“Yes,” said Edward, “I believe I saw the piles on which this platform stands.”
“You are right,” said his father; “these piles are driven ten feet into the solid rock, and they rise thirteen feet above high-water mark. The four iron towers which you see, are all erected on platforms similarly raised: the towers are each two hundred feet apart. These suspension-chains are of wrought-iron: they are firmly fixed at the one end to the timber work of the pier-head, and at the other, they pass into tunnels formed in the cliff, and are secured to an immense iron-plate.”
“This beautiful structure was erected under the superintendence of Captain Brown, a British naval officer: the expense of the work was thirty thousand pounds; and it was completed in the short space of twelve months.”
“Well,” said Edward, “I should hardly have thought, with all his precautions, it would have withstood such storms as I have heard uncle Tom speak of, when the sea runs mountains high, and breaks over the tall masts of the ship, as though it would be swallowed up every instant. I am sure uncle Tom will never make a sailor of me.”
“I do not wish he should, my boy,” said Mr. Ashton; “yet you must do your best to overcome your natural timidity, or you will find it a source of trouble and inconvenience to you in passing through life. But to return to the pier. I do not wonder you should doubt its strength, judging from its light and elegant appearance; and yet, I assure you, it is better calculated to withstand the force of the waves than buildings of solid masonry, which present a greater resistance to them. However, I must honestly tell you, that the chain-pier received considerable injury only a few months back, in a very heavy gale, which blew from the south-west. Many of the caps and chains were displaced, and the planks torn up by the violence of the wind, which seemed to set directly against it.”
“Were you at Brighton then, papa?”
“No; but I was once here during a much severer storm, when few persons expected that a vestige of this elegant structure would remain.”
“Oh, do tell us about it, papa!” exclaimed both the children; and Mr. Ashton, in compliance with their entreaties, began:—
“It was on the 22nd of November, 1824, that Brighton was visited with the awful tempest of which I have been speaking. The night was dark and gloomy, and the clouds which swept across the sky, from time to time, told of the coming storm. Many hands were busily employed in dragging the bathing-machines, boats, &c. from their usual places on the beach to more sheltered situations; while the inhabitants of the cottages, on the southern coast, looked fearfully out, from time to time, into the gloom which they tried in vain to penetrate.
“The dreaded storm came at last; and it seemed as though nothing could escape its fury. Louder and louder peals of thunder burst upon the ear, while the livid glare of the lightning only made the darkness look more terrible.