The First Light on the Eddystone. A story, etc

Preface

Although Winstanley's work seemed to fail, it ought to be remembered that his attempt to raise a permanent lighthouse on the dangerous Eddystone Rock was the first that was made, and that, in the face of immense difficulties, he persevered till he had accomplished his purpose. ' Cest le premier pas qui eon le,' and those who followed him, after the terrible calamity which swept away building and builder into the stormy abyss, had his experience to guide them. It is impossible not to admire Winstanley's courage. To this Smeaton, many years after, bore his testimony, dwelling on the heroism which made him undertake a work which had before been deemed impracticable. By the temporary success which attended it, he

PREFACE.

VI showed to the world that the erection of such a lighthouse was possible. The particulars of Mr Winstanley's curious and whimsical mechanical contrivances at his house at Littlebury, are gathered from the scanty details which are found in Smiles' Lives of the Engineers. Little seems to be known of his life, and the characters which in this story surround him at Littlebury and Plymouth are, it is almost unnecessary to say, wholly imaginary. Woodside, Leigh Woods, Clifton, February 1894. CON TENTS

. ... The First Light on the Eddystone 0

Chapter I The Wreck

A STRONG gale had lashed the waves of the Channel into fury on a March evening in the year 1696. Such a gale was not remembered by the oldest in habitant so early in the year. The Hoe at Plymouth was covered with people, who were watching the fate of several vessels which were driven before the wind through the surging billows. A full moon was high in the heavens, and as she sailed, now and again, from out the ragged clouds which were drift ing over the sky, a large ship could be seen, evidently doomed to perish on the Shagstone reef. The foam of a line of breakers, ghastly white in the moonlight, was distinctly visible, and the ship was making straight for them, to be caught in the whirling eddies which surged round the rock. A Many eyes were directed towards her, and some hearts were filled with pity and longing to render assistance.

Some looked on the whole scene with stolid in difference, an indifference which came, perhaps, from having witnessed a like scene many times before. Others, with sinister intentions, were calculating that if the doomed ship were from the West Indies, much valuable treasure might be washed ashore the next and following days ; while others — they were but few — sent up a prayer for those in peril of the sea, and shuddered as they thought of the women and children who might be on board the ill-fated vessel. Amongst these last was a girl of twenty, who was clinging for support to the arm of a strong, well-built young man, who protected his companion by draw ing her close to his side, as he made a firm stand against the stormy blasts, which swept so fiercely over the Hoe, that many of the weaker sort were blown about like shuttlecocks, and were forced to seek their homes before the fate of the ship was decided.

The light of the moon was now obscured by a thick mass of inky-black clouds, and there was a long interval of suspense. The billows raged below ; the wind howled and shrieked through the rigging of the ships which were safe in Plymouth harbour ; and the spray and flakes of foam were driven across the Hoe. ' Perhaps you had better go home, Hester,' the young man said ; ' you are trembling with cold.' ' No,' she said ; ' no, Rupert. I wish to see the end. That ship, how many are aboard her, do you think?' ' I cannot tell ; a hundred souls, or more, it may be.' ' A hundred ! ' Hester said. , ' Must all be lost ? ' And now a light rim round the further edge of the great wrack of cloud showed that the moon was coming out once more. At last she appeared, sailing, with her calm fair face, in a wide clear space of dark blue sky, and Rupert Edmonds ex claimed, — ' It is all over !

God help them. Hester raised her head from his shoulder and looked toward the raging waters. Not a trace of the ship was to be seen. Caught in the eddies of the dangerous reef, she had perished with all on board. ' And we stand here, big strong men like us, and do nothing,' Rupert exclaimed. 'It makes my blood boil to think that no help is near, and that vessel after vessel must go down like that with out warning and without help. I am only twenty six, and I have seen a like dreadful sight more times than I can count. Come home, Hester, come home, there is nothing to be done ■nothing.' ' There be some that are of a different opinion Master Edmonds,' said a voice near. ' The wreckers are all alive, and, I'll warrant, will watch till day breaks for the bodies that are washed ashore. They say the ship was making port from the West Indies, and, if that be true, there may be a lot worth seek ing for, upon her crew.' Rupert turned sharply on the man. 'You will not be behindhand in the search.

Tom, I know you.' ' Do you then ? you are always mighty big and grand in your own conceits, Master Edmonds, but, mayhap, not so grand in other folk's eyes as your own,' and, with a chuckle, the old man stumped away. Rupert Edmonds, with Hester clinging on his arm, made his way to Notte Street, and stopped before a house with two gables and long latticed bay windows, where he carried on the trade of mercer and cloth merchant. He had inherited the business from his father, and had, by his ability and excellent character for honest dealing, increased, rather than decreased, the custom which his father and his grandfather before him had gathered together. Rupert lived with his mother, and Hester was an orphan niece, who had been brought up by her aunt and had known no other home. Rupert had two brothers, one of whom was a great drag upon him.

They had both disliked the tedium of business habits, and had, after making a trial of the desk, in their father's shop, drifted off, one to New England, the other as a sailor. Continual demands for money came from one of the brothers, and Rupert's patience was sorely tried. But her sailor son was Mrs Edmonds' idol, and when he came home from a voyage, with presents of white coral, or beads, or chains made of rare shells, he was feted and made much of, and Rupert had to pay for all his extravagance and wild ways, till, to the relief of everyone but his mother, Dick set sail for another voyage. Perhaps the burden on his young shoulders made Rupert a little grave and even stern in his manner sometimes, but he was kind and considerate to his mother, who often tried his temper to the utmost, and he was ever the shield between Hester and her aunt when she was the victim of unreasonable displeasure.

The old house in Notte Street was a welcome shelter on this stormy night. The shop was on the ground floor, with the kitchen and offices at the back. The long latticed bay above it, under the two gabies, belonged to the living-room of the family. The walls were covered with old tapestry, bought from time to time in the course of his trade by Rupert's father, and there was an air of comfort in the room which was not very common at the end of the seventeenth century. A partition of panelled oak divided the long chamber, and Mrs Edmonds used that portion which was the smaller of the two, as her bedchamber. A wide oak staircase, with carved balusters and fine finials, led to this floor, and Hester sprang lightly up it, expecting what her aunt's greeting would be. ' And where have you been gadding to at this time o' night, and the supper waiting, and Abigail put out of sorts ? ' ' Rupert took me with him to the Hoe, Aunt Phyllis ; it was dreadful.

We saw a ship drive straight for the Shagstone Rock, and she went down with everyone aboard.' ' And more shame for a young girl to be staring at such a sight. I'd have gone fifty miles the other way, I can tell you. Where is Rupert ? ' ' He stopped in the shop to speak to Collins.' ' I daresay, leaving his business to the shopman ; that's not the way to thrive. Take off your cloak, child, and don't stand there as if you were moon struck.' ' It is so terrible to think of all those poor creatures, perhaps women, perhaps girls like me, being drowned in those angry waters. Can't anything be done ? ' Hester said, clasping her hands. ' Are ships always to go straight for these awful rocks and reefs without warning ? ' 'Done! nothing can be done, child. Don't talk about things you don't understand.

I suppose the Almighty set these rocks in the Channel for some good end, to break the force of the sea coming up against Plymouth, and there's an end of it. They've tried lights along the coast, but they have only been misleading. There, think no more about it, it's no use, I tell you.' Rupert now came upstairs followed by the man, whom Mrs Edmonds called the shopman. He was, in fact, the staff on which Rupert leaned for the management of the business. Mrs Edmonds treated Geoffrey Collins as a subor dinate. He was paid wage for his work like Abigail, and hence was a servant. ' I hope I am always civil to Collins,' Mrs Edmonds would say ; ' but all the same I don't forget what's what.' So now, when Geoffrey Collins appeared with her son, Mrs Edmonds said,- — 'Good-evening to you, Collins; I hope I see you well.

Pray be seated.' Mrs Edmonds had not risen from her chair by the wood fire, which crackled and sparkled merrily up the chimney from the open hearth, but only in clined her head, which was heavy with a very elaborate erection of lace and silk, something between a cap and a turban, or, perhaps, a helmet would be a more appropriate comparison. Hester Soltau had thrown aside her cloak and hood, and now stood revealed as a very tall and graceful young woman. Her gown was of some flowered material, and pulled through the pocket holes on either side, forming something like what, in later times, we have called a ' panier.' The bodice was cut low, and crossed by folds of a fine white cloth. The sleeves were short to the elbow, and her well-shaped arms were covered by mittens made of the same material as the kerchief.

Hester had not regular features, but the expression of her face had a singular charm, and her eyes were of that deep grey which often puzzles those who look into them to decide of what colour they really are. Geoffrey Collins, who worshipped her at a distance, never could decide whether those eyes were grey, blue, or hazel. What did it matter ? They were the only eyes in the world for him. And as Hester stood by the well-spread board waiting for her aunt to ' Ask a blessing,' Geoffrey thought he had never seen her look so beautiful. He was in love ; perhaps no one else would have used that adjective, but even Rupert noticed the far-away, wistful look in Hester's eyes, and, as he seated him self, he said, — ' Come, Hessie, wake up. I think the gale has made you sleepy.' The wind was still bellowing in Notte Street, and, as the strong gusts swept through it, the many diamond panes of the bay window rattled, the tapestry on the walls swelled and flapped, and little puffs of thin smoke came from the wide chimney, and made the white flakes of the dying embers dance in little eddies round the large logs which had been recently put upon the hearth. ' Dear, dear ! ' Mrs Edmonds exclaimed, as a gust louder than the rest rushed past the house, ' I hope the chimleys won't come down.

I am thankful my chamber is not next the roof.' ' And you are thankful that mine and Hester's are so placed, mother ? ' Rupert said, laughing. 'That does not follow, Rupert. Do not be so hasty. Nay, I see nothing to laugh at,' as Geoffrey Collins, in spite of the respect he owed his mistress, could not help smiling. Hester alone did not smile, and presently said, — ' Rupert, are ships for ever to go to pieces on the Shagstone and the Eddystone ? Can't anything be thought of, or done ? ' ' Lights have been put on the coast, as I told you, but never have really served any good purpose. No, the man is not born who is to devise some plan for raising a permanent signal on the Eddystone, which is more to be feared than the Shagstone. But, Hester, the next gale that blows I won't take you out to see what is happening, if you let this wreck haunt you after this fashion.' ' And we were so far away,' she said ; ' if we had been near we should have heard the cries of the drowning.

I could almost fancy I hear them now.' 'Do not be childish, Hester. If you have supped, you had best go to your chamber ! ' Mrs Edmonds exclaimed. ' In the roof ! ' Rupert said. ' If the chimley falls through it, we will come and dig you out.' But though Rupert spoke in jest, to try and divert Hester's mind from the wreck, when he and Geoffrey Collins were left alone, Abigail having cleared the board, and his mother departed to the adjoining chamber, he said, — ' I shall be up before daylight and go down to the beach to see if aught is washed ashore, and to keep an eye on those wretches who strip the bodies for greed.' ' I will come along with you, Master,' Geoffrey said ; name the hour.' ' Four of the clock as it strikes from St Andrew's tower.' ' I shall be at your service,' was the reply. ' But whatever sights we see of the poor creatures, with the life beaten out of them, if I was you, Master, I would not tell of them to one whose heart is too tender to bear to hear of cruel deaths like those on that ship have suffered.' ' Oh ! you mean Hester ?

No, it will be a long time before I shall let her watch a wreck again. Yet she can go to the poor folks in the almshouse and dress their sores, and when Dick cut his head open by that ugly fall when he was drunk, Hester was the only one who did not run away calling for help, but staunched the blood with her own hand till the surgeon came.' ' Ay,' said Geoffrey, his homely face kindling with emotion. ' Ay, Master, but I see the difference betwixt the two. In one case she could help, in the other she was helpless. It is that cuts her to the heart' Geoffrey Collins had touched the secret of Hester's distress, which even Rupert missed. To natures like Hester's, it is not the pain nor the sight of mortal agony which is so hard to meet ; it is when to see it all, and be powerless to alleviate it, which, as Geoffrey expressed it, ' cuts to the heart.' That night, as Hester lay in her little chamber under the gable of the roof, she could only say in accents of entreaty, — ' Oh !

God, let something be done, let something be done to save other ships from these cruel rocks. Why, why do they say nothing can be done ? Some thing must be done.' And the wind howling round the house seemed to echo the cry of despair of the hundreds, nay thousands, who had met their death in the whirling eddies of the Shagstone, the Mewstonc and above all, for danger, the Eddystone reef. Hester lay awake, listening to every sound, and as the clock of St Andrew's church struck four, she heard Rupert go down the narrow creaking stairs, which led to the room under the gabled roof, and she started up, saying, — ' He is gone to see if any of them have been washed ashore — perhaps life is left in some of them — I might help — I will go with him. But they said no one could be saved — it would be no use.

I should only anger Rupert and Aunt Phyllis.' Then Hester lay back on her pillow, and the sleep of youth came without her bidding ; and when she awoke, it was to see Abigail standing by her bed. ' Lor', Mistress Hessie, it's nigh ten o'clock. The mistress thought you was sick ; haste to get up, or you'll find somebody in no pleasant mood, I warrant' ' Is Master Rupert come in ? ' ' Yes, two hours agone, and he looked as solemn as a judge. He is off again, searching further on the coast, he says. The wreckers have been busy, I expect, and stripping the poor bodies.' ' Don't, Abigail, I can't bear it,' Hester said, spring- 4 ing up. ' Go away, please.'

Chapter II Washed Ashore Those

who had evil intentions as to the bodies of any who had been lost at sea on the previous night, were doomed to disappointment. But little was found on the shore below the Hoe. And after a long search there, Rupert and Geoffrey Collins gave it up, with some of the authorities whom he had met also on the look-out to defeat the wreckers in their schemes. They had been watching all night, but moved off in an opposite direction when Rupert appeared. There were many battered casks and spars of timber lying along the edge of the sullen waters, washed up and sucked back again by the incoming and retreating wave, but no bodies. The ship which had perished on the Shagstone was not the only craft that had been wrecked. Fishing boats and smaller vessels were missing, and women with their aprons thrown over their heads ' were weep ing and wringing their hands, for those who would never come back to the town.' Rupert sailed to find anything of importance, and he returned with Collins after his search to snatch a hasty breakfast, and then started again on his self imposed mission. '3 In after years Rupert could recall the strange impulse which led him to leave his business all that spring day, and walk many miles along the coast on the other side of the harbour, for the purpose, chiefly, as he told himself, of circumventing the designs of the wreckers, who had moved off from the shore behind the Hoe when he and his companions had appeared.

How much depended on his yielding to that impulse, and how little did he think to what this search of his would lead ! Three bodies were washed up at Jenny Cliff Bay, fearfully mutilated, and were borne away for decent interment by his orders, supported by several other people of importance amongst the inhabitants of Plymouth. He was just about to leave the shore and begin his long walk homewards, when his foot struck on something half buried in a mass of torn sails, and, stooping, he picked up a small iron box, on the lid of which two letter G's were engraved with some sharp instrument. He touched a brass knob, and the lid flew open. By the fading light of the dull afternoon Rupert saw a piece of paper, untouched by the action of the water, on which was written in a cramped hand : — ' I am said to have as many lives as a cat, but no one knows what may happen.

In the event of my never reaching England alive, I swear that one, Priscilla Casterton was my wedded wife. In proof thereof, I copy the marriage lines which lie beneath. If I am lost at sea, and the deep gives up this box, let him who lights on it go straightway to one Henry Winstanley, mercer, of Holborn, and show him the marriage lines, that my daughter Priscilla may have her birth in wedlock duly certified. It may be, I shall myself deliver the contents of this box to him whom it concerns, viz., a lock of hair, a gold ring, my wife's marriage ring, and place it myself on my child's finger. — Signed by me, George Gervase, on this 2d day of January 1696. Once captain in the service of his Majesty King James, since his unhappy fall captain of a privateer on the coast of the islands commonly called the West Indies.' A little group had watched Rupert all day, and, jealous of his interference, one of them called out, — ' Look alive, Master Straightlace, you've got some what worth having.' Rupert did not take any notice of this remark, but after his long watching by the sombre sea, over which not a ray of sunshine shone, he turned his steps to wards Plymouth again, tired and saddened by the sight of the dead he had seen stretched out before him.

When he reached the town he found news had been brought of other disasters. It was said a large vessel had gone to pieces on the Eddystone reef, and many pilchard boats had been lost ; several ships that had made the harbour were disabled, and had narrowly escaped a like fate in the storm. Rupert had been absent from his business all day, and came into the shop late in the evening. Hester was on the look-out for him ; she had been restless and uneasy all day, and sprang to meet him. ' What have you seen, Rupert ? ' she asked. ' Aunt Phyllis is fretting and full of fears. Why have you been away all day ? Come up and set her mind at rest.' Rupert was about to follow Hester upstairs, when Geoffrey Collins called him. ' Have you found aught, Master Rupert ? I hear the coast is strewn with dead bodies.

Some of the fisher wives are distraught with grief for their hus bands and sons who have perished.' ' Poor creatures ! ' Rupert said. ' I am weary and hungry. I will see you on any matter of business later.' ' There has been no custom to speak of. We've had a quiet day. Don't let that trouble you, Master.' ' No,' Hester said, ' come upstairs.' She was standing half way up the first broad flight. ' Supper is served.' Rupert obeyed, and Hester put her hand through his arm. ' Tell me what you have seen.' ' What God forbid you should ever see, Hester,' Rupert said. Several corpses so battered by the waves and cruel rocks, that scarce a vestige of their likeness in life was left. They will have decent burial, and will not afford plunder for the wreckers. I have found something amongst the rubbish off Jenny Cliff Bay ; but of this more anon.

I will tell you when I can decide what is best to do. Not a word to my mother, mind, till I give you leave.' Rupert always spoke to Hester with a decision which some might think a little beyond firmness. But she had an unbounded admiration for him and trust in him, and she never resisted his will. It was a case of the woman — intellectually the superior of the man — being wholly unconscious of it. Rupert was Hester's king, and she was submissive to his will. Grateful, too, for his protecting care, and for the happiness he shed over her life. She had never pictured to herself the day when she should have to part from him. Though no word of love had passed between them, they had a feeling of security in each other — that on Hester's side, at any rate, admitted of no fears and no misgivings. When Mistress Edmonds' questions were all an swered, and she had retired for the night, Rupert, who had been sitting lost in thought by the dying embers of the fire, suddenly roused himself as Hester came to wards him to say good-night, and, springing up, said, — ■ ' Wait, I have something to tell you, Hessie? ' ' Aught about Dick ?

Dick's ship is not come into the dock ?' ' No, heaven be praised ! ' Then Rupert went to the long bay lattice, and said, — ' See, now, the moon is shining in a fair sky over the roofs of yon houses.' ' Yes,' Hester said. ' When I look at her calm, un troubled face, it seems as if she could never have looked as she did last night, coming out from behind those black clouds to shine upon those poor drowning creatures. Ah ! Rupert, it makes me shudder still when I think of it.' A lamp hung in the recess of the bay, and Rupert, l; seating himself on the bench which ran round it, told Hester to sit by him, and then said, — ' I am going to journey to London, on Monday, by the stage waggon.' ' To London ! ' Hester exclaimed. ' Oh ! Rupert' For, to Hester, the journey from Plymouth to London sounded as formidable, indeed far more formidable, than a journey to the Cape would sound in the ears of a maiden of these days. ' Yes.

I can do a stroke of business with a well-known mercer in Holborn ; but that is not my only reason. By chance — nay, I will not say by chance — this box was washed up to my very feet.' Rupert took it from his pocket, and said, — ' See here, Hester, read for yourself, and tell me if I can do aught but seek out the man named in that paper, and find out from him whether the child of whom the paper treats is really known to him, or, perhaps, of kin to him.' Hester took the box from Rupert's hand, and exclaimed, — ' A ring, also ! ' Ay, a ring, and with a posy within ' Yes,' Hester said. ' Yes ; I can read it — " Love strong as Death." Strong as death ! ' she repeated, fitting the ring on her slender finger. ' Who wore it, I wonder ? Methinks she was young and fair, and this bright curl was hers !

The sea has given up a secret of the past.' ' Remove the ring from your finger, Hester.' ' That finger for which it was made must have been smaller than mine. See, Rupert, I cannot pull it over the joint' 'Do not trifle with it, Hester,' and Rupert made a somewhat rough attempt to detach the ring. ' You hurt my finger, Rupert ! ' Hester exclaimed. ' Suffer me to try gentler means.' But it really seemed as if the ring was immov able, and Rupert grew impatient ' You must have forced it on ; it must be sawn off by Master Goldsworthy, if needs be.' At last, with much coaxing and moistening with her lips, the ring came off, leaving an angry red mark on Hester's finger. ' " Strong as Death," ' she repeated. ' The ring was worthy of the posy.' How was it that something like antagonism sprang up in Hester's heart against the contents of that little box ?

How was it that a strange feeling of vexation rose up within her, as Rupert said, — ' Read the paper, and you will see I can do naught but seek out Mr Winstanley — rather seek information from him — and show him the letter.' ' It is not the letter of a good man,' Hester said, as she returned the paper to Rupert. ' Why should you take this long journey? Inform Mr Winstanley first of what you have found. It may all be a mis take. Write to him — why cannot you write? You will be away from the business for so long, and there is the spring cloth market, and the getting in goods for summer wear. Why should you take this long, perilous journey ? Give it up, Rupert' ' Nay, Hester ! What possesses you to be so con trary? I thought you would be touched by the contents of this box ; instead, you think only of my journey.

As I said, I can unite business of my own with this business of other folk ; and, indeed, it was needful for me or Collins to repair ere long to Exeter to serve some debtors for goods supplied, with notice that in default of payment they will have to suffer the penalty of the law. I set out on Monday. Give me the box, Hester.' Hester obeyed, and Rupert closing it, the springmak ing a sharp click as he did so, Hester rose and said, — ' I only hope no harm will come of your journey, and that you will come back safe.' ' Is that it?' Rupert said, taking Hester's hand and kissing it where the ring had left an angry red mark. ' What if I bring you a ring that will fit your finger, with a posy within, will you forgive me for setting forth on my journey then, Hessie ? ' The colour rushed to Hester's face, but she rallied, and said, — 'When the ring comes it will be time enow to settle that matter.' Then she added more gently, — ' I did not know, for my part, there was aught to forgive !