The Lighthouse by Robert Ballantyne

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On the morning after Ruby was cast on the Bell Rock, our old friend
Ned O'Connor (having been appointed one of the lighthouse-keepers,
and having gone for his fortnight ashore in the order of his course)
sat on the top of the signal-tower at Arbroath with a telescope at
his eye directed towards the lighthouse, and became aware of a
fact,--a fact which seemed to be contradicted by those who ought to
have known better.

Ned soliloquized that morning. His soliloquy will explain the
circumstances to which we refer; we therefore record it here. "What's
that? Sure there's something wrong wid me eye intirely this mornin'.
Howld on" (he wiped it here, and applying it again to the telescope,
proceeded); "wan, tshoo, three, _four_! No mistake about it. Try
agin. Wan, tshoo, three, FOUR! An' yet the ball's up there as cool as
a cookumber, tellin' a big lie; ye know ye are," continued Ned,
apostrophizing the ball, and readjusting the glass.

"There ye are, as bold as brass--av ye're not copper--tellin' me that
everything goin' on as usual, whin I can see with me two eyes (wan
after the other) that there's _four_ men on the rock, whin there
should be only _three!_ Well, well," continued Ned, after a pause,
and a careful examination of the Bell Rock, which being twelve miles
out at sea could not be seen very distinctly in its lower parts, even
through a good glass, "the day afther to-morrow 'll settle the
question, Misther Ball, for then the Relief goes off, and faix, if I
don't guv' ye the lie direct I'm not an Irishman."

With this consolatory remark, Ned O'Connor descended to the rooms
below, and told his wife, who immediately told all the other wives
and the neighbours, so that ere long the whole town of Arbroath
became aware that there was a mysterious stranger, a _fourth_ party,
on the Bell Rock!

Thus it came to pass that, when the relieving boat went off, numbers
of fishermen and sailors and others watched it depart in the morning,
and increased numbers of people of all sorts, among whom were many of
the old hands who had wrought at the building of the lighthouse,
crowded the pier to watch its return in the afternoon.

As soon as the boat left the rock, those who had "glasses" announced
that there was an "extra man in her".

Speculation remained on tiptoe for nearly three hours, at the end of
which time the boat drew near.

"It's a man, anyhow," observed Captain Ogilvie, who was one of those
near the outer end of the pier.

"I say," observed his friend the "leftenant", who was looking through
a telescope, "if--that's--not--Ruby--Brand--I'll eat my hat without
sauce!"

"You don't mean--let me see," cried the captain, snatching the glass
out of his friend's hand, and applying it to his eye. "I do
believe!--yes! it is Ruby, or his ghost!"

By this time the boat was near enough for many of his old friends to
recognize him, and Ruby, seeing that some of the faces were familiar
to him, rose in the stern of the boat, took off his hat and waved it.

This was the signal for a tremendous cheer from those who knew our
hero; and those who did not know him, but knew that there was
something peculiar and romantic in his case, and in the manner of his
arrival, began to cheer from sheer sympathy; while the little boys,
who were numerous, and who love to cheer for cheering's sake alone,
yelled at the full pitch of their lungs, and waved their ragged caps
as joyfully as if the King of England were about to land upon their
shores!

The boat soon swept into the harbour, and Ruby's friends, headed by
Captain Ogilvy, pressed forward to receive and greet him. The captain
embraced him, the friends surrounded him, and almost pulled him to
pieces; finally, they lifted him on their shoulders, and bore him in
triumphal procession to his mother's cottage.

And where was Minnie all this time? She had indeed heard the rumour
that something had occurred at the Bell Rock; but, satisfied from
what she heard that it could be nothing very serious, she was content
to remain at home and wait for the news. To say truth, she was too
much taken up with her own sorrows and anxieties to care as much for
public matters as she had been wont to do.

When the uproarious procession drew near, she was sitting at Widow
Brand's feet, "comforting her" in her usual way.

Before the procession turned the corner of the street leading to his
mother's cottage, Ruby made a desperate effort to address the crowd,
and succeeded in arresting their attention.

"Friends, friends!" he cried, "it's very good of you, very kind; but
my mother is old and feeble; she might be hurt if we were to come on
her in this fashion. We must go in quietly."

"True, true," said those who bore him, letting him down, "so, good
day, lad; good day. A shake o' your flipper; give us your hand; glad
you're back, Ruby; good luck to 'ee, boy!"

Such were the words, followed by three cheers, with which his friends
parted from him, and left him alone with the captain.

"We must break it to her, nephy," said the captain, as they moved
towards the cottage.

"'Still so gently o'er me stealin",
Memory will bring back the feelin'.'

It won't do to go slap into her, as a British frigate does into a
French line-o'-battle ship. I'll go in an' do the breakin' business,
and send out Minnie to you."

Ruby was quite satisfied with the captain's arrangement, so, when the
latter went in to perform his part of this delicate business, the
former remained at the doorpost, expectant.

"Minnie, lass, I want to speak to my sister," said the captain,
"leave us a bit--and there's somebody wants to see _you_ outside."

"Me, uncle!"

"Ay, _you_; look alive now."

Minnie went out in some surprise, and had barely crossed the
threshold when she found herself pinioned in a strong man's arms! A
cry escaped her as she struggled, for one instant, to free herself;
but a glance was sufficient to tell who it was that held her.
Dropping her head on Ruby's breast, the load of sorrow fell from her
heart. Ruby pressed his lips upon her forehead, and they both rested
there.

It was one of those pre-eminently sweet resting-places which are
vouchsafed to some, though not to all, of the pilgrims of earth, in
their toilsome journey through the wilderness towards that eternal
rest, in the blessedness of which all minor resting-places shall be
forgotten, whether missed or enjoyed by the way.

Their rest, however, was not of long duration, for in a few minutes
the captain rushed out, and exclaiming "She's swounded, lad," grasped
Ruby by the coat and dragged him into the cottage, where he found his
mother lying in a state of insensibility on the floor.

Seating himself by her side on the floor, he raised her gently, and
placing her in a half-sitting, half-reclining position in his lap,
laid her head tenderly on his breast. While in this position Minnie
administered restoratives, and the widow ere long opened her eyes and
looked up. She did not speak at first, but, twining her arms round
Ruby's neck, gazed steadfastly into his face; then, drawing him
closer to her heart, she fervently exclaimed "Thank God!!" and laid
her head down again with a deep sigh.

She too had found a resting-place by the way on that day of her
pilgrimage.

* * * * *

Now, reader, we feel bound to tell you in confidence that there are
few things more difficult than drawing a story to a close! Our tale
is done, for Ruby is married to Minnie, and the Bell Rock Lighthouse
is finished, and most of those who built it are scattered beyond the
possibility of reunion. Yet we are loath to shake hands with them and
to bid you farewell.

Nevertheless, so it must be, for if we were to continue the narrative
of the after-careers of our friends of the Bell Rock, the books that
should be written would certainly suffice to build a new lighthouse.

But we cannot make our bow without a parting word or two.

Ruby and Minnie, as we have said, were married. They lived in the
cottage with their mother, and managed to make it sufficiently large
to hold them all by banishing the captain into the scullery.

Do not suppose that this was done heartlessly, and without the
captain's consent. By no means. That worthy son of Neptune assisted
at his own banishment. In fact, he was himself the chief cause of it,
for when a consultation was held after the honeymoon, as to "what was
to be done now", he waved his hand, commanded silence, and delivered
himself as follows:--

"Now, shipmates all, give ear to me, an' don't ventur' to interrupt.
It's nat'ral an' proper, Ruby, that you an' Minnie and your mother
should wish to live together; as the old song says, 'Birds of a
feather flock together', an' the old song's right; and as the thing
ought to be, an' you all want it to be, so it _shall_ be. There's
only one little difficulty in the way, which is, that the ship's too
small to hold us, by reason of the after-cabin bein' occupied by an
old seaman of the name of Ogilvy. Now, then, not bein' pigs, the
question is, what's to be done? I will answer that question: the
seaman of the name of Ogilvy shall change his quarters."

Observing at this point that both Ruby and his bride opened their
mouths to speak, the captain held up a threatening finger, and
sternly said, "Silence!" Then he proceeded--

"I speak authoritatively on this point, havin' conversed with the
seaman Ogilvy, and diskivered his sentiments. That seaman intends to
resign the cabin to the young couple, and to hoist his flag for the
futur' in the fogs'l."

He pointed, in explanation, to the scullery; a small, dirty-looking
apartment off the kitchen, which was full of pots and pans and
miscellaneous articles of household, chiefly kitchen, furniture.

Ruby and Minnie laughed at this, and the widow looked perplexed, but
perfectly happy and at her ease, for she knew that whatever
arrangement the captain should make, it would be agreeable in the end
to all parties.

"The seaman Ogilvy and I," continued the captain, "have gone over the
fogs'l" (meaning the forecastle) "together, and we find that, by the
use of mops, buckets, water, and swabs, the place can be made clean.
By the use of paper, paint, and whitewash, it can be made
respectable; and, by the use of furniture, pictures, books, and
baccy, it can be made comfortable. Now, the question that I've got to
propound this day to the judge and jury is--Why not?"

Upon mature consideration, the judge and jury could not answer "why
not?" therefore the thing was fixed and carried out and the captain
thereafter dwelt for years in the scullery, and the inmates of the
cottage spent so much of their time in the scullery that it became,
as it were, the parlour, or boudoir, or drawing-room of the place.
When, in course of time, a number of small Brands came to howl and
tumble about the cottage, they naturally gravitated towards the
scullery, which then virtually became the nursery, with a stout old
seaman, of the name of Ogilvy, usually acting the part of head nurse.
His duties were onerous, by reason of the strength of constitution,
lungs, and muscles of the young Brands, whose ungovernable desire to
play with that dangerous element from which heat is evolved,
undoubtedly qualified them for the honorary title of Fire-Brands.

With the proceeds of the jewel case Ruby bought a little coasting
vessel, with which he made frequent and successful voyages. "Absence
makes the heart grow fonder," no doubt, for Minnie grew fonder of
Ruby every time he went away, and every time he came back. Things
prospered with our hero, and you may be sure that he did not forget
his old friends of the lighthouse. On the contrary, he and his wife
became frequent visitors at the signal-tower, and the families of the
lighthouse-keepers felt almost as much at home in "the cottage" as
they did in their own houses. And each keeper, on returning from his
six weeks' spell on the rock to take his two weeks' spell at the
signal-tower, invariably made it his first business, _after_ kissing
his wife and children, to go up to the Brands and smoke a pipe in the
scullery with that eccentric old seafaring nursery-maid of the name
of Ogilvy.

In time Ruby found it convenient to build a top flat on the cottage,
and above this a small turret, which overlooked the opposite houses,
and commanded a view of the sea. This tower the captain converted
into a point of lookout, and a summer smoking-room,--and many a time
and oft, in the years that followed, did he and Ruby climb up there
about nightfall, to smoke the pipe of peace, with Minnie beside them,
and to watch the bright flashing of the red and white light on the
Bell Rock, as it shone over the waters far and wide, like a star of
the first magnitude, a star of hope and safety, guiding sailors to
their desired haven; perchance reminding them of that star of
Bethlehem which guided the shepherds to Him who is the Light of the
World and the Rock of Ages.

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
_At the Villafield Press, Glasgow, Scotland_

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