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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands, by 
+R.M. Ballantyne
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands
+
+Author: R.M. Ballantyne
+
+Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21735]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FLOATING LIGHT ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+THE FLOATING LIGHT OF THE GOODWIN SANDS, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+This tale, reader--if you read it through--will give you some insight
+into the condition, value, and vicissitudes of the light-vessels, or
+floating lighthouses, which guard the shores of this kingdom, and mark
+the dangerous shoals lying off some of our harbours and roadsteads.  It
+will also convey to you--if you don't skip--a general idea of the life
+and adventures of some of the men who have manned these interesting and
+curious craft in time past, as well as give you some account of the
+sayings and doings of several other personages more or less connected
+with our coasts.  May you read it with pleasure and profit, and--"may
+your shadow never be less."
+
+I gratefully express my acknowledgment and tender my best thanks to the
+Elder Brethren of the Trinity House, to whose kindness I am indebted for
+having been permitted to spend a week on board the Gull-stream
+light-vessel, one of the three floating-lights which mark the Goodwin
+Sands; and to Robin Allen, Esquire, Secretary to the Trinity House, who
+has kindly furnished me with valuable books, papers, and information.  I
+have also gratefully to tender my best thanks to Captain Valle, District
+Superintendent under the Trinity House at Ramsgate, for the ready and
+extremely kind manner in which he afforded me every facility for
+visiting the various light-vessels and buoys of his district, and for
+observing the nature and duties of the service.
+
+To the master of the Gull, whose "bunk" I occupied while he was on
+shore--to Mr John Leggett, the mate, who was in command during the
+period of my visit--and to the men of the "Floating-light" I have to
+offer my heartfelt thanks for not only receiving me with generous
+hospitality, but for treating me with hearty goodwill during my pleasant
+sojourn with them in their interesting and peculiar home.
+
+My best thanks, for much useful and thrilling information, are due to
+Mr Isaac Jarman, the coxswain, and Mr Fish, the bowman, of the
+Ramsgate Lifeboat-men who may be said to carry their lives continually
+in their hands, and whose profession it is to go out at the call of duty
+and systematically grapple with Death and rob him of his prey.  To the
+Harbour Master, and Deputy Harbour Master at Ramsgate, I am also
+indebted for information and assistance, and to Mr Reading, the master
+of the Aid steam-tug, which attends upon, and shares the perils of, the
+Lifeboat.
+
+R.M.  BALLANTYNE.
+
+EDINBURGH, 1870.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+PARTICULAR INQUIRIES.
+
+A light--clear, ruddy and brilliant, like a huge carbuncle--uprose one
+evening from the deep, and remained hovering about forty feet above the
+surface, scattering its rays far and wide, over the Downs to Ramsgate
+and Deal, along the coast towards Dover, away beyond the North Foreland,
+across the Goodwin Sands, and far out upon the bosom of the great North
+Sea.
+
+It was a chill November evening, when this light arose, in the year--
+well, it matters not what year.  We have good reasons, reader, for
+shrouding this point in mystery.  It may have been recently; it may have
+been "long, long ago."  We don't intend to tell.  It was not the first
+time of that light's appearance, and it certainly was not the last.  Let
+it suffice that what we are about to relate did happen, sometime or
+other within the present century.
+
+Besides being cold, the evening in question was somewhat
+stormy--"gusty," as was said of it by a traveller with a stern visage
+and remarkably keen grey eyes, who entered the coffee-room of an hotel
+which stood on the margin of Ramsgate harbour facing the sea, and from
+the upper windows of which the light just mentioned was visible.
+
+"It is, sir," said the waiter, in reply to the "gusty" observation,
+stirring the fire while the traveller divested himself of his hat and
+greatcoat.
+
+"Think it's going to blow hard?" inquired the traveller, planting
+himself firmly on the hearth-rug, with his back to the fire, and his
+thumbs hooked into the armholes of his waistcoat.
+
+"It may, sir, and it may not," answered the waiter, with the caution of
+a man who has resolved, come what may, never to commit himself.
+"Sometimes it comes on to blow, sir, w'en we don't look for it; at other
+times it falls calm w'en we least expects it.  I don't pretend to
+understand much about the weather myself, sir, but I shouldn't wonder if
+it _was_ to come on to blow 'ard.  It ain't an uncommon thing at
+Ramsgate, sir."
+
+The traveller, who was a man of few words, said "Humph!" to which the
+waiter dutifully replied "Yessir," feeling, no doubt, that the
+observation was too limited to warrant a lengthened rejoinder.
+
+The waiter of the Fortress Hotel had a pleasant, sociable, expressive
+countenance, which beamed into a philanthropic smile as he added--
+
+"Can I do anything for you, sir?"
+
+"Yes--tea," answered the traveller with the keen grey eyes, turning, and
+poking the fire with the heel of his boot.
+
+"Anything _with_ it, sir?" asked the waiter with that charmingly
+confident air peculiar to his class, which induces one almost to believe
+that if a plate of elephant's foot or a slice of crocodile's tail were
+ordered it would be produced, hot, in a few minutes.
+
+"D'you happen to know a man of the name of Jones in the town?" demanded
+the traveller, facing round abruptly.
+
+The waiter replied that he had the pleasure of knowing at least seven
+Joneses in the town.
+
+"Does one of the seven deal largely in cured fish and own a small
+sloop?" asked the traveller.
+
+"Yessir, he do, but he don't live in Ramsgate; he belongs to Yarmouth,
+sir, comes 'ere only now and then."
+
+"D'you know anything about him?"
+
+"No, sir, he don't frequent this 'otel."
+
+The waiter said this in a tone which showed that he deemed that fact
+sufficient to render Jones altogether unworthy of human interest; "but I
+believe," he added slowly, "that he is said to 'ave plenty of money,
+bears a bad character, and is rather fond of his bottle, sir."
+
+"You know nothing more?"
+
+"Nothing, sir."
+
+"Ham and eggs, dry toast and shrimps," said the keen-eyed traveller in
+reply to the reiterated question.
+
+Before these viands were placed on the table the brief twilight had
+passed away and darkness en-shrouded land and sea.  After they had been
+consumed the traveller called for the latest local paper, to which he
+devoted himself for an hour with unflagging zeal--reading it straight
+through, apparently, advertisements and all, with as much diligence as
+if it were a part of his professional business to do so.  Then he tossed
+it away, rang the bell, and ordered a candle.
+
+"I suppose," he said, pointing towards the sea, as he was about to quit
+the room, "that that is the floating light?"
+
+"It is one of 'em, sir," replied the waiter.  "There are three lights on
+the sands, sir; the Northsan 'ead, the Gull-stream, and the Southsan
+'ead.  That one, sir, is the Gull."
+
+"How far off may it be?"
+
+"About four miles, sir."
+
+"What is the mate's name?"
+
+"Welton, sir, John Welton."
+
+"Is he aboard just now?"
+
+"Yessir, it's the master's month ashore.  The master and mate 'ave it
+month an' month about, sir--one month afloat, next month ashore; but it
+seems to me, sir, that they have 'arder work w'en ashore than they 'ave
+w'en afloat--lookin' after the Trinity stores, sir, an' goin' off in the
+tender to shift and paint the buoys an' such like; but then you see,
+sir, w'en it's their turn ashore they always gits home to spend the
+nights with their families, sir, w'ich is a sort of compensation, as it
+were,--that's where it is, sir."
+
+"Humph! d'you know what time it is slack water out there in the
+afternoon just now?"
+
+"About three o'clock, sir."
+
+"Call me at nine to-morrow; breakfast at half-past; beefsteaks, coffee,
+dry toast.  Good-night."
+
+"Yessir--good-night, sir--Number 27, sir, first floor, left-hand side."
+
+Number 27 slammed his door with that degree of violence which indicates
+a stout arm and an easy conscience.  In less than quarter of an hour the
+keen grey eyes were veiled in slumber, as was proved unmistakably to the
+household by the sounds that proceeded from the nose to which these eyes
+belonged.
+
+It is not unfrequently found that strength of mind, vigour of body, high
+colour, and a tremendous appetite are associated with great capacity for
+snoring.  The man with the keen grey eyes possessed all these qualities,
+as well as a large chin and a firm mouth, full of very strong white
+teeth.  He also possessed the convenient power of ability to go to sleep
+at a moment's notice and to remain in that felicitous condition until he
+chose to awake.  His order to be "called" in the morning had reference
+merely to hot water; for at the time of which we write men were still
+addicted to the ridiculous practice of shaving--a practice which, as
+every one knows, is now confined chiefly to very old men--who naturally
+find it difficult to give up the bad habit of a lifetime--and to little
+boys, who _erroneously_ suppose that the use of a sharp penknife will
+hasten Nature's operations.
+
+Exactly at nine o'clock, a knock at the door and "'Ot water, sir,"
+sounded in the ears of Nunber 27.  At half-past nine precisely Number 27
+entered the coffee-room, and was so closely followed by the waiter with
+breakfast that it seemed as if that self-sacrificing functionary had sat
+up all night keeping the meal hot in order to testify, by excessive
+punctuality, the devotion of his soul to duty.
+
+The keen-eyed man had a keen appetite, if one might judge from
+appearances in such a matter.  A thick underdone steak that overwhelmed
+his plate appeared to melt away rapidly from before him.  Potatoes he
+disposed of in two bites each; small ones were immolated whole.  Of
+mustard he used as much as might have made a small-sized plaster; pepper
+he sowed broadcast; he made no account whatever of salt, and sugar was
+as nothing before him.  There was a peculiar crash in the sound produced
+by the biting of his toast, which was suggestive at once of irresistible
+power and thorough disintegration.  Coffee went down in half-cup gulps;
+shrimps disappeared in shoals, shells and all; and--in short, his
+proceedings might have explained to an intelligent observer how it is
+that so many men grow to be exceedingly fat, and why it is that hotel
+proprietors cannot afford to lower their apparently exorbitant charges.
+The waiter, standing modestly by, and looking on with solemn interest,
+mentally attributed the traveller's extraordinary powers and high health
+to the fact that he neither smoked nor drank.  It would be presumptuous
+in us to hazard a speculation on this subject in the face of an opinion
+held by one who was so thoroughly competent to judge.
+
+Breakfast over, the keen-eyed man put on his hat and overcoat and
+sallied forth to the harbour, where he spent the greater part of the
+forenoon in loitering about, inspecting the boats--particularly the
+lifeboat--and the shipping with much interest, and entering into
+conversation with the boatmen who lounged upon the pier.  He was very
+gracious to the coxswain of the lifeboat--a bluff, deep-chested, hearty,
+neck-or-nothing sort of man, with an intelligent eye, almost as keen as
+his own, and a manner quite as prompt.  With this coxswain he conversed
+long about the nature of his stirring and dangerous duties.  He then
+made inquiry about his crew: how many men he had, and their
+circumstances; and, by the way, whether any of them happened to be named
+Jones.  One of them was so named, the coxswain said--Tom Jones.  This
+led the traveller to ask if Tom Jones owned a small sloop.  No, he
+didn't own a sloop, not even a boat.  Was there any other Jones in the
+town who owned a small sloop and dealt largely in cured fish?  Yes there
+was, and he was a regular gallow's-bird, if all reports were true, the
+coxswain told him.
+
+The traveller did not press the subject long.  Having brought it up as
+it were incidentally, he dismissed it carelessly, and again concentrated
+his attention and interest on the lifeboat.
+
+To all the men with whom he conversed this bluff man with the keen grey
+eyes put the same question, and he so contrived to put it that it seemed
+to be a matter of comparatively little interest to him whether there was
+or was not a man of the name of Jones in the town.  Nevertheless, he
+gained all the information about Jones that he desired, and then, hiring
+a boat, set out for the floating light.
+
+The weather, that had appeared threatening during the night, suddenly
+became calm and fine, as if to corroborate the statement of the waiter
+of the Fortress Hotel in regard to its uncertainty; but knowing men in
+oilcloth sou'westers and long boots gave it as their opinion that the
+weather was not to be trusted.  Fortunately for the traveller, it
+remained trustworthy long enough to serve his purpose.  The calm
+permitted his boat to go safely alongside of the light-ship, and to
+climb up the side without difficulty.
+
+The vessel in which he found himself was not by any means what we should
+style clipper-built--quite the reverse.  It was short for its length,
+bluff in the bows, round in the stern, and painted all over, excepting
+the mast and deck, of a bright red colour, like a great scarlet dragon,
+or a gigantic boiled lobster.  It might have been mistaken for the first
+attempt in the ship-building way of an infatuated boy, whose
+acquaintance with ships was founded on hearsay, and whose taste in
+colour was violently eccentric.  This remarkable thing had one immense
+mast in the middle of it, supported by six stays, like the Norse galleys
+of old, but it had no yards; for, although the sea was indeed its home,
+and it incessantly braved the fury of the storm, diurnally cleft the
+waters of flood and ebb-tide, and gallantly breasted the billows of
+ocean all the year round, it had no need of sails.  It never advanced an
+inch on its course, for it had no course.  It never made for any port.
+It was never either homeward or outward bound.  No streaming eyes ever
+watched its departure; no beating hearts ever hailed its return.  Its
+bowsprit never pointed either to "Greenland's icy mountains, or India's
+coral strand," for it had no bowsprit at all.  Its helm was never swayed
+to port or starboard, although it _had_ a helm, because the vessel
+turned submissive with the tides, and its rudder, being lashed hard and
+fast amidships--like most weather-cocks--couldn't move.  Its doom was to
+tug perpetually, day and night, from year to year, at a gigantic anchor
+which would not let go, and to strain at a monster chain-cable which
+would not snap--in short, to strive for ever, like Sisyphus, after
+something which can never be attained.
+
+A sad destiny, some may be tempted to exclaim.  No, reader, not so sad
+as it appears.  We have presented but one side of the picture.  That
+curious, almost ridiculous-looking craft, was among the aristocracy of
+shipping.  Its important office stamped it with nobility.  It lay there,
+conspicuous in its royal colour, from day to day and year to year, to
+mark the fair-way between the white cliffs of Old England and the
+outlying shoals--distinguished in daylight by a huge ball at its
+mast-head, and at night by a magnificent lantern with argand lamps and
+concave reflectors, which shot its rays like lightning far and wide over
+the watery waste, while, in thick weather, when neither ball nor light
+could be discerned, a sonorous gong gave its deep-toned warning to the
+approaching mariner, and let him know his position amid the surrounding
+dangers.  Without such warnings by night and by day, the world would
+suffer the loss of thousands of lives and untold millions of gold.
+Indeed the mere absence of such warnings for one stormy night would
+certainly result in loss irreparable to life and property.  As well
+might Great Britain dispense with her armies as with her floating
+lights!  That boiled-lobster-like craft was also, if we may be allowed
+to say so, stamped with magnanimity, because its services were
+disinterested and universal.  While other ships were sailing grandly to
+their ports in all their canvas panoply, and swelling with the pride of
+costly merchandise within, each unmindful of the other, _this_ ship
+remained floating there, destitute of cargo, either rich or poor, never
+in port, always on service, serene in all the majesty of her one settled
+self-sacrificing purpose--to guide the converging navies of the world
+safely past the dangerous shoals that meet them on their passage to the
+world's greatest port, the Thames, or to speed them safely thence when
+outward-bound.  That unclipperly craft, moreover, was a gallant vessel,
+because its post was one of danger.  When other ships fled on the wings
+of terror--or of storm trysails--to seek refuge in harbour and
+roadstead, this one merely lengthened her cable--as a knight might shake
+loose the reins of his war-horse on the eve of conflict--and calmly
+awaited the issue, prepared to let the storm do its worst, and to meet
+it with a bold front.  It lay right in the Channel, too, "i' the
+imminent deadly breach," as it were, prepared to risk encounter with the
+thousands of ships, great and small, which passed to and fro
+continually;--to be grazed and fouled by clumsy steersmen, and to be run
+into at night by unmanageable wrecks or derelicts; ready for anything in
+fact--come weal come woe, blow high blow low--in the way of duty, for
+this vessel was the Floating Light that marked the Gull-stream off the
+celebrated and fatal Goodwin Sands.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+THE FLOATING LIGHT BECOMES THE SCENE OF FLOATING SURMISES AND VAGUE
+SUSPICIONS.
+
+It must not be supposed, from what has been said, that the Gull
+Lightship was the only vessel of the kind that existed at that time.
+But she was a good type of the class of vessels (numbering at present
+about sixty) to which she belonged, and, both as regarded her situation
+and duties, was, and still is, one of the most interesting among the
+floating lights of the kingdom.
+
+When the keen-eyed traveller stepped upon her well-scrubbed deck, he was
+courteously received by the mate, Mr John Welton, a strongly-built man
+above six feet in height, with a profusion of red hair, huge whiskers,
+and a very peculiar expression of countenance, in which were united calm
+self-possession, coolness, and firmness, with great good-humour and
+affability.
+
+"You are Mr Welton, I presume?" said the traveller abruptly, touching
+his hat with his forefinger in acknowledgment of a similar salute from
+the mate.
+
+"That is my name, sir."
+
+"Will you do me the favour to read this letter?" said the traveller,
+selecting a document from a portly pocket-book, and presenting it.
+
+Without reply the mate unfolded the letter and quietly read it through,
+after which he folded and returned it to his visitor, remarking that he
+should be happy to furnish him with all the information he desired, if
+he would do him the favour to step down into the cabin.
+
+"I may set your mind at rest on one point at once," observed the
+stranger, as he moved towards the companion-hatch, "my investigations
+have no reference whatever to yourself."
+
+Mr Welton made no reply, but a slight look of perplexity that had
+rested on his brow while he read the letter cleared away.
+
+"Follow me, Mr Larks," he said, turning and descending the ladder
+sailor-fashion--which means crab-wise.
+
+"Do you happen to know anything," asked Mr Larks, as he prepared to
+follow, "about a man of the name of Jones?  I have come to inquire
+particularly about him, and about your son, who, I am told--"
+
+The remainder of the sentence was lost in the cabin of the floating
+light.  Here, with the door and skylight shut, the mate remained
+closeted for a long time in close conference with the keen-eyed man,
+much to the surprise of the two men who constituted the watch on deck,
+because visitors of any kind to a floating light were about as rare as
+snowflakes in July, and the sudden advent of a visitor, who looked and
+acted mysteriously, was in itself a profound mystery.  Their curiosity,
+however, was only gratified to this extent, that they observed the
+stranger and the mate through the skylight bending earnestly over
+several newspapers spread out before them on the cabin table.
+
+In less than an hour the keen-eyed man re-appeared on deck, bade the
+mate an abrupt good-bye, nodded to the men who held the ropes for him,
+descended into the boat, and took his departure for the shore whence he
+had come.
+
+By this time the sun was beginning to approach the horizon.  The mate of
+the floating light took one or two turns on the deck, at which he gazed
+earnestly, as if his future destiny were written there.  He then glanced
+at the compass and at the vessel's bow, after which he leant over the
+side of the red-dragon, and looked down inquiringly at the flow of the
+tide.  Presently his attention was fixed on the shore, behind which the
+sun was about to set, and, after a time, he directed a stern look
+towards the sky, as if he were about to pick a quarrel with that part of
+the universe, but thinking better of it, apparently, he unbent his
+brows, let his eyes fall again on the deck, and muttered to himself,
+"H'm!  I expected as much."
+
+What it was that he expected, Mr John Welton never told from that day
+to this, so it cannot be recorded here, but, after stating the fact, he
+crossed his arms on his broad chest, and, leaning against the stern of
+his vessel, gazed placidly along the deck, as if he were taking a
+complacent survey of the vast domain over which he ruled.
+
+It was an interesting kingdom in detail.  Leaving out of view all that
+which was behind him, and which, of course, he could not see, we may
+remark that, just before him stood the binnacle and compass, and the
+cabin skylight.  On his right and left the territory of the quarter-deck
+was seriously circumscribed, and the promenade much interfered with, by
+the ship's boats, which, like their parent, were painted red, and which
+did not hang at the davits, but, like young lobsters of the kangaroo
+type, found shelter within their mother, when not at sea on their own
+account.  Near to them were two signal-carronades.  Beyond the skylight
+rose the bright brass funnel of the cabin chimney, and the winch, by
+means of which the lantern was hoisted.  Then came another skylight, and
+the companion-hatch about the centre of the deck.  Just beyond this
+stood the most important part of the vessel--the lantern-house.  This
+was a circular wooden structure, above six feet in diameter, with a door
+and small windows.  Inside was the lantern--the beautiful piece of
+costly mechanism for which the light-ship, its crew, and its
+appurtenances were maintained.  Right through the centre of this house
+rose the thick unyielding mast of the vessel.  The lantern, which was
+just a little less than its house, surrounded this mast and travelled
+upon it.  Beyond this the capital of the kingdom, the eye of the monarch
+was arrested by another bright brass funnel, which was the chimney of
+the galley-fire, and indicated the exact position of the abode of the
+crew, or--to continue our metaphor--the populace, who, however, required
+no such indicator to tell of their existence or locality, for the chorus
+of a "nigger" melody burst from them, ever and anon, through every
+opening in the decks, with jovial violence, as they sat, busily engaged
+on various pieces of work below.  The more remote parts of this
+landscape--or light-scape, if we may be allowed the expression--were
+filled up with the galley-skylight, the bitts, and the windlass, above
+which towered the gong, and around which twined the two enormous chain
+cables.  Only one of these, however, was in use--that, with a single
+mushroom-anchor, being sufficient to hold the ship securely against tide
+and tempest.
+
+In reference to this we may remark in passing that the cable of a
+floating light is frequently renewed, and that the chafing of the links
+at the hawse-hole is distributed by the occasional paying out or hauling
+in of a few yards of chain--a process which is styled "easing the nip."
+
+"Horroo! me hearty, ye're as clain as a lady's watch," exclaimed a man
+of rugged form but pleasant countenance, as he issued from the small
+doorway of the lantern-house with a bundle of waste in one hand and an
+oil-can in the other.
+
+This was one of the lamplighters of the light-ship--Jerry MacGowl--a man
+whose whole soul was, so to speak, in that lantern.  It was his duty to
+clip and trim the wicks, and fill the lamps, and polish the reflectors
+and brasses, and oil the joints and wheels (for this was a revolving--in
+other words a flashing light), and clean the glasses and windows.  As
+there were nine lights to attend to, and get ready for nightly service,
+it may be easily understood that the lamplighter's duty was no sinecure.
+
+The shout of Jerry recalled the king from his contemplation of things in
+general to the lantern in particular.
+
+"All ready to hoist, Jerry?" inquired Mr Welton, going forward.
+
+"All ready, sir," exclaimed the man, looking at his handiwork with
+admiration, and carefully removing a speck of dust that had escaped his
+notice from one of the plate-glass windows; "An't she a purty thing
+now?--baits the best Ginaiva watch as iver was made.  Ye might ait yer
+supper off her floor and shave in the reflictors."
+
+"That's a fact, Jerry, with no end of oil to your salad too," said Mr
+Welton, surveying the work of the lamplighter with a critical eye.
+
+"True for ye," replied Jerry, "an' as much cotton waste as ye like
+without sinful extravagance."
+
+"The sun will be down in a few minutes," said the mate, turning round
+and once more surveying the western horizon.
+
+Jerry admitted that, judging from past experience, there was reason to
+believe in the probability of that event; and then, being of a poetical
+temperament, he proceeded to expatiate upon the beauty of the evening,
+which was calm and serene.
+
+"D'ye know, sir," he said, gazing towards the shore, between which and
+the floating light a magnificent fleet of merchantmen lay at anchor
+waiting for a breeze--each vessel reflected clearly in the water along
+with the dazzling clouds of gold that towered above the setting
+sun--"D'ye know, sir, I niver sees a sky like that but it minds me o'
+the blissid green hills an' purty lakes of owld Ireland, an' fills me
+buzzum wid a sort of inspiration till it feels fit a'most to bust."
+
+"You should have been a poet, Jerry," observed the mate, in a
+contemplative tone, as he surveyed the shipping through his telescope.
+
+"Just what I've often thought mesilf, sir," replied Jerry, wiping his
+forehead with the bunch of waste--"many a time I've said to mesilf, in a
+thoughtful mood--
+
+  "Wan little knows what dirty clo'es
+  May kiver up a poet;
+  What fires may burn an' flout an' skurn,
+  An' no wan iver know it."
+
+"That's splendid, Jerry; but what's the meanin' of `skurn?'"
+
+"Sorrow wan of me knows, sir, but it conveys the idee somehow; don't it,
+now?"
+
+"I'm not quite sure that it does," said the mate, walking aft and
+consulting his chronometer for the last time, after which he put his
+head down the hatchway and shouted, "Up lights!" in a deep sonorous
+voice.
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," came the ready response from below, followed by the
+prompt appearance of the other lamplighter and the four seamen who
+composed the crew of the vessel Jerry turned on his heel, murmuring, in
+a tone of pity, that the mate, poor man, "had no soul for poethry."
+
+Five of the crew manned the winch; the mate and Jerry went to a
+block-tackle which was also connected with the lifting apparatus.  Then
+the order to hoist was given, and immediately after, just as the sun
+went down, the floating light went up,--a modest yet all-important
+luminary of the night.  Slowly it rose, for the lantern containing it
+weighed full half a ton, and caused the hoisting chain and pulleys to
+groan complainingly.  At last it reached its destination at the head of
+the thick part of the mast, but about ten or fifteen feet beneath the
+ball.  As it neared the top, Jerry sprang up the chain-ladder to connect
+the lantern with the rod and pinion by means of which, with clockwork
+beneath, it was made to revolve and "flash" once every third of a
+minute.
+
+Simultaneously with the ascent of the Gull light there arose out of the
+sea three bright stars on the nor'-eastern horizon, and another star in
+the south-west.  The first were the three fixed lights of the lightship
+that marked the North sandhead; the latter was the fixed light that
+guarded the South sandhead.  The Goodwin sentinels were now placed for
+the night, and the commerce of the world might come and go, and pass
+those dreaded shoals, in absolute security.
+
+Ere long the lights of the shipping in the Downs were hung out, and one
+by one the lamps on shore shone forth--those which marked the entrance
+of Ramsgate harbour being conspicuous for colour and brilliancy--until
+the water, which was so calm as to reflect them all, seemed alive with
+perpendicular streams of liquid fire; land and sea appearing to be the
+subjects of one grand illumination.  A much less poetical soul than that
+of the enthusiastic lamp-lighter might have felt a touch of unwonted
+inspiration on such a night, and in such a scene.  The effect on the
+mind was irresistibly tranquillising.  While contemplating the
+multitudes of vessels that lay idle and almost motionless on the glassy
+water, the thought naturally arose that each black hull en-shrouded
+human beings who were gradually sinking into rest--relaxing after the
+energies of the past day--while the sable cloak of night descended,
+slowly and soothingly, as if God were spreading His hand gently over all
+to allay the fever of man's busy day-life and calm him into needful
+rest.
+
+The watch of the floating light having been set, namely, two men to
+perambulate the deck--a strict watch being kept on board night and day--
+the rest of the crew went below to resume work, amuse themselves, or
+turn in as they felt inclined.
+
+While they were thus engaged, and darkness was deepening on the scene,
+Welton stood on the quarterdeck observing a small sloop that floated
+slowly towards the lightship.  Her sails were indeed set, but no breath
+of wind bulged them out; her onward progress was caused by the tide,
+which had by that time begun to set with a strong current to the
+northward.  When within about a cable's length, the rattle of her chain
+told that the anchor had been let go.  A few minutes later, a boat was
+seen to push off from the sloop and make for the lightship.  Two men
+rowed it and a third steered.  Owing to the force of the current they
+made the vessel with some difficulty.
+
+"Heave us a rope," cried one of the men, as they brushed past.
+
+"No visitors allowed aboard," replied Mr Welton sternly; catching up,
+nevertheless, a coil of rope.
+
+"Hallo! father, surely you've become very unhospitable," exclaimed
+another voice from the boat.
+
+"Why, Jim, is that you, my son?" cried the mate, as he flung the coil
+over the side.
+
+The boatmen caught it, and next moment Jim stood on the deck--a tall
+strapping young seaman of twenty or thereabouts--a second edition of his
+father, but more active and lithe in his motions.
+
+"Why you creep up to us, Jim, like a thief in the night.  What brings
+you here, lad, at such an hour?" asked Mr Welton, senior, as he shook
+hands with his son.
+
+"I've come to have a talk with 'ee, father.  As to creeping like a
+thief, a man must creep with the tide when there's no wind, d'ye see, if
+he don't come to an anchor.  'Tis said that time and tide wait for no
+man; that bein' so, I have come to see you now that I've got the chance.
+That's where it is.  But I can't stay long, for old Jones will--"
+
+"What!" interrupted the mate with a frown, as he led his son to the
+forepart of the vessel, in order to be out of earshot of the watch,
+"have 'ee really gone an' shipped with that scoundrel again, after all
+I've said to 'ee?"
+
+"I have, father," answered the young man with a perplexed expression;
+"it is about that same that I've come to talk to 'ee, and to explain--"
+
+"You have need to explain, Jim," said the mate sternly, "for it seems to
+me that you are deliberately taking up with bad company; and I see in
+you already one o' the usual consequences; you don't care much for your
+father's warnings."
+
+"Don't say that, father," exclaimed the youth earnestly, "I am sure that
+if you knew--stay; I'll send back the boat, with orders to return for me
+in an hour or so."
+
+Saying this he hurried to the gangway, dismissed the boat, and returned
+to the forepart of the vessel, where he found his father pacing the deck
+with an anxious and somewhat impatient air.
+
+"Father," said Jim, as he walked up and down beside his sire, "I have
+made up my mind that it is my duty to remain, at least a little longer
+with Jones, because--"
+
+"Your duty!" interrupted the mate in surprise.  "James!" he added,
+earnestly, "you told me not long ago that you had taken to attending the
+prayer-meetings at the sailors' chapel when you could manage it, and I
+was glad to hear you say so, because I think that the man who feels his
+need of the help of the Almighty, and acts upon his feeling, is safe to
+escape the rocks and shoals of life--always supposin' that he sails by
+the right chart--the Bible; but tell me, does the missionary, or the
+Bible, teach that it is any one's duty to take up with a swearing,
+drinking scoundrel, who is going from bad to worse, and has got the name
+of being worthy of a berth in Newgate?"
+
+"We cannot tell, father, whether all that's said of Morley Jones be
+true.  We may have our suspicions, but we can't prove t'em; and there's
+no occasion to judge a man too soon."
+
+"That may be so, Jim, but that is no reason why you should consort with
+a man who can do you no goods and, will certainly do 'ee much harm, when
+you've no call for to do so.  Why do 'ee stick by him--that's what I
+want to know--when everybody says he'll be the ruin of you?  And why do
+'ee always put me off with vague answers when I git upon that subject?
+You did not use to act like that, Jim.  You were always fair an'
+above-board in your young days.  But what's the use of askin'?  It's
+plain that bad company has done it, an' my only wonder is, how _you_
+ever come to play the hypocrite to that extent, as to go to the
+prayer-meeting and make believe you've turned religious."
+
+There was a little bitterness mingled with the tone of remonstrance in
+which this was said, which appeared to affect the young man powerfully,
+for his face crimsoned as he stopped and laid his hand on his father's
+shoulder.
+
+"Whatever follies or sins I may have committed," he said, solemnly, "I
+have not acted a hypocrite's part in this matter.  Did you ever yet find
+me out, father, tellin' you a lie?"
+
+"Well, I can't say I ever did," answered the mate with a relenting
+smile, "'xcept that time when you skimmed all the cream off the milk and
+capsized the dish and said the cat done it, although you was slobbered
+with it from your nose to your toes--but you was a _very_ small fellow
+at that time, you was, and hadn't got much ballast aboard nor begun to
+stow your conscience."
+
+"Well, father," resumed Jim with a half-sad smile, "you may depend upon
+it I am not going to begin to deceive you now.  My dear mother's last
+words to me on that dreary night when she died,--`Always stick to the
+_truth_, Jim, whatever it may cost you,'--have never been forgotten, and
+I pray God they never may be.  Believe me when I tell you that I never
+join Morley in any of his sinful doings, especially his drinking bouts.
+You know that I am a total abstainer--"
+
+"No, you're not," cried Mr Welton, senior; "you don't abstain totally
+from bad company, Jim, and it's that I complain of."
+
+"I never join him in his drinking bouts," repeated Jim, without noticing
+the interruption; "and as he never confides to me any of his business
+transactions, I have no reason to say that I believe them to be unfair.
+As I said before, I may suspect, but suspicion is not knowledge; we have
+no right to condemn him on mere suspicion."
+
+"True, my son; but you have a perfect right to steer clear of him on
+mere suspicion."
+
+"No doubt," replied Jim, with some hesitation in his tone, "but there
+are circumstances--"
+
+"There you go again with your `circumstances,'" exclaimed Welton senior
+with some asperity; "why don't you heave circumstances overboard, rig
+the pumps and make a clean breast of it?  Surely it's better to do that
+than let the ship go to the bottom!"
+
+"Because, father, the circumstances don't all belong to myself.  Other
+people's affairs keep my tongue tied.  I do assure you that if it
+concerned only myself, I would tell you everything; and, indeed, when
+the right time comes, I promise to tell you all--but in the meantime I--
+I--"
+
+"Jim," said Mr Welton, senior, stopping suddenly and confronting his
+stalwart son, "tell me honestly, now, isn't there a pretty girl mixed up
+in this business?"
+
+Jim stood speechless, but a mantling flush, which the rays of the
+revolving light deepened on his sunburnt countenance, rendered speech
+unnecessary.
+
+"I knew it," exclaimed the mate, resuming his walk and thrusting his
+hands deeper into the pockets of his coat, "it never was otherwise since
+Adam got married to Eve.  Whatever mischief is going you're sure to find
+a woman underneath the _very_ bottom of it, no matter how deep you go!
+If it wasn't that the girls are at the bottom of everything good as well
+as everything bad, I'd be glad to see the whole bilin of 'em made fast
+to all the sinkers of all the buoys along the British coast and sent to
+the bottom of the North Sea."
+
+"I suspect that if that were done," said Jim, with a laugh, "you'd soon
+have all the boys on the British coast making earnest inquiries after
+their sinkers!  But after all, father, although the girls are hard upon
+us sometimes, you must admit that we couldn't get on without 'em."
+
+"True for ye, boy," observed Jerry MacGowl, who, coming up at that
+moment, overheard the conclusion of the sentence.  "It's mesilf as
+superscribes to that same.  Haven't the swate creeturs led me the life
+of a dog; turned me inside out like an owld stockin', trod me in the
+dust as if I was benaith contimpt an' riven me heart to mortial tatters,
+but I couldn't get on widout 'em nohow for all that.  As the pote might
+say, av he only knowd how to putt it in proper verse:--
+
+  "`Och, woman dear, ye darlin',
+  It's I would iver be
+  Yer praises caterwaulin'
+  In swaitest melodee!'"
+
+"Mind your own business, Jerry," said the mate, interrupting the flow of
+the poet's inspiration.
+
+"Sure it's that same I'm doin', sir," replied the man, respectfully
+touching his cap as he advanced towards the gong that surrounded the
+windlass and uncovered it.  "Don't ye see the fog a-comin' down like the
+wolf on the fold, an' ain't it my dooty to play a little tshune for the
+benefit o' the public?"
+
+Jerry hit the instrument as he spoke and drowned his own voice in its
+sonorous roar.  He was driven from his post, however, by Dick Moy, one
+of the watch, who, having observed the approaching fog had gone forward
+to sound the gong, and displayed his dislike to interference by
+snatching the drumstick out of Jerry's hand and hitting him a smart blow
+therewith on the top of his head.
+
+As further conversation was under the circumstances impossible, John
+Welton and his son retired to the cabin, where the former detailed to
+the latter the visit of the strange gentleman with the keen grey eyes,
+and the conversation that had passed between them regarding Morley
+Jones.  Still the youth remained unmoved, maintaining that suspicion was
+not proof, although he admitted that things now looked rather worse than
+they had done before.
+
+While the father and son were thus engaged, a low moaning wail and an
+unusual heave of the vessel caused them to hasten on deck, just as one
+of the watch put his head down the hatch and shouted, "A squall, sir,
+brewing up from the nor'-east."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+A DISTURBED NIGHT; A WRECK AND AN UNEXPECTED RESCUE.
+
+The aspect of the night had completely changed.  The fog had cleared
+away; heavy clouds rolled athwart the sky; a deeper darkness descended
+on the shipping at anchor in the Downs, and a gradually increasing swell
+caused the Gull to roll a little and tug uneasily at her cable.
+Nevertheless the warning light at her mast-head retained its
+perpendicular position in consequence of a clever adaptation of
+mechanism on the principle of the universal joint.
+
+With the rise of the swell came the first rush of the squall.
+
+"If they don't send the boat at once, you'll have to spend the night
+with us, Jim," said the mate, looking anxiously in the direction of the
+sloop belonging to Morley Jones, the dark outlines of which could just
+be seen looming of a deeper black against the black sky.
+
+"It's too late even now," returned Jim in an anxious tone; "the boat,
+like everything else about the sloop, is a rotten old thing, and would
+be stove against the side in this swell, slight though it be as yet.
+But my chief trouble is, that the cables are not fit to hold her if it
+comes on to blow hard."
+
+For some time the wind increased until it blew half a gale.  At that
+point it continued steady, and as it gave no indication of increasing,
+John Welton and his son returned to the cabin, where the latter amused
+himself in glancing over some of the books in the small library with
+which the ship was furnished, while the sire busied himself in posting
+up the ship's log for the day.
+
+For a considerable time they were silent, the one busily engaged
+writing, the other engrossed with a book.  At last Mr Welton senior
+heaved a deep sigh, and said, while he carefully dotted an _i_ and
+stroked a _t_--
+
+"It has always been my opinion, Jim, that when boys are bein' trained
+for the sea, they should be taught writing in a swing or an omnibus, in
+order to get 'em used to do it in difficult circumstances.  There she
+goes again," he added, referring to a lurch of the vessel which caused
+the tail of a _y_ to travel at least two inches out of its proper
+course.  "Now, that job's done.  I'll turn in for a spell, and advise
+you to do the same, lad."
+
+"No, I'll go on deck and have a talk with Dick Moy.  If the gale don't
+increase I'll perhaps turn in, but I couldn't sleep just now for
+thinkin' o' the sloop."
+
+"Please yourself, my son, an' you'll please me," replied the mate with a
+smile which ended in a yawn as he opened the door of a small sleeping
+berth, and disappeared into its recesses.
+
+James Welton stood for a few minutes with his back to the small
+fireplace, and stared meditatively at the cabin lamp.
+
+The cabin of the floating light was marvellously neat and immaculately
+clean.  There was evidence of a well-ordered household in the tidiness
+with which everything was put away in its proper place, even although
+the fair hand of woman had nothing to do with it, and clumsy man reigned
+paramount and alone!  The cabin itself was very small--about ten feet or
+so in length, and perhaps eight in width.  The roof was so low that Jim
+could not stand quite erect because of the beams.  The grate resembled a
+toy, and was of brass polished so bright that you might have used it for
+a looking-glass; the fire in it was proportionately small, but large
+enough for the place it had to warm.  A crumb or speck of dust could
+scarce have been found on the floor with a microscope,--and no wonder,
+for whenever John Welton beheld the smallest symptom of such a blemish
+he seized a brush and shovel and swept it away.  The books in the little
+library at the stern were neatly arranged, and so were the cups, plates,
+glasses, salt-cellars, spoons, and saucers, in the little recess that
+did duty as a cupboard.  In short, order and cleanliness reigned
+everywhere.
+
+And not only was this the case in the cabin, but in every department of
+the ship.  The bread-lockers, the oil-room next to the cabin, the galley
+where the men lived--all were scrupulously clean and everything therein
+was arranged with the method and precision that one is accustomed to
+expect only on board a man-of-war.  And, after all, what is a floating
+light but a man-of-war?  Its duty is, like that of any three-decker, to
+guard the merchant service from a dangerous foe.  It is under command of
+the Trinity Corporation--which is tantamount to saying that it is well
+found and handled--and it does battle continually with the storm.  What
+more could be said of a man-of-war?  The only difference is that it does
+its work with less fuss and no noise!
+
+After warming himself for a short time, for the night had become
+bitterly cold, Jim Welton put on one of his sire's overcoats and went on
+deck, where he had a long walk and talk with Dick Moy, who gave it as
+his opinion that "it was a wery cold night," and said that he "wouldn't
+be surprised if it wor to come on to blow 'arder before mornin'."
+
+Dick was a huge man with a large expanse of good-natured visage, and a
+tendency to make all his statements with the solemnity of an oracle.
+Big and little men, like large and small dogs, have usually a
+sympathetic liking for each other.  Dick Moy's chief friend on board was
+little Jack Shales, who was the life of the ship, and was particularly
+expert, as were also most of his mates, in making, during hours of
+leisure, beautiful workboxes and writing-desks with inlaid woods of
+varied colours, which were sold at a moderate price on shore, in order
+to eke out the monthly wage and add to the comforts of wives and little
+ones at Ramsgate.  It may be added that Jack Shales was unquestionably
+the noisiest man on board.  He had a good voice; could sing, and _did_
+sing, from morning till night, and had the power of uttering a yell that
+would have put to shame the wildest warrior among the Cherokee savages!
+
+Jack Shales kept watch with Moy that night, and assisted in the
+conversation until a sudden snow storm induced young Welton to bid them
+good-night and retire below.
+
+"Good-night," said Shales, as Jim's head was disappearing down the
+hatchway, "stir up the fire and keep yourself warm."
+
+"That's just what I mean to do," replied Jim; "sorry I can't communicate
+some of the warmth to you."
+
+"But you can think of us," cried Jack, looking down the hatchway, "you
+can at least pity us poor babes out here in the wind and snow!"
+
+"Shut up, Jack!" said Moy with a solemn growl, "wot a tremendous jaw
+you've got w'en you let loose!  Why, wot are 'ee starin' at now?  'Ave
+'ee seed a ghost?"
+
+"No, Dick," said Shales, in a tone of voice from which every vestige of
+jocularity had disappeared; "look steady in the direction of the South
+sandhead light and--see! ain't that the flash of a gun?"
+
+"It looks like it.  A wreck on the sand, I fear," muttered Dick Moy,
+putting up both hands to guard his eyes from the snow-flakes that were
+driven wildly about by the wind, which had by that time increased to a
+furious gale.
+
+For a few minutes the two men stood gazing intently towards the
+south-west horizon.  Presently a faint flash was seen, so faint that
+they could not be certain it was that of a signal-gun.  In a few
+minutes, however, a thin thread of red light was seen to curve upwards
+into the black sky.
+
+"No mistake now," cried Jack, leaping towards the cabin skylight, which
+he threw up, and bending down, shouted--"South sandhead light is firing,
+sir, and sending up rockets!"
+
+The mate, who was at the moment in the land of dreams, sprang out of
+them and out of his bunk, and stood on the cabin floor almost before the
+sentence was finished.  His son, who had just drawn the blanket over his
+shoulders, and given vent to the first sigh of contentment with which a
+man usually lays his head on his pillow for the night, also jumped up,
+drew on coat, nether garments, and shoes, as if his life depended on his
+speed, and dashed on deck.  There was unusual need for clothing that
+night, for it had become bitterly cold, a coat of ice having formed even
+on the salt-water spray which had blown into the boats.  They found Dick
+Moy and Jack Shales already actively engaged--the one loading the lee
+gun, the other adjusting a rocket to its stick.  A few hurried questions
+from the mate elicited all that it was needful to know.  The flash of
+the gun from the South sandhead lightship, about six miles off, had been
+distinctly seen a third time, and a third rocket went up just as Welton
+and his son gained the deck, indicating that a vessel had struck upon
+the fatal Goodwin Sands.  The report of the gun could not be heard,
+owing to the gale carrying the sound to leeward, but the bright line of
+the rocket was distinctly visible.  At the same moment the flaring light
+of a burning tar-barrel was observed.  It was the signal of the vessel
+in distress just on the southern tail of the sands.
+
+By this time the gun was charged and the rocket in position.
+
+"Look alive, Jack, fetch the poker!" cried the mate as he primed the
+gun.
+
+Jack Shales dived down the companion-hatch, and in another moment
+returned with a red-hot poker, which the mate had thrust into the cabin
+fire at the first alarm.  He applied it in quick succession to the gun
+and rocket.  A blinding flash and deafening crash were followed by the
+whiz of the rocket as it sprang with a magnificent curve far away into
+the surrounding darkness.
+
+This was their answer to the South sandhead light, which, having fired
+three guns and sent up three rockets to attract the attention of the
+Gull, then ceased firing.  It was also their first note of warning to
+the look-out on the pier of Ramsgate harbour.  Of the three light-ships
+that guarded the sands, the Gull lay nearest to Ramsgate; hence,
+whichever of the other two happened to send up signals, the Gull had to
+reply and thenceforward to continue repeating them until the attention
+of the Ramsgate look-out should be gained, and a reply given.
+
+"That's a beauty," cried the mate, referring to the rocket; "fetch
+another, Jack; sponge her well out, Dick Moy, we'll give 'em another
+shot in a few minutes."
+
+Loud and clear were both the signals, but four and a half miles of
+distance and a fresh gale neutralised their influence.  The look-out on
+the pier did not observe them.  In less than five minutes the gun and
+rocket were fired again.  Still no answering signal came from Ramsgate.
+
+"Load the weather gun this time," cried the mate, "they'll have a better
+chance of seeing the flash of that."
+
+Jack obeyed, and Jim Welton, having nothing to do but look on, sought
+shelter under the lee of the weather bulwarks, for the wind, according
+to Dick Moy, "was blowin' needles and penknives."
+
+The third gun thundered forth and shook the floating light from stem to
+stern, but the rocket struck the rigging and made a low wavering flight.
+Another was therefore sent up, but it had scarcely cut its bright line
+across the sky when the answering signal was observed--a rocket from
+Ramsgate pier!
+
+"That's all right now; _our_ duty's done," said the mate, as he went
+below, and, divesting himself of his outer garments, quietly turned in,
+while the watch, having sponged out and re-covered the guns, resumed
+their active perambulation of the deck.
+
+James Welton, however, could not calm down his feelings so easily.  This
+was the first night he had ever spent in a light-ship; the scene was
+therefore quite new to him, and he could not help feeling somewhat
+disappointed at the sudden termination of the noise and excitement.  He
+was told that the Ramsgate lifeboat could not be out in less than an
+hour, and it seemed to his excited spirit a terrible thing that human
+lives should be kept so long in jeopardy.  Of course he began to think,
+"Is it not possible to prevent this delay?" but his better sense
+whispered to him that excited spirits are not the best judges in such
+matters, although it cannot be denied that they have an irresistible
+tendency to judge.  There was nothing for it, however, but to exercise
+philosophic patience, so he went below and turned in, as sailors have
+it, "all standing," to be ready when the lifeboat should make its
+appearance.
+
+The young sailor's sleep was prompt and profound.  It seemed to him but
+a few minutes after he had laid his head on the pillow when Jack Shale's
+voice again resounded in the cabin--
+
+"Lifeboat close alongside, sir.  Didn't see her till this moment.  She
+carries no lights."
+
+The Weltons, father and son, sprang out of their bunks a second time,
+and, minus coat, hat, and shoes, scrambled on deck just in time to see
+the Broadstairs lifeboat rush past before the gale.  She was close under
+the stern, and rendered spectrally visible by the light of the lantern.
+
+"What are you firing for?" shouted the coxswain of the boat.
+
+"Ship on the sands, bearing south," roared Jack Shales at the full pitch
+of his stentorian voice.
+
+There was no time for more, for the boat did not pause in her
+meteor-like flight.  The question was asked and answered as she passed
+with a magnificent rush into darkness.  The reply had been heard, and
+the lifeboat shot, straight as an arrow, to the rescue.
+
+Reader, we often hear and read of such scenes, but we can tell you from
+experience that vision is necessary to enable one to realise the full
+import of all that goes on.  There was a strange thrill at the heart of
+young Welton when he saw the familiar blue-and-white boat leaping over
+the foaming billows.  Often had he seen it in model and in quiescence in
+its boat-house, ponderous and almost ungainly; but now he saw it for the
+first time in action, as if endued with life.  So, we fancy, warriors
+might speak of our heavy cavalry as _we_ see them in barracks and as
+_they_ saw them at Alma.
+
+Again all was silent and unexciting on board the Gull; but, not many
+minutes later, the watch once more shouted down the skylight--
+
+"Tug's in sight, sir."
+
+It was afterwards ascertained that a mistake had been made in reference
+to the vessel that had signalled.  Some one on shore had reported that
+the guns and rockets had been seen flashing from the _North_ sandhead
+vessel, whereas the report should have been, "from the vessel at the
+_South_ sandhead."  The single word was all-important.  It had the
+effect of sending the steam-tug Aid (which always attends upon the
+Ramsgate lifeboat) in the wrong direction, involving much loss of time.
+But we mention this merely as a fact, not as a reproof.  Accidents will
+happen, even in the best regulated families.  The Ramsgate lifeboat
+service is most admirably regulated; and for once that an error of this
+kind can be pointed out, we can point to dozens--ay, hundreds--of cases
+in which the steamer and lifeboat have gone, straight as the crow flies,
+to the rescue, and have done good service on occasions when all other
+lifeboats would certainly have failed; so great is the value of steam in
+such matters.
+
+On this occasion, however, the tug appeared somewhat late on the scene,
+and hailed the Gull.  When the true state of the case was ascertained,
+her course was directed aright, and full steam let on.  The Ramsgate
+boat was in tow far astern.  As she passed, the brief questions and
+answers were repeated for the benefit of the coxswain, and Jim Welton
+observed that every man in the boat appeared to be crouching down on the
+thwarts except the coxswain, who stood at the steering tackles.  No
+wonder.  It is not an easy matter to sit up in a gale of wind, with
+freezing spray, and sometimes green seas, sweeping over one!  The men
+were doubtless wideawake and listening, but, as far as vision went, that
+boat was manned by ten oilskin coats and sou'westers!
+
+A few seconds carried them out of sight, and so great was the power of
+steam that, despite the loss of time, they reached the neighbourhood of
+the wreck as soon as the Broadstairs boat, and found that the crew of
+the stranded vessel had already been saved, and taken ashore by the Deal
+lifeboat.
+
+It may be as well to observe here, that although in this case much
+energy was expended unnecessarily, it does not follow that it is
+frequently so expended.  Often, far too often, all the force of lifeboat
+service on that coast is insufficient to meet the demands on it.  The
+crews of the various boats in the vicinity of the Goodwin Sands are
+frequently called out more than once in a night, and they are sometimes
+out all night, visiting various wrecks in succession.  In all this work
+the value of the steam-tug is very conspicuous, for it can tow its boat
+again and again to windward of a wreck, and renew the effort to save
+life in cases where, devoid of such aid, lifeboats would be compelled to
+give in after the failure of their first attempt, in consequence of
+their being driven helplessly to leeward.
+
+But we have forestalled our narrative.  The drama, as far as the
+Gull-Light was concerned, ended that night with the disappearance of the
+tug and lifeboat.  It was not until several days afterwards that her
+crew learned the particulars of the wreck in connection with which they
+had acted so brief but so important a part.
+
+Meanwhile, Dick Moy, who always walked the deck with a rolling swagger,
+with his huge hands thrust deep into his breeches' pockets when there
+was nothing for them to do, said to Jim Welton, "he'd advise 'im to go
+below an' clap the dead-lights on 'is peepers."
+
+Jim, approving the advice, was about to descend to the cabin, when he
+was arrested by a sharp cry that appeared to rise out of the waves.
+
+"Wot iver is that?" exclaimed Dick, as they all rushed to the port bow
+of the vessel and looked over the side.
+
+"Something in the water," cried Jack Shales, hastily catching up a coil
+of rope and throwing it overboard with that promptitude which is
+peculiar to seamen.
+
+"Why, _he_ can't kitch hold on it; it's only a dog," observed Dick Moy.
+
+All uncertainty on this point was cleared away, by a loud wail to which
+the poor animal gave vent, as it scraped along the ship's hull, vainly
+endeavouring to prevent itself from being carried past by the tide.
+
+By this time they were joined by the mate and the rest of the crew, who
+had heard the unwonted sounds and hurried on deck.  Each man was eagerly
+suggesting a method of rescue, or attempting to carry one into effect,
+by means of a noose or otherwise, when Mr Welton, senior, observed that
+Mr Welton, junior, was hastily tying a rope round his waist.
+
+"Hallo!  Jim," he cried, "surely you don't mean to risk your life for a
+dog?"
+
+"There's no risk about it, father.  Why should I leave a poor dog to
+drown when it will only cost a ducking at the worst?  You know I can
+swim like a cork, and I ain't easily cooled down."
+
+"You shan't do it if I can prevent," cried the mate, rushing at his
+reckless son.
+
+But Jim was too nimble for him.  He ran to the stern of the vessel,
+leaped on the bulwarks, flung the end of the coil of rope among the men,
+and shouting, "Hold on taut, boys!" sprang into the sea.
+
+The men did "hold on" most powerfully; they did more, they hauled upon
+the rope, hand over hand, to a "Yo-heave-ho!" from Jerry MacGowl, which
+put to shame the roaring gale, and finally hauled Jim Welton on board
+with a magnificent Newfoundland dog in his arms, an event which was
+greeted with three enthusiastic cheers!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+A NEW CHARACTER INTRODUCED.
+
+The gale was a short-lived one.  On the following morning the wind had
+decreased to a moderate breeze, and before night the sea had gone down
+sufficiently to allow the boat of Mr Jones's sloop to come alongside of
+the floating light.
+
+Before Jim Welton bade his friends good-bye, he managed to have an
+earnest and private talk with each of them.  Although he had never been
+connected with the Gull, he had frequently met with the men of that
+vessel, and, being one of those large-hearted sympathetic men who
+somehow worm themselves into the affection and confidence of most of
+their friends and comrades, he had something particular to say to each,
+either in reference to wives and families on shore, or to other members
+of that distracting section of the human family which, according to Mr
+Welton senior, lay at the foundation of all mischief.
+
+But young Welton did not confine himself to temporal matters.  It has
+already been hinted that he had for some time been in the habit of
+attending prayer-meetings, but the truth was that he had recently been
+led by a sailor's missionary to read the Bible, and the precious Word of
+God had been so blessed to his soul, that he had seen his own lost
+condition by nature, and had also seen, and joyfully accepted, Jesus
+Christ as his all-sufficient Saviour.  He had come to "know the truth,"
+and "the truth had set him free;" free, not only from spiritual death
+and the power of sin, but free from that unmanly shame which, alas! too
+often prevents Christians from taking a bold stand on the Lord's side.
+
+The young sailor had, no doubt, had severe inward conflicts, which were
+known only to God and himself, but he had been delivered and
+strengthened, for he was not ashamed of Christ in the presence of his
+old comrades, and he sought by all the means in his power to draw them
+to the same blessed Saviour.
+
+"Well, good-bye, Jim," said Mr Welton, senior, as his son moved towards
+the gangway, when the boat came alongside, "all I've got to say to 'ee,
+lad, is, that you're on dangerous ground, and you have no right to shove
+yourself in the way of temptation."
+
+"But I don't _shove_ myself, father; I think I am led in that way.  I
+may be wrong, perhaps, but such is my belief."
+
+"You'll not forget that message to my mother," whispered a
+sickly-looking seaman, whose strong-boned frame appeared to be somewhat
+attenuated by disease.
+
+"I'll not forget, Rainer.  It's likely that we shall be in Yarmouth in a
+couple of days, and you may depend upon my looking up the old woman as
+soon after I get ashore as possible."
+
+"Hallo! hi!" shouted a voice from below, "wot's all the hurry?" cried
+Dick Moy, stumbling hastily up on deck while in the act of closing a
+letter which bore evidence of having been completed under difficulties,
+for its form was irregular, and its back was blotted.  "Here you are,
+putt that in the post at Yarmouth, will 'ee, like a good fellow?"
+
+"Why, you've forgotten the address," exclaimed Jim Welton in affected
+surprise.
+
+"No, I 'aven't.  There it is hall right on the back."
+
+"What, that blot?"
+
+"Ay, that's wot stands for Mrs Moy," said Dick, with a good-natured
+smile.
+
+"Sure now," observed Jerry MacGowl, looking earnestly at the letter, "it
+do seem to me, for all the world, as if a cat had drawed his tail across
+it after stumblin' over a ink-bottle."
+
+"Don't Mrs Moy live in Ramsgate?" inquired Jim Welton.
+
+"Of course she do," replied Dick.
+
+"But I'm not going there; I'm goin' to Yarmouth," said Jim.
+
+"Wot then?" retorted Dick, "d'ee suppose the clerk o' the post-office at
+Yarmouth ain't as well able to read as the one at Ramsgate, even though
+the writin' _do_ be done with a cat's tail?  Go along with 'ee."
+
+Thus dismissed, Jim descended the side and was quickly on board the
+sloop Nora to which he belonged.
+
+On the deck of the little craft he was received gruffly by a man of
+powerful frame and stern aspect, but whose massive head, covered with
+shaggy grey curling hair, seemed to indicate superior powers of
+intellect.  This was Morley Jones, the master and owner of the sloop.
+
+"A pretty mess you've made of it; I might have been in Yarmouth by this
+time," he said, testily.
+
+"More likely at the bottom of the sea," answered Jim, quietly, as he
+went aft and looked at the compass--more from habit than from any desire
+to receive information from that instrument.
+
+"Well, if I had been at the bottom o' the sea, what then?  Who's to say
+that I mayn't risk my life if I see fit?  It's not worth much," he said,
+gloomily.
+
+"You seem to forget that in risking your own life you risk the lives of
+those who sail along with you," replied Jim, with a bold yet
+good-humoured look at the skipper.
+
+"And what if I do risk their lives?--they ain't worth much, either,
+_I'm_ sure?"
+
+"Not to you, Morley, but worth a good deal to themselves, not to mention
+their wives and families and friends.  You know well enough that if I
+had wished ever so much to return aboard last night your boat could not
+have got alongside the Gull for the sea.  Moreover, you also know that
+if you had attempted to put to sea in such weather, this leaky tub, with
+rotten sails and running gear, would have been a wreck on the Goodwin
+sands before now, and you and I, with the two men and the boy, would
+have been food for the gulls and fishes."
+
+"Not at all," retorted Jones, "there's not much fear of our lives here.
+The lifeboat crews are too active for that; and as to the sloop, why,
+she's insured you know for her full value--for more than her value,
+indeed."
+
+Jones said this with a chuckle and a sly expression in his face, as he
+glanced meaningly at his companion.
+
+"I know nothing about your insurance or your cargo, and, what's more, I
+don't want to know," said Jim, almost angrily.  "You've been at
+Square-Tom again," he added, suddenly laying his hand upon the shoulder
+of his companion and looking earnestly into his eyes.
+
+It was now Jones's turn to be angry, yet it was evident that he made an
+effort to restrain his feelings, as he replied, "Well, what if I have?
+It's one thing for you to advise me to become a teetotaller, and it's
+quite another thing for me to agree to do it.  I tell you again, as I've
+often told you before, Jim Welton, that _I don't mean to do it_, and I'm
+not going to submit to be warned and reasoned with by you, as if you was
+my grandfather.  I _know_ that drink is the curse of my life, and I know
+that it will kill me, and that I am a fool for giving way to it, but it
+is the only thing that makes me able to endure this life; and as for the
+next, I don't care for it, and _I don't believe in it_."
+
+"But your not believing in it does not make it less certain," replied
+Jim, quietly, but without any approach to solemnity in his tone or look,
+for he knew that his companion was not in a mood just then to stand such
+treatment.  "You remember the story of the ostrich that was run down?
+Finding that it could not escape, it stuck its head in the sand and
+thought that nobody saw it.  You may shut your eyes, Morley, but facts
+remain facts for all that."
+
+"Shutting my eyes is just what I am _not_ doing," returned Jones,
+flinging round and striding to the other side of the deck; then, turning
+quickly, he strode back, and added, with an oath, "have I not told you
+that I see myself, my position, and my prospects, as clearly as you do,
+and that I intend to face them all, and take the consequences?"
+
+Jim Welton flushed slightly, and his eyes dilated, as he replied--
+
+"Have you not the sense to see, Morley Jones, that my remonstrances with
+you are at least disinterested?  What would you think if I were to say
+to you, `Go, drink your fill till death finds you at last wallowing on
+the ground like a beast, or worse than a beast; I leave you to your
+fate?'"
+
+"I would think that Jim Welton had changed his nature," replied Jones,
+whose anger disappeared as quickly as it came.  "I have no objection to
+your storming at me, Jim.  You may swear at me as much as you please,
+but, for any sake, spare me your reasonings and entreaties, because they
+only rouse the evil spirit within me, without doing an atom of good; and
+don't talk of leaving me.  Besides, let me tell you, you are not so
+disinterested in this matter as you think.  There is some one in
+Yarmouth who has something to do with your interest in me."
+
+The young man flushed again at the close of this speech, but not from a
+feeling of anger.  He dropt his eyes before the earnest though unsteady
+gaze of his half-tipsy companion, who burst into a loud laugh as Jim
+attempted some stammering reply.
+
+"Come," he added, again assuming the stern aspect which was natural to
+him, but giving Jim a friendly slap on the shoulder, "don't let us fall
+out, Jim you and I don't want to part just now.  Moreover, if we have a
+mind to get the benefit of the tide to-night, the sooner we up anchor
+the better, so we won't waste any more time talking."
+
+Without waiting for a reply, Mr Jones went forward and called the crew.
+The anchor was weighed, the sails were set, and the sloop Nora--bending
+over before the breeze, as if doing homage in passing her friend the
+Gull-Light--put to sea, and directed her course for the ancient town and
+port of Yarmouth.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+MORE NEW CHARACTERS INTRODUCED.
+
+If it be true that time and tide wait for no man, it is equally true, we
+rejoice to know, that authors and readers have a corresponding immunity
+from shackles, and are in nowise bound to wait for time or tide.
+
+We therefore propose to leave the Gull-stream light, and the Goodwin
+sands, and the sloop Nora, far behind us, and, skipping a little in
+advance of Time itself proceed at once to Yarmouth.
+
+Here, in a snug parlour, in an easy chair, before a cheerful fire, with
+a newspaper in his hand, sat a bluff little elderly gentleman, with a
+bald head and a fat little countenance, in which benignity appeared to
+hold perpetual though amicable rivalry with fun.
+
+That the fat little elderly gentleman was eccentric could scarcely be
+doubted, because he not only looked _over_ his spectacles instead of
+through them, but also, apparently, read his newspaper upside down.  A
+closer inspection, however, would have shown that he was not reading the
+paper at all, but looking over the top of it at an object which
+accounted for much of the benignity, and some of the fun of his
+expression.
+
+At the opposite side of the table sat a very beautiful girl, stooping
+over a book, and so earnestly intent thereon as to be evidently quite
+oblivious of all else around her.  She was at that interesting age when
+romance and reality are supposed to be pretty equally balanced in a
+well-regulated female mind--about seventeen.  Although not classically
+beautiful--her nose being slightly turned upward--she was, nevertheless,
+uncommonly pretty, and, as one of her hopeless admirers expressed it,
+"desperately love-able."  Jet black ringlets--then in vogue--clustered
+round an exceedingly fair face, on which there dwelt the hue of robust
+health.  Poor Bob Queeker, the hopeless admirer above referred to, would
+have preferred that she had been somewhat paler and thinner, if that had
+been possible; but this is not to be wondered at, because Queeker was
+about sixteen years of age at that time, and wrote sonnets to the moon
+and other celestial bodies, and also indulged in "lines" to various
+terrestrial bodies, such as the lily or the snowdrop, or something
+equally drooping or pale.  Queeker never by any chance addressed the
+sun, or the red-rose, or anything else suggestive of health and vigour.
+Yet his melancholy soul could not resist Katie,--which was this angel's
+name,--because, although she was energetic, and vigorous, and
+matter-of-fact, not to say slightly mischievous, she was intensely
+sympathetic and tender in her feelings, and romantic too.  But her
+romance puzzled him.  There was something too intense about it for his
+taste.  If he had only once come upon her unawares, and caught her
+sitting with her hands clasped, gazing in speechless adoration at the
+moon, or even at a street-lamp, in the event of its being thick weather
+at the time, his love for her would have been without alloy.
+
+As it was, Queeker thought her "desperately love-able," and in his
+perplexity continued to write sonnets without number to the moon, in
+which efforts, however, he was singularly unsuccessful, owing to the
+fact that, after he had gazed at it for a considerable length of time,
+the orb of night invariably adopted black ringlets and a bright sunny
+complexion.
+
+George Durant--which was the name of the bald fat little elderly
+gentleman--was Katie's father.  Looking at them, no one would have
+thought so, for Katie was tall and graceful in form; and her
+countenance, except when lighted up with varying emotion, was grave and
+serene.
+
+As Mr Durant looked at it just then, the gravity had deepened into
+severity; the pretty eyebrows frowned darkly at the book over which they
+bent, and the rosy lips represented a compound of pursing and pouting as
+they moved and muttered something inaudibly.
+
+"What is it that puzzles you, Katie?" asked her father, laying down the
+paper.
+
+"'Sh!" whispered Katie, without lifting her head; "seventeen,
+twenty-two, twenty-nine, thirty-six,--one pound sixteen;--no, I _can't_
+get it to balance.  Did you ever know such a provoking thing?"
+
+She flung down her pencil, and looked full in her father's face, where
+fun had, for the time, so thoroughly conquered and overthrown benignity,
+that the frown vanished from her brow, and the rosy lips expanded to
+join her sire in a hearty fit of laughter.
+
+"If you could only see your own face, Katie, when you are puzzling over
+these accounts, you would devote yourself ever after to drawing _it_,
+instead of those chalk-heads of which you are so fond."
+
+"No, I wouldn't, papa," said Katie, whose gravity quickly returned.
+"It's all very well for you to joke about it, and laugh at me, but I can
+tell you that this account _won't_ balance; there is a two-and-sixpence
+wrong somewhere, and you know it has to be all copied out and sent off
+by the evening post to-morrow.  I really can't understand why we are
+called upon to make so many copies of all the accounts and papers for
+that ridiculous Board of Trade; I'm sure they have plenty of idle clerks
+of their own, without requiring us to slave as we do--for such a
+wretched salary, too!"
+
+Katie shook her curls indignantly, as she thought of the unjust demands
+and inadequate remuneration of Government, and resumed her work, the
+frowning brows and pursed coral lips giving evidence of her immediate
+and total absorption in the accounts.
+
+Old Mr Durant, still holding the newspaper upside down, and looking
+over the top of it and of his spectacles at the fair accountant, thought
+in his heart that if the assembled Board, of which his daughter spoke in
+such contemptuous terms, could only behold her labouring at their books,
+in order to relieve her father of part of the toil, they would
+incontinently give orders that he should be thenceforth allowed a salary
+for a competent clerk, and that all the accounts sent up from Yarmouth
+should be bound in cloth of gold!
+
+"Here it is, papa, I've got it!" exclaimed Katie, looking up with
+enthusiasm similar to that which might be expected in a youthful
+sportsman on the occasion of hooking his first salmon.  "It was the
+two-and-sixpence which you told me to give to--"
+
+At that moment the outer door bell rang.
+
+"There's cousin Fanny, oh, I'm _so_ glad!" exclaimed Katie, shutting up
+her books and clearing away a multitude of papers with which the table
+was lumbered; "she has promised to stay a week, and has come in time to
+go with me to the singing class this afternoon.  She's a darling girl,
+as fond of painting and drawing almost as I am, and hates cats.  Oh, I
+do so love a girl that doesn't like cats.  Eh, pussy, shall I tread on
+your tail?"
+
+This question was put to a recumbent cat which lay coiled up in earthly
+bliss in front of the fire, and which Katie had to pass in carrying her
+armful of books and papers to the sideboard drawer in which they were
+wont to repose.  She put out her foot as if to carry her threat into
+execution.
+
+"Dare!" exclaimed Mr Durant, with whom the cat was a favourite.
+
+"Well, then, promise that if Mr Queeker comes to-night you won't let
+him stay to spoil our fun," said Katie, still holding her foot over the
+cat's unconscious tail.
+
+As she spoke, one of the rather heavy account-books (which ought to have
+been bound in cloth of gold) slipped off the pile, and, as ill luck
+would have it, fell on the identical tail in question, the cat belonging
+to which sprang up with a fierce caterwaul in rampant indignation.
+
+"Oh, papa, you _know_ I didn't mean it."
+
+Mr Durant's eyes twinkled with amusement as he beheld the sudden change
+of poor Katie's expression to intense earnestness, but before he could
+reply the door was thrown open; "cousin Fanny" rushed in, the cat rushed
+out, the two young ladies rushed into each other's arms, and went in a
+species of ecstatic waltz up-stairs to enjoy the delights of a private
+interview, leaving Mr Durant to sink into the arms of his easy chair
+and resume his paper--this time with the right side up!
+
+Let it be understood that the old gentleman was employed in Yarmouth
+under one of the departments of the Board of Trade.  We refrain from
+entering into particulars as to which department, lest the vindictive
+spirit which was accredited to that branch of the Government by Miss
+Katie--who being a lady, must of course have been right--should induce
+it to lay hold of our estimable friend and make an example of him for
+permitting his independent daughter to expose its true character.  In
+addition to his office in this connection Mr Durant also held the
+position of a retired merchant and ship-owner, and was a man of
+considerable wealth, although he lived in a quiet unostentatious way.
+In fact, his post under Government was retained chiefly for the purpose
+of extending his influence in his native town--for he counted himself a
+"bloater"--and enabling him to carry out more vigorously his schemes of
+Christian philanthropy.
+
+Cousin Fanny Hennings was a "darling girl" in Katie's estimation,
+probably because she was her opposite in many respects, though not in
+all.  In good-humour and affection they were similar, but Fanny had none
+of Katie's fire, or enthusiasm, or intellect, or mischief; she had,
+however, a great appreciation of fun, and was an inordinate giggler.
+Fat, fair, and fifteen, with flaxen curls, pink cheeks, and blue eyes,
+she was the _beau-ideal_ of a wax-doll, and possessed about as much
+self-assertion as may be supposed to belong to that class of the
+doll-community which is constructed so as to squeak when squeezed.  As
+Katie Durant squeezed her friend pretty often, both mentally and
+physically, cousin Fanny squeaked a good deal more than usual during her
+occasional visits to Yarmouth, and even after her return home to
+Margate, where she and her widowed mother dwelt--as Queeker poetically
+said--"in a cottage by the sea."  It was usually acknowledged by all her
+friends that Fanny had increased her powers amazingly while absent, in
+so much that she learned at last to squeak on her own account without
+being squeezed at all.
+
+After the cousins had talked in private until they had made themselves
+almost too late for the singing-class, they issued from the house and
+betook themselves to the temple of music, where some amazing pieces were
+performed by some thirty young vocalists of both sexes to their own
+entire satisfaction, and to the entire dissatisfaction, apparently, of
+their teacher, whose chief delight seemed to be to check the flow of
+gushing melody at a critical point, and exclaim, "Try it again!"  Being
+ignorant of classical music we do not venture to give an opinion on
+these points, but it is important to state, as bearing on the subject in
+a sanitary point of view, that all the pupils usually left the class in
+high spirits, with the exception of Queeker, who had a voice like a
+cracked tea-kettle, knew no more about music than Katie's cat--which he
+adored because it was Katie's--and who went to the class, which was
+indebted for its discord chiefly to him, wholly and solely because Katie
+Durant went to it, and thus afforded him an opportunity of occasionally
+shaking hands with her.
+
+On the present evening, however, being of a shy disposition, he could
+not bring himself to face cousin Fanny.  He therefore left the hall
+miserable, and went home with desperate intentions as to the moon.
+Unfortunately that luminary was not visible, the sun having just set,
+but from his bedroom window, which commanded a view of the roadstead, he
+beheld the lantern of the Saint Nicolas Gatt floating-light, and
+addressed the following lines to it with all the fervour incident to a
+hopeless affection:--
+
+  "Why blaze, ye bright benignant beaming star,
+  Guiding the homebound seaman from afar,
+  Lighting the outbound wand'rer on his way,
+  With all the lightsome perspicuity of day?
+  Why not go out at once! and let be hurl'd
+  Dark, dread, unmitigated darkness o'er the world?
+  Why should the heavenly constellations shine?
+  Why should the weather evermore be fine?
+  Why should this rolling ball go whirling round?
+  Why should the noise of mirth and music sound?
+  Why should the sparrow chirp, the blackbird sing,
+  The mountains echo, and the valleys ring,
+  With all that's cheerful, humorous, and glad,
+  Now that my heart is smitten and my brain gone mad?"
+
+Queeker fetched a long deep-drawn sigh at this point, the agony of
+intense composition being for a moment relaxed.  Then, catching his
+breath and glaring, he went on in a somewhat gentler strain--
+
+  "Forgive me, Floating-light, and you, ye sun,
+  Moon, stars, and elements of Nature, every one;
+  I did but vent my misery and spleen
+  In utt'ring words of fury that I hardly mean.
+  At least I do in part--but hold! why not?
+  Oh! cease ye fiendish thoughts that rage and plot
+  To bring about my ruin.  Hence! avaunt!
+  Or else in pity tell me what you want.
+  I cannot live, and yet I would not die!
+  My hopes are blighted!  Where, oh whither shall I fly?
+  'Tis past!  I'll cease to daily with vain sophistry,
+  And try the virtue of a calm philosophy."
+
+The effect of composition upon Queeker was such that when he had
+completed his task he felt greatly tranquillised, and, having shut up
+his portfolio, formed the sudden resolution of dropping in upon the
+Durants to tea.
+
+Meantime, and before the love-sick youth had begun the lines above
+quoted, Katie and her cousin walked home by a road which conducted them
+close past the edge of those extensive sandy plains called the Denes of
+Yarmouth.  Here, at the corner of a quiet street, they were arrested by
+the sobbing of a little boy who sat on a railing by the roadside,
+swaying himself to and fro in an agony of grief.
+
+Katie's sympathetic heart was instantly touched.  She at once went up to
+the boy, and made earnest inquiries into the cause of his distress.
+
+"Please, ma'am," said the boy, "I've lost a shillin', and I can't find
+it nowheres.  Oh, wot ever shall I do?  My mother gave it me to give
+with two other bobs to my poor sick brother whom I've comed all this way
+to see, and there I've gone an' lost it, an' I'll 'ave to lay out all
+night in the cold, for I dursn't go to see 'im without the money--boo,
+hoo!"
+
+"Oh, how _very_ unfortunate!" exclaimed Katie with real feeling for the
+boy, whose soul was thus steeped to all appearance in woe unutterable,
+was very small, and very dirty and ragged, and had an extremely handsome
+intelligent face, with a profusion of wild brown curls.  "But I can make
+that up to you, poor boy," she added, drawing out her purse, "here is a
+shilling for you.  Where do you live?"
+
+"At Ramsgate, ma'am."
+
+"At Ramsgate?" exclaimed Katie in surprise, "why, how did you manage to
+get here?"
+
+"I come in a lugger, ma'am, as b'longs to a friend o' ourn.  We've just
+arrived, an' we goes away agin to-morrow."
+
+"Indeed!  That will give you little time to see your sick brother.  What
+is the matter with him?"
+
+"Oh, he's took very bad, ma'am.  I'm sorry to say he's bad altogether,
+ma'am.  Bin an' run'd away from 'ome.  A'most broke his mother's 'eart,
+he has, an' fall'd sick here, he did."
+
+The small boy paused abruptly at this point, and looked earnestly in
+Katie's kind and pitiful face.
+
+"Where does your brother live?" asked Katie.
+
+The small boy looked rather perplexed, and said that he couldn't rightly
+remember the name of the street, but that the owner of the lugger
+"know'd it."  Whereat Katie seemed disappointed, and said she would have
+been so glad to have visited him, and given him such little comforts as
+his disease might warrant.
+
+"Oh, ma'am," exclaimed the small boy, looking wistfully at her with his
+large blue eyes, "_wot_ a pity I've forgot it!  The doctor ordered 'im
+wine too--it was as much as 'is life was worth not to 'ave wine,--but of
+course they couldn't afford to git 'im wine--even cheap wine would do
+well enough, at two bob or one bob the bottle.  If you was to give me
+two bob--shillins I mean, ma'am--I'd git it for 'im to-night."
+
+Katie and her cousin conversed aside in low tones for a minute or two as
+to the propriety of complying with this proposal, and came to the
+conclusion that the boy was such a nice outspoken honest-like fellow,
+that it would do no harm to risk that sum in the circumstances.  Two
+shillings were therefore put into the boy's dirty little hand, and he
+was earnestly cautioned to take care of it, which he earnestly, and no
+doubt honestly, promised to do.
+
+"What is your name, boy?" asked Katie, as she was about to leave him.
+
+"Billy--Billy Towler, ma'am," answered the urchin, pulling his forelock
+by way of respectful acknowledgment, "but my friends they calls me
+Walleye, chiefly in consikence o' my bein' wery much the rewerse of
+blind, ma'am, and niver capable of bein' cotched in a state o' slumber
+at no time."
+
+This reply had the effect of slightly damaging the small boy's character
+for simplicity in Katie's mind, although it caused both herself and her
+companion to laugh.
+
+"Well, Billy," she said, opening her card-case, "here is my card--give
+it to your sick brother, and when he sends it to me with his address
+written on the back of it I'll call on him."
+
+"Thankee, ma'am," said the small boy.
+
+After he had said this, he stood silently watching the retiring figure
+of his benefactress, until she was out of sight, and then dashing round
+the corner of a bye-street which was somewhat retired, he there went off
+into uncontrollable fits of laughter--slapped his small thighs, held his
+lean little sides with both hands, threw his ragged cap into the air,
+and in various other ways gave evidence of ecstatic delight.  He was
+still engaged in these violent demonstrations of feeling when Morley
+Jones--having just landed at Yarmouth, and left the sloop _Nora_ in
+charge of young Welton--came smartly round the corner, and, applying his
+heavy boot to the small boy's person, kicked him into the middle of the
+road.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+THE TEMPTER AND THE TEMPTED.
+
+"What are ye howlin' there for, an' blockin' up the Queen's highway like
+that, you precious young villain?" demanded Morley Jones.
+
+"An' wot are you breakin' the Queen's laws for like that?" retorted
+Billy Towler, dancing into the middle of the road and revolving his
+small fists in pugilistic fashion.  "You big hairy walrus, I don't know
+whether to 'ave you up before the beaks for assault and battery or turn
+to an' give 'ee a good lickin'."
+
+Mr Jones showed all his teeth with an approving grin, and the small boy
+grinned in return, but still kept on revolving his fists, and warning
+the walrus to "look hout and defend hisself if he didn't want his
+daylights knocked out or his bows stove in!"
+
+"You're a smart youth, you are," said Jones.
+
+"Ha! you're afraid, are you? an' wants to make friends, but I won't 'ave
+it at no price.  Come on, will you?"
+
+Jones, still grinning from ear to ear, made a rush at the urchin, who,
+however, evaded him with such ease that the man perceived he had not the
+smallest chance of catching him.
+
+"I say, my lad," he asked, stopping and becoming suddenly grave, "where
+d'you come from?"
+
+"I comes from where I b'longs to, and where I'm agoin' back to w'en it
+suits me."
+
+"Very good," retorted Jones, "and I suppose you don't object to earn a
+little money in an easy way?"
+
+"Yes, I do object," replied Billy; "it ain't worth my while to earn a
+_little_ money in any way, no matter how easy; I never deals in small
+sums.  A fi' pun' note is the lowest figur' as I can stoop to."
+
+"You'll not object, however, to a gift, I daresay," remarked Jones, as
+he tossed a half-crown towards the boy.
+
+Billy caught it as deftly as a dog catches a bit of biscuit, looked at
+it in great surprise, tossed it in the air, bit its rim critically, and
+finally slid it into his trousers pocket.
+
+"Well, you know," he said slowly, "to obleege a _friend_, I'm willin' to
+accept."
+
+"Now then, youngster, if I'm willing to trust that half-crown in your
+clutches, you may believe I have got something to say to 'ee worth your
+while listenin' to; for you may see I'm not the man to give it to 'ee
+out o' Christian charity."
+
+"That's true," remarked Billy, who by this time had become serious, and
+stood with his hands in his pockets, still, however, at a respectful
+distance.
+
+"Well, the fact is," said Mr Jones, "that I've bin lookin' out of late
+for a smart lad with a light heart and a light pocket, and that ain't
+troubled with much of a conscience."
+
+"That's me to a tee," said Billy promptly; "my 'art's as light as a
+feather, and my pocket is as light as a maginstrate's wisdom.  As for
+conscience, the last beak as I wos introdooced to said I must have bin
+born without a conscience altogether; an' 'pon my honour I think he wos
+right, for I never felt it yet, though I've often tried--'xcept once,
+w'en I'd cleaned out the pocket of a old ooman as was starin' in at a
+shop winder in Cheapside, and she fainted dead away w'en she found it
+out, and her little grand-darter looked so pale and pitiful that I says
+to myself, `Hallo!  Walleye, you've bin to the wrong shop this time; go
+an' put it back, ye young dog;' so I obeyed orders, an' slipped back the
+purse while pretendin' to help the old ooman.  It wos risky work,
+though, for a bobby twigged me, and it was only my good wind and tough
+pair o' shanks that saved me.  Now," continued the urchin, knitting his
+brows as he contemplated the knotty point, "I've had my doubts whether
+that wos conscience, or a sort o' nat'ral weakness pecooliar to my
+constitootion.  I've half a mind to call on the Bishop of London on the
+point one o' these days."
+
+"So, you're a city bird," observed Jones, admiringly.
+
+"Ah, and I can see that you're a provincial one," replied Billy,
+jingling the half-crown against the silver in his pocket.
+
+"What brings you so far out of your beat, Walleye?" inquired Jones.
+
+"Oh, I'm on circuit just now, makin' a tower of the provinces.  I tried
+a case just before you came up, an' made three shillins out of it,
+besides no end o' promises--which, unfort'nately, I can't awail myself
+of--from a sweet young lady, with such a pleasant face, that I wished I
+could adopt her for a darter.  But that's an expensive luxury, you see;
+can't afford it yet."
+
+"Well, youngster," said Jones, assuming a more grave yet off-hand air,
+"if you choose to trust me, I'll put you in the way of makin' some money
+without much trouble.  It only requires a little false swearing, which I
+daresay you are used to."
+
+"No, I ain't," retorted the urchin indignantly; "I never tells a lie
+'xcept w'en I can't help it.  _Then_, of course, a feller _must_ do it!"
+
+"Just so, Walleye, them's my sentiments.  Have you got a father?"
+
+"No, nor yet a mother," replied Billy.  "As far as I'm aweer of, I wos
+diskivered on the steps of a city work'us, an' my first impressions in
+this life wos the knuckles of the old woman as banged me up.  The
+governor used to talk a lot o' balderdash about our bein' brought up;
+but I knows better.  I wos banged up; banged up in the mornins, banged
+to meals, and banged to bed; banged through thick and thin, for
+everything an' for nothin', until I banged myself out o' the door one
+fine mornin', which I banged arter me, an' 'ave bin bangin' about, a
+gen'lem'n at large, ever since."
+
+"Ha! got no friends and nothin' to do?" said Morley Jones.
+
+"Jis so."
+
+"Well, if you have a mind to take service with me, come along an' have a
+pot o' beer."
+
+The man turned on his heel and walked off to a neighbouring
+public-house, leaving the small boy to follow or not as he pleased, and
+apparently quite indifferent as to what his decision might be.
+
+Billy Towler--_alias_ Walleye--looked after him with an air of
+uncertainty.  He did not like the look of the man, and was about to
+decide against him, when the jingle of the half-crown in his pocket
+turned the scale in his favour.  Running after him, he quietly said,
+"I'm your man," and then began to whistle, at the same time making an
+abortive effort to keep step with his long-limbed employer, who said
+nothing in reply, but, entering a public-house, ordered two pots of
+beer.  These, when produced, he and his little companion sat down to
+discuss in the most retired box in the place, and conversed in low
+tones.
+
+"What was it brought you to Yarmouth, Walleye?" asked Mr Jones.
+
+"Call me Billy," said the boy, "I like it better."
+
+"Well, Billy--and, by the way, you may call me Morley--my name's Jones,
+but, like yourself, I have a preference.  Now, then, what brought you
+here?"
+
+"H'm, that involves a story--a hanecdote, if I may so speak," replied
+this precocious youngster with much gravity.  "You see, some time arter
+I runn'd away from the work'us, I fell'd in with an old gen'lem'n with a
+bald head an' a fat corpus.  Do 'ee happen to know, Mr Morley, 'ow it
+is that bald heads an' fat corpuses a'most always go together?"
+
+Morley replied that he felt himself unable to answer that difficult
+question; but supposed that as good-humour was said to make people fat,
+perhaps it made them bald also.
+
+"I dun know," continued Billy; "anyhow, this old gen'lem'n he took'd a
+fancy to me, an' took'd me home to his 'otel; for he didn't live in
+London--wos there only on a wisit at the time he felled in love with me
+at first sight.  Well, he give me a splendacious suit of noo clo'es, an
+'ad me put to a school, where I soon larned to read and write; an' I do
+b'lieve wos on the highroad to be Lord Mayor of London, when the old
+schoolmaster died, before I'd bin two year there, an' the noo un wos so
+fond o' the bangin' system that I couldn't stand it, an' so bid 'em all
+a tender farewell, an' took to the streets agin.  The old gen'lem'n he
+comed three times from Yarmouth, where he belonged, for to see me arter
+I wos put to the school, an' I had a sort o' likin' for him, but not
+knowin' his name, and only been aweer that he lived at Yarmouth, I
+thought I'd have no chance o' findin' him.  Over my subsikint career
+I'll draw a wail; it's enough to say I didn't like either it or my pals,
+so I made up my mind at last to go to Yarmouth an' try to find the old
+gen'lem'n as had adopted me--that's what he said he'd done to me.  W'en
+I'd prigged enough o' wipes to pay my fare down, I comed away,--an' here
+I am."
+
+"Have you seen the old gentleman?" asked Morley, after a pause.
+
+"No, only just arrived this arternoon."
+
+"And you don't know his name, nor where he lives?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And how did you expect to escape bein' nabbed and put in limbo as a
+vagrant?" inquired Morley.
+
+"By gittin' employment, of coorse, from some _respectable_ gen'lem'n
+like yourself, an' then runnin' away from 'im w'en I'd diskivered the
+old chap wi' the bald head."
+
+Morley Jones smiled grimly.
+
+"Well, my advice to you is," he said, "to fight shy of the old chap,
+even if you do discover him.  Depend upon it the life you would lead
+under his eye would be one of constant restraint and worry.  He'd put
+you to school again, no doubt, where you'd get banged as before--a
+system I don't approve of at all--and be made a milksop and a flunkey,
+or something o' that sort--whereas the life you'll lead with me will be
+a free and easy rollikin' manly sort o' life.  Half on shore and half at
+sea.  Do what you like, go where you will,--when business has bin
+attended to--victuals and clothing free gratis, and pocket-money enough
+to enable you to enjoy yourself in a moderate sort of way.  You see I'm
+not goin' to humbug you.  It won't be all plain sailin', but what is a
+man worth if he ain't fit to stand a little rough-and-tumble?  Besides,
+rough work makes a fellow take his ease with all the more zest.  A life
+on the ocean wave one week, with hard work, and a run on shore the next
+week, with just enough to do to prevent one wearyin'.  That's the sort
+o' thing for you and me, Billy, eh boy?" exclaimed the tempter, growing
+garrulous in his cups, and giving his small victim a pat on the
+shoulder, which, although meant to be a facetious touch, well-nigh
+unseated him.
+
+Billy Towler recovered himself, however, and received it as it was
+meant, in perfect good humour.  The beer had mounted to his own little
+brain, and his large eyes glowed with more than natural light as he sat
+gazing into his companion's rugged face, listening with delight to the
+description of a mode of life which he thought admirably suited to his
+tastes and capabilities.  He was, however, a shrewd little creature.
+Sad and very rough experience of life had taught him to be uncommonly
+circumspect for his years.
+
+"What's your business, Morley?" he demanded eagerly.
+
+"I've a lot of businesses," said Mr Jones with a drunken leer, "but my
+principal one is fishcuring.  I'm a sort of shipowner too.  Leastwise
+I've got two craft--one bein' a sloop, the other a boat.  Moreover, I
+charter no end of vessels, an' do a good deal in the insurance way.  But
+you'll understand more about these things all in good time, Billy.  I
+live, while I'm at home, in Gravesend, but I've got a daughter and a
+mother livin' at Yarmouth, so I may say I've got a home at both places.
+It's a convenient sort o' thing, you see,--a town residence and a
+country villa, as it were.  Come, I'll take you to the villa now, and
+introduce 'ee to the women."
+
+So saying, this rascal paid for the poison he had been administering in
+large doses to himself and his apprentice, and, taking Billy's dirty
+little hand in his large horny fist, led him towards the centre of the
+town.
+
+Poor Billy little knew the nature of the awful gulf of sin and misery
+into which he was now plunging with a headlong hilarious vivacity
+peculiarly his own.  He was, indeed, well enough aware of the fact that
+he was a thief, and an outcast from society, and that he was a habitual
+breaker of the laws of God and man, but he was naturally ignorant of the
+extent of his guilt, as well as of the certain and terrible end to which
+it pointed, and, above all, he had not the most remote conception of the
+almost hopeless slavery to which he was doomed when once fairly secured
+in the baleful net which Morley Jones had begun to twine around him.
+
+But a higher Power was leading the poor child in a way that he knew
+not--a way that was little suspected by his tempter--a way that has been
+the means of snatching many and many a little one from destruction in
+time past, and that will certainly save many more in time to come--as
+long as Christian men and women band together to unite their prayers and
+powers for the rescue of perishing souls.
+
+Traversing several streets with unsteady gait--for he was now much the
+worse of drink--Mr Jones led his willing captive down one of those
+innumerable narrow streets, or passages, termed "rows," which bear some
+resemblance to the "closes" of the Scottish capital.  In width they are
+much the same, but in cleanliness there is a vast difference, for
+whereas the _closes_ of the northern capital are notorious for dirt, the
+_rows_ of Yarmouth are celebrated for their neat tidy aspect.  What the
+cause of the neatness of the latter may be we cannot tell, but we can
+bear the testimony of an eye-witness to the fact that--considering the
+class of inhabitants who dwell in them, their laborious lives and
+limited means--the _rows_ are wondrously clean.  Nearly all of them are
+paved with pebbles or bricks.  The square courts opening out of them on
+right and left, although ridiculously small, are so thoroughly scoured
+and swept that one might roll on their floors with white garments and
+remain unsoiled.  In each court may be observed a water-bucket and
+scrubbing-brush wet, usually, from recent use, also a green painted
+box-garden of dimensions corresponding to the court, full of well-tended
+flowers.  Almost every door has a wooden or stone step, and each step is
+worn and white with repeated scrubbings--insomuch that one is
+irresistibly led to suspect that the "Bloaters" must have a strong
+infusion of the Dutch element in their nature.
+
+Emerging at the lower end of the row, Mr Jones and his small companion
+hastened along the centre of a narrow street which led them into one of
+much wider dimensions, named Friar's Lane.  Proceeding along this for
+some time, they diverged to the right into another of the rows not far
+from the old city-wall, at a place where one of the massive towers still
+rears its rugged head as a picturesque ruin.  The moon sailed out from
+under a mass of clouds at this point, giving to objects the distinctness
+of daylight.  Hitherto Billy Towler had retained some idea of the
+direction in which he was being led, but this last turn threw his
+topographical ideas into utter confusion.
+
+"A queer place this," he remarked, as they emerged from the narrowest
+passage they had yet traversed into a neat, snug, and most unexpected
+little square, with a garden in the middle of it, and a flagstaff in one
+corner.
+
+"Adam-and-Eve gardens, they call it," said Mr Jones; "we're pretty nigh
+home now."
+
+"I wonder they didn't call it Eden at once," observed Billy; "it would
+have been shorter and comes to the same thing."
+
+"Here we are at last," said Mr Jones, stumbling against a small door in
+one of the network of rows that surrounded this Yarmouth paradise.
+"Hope the women are in," he added, attempting to lift the latch, but,
+finding that the door was locked, he hammered at it with foot and fist
+violently.
+
+"Hallo!" shouted the deep voice of a man within.
+
+"Hallo, indeed!  Who may _you_ be?" growled Mr Jones with an angry
+oath.  "Open the door, will you?"
+
+The door was opened at once by James Welton, who stood aside to let the
+other pass.
+
+"Oh! it's you, is it?" said Mr Jones.  "Didn't recognise your voice
+through the door.  I thought you couldn't have got the sloop made snug
+so soon.  Well, lass, how are 'ee; and how's the old ooman?"
+
+As the man made these inquiries in a half-hearty voice, he advanced into
+a poorly-furnished apartment, so small and low that it seemed a couple
+of sizes too small for him, and bestowed a kiss first upon the cheek of
+his old mother, who sat cowering over the fire, but brightened up on
+hearing his voice, and then upon the forehead of his daughter Nora, the
+cheerfulness of whose greeting, however, was somewhat checked when she
+observed the intoxicated state of her father.
+
+Nora had a face which, though not absolutely pretty, was intensely
+winsome in consequence of an air of quiet womanly tenderness which
+surrounded it as with a halo.  She was barely eighteen, but her soft
+eyes possessed a look of sorrow and suffering which, if not natural to
+them, had, at all events, become habitual.
+
+"Who is this little boy, father?" she said, turning towards Billy
+Towler, who still stood in the doorway a silent but acute observer of
+all that went on.
+
+"Oh, that? why--a--that's my noo 'prentice just come down from
+Gravesend.  He's been helpin' for some time in the `hang'" (by which Mr
+Jones meant the place where his fish were cured), "and I'm goin' to take
+him to sea with me next trip.  Come in, Billy, and make yourself at
+home."
+
+The boy obeyed with alacrity, and made no objection to a cup of tea and
+slice of bread and butter which Nora placed before him--supper being
+just then in progress.
+
+"You'd better get aboard as soon as may be," said Jones to Jim Welton
+somewhat sternly.  "I didn't expect you to leave the sloop tonight."
+
+"And I didn't intend to leave her," replied Jim, taking no notice of the
+tone in which this was said; "but I thought I'd come up to ask if you
+wished me to begin dischargin' early to-morrow morning."
+
+"No, we're not going to discharge," returned Jones.
+
+"Not going to discharge!" echoed Jim in surprise.  "No.  I find that
+it's not worth while discharging any part of the cargo here.  On the
+contrary, I mean to fill up with bloaters and run over with them to the
+coast of France; so you can go and stow the top tier of casks more
+firmly, and get ready for the noo ones.  Good-night."
+
+The tone in which this was said left no excuse for Jim to linger, so he
+bade the household good-night and departed.
+
+He had not gone far, however, when he was arrested by the sound of a
+light footstep.  It was that of Nora, who had followed him.
+
+"Nora!" exclaimed the young sailor in surprise, returning quickly and
+taking one of the girl's hands in both of his.
+
+"Oh, Jim!" said Nora, with a look and tone of earnest entreaty, "don't,
+don't forsake him just now--if the love which you have so often
+professed for me be true, don't forsake him, I beseech you."
+
+Jim protested in the most emphatic terms that he had no intention of
+forsaking anybody, and made a great many more protestations, in the
+midst of which there were numerous ardent and more or less appropriate
+references to hearts that never deserted their colours, sheet-anchors
+that held on through thick and thin, and needles that pointed, without
+the smallest shadow of variation, to the pole.
+
+"But what makes you think I'm going to leave him?" he asked, at the end
+of one of those flights.
+
+"Because he is so rough to 'ee, Jim," replied the girl, leaning her head
+on her lover's shoulder; "he spoke so gruff even now, and I thought you
+went away huffed.  Oh, Jim, you are the only one that has any influence
+over him--"
+
+"Not the only one," returned Jim, quietly smoothing the fair girl's hair
+with his hard strong hand.
+
+"Well, the only _man_, at any rate," continued Nora, "especially when he
+is overcome with that dreadful drink.  Dear Jim, you won't forsake him,
+will you, even though he should insult, even though he should _strike_
+you?"
+
+"No, never!  Because he is your father, Nora, I'll stick by him in spite
+of all he can say or do to me, and try, God helping me, to save him.
+But I cannot stick by him if--"
+
+"If what?" asked the girl anxiously, observing that he hesitated.
+
+"If he does anything against the laws," said Jim in a low voice.  "It
+isn't that I'm afraid of my good name--I'd even let that go, for _your_
+sake, if by so doing I could get him out of mischief; and as long as I
+know nothing against him _for certain_, I'll stand by him.  But if he
+does fall, and I come to know it, I _must_ leave him, Nora, because I
+won't be art and part in it.  I could no longer go on my knees to pray
+for him if I did that, Nora.  Moreover, if anything o' that sort should
+happen, I must leave the country, because he'd be sure to be caught and
+tried, and I will never stand witness against _your_ father if I can
+avoid it by fair means."
+
+Poor Nora hung her head as she asked in a low voice if Jim really
+thought her father was engaged in illegal practices.
+
+"I can't say that I do," replied the youth earnestly.  "Come, cheer up,
+dearest Nora.  After all, it is chiefly through reports that my
+suspicions have been aroused, and we all know how easy it is for an
+enemy to raise an evil report.  But, Nora, I wish you had not bound me
+to secrecy as to my reason for sticking by your father.  Why should I
+not say boldly that it's all for love of you?"
+
+"Why should you wish to give any reason at all, Jim, and above all,
+_that_ reason?" asked Nora, looking up with a blush.
+
+"Because," said the youth, with a perplexed look, "my secrecy about the
+matter has puzzled my father to such an extent that his confidence in me
+is entirely shaken.  I have been all my life accustomed to open all my
+heart to him, and now, without rhyme or reason, as he thinks, I have
+suddenly gone right round on the other tack, and at the same time, as he
+says, I have taken up with doubtful company.  Now, if--"
+
+The sound of approaching footsteps here brought the interview to an
+abrupt close.  Nora ran back to her poor home, and Jim Welton, directing
+his steps towards the harbour, returned on board the little sloop which
+had been named after the girl of his heart.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+TREATS OF QUEEKER AND OTHERS--ALSO OF YOUTHFUL JEALOUSY, LOVE, POETRY,
+AND CONFUSION OF IDEAS.
+
+Returning, now, to the moon-struck and Katie-smitten Queeker, we find
+that poetic individual walking disconsolately in front of Mr George
+Durant's mansion.
+
+In a previous chapter it has been said that, after composing his
+celebrated lines to the lantern of the floating light, he resolved to
+drop in upon the Durants about tea-time--and well did Queeker know their
+tea-time, although, every time he went there uninvited, the miserable
+hypocrite expressed surprise at finding them engaged with that meal, and
+said he had supposed they must have finished tea by that time!
+
+But, on arriving at the corner of the street, his fluttering heart
+failed him.  The thought of the cousin was a stumbling-block which he
+could not surmount.  He had never met her before; he feared that she
+might be witty, or sarcastic, or sharp in some way or other, and would
+certainly make game of him in the presence of Katie.  He had observed
+this cousin narrowly at the singing-class, and had been much impressed
+with her appearance; but whether this impression was favourable or
+unfavourable was to him, in the then confused state of his feelings, a
+matter of great uncertainty.  Now that he was about to face her, he felt
+convinced that she must be a cynic, who would poison the mind of Katie
+against him, and no power within his unfortunate body was capable of
+inducing him to advance and raise the knocker.
+
+Thus he hung in torments of suspense until nine o'clock, when--in a fit
+of desperation, he rushed madly at the door and committed himself by
+hitting it with his fist.
+
+His equanimity was not restored by its being opened by Mr Durant
+himself.
+
+"Queeker!" exclaimed the old gentleman in surprise; "come in, my dear
+sir; did you stumble against the door?  I hope you haven't hurt
+yourself?"
+
+"Not at all--a--no, not at all; the fact is, I ran up the steps rather
+hastily, and--how do you do, Miss Durant?  I hope you are _quite_ well?"
+
+Poor Queeker said this and shook hands with as much earnestness as if he
+had not seen Katie for five years.
+
+"Quite well, thank you.  My cousin, Fanny Hennings--Mr Queeker."
+
+Fanny bowed and Mr Queeker bowed, and, with a flushed countenance,
+asked her about the state of her health with unnatural anxiety.
+
+"Thank you, Mr Squeeker, I am very well," replied Fanny.
+
+The unhappy youth would have corrected her in regard to his name, but
+hesitated and missed the opportunity, and when, shortly afterwards,
+while engaged in conversation with Mr Durant, he observed Fanny
+giggling violently in a corner by herself, he felt assured that Katie
+had kindly made the correction for him.
+
+The announcement of supper relieved him slightly, and he was beginning
+to calm down over a piece of bread and cheese when the door-bell rang.
+Immediately after a heavy foot was heard in the passage, the parlour
+door was flung open, the maid announced Mr Hall, and a tall elegant
+young man entered the room.  His figure was slender, but his chest was
+deep and his shoulders were broad and square.  An incipient moustache of
+fair hair floated like a summer cloud on his upper lip, which expanded
+with a hearty smile as he advanced towards Mr Durant and held out his
+hand.
+
+"You have forgotten me, I fear," he said.
+
+"Forgotten you!" exclaimed the old gentleman, starting up and seizing
+the young man's hand, which he shook violently--"forgotten Stanley
+Hall--little Stanney, as I used to call you?  Man, how you _are_ grown,
+to be sure.  What a wonderful change!"
+
+"For the worse, I fear!" exclaimed the youth, laughing.
+
+"Come, no fishing for compliments, sir.  Let me introduce you to my
+daughter Katie, my niece Fanny Hennings, and my young friend Queeker.
+Now, then, sit down, and make yourself at home; you're just in time;
+we've only just begun; ring the bell for another plate, Katie.  How glad
+I am to see you, Stanney, my boy--I can't call you by any other than the
+old name, you see.  How did you leave your father, and what brings you
+here?  Come, out with it all at once.  I declare you have quite excited
+me."
+
+Well was it for poor Queeker that every one was too much occupied with
+the newcomer to pay any attention to him, for he could not prevent his
+visage from betraying something of the feelings which harrowed up his
+soul.  The moment he set eyes on Stanley Hall, mortal jealousy--keen,
+rampant, virulent jealousy of the worst type--penetrated every fibre of
+his being, and turned his heart to stone!  We cannot afford space to
+detail the various shades of agony, the degrees of despair, through
+which this unfortunate young man passed during that evening.  A thick
+volume would not suffice to contain it all.  Language is powerless to
+express it.  Only those who have similarly suffered can conceive it.
+
+Of course, we need scarcely add that there was no occasion for jealousy.
+Nothing was further from the mind of Stanley than the idea of falling
+in love with Katie.  Nevertheless, politeness required that he should
+address himself to her occasionally.  At such times, Queeker's soul was
+stabbed in an unutterable manner.  He managed to command himself,
+notwithstanding.  To his credit, be it said, that he refrained from
+using the carving-knife.  He even joined with some show of interest (of
+course hypocritical) in the conversation.
+
+Stanley Hall was not only good-looking, but good-humoured, and full of
+quiet fun and anecdote, so that he quickly ingratiated himself with all
+the members of the family.
+
+"D'you know it makes me feel young again to hear these old stories about
+your father's college-life," said Mr Durant.  "Have some more cheese,
+Stanney--you look like a man who ought to have a good appetite--fill
+your glass and pass the bottle--thanks.  Now, how comes it that you have
+turned up in this out-of-the-way part of the world?  By-the-bye, I hope
+you intend to stay some time, and that you will take up your quarters
+with me?  You can't imagine how much pleasure it would give me to have
+the son of my old companion as a guest for some time.  I'm sure that
+Katie joins me heartily in this hope."
+
+Queeker's spirit sank with horror, and when Katie smilingly seconded her
+father's proposal, his heart stood still with dismay.  Fanny Hennings,
+who had begun to suspect that there was something wrong with Queeker,
+put her handkerchief to her mouth, and coughed with what appeared to be
+unreasonable energy.
+
+"I regret," said Stanley (and Queeker's breath came more freely), "that
+my stay must necessarily be short.  I need not say that it would afford
+me the highest pleasure to accept your kind invitation" (he turned with
+a slight bow to Katie, and Queeker almost fainted), "but the truth is,
+that I have come down on a particular piece of business, in regard to
+which I wish to have your advice, and must return to London to-morrow or
+next day at furthest."
+
+Queeker's heart resumed its office.
+
+"I am sorry to hear that--very sorry.  However, you shall stay to-night
+at all events; and you shall have the best advice I can give you on any
+subject you choose to mention.  By the way talking of advice, you're an
+M.D. now, I fancy?"
+
+"Not yet," replied Stanley.  "I am not quite fledged, although nearly
+so, and I wish to go on a voyage before completing my course."
+
+"Quite right, quite right--see a little of life first, eh?  But how
+comes it, Stanney, that you took kindly to the work at last, for, when I
+knew you first you could not bear the idea of becoming a doctor?"
+
+"One's ideas change, I suppose," replied the youth, with a
+smile,--"probably my making the discovery that I had some talent in that
+direction had something to do with it."
+
+"H'm; how did you make that discovery, my boy?" asked the old gentleman.
+
+"That question can't easily be answered except by my inflicting on you a
+chapter of my early life," replied Stanley, laughing.
+
+"Then inflict it on us without delay, my boy.  I shall delight to
+listen, and so, I am sure, will Katie and Fanny.  As to my young friend
+Queeker, he is of a somewhat literary turn, and may perhaps throw the
+incidents into verse, if they are of a sufficiently romantic character!"
+
+Katie and Fanny declared they would be charmed to hear about it, and
+Queeker said, in a savagely jesting tone, that he was so used to things
+being inflicted on him, that he didn't mind--rather liked it than
+otherwise!
+
+"But you must not imagine," said Stanley, "that I have a thrilling
+narrative to give you, I can merely relate the two incidents which fixed
+my destiny in regard to a profession.  You remember, I daresay, that my
+heart was once set upon going to sea.  Well, like most boys, I refused
+to listen to advice on that point, and told my father that I should
+never make a surgeon--that I had no taste or talent for the medical
+profession.  The more my father tried to reason me out of my desire, the
+more obstinate I became.  The only excuse that I can plead is that I was
+very young, very ignorant, and very stupid.  One day, however, I was
+left in the surgery with a number of dirty phials to wash--my father
+having gone to visit a patient at a short distance, when our servant
+came running in, saying that there was a cab at the door with a poor boy
+who had got his cheek badly cut.  As I knew that my father would be at
+home in less than quarter of an hour, I ordered him to be brought in.
+The poor child--a little delicate boy--was very pale, and bleeding
+profusely from a deep gash in the cheek, made accidentally by a knife
+with which he had been playing.  The mouth was cut open almost to the
+ear.  We laid him on a sofa, and I did what I could to stop the flow of
+blood.  I was not sixteen at the time, and, being very small for my age,
+had never before felt myself in a position to offer advice, and indeed I
+had not much to offer.  But one of the bystanders said to me while we
+were looking at the child,--
+
+"`What do you think should be done, sir?'
+
+"The mere fact of being asked my opinion gratified my vanity, and the
+respectful `sir' with which the question concluded caused my heart to
+beat high with unwonted emotion.  It was the first time I had ever been
+addressed gravely as a man; it was a new sensation, and I think may be
+regarded as an era in my existence.
+
+"With much gravity I replied that of course the wound ought to be sewed
+up.
+
+"`Then sooner it's done the better, I think,' said the bystander, `for
+the poor child will bleed to death if it is allowed to go on like that.'
+
+"A sudden resolution entered into my mind.  I stroked my chin and
+frowned, as if in deep thought, then, turning to the man who had spoken,
+said,--`It ought certainly to be done with as little delay as possible;
+I expect my father to return every minute; but as it is an urgent case,
+I will myself undertake it, if the parents of the child have no
+objection.'
+
+"`Seems to me, lad,' remarked a country fellow, who had helped to carry
+the child in, `that it beant a time to talk o' parients objectin' w'en
+the cheeld's blood'n to deth.  Ye'd better fa' to work at once--if 'ee
+knows how.'
+
+"I cast upon this man a look of scorn, but made no reply.  Going to the
+drawer in which the surgical instruments were kept, I took out those
+that suited my purpose, and went to work with a degree of coolness which
+astonished myself.  I had often seen my father sew up wounds, and had
+assisted at many an operation of the kind, so that, although altogether
+unpractised, I was not ignorant of the proper mode of procedure.  The
+people looked on with breathless interest.  When I had completed the
+operation, I saw my father looking over the shoulders of the people with
+an expression of unutterable surprise not unmingled with amusement.  I
+blushed deeply, and began some sort of explanation, which, however, he
+cut short by observing in an off-hand manner, that the thing had been
+done very well, and the child had better be carried into my bedroom and
+left there to rest for some time.  He thus got the people out of the
+surgery, and then, when we were alone, told me that I was a born
+surgeon, that he could not have done it much better himself, and, in
+short, praised me to such an extent that I felt quite proud of my
+performance."
+
+Queeker, who had listened up to this point with breathless attention,
+suddenly said--
+
+"D'you mean to say that you _really_ did that?"
+
+"I do," replied Stanley with an amused smile.
+
+"Sewed up a mouth cut all the way to the ear?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"With a--a--"
+
+"With a needle and thread," said Stanley.
+
+Queeker's powers of utterance were paralysed.  He looked at the young
+doctor with a species of awe-stricken admiration.  Jealousy, for the
+time, was in abeyance.
+
+"This, then, was the beginning of your love for the profession?" said
+Mr Durant.
+
+"Undoubtedly it was, but a subsequent event confirmed me in my devotion
+to it, and induced me to give up all thoughts of the sea.  The praise
+that I had received from my father--who was not usually lavish of
+complimentary remarks--made me ambitious to excel in other departments
+of surgery, so I fixed upon the extraction of teeth as my next step in
+the profession.  My father had a pretty large practice in that way.  We
+lived, as you remember, in the midst of a populous rural district, and
+had frequent visits from farm servants and labourers with heads tied up
+and lugubrious faces.
+
+"I began to fit myself for duty by hammering big nails into a block of
+wood, and drawing them out again.  This was a device of my own, for I
+wished to give my father another surprise, and did not wish to betray
+what I was about, by asking his advice as to how I should proceed.  I
+then extracted the teeth from the jaw-bones of all the sheep's-heads
+that I could lay hands on; after a good deal of practice in this way, I
+tried to tempt our cook with an offer of five shillings to let me
+extract a back tooth which had caused her a great deal of suffering at
+intervals for many months; but she was a timid woman, and would not have
+allowed me for five guineas, I believe, even to look into her mouth.  I
+also tried to tempt our small stable-boy with a similar sum.  He was a
+plucky little fellow, and, although there was not an unsound tooth in
+his head, agreed to let me draw one of the _smallest_ of his back teeth
+for seven and sixpence if it should come out the first pull, and
+sixpence for every extra rug!  I thought the little fellow extravagant
+in his demands, but, rather than lose the chance, submitted.  He sat
+down quite boldly on our operating chair, but grew pale when I advanced
+with the instrument; when I tried to open his mouth, he began to
+whimper, and finally, struggling out of my grasp, fled.  I afterwards
+gave him sixpence, however, for affording me, as I told him, so much
+pleasurable anticipation.
+
+"After this I cast about for another subject, but failed to procure a
+live one.  It occurred to me, however, that I might try my hand on two
+skeletons that hung in our garret, so I got their heads off without
+delay, and gradually extracted every tooth in their jaws.  As there were
+about sixty teeth, I think, in each pair, I felt myself much improved
+before the jaws were toothless.  At last, I resolved to take advantage
+of the first opportunity that should offer, during my father's absence,
+to practise on the living subject.  It was not long before I had a
+chance.
+
+"One morning my father went out, leaving me in the surgery, as was his
+wont.  I was deeply immersed in a book on anatomy, when I heard a
+tremendous double rap--as if made with the head of a stick--at the outer
+door, and immediately after the question put in the gruff bass voice of
+an Irishman, `Is the dactur within?'
+
+"A tremendous growl of disappointment followed the reply.  Then, after a
+pause, `Is the assistant within?'  This was followed by a heavy tread in
+the passage and, next moment; an enormous man, in very ragged fustian,
+with a bronzed hairy face, and a reaping-hook under his arm, stood in
+the surgery, his head almost touching the ceiling.
+
+"`Sure it's niver the dactur's assistant ye are?' he exclaimed, with a
+look of surprise.
+
+"I rose, drew myself up, and, endeavouring to look very solemn, said
+that I was, and demanded to know if I could do anything for him.
+
+"`Ah, then, it's a small assistant ye are, anyhow,' he remarked; but
+stopped suddenly and his huge countenance was convulsed with pain, as he
+clapped his hand to his face, and uttered a groan, which was at least
+three parts composed of a growl.
+
+"`Hooroo! whirr-r-hach! musha, but it's like the cratur o' Vesoovious
+all alive-o--in me head.  Av it don't split up me jaw--there--ha--och!'
+
+"The giant stamped his foot with such violence that all the glasses,
+cups, and vials in the room rang again, and, clapping both hands over
+his mouth, he bent himself double in a paroxysm of agony.
+
+"I felt a strange mixture of wild delight and alarm shoot through me.
+The chance had come in my way, but in anticipating it I had somehow
+always contemplated operating on some poor boy or old woman.  My
+thoughts had never depicted such a herculean and rude specimen of
+humanity.  At first, he would not believe me capable of extracting a
+tooth; but I spoke with such cool self-possession and assurance--though
+far from feeling either--that he consented to submit to the operation.
+For the sake of additional security, I seated him on the floor, and took
+his head between my knees; and I confess that when seated thus, in such
+close proximity to his rugged as well as massive head, gazing into the
+cavern filled with elephantine tusks, my heart almost failed me.  Far
+back, in the darkest corner of the cave, I saw the decayed tooth--a
+massive lump of glistening ivory, with a black pit in the middle of it.
+Screwing up my courage to the utmost, I applied the key.  The giant
+winced at the touch, but clasped his hard hands together--evidently
+prepared for the worst.  I began to twist with right good-will.  The man
+roared furiously, and gave a convulsive heave that almost upset myself
+and the big chair, and disengaged the key!
+
+"`Oh, come,' said I, remonstratively, `you ought to stand it better than
+that! why, the worst of it was almost over.'
+
+"`Was it, though?' he inquired earnestly, with an upward glance, that
+gave to his countenance in that position a hideous aspect.  `Sure it had
+need be, for the worst baits all that iver I drained of.  Go at it
+again, me boy.'
+
+"Resolving to make sure work of it next time, I fixed the key again,
+and, after getting it pretty tight--at which point he evidently fancied
+the worst had been again reached--I put forth all my strength in one
+tremendous twist.
+
+"I failed for a moment to draw the tusk, but I drew forth a prolonged
+roar, that can by no means be conceived or described.  The Irishman
+struggled.  I held on tight to his head with my knees.  The chair
+tottered on its legs.  Letting go the hair of his head, I clapped my
+left hand to my right, and with both arms redoubled the strain.  The
+roar rose into a terrible yowl.  There was a crash like the rending of a
+forest tree.  I dropped the instrument, sprang up, turned the chair on
+the top of the man, and cramming it down on him rushed to the door,
+which I threw open, and then faced about.
+
+"There was a huge iron pestle lying on a table near my hand.  Seizing
+it, I swayed it gently to and fro, ready to knock him down with it if he
+should rush at me, or to turn and fly, as should seem most advisable.  I
+was terribly excited, and a good deal alarmed as to the possible
+consequences, but managed with much difficulty to look collected.
+
+"The big chair was hurled into a corner as he rose sputtering from the
+floor, and holding his jaws with both hands.
+
+"`Och! ye spalpeen, is that the way ye trait people?'
+
+"`Yes,' I replied in a voice of forced calmness, `we usually put a
+restraint on strong men like you, when they're likely to be violent.'
+
+"I saw the corners of his eyes wrinkle a little, and felt more
+confidence.
+
+"`Arrah, but it's the jawbone ye've took out, ye goormacalluchscrowl!'
+
+"`No, it isn't, it's only the tooth,' I replied, going forward and
+picking it up from the floor.
+
+"The amazement of the man is not to be described.  I gave him a tumbler
+of water, and, pointing to a basin, told him to wash out his mouth,
+which he did, looking at me all the time, however, and following me with
+his astonished eyes, as I moved about the room.  He seemed to have been
+bereft of the power of speech; for all that he could say after that was,
+`Och! av yer small yer cliver!'
+
+"On leaving he asked what was to pay.  I said that I'd ask nothing, as
+he had stood it so well; and he left me with the same look of
+astonishment in his eyes and words of commendation on his lips."
+
+"Well, that _was_ a tremendous experience to begin with," said Mr
+Durant, laughing; "and so it made you a doctor?"
+
+"It helped.  When my father came home I presented him with the tooth,
+and from that day to this I have been hard at work; but I feel a little
+seedy just now from over-study, so I have resolved to try to get a berth
+as surgeon on board a ship bound for India, Australia, China, or South
+America, and, as you are a shipowner and old friend, I thought it just
+possible you might be not only willing but able to help me to what I
+want."
+
+"And you thought right, Stanney, my boy," said the old gentleman
+heartily; "I have a ship going to sail for India in a few weeks, and we
+have not yet appointed a surgeon.  You shall have that berth if it suits
+you."
+
+At this point they were interrupted by the entrance of a servant maid
+with the announcement that there was a man in the lobby who wished to
+see Mr Durant.
+
+"I'll be back shortly," said the old gentleman to Stanley as he rose;
+"go to the drawing-room, girls, and give Mr Hall some music.  You'll
+find that my Katie sings and plays very sweetly, although she won't let
+me say so.  Fanny joins her with a fine contralto, I believe, and
+Queeker, too, he sings--a--a what is it, Queeker?--a bass or a
+baritone--eh?"
+
+Without waiting for a reply, Mr Durant left the room, and found Morley
+Jones standing in the lobby, hat in hand.
+
+The old gentleman's expression changed instantly, and he said with much
+severity--
+
+"Well, Mr Jones, what do _you_ want?"
+
+Morley begged the favour of a private interview for a few minutes.
+After a moment's hesitation, Mr Durant led him into his study.
+
+"Another loan, I suppose?" said the old gentleman, as he lit the gas.
+
+"I had expected to have called to pay the last loan, sir," replied Mr
+Jones somewhat boldly, "but one can't force the market.  I have my sloop
+down here loaded with herrings, and if I chose to sell at a loss, could
+pay my debt to you twice over; but surely it can scarcely be expected of
+me to do that.  I hear there is a rise in France just now, and mean to
+run over there with them.  I shall be sure to dispose of 'em to
+advantage.  On my return, I'll pay your loan with interest."
+
+Morley Jones paused, and Mr Durant looked at him attentively for a few
+seconds.
+
+"Is this all you came to tell me?"
+
+"Why, no sir, not exactly," replied Jones, a little disconcerted by the
+stern manner of the old gentleman.  "The sloop is not quite filled up,
+she could stow a few more casks, but I have been cleaned out, and unless
+I can get the loan of forty or fifty pounds--"
+
+"Ha!  I thought so.  Are you aware, Mr Jones, that your character for
+honesty has of late been called in question?"
+
+"I am aware that I have got enemies," replied the fish-merchant coldly.
+"If their false reports are to be believed to my disadvantage, of course
+I cannot expect--"
+
+"It is not my belief in their reports," replied Mr Durant, "that
+creates suspicion in me, but I couple these reports with the fact that
+you have again and again deceived me in regard to the repayment of the
+loans which you have already received at various times from me."
+
+"I can't help ill-luck, sir," said Morley with a downcast look.  "If
+men's friends always deserted them at the same time with fortune there
+would be an end of all trade."
+
+"Mr Jones," said the other decidedly, "I tell you plainly that you are
+presumptuous when you count me one of your _friends_.  Your deceased
+brother, having been an old and faithful servant of mine, was considered
+by me a friend, and it is out of regard to his memory alone that I have
+assisted _you_.  Even now, I will lend you the sum you ask, but be
+assured it is the last you shall ever get from me.  I distrust you, sir,
+and I tell you so--flatly."
+
+While he was speaking the old gentleman had opened a desk.  He now sat
+down and wrote out a cheque, which he handed to his visitor, who
+received it with a grim smile and a curt acknowledgment, and instantly
+took his leave.
+
+Mr Durant smoothed the frown from his brow, and returned to the
+drawing-room, where Katie's sweet voice instantly charmed away the
+memory of the evil spirit that had just left him.
+
+The table was covered with beautiful pencil sketches and chalk-heads and
+water-colour drawings in various stages of progression--all of which
+were the production of the same fair, busy, and talented little hand
+that copied the accounts for the Board of Trade, for love instead of
+money, without a blot, and without defrauding of dot or stroke a single
+_i_ or _t_!
+
+Queeker was gazing at one of the sketches with an aspect so haggard and
+savage that Mr Durant could not refrain from remarking it.
+
+"Why, Queeker, you seem to be displeased with that drawing, eh?  What's
+wrong with it?"
+
+"Oh, ah!" exclaimed the youth, starting, and becoming very red in the
+face--"no, not with the drawing, it is beautiful--_most_ beautiful, but
+I--in--fact I was thinking, sir, that thought sometimes leads us into
+regions of gloom in which--where--one can't see one's way, and _ignes
+fatui_ mislead or--or--"
+
+"Very true, Queeker," interrupted the old gentleman, good-humouredly;
+"thought is a wonderful quality of the mind--transports us in a moment
+from the Indies to the poles; fastens with equal facility on the
+substantial and the impalpable; gropes among the vague generalities of
+the abstract, and wriggles with ease through the thick obscurities of
+the concrete--eh, Queeker?  Come, give us a song, like a good fellow."
+
+"I never sing--I _cannot_ sing, sir," said the youth, hurriedly.
+
+"No! why, I thought Katie said you were attending the singing-class."
+
+The fat cousin was observed here to put her handkerchief to her mouth
+and bend convulsively over a drawing.
+
+Queeker explained that he had just begun to attend, but had not yet
+attained sufficient confidence to sing in public.  Then, starting up he
+suddenly pulled out his watch, exclaimed that he was quite ashamed of
+having remained so late, shook hands nervously all round, and, rushing
+from the house, left Stanley Hall in possession of the field!
+
+Now, the poor youth's state of mind is not easily accounted for.
+Stanley, being a close observer, had at an early part of the evening
+detected the cause of Queeker's jealousy, and, being a kindly fellow,
+sought, by devoting himself to Fanny Hennings, to relieve his young
+friend; but, strange to say, Queeker was _not_ relieved!  This fact was
+a matter of profound astonishment even to Queeker himself, who went home
+that night in a state of mind which cannot be adequately described, sat
+down before his desk, and, with his head buried in his hands, thought
+intensely.
+
+"Can it be," he murmured in a sepulchral voice, looking up with an
+expression of horror, "that I love them _both_?  Impossible.  Horrible!
+Perish the thought--yes."  Seizing a pen:--
+
+  "Perish the thought
+  Which never ought
+  To be,
+  Let not the thing."
+
+"Thing--wing--bing--ping--jing--ring--ling--ting--cling--dear me! what a
+lot of words with little or no meaning there are in the English
+language!--what _will_ rhyme with--ah!  I have it--sting--"
+
+  "Let not the thing
+  Reveal its sting
+  To me!"
+
+Having penned these lines, Queeker heaved a deep sigh--cast one long
+lingering gaze on the moon, and went to bed.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+THE SLOOP NORA--MR. JONES BECOMES COMMUNICATIVE, AND BILLY TOWLER, FOR
+THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE, THOUGHTFUL.
+
+A dead calm, with a soft, golden, half-transparent mist, had settled
+down on Old Father Thames, when, early one morning, the sloop Nora
+floated rather than sailed towards the mouth of that celebrated river,
+bent, in the absence of wind, on creeping out to sea with the tide.
+
+Jim Welton stood at the helm, which, in the circumstances, required only
+attention from one of his legs, so that his hands rested idly in his
+coat pockets.  Morley Jones stood beside him.
+
+"So you managed the insurance, did you?" said Jim in a careless way, as
+though he put the question more for the sake of saying something than
+for any interest he had in the matter.
+
+Mr Jones, whose eyes and manner betrayed the fact that even at that
+early hour he had made application to the demon-spirit which led him
+captive at its will, looked suspiciously at his questioner, and
+replied--
+
+"Well, yes, I've managed it."
+
+"For how much?" inquired Jim.
+
+"For 300 pounds."
+
+Jim looked surprised.  "D'ye think the herring are worth that?" he
+asked.
+
+"No, they ain't, but there's some general cargo besides as'll make it up
+to that, includin' the value o' the sloop, which I've put down at 100
+pounds.  Moreover, Jim, I have named you as the skipper.  They required
+his name, d'ye see, and as I'm not exactly a seafarin' man myself, an'
+wanted to appear only as the owner, I named you."
+
+"But that was wrong," said Jim, "for I'm _not_ the master."
+
+"Yes, you are," replied Morley, with a laugh.  "I make you master now.
+So, pray, Captain Welton, attend to your duty, and be civil to your
+employer.  There's a breeze coming that will send you foul o' the Maplin
+light if you don't look out."
+
+"What's the name o' the passenger that came aboard at Gravesend, and
+what makes him take a fancy to such a craft as this?" inquired Jim.
+
+"I can answer these questions for myself," said the passenger referred
+to, who happened at that moment to come on deck.  "My name is Stanley
+Hall, and I have taken a fancy to the Nora chiefly because she somewhat
+resembles in size and rig a yacht which belonged to my father, and in
+which I have had many a pleasant cruise.  I am fond of the sea, and
+prefer going to Ramsgate in this way rather than by rail.  I suppose you
+will approve my preference of the sea?" he added, with a smile.
+
+"I do, indeed," responded Jim.  "The sea is my native element.  I could
+swim in it as soon a'most as I could walk, and I believe that--one way
+or other, in or on it--I have had more to do with it than with the
+land."
+
+"You are a good swimmer, then, I doubt not?" said Stanley.
+
+"Pretty fair," replied Jim, modestly.
+
+"Pretty fair!" echoed Morley Jones, "why, he's the best swimmer, I'll be
+bound, in Norfolk--ay, if he were brought to the test I do b'lieve he'd
+turn out to be the best in the kingdom."
+
+On the strength of this subject the two young men struck up an
+acquaintance, which, before they had been long together, ripened into
+what might almost be styled a friendship.  They had many sympathies in
+common.  Both were athletic; both were mentally as well as physically
+active, and, although Stanley Hall had the inestimable advantage of a
+liberal education, Jim Welton possessed a naturally powerful intellect,
+with a capacity for turning every scrap of knowledge to good use.
+
+Their conversation was at that time, however, cut short by the springing
+up of a breeze, which rendered it necessary that the closest attention
+should be paid to the management of the vessel among the numerous shoals
+which rendered the navigation there somewhat difficult.
+
+It may be that many thousands of those who annually leave London on
+voyages, short and long--of profit and pleasure--have very little idea
+of the intricacy of the channels through which they pass, and the number
+of obstructions which, in the shape of sandbanks, intersect the mouth of
+the Thames at its junction with the ocean.  Without pilots, and an
+elaborate well-considered system of lights, buoys, and beacons, a vessel
+would be about as likely to reach London from the ocean, or _vice
+versa_, in safety, as a man who should attempt to run through an old
+timber-yard blindfold would be to escape with unbroken neck and shins.
+Of shoals there are the East and West Barrows, the Nob, the Knock, the
+John, the Sunk, the Girdler, and the Long sands, all lying like so many
+ground-sharks, quiet, unobtrusive, but very deadly, waiting for ships to
+devour, and getting them too, very frequently, despite the precautions
+taken to rob them of their costly food.
+
+These sand-sharks (if we may be allowed the expression) separate the
+main channels, which are named respectively the Swin or King's channel,
+on the north, and the Prince's, the Queen's, and the South channels, on
+the south.  The channel through which the Nora passed was the Swin,
+which, though not used by first-class ships, is perhaps the most
+frequented by the greater portion of the coasting and colliery vessels,
+and all the east country craft.  The traffic is so great as to be almost
+continuous; innumerable vessels being seen in fine weather passing to
+and fro as far as the eye can reach.  To mark this channel alone there
+was, at the time we write of, the Mouse light-vessel, at the western
+extremity of the Mouse sand; the Maplin lighthouse, on the sand of the
+same name; the Swin middle light-vessel, at the western extremity of the
+Middle and Heaps sand; the Whittaker beacon, and the Sunk light-vessel
+on the Sunk sand--besides other beacons and numerous buoys.  When we add
+that floating lights and beacons cost thousands and hundreds of pounds
+to build, and that even buoys are valued in many cases at more than a
+hundred pounds each, besides the cost of maintenance, it may be
+conceived that the great work of lighting and buoying the channels of
+the kingdom--apart from the _light-house_ system altogether--is one of
+considerable expense, constant anxiety, and vast national importance.
+It may also be conceived that the Elder Brethren of the Corporation of
+Trinity House--by whom, from the time of Henry VIII down to the present
+day, that arduous duty has been admirably performed--hold a position of
+the highest responsibility.
+
+It is not our intention, however, to trouble the reader with further
+remarks on this subject at this point in our tale.  In a future chapter
+we shall add a few facts regarding the Trinity Corporation, which will
+doubtless prove interesting; meanwhile we have said sufficient to show
+that there was good reason for Jim Welton to hold his tongue and mind
+his helm.
+
+When the dangerous navigation was past, Mr Jones took Billy Towler
+apart, and, sitting down near the weather gangway, entered into a
+private and confidential talk with that sprightly youngster.
+
+"Billy, my boy," he said, with a leer that was meant to be at once
+amiable and patronising, "you and I suit each other very well, don't
+we?"
+
+Billy, who had been uncommonly well treated by his new master, thrust
+his hands into the waistband of his trousers, and, putting his head
+meditatively on one side, said in a low voice--
+
+"H'm--well, yes, you suit me pretty well."
+
+The respectable fish-curer chuckled, and patted his protege on the back.
+After which he proceeded to discuss, or rather to detail, some matters
+which, had he been less affected by the contents of Square-Tom, he might
+have hesitated to touch upon.
+
+"Yes" he said, "you'll do very well, Billy.  You're a good boy and a
+sharp one, which, you see, is exactly what I need.  There are a lot o'
+small matters that I want you to do for me, and that couldn't be very
+well done by anybody else; 'cause, d'ye see, there ain't many lads o'
+your age who unite so many good qualities."
+
+"Very true," remarked Billy, gravely nodding his head--which, by the
+way, was now decorated with a small straw hat and blue ribbon, as was
+his little body with a blue Guernsey shirt, and his small legs with
+white duck trousers of approved sailor cut.
+
+"Now, among other things," resumed Morley, "I want you to learn some
+lessons."
+
+Billy shook his head with much decision.
+
+"That won't go down, Mister Jones.  I don't mean for to larn no more
+lessons.  I've 'ad more than enough o' that.  Fact is I consider myself
+edicated raither 'igher than usual.  Can't I read and write, and do a
+bit o' cypherin'?  Moreover, I knows that the world goes round the sun,
+w'ich is contrairy to the notions o' the haincients, wot wos rediklous
+enough to suppose that the sun went round the world.  And don't I know
+that the earth is like a orange, flattened at the poles? though I don't
+b'lieve there _is_ no poles, an' don't care a button if there was.
+That's enough o' jogrify for my money; w'en I wants more I'll ax for
+it."
+
+"But it ain't that sort o' lesson I mean, Billy," said Mr Jones, who
+was somewhat amused at the indignant tone in which all this was said.
+"The lesson I want you to learn is this: I want you to git off by heart
+what you and I are doin', an' going to do, so that if you should ever
+come to be questioned about it at different times by different people,
+you might always give 'em the same intelligent answer,--d'ye
+understand?"
+
+"Whew!" whistled the boy, opening his eyes and showing his teeth; "beaks
+an' maginstrates, eh?"
+
+"Just so.  And remember, my boy, that you and I have been doin' one or
+two things together of late that makes it best for both of us to be very
+affectionate to, and careful about, each other.  D'ye understand that?"
+
+Billy Towler pursed his little red lips as he nodded his small head and
+winked one of his large blue eyes.  A slight deepening of the red on his
+cheeks told eloquently enough that he _did_ understand that.
+
+The tempter had gone a long way in his course by that time.  So many of
+the folds of the thin net had been thrown over the little thoughtless
+victim, that, light-hearted and defiant though he was by nature, he had
+begun to experience a sense of restraint which was quite new to him.
+
+"Now, Billy," continued Jones, "let me tell you that our prospects are
+pretty bright just now.  I have effected an insurance on my sloop and
+cargo for 300 pounds, which means that I've been to a certain great city
+that you and I know of, and paid into a company--we shall call it the
+Submarine Insurance Company--a small sum for a bit of paper, which they
+call a policy, by which they bind themselves to pay me 300 pounds if I
+should lose my ship and cargo.  You see, my lad, the risks of the sea
+are very great, and there's no knowing what may happen between this and
+the coast of France, to which we are bound after touching at Ramsgate.
+D'ye understand?"
+
+Billy shook his head, and with an air of perplexity said that he "wasn't
+quite up to that dodge--didn't exactly see through it."
+
+"Supposin'," said he, "you does lose the sloop an' cargo, why, wot
+then?--the sloop an' cargo cost somethin', I dessay?"
+
+"Ah, Billy, you're a smart boy--a knowing young rascal," replied Mr
+Jones, nodding approval; "of course they cost something, but therein
+lies the advantage.  The whole affair, sloop an' cargo, ain't worth more
+than a few pounds; so, if I throw it all away, it will be only losing a
+few pounds for the sake of gaining three hundred.  What think you of
+that, lad?"
+
+"I think the Submarine Insurance Company must be oncommon green to be
+took in so easy," replied the youngster with a knowing smile.
+
+"They ain't exactly green either, boy, but they know that if they made
+much fuss and bother about insuring they would soon lose their
+customers, so they often run the risk of a knowin' fellow like me, and
+take the loss rather than scare people away.  You know, if a grocer was
+in the habit of carefully weighing and testing with acid every sovereign
+he got before he would sell a trifle over the counter,--if he called
+every note in question, and sent up to the bank to see whether it wasn't
+a forgery, why, his honest customers wouldn't be able to stand it.
+They'd give him up.  So he just gives the sovereign a ring and the note
+a glance an' takes his chance.  So it is in some respects with insurance
+companies.  They look at the man and the papers, see that all's right,
+as well as they can, and hope for the best.  That's how it is."
+
+"Ha! they must be jolly companies to have to do with.  I'd like to
+transact some business with them submarines," said the boy, gravely.
+
+"And so you shall, my lad, so you shall," cried Mr Jones with a laugh;
+"all in good time.  Well, as I was saying, the cargo ain't worth much;
+it don't extend down to the keel, Billy, by no means; and as for the
+sloop--she's not worth a rope's-end.  She's as rotten as an old coffin.
+It's all I've been able to do to make her old timbers hold together for
+this voyage."
+
+Billy Towler opened his eyes very wide at this, and felt slightly
+uncomfortable.
+
+"If she goes down in mid-channel," said he, "it strikes me that the
+submarines will get the best of it, 'cause it don't seem to me that
+you're able to swim eight or ten miles at a stretch."
+
+"We have a boat, Billy, we have a boat, my smart boy."
+
+Mr Jones accompanied this remark with a wink and a slight poke with his
+thumb in the smart boy's side, which, however, did not seem to have the
+effect of reassuring Billy, for he continued to raise various
+objections, such as the improbability of the sloop giving them time to
+get into a boat when she took it into her head to go down, and the
+likelihood of their reaching the land in the event of such a disaster
+occurring during a gale or even a stiff breeze.  To all of which Mr
+Jones replied that he might make his mind easy, because he (Jones) knew
+well what he was about, and would manage the thing cleverly.
+
+"Now, Billy, here's the lesson that you've got to learn.  Besides
+remembering everything that I have told you, and only answering
+questions in the way that I have partly explained, and will explain more
+fully at another time, you will take particular note that we left the
+Thames to-day all right with a full cargo--Jim Welton bein' master, and
+one passenger bein' aboard, whom we agreed to put ashore at Ramsgate.
+That you heard me say the vessel and cargo were insured for 300 pounds,
+but were worth more, and that I said I hoped to make a quick voyage over
+and back.  Besides all this, Billy, boy, you'll keep a sharp look-out,
+and won't be surprised if I should teach you to steer, and get the
+others on board to go below.  If you should observe me do anything while
+you are steering, or should hear any noises, you'll be so busy with the
+tiller and the compass that you'll forget all about _that_, and never be
+able to answer any questions about such things at all.  Have I made all
+that quite plain to you?"
+
+"Yes, captain; hall right."
+
+Billy had taken to styling his new employer captain, and Mr Jones did
+not object.
+
+"Well, go for'ard and take a nap.  I shall want you to-night perhaps; it
+may be not till to-morrow night."
+
+The small boy went forward, as he was bid, and, leaning over the bulwark
+of the Nora, watched for a long time the rippling foam that curled from
+her bows and slid quietly along her black hull, but Billy's thoughts
+were not, like his eyes, fixed upon the foam.  For the first time in his
+life, perhaps, the foundling outcast began to feel that he was running
+in a dangerous road, and entertained some misgivings that he was an
+uncommonly wild, if not wicked, fellow.  It is not to be supposed that
+his perceptions on this subject were very clear, or his meditations
+unusually profound, but it is certain that, during the short period of
+his residence in the school of which mention has been made, his
+conscience had been awakened and partially enlightened, so that his
+precociously quick intelligence enabled him to arrive at a more just
+apprehension of his condition than might have been expected,--
+considering his years and early training.
+
+We do not say that Billy's heart smote him.  That little organ was
+susceptible only of impressions of jollity and mischief.  In other
+respects--never having been appealed to by love--it was as hard as a
+small millstone.  But the poor boy's anxieties were aroused, and the new
+sensation appeared to add a dozen years to his life.  Up to this time he
+had been accustomed to estimate his wickednesses by the number of days,
+weeks, or months of incarceration that they involved--"a wipe," he would
+say, "was so many weeks," a "silver sneezing-box," or a "gold ticker,"
+in certain circumstances, so many more; while a "crack," i.e. a burglary
+(to which, by the way, he had only aspired as yet) might cost something
+like a trip over the sea at the Queen's expense; but it had never
+entered into the head of the small transgressor of the law to meditate
+such an awful deed as the sinking of a ship, involving as it did the
+possibility of murder and suicide, or hanging if he should escape the
+latter contingency.
+
+Moreover, he now began to realise more clearly the fact that he had cast
+in his lot with a desperate man, who would stick at nothing, and from
+whose clutches he felt assured that it would be no easy matter to
+escape.  He resolved, however, to make the attempt the first favourable
+opportunity that should offer; and while the resolve was forming in his
+small brain his little brows frowned sternly at the foam on the Nora's
+cutwater.  When the resolve was fairly formed, fixed, and disposed of,
+Billy's brow cleared, and his heart rose superior to its cares.  He
+turned gaily round.  Observing that the seaman, who with himself and Jim
+Welton composed the crew of the sloop, was sitting on the heel of the
+bowsprit half asleep, he knocked his cap off, dived down the fore-hatch
+with a merry laugh, flung himself into his berth, and instantly fell
+asleep, to dream of the dearest joys that had as yet crossed his earthly
+path--namely, his wayward wanderings, on long summer days, among the
+sunny fields and hedgerows of Hampstead, Kensington, Finchley, and other
+suburbs of London.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+MR. JONES TAKES STRONG MEASURES TO SECURE HIS ENDS, AND INTRODUCES BILLY
+AND HIS FRIENDS TO SOME NEW SCENES AND MOMENTS.
+
+Again we are in the neighbourhood of the Goodwin sands.  It is evening.
+The sun has just gone down.  The air and sea are perfectly still.  The
+stars are coming out one by one, and the floating lights have already
+hoisted their never-failing signals.
+
+The Nora lies becalmed not far from the Goodwin buoy, with her sails
+hanging idly on the yards.  Bill Towler stands at the helm with all the
+aspect and importance of a steersman, but without any other duty to
+perform than the tiller could have performed for itself.  Morley Jones
+stands beside him with his hands in his coat pockets, and Stanley Hall
+sits on the cabin skylight gazing with interest at the innumerable
+lights of the shipping in the roadstead, and the more distant houses on
+shore.  Jim Welton, having been told that he will have to keep watch all
+night, is down below taking a nap, and Grundy, having been ordered below
+to attend to some trifling duty in the fore part of the vessel, is also
+indulging in slumber.
+
+Long and earnestly and anxiously had Morley Jones watched for an
+opportunity to carry his plans into execution, but as yet without
+success.  Either circumstances were against him, or his heart had failed
+him at the push.  He walked up and down the deck with uncertain steps,
+sat down and rose up frequently, and growled a good deal--all of which
+symptoms were put down by Stanley to the fact that there was no wind.
+
+At last Morley stopped in front of his passenger and said to him--
+
+"I really think you'd better go below and have a nap, Mr Hall.  It's
+quite clear that we are not goin' to have a breeze till night, and it
+may be early morning when we call you to go ashore; so, if you want to
+be fit for much work to-morrow, you'd better sleep while you may."
+
+"Thank you, I don't require much sleep," replied Stanley; "in fact, I
+can easily do without rest at any time for a single night, and be quite
+able for work next day.  Besides, I have no particular work to do
+to-morrow, and I delight to sit at this time of the night and watch the
+shipping.  I'm not in your way, am I?"
+
+"Oh, not at all, not at all," replied the fish-merchant, as he resumed
+his irregular walk.
+
+This question was prompted by the urgency with which the advice to go
+below had been given.
+
+Seeing that nothing was to be made of his passenger in this way, Morley
+Jones cast about in his mind to hit upon another expedient to get rid of
+him, and reproached himself for having been tempted by a good fare to
+let him have a passage.
+
+Suddenly his eye was attracted by a dark object floating in the sea a
+considerable distance to the southward of them.
+
+"That's lucky," muttered Jones, after examining it carefully with the
+glass, while a gleam of satisfaction shot across his dark countenance;
+"could not have come in better time.  Nothing could be better."
+
+Shutting up the glass with decision, he turned round, and the look of
+satisfaction gave place to one of impatience as his eye fell on Stanley
+Hall, who still sat with folded arms on the skylight, looking as
+composed and serene as if he had taken up his quarters there for the
+night.  After one or two hasty turns on the deck, an idea appeared to
+hit Mr Jones, for he smiled in a grim fashion, and muttered, "I'll try
+that, if the breeze would only come."
+
+The breeze appeared to have been waiting for an invitation, for one or
+two "cat's-paws" ruffled the surface of the sea as he spoke.
+
+"Mind your helm, boy," said Mr Jones suddenly; "let her away a point;
+so, steady.  Keep her as she goes; and, harkee" (he stooped down and
+whispered), "_when I open the skylight_ do you call down, `breeze
+freshenin', sir, and has shifted a point to the west'ard.'"
+
+"By the way, Mr Hall," said Jones, turning abruptly to his passenger,
+"you take so much interest in navigation that I should like to show you
+a new chart I've got of the channels on this part of the coast.  Will
+you step below?"
+
+"With pleasure," replied Stanley, rising and following Jones, who
+immediately spread out on the cabin table one of his most intricate
+charts,--which, as he had expected, the young student began to examine
+with much interest,--at the same time plying the other with numerous
+questions.
+
+"Stay," said Jones, "I'll open the skylight--don't you find the cabin
+close?"
+
+No sooner was the skylight opened than the small voice of Billy Towler
+was heard shouting--
+
+"Breeze freshenin', sir, and has shifted a pint to the west'ard."
+
+"All right," replied Jones;--"excuse me, sir, I'll take a look at the
+sheets and braces and see that all's fast--be back in a few minutes."
+
+He went on deck, leaving Stanley busy with the chart.
+
+"You're a smart boy, Billy.  Now do as I tell 'ee, and keep your weather
+eye open.  D'ye see that bit o' floating wreck a-head?  Well, keep
+straight for that and _run right against it_.  I'll trust to 'ee, boy,
+that ye don't miss it."
+
+Billy said that he would be careful, but resolved in his heart that he
+_would_ miss it!
+
+Jones then went aft to a locker near the stern, whence he returned with
+a mallet and chisel, and went below.  Immediately thereafter Billy heard
+the regular though slight blows of the mallet, and pursed his red lips
+and screwed up his small visage into a complicated sign of intelligence.
+
+There was very little wind, and the sloop made slow progress towards the
+piece of wreck although it was very near, and Billy steered as far from
+it as he could without absolutely altering the course.
+
+Presently Jones returned on deck and replaced the mallet and chisel in
+the locker.  He was very warm and wiped the perspiration frequently from
+his forehead.  Observing that the sloop was not so near the wreck as he
+had expected, he suddenly seized the small steersman by the neck and
+shook him as a terrier dog shakes a rat.
+
+"Billy," said he, quickly, in a low but stern voice, "it's of no use.  I
+see what you are up to.  Your steerin' clear o' that won't prevent this
+sloop from bein' at the bottom in quarter of an hour, if not sooner!  If
+you hit it you may save yourself and me a world of trouble.  It's so
+much for your own interest, boy, to hit that bit of wreck, _that I'll
+trust you again_."
+
+So saying, Jones went down into the cabin, apologised for having kept
+Stanley waiting so long, said that he could not leave the boy at the
+helm alone for more than a few minutes at a time, and that he would have
+to return on deck immediately after he had made an entry on the log
+slate.
+
+Had any one watched Morley Jones while he was making that entry on the
+log slate, he would have perceived that the strong man's hand trembled
+excessively, that perspiration stood in beads upon his brow, and that
+the entry itself consisted of a number of unmeaning and wavering
+strokes.
+
+Meanwhile Billy Towler, left in sole possession of the sloop, felt
+himself in a most unenviable state of mind.  He knew that the crisis had
+arrived, and the decisive tone of his tyrant's last remark convinced him
+that it would be expedient for himself to obey orders.  On the other
+hand, he remembered that he had deliberately resolved to throw off his
+allegiance, and as he drew near the piece of wreck, he reflected that he
+was at that moment assisting in an act which might cost the lives of all
+on board.
+
+Driven to and fro between doubts and fears, the poor boy kept changing
+the course of the sloop in a way that would have soon rendered the
+hitting of the wreck an impossibility, when a sudden and rather sharp
+puff of wind caused the Nora to bend over, and the foam to curl on her
+bow as she slipped swiftly through the water.  Billy decided at that
+moment to _miss_ the wreck when he was close upon it, and for that
+purpose deliberately and smartly put the helm hard a-starboard.
+
+Poor fellow, his seamanship was not equal to his courage!  So badly did
+he steer, that the very act which was meant to carry him past the wreck,
+thrust him right upon it!
+
+The shock, although a comparatively slight one, was sufficiently severe
+to arouse the sleepers, to whom the unwonted sensation and sound carried
+the idea of sudden disaster.  Jim and Grundy rushed on deck, where they
+found Morley Jones already on the bulwarks with a boat-hook, shouting
+for aid, while Stanley Hall assisted him with an oar to push the sloop
+off what appeared to be the topmast and cross-trees of a vessel, with
+which she was entangled.
+
+Jim and Grundy each seized an oar, and, exerting their strength, they
+were soon clear of the wreck.
+
+"Well," observed Jim, wiping his brow with the sleeve of his coat, "it's
+lucky it was but a light topmast and a light breeze, it can't have done
+us any damage worth speaking of."
+
+"I don't know that," said Jones.  "There are often iron bolts and sharp
+points about such wreckage that don't require much force to drive 'em
+through a ship's bottom.  Take a look into the hold, Jim, and see that
+all's right."
+
+Jim descended into the hold, but immediately returned, exclaiming
+wildly--
+
+"Why, the sloop's sinkin'!  Lend a hand here if you don't want to go
+down with her," he cried, leaping towards the boat.
+
+Stanley Hall and Grundy at once lent a hand to get out the boat, while
+the fish-merchant, uttering a wild oath, jumped into the hold as if to
+convince himself of the truth of Jim's statement.  He returned quickly,
+exclaiming--
+
+"She must have started a plank.  It's rushing in like a sluice.  Look
+alive, lads; out with her!"
+
+The boat was shoved outside the bulwarks, and let go by the run; the
+oars were flung hastily in, and all jumped into her as quickly as
+possible, for the deck of the Nora was already nearly on a level with
+the water.  They were not a minute too soon.  They had not pulled fifty
+yards from their late home when she gave a sudden lurch to port and went
+down stern foremost.
+
+To say that the party looked aghast at this sudden catastrophe, would be
+to give but a feeble idea of the state of their minds.  For some minutes
+they could do nothing but stare in silence at the few feet of the Nora's
+topmast which alone remained above water as a sort of tombstone to mark
+her ocean grave.
+
+When they did at length break silence, it was in short interjectional
+remarks, as they resumed the oars.
+
+Mr Jones, without making a remark of any kind, shipped the rudder; the
+other four pulled.
+
+"Shall we make for land?" asked Jim Welton, after a time.
+
+"Not wi' the tide running like this," answered Jones; "we'll make the
+Gull, and get 'em to take us aboard till morning.  At slack tide we can
+go ashore."
+
+In perfect silence they rowed towards the floating light, which was not
+more than a mile distant from the scene of the disaster.  As the ebb
+tide was running strong, Jim hailed before they were close
+alongside--"Gull, ahoy! heave us a rope, will you?"
+
+There was instant bustle on board the floating light, and as the boat
+came sweeping past a growl of surprise was heard to issue from the
+mate's throat as he shouted, "Look out!"
+
+A rope came whirling down on their heads, which was caught and held on
+to by Jim.
+
+"All right, father," he said, looking up.
+
+"All wrong, I think," replied the sire, looking down.  "Why.  Jim, you
+always turn up like a bad shilling, and in bad company too.  Where ever
+have you come from this time?"
+
+"From the sea, father.  Don't keep jawin' there, but help us aboard, and
+you'll hear all about it."
+
+By this time Jones had gained the deck, followed by Stanley Hall and
+Billy.  These quickly gave a brief outline of the disaster, and were
+hospitably received on board, while Jim and Grundy made fast the tackles
+to their boat, and had it hoisted inboard.
+
+"You won't require to pull ashore to-morrow," said the elder Mr Welton,
+as he shook his son's hand.  "The tender will come off to us in the
+morning, and no doubt the captain will take you all ashore."
+
+"So much the better," observed Stanley, "because it seems to me that our
+boat is worthy of the rotten sloop to which she belonged, and might fail
+to reach the shore after all!"
+
+"Her owner is rather fond of ships and boats that have got the rot,"
+said Mr Welton, senior, looking with a somewhat stern expression at
+Morley Jones, who was in the act of stooping to wring the water out of
+the legs of his trousers.
+
+"If he is," said Jones, with an equally stern glance at the mate, "he is
+the only loser--at all events the chief one--by his fondness."
+
+"You're right," retorted Mr Welton sharply; "the loss of a kit may be
+replaced, but there are _some things_ which cannot be replaced when
+lost.  However, you know your own affairs best.  Come below, friends,
+and have something to eat and drink."
+
+After the wrecked party had been hospitably entertained in the cabin
+with biscuit and tea, they returned to the deck, and, breaking up into
+small parties, walked about or leaned over the bulwarks in earnest
+conversation.  Jack Shales and Jerry MacGowl took possession of Jim
+Welton, and, hurrying him forward to the windlass, made him there
+undergo a severe examination and cross-questioning as to how the sloop
+Nora had met with her disaster.  These were soon joined by Billy Towler,
+to whom the gay manner of Shales and the rich brogue of MacGowl were
+irresistibly attractive.
+
+Jim, however, proved to be much more reticent than his friends deemed
+either necessary or agreeable.  After a prolonged process of pumping, to
+which he submitted with much good humour and an apparent readiness to be
+pumped quite dry, Jerry MacGowl exclaimed--
+
+"Och, it ain't of no use trying to git no daiper.  Sure we've sounded
+'im to the bottom, an' found nothin' at all but mud."
+
+"Ay, he's about as incomprehensible as that famous poet you're for ever
+givin' us screeds of.  What's 'is name--somebody's _son_?"
+
+"Tenny's son, av coorse," replied Jerry; "but he ain't incomprehensible,
+Jack; he's only too daip for a man of or'nary intellick.  His thoughts
+is so awful profound sometimes that the longest deep-sea lead line as
+ever was spun can't reach the bottom of 'em.  It's only such oncommon
+philosophers as Dick Moy there, or a boardin'-school miss (for extremes
+meet, you know, Jack), that can rightly make him out."
+
+"Wot's that you're sayin' about Dick Moy?" inquired that worthy, who had
+just joined the group at the windlass.
+
+"He said you was a philosopher," answered Shales.  "You're another,"
+growled Dick, bluntly, to MacGowl.
+
+"Faix, that's true," replied Jerry; "there's two philosophers aboord of
+this here light, an' the luminous power of our united intellicks is so
+strong that I've had it in my mind more than wance to suggest that if
+they wos to hoist you and me to the masthead together, the Gull would
+git on first-rate without any lantern at all."
+
+"Not a bad notion that," said Jack Shales.  "I'll mention it to the
+superintendent to-morrow, when the tender comes alongside.  P'raps he'll
+report you to the Trinity House as being willin' to serve in that way
+without pay, for the sake of economy."
+
+"No, not for economy, mate," objected Dick Moy.  "We can't afford to do
+dooty as lights without increased pay.  Just think of the intellektooal
+force required for to keep the lights agoin' night after night."
+
+"Ay, and the amount of the doctor's bill," broke in MacGowl, "for curin'
+the extra cowlds caught at the mast-head in thick weather."
+
+"But we wouldn't go up in thick weather, stoopid," said Moy,--"wot ud be
+the use?  Ain't the gong enough at sich times?"
+
+"Och, to be sure.  Didn't I misremember that?  What a thing it is to be
+ready-witted, now!  And since we are makin' sich radical changes in the
+floating-light system, what would ye say, boys, to advise the Boord to
+use the head of Jack Shales instead of a gong?  It would sound
+splendiferous, for there ain't no more in it than an empty cask.  The
+last gong they sint us down was cracked, you know, so I fancy that's
+considered the right sort; and if so, Jack's head is cracked enough in
+all conscience."
+
+"I suppose, Jerry," said Shales, "if my head was appointed gong, you'd
+like that your fist should git the situation of drumstick."
+
+"Stop your chaffin', boys, and let's catch some birds for to-morrow's
+dinner," said one of the men who had been listening to the conversation.
+"There's an uncommon lot of 'em about to-night, an' it seems to me if
+the fog increases we shall have more of 'em."
+
+"Ho-o-o!
+
+  "`Sich a gittin' up stairs, and
+  A playin' on the fiddle,'"
+
+Sang Jack Shales, as he sprang up the wire-rope ladder that led to the
+lantern, round which innumerable small birds were flitting, as if
+desirous of launching themselves bodily into the bright light.
+
+"What is that fellow about?" inquired Stanley Hall of the mate, as the
+two stood conversing near the binnacle.
+
+"He's catching small birds, sir.  We often get a number in that way
+here.  But they ain't so numerous about the Gull as I've seen them in
+some of the other lightships.  You may find it difficult to believe, but
+I do assure you, sir, that I have caught as many as five hundred birds
+with my own hand in the course of two hours."
+
+"Indeed! what sort of birds?"
+
+"Larks and starlings chiefly, but there were other kinds amongst 'em.
+Why, sir, they flew about my head and round the lantern like clouds of
+snowflakes.  I was sittin' on the lantern just as Shales is sittin' now,
+and the birds came so thick that I had to pull my sou'-wester down over
+my eyes, and hold up my hands sometimes before my face to protect
+myself, for they hit me all over.  I snapped at 'em, and caught 'em as
+fast as I could use my hands--gave their heads a screw, and crammed 'em
+into my pockets.  In a short time the pockets were all as full as they
+could hold--coat, vest, and trousers.  I had to do it so fast that many
+of 'em wasn't properly killed, and some came alive agin, hopped out of
+my pockets, and flew away."
+
+At that moment there arose a laugh from the men as they watched their
+comrade, who happened to be performing a feat somewhat similar to that
+just described by the mate.
+
+Jack Shales had seated himself on the roof of the lantern.  This roof
+being opaque, he and the mast, which rose above him, and its distinctive
+ball on the top, were enveloped in darkness.  Jack appeared like a man
+of ebony pictured against the dark sky.  His form and motions could
+therefore be distinctly seen, although his features were invisible.  He
+appeared to be engaged in resisting an attack from a host of little
+birds which seemed to have made up their minds to unite their powers for
+his destruction; the fact being that the poor things, fascinated by the
+brilliant light, flew over, under, and round it, with eyes so dazzled
+that they did not observe the man until almost too late to sheer off and
+avoid him.  Indeed, many of them failed in this attempt, and flew right
+against his head, or into his bosom.  These he caught, killed, and
+pocketed, as fast as possible, until his pockets were full, when he
+descended to empty them.
+
+"Hallo!  Jack, mind your eye," cried Dick Moy, as his friend set foot on
+the deck, "there's one of 'em agoin' off with that crooked sixpence
+you're so fond of."
+
+Jack caught a starling which was in the act of wriggling out of his coat
+pocket, and gave it a final twist.
+
+"Hold your hats, boys," he cried, hauling forth the game.  "Talk of a
+Scotch moor--there's nothin' equal to the top of the Gull lantern for
+real sport!"
+
+"I say, Jack," cried Mr Welton, who, with Stanley and the others, had
+crowded round the successful sportsman, "there are some strange birds on
+the ball.  Gulls or crows, or owls.  If you look sharp and get inside,
+you may perhaps catch them by the legs."
+
+Billy Towler heard this remark, and, looking up, saw the two birds
+referred to, one seated on the ball at the mast-head, the other at that
+moment sailing round it.  Now it must be told, and the reader will
+easily believe it, that during all this scene Billy had looked on not
+only with intense interest, but with a wildness of excitement peculiar
+to himself, while his eyes flashed, and his small hands tingled with a
+desire to have, not merely a finger, but, all his ten fingers, in the
+pie.  Being only a visitor, however, and ignorant of everybody and
+everything connected with a floating light, he had modestly held his
+tongue and kept in the background.  But he could no longer withstand the
+temptation to act.  Without uttering a word, he leaped upon the
+rope-ladder of the lantern, and was half way up it before any one
+observed him, determined to forestall Jack Shales.  Then there was a
+shouting of "Hallo! what is that scamp up to?"  "Come down, you monkey!"
+"He'll break his neck!"  "Serve him right!"  "Hi! come down, will 'ee?"
+and similar urgent as well as complimentary expressions, to all of which
+Billy turned a deaf ear.  Another minute and he stood on the roof of the
+lantern, looking up at the ball and grasping the mast, which rose--a
+bare pole--twelve or fifteen feet above him.
+
+"Och! av the spalpeen tries that," exclaimed Jerry MacGowl, "it'll be
+the ind of 'im intirely."
+
+Billy Towler did try it.  Many a London lamp-post had he shinned up in
+his day.  The difference did not seem to him very great.  The ball, he
+observed, was made of light bands or lathes arranged somewhat in the
+form of lattice-work.  It was full six feet in diameter, and had an
+opening in the under part by which a man could enter it.  Through the
+lozenge-shaped openings he could see two enormous ravens perched on the
+top.  Pausing merely for a second or two to note these facts and recover
+breath, he shinned up the bare pole like a monkey, and got inside the
+ball.
+
+The spectators on deck stood in breathless suspense and anxiety, unable
+apparently to move; but when they saw Billy clamber up the side of the
+ball like a mouse in a wire cage, put forth his hand, seize one of the
+ravens by a leg and drag it through the bars to him, a ringing cheer
+broke forth, which was mingled with shouts of uncontrollable laughter.
+
+The operation of drawing the ill-omened bird through the somewhat narrow
+opening against the feathers, had the double effect of ruffling it out
+to a round and ragged shape, very much beyond its ordinary size, and of
+rousing its spirit to ten times its wonted ferocity, insomuch that, when
+once fairly inside, it attacked its captor with claw, beak, and wing
+furiously.  It had to do battle, however, with an infant Hercules.
+Billy held on tight to its leg, and managed to restrain its head and
+wings with one arm, while with the other he embraced the mast and slid
+down to the lantern; but not before the raven freed its head and one of
+its wings, and renewed its violent resistance.
+
+On the lantern he paused for a moment to make the captive more secure,
+and then let his legs drop over the edge of the lantern, intending to
+get on the rounds of the ladder, but his foot missed the first one.  In
+his effort to regain it he slipped.  At that instant the bird freed his
+head, and with a triumphant "caw!" gave Billy an awful peck on the nose.
+The result was that the poor boy fell back.  He could not restrain a
+shriek as he did so, but he still kept hold of the raven, and made a
+wild grasp with his disengaged hand.  Fortunately he caught the ladder,
+and remained swinging and making vain efforts to hook his leg round one
+of the ropes.
+
+"Let go the bird!" shouted the mate, rushing underneath the struggling
+youth, resolved at all hazards to be ready to break his fall if he
+should let go.
+
+"Howld on!" yelled Jerry MacGowl, springing up the ladder--as Jack
+Shales afterwards said--like a Chimpanzee maniac, and clutching Billy by
+the neck.
+
+"Ye may let go now, ye spalpeen," said Jerry, as he held the upper half
+of Billy's shirt, vest, and jacket in his powerful and capacious grasp,
+"I'll howld ye safe enough."
+
+At that moment the raven managed to free its dishevelled wings, the
+fierce flapping of which it added to its clamorous cries and struggles
+of indignation.  Feeling himself safe, Billy let go his hold, and used
+the freed hand to seize the raven's other leg.  Then the Irishman
+descended, and thus, amid the riotous wriggles and screams of the
+dishevelled bird, and the cheers, laughter, and congratulations of his
+friends, our little hero reached the deck in safety.
+
+But this was not the end of their bird-catching on that memorable
+occasion.  It was, indeed, the grand incident of the night--the
+culminating point, as it were, of the battle--but there was a good deal
+of light skirmishing afterwards.  Billy's spirit, having been fairly
+roused, was not easily allayed.  After having had a piece of plaister
+stuck on the point of his nose, which soon swelled up to twice its
+ordinary dimensions, and became bulbous in appearance, he would fain
+have returned to the lantern to prosecute the war with renewed energy.
+This, however, Mr Welton senior would by no means permit, so the
+youngster was obliged to content himself with skirmishing on deck, in
+which he was also successful.
+
+One starling he found asleep in the fold of a tarpaulin.  Another he
+discovered in a snug corner under the lee of one of the men's coats, and
+both were captured easily.  Then Dick Moy showed him a plan whereby he
+caught half a dozen birds in as many minutes.  He placed a small
+hand-lantern on the deck, and spread a white handkerchief in front of
+it.  The birds immediately swarmed round this so vigorously, that they
+even overturned the lantern once or twice.  Finally, settling down on
+the handkerchief, they went to sleep.  It was evident that the poor
+things had not been flying about for mere pleasure.  They had been
+undoubtedly fascinated by the ship's glaring light, and had kept flying
+round it until nearly exhausted, insomuch that they fell asleep almost
+immediately after settling down on the handkerchief, and were easily
+laid hold of.
+
+During the intervals of this warfare Mr George Welton related to Billy
+Towler and Stanley Hall numerous anecdotes of his experience in
+bird-catching on board the floating lights.  Mr Welton had been long in
+the service, and had passed through all the grades; having commenced as
+a seaman, and risen to be a lamplighter and a mate--the position he then
+occupied.  His office might, perhaps, be more correctly described as
+second master, because the two were _never_ on board at the same time,
+each relieving the other month about, and thus each being in a precisely
+similar position as to command, though not so in regard to pay.
+
+"There was one occasion," said the mate, "when I had a tough set-to with
+a bird, something like what you have had to-night, youngster.  I was
+stationed at the time in the Newarp light-vessel, off the Norfolk coast.
+It happened not long after the light had gone up.  I observed a very
+large bird settle on the roof of the lantern, so I went cautiously up,
+hopin' it would turn out a good one to eat, because you must know we
+don't go catchin' these birds for mere pastime.  We're very glad to get
+'em to eat; and I can assure you the larks make excellent pies.  Well, I
+raised my head slowly above the lantern and pounced on it.  Instantly
+its claws went deep into my hands.  I seized its neck, and tried to
+choke it; but the harder I squeezed, the harder it nipped, until I was
+forced to sing out for help.  Leavin' go the neck, in order to have one
+hand free, I descended the ladder with the bird hanging to the other
+hand by its claws.  I found I had no occasion to hold tight to _it_, for
+it held tight to _me_!  Before I got down, however, it had recovered a
+bit, let go, and flew away, but took refuge soon after in the
+lantern-house on deck.  Here I caught it a second time, and once more
+received the same punishment from its claws.  I killed it at last, and
+then found, to my disgust, that it was a monster sparrow-hawk, and not
+fit for food!"
+
+"Somethink floatin' alongside, sir," said Dick Moy, running aft at that
+moment and catching up a boat-hook, with which he made a dart at the
+object in question, and struck, but failed to secure it.
+
+"What is it, Moy?" asked Mr Welton.
+
+"On'y a bit o' wreck, I think.  It looked like a corp at first."
+
+Soon after this most of the people on board the Gull went below and
+turned in, leaving the deck in charge of the regular watch, which, on
+that occasion, consisted of Dick and his friend Jack Shales.  Jerry
+MacGowl kept them company for a time, being, as he observed,
+"sintimentally inclined" that night.
+
+Stanley Hall, attracted by the fineness of the night, also remained on
+deck a short time after the others were gone.
+
+"Do you often see dead bodies floating past?" he asked of Dick Moy.
+
+"Not wery often, sir, but occasionally we does.  You see, we're so nigh
+the Goodwin sands, where wrecks take place in the winter months pritty
+constant, that poor fellers are sometimes washed past us; but they ain't
+always dead.  One night we heard loud cries not far off from us, but it
+was blowin' a gale, and the night was so dark we could see nothin'.  We
+could no more have launched our boat than we could 'ave gone over the
+falls o' Niagary without capsizin'.  When next the relief comed off, we
+heard that it was three poor fellers gone past on a piece of wreck."
+
+"Were they lost?" inquired Stanley.
+
+"No, sir, they warn't all of 'em lost.  A brig saw 'em at daylight, but
+just as they wos being picked up, one wos so exhausted he slipped off
+the wreck an wos drownded.  'Nother time," continued Moy, as he paced
+slowly to and fro, "we seed a corp float past, and tried to 'ook it with
+the boat-'ook, but missed it.  It wos on its face, and we could see it
+'ad on a belt and sheath-knife.  There wos a bald spot on the 'ead, and
+the gulls wos peckin' at it, so we know'd it wos dead--wery likely a
+long time."
+
+"There's a tight little craft," remarked Shales, pointing to a vessel
+which floated at no great distance off.
+
+"W'ich d'ye mean?" asked Dick; for there were so many vessels, some at
+anchor and some floating past with the tide, like phantom ships, that it
+was not easy to make out which vessel was referred to; "the one wi' the
+shoulder-o'-mutton mains'l?"
+
+"No; that schooner with the raking masts an' topsail?"
+
+"Ah, that's a purty little thing from owld Ireland," returned Jerry
+MacGowl.  "I'd know her anywhere by the cut of her jib.  Av she would
+only spaik, she'd let ye hear the brogue."
+
+"Since ye know her so well, Paddy, p'raps you can tell us what's her
+cargo?" said Jack Shales.
+
+"Of coorse I can--it's fruit an' timber," replied Jerry.
+
+"Fruit and timber!" exclaimed Stanley with a laugh; "I was not aware
+that such articles were exported from Ireland."
+
+"Ah, sure they are, yer honour," replied Jerry.  "No doubt the English,
+with that low spirit of jealousy that's pecooliar to 'em, would say it
+was brooms an' taties, but _we_ calls it fruit and timber!"
+
+"After that, Jerry, I think it is time for me to turn in, so I wish you
+both a good-night, lads."
+
+"Good-night, sir, good-night," replied the men, as Stanley descended to
+his berth, leaving the watch to spin yarns and perambulate the deck
+until the bright beams of the floating light should be rendered
+unnecessary by the brighter beams of the rising sun.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+TREATS OF TENDER SUBJECTS OF A PECULIAR KIND, AND SHOWS HOW BILLY TOWLER
+GOT INTO SCRAPES AND OUT OF THEM.
+
+The fact that we know not what a day may bring forth, receives frequent,
+and sometimes very striking, illustration in the experience of most
+people.  That the day may begin with calm and sunshine, yet end in
+clouds and tempest--or _vice versa_--is a truism which need not be
+enforced.  Nevertheless, it is a truism which men are none the worse of
+being reminded of now and then.  Poor Billy Towler was very powerfully
+reminded of it on the day following his night-adventure with the ravens;
+and his master was taught that the best-laid plans of men, as well as
+mice, are apt to get disordered, as the sequel will show.
+
+Next morning the look-out on board the Gull lightship reported the
+Trinity steam-tender in sight, off the mouth of Ramsgate harbour, and
+the ensign was at once hoisted as an intimation that she had been
+observed.
+
+This arrangement, by the way, of hoisting a signal on board the floating
+lights when any of the Trinity yachts chance to heave in sight, is a
+clever device, whereby the vigilance of light-ship crews is secured,
+because the time of the appearing of these yachts is irregular, and,
+therefore, a matter of uncertainty.  Every one knows the natural and
+almost irresistible tendency of the human mind to relax in vigilance
+when the demand on attention is continual--that the act, by becoming a
+mere matter of daily routine, loses much of its intensity.  The crews of
+floating lights are, more than most men, required to be perpetually on
+the alert, because, besides the danger that would threaten innumerable
+ships should their vessels drift from their stations, or any part of
+their management be neglected, there is great danger to themselves of
+being run into during dark stormy nights or foggy days.  Constant
+vigilance is partly secured, no doubt, by a sense of duty in the men; it
+is increased by the feeling of personal risk that would result from
+carelessness; and it is almost perfected by the order for the hoisting
+of a flag as above referred to.
+
+The superintendent of the district of which Ramsgate is head-quarters,
+goes out regularly once every month in the tender to effect what is
+styled "the relief,"--that is, to change the men, each of whom passes
+two months aboard and one month on shore, while the masters and mates
+alternately have a month on shore and a month on board.  At the same
+time he puts on board of the four vessels of which he has charge--
+namely, the _Goodwin_, the _Gull_, the _South-sandhead_, and the _Varne_
+light-ships,--water, coal, provisions, and oil for the month, and such
+stores as may be required; returning with the men relieved and the empty
+casks and cans, etcetera, to Ramsgate harbour.  Besides this, the tender
+is constantly obliged to go out at irregular intervals--it may be even
+several times in a week--for the purpose of replacing buoys that have
+been shifted by storms--marking, with small green buoys, the spot where
+a vessel may have gone down, and become a dangerous obstruction in the
+"fair way"--taking up old chains and sinkers, and placing new ones--
+painting the buoys--and visiting the North and South Foreland
+lighthouses, which are also under the district superintendent's care.
+
+On all of these occasions the men on duty in the floating lights are
+bound to hoist their flag whenever the tender chances to pass them
+within sight, on pain of a severe reprimand if the duty be neglected,
+and something worse if such neglect be of frequent occurrence.  In
+addition to this, some of the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House make
+periodical visits of inspection to all the floating lights round the
+coasts of England; and this they do purposely at irregular times, in
+order, if possible, to catch the guardians of the coast napping; and woe
+betide "the watch" on duty if these inspecting Brethren should manage to
+get pretty close to any light-ship without having received the salute of
+recognition!  Hence the men of the floating lights are kept ever on the
+alert, and the safety of the navigation, as far as human wisdom can do
+it, is secured.  Hence also, at whatever time any of our floating lights
+should chance to be visited by strangers, they, like our lighthouses,
+will invariably be found in perfect working order, and as clean as new
+pins, except, of course, during periods of general cleaning up or
+painting.
+
+Begging pardon for this digression, we return to Billy Towler, whose
+delight with the novelty of his recent experiences was only equalled by
+his joyous anticipations of the stirring sea-life that yet lay before
+him.
+
+The satisfaction of Mr Jones, however, at the success of his late
+venture, was somewhat damped by the information that he would have to
+spend the whole day on board the tender.  The district superintendent,
+whose arduous and multifarious duties required him to be so often afloat
+that he seemed to be more at home in the tender than in his own house
+ashore, was a man whose agreeable manners, and kind, hearty, yet firm
+disposition, had made him a favourite with every one in the service.
+Immediately on his boarding the Gull, he informed the uninvited and
+unfortunate guests of that floating light that he would be very glad to
+take them ashore, but that he could not do so until evening, as, besides
+effecting "the relief," he meant to take advantage of the calm weather
+to give a fresh coat of paint to one or two buoys, and renew their
+chains and sinkers, and expressed a hope that the delay would not put
+them to much inconvenience.
+
+Stanley Hall, between whom and the superintendent there sprang up an
+intimate and sympathetic friendship almost at first sight, assured him
+that so far from putting him to inconvenience it would afford him the
+greatest pleasure to spend the day on board.  Billy Towler heard this
+arrangement come to with an amount of satisfaction which was by no means
+shared by his employer, who was anxious to report the loss of the Nora
+without delay, and to claim the insurance money as soon as possible.  He
+judged it expedient, however, to keep his thoughts and anxieties to
+himself, and only vented his feelings in a few deep growls, which,
+breaking on the ears of Billy Towler, filled the heart of that youthful
+sinner with additional joy.
+
+"Wot a savage he is!" said Dick Moy, looking at Jones, and addressing
+himself to Billy.
+
+"Ah, ain't he just!" replied the urchin.
+
+"Has he not bin good to 'ee?" asked the big seaman, looking down with a
+kindly expression at the small boy.
+
+"Middlin'," was Billy's cautious reply.  "I say, Neptune," he added,
+looking up into Dick's face, "wot's yer name?"
+
+"It ain't Neptune, anyhow," replied Dick.  "That's wot we've called the
+big black Noofoundland dog you sees over there a-jumping about Jim
+Welton as if he had falled in love with him."
+
+"Why is it so fond of him?" asked Billy.
+
+Dick replied to this question by relating the incident of the dog's
+rescue by Jim.
+
+"Werry interestin'.  Well, but wot _is_ your name?" said Billy,
+returning to the point.
+
+"Dick."
+
+"Of course I know that; I've heerd 'em all call ye that often enough,
+but I 'spose you've got another?"
+
+"Moy," said the big seaman.
+
+"Moy, eh?" cried Billy, with a grin, "that _is_ a funny name, but there
+ain't enough of it for my taste."
+
+The conversation was interrupted at this point by the superintendent,
+who, having been for many years in command of an East Indiaman, was
+styled "Captain."  He ordered the mate and men whose turn it was to be
+"relieved" to get into the tender along with the strangers.  Soon
+afterwards the vessel steamed away over the glassy water, and Billy, who
+had taken a fancy to the big lamplighter, went up to him and said--
+
+"Well, Dick Moy, where are we agoin' to just now?"
+
+Dick pointed to a black speck on the water, a considerable distance
+ahead of them.
+
+"We're agoin' to that there buoy, to lift it and put down a noo un."
+
+"Oh, that's a boy, is it? and are them there boys too?" asked Billy,
+looking round at the curious oval and conical cask-like things, of
+gigantic proportions, which lumbered the deck and filled the hold of the
+tender.
+
+"Ay, they're all buoys."
+
+"None of 'em girls?" inquired the urchin gravely.
+
+"No, none of 'em," replied Dick with equal gravity, for to him the joke
+was a very stale one.
+
+"No? that's stoopid now; I'd 'ave 'ad some of 'em girls for variety's
+sake--wot's the use of 'em?" asked the imp, who pretended ignorance, in
+order to draw out his burly companion.
+
+"To mark the channels," replied Dick.  "We puts a red buoy on one side
+and a checkered buoy on t'other, and if the vessels keeps atween 'em
+they goes all right--if not, they goes ashore."
+
+"H'm, that's just where it is now," said Billy.  "If _I_ had had the
+markin' o' them there channels I'd 'ave put boys on one side an' girls
+on t'other all the way up to London--made a sort o' country dance of it,
+an' all the ships would 'ave gone up the middle an' down agin, d'ye
+see?"
+
+"Port, port a little," said the captain at that moment.
+
+"Port it is, sir," answered Mr Welton, senior, who stood at the wheel.
+
+The tender was now bearing down on one of the numerous buoys which mark
+off the channels around the Goodwin sands, and it required careful
+steering in order to avoid missing it on the one hand, or running into
+it on the other.  A number of men stood on the bow of the vessel, with
+ropes and boat-hooks, in readiness to catch and make fast to it.  These
+men, with the exception of two or three who formed the permanent crew of
+the tender, were either going off to "relieve" their comrades and take
+their turn on board the floating lights, or were on their way to land,
+having been "relieved"--such as George Welton the mate, Dick Moy, and
+Jerry MacGowl.  Among them were several masters and mates belonging to
+the light-vessels of that district--sedate, grave, cheerful, and
+trustworthy men, all of them--who had spent the greater part of their
+lives in the service, and were by that time middle-aged or elderly, but
+still, with few exceptions, as strong and hardy as young men.
+
+Jerry, being an unusually active and powerful fellow, took a prominent
+part in all the duties that devolved on the men at that time.
+
+That these duties were not light might have been evident to the most
+superficial observer, for the buoys and their respective chains and
+sinkers were of the most ponderous and unwieldy description.
+
+Referring to this, Stanley Hall said, as he stood watching the progress
+of the work, "Why, captain, up to this day I have been in the habit of
+regarding buoys as trifling affairs, not much bigger or more valuable
+than huge barrels or washing-tubs, but now that I see them close at
+hand, and hear all you tell me about them, my respect increases
+wonderfully."
+
+"It will be increased still more, perhaps," replied the captain, "when I
+tell you the cost of some of them.  Now, then, MacGowl, look out--are
+you ready?"
+
+"All ready, sir."
+
+"Port a little--steady."
+
+"Steady!" replied Mr Welton.
+
+"Arrah! howld on--och! stiddy--heave--hooray!" cried the anxious
+Irishman as he made a plunge at the buoy which was floating alongside
+like a huge iron balloon, bumping its big forehead gently, yet heavily,
+against the side of the tender, and, in that simple way conveying to the
+mind of Stanley an idea of the great difficulty that must attend the
+shifting of buoys in rough weather.
+
+The buoy having been secured, an iron hook and chain of great strength
+were then attached to the ring in its head.  The chain communicated with
+a powerful crane rigged up on the foremast, and was wrought by a steam
+windlass on deck.
+
+"You see we require stronger tackle," said the captain to Stanley, while
+the buoy was being slowly raised.  "That buoy weighs fully
+three-quarters of a ton, and cost not less, along with its chain and
+sinker, than 150 pounds, yet it is not one of our largest.  We have what
+we call monster buoys, weighing considerably more than a ton, which cost
+about 300 pounds apiece, including a 60-fathom chain and a
+30-hundred-weight sinker.  Those medium-sized ones, made of wood and
+hooped like casks, cost from 80 pounds to 100 pounds apiece without
+appendages.  Even that small green fellow lying there, with which I
+intend to mark the Nora, if necessary, is worth 25 pounds, and as there
+are many hundreds of such buoys all round the kingdom, you can easily
+believe that the guarding of our shores is somewhat costly."
+
+"Indeed it must be," answered Stanley; "and if such
+insignificant-looking things cost so much, what must be the expense of
+maintaining floating lights and lighthouses?"
+
+"I can give you some idea of that too," said the captain--
+
+"Look out!" exclaimed the men at that moment.
+
+"Och! be aisy," cried Jerry, ducking as he spoke, and thus escaping a
+blow from the buoy, which would have cracked his head against the
+vessel's side like a walnut.
+
+"Heave away, lad!"
+
+The man at the windlass obeyed.  The irresistible steam-winch caused the
+huge chain to grind and jerk in its iron pulley, and the enormous
+globular iron buoy came quietly over the side, black here and brown
+there, and red-rusted elsewhere; its green beard of sea-weed dripping
+with brine, and its sides grizzled with a six-months' growth of
+barnacles and other shell-fish.
+
+It must not be supposed that, although the engine did all the heavy
+lifting, the men had merely to stand by and look on.  In the mere
+processes of capturing the buoy and making fast the chains and hooks,
+and fending off, etcetera, there was an amount of physical effort--
+straining and energising--on the part of the men, that could scarcely be
+believed unless seen.  Do not fancy, good reader, that we are attempting
+to make much of a trifle in this description.  Our object is rather to
+show that what might very naturally be supposed to be trifling and easy
+work, is, in truth, very much the reverse.
+
+The buoy having been lifted, another of the same size and shape, but
+freshly painted, was attached to the chain, tumbled over the side, and
+left in its place.  In this case the chain and sinker did not require
+renewing, but at the next [one] visited it was found that buoy, chain,
+and sinker had to be lifted and renewed.
+
+And here again, to a landsman like Stanley, there was much to interest
+and surprise.  If a man, ignorant of such matters, were asked what he
+would do in the event of his having to go and shift one of those buoys,
+he might probably reply, "Well, I suppose I would first get hold of the
+buoy and hoist it on board, and then throw over another in its place;"
+but it is not probable that he would reflect that this process involved
+the violent upturning of a mass of wood or metal so heavy that all the
+strength of the dozen men who had to struggle with it was scarce
+sufficient to move gently even in the water; that, being upturned, an
+inch chain had to be unshackled--a process rendered troublesome, owing
+to the ponderosity of the links which had to be dealt with, and the
+constrained position of the man who wrought,--and that the chain and
+sinker had to be hauled out of the sand or mud into which they had sunk
+so much, that the donkey-engine had to strain until the massive chains
+seemed about to give way, and the men stood in peril of having their
+heads suddenly cut open.
+
+Not to be too prolix on this subject, it may be said, shortly, that when
+the chain and sinker of the next buoy were being hauled in, a three-inch
+rope snapped and grazed the finger of a man, fortunately taking no more
+than a little of the skin off, though it probably had force enough to
+have taken his hand off if it had struck him differently.  Again they
+tried, but the sinker had got so far down into the mud that it would not
+let go.  The engine went at last very slowly, for it was applying almost
+the greatest strain that the chains could bear, and the bow of the
+tender was hauled considerably down into the sea.  The men drew back a
+little, but, after a few moments of suspense, the motion of the vessel
+gradually loosened the sinker and eased the strain.
+
+"There she goes, handsomely," cried the men, as the engine again resumed
+work at reasonable speed.
+
+"We sometimes lose chains and sinkers altogether in that way," remarked
+Dick Moy to Billy, who stood looking on with heightened colour and
+glowing eyes, and wishing with all the fervour of his small heart that
+the whole affair would give way, in order that he might enjoy the
+_tremendous_ crash which he thought would be sure to follow.
+
+"Would it be a great loss?" he asked.
+
+"It would, a wery great un," said Dick; "that there chain an' sinker is
+worth nigh fifty or sixty pound."
+
+While this work was being done, the captain was busy with his telescope,
+taking the exact bearings of the buoy, to ascertain whether or not it
+had shifted its position during the six months' conflict with tide and
+tempest that it had undergone since last being overhauled.  Certain
+buildings on shore coming into line with other prominent buildings, such
+as steeples, chimneys, and windmills, were his infallible guides, and
+these declared that the buoy had not shifted more than a few feet.  He
+therefore gave the order to have the fresh buoy, with its chain and
+sinker, ready to let go.
+
+The buoy in question,--a medium one about eight feet high, five feet in
+diameter, and conical in shape--stood at the edge of the vessel, like an
+extinguisher for the biggest candle that ever was conceived in the
+wildest brain at Rome.  Its sinker, a square mass of cast-iron nearly a
+ton in weight, lay beside it, and its two-inch chain, every link whereof
+was eight or ten inches long, and made of the toughest malleable iron,
+was coiled carefully on the main-hatch, so that nothing should impede
+its running out.
+
+"All ready?" cried the captain, taking a final glance through the
+telescope.
+
+"All ready, sir," replied the men, several of whom stood beside the
+buoy, prepared to lay violent hands on it, while two stood with iron
+levers under the sinker, ready to heave.
+
+"Stand here, Billy, an' you'll see it better," said Dick Moy, with a sly
+look, for Dick had by this time learned to appreciate the mischievous
+spirit of the urchin.
+
+"Let go!" cried the captain.
+
+"Let go!" echoed the men.
+
+The levers were raised; the thrust was given.  Away went the sinker;
+overboard went the buoy; out went the chain with a clanging roar and a
+furious rush, and up sprang a column of white spray, part of which fell
+in-board, and drenched Billy Towler to the skin!
+
+As well might Dick Moy have attempted to punish a pig by throwing it
+into the mud as to distress Billy by sousing him with water!  It was to
+him all but a native element.  In fact, he said that he believed himself
+to be a hamphiberous hanimal by nature, and was of the opinion that he
+should have been born a merman.
+
+"Hooray! shower-baths free, gratis, for nothink!" he yelled, as soon as
+he had re-caught his breath.  "Any more o' that sort comin'?" he cried,
+as he pulled off his shirt and wrung it.
+
+"Plenty more wery like it," said Dick, chuckling, "and to be had wery
+much on the same terms."
+
+"Ah, if you'd only jine me--it would make it so much more pleasant,"
+retorted the boy; "but it would take a deal more water to kiver yer huge
+carcase."
+
+"That boy will either make a first-rate man, or an out-and-out villain,"
+observed the captain to Stanley, as they stood listening to his chaffing
+remarks.
+
+"He'll require a deal of taming," said Jim Welton, who was standing by;
+"but he's a smart, well-disposed little fellow as far as I know him."
+
+Morley Jones, who was seated on the starboard bulwarks not far off;
+confided his opinion to no one, but he was observed to indulge in a
+sardonic grin, and to heave his shoulders as if he were agitated with
+suppressed laughter when this last remark was made.
+
+The steamer meanwhile had been making towards another of the floating
+lights, alongside of which some time was spent in transferring the full
+water-casks, receiving the "empties," etcetera, and in changing the men.
+The same process was gone through with the other vessels, and then, in
+the afternoon, they returned towards Ramsgate harbour.  On the way they
+stopped at one of the large buoys which required to be painted.  The
+weather being suitable for that purpose, a boat was lowered, black and
+white paint-pots and brushes were put into her, and Jack Shales, Dick
+Moy, and Jerry MacGowl were told off to perform the duty.  Stanley Hall
+also went for pastime, and Billy Towler slid into the boat like an eel,
+without leave, just as it pushed off.
+
+"Get out, ye small varmint!" shouted Jerry; but the boy did not obey;
+the boat was already a few feet off from the vessel, and as the captain
+either did not see or did not care, Billy was allowed to go.
+
+"You'll only be in the way, an' git tired of yer life before we're half
+done," said Dick Moy.
+
+"Never mind, he shall keep me company," said Stanley, laughing.  "We
+will sit in judgment on the work as it proceeds--won't we, Billy?"
+
+"Well, sir," replied the boy, with intense gravity, "that depends on
+whether yer fine-hart edication has bin sufficiently attended to; but
+I've no objection to give you the benefit o' my adwice if you gits into
+difficulties."
+
+A loud laugh greeted this remark, and Billy, smiling with condescension,
+said he was gratified by their approval.
+
+A few minutes sufficed to bring them alongside the buoy, which was one
+of the largest size, shaped like a cone, and painted in alternate
+stripes of white and black.  It rose high above the heads of the men
+when they stood up beside it in the boat.  It was made of timber, had a
+wooden ring round it near the water, and bore evidence of having
+received many a rude buffet from ships passing in the dark.
+
+"A nice little buoy this," said Billy, looking at it with the eye and
+air of a connoisseur; "wot's its name?"
+
+"The North Goodwin; can't 'ee read? don't 'ee see its name up there on
+its side, in letters as long as yerself?" said Jack Shales, as he
+stirred up the paint in one of the pots.
+
+"Ah, to be sure; well, it might have bin named the Uncommon Good-win,"
+said Billy, "for it seems to have seen rough service, and to have stood
+it well.  Come, boys, look alive, mix yer colours an' go to work;
+England expecks every man, you know, for to do his dooty."
+
+"Wot a bag of impudence it is!" said Dick Moy, catching the ring-bolt on
+the top of the buoy with the boat-hook, and holding the boat as close to
+it as possible, while his mates dipped their brushes in the black and
+white paint respectively, and began to work with the energy of men who
+know that their opportunity may be cut short at any moment by a sudden
+squall or increasing swell.
+
+Indeed, calm though the water was, there was enough of undulation to
+render the process of painting one of some difficulty, for, besides the
+impossibility of keeping the boat steady, Dick Moy found that all his
+strength could not avail to prevent the artists being drawn suddenly
+away beyond reach of their object, and as suddenly thrown against it, so
+that their hands and faces came frequently into contact with the wet
+paint, and gave them a piebald appearance.
+
+For some time Billy contented himself with looking on and chaffing the
+men, diversifying the amusement by an occasional skirmish with Stanley,
+who had armed himself with a brush, and was busy helping.
+
+"It's raither heavy work, sir, to do all the judgment business by
+myself;" he said.  "There's that feller Shales, as don't know how a
+straight line should be draw'd.  Couldn't ye lend me your brush, Jack?
+or p'raps Dick Moy will lend me his beard, as he don't seem to be usin'
+it just now."
+
+"Here, Dick," cried Stanley, giving up his brush, "you've had enough of
+the holding-on business; come, I'll relieve you."
+
+"Ay, that's your sort," said Billy; "muscle to the boat-'ook, an' brains
+to the brush."
+
+"Hold on tight, sir," cried Shales, as the boat gave a heavy lurch away
+from the buoy, while the three painters stood leaning as far over the
+gunwale as was consistent with safety, and stretching their arms and
+brushes towards the object of their solicitude.
+
+Stanley exerted himself powerfully; a reactionary swell helped him too
+much, and next moment the three men went, heads, hands, and brushes,
+plunging against the buoy!
+
+"Och! morther!" cried Jerry, one of whose black hands had been forced
+against a white stripe, and left its imprint there.  "Look at that,
+now!"
+
+"All right," cried Shales, dashing a streak of white over the spot.
+
+"There's no preventing it," said Stanley, apologetically, yet laughing
+in spite of himself.
+
+"I say, Jack, this is 'igh art, this is," observed Moy, as he drew back
+to take another dip, "but I'm free to confess that I'd raither go
+courtin' the girls than painting the buoys."
+
+"Oh!  Dick, you borrowed that from me," cried Billy; "for shame, sir!"
+
+"Well, well," observed Jerry, "it's many a time I've held on to a
+painter, but I niver thought to become wan.  What would ye call this
+now--a landscape or a portrait?"
+
+"I would call it a marine piece," said Stanley.
+
+"How much, sir?" asked Dick Moy, who had got upon the wooden ring of the
+buoy, and was standing thereon attempting, but not very successfully, to
+paint in that position.
+
+"A mareeny-piece, you noodle," cried Billy; "don't ye onderstand the
+genel'm'n wot's a sittin' on judgment on 'ee?  A mareeny-piece is a
+piece o' mareeny or striped kaliko, w'ich is all the same, and wery poor
+stuff it is too.  Come, I'll stand it no longer.  I hold ye in sich
+contempt that I _must_ look down on 'ee."
+
+So saying, the active little fellow seized the boat-hook, and swung
+himself lightly on the buoy, the top of which he gained after a severe
+scramble, amid the indignant shouts of the men.
+
+"Well, since you have gone up there, we'll keep you there till we are
+done."
+
+"All right, my hearties," retorted Billy, in great delight and
+excitement, as the men went on with their work.
+
+Just then another heave of the swell drew the boat away, obliging the
+painters to lean far over the side as before, pointing towards their
+"pictur," as Jerry called it, but unable to touch it, though expecting
+every moment to swing within reach again.  Suddenly Billy Towler--while
+engaged, no doubt, in some refined piece of mischief--slipped and fell
+backwards with a loud cry.  His head struck the side of the boat in
+passing, as he plunged into the sea.
+
+"Ah, the poor craitur!" cried Jerry MacGowl, immediately plunging after
+him.
+
+Now, it happened that Jerry could not swim a stroke, but his liking for
+the boy, and the suddenness of the accident, combined with his reckless
+disposition, rendered him either forgetful of or oblivious to that fact.
+Instead of doing any good, therefore, to Billy, he rendered it
+necessary for the men to give their undivided attention to hauling his
+unwieldy carcase into the boat.
+
+The tide was running strong at the time.  Billy rose to the surface, but
+showed no sign of life.  He was sinking again, when Stanley Hall plunged
+into the water like an arrow, and caught him by the hair.
+
+Stanley was a powerful swimmer, but he could make no headway against the
+tide that was running to the southward at the time, and before the men
+had succeeded in dragging their enthusiastic but reckless comrade into
+the boat, Billy and his friend had been swept to a considerable
+distance.  As soon as the oars were shipped, however, they were quickly
+overtaken and rescued.
+
+Stanley was none the worse for his ducking, but poor Billy was
+unconscious, and had a large cut in his head, which looked serious.
+When he was taken on board the tender, and restored to consciousness, he
+was incapable of talking coherently.  In this state he was taken back to
+Ramsgate and conveyed to the hospital.
+
+There, in a small bed, the small boy lay for many weeks, with ample
+leisure to reflect upon the impropriety of coupling fun--which is
+right--with mischief--which is emphatically wrong, and generally leads
+to disaster.  But Billy could not reflect, because he had received a
+slight injury to the brain, it was supposed, which confused him much,
+and induced him, as his attentive nurse said, to talk "nothing but
+nonsense."
+
+The poor boy's recently-made friends paid him all the attention they
+could, but most of them had duties to attend to which called them away,
+so that, ere long, with the exception of an occasional visit from Mr
+Welton of the Gull light, he was left entirely to the care of the nurses
+and house-surgeons, who were extremely kind to him.
+
+Mr Morley Jones, who might have been expected to take an interest in
+his _protege_, left him to his fate, after having ascertained that he
+was in a somewhat critical condition, and, in any case, not likely to be
+abroad again for many weeks.
+
+There was one person, however, who found out and took an apparently deep
+interest in the boy.  This was a stout, hale gentleman, of middle age,
+with a bald head, a stern countenance, and keen grey eyes.  He came to
+the hospital, apparently as a philanthropic visitor, inquired for the
+boy, introduced himself as Mr Larks, and, sitting down at his bedside,
+sought to ingratiate himself with the patient.  At first he found the
+boy in a condition which induced him to indulge chiefly in talking
+nonsense, but Mr Larks appeared to be peculiarly interested in this
+nonsense, especially when it had reference, as it frequently had, to a
+man named Jones!  After a time, when Billy became sane again, Mr Larks
+pressed him to converse more freely about this Mr Jones, but with
+returning health came Billy's sharp wit and caution.  He began to be
+more circumspect in his replies to Mr Larks, and to put questions, in
+his turn, which soon induced that gentleman to discontinue his visits,
+so that Billy Towler again found himself in what might with propriety
+have been styled his normal condition--absolutely destitute of friends.
+
+But Billy was not so destitute as he supposed himself to be--as we shall
+see.
+
+Meanwhile Morley Jones went about his special business.  He reported the
+loss of the sloop Nora; had it advertised in the _Gazette_; took the
+necessary steps to prove the fact; called at the office of the Submarine
+Insurance Company, and at the end of three weeks walked away, chuckling,
+with 300 pounds in his pocket!
+
+In the satisfaction which the success of this piece of business induced,
+he opened his heart and mind pretty freely to his daughter Nora, and
+revealed not only the fact of Billy Towler's illness, but the place
+where he then lay.  Until the money had been secured he had kept this a
+secret from her, and had sent Jim Welton on special business to
+Gravesend in order that he might be out of the way for a time, but, the
+motive being past, he made no more secret of the matter.
+
+Nora, who had become deeply interested in the boy, resolved to have him
+brought up from Ramsgate to Yarmouth by means of love, not being
+possessed of money.  The moment, therefore, that Jim Welton returned,
+she issued her commands that he should go straight off to Ramsgate, find
+the boy, and, by hook or crook, bring him to the "Garden of Eden," on
+pain of her utmost displeasure.
+
+"But the thing an't possible," said Jim, "I haven't got money enough to
+do it."
+
+"Then you must find money somehow, or make it," said Nora, firmly.
+"That dear boy _must_ be saved.  When he was stopping here I wormed all
+his secrets out of his little heart, bless it--"
+
+"I don't wonder!" interrupted Jim, with a look of admiration.
+
+"And what do you think?" continued the girl, not noticing the
+interruption, "he confessed to me that he had been a regular London
+thief!  Now I am quite sure that God will enable me to win him back, if
+I get him here--for I know that he is fond of me--and I am equally sure
+that he will be lost if he is again cast loose on the world."
+
+"God bless you, Nora; I'll do my best to fetch him to 'ee, even if I
+should have to walk to Ramsgate and carry him here on my shoulders; but
+don't you think it would be as well also to keep him--forgive me, dear
+Nora, I _must_ say it--to keep him out of your father's way?  He might
+teach him to drink, you know, if he taught him no worse, and that's bad
+enough."
+
+Nora's face grew pale as she said--
+
+"Oh, Jim, are you _sure_ there is nothing worse that he is likely to
+teach him?  My father has a great deal of money just now, I--I hope
+that--"
+
+"Why, Nora, you need not think he stole it," said Jim hurriedly, and
+with a somewhat confused look; "he got it in the regular way from the
+Insurance Company, and I couldn't say that there's anything absolutely
+wrong in the business; but--"
+
+The young sailor stopped short and sighed deeply.  Nora's countenance
+became still more pale, and she cast down her eyes, but spoke not a word
+for some moments.
+
+"You _must_ bring the boy to me, Jim," she resumed, with a sudden start.
+"He may be in danger here, but there is almost certain ruin before him
+if he is left to fall back into his old way of life."
+
+We need not trouble the reader with a detailed account of the means by
+which Jim Welton accomplished his object.  Love prevailed--as it always
+did, always does, and always will--and ere many days had passed Billy
+Towler was once more a member of the drunkard's family, with the sweet
+presence of Nora ever near him, like an angel's wing overshadowing and
+protecting him from evil.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+THE ANCIENT CORPORATION OF TRINITY HOUSE OF DEPTFORD STROND.
+
+As landmarks--because of their affording variety, among other reasons--
+are pleasant objects of contemplation to the weary traveller on a long
+and dusty road, so landmarks in a tale are useful as resting-places.  We
+purpose, therefore, to relieve the reader, for a very brief period, from
+the strain of mingled fact and fiction in which we have hitherto
+indulged--turn into a siding, as it were--and, before getting on the
+main line again, devote a short chapter to pure and unmitigated fact.
+
+So much has been said in previous chapters, and so much has yet to be
+said, about the lights, and buoys, and beacons which guard the shores of
+Old England, that it would be unpardonable as well as ungracious were we
+to omit making special reference to the ancient CORPORATION OF TRINITY
+HOUSE OF DEPTFORD STROND, under the able management of which the whole
+of the important work has been devised and carried into operation, and
+is now most efficiently maintained.
+
+It cannot be too urgently pressed upon un-nautical--especially young--
+readers, that the work which this Corporation does, and the duties which
+it performs, constitute what we may term _vital service_.
+
+It would be too much, perhaps, to say that the life of the nation
+depends on the faithful and wise conduct of that service, but assuredly
+our national prosperity is intimately bound up with it.  The annual list
+of ships wrecked and lives lost on the shores of the kingdom is
+appalling enough already, as every observant reader of the newspapers
+must know, but if the work of the Trinity House--the labours of the
+Elder Brethren--were suspended for a single year--if the lights, fixed
+and floating, were extinguished, and the buoys and beacons removed, the
+writer could not express, nor could the reader conceive, the awful crash
+of ruin, and the terrific cry of anguish that would sweep over the land
+from end to end, like the besom of destruction.
+
+We leave to hard-headed politicians to say what, or whether,
+improvements of any kind might be made in connection with the Trinity
+Corporation.  We do not pretend to be competent to judge whether or not
+that work might be _better_ done.  All that we pretend to is a certain
+amount of competency to judge, and right to assert, that it is _well_
+done, and one of the easiest ways to assure one's-self of that fact is,
+to go visit the lighthouses and light-vessels on the coast, and note
+their perfect management; the splendid adaptation of scientific
+discoveries to the ends they are designed to serve; the thoroughness,
+the cleanliness, the beauty of everything connected with the _materiel_
+employed; the massive solidity and apparent indestructibility of the
+various structures erected and afloat; the method everywhere observable;
+the perfect organisation and the steady respectability of the
+light-keepers--observe and note all these things, we say, and it will be
+impossible to return from the investigation without a feeling that the
+management of this department of our coast service is in pre-eminently
+able hands.
+
+Nor is this to be wondered at, when we reflect that the Corporation of
+Trinity House is composed chiefly (the acting part of it entirely) of
+nautical men--men who have spent their youth and manhood on the sea, and
+have had constantly to watch and guard against those very rocks and
+shoals, and traverse those channels which it is now their duty to light
+and buoy.  [See note 1.]
+
+It has been sagely remarked by some philosopher, we believe--at least it
+might have been if it has not--that everything must have a beginning.
+We agree with the proposition, and therefore conclude that the
+Corporation of Trinity House must have had a beginning, but that
+beginning would appear to be involved in those celebrated "mists of
+antiquity" which unhappily obscure so much that men would give their
+ears to know now-a-days.
+
+Fire--which has probably been the cause of more destruction and
+confusion than all of the other elements put together--was the cause of
+the difficulty that now exists in tracing this ancient Corporation to
+its origin, as will be seen from the following quotation from a little
+"Memoir, drawn up the present Deputy-Master, and printed for private
+distribution," which was kindly lent to us by the present secretary of
+the House, and from which most of our information has been derived.
+
+"The printed information hitherto extant [in regard to the Corporation
+of Trinity House] is limited to the charter of confirmation granted by
+James the Second (with the minor concession, by Charles the Second, of
+Thames Ballastage) and a compilation from the records of the Corporation
+down to 1746, by its then secretary, Mr Whormby, supplemented by a
+memoir drawn up, in 1822, by Captain Joseph Cotton, then Deputy-master.
+But the _data_ of these latter are necessarily imperfect, as the
+destruction by fire, in 1714, of the house in Water Lane had already
+involved a disastrous loss of documentary evidence, leaving much to be
+inferentially traced from collateral records of Admiralty and Navy
+Boards.  These, however, sufficiently attest administrative powers and
+protective influence scarcely inferior to the scope of those
+departments."
+
+More than a hundred years before the date of its original charter (1514)
+the Corporation existed in the form of a voluntary association of the
+"shipmen and mariners of England," to which reference is made in the
+charter as being an influential body of long standing even at that time,
+which protected maritime interests, and relieved the aged and indigent
+among the seafaring community, for which latter purpose they had erected
+an almshouse at Deptford, in Kent, where also were their headquarters.
+This society had inspired confidence and acquired authority to establish
+regulations for the navigation of ships and the government of seamen,
+which, by general consent, had been adopted throughout the service.  It
+was, therefore, of tested and approved capacity, which at length
+resulted in the granting to it of a charter by Henry VIII in 1514.
+
+From this date the history proper of the Corporation of Trinity House of
+Deptford Strond begins.  In the charter referred to it is first so
+named, and is described as "The Guild or Fraternity of the most glorious
+and undividable Trinity of Saint Clement."  The subsequent charter of
+James I, and all later charters, are granted to "The Master, Wardens,
+and Assistants of the Guild, Fraternity, or Brotherhood of the most
+glorious and undivided Trinity, and of Saint Clement, in the parish of
+Deptford, in the county of Kent."  The grant of Arms to the Corporation
+is dated 1573, and includes the motto, _Trinitas in Unitate_.
+
+No reason can now be assigned for the application of its distinctive
+title.  The mere fact that the constitution of the guild included
+provision for the maintenance of a chaplain, and for the conduct of
+divine service in the parish church, is not, we think, sufficient to
+account for it.
+
+In the house or hall at Deptford, adjoining the almshouses, the business
+of the Corporation was first conducted.  Afterwards, for the sake of
+convenient intercourse with shipowners and others, in a house in
+Ratcliffe; next at Stepney, and then in Water Lane, Tower Street.  The
+tenement there falling into decay--after having been twice burnt and
+restored--was forsaken, and an estate was purchased on Tower Hill, on
+which the present Trinity House was built, from designs by Wyatt, in
+1798.
+
+A good idea of the _relative_ antiquity of the Corporation may be
+gathered from the fact that about the year 1520--six years after the
+date of the first charter--the formation of the Admiralty and Navy
+Boards was begun, and "on the consequent establishment of dockyards and
+arsenals, the Deptford building-yard was confided to the direction of
+the Trinity House, together with the superintendence of all navy stores
+and provisions.  So closely, indeed, were the services related, that the
+first Master of the Corporation, under the charter, was Sir Thomas
+Spert, commander of the `Henry Grace-a-Dieu,' (our first man-of-war),
+and sometime Controller of the Navy.  The Corporation thus became, as it
+were, the civil branch of the English Maritime Service, with a naval
+element which it preserves to this day."
+
+Government records show that the Trinity Brethren exercised considerable
+powers, at an early period, in manning and outfitting the navy; that
+they reported on ships to be purchased, regulated the dimensions of
+those to be built, and determined the proper complement of sailors for
+each, as well as the armament and stores.  Besides performing its
+peaceful duties, the Corporation was bound to render service at sea if
+required, but, in consideration of such liability, the Brethren and
+their subordinates were exempted from land service of every kind.  They
+have been frequently called upon to render service afloat, "and notably
+upon two occasions--during the mutiny at the Nore in 1797, when the
+Elder Brethren, almost in view of the mutinous fleet, removed or
+destroyed every beacon and buoy that could guide its passage out to sea;
+and again in 1803, when a French invasion was imminent, they undertook
+and carried out the defences of the entrance to the Thames by manning
+and personally officering a cordon of fully-armed ships, moored across
+the river below Gravesend, with an adequate force of trustworthy seamen,
+for destruction, if necessary, of all channel marks that might guide an
+approaching enemy."
+
+We cannot afford space to enter fully into the history of the Trinity
+Corporation.  Suffice it to say that it has naturally been the object of
+a good deal of jealousy, and has undergone many searching
+investigations, from all of which it has emerged triumphantly.  Its
+usefulness having steadily advanced with all its opportunities for
+extension, it received in 1836 "the culminating recognition of an Act of
+Parliament, empowering its executive to purchase of the Crown, and to
+redeem from private proprietors, their interests in all the coast-lights
+of England, thus bringing all within its own control.  By Crown patents,
+granted from time to time, the Corporation was enabled to raise, through
+levy of tolls, the funds necessary for erection and maintenance of these
+national blessings; ... and all surplus of revenue over expenditure was
+applied to the relief of indigent and aged mariners, their wives,
+widows, and orphans."  About 1853, the allowance to out-pensioners alone
+amounted to upwards of 30,000 pounds per annum, and nearly half as much
+more of income, derived from property held in trust for charitable
+purposes, was applied to the maintenance of the almshouses at Deptford
+and Mile-end, and to other charitable uses for the benefit of the
+maritime community.
+
+The court or governing body of the Corporation is now composed of
+thirty-one members, namely, the Master, four Wardens, eight Assistants,
+and eighteen Elder Brethren.  The latter are elected out of those of the
+class of younger Brethren who volunteer, and are approved as candidates
+for the office.  Eleven members of this court of thirty-one are men of
+distinction--members of the Royal Family, Ministers of State, naval
+officers of high rank, and the like.  The remainder--called Acting
+Brethren--are chiefly officers of the mercantile marine, with a very
+few--usually three--officers of Her Majesty's navy.  The younger
+Brethren--whose number is unlimited--are admissible at the pleasure of
+the court.  They have no share in the management, but are entitled to
+vote in the election of Master and Wardens.
+
+The duties of the Corporation, as described in their charters generally,
+were to "treat and conclude upon all and singular articles anywise
+concerning the science or art of mariners."  A pretty wide and somewhat
+indefinite range!  At the present time these duties are, as follows:--
+
+To maintain in perfect working order all the lighthouses, floating
+lights, and fog-signal stations on the coasts of England; and to lay
+down, maintain, renew, and modify all the buoys, beacons, and
+sea-signals; to regulate the supply of stores, the appointment of
+keepers, and constantly to inspect the stations--a service which entails
+unremitting attention upon the members, some of whom are always on duty,
+either afloat in the steam-vessels or on land journeys.
+
+To examine and license pilots for a large portion of our coasts; and to
+investigate generally into all matters relative to pilotage.
+
+To act as nautical advisers with the Judge of the High Court of
+Admiralty, a duty which frequently engages some of the Brethren for
+considerable periods of time on intricate causes of the greatest
+importance.
+
+To survey and inspect the channels of the Thames and the shoals of the
+North Sea, and other points of the coast at which shifting, scouring,
+growth or waste of sand may affect the navigation, and require to be
+watched and notified.
+
+To supply shipping in the Thames with ballast.
+
+The Elder Brethren have also to perform the duty of attending the
+Sovereign on sea-voyages.
+
+In addition to all this, it has to superintend the distribution of its
+extensive charities, founded on various munificent gifts and legacies,
+nearly all given or left for the benefit of "poor Jack" and his
+relatives; and to manage the almshouses; also the affairs of the House
+on Tower Hill, and the engineering department, with its superintendence
+of new works, plans, drawings, lanterns, optical apparatus, etcetera--
+the whole involving, as will be obvious to men who are acquainted with
+"business," a mass of detail which must be almost as varied as it is
+enormous.
+
+The good influence of the operations of the Trinity louse might be shown
+by many interesting instances.  Here is one specimen; it has reference
+to ballast-heaving:--
+
+"Formerly the ballast, when laid in barge or lighter alongside the ship
+to be supplied, was heaved on board by men who were hired and paid by
+various waterside contractors, and subjected to great hardships, not
+only from the greed of their employers, but from a demoralising system
+of payment through publicans and local harpies.  These evils were
+altogether removed by the establishment of a Heavers' Office under
+control of the Trinity House, where men could attend for employment, and
+where their wages could be paid with regularity, and free from
+extortionate deduction."
+
+Many more examples might be given, but were we to indulge in this strain
+our chapter would far exceed its proper limits.
+
+The light-vessels belonging to the Corporation are 43 in number: 38 in
+position and 5 in reserve to meet casualties.  [See note 2.] Of
+lighthouses there are 76; sixty-one of which, built of brick, stone, or
+timber, are on shore; eleven, of granite, are on outlying rocks; and
+four, on iron piles, are on sandbanks.  There are 452 buoys of all
+shapes and sizes on the coast, and half as many more in reserve, besides
+about 60 beacons of various kinds, and 21 storehouses in connection with
+them.  Also 6 steam-vessels and 7 sailing tenders maintained for
+effecting the periodical relief of crews and keepers, shifting and
+laying buoys, etcetera.
+
+The working staff which keeps the whole complex machinery in order,
+consists of 7 district superintendents, 11 local agents, 8 buoy-keepers,
+21 storekeepers, watchmen, etcetera; 177 lighthouse-keepers, 427 crews
+of floating lights, 143 crews of steam and sailing vessels, and 6
+fog-signal attendants--a total of 800 men.
+
+Among the great and royal personages who have filled the office of
+Master of the Corporation of Trinity House, we find, besides a goodly
+list of dukes and earls--the names of (in 1837) the Duke of Wellington,
+(1852) H.R.H. Prince Albert, (1862) Viscount Palmerston, and (1866)
+H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh.  The last still holds office, and H.R.H.
+the Prince of Wales heads the list of a long roll of titled and
+celebrated honorary Brethren of the Corporation.
+
+We make no apology for the interpolation of this chapter, because if the
+reader has skipped it no apology is due, and if he has not skipped it,
+we are confident that no apology will be required.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  The service which the Corporation of Trinity House renders to
+the coasts of England, is rendered to those of Scotland by the
+Commissioners of Northern Lights, and to those of Ireland by the
+Commissioners of Irish Lights--both, to some extent, under the
+supervision of the Trinity House.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The floating lights of England are illuminated by means of lamps with
+metallic reflectors, on what is styled the catoptric system.  The
+dioptric system, in which the rays of light are transmitted through
+glass, has been introduced into the floating lights of India by the
+Messrs. Stevenson, C.E., of Edinburgh.  The first floating light on this
+system in India was shown on the Hoogly in 1865.  Since then, several
+more dioptric lights have been sent to the same region, and also to
+Japan in 1869, and all reports agree in describing these lights as being
+eminently successful.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+STRANGE SIGHTS AND SCENES ON LAND AND SEA.
+
+The river Hoogly.  Off Calcutta.  Tropical vegetation on the shore.
+Glittering sunshine on the water.  Blue sky and fleecy clouds overhead.
+Equally blue sky and fleecy clouds down below.  A world of sky and
+water, with ships and boats, resting on their own inverted images, in
+the midst.  Sweltering heat everywhere.  Black men revelling in the
+sunshine.  White men melting in the shade.  The general impression such,
+that one might almost entertain the belief that the world has become
+white-hot, and the end of time is about to be ushered in with a general
+conflagration.
+
+Such is the scene, reader, to which we purpose to convey you.
+
+The day was yet young when a large vessel shook out her topsails, and
+made other nautical demonstrations of an intention to quit the solid
+land ere long, and escape if possible from the threatened conflagration.
+
+"I wonder when those brutes will be sent off," said the first mate of
+the ship to the surgeon, who stood on the poop beside him.
+
+"What brutes do you refer to?" asked the surgeon, who was no other than
+our young friend Stanley Hall.
+
+"Why, the wild beasts, to be sure.  Have you not heard that we are to
+have as passengers on the voyage home two leopards, an elephant, and a
+rhinoceros?"
+
+"Pleasant company!  I wonder what Neptune will say to that?" said
+Stanley, with a laugh, as he walked forward to ask the opinion of the
+owner of the said Neptune.  "I say, Welton, we are to have an elephant,
+a rhinoceros, and two leopards, on this voyage."
+
+"Indeed?"
+
+"Yes, what will Neptune say to it?"
+
+"Oh, he won't mind, sir," replied Jim, patting the head of the large
+Newfoundland dog with grey paws which stood beside him.
+
+Jim and Stanley had taken a fancy to each other when on board the Nora.
+The former had carried out a plan of going to sea, in order to be out of
+the way if he should happen to be wanted as a witness at the trial of
+Morley Jones, which event he felt certain must take place soon.  He had
+made application to Stanley, who spoke to Mr Durant about him,--the
+result being that Jim obtained a berth on board the ship Wellington,
+which stood A1 at Lloyds.  Hence we find him in the Hoogly.
+
+"Neptune is a wise dog, sir," continued Jim; "he don't feel much put out
+by curious company, and is first-rate at taking care of himself.
+Besides, there is no jealousy in his nature.  I suppose he feels that
+nobody can cut him out when he has once fairly established a friendship.
+I don't grudge the dive off the bulwarks of the old Gull, when I saved
+Neptune, I assure you."
+
+"He was worth saving," remarked Stanley, stooping to pat the meek head
+of the dog.
+
+"Yes, I heard last night of the expected passengers," pursued Jim, "and
+am now rigging up tackle to hoist 'em on board.  I meant to have told
+you of 'em last night, but we got into that stiff argument about
+teetotalism, which put it completely out of my head."
+
+"Ah, Welton, you'll never convince me that teetotalism is right," said
+Stanley, with a good-humoured laugh.  "Not that I care much about wine
+or spirits myself, but as long as a man uses them in moderation they can
+do him no harm."
+
+"So I thought once, sir," returned Jim, "but I have seen cause to change
+my mind.  A healthy man can't use them in moderation, because _use_ is
+_abuse_.  Stimulants are only fit for weaklings and sick folk.  As well
+might a stout man use crutches to help him to walk, as beer or brandy to
+help him to work; yet there are some strong young men so helpless that
+they can't get on at all without their beer or grog!"
+
+"Come, I'll join issue with you on that point," said Stanley, eagerly,
+for he was very fond of an argument with Jim, who never lost his temper,
+and who always paid his opponent the compliment of listening attentively
+to what he had to say.
+
+"Not just now," replied Jim, pointing towards the shore; "for yonder
+comes a boat with some of the passengers we were talking of."
+
+"Is that tackle rigged, Welton?" shouted the mate.
+
+"It is, sir," replied Jim.
+
+"Then stand by, some of you, to hoist these leopards aboard."
+
+When the little boat or dinghy came alongside, it was observed that the
+animals were confined in a large wooden cage, through the bars of which
+they glared savagely at the half-dozen black fellows who conveyed them
+away from their native land.  They seemed to be uncommonly irate.
+Perhaps the injustice done them in thus removing them against their will
+had something to do with it.  Possibly the motion of the boat had
+deranged their systems.  Whatever the cause, they glared and growled
+tremendously.
+
+"Are you sure that cage is strong enough?" asked the mate, casting a
+dubious look over the side.
+
+"Oh yes, massa--plenty strong.  Hould a Bengal tiger," said one of the
+black fellows, looking up with a grin which displayed a splendid double
+row of glittering teeth.
+
+"Very well, get the slings on, Welton, and look sharp, bo's'n, for more
+company of the same kind is expected," said the mate.
+
+The bo's'n--a broad, short, burly man, as a boatswain always is and
+always ought to be, with, of course, a terrific bass voice, a body
+outrageously long, and legs ridiculously short--replied, "Ay, ay, sir,"
+and gave some directions to his mates, who stood by the hoisting
+tackles.
+
+At the first hoist the appearance of the cage justified the mate's
+suspicions, for the slings bent it in so much that some of the bars
+dropped out.
+
+"Avast heaving," roared the boatswain.  "Lower!"  Down went the cage
+into the dinghy.  The bars were promptly replaced, and the slings
+fastened in better position.
+
+"Try it again, bo's'n," said the mate.
+
+The order to hoist was repeated, and up went the cage a second time, but
+it bent as before, so that several bars again slipped out, leaving the
+leopards sufficient space to jump through if they chose.
+
+"Lower!" yelled the mate.
+
+The men obeyed promptly--rather too promptly!  The cage went down by the
+run into the boat, and with a crash fell asunder.
+
+"Cut the rope!" cried the mate.
+
+Jim Welton jumped into the chains, cut the painter, and the boat was
+swept away by the tide, which was running strong past the ship.  At the
+same moment the black fellows went over the sides into the water like
+six black eels radiating from a centre, and away went the dinghy with
+the leopards in possession, mounted on the debris of their prison,
+lashing their sides with their tails, and looking round in proud
+defiance of all mankind!
+
+The crew of the boat, each of whom could swim like a frog, were soon
+picked up.  Meanwhile, all on board the Wellington who had telescopes
+applied them to their eyes, and watched the progress of the dinghy.
+
+It chanced that the current set with considerable force towards the
+opposite side of the river, where lay an island on which was a public
+garden.  There ladies and gentlemen in gay costume, as well as many
+natives and children, were promenading the shady walks, chatting
+pleasantly, listening to the sweet strains of music, enjoying the
+fragrance of scented flowers, with the jungle and its inhabitants very
+far indeed from their thoughts--except, perchance, in the case of a
+group surrounding a young officer, who was, no doubt, recounting the
+manner in which he had potted a tiger on the occasion of his last day
+out with the Rajah of Bangalore, or some such dignitary!
+
+Straight to the shores of this Eden-like spot the dinghy drifted, and
+quietly did the leopards abide the result--so also did the deeply
+interested crew of the Wellington, who, of course, were quite unable to
+give any note of warning.
+
+The little boat was seen to touch the shore, and the leopards were
+observed to land leisurely without opposition from the enemy.
+Immediately after, something resembling a sensation was apparent in the
+garden.  The distance was too great to permit of sound travelling to the
+observers, but it lent enchantment to the view to the extent of
+rendering the human beings there like moving flowers of varied hue.
+Presently there was a motion, as if a tornado had suddenly burst upon
+the flower-beds and scattered them right and left in dire confusion--not
+a few appearing to have been blown up into the trees!
+
+That same day the crack shots and sportsmen of Calcutta went down to the
+usually peaceful islet and engaged in all the wild work of a regular
+hunt, and at eve the two leopards were seen, by interested observers in
+the Wellington, being conveyed away in triumph on a litter.
+
+But, long before this happy consummation of the day's sport in the
+garden, the remainder of the expected company had arrived alongside the
+Wellington, and the undaunted bo's'n--who declared himself ready on the
+shortest notice to hoist any living creature on board, from a sperm
+whale to a megatherium--tackled the elephant.  The ponderous brute
+allowed itself to be manipulated with the utmost good-humour, and when
+carefully lowered on the deck it alighted with as much softness as if it
+had been shod with India-rubber, and walked quietly forward, casting a
+leer out of its small eyes at the mate, as if it were aware of its
+powers, but magnanimously forbore to use them to the disadvantage of its
+human masters.  In passing it knocked off the bo's'n's hat, but whether
+this was done by accident or design has never been ascertained.  At all
+events the creature made no apology.
+
+If this passenger was easy-going and polite, the rhinoceros, which came
+next, was very much the reverse.  That savage individual displayed a
+degree of perverse obstinacy and bad feeling which would have been
+deemed altogether inexcusable even in a small street-boy.
+
+In the whites of its very small grey eyes wickedness sat enthroned.  The
+end of its horns--for it had two on its nose--appeared to be sharpened
+with malignity, its thick lips quivered with anger, and its ridiculously
+small tail wriggled with passionate emotion, as if that appendage felt
+its insignificance, yet sought to obtrude itself on public notice.
+
+To restrain this passenger was a matter of the utmost difficulty.  To
+get him into the slings might have perplexed Hercules himself, but
+nothing could appal the bo's'n.  The slings were affixed, the order to
+hoist was given by the mate, who had descended from the poop, and stood
+near the gangway.  Up went the monster with a grunt, and a peculiar
+rigidity of body, which evidently betokened horror at his situation.
+
+Being fully five tons in weight, this passenger had to be received on
+board with caution.
+
+"Lower away," was given.
+
+"Hold on," was added.
+
+Both orders were obeyed, and the huge animal hung within three inches of
+the deck.
+
+"Stand clear there, lads."
+
+There was no occasion for that order.  It had been anticipated.
+
+"Lower," was again given.
+
+The moment the feet of the creature touched the deck he dashed forward
+with ungovernable fury, broke the slings, overturned the bo's'n, who
+fortunately rolled into the port scuppers, and took possession of the
+ship, driving the men into the chains and up the rigging.
+
+"Jump up!" shouted Jim Welton to the bo's'n.
+
+"Here he comes aft!" yelled several of the men.
+
+There was no need to warn the boatswain.  He heard the thunder of the
+monster's feet, and sprang into the main rigging with an amount of
+agility that could hardly have been excelled by a monkey.
+
+"Why, what are you all afraid of?" asked the captain of the ship, who
+had come on board with a number of passengers just before the occurrence
+of this incident.
+
+"Come down here, sir, and you'll see," replied the mate, who was in the
+main-chains.
+
+The captain declined with a smile, and advised the use of a lasso.
+
+Immediately every man of the ship's crew became for the nonce a Mexican
+wild-horse tamer!  Running nooses were made, and Jack, albeit unused to
+taking wild cattle on the prairies of America, was, nevertheless, such
+an adept at casting a coil of rope that he succeeded beyond the most
+sanguine expectation.  The bo's'n was the first to throw a loop over the
+creature's front horn--cast a hitch over its foremast as he styled it--
+amid a deafening cheer.  He was immediately pulled out of the rigging,
+and a second time lay wallowing in the port scuppers; but he cared
+nothing for that, being upheld by the glory of having succeeded in
+fixing the first noose.  Soon after that Stanley Hall threw a noose over
+the creature's head, and Jim Welton fixed one on its second horn--or, as
+the bo's'n said, round his mizzen.  In the course of half-an-hour the
+rhinoceros was so completely entangled in the twisted ropes that he
+seemed as though he were involved in a net.  He was finally captured,
+and led to a ponderous stall that had been prepared for him between the
+fore and main masts.
+
+Soon afterwards the last of the human passengers came on board.  There
+were many of them.  Officers and their wives and children--some in
+health, some in sickness.  Old warriors returning home to repose on
+their laurels.  Young warriors returning home to recruit their health,
+or to die.  Women who went out as wives returning as widows, and women
+who went out as widows returning as wives.  Some returning with fortunes
+made, a few returning with fortunes broken; but all, old and young,
+healthy and sick, rich and poor, hopeful and hopeless, glad at the
+prospect of leaving the burning skies of India behind, and getting out
+among the fresh breezes of the open sea.  Then the sails were set, and
+with a light evening breeze the Wellington began her voyage--homeward
+bound...
+
+Once again the scene changes.  Blue skies are gone.  Grey clouds
+preponderate.  In the Atlantic, tossed by the angry billows, a large
+ship scuds before the wind as though she were fleeing from the pursuit
+of a relentless enemy.  She has evidently seen rough and long service.
+Her decks have been swept by many a heavy sea; her spars have been
+broken and spliced.  The foremast is sprung, the main-topgallant mast is
+gone, and the mizzen has been snapped off close by the deck.  Her
+bulwarks are patched here and there, and her general appearance bears
+evidence of the tremendous power of Ocean.
+
+It would be difficult in that weatherworn hull to recognise the trim
+full-rigged ship that left the Hoogly many months before.
+
+It was not a recent gale that had caused all this damage.  In the South
+Atlantic, several weeks before, she had encountered one of those
+terrific but short-lived squalls which so frequently send many of man's
+stoutest floating palaces to the bottom.  Hence her half-wrecked
+condition.
+
+The passengers on board the Wellington did not, however, seem to be much
+depressed by their altered circumstances.  The fact was, they had become
+so used to rough weather, and had weathered so many gales, and reached
+their damaged condition by such slow degrees, that they did not realise
+it as we do, turning thus abruptly from one page to another.  Besides
+this, although still some weeks' sail from the white cliffs of old
+England, they already began to consider the voyage as good as over, and
+not a few of the impatient among them had begun to pack up so as to be
+ready for going ashore.  And how carefully were those preparations for
+landing made!  With what interest the sandal-wood fans, and inlaid ivory
+boxes and elaborately carved chess-men and curious Indian toys, and
+costly Indian shawls were re-examined and repacked in more secure and
+carefully-to-be-remembered corners, in order that they might be got at
+quickly when eager little hands "at home--" Well, well, it is of no use
+to dwell on what was meant to be, for not one of those love-tokens ever
+reached its destination.  All were swallowed up by the insatiable sea.
+
+But let us not forestall.  The elephant and rhinoceros were the only
+members of the community that had perished on the voyage.  At first the
+elephant had been dreaded by many, but by degrees it won the confidence
+and affection of all.  Houses innumerable had been built for it on deck,
+but the sagacious animal had a rooted antipathy to restraint.  No sort
+of den, however strongly formed, could hold him long.  The first
+structures were so ridiculously disproportioned to his strength as to be
+demolished at once.  On being put into the first "house that Jack
+built," he looked at it demurely for at least five minutes, as if he
+were meditating on the probable intentions of the silly people who put
+him there, but neither by look nor otherwise did he reveal the
+conclusions to which he came.  His intentions, however, were not long of
+being made known.  He placed his great side against the den; there was a
+slow but steady rending of timbers, as if the good ship herself were
+breaking up, a burst of laughter from the men followed, and "Sambo" was
+free.  When the succeeding houses were built so strong that his side
+availed not, he brought his wonderful patience and his remarkable trunk
+to bear on them, and picked them to pieces bit by bit.  Then ropes were
+tried, but he snapped weak ropes and untied strong ones.
+
+At last he was permitted to roam the decks at perfect liberty, and it
+was a point of the greatest interest to observe the neat way in which he
+picked his steps over the lumbered decks, without treading upon
+anything--ay, even during nights when these decks in the tropical
+regions were covered with sleeping men!
+
+Everybody was fond of Sambo.  Neptune doted on him, and the children--
+who fed him to such an extent with biscuits that the bo's'n said he
+would be sartin' sure to die of appleplexy--absolutely adored him.  Even
+the gruff, grumpy, unsociable rhinoceros amiably allowed him to stroke
+its head with his trunk.
+
+Sambo troubled no one except the cook, but that luxurious individual was
+so constantly surrounded by a halo, so to speak, of delicious and
+suggestive odours that the elephant could not resist the temptation to
+pay him frequent visits, especially when dinner was being prepared.  One
+of his favourite proceedings at such times was to put his trunk into the
+galley, take the lid off the coppers, make a small coil of the end of
+his proboscis, and therewith at one sweep spoon out a supply of potatoes
+sufficient for half-a-dozen men!  Of course the cook sought to
+counteract such tendencies, but he had to be very circumspect, for Sambo
+resented insults fiercely.
+
+One day the cook caught his enemy in the very act of clearing out the
+potato copper.  Enraged beyond endurance, he stuck his "tormentors" into
+the animal's trunk.  With a shriek of rage Sambo dashed the potatoes in
+the man's face, and made a rush at him.  The cook fled to his sanctum
+and shut the door.  There the elephant watched him for an hour or more.
+The united efforts, mental and physical, of the ship's crew failed to
+remove the indignant creature, so they advised the cook to remain where
+he was for some time.  He hit on the plan, however, of re-winning the
+elephant's friendship.  He opened his door a little and gave him a piece
+of biscuit.  Sambo took it.  What his feelings were no one could tell,
+but he remained at his post.  Another piece of biscuit was handed out.
+Then the end of the injured proboscis was smoothed and patted by the
+cook.  Another large piece of biscuit was administered, and by degrees
+the cure was affected.  Thus successfully was applied that grand
+principle which has accomplished so much in this wicked world, even
+among higher animals than elephants--the overcoming of evil with good!
+
+Eventually Sambo sickened.  Either the cold of the north told too
+severely on a frame which had been delicately nurtured in sunny climes,
+or Sambo had surreptitiously helped himself during the hours of night to
+something deleterious out of the paint or pitch pots.  At all events he
+died, to the sincere regret of all on board--cook not excepted--and was
+launched overboard to glut the sharks with an unwonted meal, and
+astonish them with a new sensation.
+
+Very dissimilar was the end of the rhinoceros.  That bumptious animal
+retained its unamiable spirit to the last.  Fortunately it did not
+possess the powers or sagacity of the elephant.  It could not untie
+knots or pick its cage to pieces, so that it was effectually restrained
+during the greater part of the voyage; but there came a tempest at last,
+which assisted him in becoming free--free, not only from durance vile,
+but from the restraints of this life altogether.  On the occasion
+referred to, the rudder was damaged, and for a time rendered useless, so
+that the good ship Wellington rolled to an extent that almost tore the
+masts out of her.  Everything not firmly secured about the decks was
+washed overboard.  Among other things, the rhinoceros was knocked so
+heavily against the bars of his crib that they began to give way.
+
+At last the vessel gave a plunge and roll which seemed to many of those
+on board as though it must certainly be her last.  The rhinoceros was
+sent crashing through the dislocated bars; the ropes that held his legs
+were snapped like the cords wherewith Samson was bound in days of old,
+and away he went with the lurch of a tipsy man against the long-boat,
+which he stove in.
+
+"Hold on!" roared the bo's'n.
+
+Whether this was advice to the luckless animal, or a general adjuration
+to everybody and everything to be prepared for the worst, we know not;
+but instead of holding on, every one let go what he or she chanced to be
+holding on to at the moment, and made for a place of safety with
+reckless haste.  The rhinoceros alone obeyed the order.  It held on for
+a second or two in a most remarkable manner to the mainmast, but another
+lurch of the vessel cast it loose again; a huge billow rolled under the
+stern; down went the bow, and the brute slid on its haunches, with its
+fore legs rigid in front, at an incredible pace towards the galley.
+Just as a smash became imminent, the bow rose, the stern dropt, and away
+he went back again with equal speed, but in a more sidling attitude,
+towards the quarter-deck.
+
+Before that point was reached, a roll diverted him out of course and he
+was brought up by the main hatch, from which he rebounded like a
+billiard ball towards the starboard gangway.  At this point he lost his
+balance, and went rolling to leeward like an empty cask.  There was
+something particularly awful and impressive in the sight of this
+unwieldy monster being thus knocked about like a pea in a rattle, and
+sometimes getting into attitudes that would have been worthy of a dancer
+on the tightrope, but the consummation of the event was not far off.  An
+unusually violent roll of the ship sent him scrambling to starboard; a
+still more vicious roll checked and reversed the rush and dashed him
+against the cabin skylight.  He carried away part of this, continued his
+career, went tail-foremost through the port bulwarks like a cannon-shot
+into the sea.  He rose once, but, as if to make sure of her victory, the
+ship relentlessly fell on him with a weight that must have split his
+skull, and sent him finally to the bottom.
+
+Strange to say, the dog Neptune was the only one on board that appeared
+to mourn the loss of this passenger.  He howled a good deal that night
+in an unusually sad tone, and appeared to court sympathy and caresses
+more than was his wont from Jim Welton and the young people who were
+specially attached to him, but he soon became reconciled, alas! to the
+loss of his crusty friend.
+
+The storms ceased as they neared the shores of England.  The carpenter
+and crew were so energetic in repairing damages that the battered vessel
+began to wear once more something of her former trim aspect, and the
+groups of passengers assembled each evening on the poop, began to talk
+with ever-deepening interest of home, while the children played beside
+them, or asked innumerable questions about brothers, sisters, and
+cousins, whose names were as familiar as household words, though their
+voices and forms were still unknown.
+
+The weather was fine, the sky was clear; warm summer breezes filled the
+sails, and all nature seemed to have sunk into a condition so peaceful
+as to suggest the idea that storms were past and gone for ever, when the
+homeward-bound ship neared the land.  One evening the captain remarked
+to the passengers, that if the wind would hold as it was a little
+longer, they should soon pass through the Downs, and say good-bye to the
+sea breezes and the roll of the ocean wave.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+BOB QUEEKER COMES OUT VERY STRONG INDEED.
+
+It is both curious and interesting to observe the multitude of unlikely
+ways in which the ends of justice are ofttimes temporarily defeated.
+Who would have imagined that an old pump would be the cause of extending
+Morley Jones's term of villainy, of disarranging the deep-laid plans of
+Mr Larks, of effecting the deliverance of Billy Towler, and of at once
+agonising the body and ecstatifying the soul of Robert Queeker?  Yet so
+it was.  If the old pump had not existed--if its fabricator had never
+been born--there is every probability that Mr Jones's career would have
+been cut short at an earlier period.  That he would, in his then state
+of mind, have implicated Billy, who would have been transported along
+with him and almost certainly ruined; that Mr Queeker would--but hold.
+Let us present the matter in order.
+
+Messrs. Merryheart and Dashope were men of the law, and Mr Robert
+Queeker was a man of their office--in other words, a clerk--not a
+"confidential" one, but a clerk, nevertheless, in whose simple-minded
+integrity they had much confidence.  Bob, as his fellow-clerks styled
+him, was sent on a secret mission to Ramsgate.  The reader will observe
+how fortunate it was that his mission was _secret_, because it frees us
+from the necessity of setting down here an elaborate and tedious
+explanation as to how, when, and where the various threads of his
+mission became interwoven with the fabric of our tale.  Suffice it to
+say that the only part of his mission with which we are acquainted is
+that which had reference to two men--one of whom was named Mr Larks,
+the other Morley Jones.
+
+Now, it so happened that Queeker's acquaintance, Mr Durant, had an
+intimate friend who dwelt near a beautiful village in Kent.  When
+Queeker mentioned the circumstance of the secret mission which called
+him to Ramsgate, he discovered that the old gentleman was on the point
+of starting for this village, in company with his daughter and her
+cousin Fanny.
+
+"You'll travel with us, I hope, Queeker; our roads lie in the same
+direction, at least a part of the way, you know," said the hearty little
+old gentleman, with good-nature beaming in every wrinkle, from the crown
+of his bald head to the last fold of his treble chin; "it will be such a
+comfort to have you to help me take care of the girls.  And if you can
+spare time to turn aside for a day or two, I promise you a hearty
+welcome from my friend--whose residence, named Jenkinsjoy, is an antique
+paradise, and his hospitality unbounded.  He has splendid horses, too,
+and will give you a gallop over as fine a country as exists between this
+and the British Channel.  You ride, of course?"
+
+Queeker admitted that he could ride a little.
+
+"At least," he added, after a pause, "I used frequently to get rides on
+a cart-horse when I was a very little boy."
+
+So it was arranged that Queeker should travel with them.  Moreover, he
+succeeded in obtaining from his employers permission to delay for three
+days the prosecution of the mission--which, although secret, was not
+immediately pressing--in order that he might visit Jenkinsjoy.  It was
+fortunate that, when he went to ask this brief holiday, he found Mr
+Merryheart in the office.  Had it been his mischance to fall upon
+Dashope, he would have received a blunt refusal and prompt dismissal--so
+thoroughly were the joys of that gentleman identified with the woes of
+other people.
+
+But, great though Queeker's delight undoubtedly was on this occasion, it
+was tempered by a soul-harassing care, which drew forth whole quires of
+poetical effusions to the moon and other celestial bodies.  This secret
+sorrow was caused by the dreadful and astonishing fact, that, do what he
+would to the contrary, the weather-cock of his affections was veering
+slowly but steadily away from Katie, and pointing more and more
+decidedly towards Fanny Hennings!  It is but simple justice to the poor
+youth to state that he loathed and abhorred himself in consequence.
+
+"There am I," he soliloquised, on the evening before the journey began,
+"a monster, a brute, a lower animal almost, who have sought with all my
+strength to gain--perchance _have_ gained--the innocent, trusting heart
+of Katie Durant, and yet, without really meaning it, but, somehow,
+without being able to help it, I am--_not_ falling in love; oh! no,
+perish the thought! but, but--falling into something strangely,
+mysteriously, incomprehensibly, similar to--Oh! base ingrate that I am,
+is there no way; no back-door by which--?"
+
+Starting up, and seizing a pen, at this point of irrepressible
+inspiration, he wrote, reading aloud as he set down the burning
+thoughts--
+
+  Oh for a postern in the rear,
+  Where wretched man might disappear;
+  And never more should seek her!
+
+  Fly, fly to earth's extremest bounds,--
+
+Bounds, mounds, lounds, founds, kounds, downds, rounds, pounds,
+zounds!--hounds--ha! hounds--I have it--
+
+  "Fly, fly to earth's extremest bounds,
+  With huntsmen, horses, horns, and hounds
+  And die!--dejected Queeker.
+
+"I wonder," thought Queeker, as he sat biting the end of his quill--his
+usual method of courting inspiration, "I wonder if there is anything
+prophetic in these lines!  Durant said that his friend has splendid
+horses.  They may, perhaps, be hunters!  Ha! my early ambition,
+perchance, youth's fond dream, may yet be realised!  But let me not
+hope.  Hope always tells a false as well as flattering tale _to me_.
+She has ever been, in my experience" (he was bitter at this point) "an
+incorrigible li--ahem! story-teller."
+
+Striking his clenched fist heavily on the table, Queeker rose, put on
+his hat, and went round to Mr Durant's merely to inquire whether he
+could be of any service--not that he could venture to offer assistance
+in the way of packing, but there _might_ be something such as roping
+trunks, or writing and affixing addresses, in regard to which he might
+perhaps render himself useful.
+
+"Why, Miss Durant," he said, on entering, "you are _always_ busy."
+
+"Am I?" said Katie, with a smile, as she rose and shook hands.
+
+"Yes, I--I--assure you, Miss Durant," said Queeker, bowing to Fanny, on
+whose fat pretty face there was a scarlet flush, the result either of
+the suddenness of Queeker's entry, or of the suppression of her
+inveterate desire to laugh, "I assure you that it quite rouses my
+admiration to observe the ease with which you can turn your hand to
+anything.  You can write out accounts better than any fellow in our
+office.  Then you play and sing with so much ease, and I often find you
+making clothes for poor people, with pounds of tea and sugar in your
+pockets, besides many other things, and now, here you are painting
+like--like--one of the old masters!"
+
+This was quite an unusual burst on the part of Queeker, who felt as
+though he were making some amends for his unfaithfulness in thus
+recalling and emphatically asserting the unquestionably good qualities
+of his lady-love.  He felt as if he were honestly attempting to win
+himself back to his allegiance.
+
+"You are very complimentary," said Katie, with a glance at her cousin,
+which threw that young lady into silent convulsions.
+
+"Not at all," cried Queeker, forcing his enthusiasm up to white heat,
+and seizing a drawing, which he held up before him, in the vain attempt
+to shut Fanny out of his sight.
+
+"Now, I call this most beautiful," he said, in tones of genuine
+admiration.  "I _never_ saw anything so sweet before."
+
+"Indeed!" said Katie, who observed that the youth was gazing over the
+top of the drawing at her cousin.  "I am _so_ glad you like it, for, to
+say truth, I have felt disappointed with it myself, and papa says it is
+only so-so.  Do point out to me its faults, Mr Queeker, and the parts
+you like best."
+
+She rose and looked over Queeker's shoulder with much interest, and took
+hold of the drawing to keep it firmly in its position.
+
+There was an excessively merry twinkle in Katie's eyes as she watched
+the expression of Queeker's face when he exclaimed--
+
+"Faults, Miss Durant, there are no--eh! why, what--"
+
+"Oh you wicked, deceptive man, you've got it upside down!" said Katie,
+shaking her finger at the unhappy youth, who stammered, tried to
+explain--to apologise--failed, broke down, and talked unutterable
+nonsense, to the infinite delight of his fair tormentor.
+
+As for Fanny, that Hebe bent her head suddenly over her work-basket, and
+thrust her face into it as if searching with microscopic intensity for
+something that positively refused to be found.  All that we can safely
+affirm in regard to her is, that if her face bore any resemblance to the
+scarlet of her neck, the fact that her workbox did not take fire is
+little short of a miracle!
+
+Fortunately for all parties Queeker inadvertently trod on the cat's
+tail, which resulted in a spurt so violent as to justify a total change
+of subject.  Before the storm thus raised had calmed down, Mr Durant
+entered the room.
+
+At Jenkinsjoy Queeker certainly did meet with a reception even more
+hearty than he had been led to expect.  Mr Durant's friend, Stoutheart,
+his amiable wife and daughters and strapping sons, received the youthful
+limb of the law with that frank hospitality which we are taught to
+attribute "to Merrie England in the olden time."  The mansion was
+old-fashioned and low-roofed, trellis-worked and creeper-loved; addicted
+to oak panelling, balustrades, and tapestried walls, and highly suitable
+to ghosts of a humorous and agreeable tendency.  Indeed it was said that
+one of the rooms actually _was_ haunted at that very time; but Queeker
+did not see any ghosts, although he afterwards freely confessed to
+having seen all the rooms in the house more or less haunted by fairy
+spirits of the fair sex, and masculine ghosts in buckskins and
+top-boots!  The whole air and aspect of the neighbourhood was such that
+Queeker half expected to find a May-pole in the neighbouring village,
+sweet shepherdesses in straw hats, pink ribbons, and short kirtles in
+the fields, and gentle shepherds with long crooks, playing antique
+flageolets on green banks, with innocent-looking dogs beside them, and
+humble-minded sheep reposing in Arcadian felicity at their feet.
+
+"Where does the meet take place to-day, Tom?" asked Mr Stoutheart
+senior of Mr Stoutheart junior, while seated at breakfast the first
+morning after their arrival at Jenkinsjoy.
+
+"At Curmersfield," replied young Stoutheart.
+
+"Ah, not a bad piece of country to cross.  You remember when you and I
+went over it together, Amy?"
+
+"We have gone over it so often together, papa," replied Amy, "that I
+really don't know to which occasion you refer."
+
+"Why, that time when we met the hounds unexpectedly; when you were
+mounted on your favourite Wildfire, and appeared to have imbibed some of
+his spirit, for you went off at a tangent, crying out, `Come along,
+papa!' and cleared the hedge at the roadside, crossed Slapperton's farm,
+galloped up the lane leading to Curmersfield, took the ditch, with the
+low fence beyond at Cumitstrong's turnip-field, in a flying leap--
+obliging me to go quarter of a mile round by the gate--and overtook the
+hounds just as they broke away on a false scent in the direction of the
+Neckornothing ditch."
+
+"Oh yes, I remember," replied Amy with a gentle smile; "it was a
+charming gallop.  I wished to continue it, but you thought the ground
+would be too much for me, though I have gone over it twice since then in
+perfect safety.  You are far too timid, papa."
+
+Queeker gazed and listened in open-mouthed amazement, for the young girl
+who acknowledged in an offhand way that she had performed such
+tremendous feats of horsemanship was modest, pretty, unaffected, and
+feminine.
+
+"I wonder," thought Queeker, "if Fan--ah, I mean Katie--could do that
+sort of thing?"
+
+He looked loyally at Katie, but thought, disloyally, of her cousin,
+accused himself of base unfaithfulness, and, seizing a hot roll, began
+to eat violently.
+
+"Would you like to see the meet, Mr Queeker?" said Mr Stoutheart
+senior; "I can give you a good mount.  My own horse, Slapover, is
+neither so elegant nor so high-spirited as Wildfire, but he can go over
+anything, and is quite safe."
+
+A sensitive spring had been touched in the bosom of Queeker, which
+opened a floodgate that set loose an astonishing and unprecedented flow
+of enthusiastic eloquence.
+
+"I shall like it of all things," he cried, with sparkling eyes and
+heightened colour.  "It has been my ambition ever since I was a little
+boy to mount a thoroughbred and follow the hounds.  I assure you the
+idea of `crossing country,' as it is called, I believe, and taking
+hedges, ditches, five-barred gates and everything as we go, has a charm
+for me which is absolutely inexpressible--"
+
+Queeker stopped abruptly, because he observed a slight flush on Fanny's
+cheeks and a pursed expression on Fanny's lips, and felt uncertain as to
+whether or not she was laughing at him internally.
+
+"Well said, Queeker," cried Mr Stoutheart enthusiastically; "it's a
+pity you are a town-bred man.  Such spirit as yours can find vent only
+in the free air of the country!"
+
+"Amy, dear," said Katie, with an extremely innocent look at her friend,
+"do huntsmen in this part of England usually take `everything as they
+go?'  I think Mr Queeker used that expression."
+
+"N-not exactly," replied Amy, with a smile and glance of uncertainty, as
+if she did not quite see the drift of the question.
+
+"Ah!  I thought not," returned Katie with much gravity.  "I had always
+been under the impression that huntsmen were in the habit of going
+_round_ stackyards, and houses, and such things--not _over_ them."
+
+Queeker was stabbed--stabbed to the heart!  It availed not that the
+company laughed lightly at the joke, and that Mr Stoutheart said that
+he (Queeker) should realise his young dream, and reiterated the
+assurance that his horse would carry him over _anything_ if he only held
+tightly on and let him go.  He had been stabbed by Katie--the gentle
+Katie--the girl whom he had adored so long--ha! there was comfort in the
+word _had_; it belonged to the past; it referred to things gone by; it
+rhymed with sad, bad, mad; it suggested a period of remote antiquity,
+and pointed to a hazy future.  As the latter thought rushed through his
+heated brain, he turned his eyes on Fanny, with that bold look of
+dreadful determination that marks the traitor when, having fully made up
+his mind, he turns his back on his queen and flag for ever!  But poor
+Queeker found little comfort in the new prospect, for Fanny had been
+gently touched on the elbow by Katie when she committed her savage
+attack; and when Queeker looked at the fair, fat cousin, she was
+involved in the agonies of a suppressed but tremendous giggle.
+
+After breakfast two horses were brought to the door.  Wildfire, a sleek,
+powerful roan of large size, was a fit steed for the stalwart Tom, who,
+in neatly-fitting costume and Hessian boots, got into the saddle like a
+man accustomed to it.  The other horse, Slapover, was a large,
+strong-boned, somewhat heavy steed, suitable for a man who weighed
+sixteen stone, and stood six feet in his socks.
+
+"Now then, jump up, Queeker," said Mr Stoutheart, holding the stirrup.
+
+If Queeker had been advised to vault upon the ridge-pole of the house,
+he could not have looked more perplexed than he did as he stood looking
+up at the towering mass of horse-flesh, to the summit of which he was
+expected to climb.  However, being extremely light, and Mr Stoutheart
+senior very strong, he was got into the saddle somehow.
+
+"Where _are_ the stirrups?" said Queeker, with a perplexed air, trying
+to look over the side of his steed.
+
+"Why, they've forgot to shorten 'em," said Mr Stoutheart with a laugh,
+observing that the irons were dangling six inches below the rider's
+toes.
+
+This was soon rectified.  Queeker's glazed leather leggings--which were
+too large for him, and had a tendency to turn round--were put straight;
+the reins were gathered up, and the huntsman rode away.
+
+"All you've to do is to hold on," shouted Mr Stoutheart, as they rode
+through the gate.  "He is usually a little skittish at the start, but
+quiet as a lamb afterwards."
+
+Queeker made no reply.  His mind was brooding on his wrongs and sorrows;
+for Katie had quietly whispered him to take care and not fall off, and
+Fanny had giggled again.
+
+"I _must_ cure him of his foolish fancy," thought Katie as she
+re-entered the house, "for Fanny's sake, if for nothing else; though I
+cannot conceive what she can see to like in him.  There is no accounting
+for taste!"
+
+"I can at all events _die_;"--thought Queeker, as he rode along, shaking
+the reins and pressing his little legs against the horse as if with the
+savage intention of squeezing the animal's ribs together.
+
+"There _was_ prophetic inspiration in the lines!--yes," he continued,
+repeating them--
+
+  "Fly, fly, to earth's extremest bounds,
+  With huntsmen, horses, horn, and hounds,
+  And die--dejected Queeker!
+
+"I'll change that--it shall be rejected Queeker _now_."
+
+For some time Tom Stoutheart and Queeker rode over "hill and dale"--that
+is to say, they traversed four miles of beautiful undulating and
+diversified country at a leisurely pace, having started in good time.
+
+"Your father," observed Queeker, as they rode side by side down a green
+lane, "said, I think, when we started, that this horse was apt to be
+skittish at the start.  Is he difficult to hold in?"
+
+"Oh no," replied Tom, with a reassuring smile.  "He is as quiet and
+manageable as any man could wish.  He does indeed bounce about a little
+when we burst away at first, and is apt then to get the bit in his
+teeth; but you've only to keep a tight rein and he'll go all right.  His
+only fault is a habit of tossing his head, which is a little awkward
+until you get used to it."
+
+"Yes, I have discovered that fault already," replied Queeker, as the
+horse gave a practical illustration of it by tossing his enormous head
+back until it reached to within an inch of the point of his rider's
+nose.  "Twice he has just touched my forehead.  Had I been bending a
+little forward I suppose he would have given me an unpleasant blow."
+
+"Rather," said Stoutheart junior.  "I knew one poor fellow who was
+struck in that way by his horse and knocked off insensible.  I think he
+was killed, but don't feel quite sure as to that."
+
+"He has no other faults, I hope?" asked Queeker.
+
+"None.  As for refusing his leaps--he refuses nothing.  He carries my
+father over anything he chooses to run him at, so it's not likely that
+he'll stick with a light-weight."
+
+This was so self-evident that Queeker felt a reply to be unnecessary; he
+rode on, therefore, in silence for a few minutes, comforting himself
+with the thought that, at all events, he could die!
+
+"I don't intend," said Queeker, after a few minutes' consideration, "to
+attempt to leap everything.  I think that would be foolhardy.  I must
+tell you, Mr Stoutheart, before we get to the place of meeting, that I
+can only ride a very little, and have never attempted to leap a fence of
+any kind.  Indeed I never bestrode a real hunter before.  I shall
+therefore content myself with following the hounds as far as it is safe
+to do so, and will then give it up."
+
+Young Stoutheart was a little surprised at the modest and prudent tone
+of this speech, but he good-naturedly replied--
+
+"Very well, I'll guide you through the gates and gaps.  You just follow
+me, and you shall be all right, and when you've had enough of it, let me
+know."
+
+Queeker and his friend were first in the field, but they had not been
+there many minutes when one and another and another red-coat came
+cantering over the country, and ere long a large cavalcade assembled in
+front of a mansion, the lawn of which formed the rendezvous.  There were
+men of all sorts and sizes, on steeds of all kinds and shapes--little
+men on big horses, and big men on little horses; men who looked like
+"bloated aristocrats" before the bloating process had begun, and men in
+whom the bloating process was pretty far advanced, but who had no touch
+of aristocracy to soften it.  Men who looked healthy and happy, others
+who looked reckless and depraved.  Some wore red-coats, cords, and
+tops--others, to the surprise and no small comfort of Queeker, who
+fancied that _all_ huntsmen wore red coats, were habited in modest
+tweeds of brown and grey.  Many of the horses were sleek, glossy, and
+fine-limbed, like racers; others were strong-boned and rough.  Some few
+were of gigantic size and rugged aspect, to suit the massive men who
+bestrode them.  One of these in particular, a hearty, jovial farmer--and
+a relative of Tom's--appeared to the admiring Queeker to be big and
+powerful enough to have charged a whole troop of light dragoons
+single-handed with some hope of a successful issue.  Ladies were there
+to witness the start, and two of the fair sex appeared ready to join the
+hunt and follow the hounds, while here and there little boys might be
+seen bent on trying their metal on the backs of Shetland ponies.
+
+It was a stirring scene of meeting, and chatting, and laughing, and
+rearing, and curvetting, and fresh air, and sunshine.
+
+Presently the master of the hounds came up with the pack at his heels.
+A footman of the mansion supplied all who desired it with a tumbler of
+beer.
+
+"Have some beer?" said young Stoutheart, pointing to the footman
+referred to.
+
+"No, thank you," said Queeker.  "Will you?"
+
+"No.  I have quite enough of spirit within me.  Don't require artificial
+stimulant," said the youth with a laugh.  "Come now--we're off."
+
+Queeker's heart gave a bound as he observed the master of the hounds
+ride off at a brisk pace followed by the whole field.
+
+"I won't die yet.  It's too soon," he thought, as he shook the reins and
+chirped to his steed.
+
+Slapover did not require chirping.  He shook his head, executed a mild
+pirouette on his left hind leg, and made a plunge which threatened first
+to leave his rider behind, and then to shoot him over his head.  Queeker
+had been taken unawares, but he pressed his knees together, knitted his
+brows, and resolved not to be so taken again.
+
+Whew! what a rush there was as the two or three hundred excited steeds
+and enthusiastic riders crossed the lawn, galloped through an open gate,
+and made towards a piece of rough ground covered with low bushes and
+bracken, through which the hounds were seen actively running as if in
+search of something.  The bodies of the hounds were almost hidden, and
+Queeker, whose chief attention was devoted to his horse, had only time
+to receive the vague impression, as he galloped up, that the place was
+alive with white and pointed tails.
+
+That first rush scattered Queeker's depression to the winds.  What cared
+he for love, either successful or unrequited, now?  Katie was forgotten.
+Fanny was to him little better than a mere abstraction.  He was on a
+hunter!  He was following the hounds!  He had heard, or imagined he had
+heard, something like a horn.  He was surprised a little that no one
+cried out "Tally-ho!" and in the wild excitement of his feelings thought
+of venturing on it himself, but the necessity of holding in Slapover
+with all the power of his arms, fortunately induced him to restrain his
+ardour.
+
+Soon after he heard a shout of some sort, which he tried to believe was
+"Tally-ho!" and the scattered huntsmen, who had been galloping about in
+all directions, converged into a stream.  Following, he knew not and
+cared not what or whom, he swept round the margin of a little pond, and
+dashed over a neighbouring field.
+
+From that point Queeker's recollection of events became a train of
+general confusion, with lucid points at intervals, where incidents of
+unusual interest or force arrested his attention.
+
+The first of these lucid points was when, at the end of a heavy burst
+over a ploughed field, he came to what may be styled his first leap.
+His hat by that time had threatened so frequently to come off, that he
+had thrust it desperately down on his head, until the rim behind rested
+on the back of his neck.  Trotting through a gap in a hedge into a road,
+young Stoutheart sought about for a place by which they might clamber up
+into the next field without going round by the gate towards which most
+of the field had headed.
+
+"D'you think you could manage that?" said Tom, pointing with the handle
+of his whip to a gap in the hedge, where there was a mound and a hollow
+with a _chevaux-de-frise_ of cut stumps around, and a mass of thorn
+branches sufficiently thin to be broken through.
+
+Queeker never looked at it, but gazing steadily in the face of his
+friend, said--
+
+"I'll follow!"
+
+Stoutheart at once pushed his horse at it.  It could not be called a
+leap.  It was a mere scramble, done at the slowest possible pace.
+Wildfire gave one or two little bounds, and appeared to walk up
+perpendicularly on his hind legs, while Tom looked as if he were
+plastered against him with some adhesive substance; then he appeared to
+drop perpendicularly down on the other side, his tail alone being
+visible.
+
+"All right, come along," shouted Tom.
+
+Queeker rode up to the gap, shut his eyes, gave a chirp, and committed
+himself to fate and Slapover.  He felt a succession of shocks, and then
+a pause.  Venturing to open his eyes, he saw young Stoutheart, still on
+the other side of the fence, laughing at him.
+
+"You shouldn't hold so tight by the reins," he cried; "you've pulled him
+back into the road.  Try it again."
+
+Queeker once more shut his eyes, slacked the reins, and, seizing the
+pommel of the saddle, gave another chirp.  Again there was a shock,
+which appeared to drive his body up against his head; another which
+seemed to have all but snapped him off at the waist; then a sensation
+about his hat, as if a few wild-cats were attempting to tear it off,
+followed by a drop and a plunge, which threw him forward on his
+charger's neck.
+
+"Dear me!" he exclaimed, panting, as he opened his eyes, "I had no idea
+the shock would have been so--so--shocking!"
+
+Tom laughed; cried "Well done!" and galloped on.  Queeker followed, his
+cheeks on fire, and perspiration streaming from his brow.
+
+"Now, then, here is an easy fence," cried Stoutheart, looking back and
+pointing to a part of the field where most of the huntsmen were popping
+over a low hedge, "will you try it?"
+
+Queeker's spirit was fairly up.
+
+"I'll try it!" he said, sternly.
+
+"Come on then."
+
+Stoutheart led the way gallantly, at full speed, and went over like an
+india-rubber ball.  Queeker brought the handle of his riding-whip whack
+down on the flank of his astonished horse, and flew at the fence.
+Slapover took it with a magnificent bound.  Queeker was all but left
+behind!  He tottered, as it were, in the saddle; rose entirely out of
+it; came down with a crash that almost sent him over the horse's head,
+and gave him the probable sensations of a telescope on being forcibly
+shut up; but he held on bravely, and galloped up alongside of his
+companion, with a tendency to cheer despite his increased surprise at
+the extreme violence of the shocks to which his unaccustomed frame was
+being exposed.
+
+After this our enthusiastic Nimrod went at everything, and feared
+nothing!  Well was it for him that he had arranged to follow Tom
+Stoutheart, else assuredly he would have run Slapover at fences which
+would have taxed the temerity even of that quadruped, and insured his
+destruction.  Tom, seeing his condition, considerately kept him out of
+danger, and yet, being thoroughly acquainted with the country, managed
+to keep him well up with the hounds.
+
+Towards the afternoon Queeker's fire began to abate.  His aspect had
+become dishevelled.  His hat had got so severely thrust down on his
+head, that the brim in front reposed on the bridge of his nose, as did
+the brim behind on the nape of his neck.  His trousers were collected in
+folds chiefly about his knees, and the glazed leggings had turned
+completely round, presenting the calves to the front.  But these were
+matters of small moment compared with the desperate desire he had to
+bring his legs together, if even for a moment of time!  Sensations in
+various parts of his frame, which in the earlier part of the day had
+merely served to remind him that he was mortal, had now culminated into
+unquestionable aches and pains, and his desire to get off the back of
+Slapover became so intense, that he would certainly have given way to it
+had he not felt that in the event of his doing so there would be no
+possibility of his getting on again!
+
+"Where are they all away to?" he asked in surprise, as the whole field
+went suddenly off helter-skelter in a new direction.
+
+"I think they've seen the fox," replied Stoutheart.
+
+"Seen the fox! why, I forgot all about the fox!  But--but haven't we
+seen it before? haven't we been after it _all day_?"
+
+"No, we've only got scent of if once or twice."
+
+"Well, well," exclaimed Queeker, turning up his eyes, "I declare we have
+had as good fun as if we had been after the fox in full sight all the
+time!"
+
+"Here is a somewhat peculiar leap," said Stoutheart, reining up as they
+approached a fence, on the other side of which was a high-road, "I'll go
+first, to show you the way."
+
+The peculiarity of the leap lay in the fact that it was a drop of about
+four feet into the road, which was lower, to that extent, than the
+field, and that the side of the road into which the riders had to drop
+was covered with scrubby bushes.  To men accustomed to it this was a
+trifle.  Most of the field had already taken it, though a few cautious
+riders had gone round by a gate.
+
+When Queeker came to try it he felt uneasy--sitting as he did so high,
+and looking down such a precipice as it seemed to him.  However, he shut
+his eyes, and courageously gave the accustomed chirp, and Slapover
+plunged down.  Queeker held tight to the saddle, and although much
+shaken, would have come out of the ordeal all right, had not Slapover
+taken it into his head to make a second spring over a low bush which
+stood in front of him.  On the other side of this bush there was an old
+pump.  Queeker lost his balance, threw out his arms, fell off, was
+hurled violently against the old pump, and his right leg was broken!
+
+A cart was quickly procured, and on trusses of straw the poor huntsman
+was driven sadly and slowly, back to Jenkinsjoy, where he was tenderly
+put to bed and carefully nursed for several weeks by his hospitable and
+sympathising friends.
+
+Queeker bore his misfortune like a Stoic, chiefly because it developed
+the great fact that Fanny Hennings wept a whole night and a day after
+its occurrence, insomuch that her fair face became so swollen as to have
+lost much of its identity and all its beauty--a fact which filled
+Queeker with hopes so high that his recovery was greatly hastened by the
+contented, almost joyous, manner in which he submitted to his fate.
+
+Of course Queeker's secret mission was, for the _time_ being, at an
+end;--and thus it came to pass that an old pump, as we said at the
+beginning of this chapter, was the cause of the failure of several
+deep-laid plans, and of much bodily anguish and mental felicity to the
+youthful Nimrod.
+
+Queeker's last observation before falling into a feverish slumber on the
+first night after his accident, was to the effect that fox-hunting was
+splendid sport--magnificent sport,--but that it appeared to him there
+was no occasion whatever for a fox.  And ever after that he was wont to
+boast that his first and last day of fox-hunting, which was an unusually
+exciting one, had been got though charmingly without any fox at all.  It
+is even said that Queeker, descending from poetry,--his proper sphere,--
+to prose, wrote an elaborate and interesting paper on that subject,
+which was refused by all the sporting papers and journals to which he
+sent it;--but, this not being certified, we do not record it as a fact.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+THE LAMPLIGHTER AT HOME, AND THREATENING APPEARANCES.
+
+We turn now to a very different scene--the pier and harbour of Ramsgate.
+The storm-fiend is abroad.  Thick clouds of a dark leaden hue drive
+athwart a sky of dingy grey, ever varying their edges, and rolling out
+limbs and branches in random fashion, as if they were fleeing before the
+wind in abject terror.  The wind, however, is chiefly in the sky as yet.
+Down below there are only fitful puffs now and then, telling of
+something else in store.  The sea is black, with sufficient swell on it
+to cause a few crested waves here and there to gleam intensely white by
+contrast.  It is early in the day, nevertheless there is a peculiar
+darkness in the atmosphere which suggests the approach of night.
+Numerous vessels in the offing are making with all speed for Ramsgate
+harbour, which is truly and deservedly named a "harbour of refuge," for
+already some two dozen ships of considerable size, and a large fleet of
+small craft, have sought and found shelter on a coast which in certain
+conditions of the wind is fraught with danger.  About the stores near
+the piers, Trinity men are busy with buoys, anchors, and cables;
+elsewhere labourers are toiling, idlers are loafing, and lifeboat--men
+are lounging about, leaning on the parapets, looking wistfully out to
+sea, with and without telescopes, from the sheer force of habit, and
+commenting on the weather.  The broad, bronzed, storm-battered coxswain
+of the celebrated Ramsgate lifeboat, who seems to possess the power of
+feeding and growing strong on hardship and exposure, is walking about at
+the end of the east pier, contemplating the horizon in the direction of
+the Goodwin Sands with the serious air of a man who expects ere long to
+be called into action.
+
+The harbour-master--who is, and certainly had need be, a man of brain as
+well as muscle and energy, to keep the conflicting elements around him
+in order--moves about actively, making preparation for the expected
+gale.
+
+Early on the morning of the day referred to, Nora Jones threaded her way
+among the stalls of the marketplace under the town-hall, as if she were
+in search of some one.  Not succeeding in her search, she walked briskly
+along one of the main thoroughfares of the town, and diverged into a
+narrow street, which appeared to have retired modestly into a corner in
+order to escape observation.  At the farther end of this little street,
+she knocked at the door of a house, the cleanly appearance of which
+attested the fact that its owner was well-doing and orderly.
+
+Nora knocked gently; she did everything gently!
+
+"Is Mrs Moy at home?" she asked, as a very bright little girl's head
+appeared.
+
+No sooner was Nora's voice heard than the door was flung wide open, and
+the little girl exclaimed, "Yes, she's at 'ome, and daddy too."  She
+followed up this assurance with a laugh of glee, and, seizing the
+visitor's hand, dragged her into the house by main force.
+
+"Hallo, Nora, 'ow are 'ee, gal?" cried a deep bass voice from the
+neighbourhood of the floor, where its owner appeared to be smothered
+with children, for he was not to be seen.
+
+Nora looked down and beheld the legs and boots of a big man, but his
+body and head were invisible, being completely covered and held down by
+four daughters and five sons, one of the former being a baby, and one of
+the latter an infant.
+
+Dick Moy, who was enjoying his month on shore, rose as a man might rise
+from a long dive, flung out his great right arm, scattered the children
+like flecks of foam, and sat up with a beaming countenance, holding the
+infant tenderly in his left arm.  The baby had been cast under the
+table, where it lay, helpless apparently, and howling.  It had passed
+the most tender period of life, and had entered on that stage when
+knocks, cuts, yells, and bruises are the order of the day.
+
+"Glad to see you, Nora," said the man of the floating light, extending
+his huge hand, which the girl grasped and shook warmly.  "You'll excuse
+me not bein' more purlite.  I'm oppressed with child'n, as you see.  It
+seems to me as if I'd gone an' got spliced to that there 'ooman in the
+story-book wot lived in the shoe, an' had so many child'n she didn't
+know wot to do.  If so, she knows wot to do now.  She's only got to hand
+'em over to poor Dick Moy, an' leave him to suffer the consickences.--
+Ah, 'ere she comes."
+
+Dick rose as he spoke, and handed a chair to Nora at the moment that his
+better, but lesser, half entered.
+
+It must not be supposed that Dick said all this without interruption.
+On the contrary, he bawled it out in the voice of a bo's'n's mate, while
+the four daughters and five sons, including the baby and the infant,
+crawled up his legs and clung to his pockets, and enacted Babel on a
+small scale.
+
+Mrs Moy was a very pretty, tidy, cheerful little woman, of the fat,
+fair, and forty description, save that she was nearer thirty-five than
+forty.  It was clear at a glance that she and Dick had been made for
+each other, and that, had either married anybody else, each would have
+done irreparable damage to the other.
+
+"Sit down, Nora.  I'm so glad to see you.  Come to breakfast, I hope?
+we're just going to have it."
+
+Mrs Moy said this as if she really meant it, and would be terribly
+disappointed if she met with a refusal.  Nora tried to speak, but Babel
+was too much for her.
+
+"Silence!" burst from Dick, as if a small cannon had gone off in the
+room.
+
+Babel was hushed.
+
+"Mum's the word for _three minutes_," said Dick, pointing to a huge
+Yankee clock which stood on the chimney-piece, with a model frigate in a
+glass case, and a painted sea and sky on one side of it, and a model
+light-vessel in a glass case, and a painted sea and sky on the other.
+
+There was profound wisdom in this arrangement.  If Dick had ordered
+silence for an indefinite space of time, there would have been
+discontent, approximating to despair, in Babel's bosom, and, therefore,
+strong temptation to rebellion.  But three minutes embraced a fixed and
+known period of time.  The result was a desperate effort at restraint,
+mingled with gleeful anticipation.  The elder children who could read
+the clock stared eagerly at the Yankee time-piece; the younger ones who
+couldn't read the clock, but who knew that the others could, stared
+intently at their seniors, and awaited the signal.  With the exception
+of hard breathing, the silence was complete; the baby being spell-bound
+by example, and the feeble remarks of the infant--which had been
+transferred to the arms of the eldest girl--making no impression worth
+speaking of.
+
+"You are very kind," said Nora, "I'll stay for breakfast with pleasure.
+Grandmother won't be up for an hour yet, and father's not at home just
+now."
+
+"Werry good," said Dick, taking a short black pipe out of his
+coat-pocket, "that's all right.  And 'ow do 'ee like Ramsgate, Nora, now
+you've had a fair trial of it?"
+
+"I think I like it better than Yarmouth; but perhaps that is because we
+live in a more airy and cheerful street.  I would not have troubled you
+so early, Mr Moy"--("'Tain't no trouble at all, Nora; werry much the
+reverse")--"but that I am anxious to hear how you got on with poor
+Billy--"
+
+At this point Babel burst forth with redoubled fury.  Dick was attacked
+and carried by storm; the short black pipe was seized, and an old hat
+was clapped on his head and thrust down over his eyes!  He gave in at
+once, and submitted with resignation.  He struck his colours, so to
+speak, without firing a shot, and for full five minutes breasted the
+billows of a sea of children manfully, while smart Mrs Moy spread the
+breakfast-table as quietly as if nothing were going on, and Nora sat and
+smiled at them.
+
+Suddenly Dick rose for the second time from his dive, flung off the
+foam, tossed aside the baby, rescued the infant from impending
+destruction, and thundered "Silence! mum's the word for three minutes
+more."
+
+"That's six, daddy!" cried the eldest boy, whose spirit of opposition
+was growing so strong that he could not help indulging it, even against
+his own interests.
+
+"No," said Dick sternly.
+
+"It was three minutes last time," urged the boy; "an' you said three
+minutes _more_ this time; three minutes more than three minutes is six
+minutes, ain't it?"
+
+"Three minutes," repeated Dick, holding up a warning finger.
+
+Babel ceased; the nine pair of eyes (excepting those of the infant)
+became fixed, and Nora proceeded--
+
+"I wanted to hear how you got on with Billy.  Did they take him in at
+once? and what sort of place is the Grotto?  You see I am naturally
+anxious to know, because it was a terrible thing to send a poor boy away
+from his only friend among strangers at such an age, and just after
+recovering from a bad illness; but you know I could not do otherwise.
+It would have been his ruin to have--"
+
+She paused.
+
+"To have stopped where he was, I s'pose you would say?" observed Dick.
+"Well, I ain't sure o' that, Nora.  It's quite true that the bad company
+he'd 'ave seen would 'ave bin against 'im; but to 'ave you for his
+guardian hangel might 'ave counteracted that.  It would 'ave bin like
+the soda to the hacid, a fizz at first and all square arterwards.
+Hows'ever, that don't signify now, cos he's all right.  I tuk him to the
+Grotto, the werry first thing arter I'd bin to the Trinity 'Ouse, and
+seed him cast anchor there all right, and--"
+
+Again Babel burst forth, and riot reigned supreme for five minutes more.
+At the end of that time silence was proclaimed as before.
+
+"Now then," said Dick, "breakfast bein' ready, place the chairs."
+
+The three elder children obeyed this order.  Each member of this
+peculiar household had been "told off," as Dick expressed it, to a
+special duty, which was performed with all the precision of discipline
+characteristic of a man-of-war.
+
+"That's all right; now go in and win," said Dick.  There was no occasion
+to appeal to the Yankee clock now.  Tongues and throats as well as teeth
+and jaws were too fully occupied.  Babel succumbed for full quarter of
+an hour, during which period Dick Moy related to Nora the circumstances
+connected with a recent visit to London, whither he had been summoned as
+a witness in a criminal trial, and to which, at Nora's earnest entreaty,
+and with the boy's unwilling consent, he had conveyed Billy Towler.  We
+say unwilling, because Billy, during his long period of convalescence,
+had been so won by the kindness of Nora, that the last thing in the
+world he would have consented to bear was separation from her; but, on
+thinking over it, he was met by this insurmountable difficulty--that the
+last thing in the world he would consent to do was to disobey her!
+Between these two influences he went unwillingly to London--for the sake
+of his education, as Nora said to him--for the sake of being freed from
+the evil influence of her father's example, as poor Nora was compelled
+to admit to herself.
+
+"The Grotto," said Dick, speaking as well as he could through an immense
+mouthful of bacon and bread, "is an institootion which I 'ave reason for
+to believe desarves well of its country.  It is an institootion sitooate
+in Paddington Street, Marylebone, where homeless child'n, as would
+otherwise come to the gallows, is took in an' saved--saved not only from
+sin an' misery themselves, but saved from inflictin' the same on
+society.  I do assure _you_," said Dick, striking the table with his
+fist in his enthusiasm, so that the crockery jumped, and some of the
+children almost choked by reason of their food going down what they
+styled their "wrong throats"--"I do assure _you_, that it would 'ave
+done yer 'art good to 'ave seed 'm, as I did the day I went there, so
+clean and comf'r'able and 'appy--no mistake about that.  Their 'appiness
+was genoo_ine_.  Wot made it come 'ome to me was, that I seed there a
+little boy as I 'appened to know was one o' the dirtiest, wickedest,
+sharpest little willains in London--a mere spider to look at, but with
+mischief enough to fill a six-fut man to bu'stin'--an' there 'ee was,
+clean an' jolly, larnin' his lessons like a good un--an' no sham
+neither, cos 'e'd got a good spice o' the mischief left, as was pretty
+clear from the way 'ee gave a sly pinch or pull o' the hair now an'
+again to the boys next him, an' drawed monkey-faces on his slate.  But
+that spider, I wos told, could do figurin' like one o'clock, an' could
+spell like Johnson's Dictionairy.
+
+"Well," continued Dick, after a few moments' devotion to a bowl of
+coffee, "I 'anded Billy Towler over to the superintendent, tellin' 'im
+'ee wos a 'omeless boy as 'adn't got no parients nor relations, an wos
+werry much in need o' bein' looked arter.  So 'ee took 'im in, an' I
+bade him good-bye."
+
+Dick Moy then went on to tell how that the superintendent of the Grotto
+showed him all over the place, and told him numerous anecdotes regarding
+the boys who had been trained there; that one had gone into the army and
+become a sergeant, and had written many long interesting letters to the
+institution, which he still loved as being his early and only "home;"
+that another had become an artilleryman; another a man-of-war's man; and
+another a city missionary, who commended the blessed gospel of Jesus
+Christ to those very outcasts from among whom he had himself been
+plucked.  The superintendent also explained to his rugged but much
+interested and intelligent visitor that they had a flourishing Ragged
+School in connection with the institution; also a Sunday-school and a
+"Band of Hope"--which latter had been thought particularly necessary,
+because they found that many of the neglected young creatures that came
+to them had already been tempted and taught by their parents and by
+publicans to drink, so that the foundation of that dreadful craving
+disease had been laid, and those desires had begun to grow which, if not
+checked, would certainly end in swift and awful destruction.  One
+blessed result of this was that the children had not only themselves
+joined, but had in some instances induced their drunken parents to
+attend the weekly addresses.
+
+All this, and a great deal more, was related by Dick Moy with the wonted
+enthusiasm and energy of his big nature, and with much gesticulation of
+his tremendous fist--to the evident anxiety of Nora, who, like an
+economical housewife as she was, had a feeling of tenderness for the
+crockery, even although it was not her own.  Dick wound up by saying
+that if _he_ was a rich man, "'ee'd give some of 'is superfloous cash to
+that there Grotto, he would."
+
+"Perhaps you wouldn't," said Nora.  "I've heard one rich man say that
+the applications made to him for money were so numerous that he was
+quite annoyed, and felt as if he was goin' to become bankrupt!"
+
+"Nora," said Dick, smiting the table emphatically, "I'm not a rich man
+myself, an' wot's more, I never 'xpect to be, so I can't be said to 'ave
+no personal notions at all, d'ye see, about wot they feels; but I've
+also heerd a rich man give 'is opinion on that pint, and I've no manner
+of doubt that _my_ rich man is as good as your'n--better for the matter
+of that; anyway he knowed wot was wot.  Well, says 'ee to me, w'en I
+went an' begged parding for axin' 'im for a subscription to this 'ere
+werry Grotto--which, by the way, is supported by woluntary
+contribootions--'ee says, `Dick Moy,' says 'ee, `you've no occasion for
+to ax my parding,' says 'ee.  `'Ere's 'ow it is.  I've got _so_ much
+cash to spare out of my hincome.  Werry good; I goes an' writes down a
+list of all the charities.  First of all comes the church--which ain't a
+charity, by the way, but a debt owin' to the Lord--an' the missionary
+societies, an the Lifeboat Institootion, an' the Shipwrecked Mariners'
+Society, and such like, which are the great _National_ institootions of
+the country that _every_ Christian ought to give a helpin' 'and to.
+Then there's the poor among one's own relations and friends; then the
+hospitals an' various charities o' the city or town in which one dwells,
+and the poor of the same.  Well, arter that's all down,' says 'ee, `I
+consider w'ich o' them ere desarves an' _needs_ most support from me;
+an' so I claps down somethin' to each, an' adds it all up, an' wot is
+left over I holds ready for chance applicants.  If their causes are good
+I give to 'em heartily; if not, I bow 'em politely out o' the 'ouse.
+That's w'ere it is,' says 'ee.  `An' do you know, Dick Moy,' says 'ee,
+`the first time I tried that plan, and put down wot I thought a fair
+liberal sum to each, I wos amazed--I wos stunned for to find that the
+total wos so small and left so werry much of my spare cash yet to be
+disposed of, so I went over it all again, and had to double and treble
+the amount to be given to each.  Ah, Dick,' says _my_ rich man, `if
+people who don't keep cashbooks would only mark down wot they _think_
+they can afford to give away in a year, an' wot they _do_ give away,
+they would be surprised.  It's not always unwillingness to give that's
+the evil.  Often it's ignorance o' what is actooally given--no account
+bein' kep'.'
+
+"`Wot d'ye think, Dick,' _my_ rich man goes on to say, `there are some
+churches in this country which are dependent on the people for support,
+an' the contents o' the plates at the doors o' these churches on Sundays
+is used partly for cleanin' and lightin' of 'em; partly for payin' their
+precentors, and partly for repairs to the buildins, and partly for
+helpin' out the small incomes of their ministers; an' wot d'ye think
+most o' the people--not many but _most_ of 'em--gives a week, Dick, for
+such important purposes?'
+
+"`I don' know, sir,' says I.
+
+"`One penny, Dick,' says 'ee, `which comes exactly to four shillins and
+fourpence a year,' says 'ee.  `An' they ain't paupers; Dick!  If they
+wos paupers, it wouldn't be a big sum for 'em to give out o' any
+pocket-money they might chance to git from their pauper friends, but
+they're well-dressed people, Dick, and they seems to be well off!  Four
+an' fourpence a year! think o' that--not to mention the deduction w'en
+they goes for a month or two to the country each summer.  Four an'
+fourpence a year, Dick!  Some of 'em even goes so low as a halfpenny,
+which makes two an' twopence a year--7 pounds, 11 shillings, 8 pence in
+a seventy-year _lifetime_, Dick, supposin' their liberality began to
+flow the day they wos born!'
+
+"At this _my_ rich man fell to laughing till I thought 'ee'd a busted
+hisself; but he pulled up sudden, an' axed me all about the Grotto, and
+said it was a first-rate institootion, an' gave me a ten-pun' note on
+the spot.  Now, Nora, _my_ rich man is a friend o' yours--Mr Durant, of
+Yarmouth, who came to Ramsgate a short time ago for to spend the autumn,
+an' I got introdooced to him through knowin' Jim Welton, who got aboord
+of one of his ships through knowin' young Mr Stanley Hall, d'ye see?
+That's where it is."
+
+After this somewhat lengthened speech, Dick Moy swallowed a slop-bowlful
+of coffee at a draught--he always used a slop-bowl--and applied himself
+with renewed zest to a Norfolk dumpling, in the making of which delicacy
+his wife had no equal.
+
+"I believe that Mr Durant is a kind good man," said Nora, feeding the
+infant with a crust dipped in milk, "and I am quite sure that he has got
+the sweetest daughter that ever a man was blessed with--Miss Katie; you
+know her, I suppose?"
+
+"'Aven't seed 'er yet," was Dick's curt reply.
+
+"She's a dear creature," continued Nora--still doing her best to choke
+the infant--"she found out where I lived while she was in search of a
+sick boy in Yarmouth, who, she said, was the brother of a poor ragged
+boy named Billy Towler, she had once met with.  Of course I had to tell
+her that Billy had been deceiving her and had no brother.  Oh! you
+should have seen her kind face, Dick, when I told her this.  I do think
+that up to that time she had lived under the belief that a young boy
+with a good-looking face and an honest look could not be a deceiver."
+
+"Poor thing," said Dick, with a sad shake of the head, as if pitying her
+ignorance.
+
+"Yes," continued Nora--still attempting to choke the infant--"she could
+not say a word at that time, but went away with her eyes full of tears.
+I saw her often afterwards, and tried to convince her there might be
+some good in Billy after all, but she was not easily encouraged, for her
+belief in appearances had got a shake that she seemed to find it
+difficult to get over.  That was when Billy was lying ill in hospital.
+I have not seen much of her since then, she and her father having been
+away in London."
+
+"H'm, I'm raither inclined to jine her in thinkin' that no good'll come
+o' that young scamp.  He's too sharp by half," said Dick with a frown.
+"Depend upon it, Nora, w'en a boy 'as gone a great length in wickedness
+there's no chance o' reclaimin' him."
+
+"Dick," exclaimed Nora, with sudden energy, "depend upon it that
+_that's_ not true, for it does not correspond with the Bible, which says
+that our Lord came not to call the righteous but _sinners_ to
+repentance."
+
+"There's truth in _that_, anyhow," replied Dick, gazing thoughtfully
+into Nora's countenance, as if the truth had come home to him for the
+first time.  What his further observations on the point might have been
+we know not, as at that moment the door opened and one of his mates
+entered, saying that he had come to go down with him to the buoy-store,
+as the superintendent had given orders that he and Moy should overhaul
+the old North Goodwin buoy, and give her a fresh coat of paint.  Dick
+therefore rose, wiped his mouth, kissed the entire family, beginning
+with the infant and ending with "the missis," after which he shook hands
+with Nora and went out.
+
+The storm which had for some time past been brewing, had fairly brewed
+itself up at last, and the wild sea was covered with foam.  Although
+only an early autumn storm, it was, like many a thing out of season, not
+the less violent on that account.  It was one of the few autumn storms
+that might have been transferred to winter with perfect propriety.  It
+performed its work of devastation as effectively as though it had come
+forth at its proper season.  On land chimney stacks and trees were
+levelled.  At sea vessels great and small were dismasted and destroyed,
+and the east coast of the kingdom was strewn with wreckage and dead
+bodies.  Full many a noble ship went down that night!  Wealth that might
+have supported all the charities in London for a twelvemonth was sent to
+the bottom of the sea that night and lost for ever.  Lives that had
+scarce begun and lives that were all but done, were cut abruptly short,
+leaving broken hearts and darkened lives in many a home, not only on the
+sea-coast but inland, where the sound of the great sea's roar is never
+heard.  Deeds of daring were done that night,--by men of the lifeboat
+service and the coast-guard,--which seemed almost beyond the might of
+human skill and courage--resulting in lives saved from that same great
+sea--lives young and lives old--the salvation of which caused many a
+heart in the land, from that night forward, to bless God and sing for
+joy.
+
+But of all the wide-spread and far-reaching turmoil; the wreck and
+rescue, the rending and relieving of hearts, the desperate daring, and
+dread disasters of that night we shall say nothing at all, save in
+regard to that which occurred on and in the neighbourhood of the Goodwin
+Sands.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+A NIGHT OF WRECK AND DISASTER--THE GULL "COMES TO GRIEF."
+
+When the storm began to brew that night, George Welton, the mate of the
+floating light, walked the deck of his boiled-lobster-like vessel, and
+examined the sky and sea with that critical expression peculiar to
+seafaring men, which conveys to landsmen the reassuring impression that
+they know exactly what is coming, precisely what ought to be done, and
+certainly what will be the result of whatever happens!
+
+After some minutes spent in profound meditation, during which Mr Welton
+frowned inquiringly at the dark driving clouds above him, he said,
+"It'll be pretty stiff."
+
+This remark was made to himself, or to the clouds, but, happening to be
+overheard by Jerry MacGowl, who was at his elbow, it was answered by
+that excellent man.
+
+"True for ye; it'll blow great guns before midnight.  The sands is
+showin' their teeth already."
+
+The latter part of this remark had reference to brilliant white lines
+and dots on the seaward horizon, which indicated breakers on the Goodwin
+sands.
+
+"Luk at that now," said Jerry, pointing to one of those huge clumsy
+vessels that are so frequently met with at sea, even in the present day,
+as to lead one to imagine that some of the shipbuilders in the time of
+Noah must have come alive again and gone to work at their old trade on
+the old plans and drawings.  "Luk at that, now.  Did iver ye see sitch a
+tub--straight up and down the side, and as big at the bow as the stern."
+
+"She's not clipper built," answered the mate; "they make that sort o'
+ship by the mile and sell her by the fathom,--cuttin' off from the piece
+just what is required.  It don't take long to plaster up the ends and
+stick a mast or two into 'em."
+
+"It's in luck she is to git into the Downs before the gale breaks, and
+it's to be hoped she has good ground-tackle," said Jerry.
+
+The mate hoped so too in a careless way, and, remarking that he would go
+and see that all was made snug, went forward.
+
+At that moment there came up the fore-hatch a yell, as if from the
+throat of a North American savage.  It terminated in the couplet,
+tunefully sung--
+
+  "Oh my! oh my!
+  O mammy, don't you let the baby cry!"
+
+Jack Shales, following his voice, immediately after came on deck.
+
+"Have 'ee got that work-box done?" asked Jerry as his mate joined him.
+
+"Not quite done yet, boy, but I'll get it finished after the lights are
+up.  Duty first, pleasure afterwards, you know."
+
+"Come now, Jack, confess that you're makin' it for a pretty girl."
+
+"Well, so I am, but it ain't for my own pretty girl.  It's for that
+sweet little Nora Jones, who came lately to live in Ramsgate.  You see I
+know she's goin' to be spliced to Jim Welton, and as Jim is a good sort
+of fellow, I want to make this little gift to his future bride."
+
+The gift referred to was a well-made work-box, such as the men of the
+floating light were at that time, and doubtless still are, in the habit
+of constructing in leisure hours.  It was beautifully inlaid with wood
+of various kinds and colours, and possessed a mark peculiarly
+characteristic of floating-light boxes and desks, namely, two flags
+inlaid on the lid--one of these being the Union Jack.  Most of the men
+on board displayed much skill and taste in the making of those boxes and
+desks, although they were all self-taught, and wrought with very simple
+tools in a not very commodious workshop.
+
+"A great change from yesterday in the look o' things, Jerry," observed
+Shales, surveying the Downs, where, despite the stiff and ever
+increasing breeze amounting almost to a gale, numerous little
+pilot-boats were seen dancing on the waves, showing a mere shred of
+canvas, and looking out for a job.  "Yesterday was all sunshine and
+calm, with pleasure-boats round us, and visitors heaving noospapers
+aboard.  To-day it's all gloom, with gales brewin' and pilots bobbin'
+about like Mother Cary's chickens."
+
+"That's true, Jack," replied Jerry, whose poetic soul was fired by the
+thought:--
+
+  "`Timpest an' turmoil to-day,
+  With lots a' salt-wather an' sorrow.
+  Blue little waves on the say,
+  An' sunny contintment to-morrow.'
+
+"That's how it is, Jack, me boy, all the world over--even in owld
+Ireland hersilf; an' sure if there's pace to be found on earth it's
+there it's to be diskivered."
+
+"Right, Jerry, peace is _to be_ discovered there, but I'm afraid it's in
+a very distant future as yet," said Jack with a laugh.
+
+"All in good time," retorted Jerry.
+
+"Up lights!" called the mate down the hatchway.
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," came in chorus from below.
+
+Desks and boxes were thrust aside, the winch was manned, and the weighty
+lantern mounted slowly to its nocturnal watch-tower.
+
+Its red eye flashed upon a dark scene.  The gloom of approaching night
+was deepened by the inky clouds that obscured the sky.  Thick fog banks
+came sweeping past at intervals; a cold north-easterly gale conveyed a
+wintry feeling to the air.  Small thick rain fell in abundance, and
+everything attested the appropriateness of Jerry MacGowl's observation,
+that it was "dirty weather intirely."
+
+The floating light was made snug--in other words, prepared for action--
+by having a good many more fathoms of her chain veered out, in order
+that she might strain less and swing more freely.  Loose articles were
+secured or stowed away.  Hatches were battened down, and many other
+little nautical arrangements made which it would require a seaman to
+understand as well as to describe in detail.
+
+As the evening advanced the gale increased in violence tenfold, and
+darkness settled down like an impenetrable pall over land and sea.  The
+roar of breakers on the Goodwin Sands became so loud that it was
+sometimes heard on board the Gull-light above the howling of the
+tempest.  The sea rose so much and ran so violently among the
+conflicting currents caused by wind, tide, and sand-banks, that the Gull
+plunged, swooped, and tore at her cable so that the holding of it might
+have appeared to a landsman little short of miraculous.  Hissing and
+seething at the opposition she offered, the larger waves burst over her
+bows, and swept the deck from stem to stern; but her ample scuppers
+discharged it quickly, and up she rose again, dripping from the flood,
+to face and fight and foil each succeeding billow.
+
+High on the mast, swaying wildly to and fro, yet always hanging
+perpendicular by reason of a simple mechanism, the lantern threw out its
+bright beams, involving the vessel and the foam-clad boiling sea in a
+circle of light which ended in darkness profound, forming, as it were, a
+bright but ghostly chamber shut in with walls of ebony, and revealing,
+in all its appalling reality, the fury of the sea.  What horrors lay
+concealed in the darkness beyond no one could certainly know; but the
+watch on board the Gull could form from past experience a pretty good
+conception of them, as they cowered under the lee of the bulwarks and
+looked anxiously out to windward.
+
+Anxiously!  Ay, there was cause for anxiety that night.  The risk of
+parting from their cable was something, though not very great; but the
+risk of being run down by passing or driving ships during intervals of
+fog was much greater, and the necessity of looking out for signals of
+distress was urgent.
+
+It was a night of warfare, and the battle had begun early.  Mr Welton's
+record of the earlier part of that day in the log ran thus:--
+
+"At 4 a.m. calm, with misty rain; at 8, wind south-east, light breeze.
+At noon, west-south-west, fresh breeze and rain.  At 4 p.m., wind
+south-west, fresh gale and heavy rain.  A large fleet anchored in the
+Downs.  A schooner was seen to anchor in a bad place about this time.
+At 7, wind still increasing.  The watch observed several vessels part
+from their 7 anchors and proceed to Margate Roads.  At 7:30 the wind
+flew into the nor'-nor'-west, and blew a hurricane."
+
+These were the first mutterings of the fight that had begun.
+
+It was now about a quarter to eight p.m. Jerry and his friend Shales
+were cowering behind the bulwark on the starboard bow, gazing to
+windward, but scarce able to keep their eyes open owing to wind and
+spray.  Suddenly a large object was seen looming into the circle of
+light.
+
+"Stand by!" roared Jerry and Jack, with startling vigour, as the one
+leaped towards the tiller, the other to the companion-hatch; "a vessel
+bearing down on our hawse!"
+
+The mate and men rushed on deck in time to see a large ship pass close
+to the bow of the Gull.  Jack had cast loose the tiller, because,
+although in ordinary circumstances the helm of a light-vessel is of no
+use, this was one of the few occasions in which it could be of service.
+The rush of the tide past a ship at anchor confers upon it at all times,
+except during "slack water" (i.e., when the tide is on the turn), the
+power of steering, so that she can be made to sheer swiftly to port or
+starboard, as may be required.  But for this power, floating lights
+would undoubtedly be run into more frequently than they are.
+
+The danger being over, the helm was again made fast amidships, but as
+several vessels were soon after seen sweeping past--two or three of them
+burning tar-barrels and "flare-lights" for assistance, it became evident
+that there would be little or no rest for any one on board that night.
+The mate put on his oiled coat, trousers, boots, and sou'wester, and
+remained on deck.
+
+Between eight and nine o'clock a schooner was seen approaching.  She
+came out of surrounding darkness like a dim phantom, and was apparently
+making the attempt to go to windward of the floating light.  She failed,
+and in a moment was bearing down with terrible speed right upon them.
+
+"Starboard your helm!" shouted the mate, at the same moment springing to
+the tiller of his own vessel.
+
+The steersman of the driving vessel fortunately heard and obeyed the
+order, and she passed--but shaved the bow of the Gull so closely that
+one of the men declared he could easily have jumped aboard of her.
+
+Again, at nine o'clock, there was a stir on board the floating light,
+for another vessel was seen driving towards her.  This one was a brig.
+The foremast was gone, and the remains of a tar-barrel were still
+burning on her deck, but as none of the crew could be seen, it was
+conjectured that some other ship must have run foul of her, and they had
+escaped on board of it.  All hands were again called, the tiller was
+cast loose, a wide sheer given to the Gull, and the brig went past them
+at about the distance of a ship-length.  She went slowly by, owing, it
+was afterwards ascertained, to the fact that she had ninety fathoms of
+cable trailing from her bows.  She was laden with coal, and when the
+Deal boatmen picked her up next day, they found the leg of a man on her
+deck, terribly mutilated, as if it had got jambed somehow, and been
+wrenched off!  But no one ever appeared to tell the fate of that
+vessel's crew.
+
+Shortly before ten, two tar-barrels were observed burning in a
+north-easterly direction.  These proved to be the signals of distress
+from a ship and a barque, which were dragging their anchors.  They
+gradually drove down on the north part of the sands; the barque struck
+on a part named the Goodwin Knoll, the ship went on the North sandhead.
+
+Now the time for action had come.  The Goodwin light-vessel, being
+nearest to the wrecks, fired a signal-gun and sent up a rocket.
+
+"There goes the _Goodwin_!" cried the mate; "load the starboard gun,
+Jack."
+
+He ran down himself for a rocket as he spoke, and Jerry ran to the cabin
+for the red-hot poker, which had been heating for some time past in
+readiness for such an event.
+
+"A gun and a flare to the south-east'ard, sir, close to us," shouted
+Shales, who had just finished loading, as the mate returned with the
+rocket and fixed it in position.
+
+"Where away, Jack?" asked the mate hastily, for it now became his duty
+to send the rocket in the direction of the new signals, so as to point
+out the position of the wreck to the lifeboat-men on shore.
+
+"Due south-east, sir; there they go again," said Jack, "not so close as
+I thought.  South sandhead vessel signalling now, sir."
+
+There was no further need for questions.  The flash of the gun was
+distinctly seen, though the sound was not heard, owing to the howling of
+the hurricane, and the bright flare of a second tar-barrel told its own
+tale, while a gun and rocket from the floating light at the South
+sandhead showed that the vessel in distress had been observed by her.
+
+"Fire!" cried the mate.
+
+Jerry applied the poker to the gun, and the scene which we have
+described in a former chapter was re-enacted;--the blinding flash, the
+roar, and the curved line of light across the black sky; but there was
+no occasion that night to repeat the signals.  Everywhere along the
+coast the salvors of life and property were on the alert--many of them
+already in action, out battling in midnight darkness with the raging
+sea.  The signal was at once replied to from Ramsgate.
+
+Truly it was a dreadful night; one of those tremendous hurricanes which
+visit our shores three or four times it may be in a century, seeming to
+shake the world to its foundations, and to proclaim with unwonted
+significance the dread power of Him who created and curbs the forces of
+nature.
+
+But the human beings who were involved in the perils of that night had
+scant leisure, and little inclination, perchance, to contemplate its
+sublimity.  The crew of the Gull light were surrounded by signals of
+disaster and distress.  In whichever direction they turned their eyes
+burning tar-barrels and other flaring lights were seen, telling their
+dismal tale of human beings in urgent need of assistance or in dire
+extremity.
+
+Little more than an hour before midnight another craft was observed
+driving down on the hawse of the Gull.  There was greater danger now,
+because it happened to be near the turn of the tide, or "slack water,"
+so that the rudder could not be used to advantage.  All hands were once
+more turned out, and as the vessel drew near Mr Welton hailed her, but
+got no reply.
+
+"Let go the rudder-pendants!" cried the mate as he shipped the tiller.
+
+The order was promptly obeyed, and the helm shoved hard a-port, but
+there was no responsive sheer.  The sea was at the time currentless.
+Another moment and the vessel, which was a large deserted brig, struck
+the floating light on the port-bow, and her fore shrouds caught the
+fluke of the spare anchor which projected from the side.
+
+"An axe, Jerry; look alive!"
+
+Jerry required no spur; he bounded forward, caught up an axe, and leaped
+with it into the chains of the vessel, which had already smashed part of
+the Gull's bulwarks and wrenched the iron band off the cat-head.
+
+"Cut away everything," cried the mate, who observed that the decks of
+the brig were full of water, and feared that she might be in a sinking
+condition.
+
+The other men of the Gull were busy with boat-hooks, oars, and fenders,
+straining every nerve to get clear of this unwelcome visitor, while
+Jerry dealt the shrouds a few telling blows which quickly cut them
+through, but, in sweeping past, the main-topsail yard-arm of the brig
+went crashing into the lantern.  Instantly the lamps were extinguished,
+and the bright beams of the floating light were gone!  The brig then
+dropt astern and was soon lost to view.
+
+This was a disaster of the most serious nature--involving as it did the
+absence of a light, on the faithful glow of which the fate of hundreds
+of vessels might depend.  Fortunately, however, the extreme fury of the
+gale had begun to abate; it was therefore probable that all the vessels
+which had not already been wrecked had found ports of shelter, or would
+now be able to hold on to their anchors and weather the storm.
+
+But floating-lights are not left without resource in a catastrophe such
+as this.  In the book of Regulations for the Service it is ordered that,
+in circumstances of this kind, two red lights are to be shown, one at
+the end of the davit forward, the other on a stanchion beside the ensign
+staff aft, and likewise a red flare light is to be shown every quarter
+of an hour.  Accordingly, while some of the men lit and fixed up the red
+lanterns, Jerry MacGowl was told off to the duty of showing the red
+flares, or, as he himself expressed it, "settin' off a succession o'
+fireworks, which wos mightily purty, no doubt, an' would have bin highly
+entertainin' if it had been foin weather, and a time of rejoycin'!"
+
+Meanwhile the lantern was lowered, and it was found that the only damage
+done had been the shattering of one of its large panes of glass.  The
+lamps, although blown out, had not been injured.  The men therefore set
+vigorously to work to put in a spare pane, and get the light once more
+into working order.
+
+Leaving them, then, at this important piece of work, let us turn aside
+awhile and follow the fortunes of the good ship Wellington on that
+terrible night of storm and disaster.
+
+When the storm was brewing she was not far from the Downs, but the
+baffling winds retarded her progress, and it was pitch dark when she
+reached the neighbourhood of the Goodwin sands.  Nevertheless those on
+board of her did not feel much uneasiness, because a good pilot had been
+secured in the channel.
+
+The Wellington came bowling along under close-reefed topsails.  Stanley
+Hall and Jim Welton stood leaning over the taffrail, looking down into
+the black foam-streaked water.  Both were silent, save that now and then
+Jim put down his hand to pat a black muzzle that was raised lovingly to
+meet it, and whispered, "We shall be home to-morrow, Neptune,--cheer up,
+old boy!"
+
+But Jim's words did not express all his thoughts.  If he had revealed
+them fully he would have described a bright fireside in a small and
+humble but very comfortable room, with a smiling face that rendered
+sunshine unnecessary, and a pair of eyes that made gaslight a paltry
+flame as well as an absolute extravagance.  That the name of this cheap,
+yet dear, luminary began with an _N_ and ended with an _a_, is a piece
+of information with which we think it unnecessary to trouble the reader.
+
+Stanley Hall's thoughts were somewhat on the same line of rail, if we
+may be allowed the expression; the chief difference being that _his_
+luminary beamed in a drawing-room, and sang and played and painted
+beautifully--which accomplishments, however, Stanley thought, would have
+been sorry trifles in themselves had they not been coupled with a taste
+for housekeeping and domestic economy, and relieving as well as visiting
+the poor, and Sabbath-school teaching; in short, every sort of "good
+work," besides an unaccountable as well as admirable _penchant_ for
+pitching into the Board of Trade, and for keeping sundry account-books
+in such a neat and methodical way that there remains a lasting blot on
+that Board in the fact of their not having been bound in cloth of gold!
+
+Ever since his first visit to Yarmouth, Stanley had felt an increasing
+admiration for Katie Durant's sprightly character and sterling
+qualities, and also increasing pity for poor Bob Queeker, who, he
+thought, without being guilty of very egregious vanity, had no chance
+whatever of winning such a prize.  The reader now knows that the pity
+thus bestowed upon that pitiful fox-hunting turncoat was utterly thrown
+away.
+
+"I don't like these fogs in such dangerous neighbourhood," observed Jim
+Welton, as a fresh squall burst upon the ship and laid it over so much
+that many of the passengers thought she was going to capsize.  "We
+should be getting near the floating lights of the Goodwin sands by this
+time."
+
+"Don't these lights sometimes break adrift?" asked Stanley, "and thus
+become the cause of ships going headlong to destruction?"
+
+"Not often," replied Jim.  "Considering the constancy of their exposure
+to all sorts of weather, and the number of light-vessels afloat, it is
+amazin' how few accidents take place.  There has been nothing of the
+kind as long as I can remember anything about the service, but my father
+has told me of a case where one of the light-vessels that marked a
+channel at the mouth of the Thames once broke adrift in a heavy gale.
+She managed to bring up again with her spare anchor, but did not dare to
+show her light, being out of her proper place, and therefore, a false
+guide.  The consequence was that eight vessels, which were making for
+the channel, and counted on seeing her, went on the sands and were lost
+with nearly all hands."
+
+"If that be so it were better to have lighthouses, I think, than
+lightships," said Stanley.
+
+"No doubt it would, where it is possible to build 'em," replied Jim,
+"but in some places it is supposed to be impossible to place a
+lighthouse, so we must be content with a vessel.  But even lighthouses
+are are not perfectly secure.  I know of one, built on piles on a
+sand-bank, that was run into by a schooner and carried bodily away.
+Accidents will happen, you know, in the best regulated families; but it
+seems to me that we don't hear of a floating-light breakin' adrift once
+in half a century--while, on the other hand, the good that is done by
+them is beyond all calculation."
+
+The young men relapsed into silence, for at that moment another fierce
+gust of wind threw the ship over almost on her beam-ends.  Several of
+the male passengers came rushing on deck in alarm, but the captain
+quieted them, and induced them to return to the cabin to reassure the
+ladies, who, with the children, were up and dressed, being too anxious
+to think of seeking repose.
+
+It takes courts of inquiry,--formed of competent men, who examine
+competent witnesses and have the counsel of competent seamen,--many days
+of anxious investigation to arrive at the precise knowledge of the when,
+how, and wherefore of a wreck.  We do not, therefore, pretend to be able
+to say whether it was the fault of the captain, the pilot, the man at
+the lead, the steersman, the look-out, or the weather, that the good
+ship Wellington met her doom.  All that we know for certain is, that she
+sighted the southern light-vessel some time before midnight during the
+great gale, that she steered what was supposed to be her true course,
+and that, shortly after, she struck on the tail of the sands.
+
+Instantly the foremast went by the board, and the furious sea swept over
+the hull in blinding cataracts, creating terrible dismay and confusion
+amongst nearly all on board.
+
+The captain and first mate, however, retained their coolness and
+self-possession.  Stanley and Jim also, with several of the officers on
+board, were cool and self-possessed, and able to render good service.
+While Stanley loaded a small carronade, young Welton got up blue lights
+and an empty tar-barrel.  These were quickly fired.  The South sandhead
+vessels immediately replied, the Gull, as we have seen, was not slow to
+answer, and thus the alarm was transmitted to the shore while the
+breakers that rushed over the Goodwins like great walls of snow, lifted
+the huge vessel like a cork and sent it crashing down, again and again,
+upon the fatal sands.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+GETTING READY FOR ACTION.
+
+Let us turn back a little at this point, and see how the watchers on
+Ramsgate pier behaved themselves on that night of storm and turmoil.  At
+the end of the east pier of Ramsgate harbour there stands a very small
+house, a sort of big sentry-box in fact, of solid stone, which is part
+and parcel of the pier itself--built not only _on_ it but _into_ it, and
+partially sheltered from the full fury of wind and sea by the low
+parapet-wall of the pier.  This is the east pier watch-house; the marine
+residence, if we may so express it, of the coxswain of the lifeboat and
+his men.  It is their place of shelter and their watch-tower; their
+nightly resort, where they smoke the pipe of peace and good fellowship,
+and spin yarns, or take such repose as the nature of their calling will
+admit of.  This little stone house had need be strong, like its inmates,
+for, like them, it is frequently called upon to brave the utmost fury of
+the elements--receiving the blast fresh and unbroken from the North Sea,
+as well as the towering billows from the same.
+
+This nocturnal watch-tower for muscular men and stout hearts, small
+though it be, is divided into two parts, the outer portion being the
+sleeping-place of the lifeboat men.  It is a curious little box, full of
+oilskin coats and sou'wester caps and sea-boots, and bears the general
+aspect of a house which had been originally intended for pigmies, but
+had got inhabited by giants, somehow, by mistake.  Its very diminutive
+stove stands near to its extremely small door, which is in close
+proximity to its unusually little window.  A little library with a
+scanty supply of books hangs near the stove-pipe, as if the owners
+thereof thought the contents had become somewhat stale, and required
+warming up to make them more palatable.  A locker runs along two sides
+of the apartment, on the coverings of which stand several lanterns, an
+oil-can, and a stone jar, besides sundry articles with an extremely
+seafaring aspect, among which are several pairs of the gigantic boots
+before referred to--the property of the coxswain and his mates.  The
+cork lifebelt, or jacket of the coxswain, hangs near the door.  The
+belts for use by the other men are kept in an outhouse down among the
+recesses of the pier near the spot to which the lifeboat is usually
+brought to embark her crew.  Only five of the lifeboat men, called
+harbour boatmen, keep watch in and around the little stone house at
+nights.  The rest are taken from among the hardy coast boatmen of the
+place, and the rule is--"first come first served"--when the boat is
+called out.  There is never any lack of able and willing hands to man
+the Ramsgate lifeboat.
+
+Near the low ceiling of the watch-house several hammocks are slung,
+obliging men to stoop a little as they move about.  It is altogether a
+snug and cozy place, but cannot boast much of the state of its
+atmosphere when the fire is going, the door shut, and the men smoking!
+
+On the night of the storm that has already been described in our last
+chapter, the coxswain entered the watch-house, clad in his black oilskin
+garments, and glittering with salt-water from top to toe.
+
+"There will be more work for us before long, Pike," he said, flinging
+off his coat and sou'-wester, and taking up a pipe, which he began to
+fill; "it looks blacker than ever in the nor'-east."
+
+Pike, the bowman of the boat, who was a quiet man, vigorous in action,
+but of few words, admitted that there was much probability of their
+services being again in demand, and then, rising, put on his cap and
+coat, and went out to take a look at the night.
+
+Two other men sat smoking by the little stove, and talking in lazy tones
+over the events of the day, which, to judge from their words, had been
+already stirring enough.
+
+Late the night before--one of them said, for the information of the
+other, who appeared to have just arrived, and was getting the news--the
+steam-tug and lifeboat had gone out on observing signals from the Gull,
+and had been told there was a wreck on the sands; that they had gone
+round the back of the sands, carefully examining them, as far as the
+east buoy, encountering a heavy ground swell, with much broken sea, but
+saw nothing; that they had then gone closer in, to about seven fathoms
+of water, when the lifeboat was suddenly towed over a log--as he styled
+it, a baulk--of timber, but fortunately got no damage, and that they
+were obliged to return to harbour, having failed to discover the wreck,
+which probably had gone to pieces before they got out to the sands; so
+they had all their trouble for nothing.  The man--appealing by look to
+the coxswain, who smoked in silence, and gazed sternly and fixedly at
+the fire, as if his mind were wandering far away--went on to say,
+further, that early that morning they had been again called out, and
+were fortunate enough to save the crew of a small schooner, and that
+they had been looking out for and expecting another call the whole day.
+For the truth of all which the man appealed again by look to the
+coxswain, who merely replied with a slight nod, while he continued to
+smoke in silence, leaning his elbows on his knees, with his strong hands
+clasped before him, sailor fashion, and gazing gravely at the fire.  It
+seemed as if he were resting his huge frame after the recent fatigues to
+which it had been exposed, and in anticipation of those which might be
+yet in store.
+
+Just then the little door opened quickly, and Pike's dripping head
+appeared.
+
+"I think the Gull is signalling," he said, and vanished.
+
+The coxswain's sou'wester and coat were on as if by magic, and he stood
+beside his mate at the end of the pier, partly sheltered by the parapet
+wall.
+
+They both clung to the wall, and gazed intently out to sea, where there
+was just light enough to show the black waves heaving wildly up against
+the dark sky, and the foam gleaming in lurid patches everywhere.  The
+seas breaking in heavy masses on the pier-head drenched the two men as
+they bent their heads to resist the roaring blast.  If it had been high
+water, they could not have stood there for a moment.  They had not been
+there long before their constant friend, the master of the steam-tug,
+joined them.  Straining their eyes intently in the direction of the
+floating-light, which appeared like a little star tossed on the far-off
+horizon, they observed a slight flash, and then a thin curved line of
+red fire was seen to leap into the chaos of dark clouds.
+
+"There she goes!" cried the coxswain.
+
+"An' no mistake," said Pike, as they all ran to get ready for action.
+
+Few and to the point were the words spoken.  Each man knew exactly what
+was to be done.  There was no occasion to rouse the lifeboat men on such
+a night.  The harbour-master had seen the signal, and, clad in oilskins
+like the men, was out among them superintending.  The steam-tug, which
+lies at that pier with her fires lighted and banked up, and her water
+hot, all the year round, sounded her shrill whistle and cast loose.  Her
+master and mate were old hands at the perilous work, and lost no time,
+for wreck, like fire, is fatally rapid.  There was no confusion, but
+there was great haste.  The lifeboat was quickly manned.  Those who were
+most active got on the cork lifebelts and leaped in; those who were less
+active, or at a greater distance when the signal sounded, had to remain
+behind.  Eleven stalwart men, with frames inured to fatigue and cold,
+clad in oiled suits, and with lifebelts on, sat on the thwarts of the
+lifeboat, and the coxswain stood on a raised platform in her stern, with
+the tiller-ropes in his hands.  The masts were up, and the sails ready
+to hoist.  Pike made fast the huge hawser that was passed to them over
+the stern of the steam-tug, and away they went, rushing out right in the
+teeth of the gale.
+
+No cheer was given,--they had no breath to spare for sentimental service
+just then.  There was no one, save the harbour-master and his assistant
+with a few men on duty, to see them start, for few could have ventured
+to brave the fury of the elements that night on the spray-lashed pier.
+In darkness they left; into darkness most appalling they plunged, with
+nothing save a stern sense of duty and the strong hope of saving human
+life to cheer them on their way.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+THE BATTLE.
+
+At first the men of the lifeboat had nothing to do but hold on to the
+thwarts, with the exception, of course, of the coxswain, whose energies
+were taxed from the commencement in the matter of steering the boat,
+which was dragged through the waves at such a rate by the powerful tug
+that merely to hold on was a work of some difficulty.  Their course
+might much more truly be said to have been under than over the waves, so
+constantly did these break into and fill the boat.  But no sooner was
+she full than the discharging tubes freed her, and she rose again and
+again, buoyant as a cork.
+
+Those who have not seen this desperate work can form but a faint
+conception of its true character.  Written or spoken words may conjure
+up a pretty vivid picture of the scene, the blackness of the night, and
+the heaving and lashing of the waves, but words cannot adequately
+describe the shriek of the blast, the hiss and roar of breakers, and
+they cannot convey the feeling of the weight of tons of falling water,
+which cause the stoutest crafts of human build to reel and quiver to
+their centres.
+
+The steam-tug had not to contend with the ordinary straightforward rush
+of a North Sea storm.  She was surrounded and beset by great boiling
+whirlpools and spouting cross-seas.  They struck her on the bow, on the
+side, on the quarter, on the stern.  They opened as if to engulf her.
+They rushed at as if to overwhelm her.  They met under her, thrusting
+her up, and they leaped into her, crushing her down.  But she was a
+sturdy vessel; a steady hand was at the wheel, and her weather-beaten
+master stood calm and collected on the bridge.
+
+It is probable that few persons who read the accounts of lifeboat
+service on the Goodwin sands are aware of the importance of the duties
+performed and the desperate risks run by the steam-tug.  Without her
+powerful engines to tow it to windward of the wrecks the lifeboat would
+be much, very much, less useful than it is.  In performing this service
+the tug has again and again to run into shallow water, and steer, in the
+blackest nights, amid narrow intricate channels, where a slight error of
+judgment on the part of her master--a few fathoms more to the right or
+left--would send her on the sands, and cause herself to become a wreck
+and an object of solicitude to the lifeboat crew.  "Honour to whom
+honour is due" is a principle easy to state, but not always easy to
+carry into practice.  Every time the steam-tug goes out she runs her
+full share of the imminent risk;--sometimes, and in some respects, as
+great as that of the lifeboat herself, for, whereas, a touch upon the
+sand, to which it is her duty to approach _as near as possible_, would
+be the death-warrant of the tug, it is, on the other hand, the glorious
+prerogative of the lifeboat to be almost incapable of destruction, and
+her peculiar privilege frequently to go "slap on and right over" the
+sands with slight damage, though with great danger.  That the
+death-warrant just referred to has not been signed, over and over again,
+is owing almost entirely to the courage and skill of her master and
+mate, who possess a thorough and accurate knowledge of the intricate
+channels, soundings, and tides of those dangerous shoals, and have spent
+many years in risking their lives among them.  Full credit is usually
+given to the lifeboat, though _not too much_ by any means, but there is
+not, we think, a sufficient appreciation of the services of the
+steam-tug.  She may be seen in the harbour any day, modestly doing the
+dirty work of hauling out the dredge-boats, while the gay lifeboat
+floats idly on the water to be pointed out and admired by summer
+visitors--thus unfairly, though unavoidably, are public favours often
+distributed!
+
+Observe, reader, we are far from holding up these two as rivals.  They
+are a loving brother and sister.  Comparatively little could be done in
+the grand work of saving human life without the mighty strength of the
+"big brother;" and, on the other hand, nothing at all could be done
+without the buoyant activity and courage of the "little sister."
+Observe, also, that although the lifeboat floats in idleness, like a
+saucy little duck, in time of peace, her men, like their mates in the
+"big brother," are hard at work like other honest folk about the
+harbour.  It is only when the sands "show their teeth," and the floating
+lights send up their signals, and the storm-blast calls to action, that
+the tug and boat unite, and the men, flinging down the implements of
+labour, rise to the dignity of heroic work with all the pith and power
+and promptitude of heroes.
+
+As they ploughed through the foam together, the tug was frequently
+obliged to ease-steam and give herself time to recover from the shock of
+those heavy cross seas.  Suddenly a bright flaring light was observed in
+the vicinity of a shoal called the _Break_, which lies between the
+Goodwins and the shore.  It went out in a few seconds, but not before
+the master of the tug had taken its bearings and altered his course.  At
+the same time signal-guns and rockets were observed, both from the North
+sandhead light-vessel and the Gull, and several flaring lights were also
+seen burning on or near the Goodwin sands.
+
+On nearing the _Middle Break_, which was easily distinguishable from the
+surrounding turmoil by the intensity of its roar as the seas rolled over
+it, the coxswain of the lifeboat ordered the sail to be hoisted and the
+tow-rope slipped.  Pike, who was a thoroughly intelligent and
+sympathetic bowman, had all in readiness; he obeyed the order instantly,
+and the boat, as if endued with sudden life, sprang away on its own
+account into the broken water.
+
+Broken water! who but a lifeboat-man can conceive what that means?--
+except, indeed, those few who have been saved from wreck.  A chaos of
+white water, rendered ghostly and grey by darkness.  No green or liquid
+water visible anywhere; all froth and fury, with force tremendous
+everywhere.  Rushing rivers met by opposing cataracts; bursting against
+each other; leaping high in air from the shock; falling back and
+whirling away in wild eddies,--seeking rest, but finding none!  Vain
+indeed must be our attempt to describe the awful aspect, the mad music,
+the fearful violence of "broken water" on the Break!
+
+In such a sea the boat was tossed as if she were a chip; but the gale
+gave her speed, and speed gave her quick steering power.  She leaped
+over the foam, or dashed through it, or staggered under it, but always
+rose again, the men, meanwhile, holding on for life.  Pike was ready in
+the bow, with an arm tightly embracing the bollard, or strong post,
+round which the cable runs.  The coxswain's figure, towering high in the
+stern, with the steering tackles in his hands, leaned forward against a
+strong strap or band fixed across the boat to keep him in position.
+
+They made straight for the spot where the flare light had been seen.  At
+first darkness and thick spray combined prevented them from seeing
+anything, but in a few minutes a dark object was seen looming faintly
+against the sky, and the coxswain observed with anxious concern that it
+lay not to leeward, but to windward of him.
+
+"Out oars! down with the sail!" he shouted.
+
+His voice was very powerful, but it was swept away, and was only heard
+by those nearest to him.  The order was instantly obeyed, however; but
+the gale was so heavy and the boat so large that headway could not be
+made.  They could see that the wreck was a small vessel on her
+beam-ends.  Being to leeward, they could hear despairing cries
+distinctly, and four or five human beings were seen clinging to the
+side.  The lifeboat-men strained till their sinews well-nigh cracked; it
+seemed doubtful whether they had advanced or not, when suddenly an
+unusually large wave fell in thunder on the Break; it rushed over the
+shallows with a foaming head, caught the boat on its crest and carried
+it far away to leeward.
+
+Sail was again made.  A box near the coxswain a feet was opened, and a
+blue-light taken out.  There was no difficulty in firing this.  A sharp
+stroke on its butt lighted the percussion powder within, and in a moment
+the scene was illumined by a ghastly glare, which brought out the blue
+and white boat distinctly, and gave corpse-like colour to the faces of
+the men.  At the same time it summoned the attendant steamer.
+
+In a few minutes the tug ran down to her; the tow-rope was taken on
+board, and away went the brother and sister once more to windward of the
+wreck; but now no wreck was to be seen!  They searched round the shoal
+in all directions without success, and finally were compelled to come to
+the conclusion that the same sea which had carried the boat to leeward
+had swept the wreck away.
+
+With sad hearts they now turned towards the Goodwins, but the melancholy
+incident they had just witnessed was soon banished from their minds by
+the urgent signals for aid still seen flaring in all directions.  For
+the nearest of these they made at full speed.  On their way, a dark
+object was seen to sweep past them across their stern as if on the wings
+of the wind.  It was the Broadstairs lifeboat, which had already done
+good service that night, and was bent on doing more.  Similarly occupied
+were the lifeboats of Deal, Walmer, and other places along the coast.  A
+Deal lugger was also seen.  The hardy beachmen of Kent fear no storm.
+They run out in all weathers to succour ships in distress, and much good
+service do they accomplish, but their powers are limited.  Like the
+steam-tugs, they can hover around the sands in heavy gales, and venture
+gingerly near to them; but thus far, and no farther, may they go.  They
+cannot, like the noble lifeboats, dash right into the caldron of surf,
+and dare the sands and seas to do their worst!
+
+The lifeboat men felt cheered, no doubt, to know that so many able hands
+were fighting around them in the same battle, but they had little time
+to think on such things; the work in hand claimed their exclusive
+attention--as it must now claim ours.
+
+One vessel was seen burning three very large flare lights.  Towards this
+the steamer hastened, and when as near as prudence would permit her to
+approach the Goodwin sands--something less than quarter of a mile--the
+hawser was again slipped, sail was made on the lifeboat, and she once
+more entered the broken water alone.
+
+Here, of course, being more exposed, it was still more tremendous than
+on the Break.  It was a little after midnight when they reached the
+sands, and made the discovery that they were on the wrong hide of them.
+The tide was making, however, and in a short time there was sufficient
+water to enable the boat to run right over; she struck many times, but,
+being tough, received no serious damage.  Soon they drew near the wreck,
+and could see that she had sunk completely, and that the crew were
+clinging to the jibboom.
+
+When about fifty yards to windward, the anchor was let go, the lifeboat
+veered down towards the wreck, and with much difficulty they succeeded
+in taking off the whole crew of seven men.  Signalising the tug with
+another blue-light, they ran to leeward into deep water, and were again
+taken in tow; the saved men being with some difficulty put on board the
+tug.  They were Dutchmen; and the poor master of the lost vessel could
+find no words sufficiently forcible to express his gratitude to the
+coxswain of the lifeboat.  When he afterwards met him on shore, he wrung
+his hand warmly, and, with tears in his eyes, promised never to forget
+him.  "Me never tinks of you," said he (meaning the reverse), "so long's
+I live; me tell the King of Holland!"
+
+It is but just to add that the poor fellow faithfully redeemed his
+ill-expressed promise, and that the coxswain of the lifeboat now
+possesses a medal presented to him by the King of Holland in
+acknowledgment of his services on that occasion.
+
+But the great work of that night still remained to be done.  Not far
+from the light-vessel a flare-light was seen burning brightly.  It
+seemed to be well tended, and was often renewed.  Towards this the tug
+now steered with the little sister in tow.  They soon came near enough
+to observe that she was a large ship, going to pieces on the sands.
+
+Slipping the cable once more, the lifeboat gallantly dashed into the
+thickest of the fight, and soon got within hail of the wreck.
+
+Then it was that, for the first time, a ray of hope entered the hearts
+of the passengers of the luckless Wellington, and then it was that Jim
+Welton and Stanley Hall, with several young officers, who had kept the
+tar-barrels burning so briskly for so many hours, despite the drenching
+seas, sent up a loud thrilling cheer, and announced to the
+terror-stricken women and children that _the lifeboat was in sight_!
+
+What a cry for those who had been for three hours dashing on the sands,
+expecting every moment that the ship would break up!  The horrors of
+their situation were enhanced by the novelty of their sensations!  All
+of us can realise to some extent, from hearsay and from paintings, what
+is meant by billows bursting high over ships' mast-heads and washing
+everything off the decks, but who that has not experienced it can
+imagine what it is to see gigantic yards being whipped to and fro as a
+light cane might be switched by a strong man, to see top-masts snapping
+like pipe-stems, to hear stout ropes cracking like pliant whipcord, and
+great sails flapping with thunder-claps or bursting into shreds?  Above
+all, who can realise the sensation caused by one's abode being lifted
+violently with every surge and dropped again with the crashing weight of
+two thousand tons, or being rolled from side to side so that the floor
+on which one stands alternates between the horizontal and perpendicular,
+while one's frame each time receives a shock that is only too much in
+dread harmony with the desperate condition of the mind?
+
+"The lifeboat in sight!"  Who at such a time would not pray God's best
+blessing on the lifeboat, on the stalwart men who man it, and on the
+noble Society which supports it?
+
+Certain it is that many a prayer of this kind was ejaculated on board
+the Wellington that night, while the passengers re-echoed the good news,
+and hurriedly went on deck.  But what an awful scene of dreary
+desolation presented itself when they got there!  The flares gave forth
+just enough light to make darkness visible--ropes, masts, yards, sails,
+everything in indescribable confusion, and the sea breaking over all
+with a violence that rendered it extremely difficult to maintain a
+footing even in the most sheltered position.
+
+Fortunately by this time the vessel had been beaten sufficiently high on
+the shoal to prevent the terrible rolling to which she had been at first
+subjected; and as the officers and seamen vied with each other in
+attentions to the women and children, these latter were soon placed in
+comparative security, and awaited with breathless anxiety the arrival of
+the boat.
+
+In order to keep the flare-lights burning all kinds of materials had
+been sacrificed.  Deluged as they were continually by heavy seas,
+nothing but the most inflammable substances would burn.  Hence, when
+their tar-barrels were exhausted, Stanley Hall and his assistants got
+hold of sheets, table-cloths, bedding, and garments, and saturated these
+with paraffine oil, of which, fortunately, there happened to be a large
+quantity on board.  They now applied themselves with redoubled diligence
+to the construction and keeping alight of these flares, knowing well
+that the work which remained to be done before all should be rescued,
+was of a nature requiring time as well as care and courage.
+
+On rushed the lifeboat through the broken water.  When almost within
+hail, the coxswain heard the roar of an unusually heavy sea rushing
+behind him.
+
+"Let go the fore-sheet," he shouted, "and hold on for your lives."
+
+The wave--a billow broken to atoms, yet still retaining all its weight
+and motive force--overwhelmed the boat and passed on.  Before she had
+quite recovered, another sea of equal size engulfed her, and as she had
+been turned broadside on by the first, the second caught her in its
+embrace and carried her like the wind bodily to leeward.  Her immense
+breadth of beam prevented an upset, and she was finally launched into
+shallower water, where the sand had only a few feet of sea above it.
+She had been swept away full quarter of a mile in little more than a
+minute!  Here the surf was like a boiling caldron, but there was not
+depth enough to admit of heavy seas.
+
+The same sea that swept away the boat carried the fore and main masts of
+the Wellington by the board, and extinguished all her lights.
+
+The boat drove quite two miles to leeward before the tug got hold of her
+again.  To have returned to the wreck against wind and tide alone, we
+need scarcely repeat, would have been impossible, but with the aid of
+the tug she was soon towed to her old position and again cast loose.
+
+Once more she rushed into the fight and succeeded in dropping anchor a
+considerable distance to windward of the wreck, from which point she
+veered down under her lee, but so great was the mass of broken masts,
+spars, and wreckage--nothing being now left but parts of the mizzen and
+bowsprit--that the coxswain was obliged to pay out 117 fathoms of cable
+to keep clear of it all.
+
+The difficulty and danger of getting the boat alongside now became
+apparent to the people on the wreck, many of whom had never dreamed of
+such impediments before, and their hopes sank unreasonably low, just as,
+before, they had been raised unduly high.
+
+With great difficulty the boat got near to the port quarter of the ship,
+and Pike stood up ready in the bow with a line, to which was attached a
+loaded cane, something like a large life-preserver.
+
+"Heave!" shouted the coxswain.
+
+The bowman made a deliberate and splendid cast; the weighted cane fell
+on the deck of the ship, and was caught by Jim Welton, who attached a
+hawser to it.  This was drawn into the boat, and in a few seconds she
+was alongside.  But she was now in great danger!  The wild waters that
+heaved, surged, and leaped under the vessel's lee threatened to dash the
+boat in pieces against her every moment, and it was only by the
+unremitting and strenuous exertions of the men with boat-hooks, oars,
+and fenders that this was prevented.  Now the boat surged up into the
+chains as if about to leap on board the ship; anon it sank into a gulf
+of spray, or sheered wildly to leeward, but by means of the hawser and
+cable, and a "spring" attached to the latter, she was so handled that
+one and another of the crew of the wreck were taken into her.
+
+The first saved was a little child.  It was too small and delicate to be
+swung over the side by a rope, so the captain asked Jim Welton, as being
+the most agile man in the ship and possessed of superabundant animal
+courage, to take it in his arms and leap on board.  Jim agreed at once,
+handed over the care of his flare-lights to one of the men, and prepared
+for action.  The poor child, which was about a year old, clung to its
+mother's neck with terror, and the distracted woman--a soldier's widow--
+could scarce be prevailed on to let the little one out of her arms.
+
+"Oh, let me go with him," she pleaded most earnestly, "he is all that is
+left to me."
+
+"You shall follow immediately; delay may be death," said the captain,
+kindly, as he drew the child gently but firmly from her grasp.
+
+It was securely bound to Jim's broad bosom by means of a shawl.
+Watching his opportunity when the boat came surging up on the crest of a
+billow almost to his feet, and was about to drop far down into the
+trough of the sea, the young sailor sprang from the side and was caught
+in the outstretched arms of the lifeboat men.
+
+It had occurred to Stanley Hall, just before this happened, that there
+was every probability of some of the passengers falling overboard during
+the process of being transferred to the boat.  Stanley was of a somewhat
+eccentric turn of mind, and seldom allowed his thoughts to dissipate
+without taking action of some kind.  He therefore got into the mizzen
+chains and quietly fastened a rope round his waist, the other end of
+which he tied to a stanchion.
+
+"You'll get crushed by the boat there," cried the captain, who observed
+him.
+
+"Perhaps not," was the reply.
+
+He stood there and watched Jim Welton as he leaped.  The mother of the
+child, unable to restrain herself, climbed on the bulwarks of the
+vessel.  Just as she did so the boat surged up again,--so close that it
+required but a short step to get into her.  Some of the passengers
+availed themselves of the chance--the poor widow among them.  She sprang
+with a cry of joy, for she saw her child's face at the moment as they
+unbound him from Jim's breast, but she sprang short.  Little wonder that
+a woman should neglect to make due allowance for the quick swooping of
+the boat!  Next moment she was in the boiling foam.  A moment later and
+she was in Stanley Hall's grasp, and both were swept violently to
+leeward, but the rope brought them up.  Despite darkness and turmoil the
+quick-eyed coxswain and his mate had noted the incident.  Pike payed out
+the hawser, the coxswain eased off the spring; away went the boat, and
+next moment Pike had Stanley by the hair.  Short was the time required
+for their strong arms to pull him and his burden in-board; and, oh! it
+was a touching sight to witness the expressions of the anxious faces
+that were turned eagerly towards the boat, and glared pale and ghastly
+in the flaring light, as her sturdy crew hauled slowly up, hand over
+hand, and got once more under the vessel's lee.
+
+No sooner were they within reach than another impatient passenger leaped
+overboard.  This was Jim's faithful dog Neptune!  Watching his time with
+the intelligence of a human being, he sprang, with much greater
+precision and vigour than any human being could have done, and,
+alighting on Pike's shoulders, almost drove that stout boatman into the
+bottom of the boat.
+
+Soon the boat was as full as it could hold.  All the women and children
+had been got into her, and many of the male passengers, so that there
+was no room to move; still there remained from twenty to thirty people
+to be rescued.  Seeing this, Jim seized Neptune by the neck and flung
+him back into the wreck.  Catching a rope that hung over the side, he
+also swung himself on board, saying,--"You and I must sink or swim
+together, Nep!  Shove off, lads, and come back as soon as you can."
+
+The hawser was slipped as he spoke; the lifeboat was hauled slowly but
+steadily to windward up to her anchor.  Tons of water poured over her
+every moment, but ran through her discharging tubes, and, deeply loaded
+though she was, she rose buoyant from each immersion like an invincible
+sea-monster.
+
+When the anchor was reached, a small portion of the foresail was set,
+and then, cutting the cable with one blow of a hatchet, away they went
+like the scudding foam right over the boiling shallows on the spit of
+sand.
+
+"Hand out a blue-light there," cried the coxswain.  A sharp blow caused
+the blue-fire to flare up and shed a light that fell strong as that of
+the full moon on the mingled grave, pale, stern, and terrified faces in
+the lifeboat.
+
+"Safe!" muttered one of the crew.
+
+"Safe?" was echoed in surprise, no doubt, from several fluttering
+hearts.
+
+As well might that have been said to the hapless canoe-man rushing over
+the Falls of Niagara as to the inexperienced ones there, while they
+gazed, horror-struck, on the tumult of mad waters in that sudden blaze
+of unearthly light.  Their faith in a trustworthy and intelligent
+boatman was not equal to their faith in their own eyes, backed by
+ignorance!  But who will blame them for lack of faith in the
+circumstances?  Nevertheless, they _were_ safe.  The watchful master of
+the tug,--laying-to off the deadly banks, now noting the compass, now
+casting the lead, anon peering into the wild storm,--saw the light, ran
+down to it, took the rescued ones on board, and, having received from
+the coxswain the information that there were "more coming," sent them
+down into his little cabin, there to be refreshed and comforted, while
+the lifeboat sheered off again, and once more sprang into the "broken
+water."  So might some mighty warrior spur from the battle-field charged
+with despatches of the highest import bearing on the fight, and, having
+delivered his message, turn on his heel and rush back into the whirling
+tide of war to complete the victory which had been so well begun!
+
+Once more they made for the wreck, which was by that time fast breaking
+up.  Running right before the wind in such an awful gale, it was
+necessary to make the men crowd aft in order to keep the boat's head
+well out of the water.  On this occasion one or two of the seamen of the
+Wellington, who had been allowed inadvertently to remain in the boat,
+became alarmed, for the seas were rolling high over the gunwale on each
+side, and rushing into her with such force as to make it a difficult
+matter to avoid being washed out.  It was a new sensation to these men
+to rush thus madly between two walls of foam eight or ten feet high!
+They glanced backward, where another wall of foaming water seemed to be
+curling over the stern, as if about to drop inboard.  The coxswain
+observed their looks, and knew their feelings.  He knew there was no
+lack of courage in them, and that a little experience would change their
+minds on this point.
+
+"Never look behind, lads," he cried; "look ahead; always look right
+ahead."
+
+"Ay, Geordy," remarked one of the men,--a Scotchman,--to his mate, "it's
+rum sailin' this is.  I thocht we was a' gaun to the bottom; but nae
+doot the cox'n kens best.  It's a wonderfu' boat!"
+
+Having so said, the sedate Scot dismissed his anxieties, and thereafter
+appeared to regard the surrounding chaos of water with no other feelings
+than philosophic interest and curiosity.
+
+On nearing the wreck the second time, it was found that the tide had
+fallen so low that they could scarcely get alongside.  Three times they
+struck on the shoal; on the third occasion the mizzen-mast and sail were
+blown out of the boat.  They managed to drop anchor, however, and to
+veer down under the port bow of the Wellington, whence the anxious
+survivors threw ropes to them, and, one after another, leaped or swung
+themselves into the boat.  But they were so long about it that before
+all had been got out the coxswain was obliged to drop to leeward to
+prevent being left aground.  In spite of this, the boat got fast, and
+now they could neither advance to the wreck for the nine men who still
+remained in her, nor push off to rejoin the tug.
+
+The space between the boat and vessel was crossed by such a continuous
+rush of broken water that for a time it was impossible to attempt
+anything, but as the tide fell the coxswain consulted with his bowman,
+and both agreed to venture to wade to the wreck, those on board having
+become so exhausted as to be unable or unwilling to make further effort
+to save themselves.
+
+Acting on this resolve they with one of their men sprang into the raging
+surf and staggered to the wreck, where they induced two of the crew to
+leap overboard and brought them safely to the boat.  Others of the
+lifeboat crew then joined them and four more were rescued.  [See note
+1.]
+
+The tide had been at its lowest when this desperate work was begun,--
+before it was finished it had turned.  This, coupled with the fact that
+they had all been nearly swept away during the last effort; and that
+there was a fresh burst of violence in the gale, induced them to wait
+until the tide should rise.  When it did so sufficiently, they hauled
+and shoved the boat alongside, and the captain, who was one of the three
+remaining men, made a desperate spring, but missed the boat and was
+whirled away.  Pike made a grasp at him but missed.  The coxswain seized
+a life-buoy and hurled it towards him.  It fell within his reach, and it
+was supposed that he had caught it, but they could not be certain.  The
+boat was now afloat and bumping violently.  If they had cut the cable in
+order to rescue the captain, which they could by no means make sure of
+doing, the improbability of being able to return in time to save the two
+remaining men would have been very great.  It seemed to be life or death
+in either case, so they stuck by the wreck.
+
+It was grey dawn now, and the wreckage was knocking against and around
+them to such an extent that the coxswain began to fear for the safety of
+his boat.  Yet he was loath to leave the men to perish.
+
+"Jump now, lads!" he cried, sheering up alongside, "it's your last
+chance.  It's death to all of us if we stop longer here!"
+
+The men sprang together.  One gained the side of the boat and was saved,
+the other was swept away.  He made frantic efforts to gain the boat, but
+before his companion had been got inboard he was out of sight, and
+although the cable was promptly cut and the sail set he could not be
+found.  The boat was then run down along the sands in search of the
+captain.  The coxswain knew well from experience that he must certainly
+have been swept by the current in the same direction as the wreckage.
+He therefore followed this, and in a short time had the inexpressible
+satisfaction and good fortune to find the captain.  He had caught the
+life-buoy, and having managed to get it under his arms had floated about
+for the greater part of an hour.  Though nearly dead he was still
+sensible, and, after being well chafed and refreshed with a little rum
+from the coxswain's case-bottle--provided for occasions of this sort--he
+recovered.
+
+The great work of the lifeboat had now been accomplished, but they could
+not feel that it had been thoroughly completed without one more effort
+being made to save the lost man.  They therefore ran still farther down
+the sand in the direction where he had been last seen.  They followed
+the drift of wreckage as before.  Presently the bowman uttered a
+thrilling shout, for, through the turmoil of dashing spray, he saw the
+man clinging to a spar!
+
+So unexpected was this happy event that the whole crew involuntarily
+gave vent to a ringing cheer, although, in the circumstances, and
+considering the nature of their exhausting work and the time they had
+been exposed to it, one might have supposed them incapable of such a
+burst of enthusiasm.
+
+In a few moments he was rescued, and now, with light hearts, they ran
+for the tug, which was clearly visible in the rapidly increasing
+daylight.  They did not put off time in transferring the saved men to
+the steamer.  The big hawser,--their familiar bond of attachment,--was
+made fast to them, and away went that noble big brother and splendid
+little sister straight for Ramsgate harbour.  [See note 2.]
+
+But the work of that wild night was not yet finished.  On their way home
+they fell in with a schooner, the foretopmast and bowsprit of which were
+gone.  As she was drifting towards the sands they hailed her.  No reply
+being made, the lifeboat was towed alongside, and, on being boarded, it
+was found that she was a derelict.  Probably she had got upon the sands
+during the night, been forsaken by her crew in their own boat--in which
+event there was small chance of any being saved--and had drifted off
+again at the change of the tide.
+
+Be that as it might, six lifeboat men were put on board.  Finding no
+water in her, they slipt her two cables, which were hanging from the
+bow, a rope was made fast to the steamer, and she was taken in tow.
+
+It was drawing towards noon when they neared the harbour.  Very
+different indeed was the aspect of things there then from what it had
+been when they went out on their errand of mercy thirteen hours before.
+Although the gale was still blowing fresh it had moderated greatly.  The
+black clouds no longer held possession of the sky, but were pierced,
+scattered, and gilded, as they were rolled away, by the victorious sun.
+The sea still raged and showed its white "teeth" fiercely, as if its
+spirit had been too much roused to be easily appeased; but blue sky
+appeared in patches everywhere; the rain had ceased, and the people of
+the town and visitors swarmed out to enjoy the returning sunshine,
+inhale the fresh sea-breeze, and await, anxiously, the return of the
+lifeboat--for, of course, every one in the town was aware by that time
+that she had been out all night.
+
+When, at length, the smoke of the "big brother" was observed drawing
+near, the people flocked in hundreds to the piers and cliffs.--Wherever
+a point of vantage was to be had, dozens of spectators crowned it.
+Wherever a point of danger was to be gained, daring spirits--chiefly in
+the shape of small boys--took it by storm, in absolute contempt of the
+police.  "Jacob's Ladder"--the cliff staircase--was crowded from top to
+bottom.  The west pier was rendered invisible to its outer extremity by
+human beings.  The east pier, as far as it was dry, was covered by the
+fashion and beauty--as well as by the fishy and tarry--of the town.
+Beyond the point of dryness it was more or less besieged by those who
+were reckless, riotous, and ridiculously fond of salt-water spray.  The
+yards and shrouds of the crowded and much damaged shipping in the
+harbour were manned, and the windows of the town that commanded the sea
+were filled with human faces.  An absolute battery of telescopes, like
+small artillery, was levelled at the approaching tug.  Everywhere were
+to be seen and heard evidences of excitement, anxiety, and expectation.
+
+It was not long before it was announced that flags were seen flying at
+the mast-heads of the tug and lifeboat--a sure evidence that a rescue
+had been successfully accomplished.  This caused many a burst of
+cheering from the crowds, as the fact and its import became gradually
+known.  But these were as nothing compared with the cheers that arose
+when the steamer, with the lifeboat and the schooner in tow, drew near,
+and it could be seen that there were many people on board--among them
+women and children.  When they finally surged past the pier-head on the
+crest of a tremendous billow, and swept into the harbour under a vast
+shower of spray that burst over the pier and rose above the mast-heads
+of the shipping within--as if to pour a libation on the gallant crews--
+then a succession of cheers, that cannot be described, welcomed the
+victors and re-echoed from the chalk-cliffs, to be caught up and sent
+out again and again in thrilling cadence on the mad sea, which had thus
+been plundered of its booty and disappointed of its prey!
+
+Scarfs and hats and kerchiefs and hands were waved in wild enthusiasm,
+strangely mingled with tender pity, when the exhausted women and
+children and the worn-out and battered lifeboat-men were landed.  Many
+cheered, no doubt, to think of the strong hearts and invincible courage
+that dwelt in the breasts of Britain's sons; while others,--tracing
+things at once to their true source,--cheered in broken tones, or were
+incompetent to cheer at all, when they thought with thankfulness of
+Britain's faith in the Word of God, which, directly or indirectly, had
+given that courage its inspiration, and filled those hearts with fire.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  The coxswain--Mr Isaac Jarman--who has rendered heroic service
+in the Ramsgate Lifeboat during the last ten years, has been personally
+instrumental in saving between four and five hundred lives.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 2.  If the reader should desire to know something more of the
+history of the celebrated Ramsgate lifeboat, which, owing to its
+position, opportunities, and advantages, has had the most stirring
+career of all the lifeboat fleet, we advise the perusal of a work (at
+present in the press, if it be not already published) named _Storm
+Warriors, or the Ramsgate Lifeboat and the Goodwin Sands_, by the
+Reverend John Gilmore, whose able and thrilling articles on the
+lifeboat-service in _Macmillan's Magazine_ are well known.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+SHOWS THAT THERE ARE NO EFFECTS WITHOUT ADEQUATE CAUSES.
+
+There were not a few surprising and unexpected meetings that day on
+Ramsgate pier.  Foremost among the hundreds who pressed forward to shake
+the lifeboat-men by the hand, and to sympathise with and congratulate
+the wrecked and rescued people, was Mr George Durant.  It mattered
+nothing to that stout enthusiast that his hat had been swept away into
+hopeless destruction during his frantic efforts to get to the front,
+leaving his polished head exposed to the still considerable fury of the
+blast and the intermittent violence of the sun; and it mattered, if
+possible, still less that the wreck turned out to be one of his own
+vessels; but it was a matter of the greatest interest and amazement to
+him to find that the first man he should meet in the crowd and seize in
+a hearty embrace, was his young friend, Stanley Hall.
+
+"What, Stanney!" he exclaimed in unmitigated surprise; "is it--can it
+be?  Prodigious sight!"
+
+The old gentleman could say no more, but continued for a few seconds to
+wring the hands of his young friend, gaze in his face, and vent himself
+in gusts of surprise and bursts of tearful laughter, to the great
+interest and amusement of the bystanders.
+
+Mr Durant's inconsistent conduct may be partly accounted for and
+excused by the fact that Stanley had stepped on the pier with no other
+garments on than a pair of trousers and a shirt, the former having a
+large rent on the right knee, and the latter being torn open at the
+breast, in consequence of the violent removal of all the buttons when
+its owner was dragged into the lifeboat.  As, in addition to this, the
+young man's dishevelled hair did duty for a cap, and his face and hands
+were smeared with oil and tar from the flare-lights which he had
+assisted to keep up so energetically, it is not surprising that the
+first sight of him had a powerful effect on Mr Durant.
+
+"Why, Stanney," he said at length, "you look as if you were some strange
+sea-monster just broke loose from Neptune's menagerie!"
+
+Perhaps this idea had been suggested by the rope round Stanley's waist,
+the cut end of which still dangled at his side, for Mr Durant took hold
+of it inquiringly.
+
+"Ay, sir," put in the coxswain, who chanced to be near him, "that bit of
+rope is a scarf of honour.  He saved the life of a soldier's widow with
+it."
+
+There was a tendency to cheer on the part of the bystanders who heard
+this.
+
+"God bless you, Stanney, my boy!  Come and get dressed," said the old
+gentleman, suddenly seizing his friend's arm and pushing his way through
+the crowd, "come along; oh, don't talk to me of the ship.  I know that
+it's lost; no matter--you are saved.  And do _you_ come along with us
+Wel--Wel--what's the name of --?  Ah!  Welton--come; my daughter is here
+somewhere.  I left her near the parapet.  Never mind, she knows her way
+home."
+
+Katie certainly was there, and when, over the heads of the people--for
+she had mounted with characteristic energy on the parapet, assisted by
+Queeker and accompanied by Fanny Hennings--she beheld Stanley Hall in
+such a plight, she felt a disposition to laugh and cry and faint all at
+once.  She resisted the tendency, however, although the expression of
+her face and her rapid change of colour induced Queeker with anxious
+haste to throw out his arms to catch her.
+
+"Ha!" exclaimed Queeker, "_I knew it_!"
+
+What Queeker knew he never explained.  It may have had reference to
+certain suspicions entertained in regard to the impression made by the
+young student on Katie the night of their first meeting; we cannot tell,
+but we know that he followed up the exclamation with the muttered
+remark, "It was fortunate that I pulled up in time."
+
+Herein Queeker exhibited the innate tendency of the human heart to
+deceive itself.  That furious little poetical fox-hunter had, by his own
+confession, felt the pangs of a guilty conscience in turning, just
+because he could not help it, from Katie to Fanny, yet here he was now
+basely and coolly taking credit to himself for having "pulled up in
+time!"
+
+"Oh, look at the _dear_ little children!" exclaimed Fanny, pointing
+towards a part of the crowd where several seamen were carrying the
+rescued and still terrified little ones in their strong arms, while
+others assisted the women along, and wrapped dry shawls round them.
+
+"How dreadful to think," said Katie, making a hard struggle to suppress
+her agitation, "that all these would have been lost but for the
+lifeboat; and how wonderful to think that some of our own friends should
+be among them!"
+
+"Ay, there be many more besides these saved last night, miss," remarked
+a sturdy old boatman who chanced to be standing beside her.  "All along
+the east coast the lifeboats has bin out, miss, you may be sure; and
+they don't often shove off without bringin' somethin' back to show for
+their pains, though they don't all 'ave steamers for to tug 'em out.
+There's the Broadstairs boat, now; I've jist heerd she was out all night
+an' saved fifteen lives; an' the Walmer and Deal boats has fetched in a
+lot, I believe, though we han't got particklers yet."
+
+Besides those whom we have mentioned as gazing with the crowd at the
+arrival of the lifeboat, Morley Jones, and Nora, and Billy Towler were
+there.  Jones and Billy had returned from London together the night
+before the storm, and, like nearly every one else in the town, had
+turned out to witness the arrival of the lifeboat.
+
+Dick Moy also was there, and that huge lump of good-nature spent the
+time in making sagacious remarks and wise comments on wind and weather,
+wrecks and rescues, in a manner that commanded the intense admiration of
+a knot of visitors who happened to be near him, and who regarded him as
+a choice specimen--a sort of type--of the British son of Neptune.
+
+"This is wot _I_ says," observed Dick, while the people were landing "so
+long as there's 'ope, 'old on.  Never say die, and never give in; them's
+my sentiments.  'Cause why? no one never knows wot may turn up.  If your
+ship goes down; w'y, wot then?  Strike out, to be sure.  P'r'aps you may
+be picked up afore long.  If sharks is near, p'r'aps you may be picked
+down.  You can never tell.  If you gets on a shoal, wot then? w'y, stick
+to the ship till a lifeboat comes off to 'ee.  Don't never go for to
+take to your own boats.  If you do--capsize, an' Davy Jones's locker is
+the word.  If the lifeboat can't git alongside; w'y, wait till it can.
+If it can't; w'y, it can only be said that it couldn't.  No use cryin'
+over spilt milk, you know.  Not that I cares for milk.  It don't keep at
+sea, d'ye see; an's only fit for babbys.  If the lifeboat capsizes; w'y,
+then, owin' to her parfection o' build, she rights again, an' you,
+'avin' on cork jackets, p'r'aps, gits into 'er by the lifelines, all
+handy.  If you 'aven't got no cork jackets on, w'y, them that has'll
+pick 'ee up.  If not, it's like enough you'll go down.  But no matter,
+you've did yer best, an' man, woman, or child can do no more.  You can
+only die once, d'ye see?"
+
+Whether the admiring audience did or did not see the full force of these
+remarks, they undoubtedly saw enough in the gigantic tar to esteem him a
+marvel of philosophic wisdom.  Judging by their looks that he was highly
+appreciated, it is just possible that Dick Moy might have been tempted
+to extend his discourse, had not a move in the crowd showed a general
+tendency towards dispersion, the rescued people having been removed,
+some to the Sailor's Home, others to the residences of hospitable people
+in the town.
+
+Now, it must not be imagined that all these characters in our tale have
+been thus brought together, merely at our pleasure, without rhyme or
+reason, and in utter disregard of the law of probabilities.  By no
+means.
+
+Mr Robert Queeker had started for Ramsgate, as the reader knows, on a
+secret mission, which, as is also well known, was somewhat violently
+interrupted by the sporting tendencies of that poetical law-clerk; but
+no sooner did Queeker recover from his wounds than--with the
+irresistible ardour of a Wellington, or a Blucher, or a bull-dog, or a
+boarding-school belle--he returned to the charge, made out his intended
+visit, set his traps, baited his lines, fastened his snares, and
+whatever else appertained to his secret mission, so entirely to the
+satisfaction of Messrs. Merryheart and Dashope, that these estimable men
+resolved, some time afterwards, to send him back again to the scene of
+his labours, to push still further the dark workings of his mission.
+Elate with success the earnest Queeker prepared to go.  Oh, what joy if
+_she_ would only go with him!
+
+"And why not?" cried Queeker, starting up when this thought struck him,
+as if it had struck him too hard and he were about to retaliate,--"Why
+not?  _That_ is the question."
+
+He emphasised _that_ as if all other questions, Hamlet's included, sank
+into insignificance by contrast.
+
+"Only last night," continued Queeker to himself, still standing bolt
+upright in a frenzy of inspiration, and running his fingers fiercely
+through his hair, so as to make it stand bolt upright too--"only last
+night I heard old Durant say he could not make up his mind where to go
+to spend the autumn this year.  Why not Ramsgate? why not Ramsgate?
+
+  "Its chalky cliffs, and yellow sand,
+  And rides, and walks, and weather,
+  Its windows, which a view command
+  Of everything together.
+
+  "Its pleasant walks, and pretty shops,
+  To fascinate the belles,
+  Its foaming waves, like washing-slops,
+  To captivate the swells.
+
+  "Its boats and boatmen, brave and true,
+  Who lounge upon the jetty,
+  And smile upon the girls too--
+  At least when they are pretty.
+
+  "Oh!  Ramsgate, where in all the earth,
+  Beside the lovely sea,
+  Can any town of note or worth
+  Be found to equal thee?
+
+"Nowhere!" said Queeker, bringing his fist down on the table with a
+force that made the ink leap, when he had finished these verses--verses,
+however, which cost him two hours and a profuse perspiration to produce.
+
+It was exactly a quarter to eight p.m. by the Yarmouth custom-house
+clock, due allowance being made for variation, when this "Nowhere!" was
+uttered, and it was precisely a quarter past nine p.m. that day week
+when the Durants drove up to the door of the Fortress Hotel in Ramsgate,
+and ordered beds and tea,--so powerful was the influence of a great mind
+when brought to bear on Fanny Hennings, who exercised irresistible
+influence over the good-natured Katie, whose power over her indulgent
+father was absolute!
+
+Not less natural was the presence, in Ramsgate, of Billy Towler.  We
+have already mentioned that, for peculiarly crooked ends of his own,
+Morley Jones had changed his abode to Ramsgate--his country abode, that
+is.  His headquarters and town department continued as before to
+flourish in Gravesend, in the form of a public-house, which had once
+caught fire at a time, strange to say, when the spirit and beer casks
+were all nearly empty, a curious fact which the proprietor alone was
+aware of, but thought it advisable not to mention when he went to
+receive the 200 pounds of insurance which had been effected on the
+premises a few weeks before!  It will thus be seen that Mr Jones's
+assurance, in the matter of dealing with insurance, was considerable.
+
+Having taken up his temporary abode, then, in Ramsgate, and placed his
+mother and daughter therein as permanent residents, Mr Jones commenced
+such a close investigation as to the sudden disappearance of his ally
+Billy, that he wormed out of the unwilling but helpless Nora not only
+what had become of him, but the name and place of his habitation.
+Having accomplished this, he dressed himself in a blue nautical suit
+with brass buttons, took the morning train to London, and in due course
+presented himself at the door of the Grotto, where he requested
+permission to see the boy Towler.
+
+The request being granted, he was shown into a room, and Billy was soon
+after let in upon him.
+
+"Hallo! young Walleye, why, what ever has come over you?" he exclaimed
+in great surprise, on observing that Billy's face was clean, in which
+condition he had never before seen it, and his hair brushed, an
+extraordinary novelty; and, most astonishing of all, that he wore
+unragged garments.
+
+Billy, who, although outwardly much altered, had apparently lost none of
+his hearty ways and sharp intelligence, stopped short in the middle of
+the room, thrust both hands deep into his trousers pockets, opened his
+eyes very wide, and gave vent to a low prolonged whistle.
+
+"What game may _you_ be up to?" he said, at the end of the musical
+prelude.
+
+"You are greatly improved, Billy," said Jones, holding out his hand.
+
+"I'm not aweer," replied the boy, drawing back, "as I've got to thank
+_you_ for it."
+
+"Come, Billy, this ain't friendly, is it, after all I've done for you?"
+said Jones, remonstratively; "I only want you to come out an' 'ave a
+talk with me about things, an' I'll give 'ee a swig o' beer or whatever
+you take a fancy to.  You ain't goin' to show the white feather and
+become a milksop, are you?"
+
+"Now, look here, Mister Jones," said the boy, with an air of decision
+that there was no mistaking, as he retreated nearer to the door; "I
+don't want for to have nothin' more to do with _you_.  I've see'd much
+more than enough of 'ee.  You knows me pretty well, an' you knows that
+wotiver else I may be, I ain't a hippercrite.  I knows enough o' your
+doin's to make you look pretty blue if I like, but for reasons of my
+own, wot you've got nothink to do with, I don't mean to peach.  All I ax
+is, that you goes your way an' let me alone.  That's where it is.  The
+people here seem to 'ave got a notion that I've got a soul as well as a
+body, and that it ain't 'xactly sitch a worthless thing as to be never
+thought of, and throw'd away like an old shoe.  They may be wrong, and
+they may be right, but I'm inclined to agree with 'em.  Let me tell 'ee
+that _you_ 'ave did more than anybody else to show me the evil of wicked
+ways, so you needn't stand there grinnin' like a rackishoot wi' the
+toothache.  I've jined the Band of Hope, too, so I don't want none o'
+your beer nor nothin' else, an' if you offers to lay hands on me, I'll
+yell out like a she-spurtindeel, an' bring in the guv'nor, wot's fit to
+wollop six o' you any day with his left hand."
+
+This last part of Billy's speech was made with additional fire, in
+consequence of Morley Jones taking a step towards him in anger.
+
+"Well, boy," he said, sternly, "hypocrite or not, you've learned yer
+lesson pretty pat, so you may do as you please.  It's little that a chip
+like you could do to get me convicted on anything you've seen or heard
+as yet, an' if ye did succeed, it would only serve to give yourself a
+lift on the way to the gallows.  But it wasn't to trouble myself about
+you and your wishes that I came here for (the wily rascal assumed an air
+and tone of indifference at this point); if you had only waited to hear
+what I'd got to say, before you began to spit fire, you might have saved
+your breath.  The fact is that my Nora is very ill--so ill that I fear
+she stands a poor chance o' gittin' better.  I'm goin' to send her away
+on a long sea voyage.  P'r'aps that may do her good; if not, it's all up
+with her.  She begged and prayed me so earnestly to come here and take
+you down to see her before she goes, that I could not refuse her--
+particularly as I happened to have business in London anyhow.  If I'd
+known how you would take it, I would have saved myself the trouble of
+comin'.  However, I'll bid you good-day now."
+
+"Jones," said the boy earnestly, "that's a lie."
+
+"Very good," retorted the man, putting on his hat carelessly, "I'll take
+back that message with your compliments--eh?"
+
+"No; but," said Billy, almost whimpering with anxiety, "is Nora _really_
+ill?"
+
+"I don't wish you to come if you don't want to," replied Jones; "you can
+stop here till doomsday for me.  But do you suppose I'd come here for
+the mere amusement of hearing you give me the lie?"
+
+"I'll go!" said Billy, with as much emphasis as he had previously
+expressed on declining to go.
+
+The matter was soon explained to the manager of the Grotto.  Mr Jones
+was so plausible, and gave such unexceptionable references, that it is
+no disparagement to the penetration of the superintendent of that day to
+say that he was deceived.  The result was, as we have shown, that Billy
+ere long found his way to Ramsgate.
+
+When Mr Jones introduced him ceremoniously to Nora, he indulged in a
+prolonged and hearty fit of laughter.  Nora gazed at Billy with a look
+of intense amazement, and Billy stared at Nora with a very mingled
+expression of countenance, for he at once saw through the deception that
+had been practised on him, and fully appreciated the difficulty of his
+position--his powers of explanation being hampered by a warning, given
+him long ago by his friend Jim Welton, that he must be careful how he
+let Nora into the full knowledge of her father's wickedness.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+CONFIDENCES AND CROSS PURPOSES.
+
+Katie Durant, sitting with a happy smile on her fair face, and good-will
+in her sweet heart to all mankind--womankind included, which says a good
+deal for her--was busy with a beautiful sketch of a picturesque
+watermill, meditating on the stirring scene she had so recently
+witnessed, when a visitor was announced.
+
+"Who can it be?" inquired Katie; "papa is out, you know, and no one can
+want me."
+
+The lodging-house keeper, Mrs Cackles, smiled at the idea of no one
+wanting Katie, knowing, as she did, that there were at least twenty
+people who would have given all they were worth in the world to possess
+her, either in the form of wife, sister, daughter, friend governess, or
+companion.
+
+"Well, miss, she do wants you, and says as no one else will do."
+
+"Oh, a lady, please show her in, Mrs Cackles."
+
+"Well, she ain't a lady, either, though I've seen many a lady as would
+give their weight in gold to be like her."
+
+So saying the landlady departed, and in a few seconds introduced Nora.
+
+"Miss Jones!" cried Katie, rising with a pleased smile and holding out
+her hand; "this is a very unexpected pleasure."
+
+"Thank you, Miss Durant.  I felt sure you would remember me," said Nora,
+taking a seat, "and I also feel sure that you will assist me with your
+advice in a matter of some difficulty, especially as it relates to the
+boy about whose sick brother you came to me at Yarmouth some time ago--
+you remember?"
+
+"Oh!  Billy Towler," exclaimed Katie, with animation; "yes, I remember;
+you are right in expecting me to be interested in him.  Let me hear all
+about it."
+
+Hereupon Nora gave Katie an insight into much of Billy Towler's history,
+especially dwelling on that part of it which related to his being sent
+to the Grotto, in the hope of saving him from the evil influences that
+were brought to bear upon him in his intercourse with her father.
+
+"Not," she said, somewhat anxiously, "that I mean you to suppose my dear
+father teaches him anything that is wicked; but his business leads him
+much among bad men--and--they drink and smoke, you know, which is very
+bad for a young boy to see; and many of them are awful swearers.  Now,
+poor Billy has been induced to leave the Grotto and to come down here,
+for what purpose I don't know; but I am _so_ disappointed, because I had
+hoped he would not have got tired of it so soon; and what distresses me
+most is, that he does not speak all his mind to me; I can see that, for
+he is very fond of me, and did not use to conceal things from me--at
+least I fancied not.  The strange thing about it too is, that he says he
+is willing to return to the Grotto immediately, if I wish it."
+
+"I am very _very_ sorry to hear all this," said Katie, with a troubled
+air; "but what do you propose to do, and how can I assist you?--only
+tell me, and I shall be so happy to do it, if it be in my power."
+
+"I really don't know how to put it to you, dear Miss Durant, and I could
+not have ventured if you had not been so very kind when I met you in
+Yarmouth; but--but your father owns several vessels, I believe, and--
+and--you will excuse me referring to it, I know--he was so good as to
+get a situation on board of the Wellington--which has so unfortunately
+been wrecked--for a young--a--a young--man; one of those who was
+saved--"
+
+"Yes, yes," said Katie, quickly, thinking of Stanley Hall, and blushing
+scarlet; "I know the young gentleman to whom you refer; well, go on."
+
+"Well," continued Nora, thinking of Jim Welton, and blushing scarlet
+too, "that young man said to me that he felt sure if I were to make
+application to Mr Durant through you, he would give Billy a situation
+in one of his ships, and so get him out of harm's way."
+
+"He was right," said Katie, with a somewhat puzzled expression; "and you
+may rely on my doing what I can for the poor boy with papa, who is
+always happy to help in such cases; but I was not aware that Mr Hall
+knew either you or Billy."
+
+"Mr Hall!" exclaimed Nora, in surprise.
+
+"Did you not refer to him just now?"
+
+"No, miss; I meant James Welton."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Katie, prolonging that monosyllable in a sliding scale,
+ranging from low to high and back to low again, which was peculiarly
+suggestive; "I beg your pardon, I quite misunderstood you; well, you may
+tell Mr Welton that I will befriend Billy to the utmost of my power."
+
+The door opened as she spoke, and cousin Fanny entered.
+
+"Katie, I've come to tell you that Mr Queek--" She stopped short on
+observing Nora, who rose hastily, thanked Katie earnestly for the kind
+interest she had expressed in her little friend, and took her leave.
+
+"This is a very interesting little incident, Fan," said Katie with
+delight when they were alone; "quite a romancelet of real life.  Let me
+see; here is a poor boy--the boy who deceived us, you remember--whom bad
+companions are trying to decoy into the wicked meshes of their dreadful
+net, and a sweet young girl, a sort of guardian angel as it were, comes
+to me and asks my aid to save the boy, and have him sent to sea.  Isn't
+it delightful?  Quite the ground-work of a tale--and might be so nicely
+illustrated," added Katie, glancing at her drawings.  "But forgive me,
+Fan; I interrupted you.  What were you going to tell me?"
+
+"Only that Mr Queeker cannot come to tea tonight, as he has business to
+attend to connected with his secret mission," replied Fanny.
+
+"How interesting it would be," said Katie, musing, "if we could only
+manage to mix up this mission of Mr Queeker's in the plot of our
+romance; wouldn't it?  Come, I will put away my drawing for to-day, and
+finish the copy of papa's quarterly cash-account for those dreadful
+Board of Trade people; then we shall go to the pier and have a walk, and
+on our way we will call on that poor old bedridden woman whom papa has
+ferreted out, and give her some tea and sugar.  Isn't it strange that
+papa should have discovered one so soon?  I suppose you are aware of his
+_penchant_ for old women, Fan?"
+
+"No, I was not aware of it," said Fan, smiling.
+
+Whatever Fan said, she accompanied with a smile.  Indeed a smile was the
+necessary result of the opening of her little mouth for whatever
+purpose--not an affected smile, but a merry one--which always had the
+effect, her face being plump, of half shutting her eyes.
+
+"Yes," continued Katie, with animation, "papa is _so_ fond of old women,
+particularly if they are _very_ old, and _very_ little, and thin; they
+_must_ be thin, though.  I don't think he cares much for them if they
+are fat.  He says that fat people are so jolly that they don't need to
+be cared for, but he dotes upon the little thin ones."
+
+Fanny smiled, and observed that that was curious.  "So it is," observed
+Katie; "now _my_ taste lies in the direction of old men.  I like to
+visit poor old men much better than poor old women, and the older and
+more helpless they are the more I like them."
+
+Fanny smiled again, and observed that that was curious too.
+
+"So it is," said Katie, "very odd that papa should like the old women
+and I should like the old men; but so it is.  Now, Fan, we'll get ready
+and--oh how provoking!  That must be another visitor!  People find papa
+out so soon wherever we go, and then they give him no rest."
+
+"A boy wishes to see you, miss," said Mrs Cackles.
+
+"Me?" exclaimed Katie in surprise.
+
+"Yes, miss, and he says he wants to see you alone on important
+business."
+
+Katie looked at Fanny and smiled.  Fanny returned the smile, and
+immediately left the room.
+
+"Show him in, Mrs Cackles."
+
+The landlady withdrew, and ushered in no less a personage than Billy
+Towler himself, who stopped at the door, and stood with his hat in his
+hand, and an unusually confused expression in his looks.  "Please,
+miss," said Billy, "you knows me, I think?"
+
+Katie admitted that she knew him, and, knowing in her heart that she
+meant to befriend him, it suddenly occurred to her that it would be well
+to begin with a little salutary severity by way of punishment for his
+former misdeeds.
+
+"Last time I saw you, miss, I _did_ you," said Billy with a slight grin.
+
+"You did," replied Katie with a slight frown, "and I hope you have come
+to apologise for your naughty conduct."
+
+"Well, I can't 'xactly say as I have come to do that, but I dessay I may
+as well begin that way.  I'm very sorry, miss, for havin' _did_ you, an'
+I've called now to see if I can't _do_ you again."
+
+Katie could not restrain a laugh at the impudence of this remark, but
+she immediately regretted it, because Billy took encouragement and
+laughed too; she therefore frowned with intense severity, and, still
+remembering that she meant ultimately to befriend the boy, resolved to
+make him in the meantime feel the consequences of his former misdeeds.
+
+"Come, boy," she said sharply, "don't add impertinence to your
+wickedness, but let me know at once what you want with me."
+
+Billy was evidently taken aback by this rebuff.  He looked surprised,
+and did not seem to know how to proceed.  At length he put strong
+constraint upon himself, and said, in rather a gruff tone--
+
+"Well, miss, I--a--the fact is--you know a gal named Nora Jones, don't
+you?  Anyhow, she knows you, an' has said to me so often that you was a
+parfect angel, that--that--"
+
+"That you came to see," interrupted Katie, glancing at her shoulders,
+"whether I really had wings, or not, eh?"
+
+Katie said this with a still darker frown; for she thought that the
+urchin was jesting.  Nothing was further from his intention.  Knowing
+this, and, not finding the angelic looks and tones which he had been led
+to expect, Billy felt still more puzzled and inclined to be cross.
+
+"Seems to me that there's a screw loose somewheres," said Billy,
+scratching the point of his nose in his vexation.  "Hows'ever, I came
+here to ax your advice, and although you cer'nly don't 'ave wings nor
+the style o' looks wot's usual in 'eavenly wisiters, I'll make a clean
+breast of it--so here goes."
+
+Hereupon the poor boy related how he had been decoyed from the Grotto--
+of which establishment he gave a graphic and glowing account--and said
+that he was resolved to have nothing more to do with Morley Jones, but
+meant to return to the Grotto without delay--that evening if possible.
+He had a difficulty, however, which was, that he could not speak freely
+to Nora about her father, for fear of hurting her feelings or
+enlightening her too much as to his true character, in regard to which
+she did not yet know the worst.  One evil result of this was that she
+had begun to suspect there was something wrong as to his own affection
+for herself--which was altogether a mistake.  Billy made the last remark
+with a flush of earnest indignation and a blow of his small hand on his
+diminutive knee!  He then said that another evil result was that he
+could not see his way to explain to Nora why he wished to be off in such
+a hurry, and, worst of all, he had not a sixpence in the world wherewith
+to pay his fare to London, and had no means of getting one.
+
+"And so," said Katie, still keeping up her fictitious indignation, "you
+come to beg money from me?"
+
+"Not to beg, Miss--to borrer."
+
+"Ah! and thus to _do_ me a second time," said Katie.
+
+It must not be supposed that Katie's sympathetic heart had suddenly
+become adamantine.  On the contrary, she had listened with deep interest
+to all that her youthful visitor had to say, and rejoiced in the thought
+that she had given to her such a splendid opportunity of doing good and
+frustrating evil; but the little spice of mischief in her character
+induced her still to keep up the fiction of being suspicious, in order
+to give Billy a salutary lesson.  In addition to this, she had not quite
+got over the supposed insult of being mistaken for an angel!  She
+therefore declined, in the meantime, to advance the required sum--
+ten-and-sixpence--although the boy earnestly promised to repay her with
+his first earnings.
+
+"No," she said, with a gravity which she found it difficult to maintain,
+"I cannot give you such a sum until I have seen and consulted with my
+father on the subject; but I may tell you that I respect your sentiments
+regarding Nora and your intention to forsake your evil ways.  If you
+will call here again in the evening I will see what can be done for
+you."
+
+Saying this, and meditating in her heart that she would not only give
+Billy the ten-and-sixpence to enable him to return to the Grotto, but
+would induce her father to give him permanent employment in one of his
+ships, she showed Billy to the door, and bade him be a good boy and take
+care of himself.
+
+Thereafter she recalled Fanny, and, for her benefit, re-enacted the
+whole scene between herself and Billy Towler, in a manner so graphic and
+enthusiastic, as to throw that amiable creature into convulsions of
+laughter, which bade fair to terminate her career in a premature fit of
+juvenile apoplexy.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+MYSTERIOUS DOINGS.
+
+Disappointed, displeased, and sorely puzzled, Billy Towler took his way
+towards the harbour, with his hands thrust desperately into his pockets,
+and an unwonted expression of discontent on his countenance.  So deeply
+did he take the matter to heart, that he suffered one small boy to
+inquire pathetically, "if 'e'd bin long in that state o' grumps?" and
+another to suggest that, "if 'e couldn't be 'appier than that, 'e'd
+better go an' drown hisself," without vouchsafing a retort, or even a
+glance of recognition.
+
+Passing the harbour, he went down to the beach, and there unexpectedly
+met with Mr Morley Jones.
+
+"Hallo! my young bantam," exclaimed Morley, with a look of surprise.
+
+"Well, old Cochin-china, wot's up?" replied Billy, in a gruff tone.
+"Drunk as usual, I see."
+
+Being somewhat desperate, the boy did not see, or did not mind the
+savage glance with which Mr Jones favoured him.  The glance was,
+however, exchanged quickly for an idiotic smile, as he retorted--
+
+"Well, I ain't so drunk but I can see to steer my course, lad.  Come,
+I've got a noo boat, what d'ye say to go an' have a sail?  The fact is,
+Billy, I was just on my way up to the house to ax you to go with me, so
+it's good luck that I didn't miss you.  Will 'ee go, lad?"
+
+At any other time the boy would have refused; but his recent
+disappointment in regard to the angelic nature of Katie still rankled so
+powerfully in his breast, that he swung round and said--"Get along,
+then--I'm your man--it's all up now--never say die--in for a penny in
+for a pound," and a variety of similar expressions, all of which tended
+to convince Mr Jones that Billy Towler happened to be in a humour that
+was extremely suitable to his purposes.  He therefore led him towards
+his boat, which, he said, was lying on the beach at Broadstairs all
+ready to shove off.
+
+The distance to Broadstairs was about two miles, and the walk thither
+was enlivened by a drunken commentary on the fallacy of human hopes in
+general on the part of Mr Jones, and a brisk fire of caustic repartee
+on the part of Master Towler.
+
+A close observer might have noticed that, while these two were passing
+along the beach, at the base of the high cliffs of chalk running between
+Ramsgate and Broadstairs, two heads were thrust cautiously out of one of
+the small caverns or recesses which have been made in these cliffs by
+the action of the waves.  The one head bore a striking resemblance to
+that of Robert Queeker, Esquire, and the other to that of Mr Larks.
+
+How these two came to be together, and to be there, it is not our
+business to say.  Authors are fortunately not bound to account for
+everything they relate.  All that we know is, that Mr Queeker was there
+in the furtherance, probably, of his secret mission, and that Mr Larks'
+missions appeared to be always more or less secret.  At all events,
+there they were together; fellow-students, apparently, of the geology or
+conchology of that region, if one might judge from the earnest manner in
+which they stooped and gazed at the sands, and picked up bits of flint
+or small shells, over which they held frequent, and, no doubt, learned
+discussions of an intensely engrossing nature.
+
+It might have been also noticed by a close observer, that these
+stoopings to pick up specimens, and these stoppages to discuss,
+invariably occurred when Mr Jones and Master Billy chanced to pause or
+to look behind them.  At last the boat was reached.  It lay on the beach
+not far from the small harbour of Broadstairs, already surrounded by the
+rising tide.  About the same time the geological and conchological
+studies of Messrs. Queeker and Larks coming to an end, these scientific
+men betook themselves suddenly to the shelter of a small cave, whence
+they sat watching, with intense interest, the movements of the man and
+boy, thus proving themselves gifted with a truly Baconian spirit of
+general inquiry into simple facts, with a view to future inductions.
+
+"Jump in, Billy," said Jones, "and don't wet your feet; I can easily
+shove her off alone."
+
+Billy obeyed.
+
+"Hallo! wot have 'ee got here?" he cried, touching a large tarpaulin bag
+with his foot.
+
+"Only some grub," answered Jones, putting his shoulder to the bow of the
+boat.
+
+"And a compass too!" cried Billy, looking round in surprise.
+
+"Ay, it may come on thick, you know," said Jones, as the boat's keel
+grated over the sand.
+
+"I say, stop!" cried Billy; "you're up to some mischief; come, let me
+ashore."
+
+Mr Jones made no reply, but continued to push off the boat.  Seeing
+this, the boy leaped overboard, but Jones caught him.  For one instant
+there was a struggle; then poor Billy was lifted in the strong man's
+arms, and hurled back into the boat.  Next moment it was afloat, and
+Jones leaped inboard.  Billy was not to be overcome so easily, however.
+He sprang up, and again made a leap over the gunwale, but Jones caught
+him by the collar, and, after a severe struggle, dragged him into the
+boat, and gave him a blow on the head with his clenched fist, which
+stunned him.  Then, seizing the oars, he pulled off.  After getting well
+away from the beach he hoisted a small lug-sail, and stood out to sea.
+
+All this was witnessed by the scientific men in the cave through a
+couple of small pocket-telescopes, which brought the expression of
+Jones's and Billy's countenances clearly into view.  At first Mr
+Queeker, with poetic fervour, started up, intent on rushing to the
+rescue of the oppressed; but Mr Larks, with prosaic hardness of heart,
+held him forcibly back, and told him to make his mind easy, adding that
+Mr Jones had no intention of doing the boy any further harm.  Whereupon
+Queeker submitted with a sigh.  The two friends then issued from the
+cave, shook hands, and bade each other goodbye with a laugh--the man
+with the keen grey eyes following the path that led to Broadstairs,
+while the lawyer's clerk returned to Ramsgate by the beach.
+
+Meanwhile the sun went down, and the lanterns of the _Goodwin_, the
+_Gull_, and the _South sandhead_ floating lights went up.  The shades of
+evening fell, and the stars came out--one by one at first; then by twos
+and threes; at last by bursts of constellations, until the whole heavens
+glowed with a galaxy of distant worlds.  During all this time Mr Jones
+sat at the helm of his little boat, and held steadily out to sea.  The
+wind being light, he made small progress, but that circumstance did not
+seem to trouble him much.
+
+"You'd better have a bit supper, lad," said Jones in a careless way.
+"Of course you're welcome to starve yourself if 'ee choose, but by so
+doin' you'll only make yourself uncomfortable for nothing.  You're in
+for it now, an' can't help yourself."
+
+Billy was seated on one of the thwarts, looking very savage, with his
+right eye nearly closed by the blow which had caused him to succumb.
+
+"P'r'aps I mayn't be able to help myself," he replied, "but I can peach
+upon _you_, anyhow."
+
+"So you can, my lad, if you want to spend eight or ten years in limbo,"
+retorted Jones, spitting out his quid of tobacco, and supplying its
+place with a new one.  "You and I are in the same boat, Billy, whether
+ashore or afloat; we sink or swim together."
+
+No more was said for some time.  Jones knew that the boy was in his
+power, and resolved to bide his time.  Billy felt that he had at least
+the chance of being revenged if he chose to sacrifice himself, so he
+"nursed his wrath to keep it warm."
+
+About an hour afterwards a squall struck the boat, and nearly capsized
+it; but Jones, who was quite sobered by that time, threw her head
+quickly into the wind, and Billy, forgetting everything else, leaped up
+with his wonted activity, loosened the sail, and reefed it.  The squall
+soon passed away, and left them almost becalmed, as before.
+
+"That was well done, Billy," said Jones, in a cheerful tone; "you'd make
+a smart sailor, my lad."
+
+Billy made no reply; and, despite his efforts to the contrary, felt
+highly flattered.  He also felt the pangs of hunger, and, after
+resisting them for some time, resolved to eat, as it were, under
+protest.  With a reckless, wilful air, therefore, he opened the
+tarpaulin bag, and helped himself to a large "hunk" of bread and a piece
+of cheese.  Whereupon Mr Jones smiled grimly, and remarked that there
+was nothing like grub for giving a man heart--except grog, he added,
+producing a case-bottle from his pocket and applying it to his mouth.
+
+"Have a pull, lad?  No! well, please yourself.  I ain't goin' to join
+the temperance move myself yet," said Jones, replacing the bottle in his
+pocket.
+
+The short squall having carried the boat nearer to the Gull lightship
+than was desirable, Mr Jones tried to keep as far off from her as
+possible, while the tide should sweep them past; but the wind having
+almost died away, he did not succeed in this; however, he knew that
+darkness would prevent recognition, so he thought it best not to take to
+the oars, but to hold on, intending to slip quietly by, not supposing
+that Billy would think it of any use to hail the vessel; but Billy
+happened to think otherwise.
+
+"Gull ahoy! hoy!" he shouted at the top of his shrill voice.
+
+"Boat ahoy!" responded Jack Shales, who happened to be on duty; but no
+response was given to Jack, for the good reason that Jones had instantly
+clapped his hand on Billy's mouth, and half-choked him.
+
+"That's odd," remarked Jack, after repeating his cry twice.  "I could
+swear it was the voice of that sharp little rascal Billy Towler."
+
+"If it wasn't it was his ghost," replied Jerry MacGowl, who chanced to
+be on deck at the time.
+
+"Sure enough it's very ghost-like," said Shales, as the boat glided
+silently and slowly out of the circle of the lantern's light, and faded
+from their vision.
+
+Mr Jones did not follow up his act with further violence.  He merely
+assured Billy that he was a foolish fellow, and that it was of no use to
+struggle against his fate.
+
+As time wore on, poor Billy felt dreadfully sleepy, and would have given
+a good deal for some of the grog in his companion's case-bottle, but,
+resolving to stand upon his dignity, would not condescend to ask for it.
+At length he lay down and slept, and Jones covered him with a
+pilot-coat.
+
+No soft spot in the scoundrel's heart induced him to perform this act of
+apparent kindness.  He knew the poor boy's temperament, and resolved to
+attack him on his weakest point.
+
+When Billy awoke the day was just breaking.  He stretched himself,
+yawned, sat up, and looked about him with the confused air of one not
+quite awake.
+
+"Hallo!" he cried gaily, "where on earth am I?"
+
+"You ain't on earth, lad; you're afloat," replied Jones, who still sat
+at the helm.
+
+At once the boy remembered everything, and shrank within himself.  As he
+did so, he observed the pilot-coat which covered him, and knew that it
+must have been placed where it was by Jones.  His resolution to hold out
+was shaken; still he did not give in.
+
+Mr Jones now began to comment in a quiet good-natured way upon the
+weather and the prospects of the voyage (which excited Billy's curiosity
+very much), and suggested that breakfast would not be a bad thing, and
+that a drop o' rum might be agreeable, but took care never to make his
+remarks so pointed as to call for an answer.  Just as the sun was rising
+he got up slowly, cast loose the stays and halyards of mast and sail,
+lifted the mast out of its place, and deliberately hove the whole affair
+overboard, remarking in a quiet tone that, having served his purpose, he
+didn't want mast or sail any longer.  In the same deliberate way he
+unshipped the rudder and cast it away.  He followed this up by throwing
+overboard one of the oars, and then taking the only remaining oar, he
+sculled and steered the boat therewith gently.
+
+Billy, who thought his companion must be either drunk or mad, could
+contain himself no longer.
+
+"I say, old fellow," he remarked, "you're comin' it pretty strong!  Wot
+on earth _are_ you up to, and where in all the world are 'ee goin' to?"
+
+"Oh come, you know," answered Jones in a remonstrative tone, "I _may_ be
+an easy-goin' chap, but I can't be expected to tell all my secrets
+except to friends."
+
+"Well, well," said Billy, with a sigh, "it's no use tryin' to hold out.
+I'll be as friendly as I can; only.  I tells you candid, I'll mizzle
+whenever I gits ashore.  I'm not agoin' to tell no end o' lies to please
+you any longer, so I give 'ee fair warning," said Billy stoutly.
+
+"All right, my lad," said the wily Jones, who felt that having subdued
+the boy thus far, he would have little difficulty in subduing him still
+further, in course of time, and by dint of judicious treatment; "I don't
+want 'ee to tell lies on my account, an' I'll let you go free as soon as
+ever we get ashore.  So now, let's shake hands over it, and have a glass
+o' grog and a bit o' breakfast."
+
+Billy shook hands, and took a sip out of the case-bottle, by way of
+clenching the reconciliation.  The two then had breakfast together, and,
+while this meal was in progress, Jones informed his little friend of the
+nature of the "game" he was engaged in playing out.
+
+"You must know, my lad," said Mr Jones, "that you and I have been
+wrecked.  We are the only survivors of the brig Skylark, which was run
+down in a fog by a large three-masted screw steamer on the night of the
+thirteenth--that's three nights ago, Billy.  The Skylark sank
+immediately, and every soul on board was lost except you and me, because
+the steamer, as is too often the case in such accidents, passed on and
+left us to our fate.  You and I was saved by consequence of bein' smart
+and gettin' into this here small boat--which is one o' the Skylark's
+boats--only just in time to save ourselves; but she had only one oar in
+her, and no mast, or sail, or rudder, as you see, Billy; nevertheless we
+managed to keep her goin' with the one oar up to this time, and no
+doubt," said Mr Jones with a grin, "we'll manage to keep her goin' till
+we're picked up and carried safe into port."
+
+Billy's eyes had opened very wide and very round as Mr Jones's
+description proceeded; gradually, as his surprise increased, his mouth
+also opened and elongated, but he said never a word, though he breathed
+hard.
+
+"Now, Billy, my boy," pursued Mr Jones, "I tell 'ee all this, of
+course, in strict confidence.  The Skylark, you must know, was loaded
+with a valuable cargo of fine herrings, worth about 200 pounds.  There
+was 780 barrels of 'em, and 800 boxes.  The brig was worth 100 pounds,
+so the whole affair was valued at 300 pounds sterling."
+
+"You don't mean to tell me," said Billy, catching his breath, "that
+there warn't never no such a wessel as the Skylark?"
+
+"Never that I know of," replied Jones with a smile, "except in my brain,
+and on the books o' several insurance companies."
+
+Billy's eyes and mouth grew visibly rounder, but he said nothing more,
+and Mr Jones, renewing his quid, went on--
+
+"Well, my lad, before this here Skylark left the port of London for
+Cherbourg, I insured her in no fewer than five insurance Companies.
+You'll understand that that ain't regular, my boy, but at each office I
+said that the vessel was not insured in any other, and they believed me.
+You must know that a good deal of business is done by these Companies
+in good faith, which gives a chance to smart fellows like me and you to
+turn an honest penny, d'ye see?  They are pretty soft, luckily."
+
+Mr Jones happened to be mistaken in this opinion, as the sequel will
+show, but Billy believed him at the time, and wondered that they were
+"so green."
+
+"Yes," continued Jones, counting on his fingers, "I'm in for 300 pounds
+with the _Advance_ Company, and 300 pounds with the _Tied Harbours_
+Company, and 225 pounds with the _Home and Abroad_ Company, and 200
+pounds with the _Submarine_ Company, and 300 pounds with the
+_Friend-in-need_ Company--the whole makin' a snug little sum of 1325
+pounds.  `In for a penny, in for a pound,' is my motto, you see; so,
+lad, you and I shall make our fortunes, if all goes well, and you only
+continue game and clever."
+
+This last remark was a feeler, and Mr Jones paused to observe its
+effect, but he could scarce refrain from laughter for Billy's eyes and
+mouth now resembled three extremely round O's with his nose like a fat
+mark of admiration in the midst.
+
+A gusty sigh was all the response he gave, however, so Mr Jones
+continued--
+
+"We've been out about thirty hours, starvin' in this here little boat,
+you and I, so now it's about time we wos picked up; and as I see a
+vessel on our larboard-beam that looks like a foreigner, we'll throw the
+grub overboard, have another pull at the grog, bottle, and hoist a
+signal of distress."
+
+In pursuance of these intentions Jones applied the case-bottle to his
+lips, and took a long pull, after which he offered it to Billy, who
+however declined.  He then threw the bread-bag into the sea, and tying
+his handkerchief to the oar after the manner of a flag, set it up on end
+and awaited the result.
+
+The vessel alluded to was presently observed to alter its course and
+bear down on the boat, and now Billy felt that the deciding time had
+come.  He sat gazing at the approaching vessel in silence.  Was he to
+give in to his fate and agree to tell lies through thick and thin in
+order to further the designs of Mr Jones, or was he to reveal all the
+moment he should get on board the vessel, and take the consequences?  He
+thought of Katie, and resolved to give up the struggle against evil.
+Then Nora rose up in his mind's eye, and he determined to do the right.
+Then he thought of transportation for a prolonged term of years, with
+which Jones threatened him, and he felt inclined to turn again into the
+wrong road to escape from that; presently he remembered the Grotto, and
+the lessons of truth to God and man that he had learned there, and he
+made up his mind to fight in the cause of truth to the last gasp.
+
+Mr Jones watched his face keenly, and came to the conclusion that he
+had quelled the boy, and should now find him a willing and useful tool,
+but in order to make still more sure, he employed the few minutes that
+remained to him in commenting on the great discomfort of a convict's
+life, and the great satisfaction that accrued from making one's fortune
+at a single stroke.
+
+This talk was not without its effect.  Billy wavered.  Before he could
+make up his mind they were alongside the strange vessel, and next moment
+on her deck.  Mr Jones quickly explained the circumstances of the loss
+of the Skylark to the sympathetic captain.  Billy listened in silence,
+and, by silence, had assented to the falsehood.  It was too late now to
+mend matters, so he gave way to despair, which in him frequently, if not
+usually, assumed the form of reckless joviality.
+
+While this spirit was strong upon him he swore to anything.  He not only
+admitted the truth of all that his tempter advanced, but entertained the
+seamen with a lively and graphic account of the running down of the
+Skylark, and entered into minute particulars--chiefly of a comical
+nature--with such recklessness that the cause of Mr Jones bade fair to
+resemble many a roast which is totally ruined by being overdone.  Jones
+gave him a salutary check, however, on being landed next day at a
+certain town on the Kentish coast, so that when Billy was taken before
+the authorities, his statements were brought somewhat more into accord
+with those of his tempter.
+
+The wily Mr Jones went at once with Billy to the chief officer of the
+coast-guard on that station, and reported the loss of his vessel with
+much minuteness of detail--to the effect that she had sailed from London
+at noon of a certain date, at the quarter ebb tide, the sky being cloudy
+and wind sou'-west; that the casualty occurred at five p.m. on the day
+following near the North Foreland Light, at half flood tide, the sky
+being cloudy and wind west-sou'-west; that the vessel had sunk, and all
+the crew had perished excepting himself and the boy.  This report, with
+full particulars, was sent to the Board of Trade.  Mr Jones then went
+to the agent for the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society and related his
+pitiful tale to him.  That gentleman happening to be an astute man,
+observed some discrepancies in the accounts given respectively by Billy
+and his master.  He therefore put a variety of puzzling questions, and
+took down a good many notes.  Mr Jones, however, had laid his plans so
+well, and gave such a satisfactory and plausible account of himself,
+that the agent felt constrained to extend to him the aid of the noble
+Society which he represented, and by which so much good is done to
+sailors directly, and indirectly to the community at large.  He paid
+their passage to London, but resolved to make some further inquiries
+with a view either to confirming or allaying his suspicions.
+
+These little matters settled, and the loss having been duly advertised
+in the newspapers, Mr Jones set out for London with the intention of
+presenting his claims to the Insurance Companies.
+
+In the train Billy had time to reflect on the wickedness of which he had
+been guilty, and his heart was torn with conflicting emotions, among
+which repentance was perhaps the most powerful.  But what, he thought,
+was the use of repentance now?  The thing was done and could not be
+undone.
+
+Could it not?  Was it too late to mend?  At the Grotto he had been
+taught that it was "never too late to mend"--but that it was sinful as
+well as dangerous to delay on the strength of that fact; that "_now_ was
+the accepted time, _now_ the day of salvation."  When Billy thought of
+these things, and then looked at the stern inexorable face of the man by
+whom he had been enslaved, he began to give way to despair.  When he
+thought of his good angel Nora, he felt inclined to leap out of the
+carriage window and escape or die!  He restrained himself, however, and
+did nothing until the train arrived in London.  Then he suddenly burst
+away from his captor, dived between the legs of a magnificent railway
+guard, whose dignity and person were overthrown by the shock, eluded the
+ticket-collector and several policemen, and used his active little legs
+so well that in a few minutes his pursuers lost him in a labyrinth of
+low streets not far distant from the station.
+
+From this point he proceeded at a rapid though less furious pace direct
+to the Grotto, where he presented himself to the superintendent with the
+remark that he had "come back to make a clean breast of it."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+ON THE SCENT.
+
+Let us change the scene and put back the clock.  Ah, how many hearts
+would rejoice if it were as easy to return on the track of Time in real
+life as it is to do so in a tale!
+
+It was the evening of the day in which Jones and Billy went to sea in
+the little boat.  Ramsgate, Mr Durant's supper-table, with Stanley Hall
+and Robert Queeker as guests.
+
+They were all very happy and merry, for Stanley was recounting with
+graphic power some of the incidents of his recent voyage.  Mr Durant
+was rich enough to take the loss of his vessel with great equanimity--
+all the more so that it had been fully insured.  Mr Queeker was in a
+state of bliss in consequence of having been received graciously by
+Fanny, whose soul was aflame with sentiment so powerful that she could
+not express it except through the medium of a giggle.  Only once had
+Fanny been enabled to do full justice to herself, and that was when,
+alone with Katie in the mysterious gloom of a midnight confabulation,
+she suddenly observed that size and looks in men were absolutely
+nothing--less than nothing--and that in her estimation heart and
+intellect were everything!
+
+In the midst of his mirth Mr Durant suddenly turned to Queeker and
+said--
+
+"By the way, what made you so late of coming to-night, Queeker?  I
+thought you had promised to come to tea."
+
+"Well, yes, but--a--that is," stammered Queeker in confusion, "in fact I
+was obliged to keep an appointment in connection with the--the
+particular business--"
+
+"The secret mission, in short," observed Katie, with a peculiar smile.
+
+"Well, secret mission if you choose," laughed Queeker; "at all events it
+was that which prevented my getting here sooner.  In truth, I did not
+expect to have managed to come so soon, but we came to the boat--"
+
+Queeker stopped short and blushed violently, feeling that he had
+slightly, though unintentionally, committed himself.
+
+Fanny looked at him, blushed in sympathy, and giggled.
+
+"Oh, there's a _boat_ in the secret mission, is there?" cried Stanley;
+"come, let us make a game of it.  Was it an iron boat?"
+
+"No," replied Queeker, laughing, for he felt that at all events he was
+safe in answering that question.
+
+"Was it a wooden one?" asked Katie.
+
+"Well--ye--"
+
+"Was it a big one?" demanded Mr Durant, entering into the spirit of the
+game.
+
+"No, it was a little one," said Queeker, still feeling safe, although
+anxious to evade reply.
+
+"Was there a man in it?" said Katie.
+
+Queeker hesitated.
+
+"And a boy?" cried Stanley.
+
+The question was put unwittingly, but being so put Queeker stammered,
+and again blushed.
+
+Katie on the contrary turned pale, for her previously expressed hope
+that there might be some connection between Queeker's mission and Billy
+Towler's troubles flashed into her mind.
+
+"But _was_ there a boy in it?" she said, with a sudden earnestness that
+induced every one to look at her in surprise.
+
+"Really, I pray--I must beg," said Queeker, "that you won't make this a
+matter of even jocular inquiry.  Of course I know that no one here would
+make improper use of any information that I might give, but I have been
+pledged to secrecy by my employers."
+
+"But," continued Katie in the same anxious way as before, "it will not
+surely be a breach of confidence merely to tell me if the boy was a
+small, active, good-looking little fellow, with bright eyes and curly
+hair."
+
+"I am bound to admit," said Queeker, "that your description is correct."
+
+To the amazement, not to say consternation, of every one, Katie covered
+her face with her hands and burst into tears, exclaiming in an agony of
+distress that she knew it; she had feared it after sending him away;
+that she had ruined him, and that it was too late now to do anything.
+
+"No, not too late, perhaps," she repeated, suddenly raising her large
+beautiful eyes, which swam in tears; "oh papa, come with me up-stairs, I
+must speak with you alone at once."
+
+She seized her astonished father by the hand and led him unresisting
+from the room.
+
+Having hurriedly related all she knew about Billy Towler, Morley Jones,
+and Nora, she looked up in his face and demanded to know what _was_ to
+be done.
+
+"Done, my dear child," he replied, looking perplexed, "we must go at
+once and see how much can be undone.  You tell me you have Nora's
+address.  Well, we'll go there at once."
+
+"But--but," said Katie, "Nora does not know the full extent of her
+father's wickedness, and we want to keep it from her if possible."
+
+"A very proper desire to spare her pain, Katie, but in the circumstances
+we cannot help ourselves; we must do what we can to frustrate this man's
+designs and save the boy."
+
+So saying Mr Durant descended to the dining-room.  He explained that
+some suspicious facts had come to his daughter's knowledge which
+necessitated instant action; said that he was sorry Mr Queeker felt it
+incumbent on him to maintain secrecy in regard to his mission, but that
+he could not think of pressing him to act in opposition to his
+convictions, and, dismissing his guests with many apologies, went out
+with Katie in search of the abode of Nora Jones.
+
+Stanley Hall, whose curiosity was aroused by all that had passed, went
+down to take a walk on the pier by way of wearing it off in a
+philosophical manner.  He succeeded easily in getting rid of this
+feeling, but he could not so easily get rid of the image of Katie
+Durant.  He had suspected himself in love with her before he sailed for
+India; his suspicions were increased on his return to England, and when
+he saw the burst of deep feeling to which she had so recently given way,
+and heard the genuine expressions of remorse, and beheld her sweet face
+bedewed with tears of regret and pity, suspicion was swallowed up in
+certainty.
+
+He resolved then and there to win her, if he could, and marry her!  Here
+a touch of perplexity assailed him, but he fought it off nobly.
+
+He was young, no doubt, and had no money, but what then?--he was strong,
+had good abilities, a father in a lucrative practice, with the prospect
+of assisting and ultimately succeeding him.  That was enough, surely.
+
+The lodging which he had taken for a few days was retaken that night for
+an indefinite period, and he resolved to lay siege to her heart in due
+form.
+
+But that uncertainty which is proverbial in human affairs stepped within
+the circle of his life and overturned his plans.  On returning to his
+rooms he found a telegram on the table.  His father, it informed him,
+was dangerously ill.  By the next train he started for home, and arrived
+to find that his father was dead.
+
+A true narrative of any portion of this world's doings must of necessity
+be as varied as the world itself, and equally abrupt in its transitions.
+From the lively supper-table Stanley Hall passed to the deathbed of his
+father.  In like manner we must ask the reader to turn with us from the
+contemplation of Stanley's deep sorrow to the observation of Queeker's
+poetic despair.
+
+Maddened between the desire to tell all he knew regarding the secret
+mission to Mr Durant, and the command laid on him by his employers to
+be silent, the miserable youth rushed frantically to his lodgings,
+without any definite intentions, but more than half inclined to sink on
+his knees before his desk, and look up to the moon, or stars, or;
+failing these, to the floating light for inspiration, and pen the
+direful dirge of something dreadful and desperate!  He had even got the
+length of the first line, and had burst like a thunderbolt into his room
+muttering--
+
+  "Great blazing wonder of illimitable spheres,"
+
+when he became suddenly aware of the fact that his chair was occupied by
+the conchological friend with whom he had spent the earlier part of that
+day, who was no other than the man with the keen grey eyes.
+
+"What! still in the poetic vein?" he said, with a grave smile.
+
+"Why--I--thought you were off to London!" exclaimed Queeker, with a very
+red face.
+
+"I have seen cause to change my plan," said Mr Larks quietly.
+
+"I'm _very_ glad of it," replied Queeker, running his fingers through
+his hair and sitting down opposite his friend with a deep sigh, "because
+I'm in the most horrible state of perplexity.  It is quite evident to me
+that the boy is known to Miss Durant, for she went off into _such_ a
+state when I mentioned him and described him exactly."
+
+"Indeed," said Mr Larks; "h'm!  I know the boy too."
+
+"Do you?  Why didn't you tell me that?"
+
+"There was no occasion to," said the imperturbable Mr Larks, whose
+visage never by any chance conveyed any expression whatever, except when
+he pleased, and then it conveyed only and exactly the expression that he
+intended.  "But come," he continued, "let's hear all about it, and don't
+quote any poetry till you have done with the facts."
+
+Thus exhorted Queeker described the scene at the supper-table with
+faithful minuteness, and, on concluding, demanded what was to be done.
+
+"H'm!" grunted Mr Larks.  "They've gone to visit Nora Jones, so you and
+I shall go and keep them company.  Come along."
+
+He put on his hat and went out, followed by his little friend.
+
+In a lowly ill-furnished room in one of the poorest streets of the town,
+where rats and dogs and cats seemed to divide the district with
+poverty-stricken human beings, they found Nora sitting by the bedside of
+her grandmother, who appeared to be dying.  A large Family Bible, from
+which she had been reading, was open on her knee.
+
+Mr Larks had opened the door and entered without knocking.  He and
+Queeker stood in the passage and saw the bed, the invalid, and the
+watcher through an inner door which stood ajar.  They could hear the
+murmurings of the old woman's voice.  She appeared to wander in her
+mind, for sometimes her words were coherent, at other times she merely
+babbled.
+
+"O Morley, Morley, give it up," she said, during one of her lucid
+intervals; "it has been the curse of our family.  Your grandfather died
+of it; your father--ah! he _was_ a man, tall and straight, and _so_
+kind, till he took to it; oh me! how it changed him!  But the Lord saved
+his soul, though he let the body fall to the dust.  Blessed be His holy
+name for that.  Give it up, Morley, my darling boy; give it up, give it
+up--oh, for God's sake give it up!"
+
+She raised her voice at each entreaty until it almost reached a shriek,
+and then her whole frame seemed to sink down into the bed from
+exhaustion.
+
+"Why don't 'ee speak to me, Morley?" she resumed after a short time,
+endeavouring to turn her head round.
+
+"Dearest granny," said Nora, gently stroking one of her withered hands,
+which lay on the counterpane, "father is away just now.  No doubt he
+will be back ere long."
+
+"Ay, ay, he's always away; always away," she murmured in a querulous
+tone; "always coming back too, but he never comes.  Oh, if he would give
+it up--give it up--"
+
+She repeated this several times, and gradually dwindled off into
+unintelligible mutterings.
+
+By this time Mr Larks had become aware of whispering voices in a part
+of the room which he could not see.  Pushing the door a little farther
+open he entered softly, and in a darkened corner of the apartment beheld
+Mr Durant and Katie in close conversation with James Welton.  They all
+rose, and Nora, seeing that the old woman had fallen into a slumber,
+also rose and advanced towards the strangers.  Mr Durant at once
+explained to her who Queeker was, and Queeker introduced Mr Larks as a
+friend who had come to see them on important business.
+
+"I think we know pretty well what the business is about," said Jim
+Welton, advancing and addressing himself to Mr Larks, "but you see," he
+added, glancing towards the bed, "that this is neither the time nor
+place to prosecute your inquiries, sir."
+
+Mr Larks, who was by no means an unfeeling man, though very stern, said
+that he had no intention of intruding; he had not been aware that any
+one was ill in the house, and he would take it as a favour if Mr Welton
+would go outside and allow him the pleasure of a few words with him.  Of
+course Jim agreed, but before going took Nora aside.
+
+"I'll not be back to-night, dearest," he said in a low whisper.
+"To-morrow, early, I'll return."
+
+"You will leave no stone unturned?" said Nora.
+
+"Not one.  I'll do my best to save him."
+
+"And you have told me the worst--told me _all_?" asked Nora, with a look
+of intense grief mingled with anxiety on her pale face.
+
+"I have," said Jim, in a tone and with a look so earnest and truthful
+that Nora required no further assurance.  She gave him a kindly but
+inexpressibly sad smile, and returned to her stool beside the bed.  Her
+lover and Mr Larks went out, followed by Queeker.
+
+"We won't intrude on you longer to-night," said Katie, going up to Nora
+and laying her hand quietly on her shoulder.
+
+"Your visit is no intrusion," said Nora, looking up with a quiet smile.
+"It was love that brought you here, I know.  May our dear Lord bless you
+and your father for wishing to comfort the heart of one who needs it so
+much--oh, so much."  She put her hands before her face and was silent.
+Katie tried in vain to speak.  The tears coursed freely down her cheeks,
+but never a word could she utter.  She put her arm round the neck of the
+poor girl and kissed her.  This was a language which Nora understood;--
+many words could not have expressed so much; no words could have
+expressed more.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+MR. JONES IS OUTWITTED, AND NORA IS LEFT DESOLATE.
+
+When Morley Jones found himself suddenly deserted by his ally Billy
+Towler, he retired to the privacy of a box in a low public-house in
+Thames Street, and there, under the stimulus of a stiff glass of grog,
+consulted with himself as to the best mode of procedure under the trying
+circumstances in which he found himself placed.  He thought it probable,
+after half an hour of severe meditation, that Billy would return to the
+Grotto, but that, for his own sake, he would give a false account of his
+absence, and say nothing about the loss of the Skylark.  Feeling
+somewhat relieved in mind by his conclusions on this head, he drank off
+his grog, called for another glass, and then set himself to the
+consideration of how far the disappearance of the boy would interfere
+with his obtaining payment of the various sums due by the Insurance
+Offices.  This point was either more knotty and difficult to unravel
+than the previous one, or the grog began to render his intellect less
+capable of grappling with it.  At all events it cost him an hour to
+determine his course of action, and required another glass of grog to
+enable him to put the whole matter fairly before his mental vision in
+one comprehensive view.  This, however, accomplished, he called for a
+fourth glass of grog "for luck," and reeled out of the house to carry
+out his deep-laid plans.
+
+His first act was to proceed to Greenwich, where a branch of his
+fish-curing business existed, or was supposed to exist.  Here he met a
+friend who offered to treat him.  Unfortunately for the success of his
+schemes he accepted this offer, and, in the course of a debauch,
+revealed so much of his private affairs that the friend, after seeing
+him safely to his lodging, and bidding him an affectionate farewell,
+went up to London by the first boat on the following morning, and
+presented himself to the managers of various Insurance Companies, to
+whom he made revelations which were variously received by these
+gentlemen; some of them opening their eyes in amazement, while others
+opened their mouths in amusement, and gave him to understand that he was
+very much in the position of a man who should carry coals to Newcastle--
+they being then in possession of all the information given, and a great
+deal more besides.
+
+The manager of the Submarine Insurance Company was the most facetious
+among these gentlemen on hearing the revelations of Mr Jones's
+"friend."
+
+"Can you tell me," said that gentleman, when he had pumped the "friend"
+dry, "which of us is likely to receive the distinguished honour of the
+first visit from Mr Jones?"
+
+"He said summat about your own office, sir," replied the informer;
+"leastwise I think he did, but I ain't quite sartin."
+
+"H'm! not unlikely," observed the manager; "we have had the pleasure of
+paying him something before to-day.  Come here, I will introduce you to
+an acquaintance of Mr Jones, who takes a deep interest in him.  He has
+just arrived from Ramsgate."
+
+Opening a door, the manager ushered the informer into a small room where
+a stout man with peculiarly keen grey eyes was warming himself at the
+fire.
+
+"Allow me to introduce you, Mr Larks, to a friend of Mr Jones, who may
+be of some use.  I will leave you together for a little," said the
+manager, with a laugh, as he retired and shut the door.
+
+It is not necessary that we should enter into details as to how Mr
+Jones went about the business of drawing his nets ashore--so to speak,--
+and how those who took a special interest in Mr Jones carefully
+assisted him, and, up to a certain point, furthered all his proceedings.
+It is sufficient to say that, about a fortnight after his arrival in
+London--all the preliminary steps having been taken--he presented
+himself one fine forenoon at the office of the Submarine Insurance
+Company.
+
+He was received very graciously, and, much to his satisfaction, was told
+that the claim could now be settled without further delay.  Former
+experience had taught him that such a piece of business was not
+unusually difficult of settlement, but he was quite charmed by the
+unwonted facilities which seemed to be thrown in his way in regard to
+the present affair.  He congratulated himself internally, and the
+manager congratulated him externally, so to speak, by referring to his
+good fortune in having insured the vessel and cargo to the full amount.
+
+Even the clerks of the establishment appeared to manifest unwonted
+interest in the case, which gratified while it somewhat surprised Mr
+Jones.  Indeed, the interest deepened to such an extent, and was so
+obtrusive, that it became almost alarming, so that feelings of
+considerable relief were experienced by the adventurous man when he at
+length received a cheque for 300 pounds and left the office with it in
+his pocket.
+
+In the outer lobby he felt a touch on his arm, and, looking round, met
+the gaze of a gentleman with peculiarly keen grey eyes.  This gentleman
+made some quiet remarks with reference to Mr Jones being "wanted," and
+when Mr Jones, not relishing the tone or looks of this gentleman, made
+a rush at the outer glass door of the office, an official stepped
+promptly in front of it, put one hand on the handle, and held up the
+other with the air of one who should say, "Excuse me, there is no
+thoroughfare this way."  Turning abruptly to the left, Mr Jones found
+himself confronted by another grave gentleman of powerful frame and
+resolute aspect, who, by a species of magic or sleight of hand known
+only to the initiated, slipped a pair of steel bracelets on Mr Jones's
+wrists, and finally, almost before he knew where he was, Mr Jones found
+himself seated in a cab with the strong gentleman by his side, and the
+keen grey-eyed gentleman in front of him.
+
+Soon afterwards he found himself standing alone in the midst of an
+apartment, the chief characteristics of which were, that the furniture
+was scanty, the size inconveniently little, and the window unusually
+high up, besides being heavily barred, and ridiculously small.
+
+Here let us leave him to his meditations.
+
+One fine forenoon--many weeks after the capture of Morley Jones--Dick
+Moy, Jack Shales, and Jerry MacGowl were engaged in painting and
+repairing buoys in the Trinity store on the pier at Ramsgate.  The two
+former were enjoying their month of service on shore, the latter was on
+sick-leave, but convalescent.  Jack was painting squares of alternate
+black and white on a buoy of a conical shape.  Dick was vigorously
+scraping sea-weed and barnacles off a buoy of a round form.  The store,
+or big shed, was full of buoys of all shapes; some new and fresh, others
+old and rugged; all of them would have appeared surprisingly gigantic to
+any one accustomed to see buoys only in their native element.  The
+invalid sat on the shank of a mushroom anchor, and smoked his pipe while
+he affected to superintend the work.
+
+"Sure I pity the poor craturs as is always sick.  The mouth o' man can
+niver tell the blessedness of bein' well, as the pote says," observed
+Jerry, with a sigh, as he shook the ashes out of his pipe and proceeded
+to refill it.  "Come now, Jack Shales," he added, after a short pause,
+"ye don't call that square, do 'ee?"
+
+"I'll paint yer nose black if you don't shut up," said Jack, drawing the
+edge of a black square with intense caution, in order to avoid invading
+the domain of a white one.
+
+"Ah! you reminds me of the owld proverb that says somethin' about asses
+gittin impudent an' becomin' free with their heels when lions grow
+sick."
+
+"Well, Jerry," retorted Jack, with a smile, as he leaned back and
+regarded his work with his head very much on one side, and his eyes
+partially closed, after the manner of knights of the brush, "I'm not
+offended, because I'm just as much of an ass as you are of a lion."
+
+"I say, mates," remarked Dick Moy, pausing in his work, and wiping his
+brow, "are 'ee aweer that the cap'n has ordered us to be ready to start
+wi' the first o' the tide at half after five to-morrow?"
+
+"I knows it," replied Jack Shales, laying down the black brush and
+taking up the white one.
+
+"I knows it too," said Jerry MacGowl, "but it don't make no manner of
+odds to me, 'cause I means to stop ashore and enjoy meself.  I mean to
+amoose meself with the trial o' that black thief Morley Jones."
+
+Dick Moy resumed his work with a grunt, and said that Jerry was a lucky
+fellow to be so long on sick-leave, and Jack said he wished he had been
+called up as a witness in Jones's case, for he would have cut a better
+figure than Jim Welton did.
+
+"Ay, boy," said Dick Moy, "but there wos a reason for that.  You know
+the poor feller is in love wi' Jones's daughter, an' he didn't like for
+to help to convict his own father-in-law _to be_, d'ye see?  That's
+where it is.  The boy Billy Towler was a'most as bad.  He's got a
+weakness for the gal too, an' no wonder, for she's bin as good as a
+mother to 'im.  They say that Billy nigh broke the hearts o' the
+lawyers, he wos so stoopid at sometimes, an' so oncommon cute at others.
+But it warn't o' no use.  Jim's father was strong in his evidence agin
+him, an' that Mr Larks, as comed aboard of the Gull, you remember, he
+had been watching an' ferreting about the matter to that extent that he
+turned Jones's former life inside out.  It seems he's bin up to dodges
+o' that kind for a long time past."
+
+"No! has he?" said Jack Shales.
+
+"Arrah, didn't ye read of it?" exclaimed Jerry MacGowl.
+
+"No," replied Jack drily; "not bein' on the sick-list I han't got time
+to read the papers, d'ye see?"
+
+"Well," resumed Dick Moy, "it seems he has more than once set fire to
+his premises in Gravesend, and got the insurance money.  Hows'ever, he
+has got fourteen years' transportation now, an' that'll take the shine
+pretty well out of him before he comes back."
+
+"How did the poor gal take it?" asked Jack.
+
+Dick replied that she was very bad at first, but that she got somewhat
+comforted by the way her father behaved to her and listened to her
+readin' o' the Bible after he was condemned.  It might be that the death
+of his old mother had softened him a bit, for she died with his name on
+her lips, her last words being, "Oh Morley, give it up, my darling boy,
+give it up; it's your only chance to give it up, for you inherit it, my
+poor boy; the passion and the poison are in your blood; oh, give it up,
+Morley, give it up!"
+
+"They do say," continued Dick, "that Jones broke down altogether w'en he
+heard that, an' fell on his gal's neck an' cried like a babby.  But for
+my part I don't much believe in them deathbed repentances--for it's much
+the same thing wi' Jones now, he bein' as good as dead.  It's not wot a
+man _says_, but how a man _lives_, as'll weigh for or against him in the
+end."
+
+"An' what more did he say?" asked Jerry MacGowl, stopping down the
+tobacco in his pipe with one of his fire-proof fingers; "you see, havin'
+bin on the sick-list so long, I haven't got up all the details o' this
+business."
+
+"He didn't say much more," replied Dick, scraping away at the sea-weed
+and barnacles with renewed vigour, "only he made his darter promise that
+she'd marry Jim Welton as soon after he was gone as possible.  She did
+nothing but cry, poor thing, and wouldn't hear of it at first, but he
+was so strong about it, saying that the thought of her being so well
+married was the only thing as would comfort him w'en he was gone, that
+she gave in at last."
+
+"Sure then she'll have to make up her mind," said Jerry, "to live on
+air, which is too light food intirely for any wan excep' hummin'-birds
+and potes."
+
+"She'll do better than that, mate," returned Dick, "for Jim 'as got
+appointed to be assistant-keeper to a light'ouse, through that fust-rate
+gen'leman Mr Durant, who is 'and an' glove, I'm told, wi' the Elder
+Brethren up at the Trinity 'Ouse.  It's said that they are to be spliced
+in a week or two, but, owin' to the circumstances, the weddin' is to be
+kep' quite priwate."
+
+"Good luck to em!" cried Jerry.  "Talkin' of the Durants, I s'pose ye've
+heard that there's goin' to be a weddin' in that family soon?"
+
+"Oh, yes, I've heard on it," cried Dick; "Miss Durant--Katie, they calls
+her--she's agoin' to be spliced to the young doctor that was wrecked in
+the Wellington.  A smart man that.  They say 'ee has stepped into 'is
+father's shoes, an' is so much liked that 'ee's had to git an assistant
+to help him to get through the work o' curin' people--or killin' of 'em.
+I never feel rightly sure in my own mind which it is that the doctors
+does for us."
+
+"Och, don't ye know?" said Jerry, removing his pipe for a moment, "they
+keeps curin' of us as long as we've got any tin, an' when that's done
+they kills us off quietly.  If it warn't for the doctors we'd all live
+to the age of Methoosamel, excep', of coorse, w'en we was cut off by
+accident or drink."
+
+"Well, I don't know as to that," said Jack Shales, in a hearty manner;
+"but I'm right glad to hear that Miss Durant is gettin' a good husband,
+for she's the sweetest gal in England, I think, always exceptin' one
+whom I don't mean for to name just now.  Hasn't she been a perfect angel
+to the poor--especially to poor old men--since she come to Ramsgate? and
+didn't she, before goin' back to Yarmouth, where she b'longs to, make a
+beautiful paintin' o' the lifeboat, and present it in a gold frame, with
+tears in her sweet eyes, to the coxswain o' the boat, an' took his big
+fist in her two soft little hands, an' shook an' squeezed it, an' begged
+him to keep the pictur' as a very slight mark of the gratitude an'
+esteem of Dr Hall an' herself--that was after they was engaged, you
+know?  Ah! there ain't many gals like _her_," said Jack, with a sigh,
+"always exceptin' _one_."
+
+"Humph!" said Dick Moy, "I wouldn't give my old 'ooman for six dozen of
+'er."
+
+"Just so," observed Jerry, with a grin, "an' I've no manner of doubt
+that Dr Hall wouldn't give _her_ for sixty dozen o' your old 'ooman.
+It's human natur', lad,--that's where it is, mates.  But what has come
+o' Billy Towler?  Has he gone back to the what's-'is-name--the Cavern,
+eh?"
+
+"The Grotto, you mean," said Jack Shales.
+
+"Well, the Grotto--'tan't much differ."
+
+"He's gone back for a time," said Dick; "but Mr Durant has prowided for
+_him_ too.  He has given him a berth aboord one of his East-Indiamen; so
+if Billy behaves hisself his fortin's as good as made.  Leastwise he has
+got his futt on the first round, an' the ladder's all clear before him."
+
+"By the way, what's that I've heard," said Jack Shales, "about Mr
+Durant findin' out that he'd know'd Billy Towler some years ago?"
+
+"I don't rightly know," replied Dick.  "I've 'eerd it said that the old
+gentleman recognised him as a beggar boy 'e'd tuck a fancy to an' putt
+to school long ago; but Billy didn't like the school, it seems, an'
+runn'd away--w'ich I don't regard as wery surprisin'--an' Mr Durant
+could never find out where 'e'd run to.  That's how I 'eerd the story,
+but wot's true of it I dun know."
+
+"There goes the dinner-bell!" exclaimed Jack Shales, rising with
+alacrity on hearing a neighbouring clock strike noon.
+
+Jerry rose with a sigh, and remarked, as he shook the ashes out of his
+pipe, and put it into his waistcoat pocket, that his appetite had quite
+left him; that he didn't believe he was fit for more than two chickens
+at one meal, whereas he had seen the day when he would have thought
+nothing of a whole leg of mutton to his own cheek.
+
+"Ah," remarked Dick Moy, "Irish mutton, I s'pose.  Well, I don't know
+'ow you feels, but I feels so hungry that I could snap at a ring-bolt;
+and I know of a lot o' child'n, big an' small, as won't look sweet on
+their daddy if he keeps 'em waitin' for dinner, so come along, mates."
+
+Saying this, Dick and his friends left the buoy-store, and walked
+smartly off to their several places of abode in the town.
+
+In a darkened apartment of that same town sat Nora Jones, the very
+personification of despair, on a low stool, with her head resting on the
+side of a poor bed.  She was alone, and perfectly silent; for some
+sorrows, like some thoughts, are too deep for utterance.  Everything
+around her suggested absolute desolation.  The bed was that in which not
+long ago she had been wont to smooth the pillow and soothe the heart of
+her old grandmother.  It was empty now.  The fire in the rusty grate had
+been allowed to die out, and its cold grey ashes strewed the hearth.
+Among them lay the fragments of a black bottle.  It would be difficult
+to say what it was in the peculiar aspect of these fragments that
+rendered them so suggestive, but there was that about them which
+conveyed irresistibly the idea that the bottle had been dashed down
+there with the vehemence of uncontrollable passion.  The little table
+which used to stand at the patient's bedside was covered with a few
+crumbs and fragments of a meal that must, to judge from their state and
+appearance, have been eaten a considerable time ago; and the confusion
+of the furniture, as well as the dust that covered everything, was
+strangely out of keeping with the character of the poor girl, who
+reclined by the side of the bed, so pale and still that, but for the
+slight twitching movement of her clasped hands, one might have supposed
+she had already passed from the scene of her woe.  Even the
+old-fashioned timepiece that hung upon a nail in the wall seemed to be
+smitten with the pervading spell, for its pendulum was motionless, and
+its feeble pulse had ceased to tick.
+
+A soft tap at the door broke the deathlike silence.  Nora looked up but
+did not answer, as it slowly opened, and a man entered.  On seeing who
+it was, she uttered a low wail, and buried her face in the bed-clothes.
+Without speaking, or moving from her position, she held out her hand to
+Jim Welton, who advanced with a quick but quiet step, and, going down on
+his knees beside her, took the little hand in both of his.  The attitude
+and the silence were suggestive.  Without having intended it the young
+sailor began to pray, and in a few short broken sentences poured out his
+soul before God.
+
+A flood of tears came to Nora's relief.  After a few minutes she looked
+up.
+
+"Oh! thank you, thank you, Jim.  I believe that in the selfishness of my
+grief I had forgotten God; but oh!  I feel as if my heart was crushed
+beyond the power of recovery.  _She_ is gone" (glancing at the empty
+bed), "and _he_ is gone--gone--_for ever_."
+
+Jim wished to comfort her, and tried to speak, but his voice was choked.
+He could only draw her to him, and laying her head on his breast,
+smooth her fair soft hair with his hard but gentle hand.
+
+"Not gone for ever, dearest," he said at length with a great effort.
+"It is indeed along long time, but--"
+
+He could not go further, for it seemed to him like mockery to suggest by
+way of comfort that fourteen years would come to an end.
+
+For some minutes the silence was broken only by an occasional sob from
+poor Nora.
+
+"Oh! he was so different _once_," she said, raising herself and looking
+at her lover with tearful, earnest eyes; "you have seen him at his
+worst, Jim.  There was a time,--before he took to--"
+
+She stopped abruptly, as if unable to find words, and pointed, with a
+fierce expression, that seemed strange and awful on her gentle face, to
+the fragments of the broken bottle on the hearth.  Jim nodded.  She saw
+that he understood, and went on in her own calm voice:--
+
+"There was a time when he was kind and gentle and loving; when he had no
+drunken companions, and no mysterious goings to sea; when he was the joy
+as well as the support of his mother, and _so_ fond of me--but he was
+always that; even after he had--"
+
+Again Nora paused, and, drooping her head, uttered the low wail of
+desolation that went like cold steel to the young sailor's heart.
+
+"Nora," he said earnestly, "he will get no drink where he is going.  At
+all events he will be cured of _that_ before he returns home."
+
+"Oh, I bless the Lord for that," said Nora, with fervour.  "I have
+thought of that before now, and I have thought, too, that there are men
+of God where he is going, who think of, and pray for, and strive to
+recover, the souls of those who--that is; but oh, Jim, Jim, it is a
+long, long, weary time.  I feel that I shall never see my father more in
+this world--never, never more!"
+
+"We cannot tell, Nora," said Jim, with a desperate effort to appear
+hopeful.  "I know well enough that it may seem foolish to try to comfort
+you with the hope of seein' him again in this life; and yet even this
+may come to pass.  He may escape, or he may be forgiven, and let off
+before the end of his time.  But come, cheer up, my darling.  You
+remember what his last request was?"
+
+"How can you talk of such a thing at such a time?" exclaimed Nora,
+drawing away from him and rising.
+
+"Be not angry, Nora," said Jim, also rising.  "I did but remind you of
+it for the purpose of sayin' that as you agreed to what he wished, you
+have given me a sort of right or privilege, dear Nora, at least to help
+and look after you in your distress.  Your own unselfish heart has never
+thought of telling me that you have neither money nor home; this poor
+place being yours only till term-day, which is to-morrow; but I know all
+this without requiring to be told, and I have come to say that there is
+an old woman--a sort of relation of mine--who lives in this town, and
+will give you board and lodging gladly till I can get arrangements made
+at the lighthouse for our--that is to say--till you choose, in your own
+good time, to let me be your rightful protector and supporter, as well
+as your comforter."
+
+"Thank you, Jim.  It is like yourself to be so thoughtful.  Forgive me;
+I judged you hastily.  It is true I am poor--I have nothing in the
+world, but, thanks be to God, I have health.  I can work; and there are
+some kind friends," she added, with a sad smile, "who will throw work in
+my way, I know."
+
+"Well, we will talk about these things afterwards, Nora, but you won't
+refuse to take advantage of my old friend's offer--at least for a night
+or two?"
+
+"No, I won't refuse that, Jim; see, I am prepared to go," she said,
+pointing to a wooden sea-chest which stood in the middle of the room;
+"my box is packed.  Everything I own is in it.  The furniture, clock,
+and bedding belong to the landlord."
+
+"Come then, my own poor lamb," said the young sailor tenderly, "let us
+go."
+
+Nora rose and glanced slowly round the room.  Few rooms in Ramsgate
+could have looked more poverty-stricken and cheerless, nevertheless,
+being associated in her mind with those whom she had lost, she was loath
+to leave it.  Falling suddenly on her knees beside the bed, she kissed
+the old counterpane that had covered the dead form she had loved so
+well, and then went hastily out and leaned her head against the wall of
+the narrow court before the door.
+
+Jim lifted the chest, placed it on his broad shoulders and followed her.
+Locking the door behind him and putting the key in his pocket, he gave
+his disengaged arm to Nora, and led her slowly a way.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+TELLS OF AN UNLOOKED-FOR RETURN, AND DESCRIBES A GREAT FEAST.
+
+If, as we have elsewhere observed in this narrative, time and tide wait
+for no man, it is not less true that time and tide work wonderful
+changes in man and his affairs and fortunes.  Some of those changes we
+will now glance at, premising that seven years have passed away since
+the occurrence of the events recorded in our last chapter.
+
+On the evening of a somewhat gloomy day in the month of sunny showers,
+four men of rough aspect, and clad in coarse but not disreputable
+garments, stopped in front of a public-house in one of the lowest
+localities of London, and looked about them.  There was something quite
+peculiar in their aspect.  They seemed to be filled with mingled
+curiosity and surprise, and looked somewhat scared, as a bird does when
+suddenly set free from its cage.
+
+Two of the men were of an extremely low type of humanity--low-browed and
+scowling--and their language betokened that their minds were in keeping
+with their faces.  The other two were better-looking and better-spoken,
+one of them having evidently been a handsome man in his day.  His hair
+was blanched as white as snow although it still retained the curls of
+youth.  His figure was much bent, and he appeared like one who had been
+smitten with premature old age.
+
+"Well, uncommon queer changes bin goin' on here," said one of the men,
+gazing round him.
+
+One of the others admitted that there certainly had been wonderful
+changes, and expressed a fear that if the change in himself was as
+great, his old pals wouldn't know him.
+
+"Hows'ever," observed he who had spoken first, "they won't see such a
+difference as they would have seen if we'd got the whole fourteen.  Good
+luck to the ticket-of-leave system, say I."
+
+The others laughed at this, and one of them suggested that they should
+enter the public-house and have a glass of grog in memory of old times.
+Three of the men at once agreed to this proposal, and said that as it
+would not be long before they were in the stone jug again it behoved
+them to make the most of their freedom while it lasted.  The man with
+white hair, however, objected, and it was not until his companions had
+chaffed and rallied him a good deal that he consented to enter the
+house, observing, as he followed them slowly, that he had not tasted a
+drop for seven years.
+
+"Well, well," replied one of the others, "it don't matter; you'll relish
+it all the more now, old feller.  It'll go down like oil, an' call up
+the memory of old times--"
+
+"The memory of old times!" cried the white-haired man, stopping short,
+with a sudden blaze of ferocity which amazed his companions.
+
+He stood glaring at them for a few moments, with his hands tightly
+clenched; then, without uttering another word, he turned round and
+rushed from the house.
+
+"Mad!" exclaimed one of the other three, looking at his companions when
+they had recovered from their surprise, "mad as a March hare.
+Hows'ever, that don't consarn us.  Come along, my hearties.--Hallo!
+landlord, fetch drink here--your best, and plenty of it.  Now, boys,
+fill up and I'll give 'ee a toast."
+
+Saying this the man filled his glass, the others followed his example--
+the toast was given and drunk--more toasts were given and drunk--the
+three men returned to their drink and their old ways, and haunts and
+comrades, as the sow returns to her wallowing in the mire.
+
+Meanwhile the white-haired man wandered away as if he had no settled
+purpose.  Day after day he moved on through towns and villages and
+fields, offering to work, but seldom being employed, begging his bread
+from door to door, but carefully avoiding the taverns; sleeping where he
+could, or where he was permitted--sometimes in the barn of a kindly
+farmer, sometimes under a hay-stack, not unfrequently under a hedge--
+until at last he found himself in the town of Ramsgate.
+
+Here he made inquiries of various people, and immediately set forth
+again on his travels through the land until he reached a remote part of
+the coast of England, where he found his further progress checked by the
+sea, but, by dint of begging a free passage from fishermen here and
+there, he managed at last to reach one of our outlying reefs, where, on
+a small islet, a magnificent lighthouse reared its white and stately
+column, and looked abroad upon the ocean, with its glowing eye.  There
+was a small village on the islet, in which dwelt a few families of
+fishermen.  They were a hard-working community, and appeared to be
+contented and happy.
+
+The lighthouse occupied an elevated plateau above the cliffs at the
+sea-ward extremity of the isle, about quarter of a mile distant from the
+fishing village.  Thither the old man wended his way.  The tower, rising
+high above shrubs and intervening rocks, rendered a guide unnecessary.
+It was a calm evening.  The path, which was narrow and rugged, wound its
+serpentine course amid grey rocks, luxuriant brambles, grasses, and
+flowering shrubs.  There were no trees.  The want of shelter on that
+exposed spot rendered their growth impossible.  The few that had been
+planted had been cut down by the nor'-west wind as with a scythe.
+
+As he drew near to the lighthouse, the old man observed a woman sitting
+on a stool in front of the door, busily engaged with her needle, while
+three children--two girls and a boy--were romping on the grass plat
+beside her.  The boy was just old enough to walk with the steadiness of
+an exceedingly drunk man, and betrayed a wonderful tendency to sit down
+suddenly and gaze--astonished!  The girls, apparently though not really
+twins, were just wild enough to enjoy their brother's tumbles, and
+helped him to accomplish more of them than would have resulted from his
+own incapacity to walk.
+
+A magnificent black Newfoundland dog, with grey paws and a benignant
+countenance, couched beside the woman and watched the children at play.
+He frequently betrayed a desire to join them in their gambols, but
+either laziness or a sense of his own dignity induced him to sit still.
+
+"Nora," called the mother, who was a young and exceedingly beautiful
+mother, "Nora, come here; go tell your father that I see a stranger
+coming up the path.  Quick, darling."
+
+Little Nora bounded away like a small fairy, with her fair curls
+streaming in the wind which her own speed created.
+
+"Katie," said the mother, turning to her second daughter, "don't rumple
+him up quite so violently.  You must remember that he is a tiny fellow
+yet, and can't stand such rough treatment."
+
+"But he likes it, ma," objected Katie, with a look of glee, although she
+obeyed the order at once.  "Don't you, Morley?"
+
+Little Morley stopped in the middle of an ecstatic laugh, scrambled upon
+his fat legs and staggered towards his mother, with his fists doubled,
+as if to take summary vengeance on her for having stopped the fun.
+
+"Oh, baby boy; my little Morley, what a wild fellow you are!" cried the
+mother, catching up her child and tossing him in the air.
+
+The old man had approached near enough to overhear the words and
+recognise the face.  Tears sprang to his eyes and ran down his cheeks,
+as he fell forward on the path with his face in the dust.
+
+At the same moment the lighthouse-keeper issued from the door of the
+building.  Running towards the old man, he and his wife quickly raised
+him and loosened his neckcloth.  His face had been slightly cut by the
+fall.  Blood and dust besmeared it and soiled his white locks.
+
+"Poor old man!" said the keeper, as his mate, the assistant
+light-keeper, joined him.  "Lend a hand, Billy, to carry him in.  He
+ain't very heavy."
+
+The assistant--a strapping young fellow, with a powerful, well-made
+frame, sparkling eyes and a handsome face, on which at that moment there
+was a look of intense pity--assisted his comrade to raise the old man.
+They carried him with tender care into the lighthouse and laid him on a
+couch which at that time, owing to lack of room in the building,
+happened to be little Nora's bed.
+
+For a few moments he lay apparently in a state of insensibility, while
+the mother of the family brought a basin of water and began carefully to
+remove the blood and dust which rendered his face unrecognisable.  The
+first touch of the cold sponge caused him to open his eyes and gaze
+earnestly in the woman's face--so earnestly that she was constrained to
+pause and return the gaze inquiringly.
+
+"You seem to know me," she said.
+
+The old man made no reply, but, slowly clasping his hands and closing
+his eyes, exclaimed "Thank God!" fervently.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Let us glance, now, at a few more of the changes which had been wrought
+in the condition and circumstances of several of the actors in this tale
+by the wonder-working hand of time.
+
+On another evening of another month in this same year, Mr Robert
+Queeker--having just completed an ode to a star which had been recently
+discovered by the Astronomer-Royal--walked from the door of the Fortress
+Hotel, Ramsgate, and, wending his way leisurely along Harbour Street,
+directed his steps towards Saint James's Hall.
+
+Seven years had wrought a great change for the better in Mr Robert
+Queeker.  His once smooth face was decorated with a superb pair of
+light-brown whiskers of the stamp now styled Dundreary.  His clothes
+fitted him well, and displayed to advantage a figure which, although
+short, was well made and athletic.  It was evident that time had not
+caused his shadow to grow less.  There was a jaunty, confident air about
+him, too, which might have been thought quite in keeping with a red coat
+and top-boots by his friends in Jenkinsjoy, and would have induced
+hospitable Mr Stoutheart to let him once more try his fortune on the
+back of Slapover without much anxiety as to the result; ay, even
+although the sweet but reckless Amy were to be his leader in the field!
+Nevertheless there was nothing of the coxcomb about Queeker--no
+self-assertion; nothing but amiableness, self-satisfaction, and
+enthusiasm.
+
+Queeker smiled and hummed a tune to himself as he walked along drawing
+on his gloves, which were lavender kid and exceedingly tight.
+
+"It will be a great night," he murmured; "a grand, a glorious night."
+
+As there was nothing peculiarly grand in the aspect of the weather, it
+is to be presumed that he referred to something else, but he said
+nothing more at the time, although he smiled a good deal and hummed a
+good many snatches of popular airs as he walked along, still struggling
+with the refractory fingers of the lavender kid gloves.
+
+Arrived at Saint James's Hall, he took up a position outside the door,
+and remained there as if waiting for some one.
+
+It was evident that Mr Queeker's brief remark had reference to the
+proceedings that were going on at the hall, because everything in and
+around it, on that occasion, gave unquestionable evidence that there was
+to be a "great night" there.  The lobby blazed with light, and resounded
+with voices and bustle, as people streamed in continuously.  The
+interior of the hall itself glowed like a red-hot chamber of gold, and
+was tastefully decorated with flowers and flags and evergreens; while
+the floor of the room was covered with long tables, which groaned under
+the glittering accessories of an approaching feast.  Fair ladies were
+among the assembling company, and busy gentlemen, who acted the part of
+stewards, hurried to and fro, giving directions and keeping order.  A
+large portion of the company consisted of men whose hard hands, powerful
+frames, and bronzed faces, proclaimed them the sons of toil, and whose
+manly tones and holiday garments smacked of gales and salt water.
+
+"What be goin' on here, measter?" inquired a country fellow, nudging Mr
+Queeker with his elbow.
+
+Queeker looked at his questioner in surprise, and told him that it was a
+supper which was about to be given to the lifeboat-men by the people of
+the town.
+
+"An' who be the lifeboat-men, measter?"
+
+"`Shades of the mighty dead;' not to mention the glorious living!"
+exclaimed Queeker, aghast; "have you never heard of the noble fellows
+who man the lifeboats all round the coasts of this great country, and
+save hundreds of lives every year?  Have you not read of their daring
+exploits in the newspapers?  Have you never heard of the famous Ramsgate
+lifeboat?"
+
+"Well, now 'ee mention it, I doos remember summat about loifboats,"
+replied the country fellow, after pondering a moment or two; "but, bless
+'ee, I never read nothin' about 'em, not bein' able to read; an' as I've
+lived all my loif fur inland, an' on'y comed here to-day, it ain't to be
+thow't as I knows much about yer Ramsgate loifboats.  Be there mony
+loifboat men in Ramsgate, measter?"
+
+"My good fellow," said Queeker, taking the man by the sleeve, and gazing
+at him with a look of earnest pity, "there are dozens of 'em.  Splendid
+fellows, who have saved hundreds of men, women, and children from the
+raging deep; and they are all to be assembled in this hall to-night, to
+the number of nearly a hundred--for there are to be present not only the
+men who now constitute the crew of the Ramsgate boat, but all the men
+who have formed part of her crew in time past.  Every man among them is
+a hero," continued Queeker, warming as he went on, and shaking the
+country fellow's arm in his earnestness, "and every man to-night will--"
+
+He stopped short abruptly, for at that moment a carriage drove up to the
+door, and a gentleman jumping out assisted a lady to alight.
+
+Without a word of explanation to the astonished country fellow, Queeker
+thrust him aside, dashed forward, presented himself before the lady,
+and, holding out his hand, exclaimed--
+
+"How _do_ you do, Miss Hennings?  I'm _so_ glad to have been fortunate
+enough to meet you."
+
+"Mr Quee--Queeker," exclaimed Fanny, blushing scarlet; "I--I was not
+aware--so very unexpected--I thought--dear me!--but, pardon me--allow me
+to introduce my uncle, Mr Hemmings.  Mr Queeker, uncle, whom you have
+often heard mamma speak about."
+
+Mr Hennings, a six-feet-two man, stooped to shake Queeker by the hand.
+An impatient cabman shouted, "Move on."  Fanny seized her uncle's arm,
+and was led away.  Queeker followed close, and all three were wedged
+together in the crowd, and swept towards the banquet-hall.
+
+"Are you one of the stewards?" asked Fanny, during a momentary pause.
+
+How exquisite she looks! thought Queeker, as she glanced over her
+shoulder at him.  He felt inclined to call her an angel, or something of
+that sort, but restrained himself, and replied that he was not a
+steward, but a guest--an honoured guest--and that he would have no
+objection to be a dishonoured guest, if only, by being expelled from the
+festive board, he could manage to find an excuse to sit beside her in
+the ladies' gallery.
+
+"But that may not be," he said, with a sigh.  "I shall not be able to
+see you from my allotted position.  Alas! we separate here--though--
+though--lost to sight, to memory dear!"
+
+The latter part of this remark was said hurriedly and in desperation, in
+consequence of a sudden rush of the crowd, rendering abrupt separation
+unavoidable.  But, although parted from his lady-love, and unable to
+gaze upon her, Queeker kept her steadily in his mind's eye all that
+evening, made all his speeches to her, sang all his songs to her, and
+finally--but hold! we must not anticipate.
+
+As we have said--or, rather, as we have recorded that Queeker said--all
+the lifeboat men of the town of Ramsgate sat down to that supper, to the
+number of nearly one hundred men.  All sturdy men of tried courage.
+Some were old, with none of the fire that had nerved them to rescue
+lives in days gone by, save that which still gleamed in their eyes; some
+were young, with the glow of irrepressible enthusiasm on their smooth
+faces, and the intense wish to have a chance to dare and do swelling
+their bold hearts; others were middle-aged, iron-moulded; as able and as
+bold to the full as the younger men, with the coolness and
+self-restraint of the old ones; but all, old, middle-aged, and young,
+looking proud and pleased, and so gentle in their demeanour (owing, no
+doubt, to the presence of the fair sex), that it seemed as if a small
+breeze of wind would have made them all turn tail and run away,--
+especially if the breeze were raised by the women!
+
+That the reception of these lion-like men (converted into lambs that
+night) was hearty, was evinced by the thunders of applause which greeted
+every reference to their brave deeds.  That their reception was
+intensely earnest, was made plain by the scroll, emblazoned on a huge
+banner that spanned the upper end of the room, bearing the words.  "God
+bless the Lifeboat Crews."
+
+We need not refer to the viands set forth on that great occasion.  Of
+course they were of the best.  We may just mention that they included
+"baccy and grog!"  We merely record the fact.  Whether buns and tea
+would have been equally effective is a question not now under
+consideration.  We refrain from expressing an opinion on that point
+here.
+
+Of course the first toast was the Queen, and as Jack always does
+everything heartily, it need scarcely be said that this toast was
+utterly divested of its usual formality of character.  The chairman's
+appropriate reference to her Majesty's well-known sympathy with the
+distressed, especially with those who had suffered from shipwreck,
+intensified the enthusiasm of the loyal lifeboat-men.
+
+A band of amateur Christy Minstrels (the "genuine original" amateur
+band, of course) enlivened the evening with appropriate songs, to the
+immense delight of all present, especially of Mr Robert Queeker, whose
+passionate love for music, ever since his attendance at the
+singing-class, long long ago, had strengthened with time to such an
+extent that language fails to convey any idea of it.  It mattered not to
+Queeker whether the music were good or bad.  Sufficient for him that it
+carried him back, with a _gush_, to that dear temple of music in
+Yarmouth where the learners were perpetually checked at critical points,
+and told by their callous teacher (tormentor, we had almost written) to
+"try it again!" and where he first beheld the perplexing and beautiful
+Fanny.
+
+When the toast of the evening was given--"Success to the Ramsgate
+Lifeboat,"--it was, as a matter of course, received with deafening
+cheers and enthusiastic waving of handkerchiefs from the gallery in
+which the fair sex were accommodated, among which handkerchiefs Queeker,
+by turning his head very much round, tried to see, and believed that he
+saw, the precious bit of cambric wherewith Fanny Hennings was accustomed
+to salute her transcendental nose.  The chairman spoke with enthusiasm
+of the noble deeds accomplished by the Ramsgate lifeboat in time past,
+and referred with pride, and with a touch of feeling, to the brave old
+coxswain, then present (loud cheers), who had been compelled, by
+increasing years, to resign a service which, they all knew better than
+he did, taxed the energies, courage, and endurance of the stoutest and
+youngest man among them to the uttermost.  He expressed a firm belief in
+the courage and prowess of the coxswain who had succeeded him (renewed
+cheers), and felt assured that the success of the boat in time to come
+would at the least fully equal its successes in time past.  He then
+referred to some of the more prominent achievements of the boat,
+especially to a night which all of them must remember, seven years ago,
+when the Ramsgate boat, with the aid of the steam-tug, was the means of
+saving so many lives--not to mention property--and among others the life
+of their brave townsman, James Welton (cheers), and a young doctor, the
+friend, and now the son-in-law, of one whose genial spirit and extensive
+charities were well known and highly appreciated--he referred to Mr
+George Durant (renewed cheers), whose niece at that moment graced the
+gallery with her presence.
+
+At this there was a burst of loud and prolonged applause which
+terminated in a roar of laughter, owing to the fact that Mr Queeker,
+cheering and waving his hands in a state of wild enthusiasm, knocked the
+neck off a bottle of wine and flooded the table in his immediate
+vicinity!  Covered with confusion, Queeker sat down amid continued
+laughter and rapturous applause.
+
+The chairman then went on to say that the event to which he had
+referred--the rescue of the crew and passengers of the Wellington on the
+night of the great storm--had been eclipsed by some of the more recent
+doings of the same boat; and, after touching upon some of these, said
+that, although they had met there to do honour to the crews of their own
+lifeboat, they must not forget other and neighbouring lifeboats, which
+did their work nobly--the brave crews of which were represented by the
+coxswains of the Margate and Broadstairs lifeboats, who sat at that
+board that night as honoured guests (loud cheers, during which several
+of the men nearest to them shook hands with the coxswains referred to).
+He could not--the chairman went on to say--sit down without making
+special reference to the steam-tug, without which, and the courage as
+well as knowledge of her master, mate, and crew (renewed cheers), the
+lifeboat could not overtake a tenth part of the noble work which she
+annually accomplished.  He concluded by praying that a kind Providence
+would continue to watch over and bless the Ramsgate lifeboat and her
+crew.
+
+We need scarcely add that this toast was drunk with enthusiastic
+applause, and that it was followed up by the amateur minstrels with
+admirable effect.
+
+Many songs were sung, and many toasts were proposed that night, and warm
+was the expression of feeling towards the men who were ever so ready to
+imperil their lives in the hope of saving those of their
+fellow-creatures, and who had already, oftentimes, given such ample
+proof that they were thoroughly able to do, as well as to dare, almost
+anything.  Several singers with good, and one or two with splendid,
+voices, gave a variety of songs which greatly enhanced the brilliancy of
+the evening, and were highly appreciated in the gallery; and a few bad
+singers with miserable voices (who volunteered their songs) did really
+good service by impressing upon the audience very forcibly the immense
+differences between good and bad music, and thus kindly acted as shadows
+to the vocal lights of the evening--as useful touches of discord in the
+general harmony which by contrast rendered the latter all the sweeter.
+
+But of all the solos sung that night none afforded such delight as a
+national melody sung by our friend Jerry MacGowl, in a voice that rang
+out like the voices of three first-class bo's'ns rolled into one.  That
+worthy son of the Emerald Isle, and Dick Moy, and Jack Shales, happened
+to be enjoying their month on shore when the supper to the lifeboat-men
+was planned, and they were all there in virtue of their having been
+instrumental in saving life on more than one occasion during their
+residence in Ramsgate.  Jerry's song was, as we have said, highly
+appreciated, but the applause with which it was greeted was as nothing
+compared with the shouts and cheers that shook the roof of Saint James's
+Hall, when, on being asked to repeat it, Jerry modestly said that he
+"would prefer to give them a duet--perhaps it was a trayo--av his mates
+Jack Shales and Dick Moy would only strike in wid bass and tenor."
+
+The men of the floating light then sang "The Minute-Gun at Sea"
+magnificently, each taking the part that suited him best or struck his
+fancy at the moment, and Jerry varying from tenor to bass and bass to
+treble according to taste.
+
+"Now, Mister Chairman," said the bold Jerry MacGowl, when the cheers had
+subsided, "it's my turn to call for a song, so I ax Mr Queeker to
+favour the company wid--" Thunders of applause drowned the remainder of
+the sentence.
+
+Poor Queeker was thrown into great confusion, and sought to explain that
+he could not sing, even in private--much less in public.
+
+"Oh yes, you can, sir.  Try it, sir, no fear of 'ee.  Sure it's yourself
+as can do it, an' no mistake," were the remarks with which his
+explanation was interrupted.
+
+"I assure you honestly," cried Queeker, "that I cannot sing, _but_"
+(here breathless silence ensued) "if the chairman will kindly permit me,
+I will give you a toast."
+
+Loud cheers from all sides, and a good-humoured nod from the chairman
+greeted this announcement.
+
+"Mr Chairman and Friends," said Queeker, "the ladies have--" A perfect
+storm of laughter and cheers interrupted him for at least two minutes.
+
+"Yes," resumed Queeker, suddenly blazing up with enthusiasm, "I repeat--
+the ladies--"
+
+"That's the girls, blissin's on the swate darlints," murmured Jerry in a
+tone which set the whole table again in a roar.
+
+"I echo the sentiment; blessings on them," said Queeker, with a
+good-humoured glance at Jerry.  "Yes, as I was going to say, I propose
+the Ladies, who are, always were, and ever will be, the solace of man's
+life, the sweet drops in his otherwise bitter cup, the lights in his
+otherwise dark dwelling, the jewels in his--in his--crown, and the
+bright stars that glitter in the otherwise dark firmament of his destiny
+(vociferous cheering).  Yes," continued Queeker, waxing more and more
+energetic, and striking the table with his fist, whereby he overturned
+his neighbour's glass of grog, "yes, I re-assert it--the ladies are all
+that, and _much more_!  (Hear, hear.)  I propose their health--and,
+after all, I may be said to have some sort of claim to do so, having
+already unintentionally poured a whole bottle of wine on the tablecloth
+as a libation to them!  (Laughter and applause.)  What, I ask,"
+continued Queeker, raising his voice and hand at the same moment, and
+setting his hair straight upon end, "what, I ask, would man be _without_
+the ladies?"  ("What indeed?" said a voice near the foot of the table,
+which called forth another burst of laughter.) "Just try to think, my
+friends, what would be the hideous gloom of this terrestrial ball if
+there were no girls!  Oh woman! softener of man's rugged nature!  What--
+in the words of the poet."  He carefully refrained from saying what
+poet!
+
+  "What were earth and all its joys;
+  what were wealth with all its toys;
+  what the life of men and boys
+  But for lovely woman?
+
+  "What if mothers were no more;
+  If wives and sisters fled our shore,
+  And left no sweethearts to the fore--
+  No sign of darling woman?
+
+  "What dreary darkness would ensue--
+  what moral wastes devoid of dew--
+  If no strong hearts of men like you
+  Beat for charming woman?
+
+  "Who would rise at duty's call;
+  Who would fight to win or fall;
+  Who would care to live at all,
+  Were it not for woman?"
+
+Prolonged and rapturous cheers greeted this effusion, in the midst of
+which the enthusiastic Jerry MacGowl sprang to his feet, waved his glass
+above his head--spilling half of its contents on the pate of a bald
+skipper who sat next to him--and cheered lustily.
+
+"Men of the Ramsgate lifeboat," shouted Queeker, "I call on you to
+pledge the ladies--with all the honours!"
+
+It is unnecessary to say that the call was responded to with a degree of
+enthusiasm that threatened, as Dick Moy said to Jack Shales, "to smash
+all the glasses an' blow the roof off."  In the midst of the noise and
+confusion Queeker left the hall, ascended to the gallery, and sat
+himself down beside Fanny Hennings, with an air of intense decision.
+
+"Oh, Mr Queeker!" exclaimed Fanny.
+
+"Listen, Fanny," said the tall uncle at that moment, "they are giving
+one of the most important toasts of the evening--The Royal National
+Lifeboat Institution."
+
+Fanny tried to listen, and had caught a few words, when she felt her
+hand suddenly seized and held fast.  Turning her head quickly, she
+beheld the face of Queeker turned to bright scarlet.
+
+What more she heard or saw after that it would be extremely difficult to
+tell.  Perhaps the best way of conveying an idea of it is to lay before
+the reader the short epistle which Fanny penned that same night to her
+old friend Katie Hall.  It ran thus:--
+
+"RAMSGATE.
+
+"OH, KATIE!  DARLING KATIE!--He has done it _at last_!  Dear fellow!
+And so like himself too--so romantically, so poetically!  They were
+toasting the Lifeboat Institution at the time.  He seized my hand.
+`Fanny,' he said, in the deep manly tones in which he had just made the
+most brilliant speech of the evening, `Fanny, my love--my life--my
+_lifeboat_--will you have me? will you _save_ me?'  There was a dreadful
+noise at the time--a very storm of cheering.  The whole room seemed in a
+whirl.  My head was in a whirl too; and oh! _how_ my heart beat!  I
+don't know what I said.  I fear I burst into a fit of laughter, and then
+cried, and dear uncle carried me out--but it's all over now.  That
+_darling_ Lifeboat Institution, I shall never forget it; for they were
+sounding its praises at the very moment when my Queeker and I got into
+the same boat--for life!--Your happy FANNY."
+
+To this the next post brought the following reply:--
+
+"YARMOUTH."
+
+"MY DEAREST FANNY,--Is it necessary for me to say that your last short
+letter has filled my heart with joy?  It has cleared up a mystery too!
+On Tuesday last, in the forenoon, Mr Queeker came by appointment to
+take lunch with us, and Stanley happened to mention that a supper was to
+be given to the Ramsgate lifeboat-men, and that he had heard _you_ were
+to be there.  During lunch, Mr Queeker was very absent and restless,
+and appeared to be unhappy.  At last he started up, made some hurried
+apology about the train for the south, and having urgent business to
+transact, looked at his watch, and rushed out of the house!  We could
+not understand it at the time, but I knew that he had only a few minutes
+left to catch the train for the south, and I _now_ know that he caught
+it--and why!  Ah, Fanny, did I not always assure you that he would do it
+in desperation at last!  My earnest prayer is, that your wedded life may
+be as happy as mine has hitherto been.
+
+"When your honeymoon is over, you must promise to pay us a visit.  You
+know that our villa is sufficiently far out of town to warrant your
+regarding us in the light of country friends; and Stanley bids me say
+that he will take no denial.  Papa--who is at present romping round the
+room with my eldest boy on his shoulders, so that I scarce know what I
+write--bids me tell you, with his kind love and hearty congratulations,
+that he thinks you are `not throwing yourself away, for that Queeker is
+a first-rate little fellow, and a rising man!'  Observe, please, that I
+quote papa's own words.
+
+"I _must_ stop abruptly, because a tiny cry from the nursery informs me
+that King Baby is awake, and demands instant attention!--With kindest
+love and congratulations, your ever affectionate, KATIE HALL."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+Once again, and for the last time, we visit the floating light.
+
+It was a calm sunny evening, about the end of autumn, when the Trinity
+tender, having effected "the relief" of the old Gull, left her in order
+to perform the same service for her sister light-vessels.
+
+"Good-bye, Welton, good-bye, lads," cried the superintendent, waving his
+hand as the tender's boat pushed off and left them, for another period
+of duty, in their floating home.
+
+"Good-bye, sir," replied the mate and men, touching their caps.
+
+"Now, sir," said Dick Moy to the mate, shortly after, when they were
+all, except the watch, assembled below round the galley stove, "are you
+goin' to let us 'ave a bit o' that there letter, accordin' to promise?"
+
+"What letter?" inquired Jack Shales, who having only accomplished half
+of his period of service on board--one month--had not come off with his
+comrades, and knew little or nothing of what had occurred on shore.
+
+"A letter from the lighthouse from Jim," said the mate, lighting his
+pipe, "received it this forenoon just as we were gettin' ready to come
+off."
+
+"All well and hearty, I hope?" asked Jerry MacGowl, seating himself on a
+bench, and rolling some tobacco between his palms, preparatory to
+filling his pipe.
+
+"All well," replied the mate, pulling out the letter in question, and
+regarding the address with much interest; "an' strange news in it."
+
+"Well, then, let's 'ear wot it's all about," said Dick Moy; "there's
+time to read it afore sunset, an it ain't fair to keep fellers in all
+the hagonies of hexpectation."
+
+"That's true enough," said Jerry with a grin.  "Arrah! it's bustin I am
+already wid kooriosity.  Heave ahead, sir, an' be marciful."
+
+Thus entreated, Mr Welton glanced at his watch, sat down, and, opening
+his letter, read as follows:--
+
+"DEAR FATHER,--Here we are, thank God, comfortably settled in the new
+lighthouse, and Nora and I both agree that although it is more
+outlandish, it is much more cheerful in every way than our last abode,
+although it _is_ very wild-like, and far from the mainland.  Billy
+Towler, my assistant,--who has become such a strapping fellow that you'd
+scarce know him,--is also much pleased with it.  The children, too, give
+a decided opinion in favour of the place, and even the baby, little
+Morley, seems to know that he has made a change for the better!
+
+"Baby's name brings me to the news that I've got to tell you.  Morley
+Jones has come back!  You'll be surprised to hear that, I daresay, but
+it's a fact.  He got a ticket-of-leave, and never rested till he found
+out where Nora was.  He came to us one evening some time ago, and fell
+down in a sort of fit close to the lighthouse-door, while Nora was
+sitting in front of it, and the children were romping with Neptune
+beside her.  Poor fellow! he was so changed, so old, and so white-haired
+and worn, that we did not know him at first; but after we had washed the
+blood off his face--for he had cut himself when he fell--I recognised
+the old features.
+
+"But he is changed in other respects too, in a way that has filled my
+dear wife's heart with joy.  Of course you are aware that he got no
+drink during the seven years of his imprisonment.  Now that he is free
+he refuses to let a drop of anything stronger than water pass his lips.
+He thinks it is his only chance, and I believe he is right.  He says
+that nothing but the thought of Nora, and the hope of one day being
+permitted to return to ask her forgiveness on his knees, enabled him to
+endure his long captivity with resignation.  I do assure you, father,
+that it almost brings tears to my eyes to see the way in which that man
+humbles himself before his daughter.  Nora's joy is far too deep for
+words, but it is written plainly in her face.  She spent all her spare
+time with him at first, reading the Bible to him, and trying to convince
+him that it was not the thought of _her_, but God's mercy and love that
+had put it into his heart to repent, and desire to reform.  He does not
+seem quite inclined to take that view of it, but he will come to it,
+sooner or later, for we have the sure promise that the Lord will finish
+the good work He has begun.  We have hired a room for him in a little
+village within half a mile of us.  It is small, but comfortable enough,
+and he seems to be quite content with it--as well he may be, with Nora
+and the children going constantly about him!
+
+"I tell you what, father, the longer I live with Nora, the more I feel
+that I have got the truest-hearted and most loveable wife in all the
+wide world!  The people of the village would go any length to serve her;
+and as to their children, I believe they worship the ground she walks
+on, as Jerry MacGowl used to say."
+
+"Och, the idolatrous haythens!" growled Jerry.
+
+"And the way she manages our dear youngsters," continued the mate,
+reading on, without noticing Jerry's interruption, "would do your heart
+good to see.  It reminds me of Dick Moy's wife, who is about the best
+mother I ever met with--next to Nora, of course!"
+
+"Humph!" said Dick, with a grim smile; "wery complimentary.  I wonder
+wot my old ooman will say to that?"
+
+"She'll say, no doubt, that she'll expect you to take example by Jim
+Welton when speaking of your wife," observed Jack Shales.  "I wonder,
+Dick, what ever could have induced Mrs Moy to marry such a fellow as
+you?"
+
+"I s'pose," retorted Dick, lighting his pipe, "that it was to escape the
+chance o' bein' tempted, in a moment of weakness, to marry the likes o'
+_you_."
+
+"Hear, hear," cried MacGowl, "that's not unlikely, Dick.  An', sure, she
+might have gone farther an' fared worse.  You're a good lump of a man,
+anyhow; though you haven't much to boast of in the way of looks.
+Howsever, it seems to me that looks don't go far wid sensible girls.
+Faix, the uglier a man is, it's the better chance he has o' gittin' a
+purty wife.  I have a brother, myself, who's a dale uglier than the
+figurhead of an owld Dutch galliot, an' he's married the purtiest little
+girl in Ireland, he has."
+
+"If ye want to hear the end of Jim's letter, boys, you'd better shut up
+your potato-traps," interposed Mr Welton.
+
+"That's true--fire away," said Shales.
+
+The mate continued to read.
+
+"You'll be glad to hear that the old dog Neptune is well and hearty.  He
+is a great favourite here, especially with the children.  Billy Towler
+has taught him a number of tricks--among other things he can dive like a
+seal, and has no objection whatever to let little Morley choke him or
+half punch out his eyes.  Tell mother not to be uneasy on that point,
+for though Neptune has the heart of a lion he has the temper of a lamb.
+
+"There is an excellent preacher, belonging to the Wesleyan body, who
+comes here occasionally on Sundays, and has worship in the village.  He
+is not much of a preacher, but he's an earnest, God-fearing man, and has
+made the name of Jesus dear to some of the people here, who, not long
+ago, were quite careless about their souls.  Careless about their souls!
+Oh, father, how often I think of that, now.  How strange it seems that
+we should ever be thus careless!  What should we say of the jeweller who
+would devote all his time and care to the case that held his largest
+diamond, and neglect the gem itself?  Nora has got up a Sunday school at
+the village, and Billy helps her with it.  The Grotto did wonders for
+him--so he says himself.
+
+"I must close this letter sooner than I intended, for I hear Nora's
+voice, like sweet music in the distance, singing out that dinner is
+ready; and if I keep the youngsters waiting long, they'll sing out in a
+sharper strain of melody!
+
+"So now, father, good-bye for the present.  We all unite in sending our
+warmest love to dear mother and yourself.  Kindest remembrances also to
+my friends in the floating light.  As much of my heart as Nora and the
+children can spare is on board of the old Gull.  May God bless you
+all.--Your affectionate son, JAMES WELTON."
+
+"The sun will be down in a few minutes, sir," said the watch, looking
+down the hatchway, while the men were engaged in commenting on Jim's
+letter.
+
+"I know that," replied the mate, glancing at his timepiece, as he went
+on deck.
+
+The upper edge of the sun was just visible above the horizon, gleaming
+through the haze like a speck of ruddy fire.  The shipping in the Downs
+rested on a sea so calm that each rope and mast and yard was faithfully
+reflected.  Ramsgate--with the exception of its highest spires--was
+overshadowed by the wing of approaching night.  The Goodwin Sands were
+partially uncovered; looking calm and harmless enough, with only a snowy
+ripple on their northern extremity, where they were gently kissed by the
+swell of the North Sea, and with nothing, save a riven stump or a
+half-buried stem-post, to tell of the storms and wrecks with which their
+name is so sadly associated.
+
+All around breathed of peace and tranquillity when the mate, having cast
+a searching glance round the horizon, leaned over the hatchway and
+shouted--"Lights up!"
+
+The customary "Ay, ay, sir," was followed by the prompt appearance of
+the crew.  The winch was manned, the signal given, and, just as the sun
+went down, the floating light went up, to scatter its guiding and
+warning beams far and wide across the darkening waste of water.
+
+May our little volume prove a truthful reflector to catch up a few of
+those beams, and, diverting them from their legitimate direction, turn
+them in upon the shore to enlighten the mind and tickle the fancy of
+those who dwell upon the land--and thus, perchance, add another thread
+to the bond of sympathy already existing between them and those whose
+lot it is to battle with the winds, and live upon the sea.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands, by 
+R.M. Ballantyne
+
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