CHAPTER IX.
THE CHARGE CONFIDED TO A RAGING SEA.
The skipper, at the helm, burst out laughing,--
"A bell! that's good. We are on the larboard tack. What does the bellprove? Why, that we have land to starboard."
The firm and measured voice of the doctor replied,--
"You have not land to starboard."
"But we have," shouted the skipper.
"No!"
"But that bell tolls from the land."
"That bell," said the doctor, "tolls from the sea."
A shudder passed over these daring men. The haggard faces of the twowomen appeared above the companion like two hobgoblins conjured up. Thedoctor took a step forward, separating his tall form from the mast. Fromthe depth of the night's darkness came the toll of the bell.
The doctor resumed,--
"There is in the midst of the sea, halfway between Portland and theChannel Islands, a buoy, placed there as a caution; that buoy is mooredby chains to the shoal, and floats on the top of the water. On the buoyis fixed an iron trestle, and across the trestle a bell is hung. In badweather heavy seas toss the buoy, and the bell rings. That is the bellyou hear."
The doctor paused to allow an extra violent gust of wind to pass over,waited until the sound of the bell reasserted itself, and then wenton,--
"To hear that bell in a storm, when the nor'-wester is blowing, is to belost. Wherefore? For this reason: if you hear the bell, it is becausethe wind brings it to you. But the wind is nor'-westerly, and thebreakers of Aurigny lie east. You hear the bell only because you arebetween the buoy and the breakers. It is on those breakers the wind isdriving you. You are on the wrong side of the buoy. If you were on theright side, you would be out at sea on a safe course, and you would nothear the bell. The wind would not convey the sound to you. You wouldpass close to the buoy without knowing it. We are out of our course.That bell is shipwreck sounding the tocsin. Now, look out!"
As the doctor spoke, the bell, soothed by a lull of the storm, rangslowly stroke by stroke, and its intermitting toll seemed to testify tothe truth of the old man's words. It was as the knell of the abyss.
All listened breathless, now to the voice, now to the bell.