The seaman, for such was his calling, was about five feet eight or nine
inches in height. His hair, as it appeared from beneath a cap singularly
at variance with the fashion of the time, curled darkly round a face,
the marked features of which were sufficiently prominent, even in that
uncertain light, to denote a person of no ordinary mind or character.
His figure was firm and well-proportioned, and, though he might have
numbered fifty years, it had lost neither strength nor elasticity. His
whole bearing was that of a man whom nothing could have turned from a
cherished purpose, were it for good or evil: though his eye was, as we
have described it, fierce and acute, it was also restless and impatient
as the waves upon which he had toiled from his earliest years.
Again he surveyed the cliff, and, stepping close to its base, applied
the point of a boat-spear to remove the sea-weed that spring and high
tides had heaped against it; he then summoned the youth to his
assistance: after a few moments' search, the lad exclaimed,-"Here it is, master--here is one--here another--but, my eyes! are we to
trust our necks to such footing as this? I'd rather mount the
top-gallant of the good ship Providence in the fiercest Nor-wester that
ever blow'd, than follow such a lubberly tack."
"Then go back to the boat, sir," replied the elder, as he began, with
cautious yet steady daring, to ascend--a course attended with evident
danger, "Go back to the boat, sir--and, here, Jeromio! you have not
been taught your duty on board the Providence, and, I presume, have no
scruples, like our friend Oba Springall. Jeromio! I say, hither and up
with me!"
"I am ready, sir," replied the youth, whose momentary dread had been
dispelled by this attempt to promote a rival to the post of honour; "I
am ready, sir:" muttering, however, soon afterwards to himself, as the
difficulties of the way increased, "He thinks no more of his life than
if he were a sprat or a spawn." No other word was breathed by either of
the adventurers, as they threaded the giddy path, until about midway,
when the elder paused and exclaimed, "A-hoy there, boy! there are two
steps wanting; you had better indeed go back. To me, the track has been
long familiar; not so to you."
The youth thought of his master's taunt, and Jeromio, and resolved to
take his chance. "Ay, ay, sir, no danger when I follow you." But the
peril was, in truth, appalling, though its duration was brief. Below,
the sea that was now rapidly covering the small creek, rudely agitated
and opposed by a rising breeze, dashed and foamed against the rocks. To
fall from such a height was inevitable destruction. There was scarcely
sufficient light to mark the inequality of the ascending cliffs; and a
spectator, gazing on the scene, must have imagined that those who clung
to such a spot were supported by supernatural agency. The Skipper,
nothing daunted, struck the spear, that had served as a climbing-stick,
firmly into the surface of mingled clay and stone, and then, by a
violent effort, flung himself upwards, catching with his left hand at a
slight projection that was hardly visible; thus, hanging between earth
and heaven, he coolly disengaged the staff, and placed it under the
extended arm, so as to form another prop; and feeling, as it were, his
way, he burrowed with his foot a resting in the cliff, from which he
sprang on a narrow ledge, and was in safety. He then turned to look for
his young companion, to whom he extended the boat-spear that had been of
such service. Animated by his master's success and example, Springall's
self-possession was confirmed; and both soon stood on the brow of the
precipice.