Still the stout seaman swam beside her, piloting the little raft he had made for her towards the shore, through all the difficulties of the navigation, which were not few or small; for the struggle between the retiring tide and the impetus given by the wind rendered almost every passage between the rocks a miniature Scylla and Charybdis.
At length, however, choosing a moment when the waves flowed fully in between two large rough stones, whose heads protruded almost perpendicularly, he grasped the plank to which Constance was tied with his left hand, and striking a few vigorous strokes with his right, soon placed her within the rocky screen with which the coast was fenced, and within whose boundary the water was comparatively calm. The first object that presented itself to his sight, within this haven, was the long-boat, keel upwards; while, tossed by the waves upon one of the large flat stones that the ebbing tide had left half bare, appeared the corpse of the Portingal captain, his feet and body on the rock, and his head drooping back, half covered by the water. In a minute after, the sailor's feet could touch the ground; and gladly availing himself of the power to walk upon terra firma, he waded on, drawing after him the plank on which Constance lay till, reaching the dry land, he pulled her to the shore, cut the cord that tied her, and placed her on her feet.
Constance's first impulse was to throw herself on her knees, and to thank God for his great mercy; her next to express her gratitude to the honest sailor, who, weary and out of breath with his exertion, sat on a rock hard by; but bewildered with all that had passed, she could scarcely find words to speak, feeling herself in a world that seemed hardly her own, so near had she been to the brink of another. After a few confused sentences, she looked suddenly round, exclaiming, "Oh, where is Dr. Wilbraham?"
The sailor started up, and getting on the rock, looked out beyond, where, about two hundred yards off, he perceived honest Jekin Groby making his way towards the shore in one direction, while the plank to which the amiable clergyman was attached was seen approaching the rocks in another, at a point where the waters were boiling with tenfold violence.
Constance's eye had already caught his long black habiliments, mingled with the white foam of the waves; and seeing that every fresh billow threatened to dash him to pieces against the stones, she clasped her hands in agony, and looked imploringly towards the sailor.
"He will have his brains dashed out, sure enough," said the man, watching him. "Zounds! he must be mad to try that. Stay here, lady; I will see what can be done;" and rushing into the water, he waded as far as he could towards Dr. Wilbraham, and then once more began swimming.
Constance watched him with agonizing expectation; but before he reached the point, an angry wave swept round the good old man, and raising him high upon its top, dashed him violently against the rock. Constance shuddered, and clasping her hands over her eyes, strove to shut out the dreadful sight. In a few minutes she heard the voice of the sailor shouting to Jekin Groby, who had reached the shore, "Here, lend a hand!" and looking up, she saw him drawing the clergyman to land in the same manner that he had extricated herself.
Jekin Groby waded in to help him, and Constance flew to the spot which he approached; but the sight that presented itself made her blood run cold. Dr. Wilbraham was living indeed, but so dreadfully torn and bruised by beating against the rocks, that all hope seemed vain, and those who had best loved him might have regretted that he had not met with a speedier and more easy death.
Opening his exhausted eyes, he yet looked gladly upon the sweet girl that he had reared, like a young flower, from her early days to her full beauty, and who now hung tenderly over him. "Thank God, my dear child," said he, "that you are safe. That is the first thing: for me, I am badly hurt, very badly hurt; but perhaps I may yet live: I could wish it to see you happy; but if not, God's will be done!"
Constance wept bitterly, and good Jekin Groby, infected with her sorrow, blubbered like a great baby.