The next morning, as soon as Trot had helped wipe the breakfast
dishes and put them away in the cupboard, the little girl and Cap'n Bill
started out toward the bluff. The air was soft and warm and the sun
turned the edges of the waves into sparkling diamonds. Across the bay
the last of the fisherboats was speeding away out to sea, for well the
fishermen knew this was an ideal day to catch rockbass, barracuda and
yellowtail.
The old man and the young girl stood on the bluff and watched all
this with interest. Here was their world. "It isn't a bit rough this
morning. Let's have a boat ride, Cap'n Bill," said the child.
"Suits me to a T," declared the sailor. So they found the winding
path that led down the face of the cliff to the narrow beach below and
cautiously began the descent. Trot never minded the steep path or the
loose rocks at all, but Cap'n Bill's wooden leg was not so useful on a
downgrade as on a level, and he had to be careful not to slip and take a
tumble.
But by and by they reached the sands and walked to a spot just
beneath the big acacia tree that grew on the bluff. Halfway to the top of
the cliff hung suspended a little shed-like structure that sheltered
Trot's rowboat, for it was necessary to pull the boat out of reach of the
waves which beat in fury against the rocks at high tide. About as high up
as Cap'n Bill could reach was an iron ring securely fastened to the cliff, and to this ring was tied a rope. The old sailor unfastened the knot and began paying out the rope, and the rowboat came out of its shed and glided slowly downward to the beach. It hung on a pair of davits and was lowered just as a boat is lowered from a ship's side. When it reached the sands, the sailor unhooked the ropes and pushed the boat to the water's edge. It was a pretty little craft, light and strong, and Cap'n Bill knew how to sail it or row it, as Trot might desire.
Today they decided to row, so the girl climbed into the bow and
her companion stuck his wooden leg into the water's edge "so he wouldn't
get his foot wet" and pushed off the little boat as he climbed aboard. Then he seized the oars and began gently paddling.
"Whither away, Commodore Trot?" he asked gaily.
"I don't care, Cap'n. It's just fun enough to be on the water," she answered, trailing one hand overboard. So he rowed around by the North Promontory, where the great caves were, and much as they were enjoying the ride, they soon began to feel the heat of the sun.
"That's Dead Man's Cave, 'cause a skellington was found there," observed the child as they passed a dark, yawning mouth in the cliff. "And that's Bumble Cave, 'cause the bumblebees make nests in the top of it. And here's Smuggler's Cave, 'cause the smugglers used to hide things in it."
She knew all the caves well, and so did Cap'n Bill. Many of them
opened just at the water's edge, and it was possible to row their boat
far into their dusky depths.
"And here's Echo Cave," she continued, dreamily, as they slowly
moved along the coast, "and Giant's Cave, and--oh, Cap'n Bill! Do you
s'pose there were ever any giants in that cave?"
"'Pears like there must o' been, Trot, or they wouldn't o' named
it that name," he replied, pausing to wipe his bald head with the red
handkerchief while the oars dragged in the water.
"We've never been into that cave, Cap'n," she remarked, looking at
the small hole in the cliff--an archway through which the water flowed. "Let's go in now."
"What for, Trot?"
"To see if there's a giant there."
"Hm. Aren't you 'fraid?"
"No, are you? I just don't b'lieve it's big enough for a giant to
get into."
"Your father was in there once," remarked Cap'n Bill, "an' he says
it's the biggest cave on the coast, but low down. It's full o' water, an'
the water's deep down to the very bottom o' the ocean; but the rock roof's
liable to bump your head at high tide."
"It's low tide now," returned Trot. "And how could any giant live
in there if the roof is so low down?"
"Why, he couldn't, mate. I reckon they must have called it
Giant's Cave 'cause it's so big, an' not 'cause any giant man lived
there."
"Let's go in," said the girl again. "I'd like to 'splore it."