next day martin journeyed on in the old way, jumping up and taking a good long run, then dropping into a trot, then a walk, and finally sitting down to rest. then up again and another run, and so on. but although feeling hungry and thirsty, he was so full of the thought of the great blue water he was going to see, so eager to look upon it at last after wishing for it so long, that he hardly gave himself any time to hunt for food. nor did he think of his mother of the hills, alone today, and grieving at his loss, so excited was he at the prospect of what lay before him.
a little past noon he began to hear a low murmuring sound that seemed in the earth beneath him, and all about him, and in the air above him; but he did not know that it was the sound of the sea. at length he came to a place where the earth rose[164] up in long ridges of yellow sand, on which nothing grew but scattered tufts of stiff, yellow grass. as he toiled over the loose sand, sometimes sinking ankle-deep in it, the curious deep murmuring sound he had heard for so long grew louder and louder, until it was like the sound of a mighty wind in a wood, but deeper and hoarser, rising and falling, and at intervals broken by great throbs, as of thunder echoed and re-echoed among the distant hills. at length he had toiled over the last ridge of sand; and then all at once the world—his world of solid earth at all events—came to an abrupt end; for no more ground on which to set a foot was before him, but only the ocean—that ocean which he had wanted so badly, and had loved at a distance more than the plains and hills, and all they contained to delight him! how wide, how vast it was, stretching away to where it melted into the low sky, its immense grey-blue surface broken into ten thousand thousand waves, lit with white crests that came in sight and vanished like lightning flashes! how tremendous, how terrible it was in its agitation—o the world had nothing to compare with it, nothing to hold his heart after it; and it was well that the earth was silent, that it only gazed upon it with the sun and moon and stars, listening day and night for ever to the great voice of the sea!
only by lying flat on his chest could martin look down over the edge of the awful cliff, which is one of the highest in the world; and then the sight of the sea swirling and beating at the foot of that stupendous black precipice, sending up great clouds[165] of spray in its fury, made him shudder, it was so awful to look upon. but he could not stir from that spot; there he stayed lying flat on his chest, gazing and gazing, feeling neither hunger nor thirst, forgetful of the beautiful woman he had called mother, and of everything besides. and as he gazed, little by little, that great tumult of the waves grew less; they no longer lifted themselves up, wave following wave, to beat upon the cliff, and make it tremble; but sank lower and lower; and at last drew off from the precipice, leaving at its foot a long narrow strip of sand and shingle exposed to sight. a solemn calm fell upon the waste of waters; only near the shore it continued to move a little, rising and falling like the chest of a sleeping giant, while along the margin small waves continued to form and break in white foam on the shingle with a perpetual low, moaning sound. further out it was quite calm, its surface everywhere flushed with changing violet, green, and rosy tints: in a little while these lovely colours faded as from a sunset cloud, and it was all deep dark blue: for the sun had gone, and the shadows of evening were over land and sea. then martin, his little heart filled with a great awe and a great joy, crept away a few yards from the edge of the cliff and coiled himself up to sleep in a hollow in the soft warm sand.
on the following morning, after satisfying his hunger and thirst with some roots which he had not to go very far to find, he returned to watch the sea once more, and there he remained, never removing his eyes from the wonderful scene until the[166] sun was directly over his head; then, when the sea was calm once more, he got up and started to walk along the cliff.
keeping close to the edge, occasionally stopping to lie down on his chest and peer over, he went on and on for hours, until the afternoon tide once more covered the strip of shingled beach, and the waves rising high began to beat with a sound like thunder against the tremendous cliff, making the earth tremble under him. at length he came to a spot where there was a great gap in the line of the cliff, where in past times a portion of it had tumbled down, and the stupendous masses of rock had rolled far out into the sea, and now formed islands of black jagged rock, standing high above the water. here among the rocks the sea boiled and roared its loudest, churning its waters into masses of white froth. here a fresh wonder met his sight: a number of big animals unlike any creature he had ever seen before were lying prone on the rocks just out of reach of the waves that beat round them. at first they looked like cows, then he saw that they had neither horns nor legs, that their heads were like dog's but without ears, and that they had two great flapper-shaped feet on their chests with which they walked or crawled upon the rocks whenever a wave broke on them, causing them to move a little higher.
they were sea-lions, a very big sort of seal, but martin had never heard of such a creature, and being anxious to look more closely at them he went into the gap, and began cautiously climbing down over the broken masses of rock and clay until[167] he got quite near the sea. lying there on a flat rock he became absorbed in watching these strange dog-headed legless cattle of the sea; for he now had them near, and they could see him, and occasionally one would lift his head and gaze earnestly at him out of large dark eyes that were soft and beautiful like the eyes of the doe that came to him on the hills. o how glad he was to know that the sea, the mighty waters roaring so loud as if in wrath, had its big beasts too for him to love, like the hills and plains with their cattle and deer and horses!
but the tide was still rising, and very soon the biggest waves began to come quite over the rocks, rolling the big beasts over and even washing them off, and it angered them when the waves struck them, and they roared aloud, and by-and-by they began to go away, some disappearing beneath the water, others with heads above the surface swimming away out into the open sea, until all were gone. martin was sorry to lose them, but the sight of the sea tumbling and foaming on the rocks still held him there, until all the rocks but one had been covered by the waters, and this one was a great black jagged rock close to the shore, not above twenty or thirty yards from him. against this mass of rock the waves continued to dash themselves with a mighty noise, sending up a cloud of white foam and spray at every blow. the sight and sound fascinated him. the sea appeared to be talking, whispering, and murmuring, and crying out aloud to him in such a manner that he actually began trying to make out what it was saying. then up would[168] come a great green wave rushing and moaning, to dash itself to pieces right before his face; and each time it broke against the rock, and rose high up it took a fantastic shape that began to look more and more the shape of a man. yes, it was unmistakably like a monstrous grey old man, with a vast snow-white beard, and a world of disordered white hair floating over and around its head. at all events it was white for a moment, then it looked green—a great green beard which the old man took with his two hands and twisted just as a washerwoman twists a blanket or counterpane, so as to wring the water out of it.
martin stared at this strange uncouth visitor from the sea; while he in turn, leaning over the rock, stared back into martin's face with his immense fishy eyes. every time a fresh wave broke over him, lifting up his hair and garments, which were of brown seaweed and all rags and tatters, it seemed to annoy him somewhat; but he never stirred; and when the wave retired he would wring the water out once more and blow a cloud of sea-spray from his beard. at length, holding out his mighty arms towards martin, he opened his great, cod-fish mouth, and burst into a hoarse laugh, which sounded like the deep laughter-like cries of the big, black-backed gulls. still, martin did not feel at all afraid of him, for he looked good-natured and friendly.
"who are you?" shouted martin at last.
"who be i?" returned the man-shaped monster in a hoarse,[169] sea-like voice. "ho, ho, ho,—now i calls that a good un! why, little martin, that i've knowed all along, i be bill. leastways, that's what they called me afore: but i got promotion, and in consekence i'm called the old man of the sea."
"and how did you know i was martin?"
"how did i know as you was martin? why, bless your innocent heart, i knowed it all along of course. how d'ye think i wouldn't know that? why, i no sooner saw you there among them rocks than i says to myself, 'hullo,' says i, bless my eyes if that ain't martin looking at my cows, as i calls 'em. of course i knowed as you was martin."
"and what made you go and live in the sea, old—bill?" questioned martin, "and why did you grow so big?"
"ho, ho, ho!" laughed the giant, blowing a great cloud of spray from his lips. "i don't mind telling you that. you see, martin, i ain't pressed for time. them blessed bells is nothing to me now, not being in the foc'sle trying to git a bit of a snooze. well, to begin, i were born longer ago than i can tell in a old town by the sea, and my father he were a sailor man, and was drowned when i were very small; then my mother she died just becoz every man that belonged to her was drowned. for those as lives by the sea, martin, mostly dies in the sea. being a orphan i were brought up by granny. i were very small then, and used to go and play all day in the marshes, and i loved the cows and water-rats and all the little beasties, same as you, martin. when i were a bit growed[170] granny says to me one day, 'bill, you go to sea and be a sailor-boy,' she says, 'becoz i've had a dream,' she says, 'and it's wrote that you'll never git drowned.' for you see, martin, my granny were a wise woman. so to the sea i goes, and boy and man, i was on a many voyages to turkey and injy and the cape and the west coast and ameriky, and all round the world forty times over. many and many's the time i was ship-wrecked and overboard, but i never got drowned. at last, when i were gitting a old man, and not much use by reason of the rheumatiz and stiffness in the jints, there was a mutiny in our ship when we was off the cape; and the captain and mate they was killed. then comes my turn, becoz i went again the men, d'ye see, and they wasn't a-going for to pardon me that. so out they had me on deck and began to talk about how they'd finish me—rope, knife, or bullet. 'mates,' says i, 'shoot me if you like and i'll dies comfortably; or run a knife into me, which is better still; or string me up to the yard-arm, which is the most comforble thing i know. but don't you go and put me into the sea,' says i, 'becoz it's wrote that i ain't never going to git drowned, and you'll have all your trouble for nothing,' says i. that made 'em larf a most tremenjous larf. 'old bill,' says they, 'will have his little joke.' then they brings up some iron stowed in the hold, and with ropes and chains they ties well-nigh half a ton of it to my legs and arms, then lowers me over the side. down i went, in course, which made 'em larf louder than afore; and i were fathoms and[171] fathoms under water afore i stopped hearing them larf. at last i comes down to the bottom of the sea, and glad i were to git there, becoz now i couldn't go no further. there i lies doubled up like a old sea-sarpint along of the rocks, but warm and comfortable like. last of all, the ropes and chains they got busted off becoz of my growing so big and strong down there, and up i comes to blow like a grampus, for i were full of water by reason that it had soaked into me. so that's how i got to be the old man of the sea, hundreds and hundreds of years ago."
"and do you like to be always in the sea, old bill?" asked martin.
"ho, ho, ho!" laughed the monster. "that's a good un, little martin! do i like it? well, it's better than being a sailor man in a ship, i can tell 'ee. that were a hard life, with nothing good except perhaps the baccy. i were very fond of baccy once before the sea put out my pipe. likewise of rum. many's the time i've been picked up on shore that drunk, martin, you wouldn't believe it, i were that fond of rum. sometimes, down here, when i remember how good it tasted, i open my mouth wide and takes down a big gulp of sea water, enough to fill a hogshead; then i comes up and blows it all out again just like a old grampus."
and having said this, he opened his vast cavernous mouth and roared out his hoarse ho, ho, ho! louder than before, and at the same time he rose up higher above the water and the black[172] rock he had been leaning on, until he stood like a stupendous tower above martin—a man-shaped tower of water and spray, and white froth and brown seaweed. then he slowly fell backwards out upon the sea, and falling upon the sea caused so mighty a wave that it went high over the black rock and washed the face of the cliff, sweeping martin back among the rocks.
when the great wave retired, and martin, half-choked with water and half-dazed, struggled on to his feet, he saw that it was night, and a cloudy, black sky was above, and the black sea beneath him. he had not seen the light fade, and had perhaps fallen asleep and seen and talked with that old sea monster in a dream. but now he could not escape from his position down in the gap, just above the roaring waves. there he had to stay, sheltered in a cavity in the rock, and lying there, half sleeping and half waking, he had that great voice of the sea in his ears all night.
