The Turquoise Story Book: Stories and Legends of Summer and Nature
General
The Turquoise Story Book: Stories and Legends of Summer and Nature
Nature -- Juvenile literature; Summer -- Juvenile literature
If you have not been a wave, you cannot understand the wild feeling that
seizes you when the Storm War begins. Even gentle Undine quivered with
rage, and sought about for something to destroy. As for Surger, he was
leaping about and yelling like a mad thing.
The fishing smacks had hauled up their nets, or cut them adrift, and
were speeding for the shore. Some few smaller boats had made for the
beach earlier, suspecting danger. Old Lobster Pot hurried round among
his family, giving orders in loud tones of command.
"There's for you," he shouted to Undine and Surger, as a small open boat
with a single lug sail rushed through the surf. "He will be making for
the little bay by the cave. Away with you! Drive him on to the rocks!"
A solitary man half-sat and half-stood in the stern of the boat, his
back to the tiller, the end of the sheet in his hand. It was passed
securely round a pin near to him. He stooped down to cover up with a
spare sail two little children, girl and boy, who were lying frightened
at the bottom of the boat. Then he set his teeth, and stared through the
blinding hail into the gathering darkness, to find the opening into the
little bay.
Undine and Surger rushed on to the slender little vessel with all their
force. The man skilfully made way for them, and they passed under the
keel of the boat, doing no harm. The wind howled and shrieked at them
for their failure, and caught the boat with all its might, driving it
past the two waves and nearer to the rocks. Then Undine and Surger raced
on alongside the little boat until it neared the opening to the bay, and
as the man tried to turn her into the safe harbour, the wind made a
terrible effort, and the two waves, leaping together at the side of the
boat, crashed her into the rocks.
In a moment the man had thrown back the sail and seized, from the bottom
of the boat, the two children, who were lying hidden under the sail.
They were the little blue-eyed boy and his sister, Undine. Bravely he
struggled with them across the rocks and through the surf to gain the
beach. Surger and Undine were after him, for in her rage and fury she
had not seen that it was the little blue-eyed boy. Mora and Old Lobster
Pot, with many other big waves, seeing what had happened, were rushing
across the sea towards the bay, for fear Surger and Undine should not be
strong enough to drown the man and his children. Happily they were too
late; for before they arrived, the man had gained the shore and pulled
himself up the slope of the beach, saving the girl in his arms, but
Surger managed to knock the little boy out of his grasp, and was rolling
him down again into the sea to drown him. The man and the girl were too
stunned and bruised to know whether they were saved or drowned. A
coastguard was running down the cliff, but he would have been too late
to save the little boy, had not Undine heard him calling out in despair,
as Surger dragged him underneath the waves, "Undine! Undine! Save me!
Save me!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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