhaps they might hear him if he shouted. immediately he began to shout for help with all the strength of his lungs. then, as no answering shout came down from the little star above—at which he continuously gazed—a feeling of wild despair took possession of him, and he yelled and shrieked in mortal agony until his vocal chords refused to act, and nothing but a hoarse whisper passed his parched lips. overcome at last, alike with horror and exhaustion, he fell to the ground and became partially unconscious.
how long he lay thus he could not tell; but, on recovering and looking up, he found that the star was gone—telling plainly that night had set in.
then it was, when all hope of delivering himself, or of being delivered by others, had fled, that a word which had been uttered by dr hayward to a dying man on board the ship, leaped into john mitford’s mind like a gleam of light. “call upon me in the time of trouble and i will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” he had seen this invitation accepted by the dying man and deliverance obtained—if a happy smile and a triumphant gaze across the river of death were to be regarded as testimony. “but, then,” thought john mitford, “that was spiritual deliverance. here it is a hard physical fact, from which nothing short of a miracle can deliver me. no—it is impossible!”
was it a voice within him, or an old memory, that immediately whispered the words, “with god all things are possible?” at all events, the poor man rose up slowly in a somewhat calmer frame of mind, and began once more to feel round the walls of his narrow prison. he found nothing mew, save that once he narrowly escaped falling down what seemed to be a still deeper hole among the fallen rocks already referred to. then he lay down—or rather fell on the floor exhausted—and slept till morning. the fact that another day had begun was only ascertainable by the shining of the star-like mouth of the hole. he attempted again to shout, but found that his voice had left him, and that even if his comrades should return to the place he could not make them hear! in the fit of despair which followed he went round and round his living tomb like some wild beast in a cage. during one of these perambulations, he stumbled again over the fallen rocks, dropped into the hole behind them, and slid a few feet downwards, but not rapidly, for the slope was gradual, and it terminated on a flat floor. looking cautiously round, on reaching this lower depth, he saw what appeared to be a faint light far beneath him, and considerably in advance of the spot where he stood, or rather to which he clung.
gradually his mind calmed, and, resolving to make for this light, he groped his way downward. it was a long and wearisome scramble, involving many a slip and slide, and not a few falls, (for it was made, of course, in total darkness), and the distant light did not appear to become stronger or nearer. at last it seemed as though it were growing. then john found himself on ground over which he could walk, guiding himself by touching perpendicular walls of rock on either side with his hands. it was a great split in the mountain, caused perhaps by those mighty subterranean forces, which some men recognise as volcanic action, whilst others, admitting—but passing beyond—second causes, recognise them as tools with which god is moulding this world according to his will.
“strange!” thought the man, as he moved slowly forward. “was this split made hundreds—perhaps thousands—of years ago, for the purpose of enabling me to escape?”
“certainly not—absurd, presumptuous idea,” answered unbelief, smartly.
“it was,” remarked faith, slowly, “made, no doubt, for hundreds—it may be millions—of other purposes, but among these purposes the saving of your life was certainly in the mind of him who ‘knows all things from the beginning,’ and with whom even the falling of a sparrow is a matter for consideration.”
we do not assert that john mitford’s reasoning took the precise form of these words, for many minds can think somewhat profoundly without being able to express themselves clearly; but some such thoughts undoubtedly coursed through john’s mind, as he moved through that subterranean labyrinth, and finally emerged—through a narrow crack, not so large as an ordinary door—upon the inner margin of a stupendous cavern.
with a fervent “thank god!” and a hopeful leap of the heart, the poor man beheld the waters of the sea rushing up to his very feet; and beyond the cave’s mouth lay the grand ocean itself, like a bright picture in a black frame. but what was that projecting from the water, not twenty yards from where he stood? the broken mast of a sunken wreck! mitford’s heart almost stood still, for he became aware that he had made his way to the very cavern in which the ill-fated lapwing had met her doom, and around him were masses of wreckage that had been washed up and thrown on the rocks at the inner end of the cave where he stood.
an involuntary shudder passed through the man’s frame as he glanced round expecting to see the dead bodies of his late shipmates. but nothing of the kind was visible, and the spars, masts, and other wreckage which had reached the rocks had been shattered into “matchwood” by frequent gales.
john mitford now hastened in eager hope along the sides of the cave towards its mouth, intending to go out to the base of the cliffs, forgetting, in his eagerness, that the mouth could not be reached without a boat. he soon discovered this, and was then thrown into another fit of despair by remembering that he could not swim.
oh! how bitterly he blamed himself for having neglected to acquire such a simple accomplishment. he might have learnt it when young, had he not been indifferent, or lazy about it. often had he been advised to learn it by companions, but had treated the matter lightly and let the chance go by—and now, only fifty yards or so of deep water intervened between the end of the ledges of rock and the outside of the cavern, where he might perhaps find foothold enough to scramble along the base of the cliffs—but those fifty yards were equal to the atlantic to him, he could not swim that distance to save his life. once or twice, in a fit of desperation, he had almost plunged in to attempt it, and take his chance. fortunately his courage failed. had he taken the plunge his fate would no doubt have been sealed.
returning to the inner end of the cave he searched among the wreckage for wood with which to make a raft, but it was so shattered that he found no pieces large enough to be thus used. he found, however, a barrel of pork and another of pease jammed into a crevice. these proved an immense relief to his feelings, for they secured him against absolute starvation, which he had begun to think stared him in the face.
from that time forward the unfortunate man made incessant and wild efforts to get out of the cave. he climbed and scrambled about until his clothes were almost torn off his back. he gathered the largest masses of wood he could find and tied them together in bundles until he had made something like a raft; but john was not a handy workman; his raft overturned the first time he tried it, and went to pieces, and he would have been drowned at that time if he had not been within grasping distance of the rocks. as it was, he got a fright which made him finally turn from that method of escape in despair.
then the raw pork and hard pease tried him severely, and brought on a complaint which lasted a considerable time and greatly reduced his strength, but john was tough, and recovered—though not much more than the skeleton of his former self remained.
thus he continued to exist in that cavern, during all the time that his wife and friends were mourning him as dead; and in this condition was he there seated on the morning in which this chapter opens.
“weary, weary—desolation!” moaned the unfortunate man, lifting his head and gazing round with the air of one from whom all hope has long since departed.
it is said, or supposed, that when a spoke in fortune’s wheel is at the lowest there must needs be a rise. mitford’s experience at this time would seem to give ground for belief in the saying; for the word “desolation” had scarcely passed his lips, when distant voices of men were heard, causing his heart to bound violently. next moment a boat glided in front of the cave’s mouth.
john mitford sprang up and gave vent to a yell!
hope raised to strong life after being long deferred; despair suddenly trampled in the dust; joy bounding as from the tomb into rampant being—and a host of indescribable sentiments and passions found vent in that tremendous, that inconceivable howl!
and its effect on those in the boat?—well—
that morning our exploring party had resumed their voyage with somewhat saddened hearts, for they remembered the look of the coast well, and knew that an hour or so would bring them to the cave where the lapwing had gone down. even black ned had become sentimental, and given vent to a few expressions of a semi-religious nature!
“we can’t be far from it now,” said dr hayward, as the men ceased rowing, and the boat glided slowly, silently along.
“it’s a gruesome place,” remarked black ned, in a low voice.
“to think that so many lives were lost here—or hereabouts,” murmured tomlin.
“an’ their ghost, maybe, hangin’ about!” suggested slag, with a superstitious glance over his shoulder.
just then hayward bade o’connor get up and stand in the bow with the boat-hook, ready to fend off,—an order which the irishman, having been somewhat awed by the tone of the conversation, obeyed in silence.
it was at this point that they glided in front of the cave, and drew forth the yell which burst upon them like a clap of thunder. the shock to the nervous system of each was terrific. in the case of o’connor it was visible, for he fell flat back into the bottom of the boat and fetched jarring a tremendous whack on the head with the boat-hook in falling. afterwards, terrence asserted stoutly that a slip of the foot as he stood on the th’ort was the cause, but those who knew him best held that it was “a case of nerves.”
need it be said that, on recovering nervous equilibrium, the joy of rescuers and rescued was intense?
“come along, let’s take ’im home at wanst,” cried the irishman, when they had got the poor dazed man into the boat. “isn’t it peggy that’ll open her eyes an’ screech for joy when she sots her eyes on ye!”
“we’ll have to wash and comb an’ clothe him first,” said tomlin.
he did not say “shave,” for they had no razors,—and by that time the beards of most of the party were as long as mitford’s; but their locks had been trimmed by means of a clasp-knife super-sharpened, whereas mitford’s were in wildest disorder.
that night they encamped in the wreck-cave, made a fire, and prepared a splendid supper of pork and pea-soup for john and themselves, after which they subjected their recovered comrade to a scrubbing and cropping and repairing of habiliments that almost proved fatal to his constitution. next day they loaded the boat with all the pork and pease they could find, as well as portions of cordage that might be useful. then they started off on the return journey.
it was a fine day when they reached the encampment, where the coxswain and the women were on the look-out. massey, of course, was the first to observe, as the boat approached, that an extra hand was in it; but he wisely said nothing at first. then his heart began to beat as it used to do when he brought in rescued men and women from wrecks, for the truth suddenly flashed upon him. he glanced at peggy. poor thing, her sad eyes had wandered from the approaching boat and were resting wistfully on the horizon beyond.
“nell,” murmured the coxswain in a deep, earnest whisper to his wife, who stood at his elbow, “the tide’s a-goin’ to rise again wi’ poor peggy, if my eyes are tellin’ truth.”
“what d’ee mean, bob?” asked nellie, with a quick, anxious look.
“five men went away, nell; six are comin’ back!”
as he spoke, a tall figure rose up in the stern of the boat and waved a hand.
nellie glanced quickly at her friend. she was standing with glaring eyes, parted lips, and a deathly pallor on her worn face.
“peggy!”
the familiar word came rolling to the shore, and a piercing shriek replied to it as the poor woman threw up both hands and fell backward into the ready arms of the coxswain’s wife, who had sprung to her side in anticipation of some such catastrophe.
there was the voice of prayer and thanksgiving that night in the hut on the lonely shore—such thanksgiving as we might conceive filled the hearts of jairus and of the widow of nain in the days of old.
