I hurried Marjory into the room where she had dressed, and where were
a store of her clothes; and then I proceeded to make up a fire. The
chimney place in the dining room was made after the old fashion, wide
and deep, and had in the back a beautiful old steel rack with brackets
on which to hang pots and kettles. I thought this would be the best
place for a fire, as it was the biggest in the house. So I got from
the fuel house off the kitchen an armful of dry furze and another of
cut billets of pine which I dumped on top of it. A single match was
sufficient, and in an instant, there was a large fire roaring up the
chimney. I filled a great copper kettle with water and slung it in the
blaze, and then, when I found myself in a cloud of steam from my wet
clothes, ran into my own room. After a hard rub down which made my skin
glow, and a wash which was exquisite, I put myself into dry clothes.
When I came back to the dining room I found Marjory busy getting ready
a meal--supper, breakfast, dinner, we did not know what to call it.
One glad moment in each other's arms, and then kneeling together we
thanked God for the great mercy which He had shown us. Then we resumed
preparations to eat, for we were ravenous. The kettle was beginning to
sing, and we soon had hot delicious tea, which sent a glow through us.
There were plenty of cooked provisions, and we did not wait to warm
them: such luxuries as hot food would come into our lives later. It was
only when we had satisfied our appetites that we thought of looking at
the time. My own watch had stopped when I had first tried the entrance
to the great cave and had been waist high in water, but Marjory had left
hers in her room when she had changed her dress for the expedition. It
was now one o'clock and as the sun was high in the heavens it was--P. M.
Allowing for the time of dressing and eating, we must have been in all
in the caves some twelve hours. I looked amongst my books and found
Whittaker's Almanach, from which I gathered that as the tide was full at
half past six o'clock we must as the normal rise of the tide was between
eleven and twelve feet have been immersed in the water some four hours.
The very thought of it made us shudder; with an instinctive remembrance
of our danger and misery we drew close together.
Then a heavy sleepiness seemed all at once to settle on us. Marjory
would not leave me, and I did not wish her to. I felt, as she did, that
we could not sleep easily if separated. So I got great armloads of rugs
and cushions and made up two nests close to the fire which I built up
with solid logs. I wrapped her in a great, warm plaid and myself in
another, and we sank down on our couches, holding hands and with her
head upon my shoulder.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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