by the middle of july the sea cliff house was full. the report of the new yorkers among their friends that this hotel was the best on the coast, induced a great many families and others to seek accommodations at the house. by the first of august mr. bennington was obliged to "colonize" his guests in the neighboring houses. the season was a decidedly successful one to him, and his profits more than realized his anticipations. in the fall he paid off the mortgage on his furniture, and the note he owed to the widow wormbury, and still had a large balance in the bank. the island house had hardly any business, for people preferred to go to the sea cliff, even if they had to take rooms outside of the hotel. ethan did not make any money that season.[pg 333]
leopold had all he could do in the boat, and made a small fortune for himself by taking out parties. he raised his price to six dollars a day, so that he could pay stumpy two dollars a day for his services. the affairs of mrs. wormbury were therefore in excellent condition.
after the season was finished, a man came over from rockland and took rooms at the sea cliff house. he inquired if there was such a person in the place as joel wormbury. the guest was very much surprised to learn that he was dead, and in the course of the day went to see his family. he had come to offer joel a situation on a plantation in cuba, where he had first met and known the deceased. the visitor was an engineer, by the name of walker, and had instructed joel in his business, so that he was able to run an engine on a plantation. joel had told him his story. he had been picked up by a passenger steamer, and carried to liverpool. there, after he had been drinking, he was induced to ship as a seaman in a bark bound to havana, where he first met walker. he ran away from the vessel, and went with his new friend to the plantation where the latter was employed.[pg 334]
joel was a mechanic, and understood an engine very well. instructed in the details of the business by walker, he obtained a situation at very good wages. he had written to his wife, but for some reason unknown his letters failed to reach their destination. after working two years on the plantation, he determined to go home, and ascertain what had become of his family. walker had gone with him to havana, where joel changed his money into american gold, and embarked in the waldo. that was the last his friend had heard of him. walker had come home on a visit to his relatives in the interior of the state, and wished joel to return with him.
the mystery was solved; and the visitor declared that his friend had not drank a drop of liquor during the two years he was in cuba.
it was a great satisfaction to mrs. wormbury and her children to hear this good report of the deceased husband and father; and walker left, sincerely grieved at the death of his friend, whom he highly esteemed.
in the winter leopold went to the "academy," and studied hard to improve his mind and[pg 335] increase his knowledge. he applied himself diligently to german, under the instruction of herr schlager, so that he could talk in that language with rosabel when she came the next season, for it must be confessed that he thought a great deal of her.
the spring came, bringing nearer to leopold the coming of rosabel. in june a letter from the honorable mr. hamilton arrived, announcing the intended visit of the family to the sea cliff house, and fixing the time at about the first of july. he engaged his own rooms, and three others for his party and they were to come in the orion. this was the best of news to leopold. he was a year older than when he had last seen rosabel, and had grown much taller and stouter. an incipient mustache was coming on his upper lip,—though he was not yet eighteen,—on which he bestowed some attention. the young ladies in the academy had declared among themselves that he was the handsomest young man in rockhaven; and with this indorsement there can be no doubt that he was a very good-looking fellow. he dressed himself neatly, out of his own funds, and was very particular in regard to his personal appearance.[pg 336]
as the first of july approached, he was even more particular than usual. the dawning mustache was carefully trained, so that each hair was in the most eligible position to produce an effect. for a boating dress, he wore a gray woolen shirt, trimmed with pink, and secured in front with black studs. but even in this garb, with his hair nicely combed, his mustache adjusted, his broad shirt-collar, open down to his breast, and held in place by a black handkerchief, tied in true sailor style,—in this garb, even, he was a fellow upon whom a young lady would bestow a second and even a third look, if the circumstances were favorable.
from early morning till dark, on the first day of july, leopold kept an eye on the sea-board side of the town, looking out for the orion. she did not appear; but on the afternoon of the next day, he discovered the yacht as she rounded the point on which stood the light-house. captain bounce knew his way into the river this time, and in a few moments more the orion reached the anchorage off the wharf. as soon as leopold recognized the vessel, he hastened to the rosabel, his heart beating wildly[pg 337] with the pleasant excitement of the occasion. embarking in the sloop, he was soon alongside the orion. the accommodation-steps were placed over the side for him, and he ascended to the deck.
"i am glad to see you, leopold," said mr. hamilton, extending his hand to the boatman.
"thank you sir; we are all glad to see you and your family here again," replied leopold, as he glanced towards the quarter-deck in search of rosabel. "are mrs. hamilton and your daughter on board?"
"yes, both of them; but i have a smaller party than i had last year."
at this moment leopold saw rosabel emerging from the companion-way. his brown face flushed as he approached her, and she was as rosy as a country girl when she offered him her little gloved hand, which he gratefully clasped in his great paw.
"i am very glad to see you again, miss hamilton," said leopold; and certainly he never uttered truer words in his life.
"and i am delighted to see you again, leopold," she replied gazing earnestly into his handsome[pg 338] brown face, and then measuring with her eye his form from head to foot. "how tall and large you have grown!"
we are inclined to believe, from the looks she bestowed upon him, that she fully indorsed the opinion of the young ladies of the academy. rosabel was taller, more mature, and even more beautiful than when he had seen her last. she was dressed to go on shore; but as soon as she saw leopold and the rosabel, a new idea seemed to take possession of her mind.
"i want to go to high rock this minute!" exclaimed the fair girl. "i have been thinking about the place every day since i was here last year; and i want to go there before i land at rockhaven."
her father objected, her mother objected, and the grim old skipper of the orion declared there would be a shower and a squall, if not a tempest, before night. but rosabel, though a very good girl in the main, was just a little wilful at times. she insisted, and leopold was engaged to convey her to the romantic region. he was seventeen and she was fifteen; and no young fellow was ever happier than he was as he took[pg 339] his place at the helm with rosabel opposite him in the standing-room.
no other member of the party was willing to join her in the excursion, for belle peterson and charley redmond were not passengers in the yacht this time. if leopold had been a young new yorker, perhaps her father and mother would have objected to her going alone with him. as it was, they regarded him, in some sense, as a servant, and they intrusted her to his care as they would have done with a conductor on the train, or with the driver of the stage. he was simply the boatman to them—a very good-looking fellow, it is true, but not dangerous, because he was not the young lady's social equal. he always treated her with the utmost respect and deference.
the breeze was fresh, and in a few moments leopold landed her on the narrow beach beneath the lofty rock. the maiden left the boat, climbed the high rock, and wandered about among the wild cliffs and chasms, all alone, for leopold could not leave the inanimate rosabel—which the rude sea might injure—to follow the animate and beautiful rosabel in her ramble on the shore.[pg 340]
she was gone an hour, and then an other hour. he called to her, but she came not, and even the warning of the muttering thunder did not hasten her return. but she came at last, and leopold hastened to get under way, though he feared that the storm would be down upon him before he could reach the orion.
"we are going to have a tremendous shower," said leopold, anxiously, as he shoved off the boat.
"i'm not afraid; and if i get wet, it won't hurt me," replied rosabel, who actually enjoyed the flashing lightning and the booming thunder, and gazed with undaunted eyes upon the black masses of cloud that were rolling up from the south-east and from the north-west.
"it looks just exactly as it did on the day the waldo was wrecked," added leopold. "it blew a perfect hurricane then, and it may to-day."
"if you are alarmed, leopold, we can return," suggested rosabel.
"we can hardly do that, now, for the tide has risen so high that the beach is nearly covered, and my boat would be dashed to pieces, if we have much of a squall."[pg 341]
"do you think there is any danger?" asked the fair maiden, who was deeply impressed by the earnest manner of the boatman.
"i hope not," replied he, more cheerfully, for he did not wish to alarm her. "if i can only get into dipper bay, which is hardly half a mile from here, we shall be all right; and we may have time to run into the river."
dipper bay was a little inlet, almost landlocked, in which the water was deep enough to float his sloop at this time of tide, and its high rocky shores would afford him a perfect protection from the fury of any squall, or even hurricane. but leopold felt that his chances of reaching this secure haven were but small, for the breeze was very light.
the rosabel was but a short distance from the shore when the wind entirely subsided, and the long rollers were as smooth as glass. the lightning glared with fearful intensity, and the thunder boomed like the convulsions of an earthquake. by this time rosabel, who had before enjoyed the sublimity of the coming storm, now began to realize its terrors, and to watch the handsome boatman with the deepest anxiety.[pg 342] the sails flapped idly in the motionless air, and dipper bay was still half a mile distant.
"don't be alarmed, miss hamilton," said leopold, as he threw off his coat and vest, dropped his suspenders from his shoulders, and rolled up his shirt sleeves above the elbows. "if the squall will keep off only a few moments, we shall be in a safe place."
the skipper evidently "meant business;" and, shipping the long oars, he worked with a zeal which seemed to promise happy results, and rosabel began to feel a little reassured. but the sloop was too large and too broad on the beam to be easily rowed, and her progress was necessarily very slow.
"can't i help you, leopold?" asked the maiden, when she saw what a tremendous effort the boatman was making.
"you may take the tiller and steer for dip point, if you please," replied leopold, knowing that his beautiful passenger would be better satisfied if she could feel that she was doing something.
leopold plied his oars with all the vigor of a manly frame, intent upon reaching the little[pg 343] bay, where the high rocks would shelter his craft from the fury of the storm. then a breeze of wind came and he resumed his place at the tiller. he had almost reached the haven when he saw coming down over the waters a most terrific squall. before he could haul down his mainsail, the tempest struck the rosabel. he placed his fair charge in the bottom of the boat, which the savage wind was driving towards the dangerous rocks. before he could do anything to secure the sail, the main-sheet parted at the boom. he cast off the halyards; but the sail was jammed, and would not come down.
the rosabel was almost upon the rocks. seizing an oar, leopold, satisfied that he could do nothing to save the boat, worked her away from the rocks, so that she would strike upon the narrow beach he had just left. the fierce squall was hurling her with mad speed upon the shore. by the most tremendous exertion, and at the imminent peril of his life, he succeeded in guiding her to the beach, upon which she struck with prodigious force, crushing in her keel and timbers beneath the shock. without a word of explanation, he grasped the fair[pg 344] rosabel in his arms, and leaped into the angry surges, which were driven high upon the rocks above him. the tide had risen so that there was hardly room under the cliff for him to stand; but he bore her to this only partial refuge from the fury of the storm.
the tempest increased in violence, and the huge billows rolled in with impetuous fury upon him. grasping his fair burden in his arms, with rosabel clinging to him in mortal terror, he paused a moment to look at the angry sea. there was a narrow shelf of rock near him, against which the waves beat with terrible violence. if he could only get beyond this shelf, which projected out from the cliffs, he could easily reach the hole in the wall, where harvey barth had saved himself in just such a storm. he had borne rosabel some distance along the beach, both drenched by the lashing spray, and his strength was nearly exhausted. the projecting shelf was before him, forbidding for the moment his further progress.
the coming wave. page 345 the coming wave. page 345
.
[pg 345]placing his left foot on a rock, his fair but heavy burden on his knee, clasping her waist with his left hand, while his right was fastened for support in a crevice of the cliff, he paused for an instant to recover his breath, and watch for a favorable chance to escape from his perilous position. rosabel, in her terror, had thrown her arms around his neck, clinging to him with all her might. when he paused, she felt, reposing on his powerful muscles, that she was safe—she confessed it afterwards; though, in that terrible sea, and near those cruel rocks, the strength of the strongest man was but weakness. leopold waited. if the sea would only recede for an instant, it would give him the opportunity to reach the broader beach beyond the shelf, over which he could pass to the hole in the wall. it was a moment of hope, mingled with a mighty fear.
a huge billow, larger than any he had yet seen, was rolling in upon him, crested and reeking with foam, and might dash him and his feeble charge, mangled and torn, upon the jagged rocks. still panting from the violence of his exertion, he braced his nerves and his stout frame to meet the terrible shock.
with every muscle strained to the utmost tension, he waited the coming wave. in this[pg 346] attitude, with the helpless maiden clinging to him for life, with the wreck of his fine yacht near, he was a noble subject for an inspired artist.
the coming wave buried him and the fair maiden in its cold embrace. it broke, and shattered itself in torrents of milky foam upon the hard rocks. but the larger and higher the wave, the farther it recedes. leopold stood firm, though he was shaken in every fiber of his frame by the shock. the retiring water—retiring only for an instant, to come again with even greater fury—gave him his opportunity, and he improved it. swooping like a strong eagle, beneath the narrow shelf of rock, he gained the broader sands beyond the reach of the mad billows. it blew a hurricane for some time. the stranded yacht was ground into little pieces by the sharp rocks; but her skipper and his fair passenger were safe.
on the identical flat rock in the hole in the wall where the steward of the waldo had seated himself, after the wreck, leopold placed his precious burden. he sat down by her side, utterly exhausted, and unable to speak. he[pg 347] breathed very hardly, groaning heavily at each respiration, for he had exerted himself to the verge of human endurance.
"o, leopold," gasped poor rosabel, gazing with tender interest upon her preserver, "you have saved me, but you have killed yourself!"
the gallant young man tried to speak, but he could only smile in his agony. taking her hand, he pressed it, to indicate his satisfaction at what he had done.
"what shall i do?" cried the poor girl.
leopold could only press her hand again; but she felt that she must do something for him. throwing off her wet gloves, she began to rub his temples, to which he did not object. but in a few minutes more he was able to speak.
"i am only tired," gasped the boatman. "i shall be all right in a few moments."
then the rain began to pour down in torrents. leopold rose from the rock, and conducted rosabel to an overhanging cliff, in the ravine, which partially sheltered them from the storm. the wind continued to howl, as though the squall had ended in a gale; but the rain soon ceased to fall, and leopold helped his fair companion to the summit of the cliff.[pg 348]
"there is nothing left of the rosabel," said leopold, as he gazed down upon the white-capped billows which lashed the jagged rocks below. "she went to pieces like an egg-shell."
"never mind the boat, leopold. i am so thankful that our lives were spared," replied rosabel.
"o, i don't care for the boat. i only thank god that you were saved. i thought we should both be dashed in pieces on the rocks."
"i should have been, if you had not been so strong and brave, leopold. you might have left me, and saved yourself, without much trouble."
"left you!" exclaimed leopold, gazing into her beautiful face. "i would rather have been ground up into inch pieces on the rocks, than do that, miss hamilton!"
rosabel believed him, and the tears flowed down her cheeks, as she brushed away from her eyes the auburn locks, soaked with salt water, and gazed into his earnest, manly face.
before the storm had subsided, the orion, bearing the agonized parents, was floundering in the billows off high rock, with only a close-reefed[pg 349] foresail set. leopold and rosabel both made signals, to assure the father and mother of their safety. an hour later, when the waters were comparatively still, there was a joyous scene in the cabin of the orion. hot tears dropped from the eyes of father and mother, and convulsive embraces were exchanged. leopold's right hand was nearly twisted off by the overjoyed parents and friends of her who had been saved from the coming wave.
the yacht sailed into the river again, and on the passage, leopold, assisted by rosabel, related all the particulars of the loss of the rosabel, and of their narrow escape from the rocks and the billows on the beach under high rock.
if mr. and mrs. hamilton had before regarded leopold, in any sense, as a servant, or even a boatman, they no longer considered him as anything but a social equal, a noble and dear friend, who had risked his life to save their beloved daughter. if they were grateful and devoted to him, not less so was rosabel herself.
the party stayed a fortnight at the sea cliff house, and enjoyed themselves even more than during the preceding season. every pleasant[pg 350] day a party went out in the orion, and, having no boat of his own now, leopold was glad to go with them. on the day after the storm, the mate of the yacht had left rockhaven for new york, and the late skipper of the rosabel was requested to perform his duty on board, which he did to the entire satisfaction of captain bounce. after the mate had been absent a week, the mate pro tem. of the orion, as the yacht was running out of the river, discovered a small sloop, headed for the light. her hull and her sails were intensely white. she was a beautiful craft, and appeared to be entirely new. she was evidently a yacht, and leopold knew that she did not belong to any of the places in the lower bay. the word was passed aft that a yacht was approaching, and all the passengers came forward to see her.
"that's her, mr. hamilton," said captain bounce, mysteriously after a little talk with his owner.
"where is she from?" asked leopold.
"new york," replied the ex-congressman, chuckling.
"what's her name?"
"the rosabel."[pg 351]
"i didn't know there was any craft with that name, except mine," replied leopold, as rosabel placed herself by his side.
"she is new, and has not had that name more than a week," added mr. hamilton.
"whom does she belong to?" inquired leopold.
"she belongs to leopold bennington now."
this announcement was followed by a silvery laugh from the merchant's daughter.
"she is to take the place of the boat you lost."
"here's a go!" grinned stumpy, who was doing duty on board as assistant steward.
"we don't care to mystify you, leopold," laughed mr. hamilton. "the mate of the orion is in charge of her. she is a new boat, finished just before i left new york, and offered for sale. on the day after you lost your sloop, i sent the mate to purchase her for you. there she is, and she is yours. you can go on board of her now, if you please."
"let me go, too," interposed rosabel.
the new yacht came up into the wind, when the orion did so, and one of the boats of the latter conveyed rosabel, leopold, and stumpy[pg 352] to the sloop, bringing back the mate and the man who had come with him from new york. the new rosabel was thirty-two feet long, with a large cabin, furnished with berths, and a cook-room forward. leopold and stumpy were enraptured with the craft, and looked her over with the utmost delight. they followed the orion all day, and kept up with her, for the new rosabel was even faster than the old one.
but our story is nearly told, and we cannot follow these pleasant parties on their excursions on the bay. leopold and stumpy sailed the new rosabel the rest of the season, and the money flowed freely into their separate treasuries. the sea cliff house prospered beyond the expectation of the landlord, and he was abundantly able to pay off the mortgage on the hotel when it was due. squire moses dropped dead one day in a fit of apoplexy, and, having neglected to make a will, as he had often declared that he intended to do, his property was equally divided among his heirs. stumpy found his mother independent by this event, but he continued to sail with leopold in the rosabel.
the next winter after the stirring incidents at[pg 353] high rock, leopold went to new york on a visit, and was heartily welcomed by the hamiltons, who treated him with as much consideration as though he had been a foreign duke. rosabel was delighted to see him, we need not add. the result of this visit was, that the merchant invited leopold to take a position in his mercantile establishment, to which his father reluctantly consented. stumpy took his place as boatman for the sea cliff house.
leopold gave his whole energy to business, and when he was only twenty-two he was admitted as a partner to the firm. he was a splendid-looking fellow and no one would have suspected, after noting his elegant appearance, his fine manners, and his energetic business habits that he was not an original new yorker. of course he made frequent visits to the house of mr. hamilton, and was always a welcome guest. his relations with rosabel were of the most interesting character; and now at twenty-six, he is a happy husband, educated and wealthy, and, with his wife to nerve his soul, he stands braced against the coming wave of temptation and sin, which is always rolling in upon the pilgrim of earth.
