Over Sea, Under Stone

“‘Where is he?’ Barney hopped from one foot to the other as he clambered down from the train, peering in vain through the white-faced crowds flooding eagerly to the St. Austell ticket barrier.

‘Oh, I can’t see him. Is he there?’

‘Of course he’s there,’ Simon said, struggling to clutch the long canvas bundle of his father’s fishing rods. ‘He said he’d meet us. With a car.’”

The novel opens on a mundane scene that nonetheless carries a mysterious tone. In this moment, the young protagonists are expecting the arrival of their Great-Uncle Merry, and because the old man remains unnamed at this point in the narrative, he is immediately implied to be an elusive figure who defies convention and categorization. This first paragraph thus builds a sense of intrigue and anticipation that persists throughout the story.

“But even before Barney whistled, the dog had begun trotting in their direction, swift and determined, as if he were recognizing old friends. He loped round them in a circle, raising his long red muzzle to each in turn, then stopped beside Jane, and licked her hand.”

Rufus is introduced in the first chapter as Captain Toms’s dog and immediately reacts favorably to the three Drew siblings. Symbolically, the dog’s natural affection for the children suggests that they are morally good, especially given that Rufus’s behavior in this scene contrasts with his later hostility toward the evil Mr. Hastings.

“Nobody knew very much about Great-Uncle Merry, and nobody ever quite dared to ask. He did not look in the least like his name. He was tall, and straight, with a lot of very thick, wild, white hair. In his grim brown face the nose curved fiercely, like a bent bow, and the eyes were deep-set and dark.

How old he was, nobody knew. ‘Old as the hills,’ Father said, and they felt, deep down, that this was probably right. There was something about Great-Uncle Merry that was like the hills, or the sea, or the sky; something ancient, but without age or end.”

This physical description of Great-Uncle Merry further emphasizes the mysterious nature of his background. The narrative creates a sense of timelessness that hints at Merry’s supernatural identity, but the true details of his background will not be explored until later books in Cooper’s series. In addition, the connection between the old man and various natural elements emphasizes the role of