"
"Well! The lad can handle a yacht all right."
"It isn't that! Bevis knows as much about sailing as most folks. But
there's a nasty sea fog come on, and just as it happens the clapper is
gone out of the bell by St. Morval's Head. Bevis is always a terrible one
for hugging the coast, and I'm afraid if he doesn't hear the bell he
won't quite know where he is in the fog, and he may be on the rocks
before he knows they're there. I'd have told him it was gone, but there
was no time. I only got his letter this morning. Who'd have expected a
fog like this either?"
Mrs. Penruddock's apple face looked quite miserable, but sounds of
thumping at the back door drew her away from the parlour, and stopped any
further confidences. Mavis ate her lunch thoughtfully.
"Is a fog worse on the sea than on land?" she asked at last.
"It is, if you can't tell where you're going. Who's been fooling with the
bell at St. Morval's, I wonder? If the clapper has fallen out, they
should have had it put in again at once.
Pages:
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308