Page:Traditional Tales of the English and Scottish Peasantry - 1887.djvu/223

"The wind of the summer twilight, gentle and dewy, went curling the surface of the water; before us the green mountains of Cumberland rose; behind us we beheld the huge outline of the Scottish hills, while, a full stonecast asunder, the barges pursued their way, and the crews, silent and anxious, had each their hopes of conquering in the contest. As we went scudding away I looked toward the Hall of Helvellyn, and there I beheld on its summit the old lord, with his grey hair, his hands clasped, and his eyes turned intent on the barge which contained his son. I thought on the prophecy and on the vision of the preceding evening, and looked towards the hills of Scotland, now fast diminishing in the distance. At first I thought I saw the waters agitated in the track we had pursued, and, continuing to gaze, I observed the sea, furrowed into a tremendous hollow, following the sinuous course of the barge. I now knew this to be a whirlwind, and, dreading that it would fasten on our sails, I tacked northward—the whirlwind followed also. I tacked southward, and to the south veered the whirlwind, increasing in violence as it came. The last sight I beheld was the sea at our stern, whirling round in fearful undulations. The wind at once seized our sails, turned us thrice about, and down went the barge, headforemost, in the centre of Solway. I was stunned, and felt the cold brine bubbling in my ears, as, emerging from the flood, I tried to swim. Barge, bridegroom, and mariners were all gone. The bride's barge came in a moment to my side, and saved me, and, standing for the coast of Cumberland, spread the tale of sorrow along the shore, where crowds had assembled to welcome us. The old Lord of Helvellyn remained on the castle-top after he had witnessed the loss of his son; and, when his favourite servant ventured to approach, he was found seated in his chair, his hands clasped more in resignation than agony, his face turned to the Solway and his eyes gazing with the deepest intensity, and stiff and dead. The morning tide threw the body of Lord William and those of his six mariners ashore; and when I walked down at day-dawn to the beach I found them stretched in a row on the very spot where the vision had revealed their fate to me so darkly and so surely. Such a tale as this will be often told you among the sea-coast cottages of Cumberland. Young man, be wise, and weigh well the mysterious ways of Providence."