Through the Fray: A Tale of the Luddite RiotsHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
General
Through the Fray: A Tale of the Luddite Riots
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Luddites -- Juvenile fiction
“We soon found as the water warn't always smooth and blue like the sky
as we had seen it at first. The wind coom on to blow the vurst night as
we war thar, and the next morning the water war all tossing aboot joost
as Sally's feyther had said, though not so high as he had talked on.
Still the wind warn't a blowing much, as Sally pointed owt to us; in a
regular storm it would be a different sort o' thing altogether. We said
as we should loike to see one, as we had coom all that way o' purpose.
The vorth noight arter we got there Sally's husband said: 'You be a
going vor to have your wish; the wind be a getting up, and we are loike
to have a big storm on the coast tomorrow.' And so it war. Oi can't tell
you what it war loike, oi've tried over and over again to tell Polly,
but no words as oi can speak can give any idee of it.
“It war not loike anything as you can imagine. Standing down on the
shore the water seemed all broke up into hills, and as if each hill was
a-trying to get at you, and a-breaking itself up on the shore wi' a roar
of rage when it found as it couldn't reach you. The noise war so great
as you couldn't hear a man standing beside you speak to you. Not when
he hallooed. One's words war blowed away. It felt somehow as if one war
having a wrastle wi' a million wild beasts. They tells me as the ships
at sea sometoimes floates and gets through a storm loike that; but oi
doan't believe it, and shouldn't if they took their Bible oath to it, it
bain't in reason.
“One of them waves would ha' broaked this cottage up loike a eggshell.
Oi do believes as it would ha' smashed Marsden church, and it doan't
stand to reason as a ship, which is built, they tells me, of wood and
plank, would stand agin waves as would knock doon a church. Arter
the storm oi should ha' coom back next morning, vor I felt fairly
frightened. There didn't seem no saying as to what t' water moight do
next toime. We should ha' gone there and then, only Sally's husband told
us as a vessel war expected in two or three days wi' a cargo of tubs and
she was to run them in a creek a few miles away.
“He said as loike as not there moight be a foight wi' the officers, and
that being so we naterally made up our moinds vor to stop and lend un a
hand. One night arter it got dark we started, and arter a tramp of two
or three hours cam' to the place. It were a dark noight, and how the
ship as was bringing the liquor was to foind oot the place was more
nor oi could make oot. Jack he tried to explain how they did it, but oi
couldn't make head nor tails on it except that when they got close they
war to show a loight twice, and we war to show a loight twice if it war
all roight for landing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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