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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lifeboat, 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 Lifeboat
+
+Author: R.M. Ballantyne
+
+Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21744]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFEBOAT ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+THE LIFEBOAT, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+THE BEGINNING--IN WHICH SEVERAL IMPORTANT PERSONAGES ARE INTRODUCED.
+
+There existed, not many years ago, a certain street near the banks of
+old Father Thames which may be described as being one of the most modest
+and retiring little streets in London.
+
+The neighbourhood around that street was emphatically dirty and noisy.
+There were powerful smells of tallow and tar in the atmosphere,
+suggestive of shipping and commerce.  Narrow lanes opened off the main
+street affording access to wharves and warehouses, and presenting at
+their termini segmentary views of ships' hulls, bowsprits, and booms,
+with a background of muddy water and smoke.  There were courts with
+unglazed windows resembling doors, and massive cranes clinging to the
+walls.  There were yards full of cases and barrels, and great anchors
+and chains, which invaded the mud of the river as far as was consistent
+with safety; and adventurous little warehouses, which stood on piles, up
+to the knees, as it were, in water, totally regardless of appearances,
+and utterly indifferent as to catching cold.  As regards the population
+of this locality, rats were, perhaps, in excess of human beings; and it
+might have been observed that the former were particularly frolicsome
+and fearless.
+
+Farther back, on the landward side of our unobtrusive street, commercial
+and nautical elements were more mingled with things appertaining to
+domestic life.  Elephantine horses, addicted to good living, drew
+through the narrow streets wagons and vans so ponderous and gigantic
+that they seemed to crush the very stones over which they rolled, and
+ran terrible risk of sweeping little children out of the upper windows
+of the houses.  In unfavourable contrast with these, donkeys, of the
+most meagre and starved aspect, staggered along with cartloads of fusty
+vegetables and dirty-looking fish, while the vendors thereof howled the
+nature and value of their wares with deliberate ferocity.  Low
+pawnbrokers (chiefly in the "slop" line) obtruded their seedy wares from
+doors and windows halfway across the pavement, as if to tempt the naked;
+and equally low pastry-cooks spread forth their stale viands in unglazed
+windows, as if to seduce the hungry.
+
+Here the population was mixed and varied.  Busy men of business and of
+wealth, porters and wagoners, clerks and warehousemen, rubbed shoulders
+with poor squalid creatures, men and women, whose business or calling no
+one knew and few cared to know except the policeman on the beat, who,
+with stern suspicious glances, looked upon them as objects of special
+regard, and as enemies; except, also, the earnest-faced man in seedy
+black garments, with a large Bible (_evidently_) in his pocket, who
+likewise looked on them as objects of special regard, and as friends.
+The rats were much more circumspect in this locality.  They were what
+the Yankees would call uncommonly "cute," and much too deeply intent on
+business to indulge in play.
+
+In the lanes, courts, and alleys that ran still farther back into the
+great hive, there was an amount of squalor, destitution, violence, sin,
+and misery, the depth of which was known only to the people who dwelt
+there, and to those earnest-faced men with Bibles who made it their work
+to cultivate green spots in the midst of such unpromising wastes, and to
+foster the growth of those tender and beautiful flowers which sometimes
+spring and flourish where, to judge from appearances, one might be
+tempted to imagine nothing good could thrive.  Here also there were
+rats, and cats too, besides dogs of many kinds; but they all of them led
+hard lives of it, and few appeared to think much of enjoying themselves.
+Existence seemed to be the height of their ambition.  Even the kittens
+were depressed, and sometimes stopped in the midst of a faint attempt at
+play to look round with a scared aspect, as if the memory of kicks and
+blows was strong upon them.
+
+The whole neighbourhood, in fact, teemed with sad yet interesting sights
+and scenes, and with strange violent contrasts.  It was not a spot which
+one would naturally select for a ramble on a summer evening after
+dinner; nevertheless it was a locality where time might have been
+profitably spent, where a good lesson or two might have been learned by
+those who have a tendency to "consider the poor."
+
+But although the neighbourhood was dirty and noisy, our modest street,
+which was at that time known by the name of Redwharf Lane, was
+comparatively clean and quiet.  True, the smell of tallow and tar could
+not be altogether excluded, neither could the noises; but these scents
+and sounds reached it in a mitigated degree, and as the street was not a
+thoroughfare, few people entered it, except those who had business
+there, or those who had lost their way, or an occasional street boy of
+an explorative tendency; which last, on finding that it was a quiet
+spot, invariably entered a protest against such an outrageous idea as
+quietude in "the City" by sending up a series of hideous yells, and
+retiring thereafter precipitately.
+
+Here, in Redwharf Lane, was the office of the firm of Denham, Crumps,
+and Company.
+
+Mr Denham stood with his back to the fire, for it was a coldish autumn
+day, with his coat-tails under his arms.  He was a big bald man of
+five-and-forty, with self-importance enough for a man of
+five-hundred-and-forty.  Mr Crumps sat in a small back-office, working
+so diligently that one might have supposed he was endeavouring to bring
+up the arrears of forty years' neglect, and had pledged himself to have
+it done before dinner.  He was particularly small, excessively thin,
+very humble, rather deaf, and upwards of sixty.  Company had died of
+lockjaw two years previous to the period of which we write, and is
+therefore unworthy of farther notice.  A confidential clerk had taken,
+and still retained, his place.
+
+Messrs. Denham, Crumps, and Company, were shipowners.  Report said that
+they were rich, but report frequently said what was not true in those
+days.  Whether it has become more truthful in the present days, remains
+an open question.  There can be no question, however, that much business
+was done at the office in Redwharf Lane, and that, while Denham lived in
+a handsome mansion in Russell Square, and Crumbs dwelt in a sweet
+cottage in Kensington, Company had kept a pony phaeton, and had died in
+a snug little villa on Hampstead Heath.
+
+The office of Denham, Crumps, and Company was small and unpretending, as
+was the street in which it stood.  There was a small green door with a
+small brass plate and a small brass knocker, all of which, when opened
+by their attendant, a small tiger in blue, with buttons, gave admittance
+to a small passage that terminated in a small room.  This was the outer
+office, and here sat the four clerks of the establishment on four tall
+stools, writing in four monstrous volumes, as furiously as if they were
+decayed authors whose lives depended on the result.  Their salaries did,
+poor fellows, and that was much the same thing!
+
+A glass door, with scratches here and there, through which the head of
+the firm could gaze unseen, separated "the office" from Denham's room,
+and a wooden door separated that from Crumps' room, beyond which there
+was a small closet or cell which had been Company's room before that
+gentleman died.  It was now used as a repository for ancient books and
+papers.
+
+"Very odd," said Mr Denham, and as he said so he touched a small silver
+bell that stood on his writing-table.
+
+The tiger in blue and buttons instantly appeared.
+
+"Here, Peekins, post these letters.  Has no one called this afternoon; I
+mean, no one resembling a sailor?"
+
+The boy in blue started, and his face became very red.
+
+"Why, what's the matter, boy?  What do you mean by staring at me,
+instead of answering my question?"
+
+"Please, sir," stammered Peekins meekly, "I didn't mean no 'arm, sir,
+but you see, sir, his face was so drefful fierce, and he looked sich a
+wild--"
+
+"Boy, are you mad?" interrupted Mr Denham, advancing and seizing the
+tiger by his blue collar; "what are you talking about?  Now, answer my
+question at once, else I'll shake the little life you have out of your
+body.  Did any sailor-like man call at the office this afternoon?"
+
+"Oh, sir, yes, sir,--I--I--thought he was drunk and wouldn't let 'im in,
+sir; he's bin a standin' stampin' at the door for more than--"
+
+The end of the sentence was cut short by Mr Denham suddenly ejecting
+the boy from the room and shouting, "Let him in!"
+
+In a few seconds a heavy tread was heard in the outer office, and the
+boy ushered in a tall young man, of unusually large proportions, with
+extremely broad shoulders, and apparently about twenty-three years of
+age, whose rough pilot-coat, wide pantaloons, and glazed hat bespoke him
+a sailor.  His countenance was flushed, and an angry frown contracted
+his brow as he strode into the room, pulled off his hat and stood before
+the head of the house of Denham, Crumps, and Company.
+
+"I beg pardon, sir," began the sailor, somewhat sharply, yet without
+disrespect, "when I am asked to come--"
+
+"Yes, yes, Bax," interposed Mr Denham, "I know what you would say.
+Pray calm yourself.  It is a pity you should have been kept waiting
+outside, but the fact is that my boy is a new one, and apparently he is
+destitute of common sense.  Sit down.  I sent for you to say that I wish
+you to take the `Nancy' to Liverpool.  You will be ready to start at
+once, no doubt--"
+
+"Before the schooner is overhauled?" inquired Bax, in surprise.
+
+"Of course," said Denham, stiffly; "I see no occasion for _another_
+overhaul.  That schooner will cost us more than she is worth if we go on
+repairing at the rate we have been doing the last two years."
+
+"She needs it all, sir," rejoined Bax, earnestly.  "The fact is, Mr
+Denham, I feel it to be my duty to tell you that there ain't a sound
+plank or timber in her from stem to stern, and I'm pretty sure that if
+she costs you money, she's likely to cost me and the men aboard of her
+our lives.  I strongly advise you to strike her off the books, and get a
+new one."
+
+"Mr Bax," said Denham, pompously, "you are too young a man to offer
+your advice unless it is asked.  I believe the engineer employed by me
+to examine into the condition of my vessels is quite competent to judge
+in these matters, and I have unbounded confidence in him.  When I placed
+you in command of the `Nancy,' I meant you to navigate, not to criticise
+her; but if you are afraid to venture--"
+
+"Afraid!" cried the young sailor, reddening.  "Is anxiety about the
+lives of your men and the safety of your property to be called fear?
+_I_ am willing to sail in the `Nancy' as long as a plank of her will
+hold to her ribs, but--"
+
+Bax paused and bit his lip, as if to keep back words which had better
+not be spoken.
+
+"Well, then," rejoined Mr Denham, affecting to disregard the pause,
+"let me hear no more about repairs.  When these require to be done, they
+_shall_ be done.  Meanwhile, go and make preparation to sail by the
+morning tides which serves about--what hour, think you?"
+
+"Flood at half after six," said Bax, curtly.
+
+"Very well, come up here at half-past five, one of the clerks will see
+you.  You will have to run down to Dover in the first place, and when
+there my agent will give you further instructions.  Good afternoon!"
+
+Bax rose and quitted the room with a stern "Good day, sir."
+
+As he passed through the outer office he was arrested by one of the
+clerks laying a hand on his shoulder.
+
+"Well, Mr Foster," said Bax, a bright smile chasing the frown from his
+face, "it seems we're to swim if we can, or sink if we can't this
+winter;--but what want ye with me?"
+
+"You are to call me Guy, not _Mister_ Foster," said the lad, gaily.  "I
+want to know where you are to be found after six this evening."
+
+"At the `Three Jolly Tars,'" answered Bax, clapping on his glazed hat.
+
+"All right, I'll look you up.  Good-day."
+
+"Guy Foster," shouted Mr Denham from the inner room.
+
+"Yes, uncle," and in another moment the youth was standing, pen in hand,
+in the august presence of his relative, who regarded him with a cold
+stare of displeasure.
+
+There could scarcely have been conceived a stronger contrast in nature
+than that which existed between the starched, proud, and portly uncle,
+and the tall, handsome, and hearty young nephew, whose age was scarcely
+twenty years.
+
+"How often am I to tell you, sir," said Mr Denham, "that `yes, uncle,'
+is much too familiar and unbusinesslike a phrase to be used in this
+office in the hearing of your fellow-clerks?"
+
+"I beg pardon, uncle, I'm sure I had no intention of--"
+
+"There, that will do, I want no apology, I want obedience and attention
+to my expressed wishes.  I suppose that you expect to get away for a few
+days' holiday?"
+
+"Well, unc--, sir, I mean, if it is quite convenient I should--"
+
+"It is _not_ quite convenient," interrupted the uncle.  "It cannot
+possibly, at any time, be convenient to dispense with the services of a
+clerk in a house where no supernumeraries are kept to talk slang and
+read the newspapers.  I see no reason whatever in young men in ordinary
+health expecting as a right, two or three weeks' leave each year without
+deduction of salary.  _I_ never go to the country or to the sea-side
+from one year's end to the other."
+
+"You'd be much the better for it if you did, uncle," interposed Guy.
+
+"That, _sir_," retorted Denham with emphasis, "is _your_ opinion, and
+you will allow me to say that it is erroneous, as most of your opinions,
+I am sorry to find, are.  _I_ find that no change is necessary for my
+health.  I am in better condition than many who go to Margate every
+summer.  I thrive on town air, sir, and on city life."
+
+There was much truth in these observations.  The worthy merchant did
+indeed seem to enjoy robust health, and there could be no question that,
+as far as physical appearances went, he did thrive on high living, foul
+air, and coining money.  Tallow and tar sent forth delicious odours to
+him, and thick smoke was pleasant to his nostrils, for he dealt largely
+in coal, and all of these, with many kindred substances, were productive
+of the one great end and object of his life--gold.
+
+"However," pursued Mr Denham, leaning back on the mantle-piece, "as the
+tyrannical customs of society cannot be altogether set at nought, I
+suppose I must let you go."
+
+"Thank you, unc--sir," said Guy, who, having been chained to the desk in
+the office of Redwharf Lane for the last eleven months, felt his young
+heart bounding wildly within him at the prospect of visiting, even for a
+brief period, his mother's cottage on the coast of Kent.
+
+"You have no occasion to thank _me_," retorted Mr Denham; "you are
+indebted entirely to the tyrannical customs and expectations of society
+for the permission.  Good-bye, you may convey my respects to your
+mother."
+
+"I will, sir."
+
+"Have you anything further to say?" asked Mr Denham, observing that the
+youth stood looking perplexedly at the ground, and twirling his
+watch-key.
+
+"Yes, uncle, I have," answered Guy, plucking up courage.  "The fact is--
+that, is to say--you know that wrecks are very common off the coast of
+Kent."
+
+"Certainly, I do," said Denham with a frown.  "I have bitter cause to
+know that.  The loss occasioned by the wreck of the `Sea-gull' last
+winter was very severe indeed.  The subject is not a pleasant one; have
+you any good reason for alluding to it?"
+
+"I have, uncle; as you say, the loss of the `Sea-gull' was severe, for,
+besides the loss of a fine vessel and a rich cargo, there was the
+infinitely more terrible loss of the lives of twenty-two human beings."
+
+As Mr Denham had not happened to think of the loss of life that
+occurred on the occasion, and had referred solely to the loss of ship
+and cargo, which, by a flagrant oversight on the part of one of his
+clerks, had not been insured; he made no rejoinder, and Guy, after a
+moment's pause, went on--
+
+"The effect of this calamity was so powerful on the minds of the people
+of Deal and Walmer, near which the wreck took place, that a public
+meeting was called, and a proposal made that a lifeboat should be
+established there."
+
+"Well?" said Mr Denham.
+
+"Well," continued the youth, "my mother gave a subscription; but being
+poor she could not give much."
+
+"Well, well," said Mr Denham impatiently.
+
+"And--and _I_ gave a little, a very little, towards it too," said Guy.
+
+"Your salary is not large; it was very foolish of you to waste your
+money in this way."
+
+"Waste it, uncle!"
+
+"Come, sir, what does all this tend to?" said Denham, sternly.
+
+"I thought--I hoped--indeed I felt assured," said Guy earnestly, "that
+_you_ would give something towards this good object--"
+
+"Oh, did you?" said the merchant, cutting him short; "then, sir, allow
+me to say that you were never more mistaken in your life.  I never give
+money in charity.  I believe it to be a false principle, which tends to
+the increase of beggars and criminals.  You can go now."
+
+"But consider, uncle," entreated Guy, "this is no ordinary charity.  A
+lifeboat there might be the means of saving hundreds of lives; and oh!
+if you could have seen, as I did, the despairing faces of these poor
+people as they clung to the rigging scarcely a stone's-cast from the
+shore, on which the waves beat so furiously that no boat except a
+lifeboat could have lived for a moment; if you could have heard, as I
+did, the wild shriek of despair as the masts went by the board, and
+plunged every living soul into the raging sea, I am certain that you
+would gladly give a hundred pounds or more towards this philanthropic
+object."
+
+"Nephew," said Denham, "I will not give a sixpence.  Your inexperience
+and enthusiasm lead you astray, sir, in this matter.  Lifeboats are
+capable of being upset as well as ordinary boats, and there are cases on
+record in which the crews of them have been drowned as well as the
+people whom they recklessly went out to save.  My opinion is, that
+persons who devote themselves to a sea-faring life must make up their
+minds to the chances and risks attending such a life.  Now you have my
+answer--good-bye, and give my best regards to your sister.  I will
+expect you back next Saturday week."
+
+"I have still another favour to ask, sir," said Guy, after some
+hesitation.
+
+"Has it anything to do with what you are pleased to term a philanthropic
+object?"
+
+"It has."
+
+"Then," said Mr Denham, "save me the trouble of refusing, and yourself
+the pain of a refusal, by holding your tongue,--and retiring."
+
+Guy coloured, and was about to turn away in disgust, but, repressing his
+indignation by a powerful effort, he advanced with a cheerful
+countenance, and held out his hand.
+
+"Well, good-bye, uncle.  If ever you go to the coast, and happen to see
+a storm and a shipwreck, you'll change your mind, I think, in regard to
+this matter."
+
+Mr Denham did go to the coast, and, did see a storm and a shipwreck,
+but whether this prediction ever came true is a point that shall not be
+revealed at this part of our narrative.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+IN WHICH MORE IMPORTANT PERSONAGES ARE INTRODUCED, AND DISPLAY THEIR
+CHARACTERS BY THEIR ACTIONS MORE OR LESS.
+
+The "Three Jolly Tars" was one of those low taverns where seamen were
+wont to congregate--not _because_ it was a low tavern, but because there
+was no other sort of tavern--high or low--in that neighbourhood.
+
+The world (that is to say, the delicately-nurtured and carefully-tended
+world) is apt to form erroneous opinions in regard to low taverns, and
+degradation, and sin in general,--arising from partial ignorance and
+absolute inexperience, which it is important that we should correct in
+order that the characters of our story may not be falsely judged.  God
+forbid that it should be for a moment supposed that we have a word to
+say in favour of low taverns.  Our aim just now is, not to consider
+these, but, to convince the reader, if possible, that every man who
+enters one of them is not necessarily a lost or utterly depraved
+creature.
+
+It is undoubtedly true that these low taverns are moral pig-sties.  Nay,
+we owe an apology to the pigs for the comparison.  _Sties_ appear to be
+places of abode suited to the nature and tastes of their occupants, and
+the grumps who inhabit them seem not only to rejoice in them (for this
+alone would be no argument, inasmuch as the same may be affirmed of men
+who rejoice in low taverns), but to be utterly incapable of higher
+enjoyment out of them.  Let a pig out of his stye, afford him every
+conceivable opportunity of intellectual and physical improvement, and he
+will carefully search out the nearest mudhole--unhappy until he finds
+it--will thrust not only his nose but his body into it, and will find
+supreme enjoyment in wallowing in the mire; and no blame to him for
+this; he is grumpish by nature.  Yes, a low tavern is beneath the level
+of a pig-stye!
+
+Nevertheless, as it is possible that, _for a time_, man may, through
+sin, or circumstances, or both, be reduced to such a condition as to
+take shelter in a pig-stye, without exposing himself to the charge of
+being a pig; so, it is possible that a man may frequent a low tavern,
+_not_ without detriment, but, without becoming thereby worthy of being
+classed with the lowest of the low.  Do not misunderstand us, gentle
+reader.  We do not wish in the slightest degree to palliate the coarse
+language, the debasement, the harsh villainy, which shock the virtuous
+when visiting the haunts of poverty.  Our simple desire is to assure the
+sceptical that goodness and truth are sometimes found in strange
+questionable places, although it is undoubtedly true that they do not
+deliberately search out such places for an abode, but prefer a pure
+atmosphere and pleasant companionship if they can get it.
+
+It must not be supposed, then, that our friend John Bax--sometimes
+called "captain," sometimes "skipper," not unfrequently "mister," but
+most commonly "Bax," without any modification--was a hopeless castaway,
+because he was found by his friend Guy Foster in a room full of careless
+foul-mouthed seamen, eating his bread and cheese and drinking his beer
+in an atmosphere so impregnated with tobacco smoke that he could
+scarcely see, and so redolent of gin that he could scarcely smell the
+smoke!
+
+In those days there were not so many sailors' homes and temperance
+coffee-houses as there are now.  In the locality about which we write
+there were none.  If Jack wanted his lunch or his dinner he found the
+low tavern almost the only place in which he could get it comfortably.
+Tobacco smoke was no objection to him;--he rather liked it.  Swearing
+did not shock him;--he was used to it.  Gentle folk are apt to err here
+too.  Being _shocked_ at gross sin does not necessarily imply goodness
+of heart; it implies nothing more than the being unused to witness gross
+sin.  Goodness of heart _may_ go along with this capacity of being
+shocked, so, equally, may badness of heart; but neither of them is
+implied by it.
+
+What a grand thing is truth--simple abstract truth! and yet how little
+do we appreciate it in regard to the inconceivably important matter of
+_reasoning_.  We analyse our chemicals and subject them to the severest
+tests in order to ascertain their true properties;--truth is all we aim
+at; but how many of us can say that we analyse our thoughts and subject
+our reasoning to the test of logic in order simply to ascertain _the
+truth_.
+
+"Smoke for ever!  I say, Bill, open that there port a bit, else we'll be
+choked," cried a stentorian voice, as Guy entered the little apartment,
+where some dozen of noisy sailors were creating the cloud, which was a
+little too strong for them.
+
+For some moments Guy glanced round inquiringly, unable to pierce the dim
+curtain that enshrouded everything, as with a veil of dirty gauze.
+
+"Lost your reckoning, I guess," drawled a Yankee skipper.
+
+"Never mind, let go your anchor, my lad," cried a voice from the densest
+quarter of the smoke, "it's not a bad berth, and good holdin' ground."
+
+"What'll you take to drink, my boy, supposin' you gits the offer?"
+inquired another man, giving him a facetious poke in the ribs.
+
+"Is John Bax here?" inquired Guy.
+
+"Hallo, messmate--here you are, port your helm and heave a-head--steady!
+rocks to leeward; starboard hard! ah, I knew you'd never clear these
+rocks without touchin'," said Bax, as his young friend tripped over
+three or four spittoons, and plunged into the corner from which the
+sailor's deep bass voice issued.  "There now, sit down; what'll you
+have?"
+
+"Nothing, Bax; what a horrible hole to feed in!  Couldn't you come out
+and talk with me in the fresh air?"
+
+It must indeed have been a wonderfully impure place when Guy could
+venture by contrast to speak of the air outside as being fresh.
+
+"Couldn't do it, my lad," replied Bax, with his mouth full.  "I haven't
+had a bit since six o'clock this morning, and I'm only half through."
+
+The fact was evident, for a large plate of biscuit and cheese stood on
+the small table before the seaman, with a tumbler of hot gin and water.
+So Guy sat down, and, observing that the waiter stood at his elbow,
+ordered half a pint of stout.  Guy did not drink spirits, but he had no
+objection to beer, so he took occasion to remonstrate with Bax on his
+tendency to drink gin, and recommended beer instead, as it would "do him
+more good."  It did not occur to Guy that a young man in robust health
+does not require physical good to be done to him at all, beyond what
+food, and rest, and exercise can achieve, and that, therefore,
+artificial stimulant of any kind is unnecessary!
+
+"Skipper ahoy!" shouted, a gruff voice in the doorway.
+
+"Ay, ay!" cried several of the party in reply.
+
+"Is John Bax in this here port?"
+
+"Here you are," replied the man in request, "port your helm, old boy!
+rocks on the lee bow, look out!"
+
+"Steady, so," said a fat burly seaman, as he steered in obedience to
+these sailing directions, and finally "cast anchor" beside our two
+friends.
+
+"How are ye, Captain Bluenose?" said Bax, holding out his hand.
+
+"Same to you, lad," replied the Captain, seizing the offered hand in his
+own enormous fist, which was knotty and fleshy, seamed with old cuts and
+scars, and stained with tar.  "Hallo!  Guy, is this you?" he added,
+turning suddenly to the youth.  "Why, who'd 'a thought to see _you_
+here?  I do b'lieve I han't seen ye since the last time down at the
+coast.  But, I say, Guy, my boy, you han't took to drinkin', have ye?"
+
+"No, Captain," said Guy, with a smile, "nothing stronger than beer, and
+not much of that.  I merely came here to meet Bax."
+
+Captain Bluenose--whose name, by the way, had no reference to his nose,
+for that was small and red--scratched his chin and stared into vacancy,
+as if he were meditating.
+
+"Why, boy," he said at length, "seems to me as if you'd as good cause to
+suspec' me of drinkin' as I have to suspec' you, 'cause we're both
+_here_, d'ye see?  Howsever, I've been cruisin' after the same craft,
+an' so we've met, d'ye see, an' that's nat'ral, so it is."
+
+"Well, and now you have found me, what d'ye want with me?" said Bax,
+finishing the bread and cheese, and applying to the gin and water.
+
+"Shipmet, I'm goin' home, and wants a berth a-board the `Nancy,'" said
+Bluenose.
+
+"Couldn't do it, Captain," said Bax, shaking his head, "'gainst rules."
+
+"I'll go as a hextra hand--a suppernummerary," urged the Captain.
+
+"Why, Captain," said Guy, "is it not strange that I should have come
+here to make the very same request?  Come, Bax, you're a good fellow,
+and will take us both.  I will guarantee that my uncle will not find
+fault with you."
+
+"Ah, that alters the case," said Bax, "if you choose to take the
+responsibility on your own shoulders, Guy, you're welcome to the best
+berth a-board the old `Nancy.'  D'ye know, I've a fondness for that old
+craft, though she is about as unseaworthy a schooner as sails out o' the
+port of London.  You see, she's the only craft bigger than a Deal lugger
+that I ever had command of.  She's my first love, is the old `Nancy,'
+and I hope we won't have to part for many a day."
+
+"Quite right, young man," said Captain Bluenose, nodding his head
+approvingly, and filling his pipe from a supply of tobacco he always
+carried in the right pocket of his capacious blue waistcoat.  The
+Captain gazed with a look of grave solemnity in the manly countenance of
+the young sailor, for whom he entertained feelings of unbounded
+admiration.  He had dandled Bax on his knee when he was a baby, had
+taught him to make boats and to swim and row when he became a boy, and
+had sailed with him many a time in the same lugger when they put off in
+wild storms to rescue lives or property from ships wrecked on the famous
+Goodwin Sands.
+
+"Quite right, young man," repeated the Captain, as he lighted his pipe,
+"your sentiments does you credit.  W'en a man's got his first love, d'ye
+see, an' finds as how she's all trim and ship-shape, and taut, and well
+ballasted, and all that sort o' thing, stick to her to the last, through
+thick and thin.  That's wot _I_ say, d'ye see?  There's no two ways
+about it, for wot's right can't be wrong.  If it can, show me how, and
+then I'll knock under, but not before."
+
+"Certainly not, Captain," cried Bax, laughing, "never give in--that's my
+motto."
+
+"There," said Bluenose, gravely, "you're wrong--'cause why?  You're not
+right, an' w'en a man's not right he ought always to give in."
+
+"But how is a fellow to know when he's right and when he's wrong?" asked
+Bax.
+
+"Con-sideration," said Bluenose.
+
+"Bravo!  Captain," cried Guy, with a laugh, "if it be true that `brevity
+is the soul of wit,' you must be the wittiest fellow on Deal beach."
+
+"I dun-know," retorted the Captain, slowly, "whether it's the soul or
+the body o' wit, an' wot's more, I don't care; but it's a fact, d'ye
+see, that consideration'll do it; least-wise if consideration won't,
+nothin' will.  See now, here it is,"--(he became very earnest at this
+point),--"w'en a thing puzzles people, wot does people do? why, they
+begins right off to talk about it, an' state their opinions afore they
+han't got no opinions to state.  P'raps they takes the puzzler up by the
+middle an' talks wild about that part of it; then they give a look at
+the end of it, an' mayhap they'll come back and glance at the beginnin',
+mayhap they won't, and then they'll tell you as grave as owls that
+they've made up their minds about it, and so nail their colours to the
+mast."
+
+At this stage in the elucidation of the knotty point, Bluenose observed
+that his pipe was going out, so he paused, pulled at it vigorously for a
+few seconds, and then resumed his discourse.
+
+"Now, lads, wot _ought_ you for to do w'en you've got hold of a puzzler?
+Why, you ought to sit down and consider of it, which means you should
+begin at the beginnin'; an' let me tell you, it's harder to find the
+beginnin' of a puzzler than p'raps you suppose.  Havin' found the
+beginnin', you should look at it well, and then go on lookin', inch by
+inch, and fut by fut, till you comes to the end of it; then look it
+back, oncommon slow, to the beginnin' again, after which turn it outside
+in, or inside out,--it don't much matter which way,--and go it all over
+once more; after which cram your knuckles into yer two eyes, an' sit for
+half-an-hour (or three-quarters, if it's tremendous deep) without
+movin'.  If that don't do, and you ha'nt got time to try it over again,
+give in at once, an haul your colours down, but on no occasion wotiver
+nail them to the mast,--'xceptin' always, w'en you're cocksure that
+you're right, for then, of coorse, ye can't go far wrong."
+
+This little touch of philosophy convinced Bax that if he did not wish to
+sit there half the night, the sooner he changed the subject the better,
+so he called the waiter, and paid his bill, saying to his companions
+that it was time to go aboard if they wanted a snooze before tripping
+the anchor.
+
+"What have you had, sir?" said the waiter, turning to Bluenose.
+
+The man said this with a sneer, for he knew that the captain had taken
+nothing since he entered the house, and was aware, moreover, that he was
+a water-drinker.
+
+"I've had nothin'," replied the Captain, "nor don't want any, thank
+'ee."
+
+"Oh! beg pardon, sir," the waiter bowed and retired impressively.
+
+"The house couldn't keep goin' long with _some_ customers," stammered a
+rough-looking, half-tipsy fellow who had overheard these remarks.
+
+"Might do something for the good of the house," said another, who was
+equally drunk.
+
+"Who bade _you_ put in your oar?" cried the first speaker fiercely, for
+he had reached that condition of intoxication which is well known as the
+fighting stage.  The other man was quite ready to humour him, so, almost
+before one could understand what had been said, a savage blow was given
+and returned, oaths and curses followed, and in two seconds one of the
+combatants had his opponent by the throat, threw him on his back, with
+his neck over the fender and his head thrust into the ashes.
+
+Instantly the room was a scene of wild confusion, as some of the friends
+of both men endeavoured to separate them, while others roared in drunken
+glee to "let 'em have fair play, and fight it out."
+
+The result of this quarrel might have been serious had not Bax thrust
+the yelling crowd aside, and, exerting to the utmost the extraordinary
+muscular power with which he had been endowed, tore the combatants
+asunder by main force, and hurled them violently to opposite sides of
+the room.
+
+"Shame on you; lads," said he, "can you not drink your grog without
+quarrelling about nothing?"
+
+The towering size and the indignant look of Bax, as he said this, were
+sufficient to quell the disturbance, although some of the more irascible
+spirits could not refrain from grumbling about interference, and the
+Yankee roundly asserted that "before he'd go into a public, and sit down
+and smoke his pipe without doin' somethin' for the good o' the 'ouse,
+he'd like to see himself chawed up pretty slick, he would."
+
+"Waiter a-hoy!" shouted Captain Bluenose sternly, on hearing this.
+
+"Yes-sir."
+
+"Bring me a tumbler o' gin and a pot o' _cold water_."
+
+"Tum'ler--o'--gin--sir--an'--a--por--o'--col' wa'r, sir?  Yes--sir."
+
+The waiter stopped suddenly and turned back.
+
+"_Mixed_, sir?"
+
+"No, _not_ mixed, sir," replied Bluenose, with a look and tone of
+withering sarcasm; "contrairywise, wery much separated."
+
+When the gin and water were placed on the table, the Captain quietly
+took up the former and cast it, glass and all, under the grate, after
+which he raised the pot of water to his lips, and, looking round on the
+company with a bland smile, said:--
+
+"There, I've took somethin' for the good of the house, and now, lads,
+I'll drink to your better health and happiness in my favourite tipple,
+the wich I heartily recommend to _you_."
+
+Bluenose drained the pot, flung a half-crown on the table, and swaggered
+out of the house with his hands deep in the pockets of his rough
+pea-jacket.
+
+The fact was that the worthy Captain felt aggrieved, and his spirit was
+somewhat ruffled at the idea of being expected to drink in a house where
+he had oftentimes, for years past, regaled himself with, and expended
+his money upon, bread and cheese and ginger-beer!
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+IN WHICH THE INTRODUCTION OF IMPORTANT PERSONAGES IS CONTINUED, IN
+RATHER EXCITING CIRCUMSTANCES.
+
+"Where away's the boat, lad?" said Captain Bluenose to Bax, on
+recovering his equanimity.
+
+"Close at hand; mind the fluke of that anchor.  The owner of this spot
+should be put in limbo for settin' man-traps.  Have a care of your
+shins, Guy; it's difficult navigation here on a dark night."
+
+"All right, Bax," replied Guy; "I'll keep close in your wake, so if you
+capsize we shall at least have the comfort of foundering together."
+
+The place through which the three friends were groping their way was
+that low locality of mud and old stores, which forms the border region
+between land and water, and in which dwelt those rats which have been
+described as being frolicsome and numerous.
+
+"Hold hard!" roared Bluenose, as he tripped over the shank of an anchor,
+"why don't you set up a lighthouse, or a beacon o' some sort on these
+here shoals?"
+
+"Starboard, old boy, starboard hard, steady!" cried Bax.
+
+With seaman-like promptitude the Captain obeyed, and thus escaped
+tumbling off the end of the wharf at which they had arrived.
+
+"Nancy, a-hoy!" cried Bax in a subdued shout.
+
+A juvenile "Ay, ay, sir!" instantly came back in reply from the dark
+obscurity that overhung the river.  The sound of oars followed.
+
+"Smart little fellow that nephew of yours; he'll do you credit some
+day," said Bax, turning towards Bluenose, who, although close at his
+side, was scarcely visible, so dark was the night.
+
+The Captain's rejoinder was cut short by the boy in question sending the
+bow of the boat crash against the wharf, an exploit which had the effect
+of pitching him heels over head into the bottom of it.
+
+"Why didn't you give us a hail, uncle?" remonstrated the boy, as he rose
+and rubbed his elbows.
+
+"Good practice, my lad, it's good practice," replied Bluenose,
+chuckling, as he stepped in.
+
+A few seconds sufficed to take them alongside of the "Nancy," in two
+narrow berths of which the Captain and Guy were quickly stowed away and
+sound asleep, while Bax paced the deck slowly overhead, having relieved
+the watch and sent him below.
+
+Just half an hour or so before dawn--that mysterious, unreal and solemn
+period of the night or morning--Captain Bluenose came on deck minus his
+coat and shoes, in order to have a look at "how things were getting
+on,"--as if the general operations of nature had been committed to his
+charge, and he were afraid lest the sun should not be able to rise
+without his assistance.
+
+"Light air, west-sou'-west," muttered the Captain as he stepped on deck,
+cast a glance up at the vane on the mast-head, and then swept his eye
+round the (imaginary) horizon.
+
+There was not much to be seen, except the numerous lights of the
+shipping, and the myriad lamps of the great city, whose mighty hum of
+life had not yet begun to awaken.  It was the deadest hour of night (if
+we may use the expression), although advanced towards morning.  The
+latest of late sitters-up had gone to bed and got to sleep, and the
+earliest of early risers had not yet been aroused.  None save
+night-workers and night-watchers were astir, and these did not disturb
+in any appreciable degree the deep quiet of the hour.
+
+While Bax and his friend were conversing in subdued tones near the
+binnacle, they were startled by a piercing shriek, followed by a heavy
+plunge in the water, which, from the sound, appeared to be not far
+distant.  They sprang to the bow, which was pointing down the river,--
+the flood-tide was running strong up at the time.  On reaching it they
+heard a gurgling cry, not twenty yards ahead of the vessel.
+
+"Hold on!" cried Bax to Bluenose, sharply, at the same time fastening
+the end of a rope round his waist with the speed of thought, and
+plunging over the side head-foremost.  The cry and the plunge brought
+Guy Foster on deck instantly.  He found the Captain holding on with all
+his might to the end of the rope, on which there seemed to be a
+tremendous strain.
+
+"Take a turn round that belayin' pin," gasped the Captain.
+
+Guy obeyed, and the moment his companion was relieved, he shouted, "All
+hands a-hoy!"
+
+It was unnecessary.  The four men who formed the crew of the "Nancy"
+were already springing up the fore-hatch.  There was bustle among the
+shipping too.  Lights danced about, the sound of oars was heard in
+various directions, and sharp eager shouts, as of men who felt that life
+was in danger, but knew not where to hasten in order to afford aid.
+
+"Haul now, lads, with a will," cried the Captain; "so, steady, avast
+heaving.  Ah! that's a smart lad."
+
+While the men were hauling on the rope, little Tommy had bounded over
+the side into the boat, which he quickly brought close to the rope, and,
+seizing it, guided his craft to the end to which Bax was fastened.  He
+found him buffeting the strong current stoutly, and supporting a head on
+his shoulder in such a way that the mouth should not get below water.
+
+"All right, Tommy," said Bax, quietly.  "Don't get excited, my lad; lend
+a hand to raise her a bit out o' the water.  Now, can you hold her there
+for one moment?"
+
+"Yes, if you just give me the end of that shawl in my teeth,--so."
+
+Tommy could say no more, for he was squeezed flat against the gunwale of
+the boat, with his stout little arms tight round the neck and waist of a
+female figure, the fingers of his left hand grasping her hair, and his
+legs twisted in a remarkable manner round the thwart to keep him from
+being dragged out of the boat, besides which his mouth was full of the
+shawl.
+
+Bax at once grasped the gunwale, and moved hand over hand to the stern,
+where, by a powerful effort, he raised himself out of the water and
+sprang inboard.  A few minutes more sufficed to enable him to drag the
+female (a young girl) into the boat, and place her in safety on the
+schooner's deck.
+
+The whole thing was done in much less time than is required to tell it.
+Only one of the boats that were out searching discovered the schooner,
+just as the female was got on board.
+
+"All right?" inquired one of the men.
+
+"All right--saved," was the answer, and the boat pulled away into the
+obscurity of the morning mist with a cheer of congratulation.  Then all
+was again silent, and the sluggish tide glided slowly past the dark
+hulls that rested on the bosom of the Thames.
+
+On carrying the girl into the small cabin of the "Nancy" it was found
+that she was still in a state of insensibility.  The dim light of the
+swinging lamp fell on her pale face, and revealed to the surprised and
+sympathetic beholders features of great beauty and delicate form, over
+which masses of dark brown hair straggled in wild confusion.
+
+"Now, lads, clear out o' the way," cried Captain Bluenose, pulling off
+his coat energetically.  "Leave this here little craft to me.  I know
+'xactly wot's got to be done, d'ye see.  Turn her on her face--there;
+never go for to put a drownded body on its back, be it man or woman.
+Stick that coat under her breast, and her arm under her forehead.  So,
+now we'll go to work."
+
+There is no doubt that the worthy captain understood precisely what he
+meant to do, and was working on a systematic plan; but what the result
+of his labours might have been it is impossible to say, for at that
+moment he was interrupted by the tread of hurried footsteps on deck, and
+the sudden entrance of a silvery-haired man, whose black coat, vest, and
+pantaloons contrasted strangely with his heavy oilskin coat and
+sou'-wester, and tended to puzzle the beholder as to whether he was a
+landsman in nautical outer garments, or a seaman clothed partly in what
+Jack calls "shore-going toggery."
+
+There was an expression of wild anxiety on the man's face as he sprang
+towards the prostrate form of the girl, fell on his knees, and, seizing
+her hand, exclaimed, "Lucy, dearest Lucy!"  He stopped suddenly as if he
+had been choked, and, bending his ear close to Lucy's lips, listened for
+a few seconds with knitted brow and compressed lips.  At that moment
+there was a flutter on the eyelids of the girl, and a broken sigh
+escaped her.
+
+The man kneeling at her side sprang convulsively to his feet, raised his
+hands high above his head, and exclaimed, "O God, in Christ's name I
+thank thee," in tones so fervent, as almost to approach to a shout.
+
+With this irrepressible cry of gratitude every trace of strong emotion
+appeared to vanish from the countenance and the manner of the stranger.
+Turning to Bluenose, who had been gazing at this scene in much surprise,
+not unmingled with anxiety, he said in a calm but quick voice:--
+
+"My friend, this child is my daughter.  Pray leave me alone with her for
+a few minutes."
+
+"Excuge a oldish man, sir," said the Captain; "p'raps you'd better let
+me stay, 'cause why, I knows how to treat drownded--"
+
+"Thank you, it is unnecessary," said the stranger.  "Besides, I myself
+am acquainted with the rules of the Humane Society.  But you can aid me
+by getting hot blankets and warm coffee."
+
+"Come along, Captain," cried Bax, seizing his friend by the arm and
+dragging him out of the cabin.
+
+Guy had quitted it, followed by Tommy, the instant the old man had
+expressed a wish to be left alone with his child.
+
+"There, now, you obstinate man," cried Bax, relaxing his grasp on
+gaining the foot of the companion ladder; "up with you, and send Tommy
+to look after coffee and blankets.  He knows where to get 'em.  I'll go
+and put on dry toggery; the best thing that _you_ can do, is to keep out
+of people's way."
+
+This latter piece of advice was not very agreeable to one whose heart
+was tender, and his desire to engage in works of active benevolence very
+strong.  But feeling that the advice was good, and thoroughly
+appreciating the fact that, having shipped as a "suppernummerary hand,"
+he was bound to obey his young commander, he went on deck without
+remonstrance, walked aft to the binnacle, and began to fill his pipe.
+
+Guy and Tommy were already there, engaged in earnest conversation.  The
+ruddy light of the binnacle lamp streamed up in the face of the latter,
+and revealed his curly fair hair clustering in wild disorder over his
+flushed brow, as, with fire gleaming in his blue eyes, he stared up in
+his companion's face and related how that Bax, in the coolest manner
+possible, had kept treading water with the girl in his arms, knowing
+quite well that not even _his_ strength, great though it was, could
+enable him to pull himself by the rope to the ship against the tide, and
+knowing that, in a few minutes, some one would get into the boat and
+pick them up.
+
+"And so _some one_ did, and very cleverly and bravely done it was,
+Tommy," said Guy, laying his hand kindly on the boy's shoulder.
+
+"Well, I don't think much o' that," replied Tommy.  "It don't call for
+much courage to jump into a boat of a fine night, twist your legs round
+a thort, and hold on to a girl by claws and teeth till somebody comes to
+yer help."
+
+It was all very well for Tommy to disclaim credit for what he had done;
+but the glad triumphant expression of his face, and his firm erect gait,
+proved that he was very much satisfied indeed with the share he had had
+in that night's adventure.
+
+"Ah, sir," continued the boy, "there never was a man like Bax!"
+
+"You appear to admire him very much," said Guy; "and from the little
+that I have seen of him I think you have good reason."
+
+"Admire him!" cried Tommy, with a look of scorn; "no, I don't.  I _like_
+him.  He's a trump!"
+
+"Who's a trump?" inquired Bluenose, coming up at that moment.
+
+"Bax," replied the boy, with the air of one who takes up an impregnable
+position, and defies the whole world in arms to overthrow him.
+
+"So he is, so he is, a reg'lar trump," said the Captain, "an' wot's
+more, there ain't no more of them there trumps in the pack, for he's the
+king of 'arts, he is.  An' you're a trump, too, Tommy; you're the
+_knave_ of 'arts, you are, ye little beggar.  Go and git blankets and
+hot coffee for that gal, and look sharp, my lad."
+
+"I have heard you speak once or twice of Bax and his exploits," said Guy
+Foster, when the boy left them, "but this is the first time I have seen
+him perform.  I did not see much of him when down on the coast last
+summer, but I saw enough to make me like him.  Is he really the
+wonderful fellow that Tommy makes him out to be?"
+
+"Wonderful?" echoed the Captain, puffing his pipe vigorously, as was his
+wont when a little puzzled for an expression or an idea.  "No, he ain't
+wonderful; that's not the word.  He's a _life-preserver_, that's wot he
+is.  None o' your hinflated injinrubber or cork affairs, but a reg'lar,
+hanimated, walkin', self-actin' life-preserver.  Why, I've know'd him,
+off and on, since he was the length of a marline spike, d'ye see--an'
+I've seed him save dozens, ay _dozens_, of lives--men, women, and
+children,--in lifeboats, an' in luggers, an' swimmin'.  Why, he thinks
+no more o' that wot he's done to-night, than he does of eatin' salt
+junk.  He's got a silver medal from the Royal Life-Boat Institution, an'
+another from the Queen of Spain, and a gold 'un from some other king or
+queen, I don't 'xactly know who--besides no end o' thanks, written on
+paper, also on wot they calls wellum, in beautiful German text and
+small-hand;--ho! you know, nobody knows wot that feller's been a-doin'
+of all his life.  If he was hung round with all the gold and silver
+medals he _deserves_ to have, he'd go to the bottom--life-preserver
+though he is--like the sheet-anchor of a seventy-four, he would."
+
+"What's that about going to the bottom?" said Bax, who came aft at the
+moment.
+
+"That's just wot you've got nothin' to do with," replied Bluenose,
+resuming his pipe, which, in the ardour of his discourse, he had removed
+from his lips, and held out at arm's length before him.
+
+"Well, I have _not_ much to do with going to the bottom," said Bax,
+laughing.  "But where's Tommy?--oh! here you are.  Have you attended to
+orders?"
+
+"Blankits, hot, just bin sent in.  Coffee, hot, follers in five minits."
+
+"Brayvo," ejaculated Bluenose, with an approving smile.  "I wonder who
+the old man is?" said Guy.  "He neither looks like a landsman nor a
+seaman, but a sort of mixture of both."
+
+"So he is," said Bax.  "I happen to know him, though he does not know
+me.  He is a Scripture reader to sailors (Burton by name), and has spent
+many years of his life at work on the coast, in the neighbourhood of
+Ramsgate.  I suppose he was goin' down the coast in the vessel out of
+which his daughter tumbled.  I didn't know he had a daughter.  By the
+way, she's not a bad one to begin with, Tommy; a regular beauty,"
+continued Bax, with a smile.  "You've often wondered whether the first
+would be a man, or a woman, or a child.  The point is settled now!"
+
+"Yes," replied the boy, with a grave meditative look.  "I suppose I
+_may_ say she's my _first_, for you know you could not have done it
+without me."
+
+There was something ludicrous, as well as sublime, in this little chip
+of humanity gravely talking of poor Lucy Burton being "his first," as if
+he had just entered on a new fishing-ground, and were beginning to take
+account of the creatures he had the good fortune to haul out of the sea!
+
+And in very truth, reader, this was the case.  Under the training of a
+modest, lion-hearted British sailor, the boy was beginning to display,
+in unusual vigour, those daring, enthusiastic, self-sacrificing
+qualities which, although mingled with much that is evil, are marked
+characteristics of our seamen; qualities which have gone far to raise
+our little island to her present high position of commercial prosperity
+and political importance, and which, with God's blessing, will continue
+to carry our flag, our merchandise, and our bibles, to the ends of the
+earth, and guard our shores, as in days of old, from the foot of every
+foreign foe.  England can never fully appreciate how much she owes to
+her seamen.  The thousands of our inland population have a very
+inadequate conception of the race of heroes by which our coasts are
+peopled.  Bax is no exaggerated specimen, got up, in these sensation
+days, for effect.  It is a glorious fact,--proved by the hard and bare
+statistics furnished annually by the Board of Trade, and from other
+sources,--that his name is legion, and that the men of whom he is a type
+swarm all round our coasts, from the old Ultima Thule to the Land's End.
+
+Yes, Tommy was in good training.  He had begun well.  He was evidently a
+chip of the elder block.  It did not, indeed, occur to his young
+imagination to suppose that he could ever become anything in the most
+distant degree resembling his idol Bax.  Neither did he entertain any
+definite idea as to what his young heart longed after; but he had seen
+life saved; he had stood on the sea-shore when storms cast shattered
+wrecks upon the sands, and had witnessed the exploits of boatmen in
+their brave efforts to save human life; he had known what it was to weep
+when the rescuer perished with those whom he sought to save, and he had
+helped to swell with his tiny voice, the bursting cheer of triumph, when
+men, women, and children were plucked, as if by miracle, from the raging
+sea!  To take part in those deeds of heroism was the leading desire in
+the boy's life; and now it seemed as if his career were commencing in
+earnest, and the day-dreams in which he had so long indulged were at
+last about to become waking realities.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+IN WHICH INTRODUCTIONS STILL GO ON, AND COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS
+BEFORE.
+
+Mrs Maria Foster,--the widow of James Foster (formerly captain in the
+merchant service), the mother of Guy Foster (clerk in the firm of
+Denham, Crumps, and Company), and the promoter or supporter of every
+good cause,--was a little woman of five-and-forty or thereabouts, with
+mild blue eyes, a philanthropic heart, and pale blue ribbons in her cap.
+
+Mrs Foster may be said to have been in easy circumstances.  That is to
+say, she had sufficient (being a thrifty and economical lady) to "make
+the two ends meet," even to overlap somewhat, though not,--as a friend
+of ours once observed,--to tie in a handsome bow, so that she had a
+little to spare for charitable purposes.  It must not be supposed,
+however, that the good lady was possessed of a small fortune.  The
+"circumstances," which were easy to her, would have proved remarkably
+uneasy to many; but she possessed the rare and tailorly quality of being
+able and willing to cut her coat according to her cloth.  There was no
+deeper mystery than that in the "ease" with which we have characterised
+her "circumstances."
+
+The coast of Kent was her locality; the environs of the town of Deal,
+her neighbourhood; and a small--almost miniature but pretty--cottage,
+her habitation.  The cottage stood in the middle of a little garden,
+close to that wide extent of waste land, lying to the north of Deal,
+which is known by the name of the Sandhills, and on the seaward edge of
+which formerly stood the pile--and now lie the remains--of Sandown
+Castle.
+
+Everything in and around the cottage was remarkably neat--including its
+mistress, who, on the evening of the day in which her son sailed with
+Bax in the "Nancy," was seated at a little table in her small parlour,
+summing up an account on a sheet of note-paper,--an operation which
+appeared to cause her much perplexity, if one might judge from her
+knitted brows, her deep sighs, and her frequent remarks of "it won't
+do," and "what _can_ it be?"
+
+These observations were apparently addressed to the cat, which sat in
+front of the fire, watching the tea-kettle and the buttered toast; but
+although the good lady was addicted to talking to her cat, in a general
+way, about her love for it and its state of health, we cannot suppose
+that she really appealed to it on such a grave subject as arithmetical
+calculation.  If she did she got no answer from the cat--not even a sign
+of recognition; but she did from a bright-faced, fair-haired girl, of
+about eighteen, who at that moment entered the room, with a teapot in
+one hand, and a cream-jug in the other.
+
+"What is it that puzzles you, mamma?" said the girl, setting down the
+pot and jug, and preparing to attend to the duties of the tea-table.
+
+To this Mrs Foster replied, in an absent way, that she didn't know,
+that it was quite beyond her comprehension, and that she was utterly
+perplexed; but that she _would_ find it out, if she should sit all night
+over it.  Whereupon she proceeded to state that "three and two made
+five, and seven made--made"--she wasn't quite sure how much that made,
+until her companion told her it made twelve; which piece of information
+she received with an--"Oh! of course it does.  Dear me, Amy, how silly I
+am!"--just as if she had known the fact all her life, and had only
+forgotten it at that moment, unaccountably, for the first time!  Mrs
+Foster then went on to add a variety of other figures to this,--with an
+occasional word of assistance from Amy,--until the whole amounted to the
+sum of one hundred and thirty-three.
+
+"There," said Mrs Foster, with a pleased expression, as she put the
+figures down, "now how many twelves are in that--eh? let me see.  Twelve
+times twelve are a hundred and forty,--no, that's too much; twelve times
+eleven--how much is twelve times eleven?"
+
+Mrs Foster did not ask this of Amy; no, she gazed up at the ceiling,
+where an uncommonly large spider was affixing its web,--with the design,
+no doubt, of lowering itself down to the tea-table,--and demanded the
+solution of the problem, apparently, from that creature.
+
+"I think it is a hundred and thirty-two, mamma," said Amy, pouring out
+the tea.
+
+"Oh, _of course_, how stupid!" said Mrs Foster, who was quite struck
+with the obviousness of the fact--on being told it.  "There now, that
+comes to eleven shillings and one penny, which settles the Soup Kitchen.
+One pound two does the Hospital for the Blind, and there's one pound
+due to the Sailors' Home.  But still," continued Mrs Foster, with a
+return of the perplexed expression, "that does not get me out of my
+difficulty."
+
+"Come to tea, dear," said Amy, "and we will try to clear it up together
+afterwards."
+
+"Impossible, child.  I could not eat with appetite while this is
+puzzling my brain.  Let me see; there were fifteen pounds, _apparently_,
+spent last year, when I put it on paper, and yet here is a sovereign
+over," said Mrs Foster, holding up the coin, and looking at it
+reproachfully, as if the blame lay with it and not with herself.
+
+"Well, mamma," said Amy, laughing, "but where is your difficulty?"
+
+"Don't you see, child? by rights I ought to give fifteen pounds away;
+well, my book tells me that fifteen pounds _have_ been given, and yet
+here is a sovereign left over to give!"
+
+"Then don't give it, mamma, just put it back into your purse, and that
+will make the thing right, won't it?"
+
+"No, dear, it won't, because, you see, the money _must_ be right, so the
+book _must_ be wrong; oh! here it is.  I declare I have forgot to carry
+_one_.  There, that's right.  Now, dear, we shall have tea."
+
+It may be necessary to explain here, that although Amy called Mrs
+Foster "mamma," she was in fact not related to her at all, being only an
+adopted daughter.  Poor Amy Russell was a child of the sea.
+
+Two years previous to the time of which we write, she, with her father
+and mother, had been wrecked on the coast of Kent while returning from a
+long residence in New Zealand.  Their vessel filled the moment she
+struck, and the seas buried the hull so completely that passengers and
+crew were obliged to take to the rigging.  Here they remained all night
+exposed to the fury of the storm.  Many of the unfortunates, unable to
+withstand the exposure of that terrible night, fell or were washed out
+of the rigging and perished.  Among these were Amy's father and mother.
+Amy herself was taken care of by the captain, with whom she was a great
+favourite, and, along with those who remained until the morning, was
+saved by one of the lifeboats stationed on that coast.
+
+They had a narrow escape from drowning even after being taken into the
+boat, for, just as they were approaching the entrance to the harbour,
+where crowds of the inhabitants of the town were anxiously watching
+them, a tremendous sea completely filled the boat, swept away the
+starboard oars, and carried several of the wrecked passengers overboard,
+Amy being one of them.  This happened close under the head of the pier.
+All the passengers were recovered by the lifeboat's crew in a few
+seconds, with the exception of Amy, who, being exhausted by previous
+exposure, began to sink at once.  The boatmen, in the turmoil of raging
+water and howling wind, did not observe this, and a cry of consternation
+was uttered by the people on the pier, who saw the whole thing clearly
+from their elevated position; but the cry was either drowned by the
+noise of the tempest, or not understood by the boatmen.
+
+At that moment a tall stripling on the pier raced to the edge of it,
+shot like a rocket head-foremost into the sea, and in a second or two
+reappeared with the young girl in his arms.  They were both dragged into
+the lifeboat, amid ringing cheers of delight and admiration.
+
+The stripling who did this brave deed was none other than our friend Guy
+Foster, who chanced to be lodging with his mother in the neighbouring
+town at that time.  Guy insisted on having Amy conveyed to his mother's
+place of abode.  Mrs Foster soon discovered that the poor orphan had
+neither relations nor friends in England, and having taken a fancy to
+her, adopted her as a daughter.  Thus did she come to call Mrs Foster
+"mamma," and to preside at the tea-table in Sandhill Cottage.
+
+But, to return from this digression:--Mrs Foster was congratulating
+herself on having discovered the error in her accounts, when the door
+opened and a stout florid woman, of fifty or thereabouts, with a shiny
+red skin, presented herself and said:
+
+"Please, ma'am, here's a gentleman as wants to see you, and won't go
+away, though I told him you was at tea, w'ich is a fact, though it had
+no impression whatever on him, such is his imprence, goin' for to
+reflect on my character for truth, as never told a lie since I was a
+baby in long frocks, so I didn't; but it's always the way with these men
+that go tax-gatherin', though I don't know that he's that neether, so I
+don't; what shall I say, ma'am?"
+
+Mrs Laker, having uttered the foregoing without pause or inflection of
+voice from beginning to end, came to an abrupt stop.  Whether from want
+of breath or ideas it is difficult to say; perhaps from both.
+
+"Show the gentleman in, Laker," said Mrs Foster; "no doubt he has good
+reason for wishing to see me."
+
+Laker vanished.  She was impulsive in her actions as well as in her
+words.  She was her mistress's factotum--her cook, housemaid,
+sempstress, and confidential adviser; in addition to which she was
+somewhat of a bore, being stubborn and opinionated, but a good and
+faithful servant on the whole.
+
+The individual who was presently introduced was a bustling little old
+gentleman with a shining bald head and a cheerful countenance.
+
+"Excuse my rudeness--madam--" he began, bowing low, as he advanced with
+a hesitating step--"this intrusion, really--"
+
+"Do not mention it, sir, pray be seated," said Mrs Foster; "you are
+welcome--surely I have met with you before?"
+
+She put on a pair of gold spectacles as she said this, and looked
+earnestly at her visitor, who, having placed his hat on the floor and
+bowed to Amy, sat down and pulled out a bundle of papers.
+
+"You have, madam," replied the visitor.  "My name is Summers--David
+Summers, ma'am, at your service.  I had the pleasure of being introduced
+to you at a meeting in a town not far distant, where an effort was being
+made to raise contributions towards the establishment of a lifeboat--"
+
+"Oh!  I recollect," cried Mrs Foster, whose sympathetic heart at once
+opened to the man who had made (as she had thought) such an eloquent
+appeal at the meeting in question; "I am delighted to see you, Mr
+Summers.  If I mistake not, I invited you to come and see me when you
+should visit this part of the coast."
+
+"You were kind enough to do so, madam, hence my venturing to call at
+this hour.  I quit Deal to-morrow, early, and I am anxious to re-plead
+my old cause with you; but indeed I know this to be unnecessary, your
+own sympathies being already enlisted in my favour."
+
+Mrs Foster assured Mr Summers that he was right, but begged of him,
+notwithstanding, to plead with her as if she were an enemy, in order
+that she might hear all he had to say on the subject, adding, that she
+hoped he would stay and have a cup of tea.
+
+Hereupon Mr Summers bowed, drew in his chair, remarked to Amy that the
+lifeboat service was one of the most interesting and important topics of
+the day, and the National Lifeboat Institution one of the most valuable
+institutions in the kingdom, and at once launched into his favourite
+theme with all the gusto of an enthusiast who has gained the ear of a
+sympathetic audience.
+
+We will, however, spare the reader the details and statistics which
+afforded so much pleasure to Mrs Foster and her adopted daughter,
+knowing full well that there is an immense difference between these when
+set down in hard type, and when poured forth in rich energetic tones,
+backed by twinkling eyes and a beaming countenance.
+
+"Do you really mean to tell me, Mr Summers," said Mrs Foster--when the
+old gentleman came to the end of a long statement, "that about a
+thousand ships are wrecked, and nearly a thousand lives lost, besides
+more than a million pounds worth of property, on the shores of this
+country _every year_?"
+
+"It is a sad but incontrovertible fact," replied Mr Summers.  "Official
+lists are drawn up annually by the Board of Trade, which give the number
+and positions of wrecks--cold dry lists they are too.  Matter-of-fact
+columns and figures, without a touch of softness about them.  They are
+not meant to appeal to the feelings; they are a mere record of facts.
+So many vessels went ashore in such and such a gale--they were sunk,
+dismasted, dashed to pieces.  So many persons were saved, so many
+drowned,--that is all.  Ah! who can picture to himself the awful
+realities that are condensed in those brief accounts?
+
+"When a magnificent steamer, after a fine voyage from the antipodes,
+comes within hail of port, is caught in a fearful hurricane, cast ashore
+and dashed to pieces, leaving hundreds of passengers, men, women, and
+children, to perish in the dark night, grasping the very rocks of their
+native land, the event is too awful to escape notice.  So numerous are
+the crushed and broken hearts in the land, that their cry awakens public
+attention, and the newspapers teem for a time with graphic details of
+the wreck; details which, graphic though they be, fall inconceivably
+short of the dread reality; but no notice is taken, except in the way of
+brief record, of the dozens of small coasting vessels that shared the
+fate of that steamer in the same terrific gale.  No one reads the fate
+of yonder little schooner, one mast of which is seen just peeping out of
+the sea under that frowning cliff, and yet there is a terrible tale
+connected with it.  Who shall tell or conceive of the agonies endured,
+before the morning light came, by the skipper and his crew of four men
+and a boy, as their little ship was lifted and flung upon the rocks by
+each succeeding wave?  And who can conceive their feelings when the
+longed for light _did_ come at last, and daring fishermen on the shore
+sought to render aid in vain, for their boats were overturned and cast
+back upon the beach, and themselves barely escaped with their lives, and
+so the perishing men stood in helpless misery and gazed landward in
+despair until a mighty wave carried away the mast to which they clung,
+and, with a last wild shriek they sank in sight of friends and home,
+because _there was no lifeboat there_."
+
+"Can this be true?" said Mrs Foster, in a tone of deep sympathy.
+
+"True!" echoed Mr Summers, "would God that it were not.  I have
+mentioned but one case, yet it is a fact that for _every_ gale that
+blows _dozens_ of wrecks take place on our coasts, each with its more or
+less tragic history.  You remember the last gale?  It is not three weeks
+since it blew.  No fewer than one hundred and ninety-five wrecks took
+place on the shores of the United Kingdom on that night and the
+following day, and six hundred and eighty-four lives were lost, many of
+which would undoubtedly have been saved had there been a sufficient
+number of lifeboats stationed along our shores; for you must bear in
+remembrance, that although hundreds of lives are annually saved by
+ordinary shore boats, and by ships' boats, hundreds also are saved by
+lifeboats in circumstances in which ordinary boats would be utterly
+useless.
+
+"Here is a newspaper paragraph," continued the old gentleman, unfolding
+a paper and preparing to read, "which shows the brief way in which the
+public prints at times notice events of the most stirring and heroic
+nature:--`On the morning of the 3rd December last, after a stormy and
+rainy night, the wind shifted to the North West and blew a hurricane.
+Many vessels got on shore near Holyhead, from various causes.  The
+lifeboat of the National Lifeboat Institution was launched and proceeded
+to their assistance.  She got ahead of one, a schooner, and anchored,
+but the intense violence of the wind blew her to leeward, anchor and
+all, and she was unable to communicate, and had great difficulty in
+returning ashore.  She again put off to the schooner _Elizabeth_ of
+Whitehaven, which had a signal of distress flying, having parted one
+chain, and brought her crew of four men on shore.  The hurricane
+continued unabated well into the night.  The weather having moderated,
+the lifeboat was despatched at 2 a.m., and brought on shore twenty-three
+men from the _Confiance_ of Liverpool; then again put off and brought
+ashore nineteen men from the barque _Elizabeth Morrow_ of Glasgow; next
+proceeded to the schooner _L'Esperance_ of Nantes, and saved two men,
+making altogether a total of forty-eight lives saved by the lifeboat in
+this hurricane only.'
+
+"Dear madam," observed Mr Summers, looking at Mrs Foster over his
+spectacles, "surely it is unnecessary for me to point out that this
+brief narrative does not give us the most distant conception of the
+terrors, the endurance, the heroism, incident to that night!  Permit me
+to read you another paragraph.  It is given more in detail and does
+better justice to the scene."
+
+The old gentleman selected another paper, opened it, and read as
+follows:--
+
+"`The sum of 9 pounds has recently been given by the National Lifeboat
+Institution to a boat's crew, in appreciation of their gallant conduct
+in putting off in a salmon-coble, during a heavy gale of wind, and
+rescuing, at great risk of life, the crew of four men of the schooner
+_Thankful_ of Sunderland, which was totally wrecked off Burghead, n.b.,
+on the 19th July.  Every moment the position of the ship was becoming
+more dangerous as the advancing tide drove her in among the small rocks
+at the back of the sea-wall, and no boat could live in the terrible
+surge that was fast breaking up the vessel.  The crew, four in number,
+along with the pilot, took to the fore-rigging, and in a short time the
+beach was strewn with pieces of the wreck--the bulwarks were nearly all
+destroyed--the boat washed overboard--and the deck broken up.  Though
+only forty yards from the pier, not the least assistance could be
+rendered to the crew, whose faces were quite distinguishable as they
+clung to the swaying rigging.  At twenty minutes past six the fore-mast
+cracked, and its living freight had hardly time to crawl down to the
+only bulwark above water (for the schooner now lay on her beam-ends with
+her bilge towards the sea), when it fell by the board.  In about five
+minutes more the main-topmast was snapped by the gale as if it had been
+a reed, while the bowsprit and other gear were carried away, leaving
+nothing but the gutted hull with the mainmast standing.  Another hour of
+awful suspense passed, during which the five men lashed themselves to
+the bulwark, the sea every other minute breaking over their heads in
+huge masses.  At half-past seven, one of the sailors, a young man, was
+washed from the wreck, but fortunately succeeded in catching the
+floating rigging, by which he was able to regain his former position.
+Another young heroic sailor seemed to be the life of the whole company
+in this trying emergency, and his efforts to keep up the spirits of his
+companions were signally successful.  About eight o'clock the waves
+broke over the ship with renewed violence, but still those on the shore
+could return no answer in the affirmative to the piercing cry that came
+from the wreck, "Can't we get a boat?"  The voice was that of the
+gallant sailor already referred to; the others were too much exhausted
+to utter a word.  McIntosh, the pilot from Burghead, expired from sheer
+cold and exhaustion.  None who saw him perish soon forgot the fearful
+agony of his daughter as she bade her father farewell from the parapet
+of the breakwater.  After renewed efforts a boat was got over the
+breakwater, and at great risk succeeded in saving the other men, who
+were in a very exhausted condition.'
+
+"And now, dear madam," pursued the old gentleman, tying up his papers,
+"I will not run the risk of wearying you with more details, but come to
+the point at once by soliciting from you a contribution towards the
+establishment of a lifeboat on the coast here, where I am sure you must
+be well aware there is very great need for one."
+
+"I am sure there is," said Mrs Foster, opening her box; "alas!  I fear
+the wind is rising even now.  The rattling of the window-frames will
+bring what you have told me to remembrance ever after this night.  How
+much does it require to establish a lifeboat?"
+
+"Between five and six hundred pounds," replied Mr Summers.  "After
+which about twenty pounds annually will suffice to maintain it in
+working order."
+
+"So much!" exclaimed Mrs Foster.  "I fear that you will find it
+difficult to raise so large a sum."
+
+"I trust not, but if we raise a pretty large proportion of it, the
+Lifeboat Institution will make up the balance.  Perhaps"--here the old
+gentleman paused and looked dubiously at Mrs Foster--"perhaps you would
+like to know the precise nature of the objects for which the Lifeboat
+Institution has been founded.  Will you do me the favour to listen for
+five minutes longer?  The operations of the Institution are of deep
+importance to the national welfare."
+
+Mrs Foster at once expressed her willingness to listen, and the old
+gentleman, re-opening his bundle of papers, selected one from which he
+read sundry interesting details regarding the National Lifeboat
+Institution.
+
+It need scarcely be said, that with such a sympathetic mind to address
+as that of Mrs Foster, Mr Summers prolonged his visit for another
+hour, and it is perhaps equally unnecessary to say that the worthy lady
+found a suitable object on which to bestow the sovereign which had
+perplexed her so much at an earlier part of the evening.  She not only
+gave the money with the air of a "cheerful giver," but she begged Mr
+Summers to send her as many papers on the subject of lifeboats and
+wrecks as he happened to be possessed of, and promised to become an
+active agent in pleading with her friends in behalf of the object he had
+in view.
+
+The wind was rising while the party in Sandhill Cottage were thus
+engaged.  It came in ominous and heavy gusts, rattling the window-frames
+and moaning in the chimneys to such an extent that Mrs Laker, who was
+of a timid and superstitious nature, was fain to sit outside the parlour
+door in order to be near the other inmates of the cottage.
+
+"About a thousand lives lost in each year on the shores of this
+kingdom!" thought Mrs Foster, as she lay in bed that night listening to
+the rising storm with feelings of awe and solemnity which she had never
+before experienced.
+
+If Mrs Foster had been acquainted with the subject in detail, she might
+have had further food for solemn reflection in the fact that the greater
+part of those lives were lost _unnecessarily_; that their loss was owing
+not nearly so much to the direct providence of God as to the
+incompetence, the ignorance, the false economy, and the culpable
+carelessness of man.
+
+Mrs Foster's head lay on a soft pillow while the tempest raged around
+her humble dwelling.  She little thought that one around whom her
+heart-strings were entwined was out on the wild sea that night, exposed
+to its utmost fury and in urgent need of the aid of that species of boat
+which had filled her thoughts that evening, and still continued to
+influence her dreams.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+THE GALE--FALSE ECONOMY AND ITS RESULTS--A WRECK ON THE GOODWIN SANDS.
+
+What seamen style a "whole gale" seemed to be brewing when the "Nancy"
+tripped her anchor and shook out her sails.
+
+Sailors have a quiet, matter-of-fact, and professional way of talking
+about the weather.  Landsmen would be surprised (perhaps something
+more!) if exposed to what Jack calls a stiff breeze, or a capful of
+wind.  A "whole gale" may sound peculiar to some ears, but if the said
+gale were to sound _in_ the same ears, the hearers would be apt to style
+it, in consternation, "a most tremendous hurricane!"
+
+On board the "Nancy," Bax and Bluenose had some suspicion that
+_something_ was brewing, but whether a "whole gale," or "half a gale,"
+or a "stiff breeze," they could not be expected to divine, not being
+possessed of supernatural gifts.
+
+Had they been possessed of a good barometer they would have been able to
+foretell what was coming without supernatural gifts; but Messrs. Denham,
+Crumps, and Company were economical in their tendencies, and deemed
+barometers superfluous.  Being, to some extent, ignorant of nautical
+affairs (as well as of scientific), and being to a large extent
+indifferent to the warning voices of those who knew better, they thought
+fit to intrust the "Nancy" to the unaided wisdom of the intelligent
+young seaman who commanded her.
+
+Of course, being acute men of business, they took every "needful"
+precaution, and being men of experience, they were not blind to the fact
+that many vessels were annually lost; they therefore insured schooner
+and cargo to their full value.  Having done so, Messrs. Denham, Crumps,
+and Company felt at ease.  If the "Nancy" should happen to go down--no
+matter; it would perhaps be a more rapid and satisfactory way of
+terminating a doubtful venture!  It was just possible that in the event
+of the "Nancy" going down _lives_ might be lost, and other lives
+rendered desolate.  What then?  The "Firm" had nothing to do with that!
+The lives embarked in the "Nancy" did not belong to Denham, Crumps, and
+Company.  If they should go to the bottom, there would be nothing to
+lose, and nothing to pay; perhaps a trifle to the widows and children,
+that was all!  In regard to this also they felt quite at ease.
+
+On the strength of such views and opinions the tackling of the "Nancy"
+was allowed to become rotten; the cables and the anchors of the "Nancy"
+were economically weak and insufficient; the charts of the "Nancy" were
+old and inaccurate, and the "Nancy" herself was in all respects utterly
+unseaworthy.
+
+It could scarcely be expected, however, that the operations of Nature
+were to be suspended because of the unprepared condition of this vessel;
+not to mention hundreds of others in similar condition.  The gale
+continued to "brew."  A stiff breeze carried the "Nancy" down the Thames
+towards the open sea; then a sudden calm left her to float without
+progressive motion on the water.  As evening approached the breeze
+sprang up again and freshened.  Then it chopped round to the east, and
+when night fell it began to blow hard right in the teeth of the little
+vessel.
+
+Bax was a good and a bold seaman.  He knew the coast well, and hoped, in
+due course, to double the North Foreland, and find shelter in the Downs.
+He knew the channels and buoys thoroughly, and had often run the same
+course in stormy weather.  But the gale which now began to buffet the
+little schooner was of more than ordinary violence.  It was one of those
+fierce hurricanes which, once in a year, or, it may be, once in three or
+four years, bursts upon our island, strews the coast with wrecks, fills
+many homes and hearts with desolation, and awakens the inhabitants of
+the inland counties to a slight sense of the terrible scenes that are of
+constant occurrence on the shores which form the bulwark of their
+peaceful homes.
+
+"We shall have rough weather to-night, I fear," observed Mr Burton,
+coming on deck some time after sunset, and addressing Bax; "doubtless
+you know the channels well, young sir?"
+
+"I do," replied the sailor, with a peculiar smile.  "Twelve years'
+experience has not been altogether thrown away on me.  I have sailed
+these waters in old Jeph's lugger since I was a little boy."
+
+"Is that old Jeph the smuggler, sometimes called the mad philosopher,
+from the circumstance of his mind being much taken up with odd notions
+about lifeboats?" inquired the missionary.
+
+"The same," replied Bax, "though I'll go bound for it there's not an
+honester man in Deal than old Jeph is now, whatever he may have done in
+the smuggling way when he was young.  I have known him only as a good
+old man; and in regard to these same notions he has about lifeboats,
+it's my firm belief that we'll see his plans, or something like them,
+carried out before long.  He's not so mad as folk think, and certainly
+not half so mad as the people who give no thought whatever to these
+subjects."
+
+Bax said this warmly, for there was a strong bond of sympathy between
+him and his old friend, whom he could not bear to hear mentioned in a
+slighting manner.
+
+"I meant not to say a word against old Jeph," replied Mr Burton,
+quickly.  "I merely spoke of him in the way in which seamen in these
+parts commonly refer to him.  It pleases me much to hear so good a
+character of him from one who, I have no doubt, has had good opportunity
+of judging."
+
+Here Guy Foster, who was standing near the binnacle, turned round and
+said earnestly:--
+
+"I can testify to the fact that old Jeph is a good Christian man; at
+least if love to our Saviour, and anxiety for the salvation of souls, is
+to be accepted as evidence."
+
+The missionary said that there was no better evidence than that, and was
+about to question Bax further in regard to the old man who bore such a
+peculiar character, when a loud peal of thunder drew the attention of
+all to the threatening aspect of the weather.
+
+"Heave the lead, Bill!" cried Bax to one of the men.
+
+"Ha! that's wot I've been lookin' for," observed Bluenose, spitting his
+quid over the lee bulwarks, and replacing it with a fresh one.  "I've
+never got no confidence in a skipper as don't keep his lead a-goin' in
+shoal water.  Specially in sich waters as them 'ere, wot shifts more or
+less with every gale."
+
+The command to heave the lead was followed by an order to reduce sail,
+and as the gale freshened and the night closed in, this order was
+repeated more than once, until the schooner was beating to windward
+under the smallest possible amount of canvas.
+
+An anxious expression rested on Bax's face as he stood by the steersman,
+glancing alternately at the sails and at the horizon where clouds of the
+blackest kind were gathering.
+
+"Does your barometer indicate very bad weather?" inquired Mr Burton.
+
+"I have no barometer," replied Bax, bitterly.
+
+The missionary looked surprised, and Guy Foster bit his lip, for he felt
+that this piece of false economy was a blot on the firm to which he
+belonged.  In order to change the subject, he inquired for Lucy, who,
+since the time of her rescue, had remained in bed.
+
+"My daughter does well, thanks be to God!" said Burton.  "I think that
+no evil will flow from her accident, for she was but a short time in the
+water; thanks to _you_, friend Bax."
+
+"And to my 'prentice, Tommy Bogey," said Bax, with an arch smile which
+was peculiar to him when he felt humorously disposed.
+
+The smile fled, however, and was replaced by an anxious look, as Tommy
+himself came aft and reported that the schooner had sprung a leak.
+
+Bax instantly went below, and returned with the assurance that the leak
+was trifling.
+
+"The `Nancy' is a sorry old hulk," said he, "but half an hour more on
+this tack, and I'll 'bout ship and run for the Downs, where we will be
+comparatively safe."
+
+The gale had by this time increased so much that the little craft lay
+over with her lee bulwarks almost under water at times.
+
+Little fear would her gallant commander have felt had she been tight,
+and trim and sound; but he knew that her rigging was old, and one of her
+masts unsound, and he felt that the best seamanship could be of no avail
+whatever against her numerous defects.  His experienced eye told him
+that a storm of no ordinary severity was coming, and he trembled for the
+life of the young girl who had been so unexpectedly placed under his
+care.
+
+Had the dangers attendant upon an unseaworthy vessel and the difficulty
+of navigating the channels of these celebrated Sands, been all that Bax
+had to fear, he would have felt comparatively at ease; but the
+economical spirit of Denham, Crumps, and Company had supplied him with
+anchors and chains which he feared were neither new enough nor
+sufficiently powerful to hold his vessel after she had gained her
+anchorage-ground.  In these circumstances, he resolved to run for the
+shelter of Ramsgate Harbour.
+
+Before he could carry out his intentions the wind chopped round to the
+north, and for some time blew so hard as to threaten the capsizing of
+the schooner.  The cross sea also rendered her almost unmanageable, so
+that, ere long, she was driven to leeward of the outer lightship that
+marks the north end of the Goodwins.
+
+Again the wind shifted a few points to the eastward, and soon the
+"Nancy" was flying like a racehorse towards the shore.
+
+Pilots and seamen alone can properly comprehend the peculiar dangers
+that attend the navigation of this part of our coast.  It would only
+perplex a landsman to be told in detail the proceedings of the "Nancy"
+and her crew after this point.  Suffice it to say that Bax handled her
+with consummate skill, and did all that man could do for the safety of
+his vessel, and the human lives that were dependent on his knowledge and
+care.
+
+"Is your daughter dressed?" inquired Bax of Mr Burton, as a fiercer
+gust than usual nearly laid the schooner on her beam-ends, and deluged
+the decks with water.
+
+"No, she sleeps soundly, and I am loth to disturb her.  Do you think we
+are in much danger?"
+
+"In none, if the schooner were seaworthy, but in much, seeing that she
+has not got a sound plank or spar.  Go down, sir, and get her dressed at
+once; and, harkee, let her put on every wrap she happens to have with
+her."
+
+The missionary needed no second bidding.  He went below to rouse and
+assist Lucy, while Bluenose, Guy, and the rest of those on board, held
+on to ropes, and belaying pins, and awaited the result in silence.  The
+noise of the wind, and the peals of thunder that seemed to tear the
+heavens asunder, rendered conversation impossible.  They all felt that a
+few minutes would decide whether this terrible rush landward would
+terminate in safety or disaster, and they knew that everything, as far
+as human skill had to do with it, depended on Bax.
+
+With a look of calm, sober gravity the young seaman stood grasping the
+weather-shrouds of the mainmast, and looking intently towards the
+light-ship called the Gull Light, which is anchored off the
+North-sand-head.
+
+During this period of suspense the lead was kept constantly going, and
+reported almost every half-minute.  Precious, significant, half-minutes
+those, as much so as are the last few grains of sand in the hour-glass!
+
+"Keep her away two points," cried Bax.
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," answered the steersman.  At that moment a violent gust
+snapped the topsail-yard, and the sail was instantly blown to ribbons.
+The dashing of this spar about carried away the foretop-mast, and almost
+as a necessary consequence, the jib with the jib-boom went along with
+it.
+
+The schooner instantly became unmanageable, and was driven bodily to
+leeward.
+
+Seizing an axe, Bax, with the prompt assistance of the crew and his
+friends, soon cleared away the wreck, and once more got the head of his
+vessel round towards the Gull Light, the lanterns of which were seen
+faintly gleaming through the murky atmosphere.  But it was too late.
+The breakers of the North-sand-head were already roaring under their
+lee, and also right ahead of them.
+
+"Port! port! hard a-port!" shouted Bax.
+
+"Port it is," replied the steersman, with that calm professional
+sing-song tone peculiar to seamen.
+
+At that instant, the schooner struck the sand, passed over the first
+line of breakers, and rushed onwards to certain destruction.
+
+"Bring Lucy on deck," cried Bax.
+
+Mr Burton ran below to obey, but the words had scarce been spoken when
+Guy Foster entered the cabin, and seizing the trembling girl in his
+arms, bore her gently but swiftly to the deck.
+
+Here the scene that met her gaze was truly awful.  It seemed as if above
+and below there were but one wild chaos of waters over which brooded a
+sky of ebony.  The schooner had by this time got into the hideous
+turmoil of shallow water, the lurid whiteness of which gleamed in the
+dark like unearthly light.  As yet the vessel was rushing fiercely
+through it, the rudder had been carried away by the first shock, and she
+could not be steered.  Just as Lucy was placed by Bax in a position of
+comparative shelter under the lee of the quarter-rails, the "Nancy"
+struck a second time with fearful violence; she remained hard and fast
+on the sands, and the shock sent her foremast overboard.
+
+If the condition of the little vessel was terrible before, its position
+now was beyond description awful.  The mad seas, unable to hurl her
+onward, broke against her sides with indescribable fury, and poured tons
+of water on the deck; so that no one could remain on it.  Having
+foreseen this, Bax had prepared for it.  He had warned all on board to
+keep close by the main shrouds, and take to the mast when the schooner
+should strike.  He himself bore Lucy aloft in his strong arms as if she
+had been a little child, and placed her on the main cross-trees.  Here
+she clung with a convulsive grasp to the main-topmast, while Guy secured
+her in her position with a rope.
+
+Sitting down on the cross-trees and holding on to them by his legs--a
+matter of no little difficulty, as the vessel was rolling violently from
+side to side, Bax began to strip off his thick pilot-coat, intending to
+cover the girl with it.  But he was arrested by the boy Tommy Bogey.
+
+"Hold on," he shouted into his commander's ear, "I fetched up this un; I
+know'd ye'd want it for 'er."
+
+Tommy had thoughtfully carried up one of Bax's spare coats, and now
+handed it to his master, who, assisted by Mr Burton, wrapped it
+carefully round Lucy, and then descended the rigging to examine the
+state of the vessel.
+
+She heeled very much over to leeward, but the form of the bank on which
+she lay fortunately prevented her being thrown altogether on her
+beam-ends.  Had this happened, the cross-trees would have been buried in
+water, and all must have perished.
+
+When Bax re-ascended the mast, Bluenose put his mouth close to his ear
+and shouted:
+
+"Couldn't ye send up a rocket?"
+
+"Han't got any," replied Bax.
+
+There had been a signal-gun aboard, but at the first shock it tore its
+fastenings out of the old planks, and went crashing through the lee
+bulwarks into the sea.
+
+"Couldn't we get up a glim no-how?" pursued Bluenose.  "Ay, couldn't
+that be done?" cried Guy, who clambered towards them in order to take
+part in the consultation, for the shrieking of the storm rendered every
+voice inaudible at the distance of anything more than an inch or two
+from the ear.
+
+"The matches were in the cabin, and that's flooded now," said Bax.
+
+Guy replied by taking a tin box from his pocket, in which were a few
+matches.
+
+"Ha! that'll do," cried Bax eagerly, "there's a can of turpentine just
+under the fore-hatch, which can't have been damaged by water.  I'll go
+and fetch it."
+
+"Stay, _I_ will go.  Do you look after Lucy and her father," said Guy;
+and, without waiting for a reply, he slid down one of the back-stays and
+gained the deck.
+
+To traverse this was an act involving great danger and difficulty.  The
+waves broke over it with such force that Guy's arms were nearly torn out
+of their sockets while he held to the bulwarks.  He attained his object,
+however, and in a short time returned to the cross-trees with the can.
+Bax had in the meantime cut off some of the drier portions of his
+clothing.  These, with a piece of untwisted rope, were soaked in
+turpentine, and converted hastily into a rude torch; but it was long
+before a light could be got in such a storm.  The matches were nearly
+exhausted before this was accomplished.  Only those who have been in
+similar circumstances can adequately appreciate the intense earnestness
+with which each match was struck, the care with which it was guarded
+from the wind, and the eager anxiety with which the result was watched;
+also the sinking of heart that followed each effort, as, one by one,
+they flared for an instant and went out!
+
+At last the saturated mass caught fire, and instantly a rich flame of
+light flashed over the wild scene, and clearly revealed to them the
+appalling circumstances in which they were placed.  Poor Lucy shuddered,
+and covering her eyes cast herself in prayer on Him who is "mighty to
+save."  Bax raised the burning mass high over his head, and waved it in
+the black air.  He even clambered to the top of the broken mast, in
+order to let it be seen far and wide over the watery waste.  The
+inflammable turpentine refused to be quenched by the raging storm, and
+in a few seconds they had the comfort of seeing the bright flame of a
+rocket shoot up into the sky.  At the same moment a flash in the
+distance showed that their signal had been observed by the light-ship.
+
+The sound of the gun was not heard by those on the wreck, but both it
+and the rocket were observed from the shore, where many a hardy seaman
+and pilot, knowing full well the dangers of such a night, kept watch and
+ward in order to render prompt assistance to their fellow-men in
+distress.
+
+It would be a matter of some interest to ascertain how many of the
+inhabitants of this busy, thickly-populated isle are aware of the fact
+that during every storm that blows, while they are slumbering,
+perchance, in security and comfort in their substantial dwellings, there
+are hundreds, ay, thousands, of hardy seamen all round our coasts,
+standing patiently in such sheltered spots as they can find, encased in
+oilskin, and gazing anxiously out into the dark sea, regardless of the
+pelting storm, indifferent to the bitter cold, intent only on rendering
+aid to their fellow-men, and ready at a moment's notice to place life
+and limb in the most imminent jeopardy,--for what?  Can any one suppose
+that they do this for the sake of the silver medal, or the ten or twenty
+shillings awarded to those who thus act by the Lifeboat Institution?  Do
+men in other circumstances hold their lives so cheap?  Assuredly there
+is a higher, a nobler motive that prompts the heroes of our coast to
+their deeds of self-sacrifice and daring.
+
+To those who clung to the main-top of the "Nancy" these signals were a
+bright gleam of hope, with the exception of Lucy, whose spirit sank when
+she endeavoured in vain to penetrate the thick darkness that followed.
+Suspecting this, Bluenose, who clung to the cross-trees beside the
+missionary, and assisted him to shelter his daughter from the storm,
+shouted in her ear to keep her mind easy, "for the people on shore would
+be sure to send off the lifeboat, and there would be no danger if the
+mast held on!"
+
+"If the mast held on!"  Ha! little did Lucy know how much anxiety filled
+the heart of Bax in regard to the mast holding on!  With much difficulty
+he had persuaded Denham, Crumps, and Company, about a year before the
+events we are now relating, that the mainmast of the "Nancy" was utterly
+useless, and obtained their unwilling consent to have it renewed.  But
+for this it would have shared the fate of the foremast, and those who
+now clung to it would have been in eternity.  But although the mast was
+strong, its step and holdfasts, Bax knew, were the reverse of sound; and
+while he stood there cheering his companions with hopeful remarks, he
+alone knew how frail was the foundation on which his hopes were founded.
+
+Fortunately for Lucy and her father, they looked to a higher source of
+comfort than the young skipper of the "Nancy."  They knew that it was no
+uncommon thing for men, women, and children to be saved, on the coasts
+of Britain, "_as if_ by miracle," and they felt themselves to be in the
+hands of Him "whom the winds and the sea obey."
+
+Guy held on to the weather-shrouds close to Bax.  Speaking so as not to
+be heard by the others, he said:
+
+"Is there much chance of a boat putting off to us?"
+
+"Not much," replied Bax.  "A lugger could scarcely live in such a sea.
+Certainly it could not come near us in this shoal water.  I doubt even
+if the lifeboat could come here."
+
+For two hours after this they remained silently in their exposed
+position, their limbs stiffening with cold, drenched continually with
+spray, and occasionally overwhelmed by the crest of a monstrous wave.
+Sometimes a rocket from the lightship shot athwart the dark sky, and at
+all times her lights gleamed like faint stars far away to windward.
+When the sea broke around them in whiter sheets than usual, they could
+see the head of the broken foremast drawn against it like a black line
+to leeward.  Everything else above and below, was thick darkness.
+
+One of the seamen, who had been for some time in bad health, was the
+first to give way.  Without uttering a word he loosened his hold of the
+shrouds and fell backwards.  Guy saw him falling, and, making a
+desperate grasp at him, caught him by the breast of his shirt, but the
+garment gave way, and next moment he was down in the boiling flood.
+Guy, with an impulse that was natural to him, was about to leap off to
+his rescue, but Bluenose caught him by the collar and held him forcibly
+back.  In another moment the man was gone for ever.
+
+So silently did all this pass, and so furious was the tumult of the
+storm, that Lucy and her father were not aware of what had occurred.
+
+Our brave little friend Tommy Bogey was the next who failed.  Whether it
+was that witnessing the seaman's death had too powerful an effect on his
+spirit, or that the cold acted more severely on his young muscles than
+on those of his companions, it is impossible to say, but, soon after the
+loss of the man, the boy felt his strength giving way.  Turning with
+instinctive trust to his friend in this extremity, he shouted:--
+
+"Bax, give us a hand!"
+
+Before his friend could do so, his grasp relaxed and he fell back with a
+piercing shriek that rose above even the howling wind.
+
+Almost an instant after he struck the water, Bax dived head-foremost
+into it, and came up with him in his arms.  Both man and boy went to
+leeward instantly.  The former had counted on this.  The fate of the
+seaman who had just perished had led him to reflect that a vigorous
+effort might have enabled him to gain the stump of the fore-mast, which
+still stood, as we have said, to leeward of the main-mast.  Acting on
+this thought, he had plunged without hesitation when the moment for
+action came, although it did come unexpectedly.
+
+A faint shout soon told his horror-stricken companions that he had
+gained the point of safety.
+
+"It won't do to leave 'em there," cried Bluenose, starting up, and
+clambering as far out on the cross-trees as he dared venture; "even if
+the mast holds on, them seas would soon wash away the stoutest man
+living."
+
+"Oh! save my preserver!" cried Lucy, who, regardless of the storm, had
+sprung wildly up, and now stood clinging to a single rope, while her
+garments were almost torn from her limbs by the fury of the hurricane.
+
+"Can nothing be done to save them?" cried the missionary as he kindly
+but firmly dragged his daughter back to her former position.
+
+"Nothin', sir," said one of the sailors.  "There ain't a cask, nor
+nothin' to tie a rope to an' heave to wind'ard--an' it's as like as not
+it wouldn't fetch 'em if there wos.  They'd never see a rope if it wos
+veered to 'em--moreover, it wouldn't float.  Hallo!  Master Guy, wot are
+ye up to?"
+
+Guy had hauled in the slack of one of the numerous ropes attached to the
+main-mast that were floating away to leeward, and was fastening the end
+of it round his waist.  Bluenose and the missionary turned quickly on
+hearing the seaman's shout, but they were too late to prevent the bold
+youth from carrying out his design, even if they had wished to do so.
+
+Taking a vigorous spring to windward, Guy was in the sea in a moment.
+In another instant he was lost to view in darkness.  Bluenose seized the
+end of the rope, and awaited the result in breathless suspense.
+Presently a shout so faint that it seemed miles away, was heard to
+leeward, and the rope was jerked violently.
+
+"Now lads, all hands a-hoy!" cried Bluenose in wild excitement.  "Just
+give 'em time to haul in the slack, and tie it round 'em, and then pull
+with a will."
+
+The incident and the energy of the Captain seemed to act like a spell on
+the men who had up to this time clung to the shrouds in a state of
+half-stupor.  They clustered round Bluenose, and each gaining the best
+footing possible in the circumstances, seized hold of the rope.
+
+Again the rope was shaken violently, and a heavy strain was felt on it.
+The men pulled it in with difficulty, hand over hand, and in a short
+time Bax, Guy, and Tommy were once more safe in their former position on
+the cross-trees.
+
+Terrible indeed their danger, when such a position could be spoken of as
+one of safety!
+
+Another hour passed away.  To those who were out on that fatal night the
+minutes seemed hours--the hours days.
+
+Still no succour came to them.  The storm instead of abating seemed to
+be on the increase.  Had it not been for the peculiar form of the shoal
+on which they lay, the old vessel must have been dashed to pieces in the
+first hour of that terrible gale.
+
+Gradually Bax ceased to raise his encouraging voice--indeed the
+whistling wind would have rendered it inaudible--and the party on the
+cross-trees clung to their frail spar almost in despair.  As the gale
+increased so did the danger of their position.  No chance of deliverance
+seemed left to them; no prospect of escape from their dreadful fate; the
+only ray of hope that came to them fitfully through the driving storm,
+was the faint gleaming of the lightship that guards the Goodwin Sands.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+HEROES OF THE KENTISH COAST--THE LIFEBOAT--THE RESCUE.
+
+Deal beach is peculiar in more respects than one.  There are a variety
+of contradictory appearances about it which somewhat puzzle a visitor,
+especially if he be accustomed to sea-coast towns and villages in other
+parts of the country.
+
+For one thing, all the boats seem hopelessly high and dry on the beach,
+without the chance, and apparently without any intention, of ever being
+got off again.  Then there is, at certain seasons of the year, nothing
+whatever doing.  Great hard-fisted fellows, with nautical garments and
+bronzed faces, are seen lounging about with their hands in their
+pockets, and with a heavy slowness in their gait, which seems to imply
+that they are elephantine creatures, fit only to be looked at and
+wondered at as monuments of strength and laziness.
+
+If the day happens to be fine and calm when the stranger visits the
+beach, he will probably be impressed with the idea that here is an
+accumulation of splendid sea-going _materiel_, which has somehow got
+hopelessly stranded and become useless.
+
+Of course, in the height of summer, there will be found bustle enough
+among the visitants to distract attention from the fact to which I
+allude; but in spring, before these migratory individuals arrive, there
+is marvellously little doing on Deal beach in fine weather.  The pilots
+and boatmen lounge about, apparently amusing themselves with pipes and
+telescopes; they appear to have no object in life but to kill time; they
+seem a set of idle hulking fellows;--nevertheless, I should say,
+speaking roughly, that at least the half of these men are heroes!
+
+The sturdy oak, in fine weather, bends only its topmost branches to the
+light wind, and its leaves and twigs alone are troubled by the summer
+breeze; but when the gale lays low the trees of the forest and whirls
+the leaves about like ocean spray, then the oak is stirred to wild
+action; tosses its gnarled limbs in the air, and moves the very earth on
+which it stands.  So the heroes on Deal beach are sluggish and quiescent
+while the sun shines and the butterflies are abroad; but let the storm
+burst upon the sea; let the waves hiss and thunder on that steep pebbly
+shore; let the breakers gleam on the horizon just over the fatal Goodwin
+Sands, or let the night descend in horrid blackness, and shroud beach
+and breakers alike from mortal view, then the man of Deal bestirs his
+powerful frame, girds up his active loins, and claps on his sou'-wester;
+launches his huge boat that seemed before so hopelessly high and dry;
+hauls off through the raging breakers, and speeds forth on his errand of
+mercy over the black and stormy sea with as much hearty satisfaction as
+if he were hasting to his bridal, instead of, as is too often the case,
+to his doom.
+
+Near the north end of Deal beach, not very far from the ruins of Sandown
+Castle, there stood an upturned boat, which served its owner as a hut or
+shelter whence he could sit and scan the sea.  This hut or hovel was a
+roomy and snug enough place even in rough weather, and although intended
+chiefly as a place of out-look, it nevertheless had sundry conveniences
+which made it little short of a veritable habitation.  Among these were
+a small stove and a swinging oil lamp which, when lighted, filled the
+interior with a ruddy glow that quite warmed one to look at.  A low door
+at one end of the hovel faced the sea, and there was a small square hole
+or window beside it, through which the end of a telescope generally
+protruded, for the owners of the hovel spent most of their idle time in
+taking observations of the sea.  There was a bench on either side of the
+hut which was lumbered with a confused mass of spars, sails,
+sou'westers, oil-skin coats and trousers; buoys, sea-chests, rudders,
+tar-barrels, and telescopes.
+
+This hovel belonged jointly to old Jeph and Captain Bluenose.  Bax had
+shared it with them before he was appointed to the command of the
+"Nancy."  In the olden time the owners of these nautical huts dwelt in
+them, hence the name of "hoveller" which is used at the present day.
+But with the progress of civilisation the hovellers have come to reside
+in cottages, and only regard the hovels as their places of business.
+Hovellers, as a class, do little else than go off to ships in distress
+and to wrecks; in which dangerous occupation they are successful in
+annually saving much property and many human lives.  Their livelihood
+from salvage, as may be supposed, is very precarious.  Sometimes they
+are "flush of cash," at other times reduced to a low enough ebb.  In
+such circumstances it almost invariably follows that men are
+improvident.
+
+Not many years ago the hovellers were notorious smugglers.  Many a bold
+deed and wild reckless venture was made on Deal beach in days of old by
+these fellows, in their efforts to supply the country with French lace,
+and brandy, and tobacco, at a low price!  Most of the old houses in Deal
+are full of mysterious cellars, and invisible places of concealment in
+walls, and beams, and chimneys; showing the extent to which contraband
+trade was carried on in the days of our fathers.  Rumour says that there
+is a considerable amount of business done in that way even in our own
+days; but everybody knows what a story-teller Rumour is.
+
+The only thing that gives any colour to the report is the fact that
+there is still a pretty strong coast-guard force in that region; and one
+may observe that whenever a boat comes to the beach a stout fellow in
+the costume of a man-of-war's man, goes up to it and pries into all its
+holes and corners, pulling about the ballast-bags and examining the same
+in a cool matter-of-course manner that must be extremely irritating, one
+would imagine, to the owner of the boat!
+
+At night, too, if one chances to saunter along Deal beach by moonlight,
+he will be sure to meet, ere long, with a portly personage of enormous
+breadth, enveloped in many and heavy garments, with a brace of pistols
+sticking out of his breast pockets, and a short cutlass by his side.
+But whatever these sights and symptoms may imply, there can be no
+question that smuggling now is not, by any means, what it was thirty or
+forty years ago.
+
+On the night of the storm, described in the last chapter, the only
+individual in old Jeph's hovel was old Jeph himself.  He was seated at
+the inner end of it on a low chest near the stove, the light of which
+shone brightly on his thin old face and long white locks, and threw a
+gigantic black shadow on the wall behind.  The old man was busily
+engaged in forming a model boat out of a piece of wood with a clasp
+knife.  He muttered to himself as he went on with his work, occasionally
+pausing to glance towards the door, the upper half of which was open and
+revealed the dark storm raging without.
+
+On one of these occasions old Jeph's eyes encountered those of a man
+gazing in upon him.
+
+"Is that you, Long Orrick?  Come in; it's a cold night to stand out i'
+the gale."
+
+He said this heartily, and then resumed his work, as if he had forgotten
+the presence of the other in an instant.  It is not improbable that he
+had, for Jeph was very old.  He could not have been far short of ninety
+years of age.
+
+Long Orrick entered the hovel, and sat down on a bench opposite the old
+man.  He was a very tall, raw-boned, ill-favoured fellow, of great
+muscular strength, and with a most forbidding countenance.  He was clad
+in oiled, rough-weather garments.
+
+"You seem busy, old man," said he abruptly.
+
+"Ay, I had need be busy," said old Jeph without looking up; "there are
+many lives to save; many lives bein' lost this very night, and no means
+of savin' 'em; leastwise not sufficient."
+
+"Humph! ye're eternally at that bit o' humbug.  It's bam, old man, all
+bam; bosh and gammon," said Orrick.  "It'll never come to no good, _I_
+tell ye."
+
+"Who knows?" replied the old man meekly, but going on with his work not
+the less diligently because of these remarks.
+
+"Jeph," said Orrick, leaning forward until his sharp features were
+within a few inches of his companion's face, "Jeph, will ye tell me
+where the `hide' is in yer old house?"
+
+"No, Long Orrick, I won't," replied the old man with an amount of energy
+of which he seemed, a few seconds before, quite incapable.
+
+The reply did not seem to please Long Orrick, neither did the steady
+gaze with which it was accompanied.
+
+"You won't?" said Orrick between his set teeth.
+
+"No," replied the old man, dropping his eyes on the little boat and
+resuming his work.
+
+"Why not," continued the other after a pause, "you don't require the
+hide, why won't you lend it to a chum as is hard up?"
+
+"Because I won't encourage smugglin'," said Jeph.  "You've smuggled
+enough in yer young days yerself, you old villain; you might help a
+friend a bit; it won't be you as does it."
+
+"It's because I have smuggled w'en I was young that I won't do it now
+that I'm old, nor help anyone else to," retorted Jeph; "besides, you're
+no friend o' mine."
+
+"What if I turn out to be an enemy?" cried Orrick, fiercely; "see here,"
+said he, drawing out a long knife, and holding it up so that the light
+of the stove glittered on its keen blade, "what if I give you a taste of
+this, old man?"
+
+"You won't," said Jeph, calmly.
+
+"No! why not?"
+
+"Because you're a coward," replied Jeph, with a quiet chuckle; "you know
+that you wouldn't like to be hanged, ha! ha! and you know that Bax would
+be down on you if you touched my old carcase."
+
+Long Orrick uttered a savage oath, and said, "I'm brave enough, anyhow,
+to let you taste the cold steel to-night--or desperate enough if ye
+prefer it."
+
+He seized Jeph by the throat as he spoke, and pressed the blade of the
+knife against his breast.  The old man did not shrink, neither did he
+struggle.  He knew that he was in the hands of one whose type is but too
+common in this world, a bully and a coward, and, knowing this, felt that
+he was safe.
+
+It seemed, however, as if the very elements scorned the man who could
+thus raise his hand against unprotected age, for the wind shrieked
+louder than usual in its fury, and a blinding flash of lightning,
+accompanied by a deep crash of thunder, added to the horror of the
+scene.
+
+Just then an exclamation was heard at the door of the hovel.  Long
+Orrick released his hold hastily, and turning round, observed a round
+ruddy visage scowling at him, and the glittering barrel of a pistol
+levelled at his head.
+
+"Ha! ha!" he laughed hoarsely, endeavouring to pass it off as a jest,
+"so you've caught us jokin', Coleman,--actin' a bit--and took it for
+arnest, eh?"
+
+"Well, if it _is_ actin', it's oncommon ugly actin', _I_ tell ye; a deal
+too nat'ral for my tastes, so I'd advise ye to drop it here, an' carry
+yer talents to a theaytre, where you'll be paid according to your
+desarts, Long Orrick."
+
+"Ah! the night air don't agree with ye, Coleman, so I'll bid ye
+good-bye," said the other, rising and quitting the hut.
+
+"Wot's he bin' a doin' of, old man?" inquired Coleman, who was a huge,
+ruddy, good-humoured coast-guardsman, with the aspect of a lion and the
+heart of a lamb; whose garments were of the roughest and largest kind,
+and who was, to adopt a time-honoured phrase, armed to the teeth,--that
+is to say, provided with a brace of pistols, a cutlass, and a port-fire,
+which last could, on being struck against a rock, burst into flame, and
+illuminate the region for many yards around him.
+
+"Oh, he's bin' actin'," replied the old man, with a quiet chuckle, as he
+resumed his work on the boat; "he's bin' actin', that's all."
+
+At this moment the boom of a gun fired by the Gull lightship broke on
+the ears of the men of Deal, and a moment later the bright flash of a
+rocket was seen.  It was the well-known signal that there was a ship in
+distress on the sands.
+
+Instantly the hardy boatmen were at work.  One of their largest boats
+was launched through the wild surf, as if by magic, and its stout crew
+were straining at the oars as if their lives depended on the result.
+
+The boat happened to be the one belonging to Captain Bluenose and his
+comrades, and the first man who leaped into her, as she was driven down
+into the sea, was Long Orrick; for, bad man though he was, he was not
+without his redeeming points, and, coward though he was before the face
+of man, he was brave enough in facing the dangers of the sea.
+
+It was a fearful struggle in which the Deal lugger engaged that night.
+The sea threatened to bury her altogether as she pushed off through the
+breakers, and some of the men seemed to think it would be too much for
+them.  A man named Davis took the helm; he had saved many a life on that
+coast in his day.
+
+The intense darkness of the night, coupled with the fury of the winds
+and waves, were such that no men, save those who were used to such
+scenes, would have believed it possible that any boat could live in so
+wild a storm.  In addition to this the cold was excessive, and the spray
+broke over them so continuously that the pump had to be kept going in
+order to prevent their getting filled altogether.
+
+It was a long weary pull to the Gull light-ship.  When they reached it
+they hailed those on board, and asked where away the wreck was.
+
+"Right down to leeward, on the Sand-head," was the reply.
+
+Away went the lugger before the gale with just a corner of the foresail
+hoisted.  It was not long before they came in sight of the breakers on
+the Sands.  Here they were obliged to put out the oars and exercise the
+utmost caution, lest they should incur the fate from which they had come
+out to rescue others.  Davis knew the shoals and channels well, and
+dropped down as far as he dared, but no wreck of any kind was to be
+seen.
+
+"D'ye see anything?" shouted Davis to Long Orrick, who was in the bow.
+
+Orrick's reply was inaudible, for the shrieking of the gale, and the
+roar of breakers drowned his voice.
+
+At that moment a huge wave broke at a considerable distance ahead of
+them, and against its white crest something like the mast of a vessel
+was discerned for an instant.
+
+"God help them!" muttered Davis to himself; "if they're as far as that
+on the sands there's no chance for them, unless, indeed, the Broadstairs
+or Ramsgate lifeboat finds 'em out.  Let go the anchors!" he shouted;
+"look sharp, lads!"
+
+The anchor was let go, and the lugger was veered down by its cable as
+far in the direction of the wreck as possible, but the boat was so large
+and drew so much water that they could not even get within sight of the
+wreck.  In these circumstances the men nestled as they best might under
+the lee of the boat's sides, and prepared to ride out the storm, or at
+least to remain at anchor there until day-light should enable them to
+act with more precision and safety.
+
+Fortunately for all parties concerned, other eyes and ears had been on
+the watch that night.  At Broadstairs, which lies a little to the north
+of Deal, the crew of the lifeboat had been on the look-out, and no
+sooner did they see the rocket and hear the gun, than they launched
+their boat and put off to the rescue.
+
+It is generally found that there are more men to man the lifeboats on
+many parts of our coasts than are required, and this is specially the
+case on the Kentish coast.  Hence, when the signal-rocket goes up on a
+stormy night, many eager eyes are on the watch, and there is a rush to
+the boat in order to secure a place.  On this occasion there were one or
+two men who, rather than wait to pull on their oilskin coats and
+pantaloons, had run down just as they happened to be clothed at the
+time, and in a very unfit state to face the inclemency of a night which
+might involve hours of unremitting and exhaustive labour.  These jumped
+into their places, however, and their less fortunate comrades, who
+arrived too late, supplied them with garments.  In five minutes the
+lifeboat was flying under sail towards the Goodwin Sands.
+
+Seldom had the Broadstairs boat faced so wild a storm as that which blew
+on this occasion.  The sea broke over her in cataracts.  Again and again
+she was more than half-filled with water, but this was speedily got rid
+of, and in the course of an hour she was beside the lugger.
+
+"Where away?" shouted the coxswain of the lifeboat as they passed.
+
+"Right ahead, not two cables' lengths," roared Davis.
+
+The sails of the lifeboat had already been lowered, and the oars were
+out in a second.  Gradually and slowly they dropped down towards the
+breakers, and soon caught sight of the mast of the "Nancy," still
+towering up in the midst of the angry waters.
+
+The danger to the lifeboat was now very great, for there was such a wild
+chopping sea on the sands that it ran great risk of being upset.  The
+boat was one of the old-fashioned stamp, which, although incapable of
+being sunk, was not secure against being overturned, and it did not
+possess that power of righting itself which characterises the lifeboats
+of the present day.
+
+In a few minutes they were near enough to see the mast of the "Nancy"
+dimly in the dark.  The coxswain immediately gave the order to let go
+the anchor and veer down towards the wreck.  Just as he did so, a
+terrific sea came rolling towards them like a black mountain.
+
+"Look out, men!" he shouted.
+
+Every man let go his oar, and, throwing himself on the thwart, embraced
+it with all his might.  The wave went right over them, sweeping the boat
+from stem to stern; but as it had met the sea stern-on it was not
+overturned.  It was completely filled however, and some time was
+necessarily lost in freeing it of water.  The oars, being attached to
+the sides of the boat by lanyards, were not carried away.
+
+In a few minutes they had veered down under the lee of the wreck.
+
+The crew and passengers of the "Nancy" were still clinging to the
+cross-trees, benumbed and almost unable to speak or move when the
+lifeboat approached.  With the exception of Bax and Bluenose, they were
+all so thoroughly exhausted as to have become comparatively indifferent
+to, and therefore ignorant of, all that was going on around them.  All
+their energies were required to enable them simply to retain their
+position on the rigging.  At first the sight of the rockets from the
+light-ship, and her lanterns gleaming in the far distance, had aroused
+feelings of hope, but as hour after hour passed away the most of the
+unhappy people fell into a sort of stupor or indifference, and the
+lights were no longer regarded with hopeful looks.
+
+When the lugger came towards them and anchored outside the Sands, it was
+so dark that none but sharp eyes could make her out through the blinding
+spray.  Bax and Bluenose descried her, but both of them were so well
+aware of the impossibility of a large boat venturing among the shoals
+and breakers that they tacitly resolved not to acquaint their comrades
+with its presence, lest they should raise false hopes, which, when
+disappointed, might plunge them into still deeper despair.
+
+Very different, however, were the feelings with which they beheld the
+approach of the lifeboat, which the practised eye of Bax discerned long
+before she came alongside.
+
+"The lifeboat!" said Bax sharply in the ear of Bluenose, who was close
+beside him.  "Look! am I right?"
+
+"So 'tis, I _do_ believe," cried the captain, staring intently in the
+direction indicated by his friend's outstretched hand.
+
+"Lifeboat ahoy!" shouted Bax, in a voice that rang loud and strong above
+the whistling winds, like the blast of a brazen trumpet.
+
+"Wreck ahoy!" cried the coxswain of the boat, and the cry, borne towards
+them by the gale, fell upon the ears of those on the mast like the voice
+of Hope shouting "Victory!" over the demon Despair.
+
+"Cheer up, Lucy!  Ho! comrades, look alive, here comes the lifeboat!"
+
+Bax accompanied these words with active preparations for heaving a rope
+and otherwise facilitating their anticipated escape.  Guy was the first
+to respond to the cry.  Having placed himself in a very exposed position
+in order that his person might shelter Lucy Burton, he had been benumbed
+more thoroughly than his comrades, but his blood was young, and it only
+wanted the call to action to restore him to the full use of his powers
+and faculties.  Not so with the missionary.  He had become almost
+insensible, and, but for the effort to protect his child which animated
+and sustained him, must certainly have fallen into the sea.  Some of the
+men, too, were utterly helpless.  Their stiffened hands, indeed,
+maintained a death-like gripe of the ropes, but otherwise they were
+quite incapable of helping themselves.
+
+As for Lucy, she had been so well cared for and protected from the
+bitter fury of the wind, that, although much exhausted, terrified, and
+shaken, she was neither so be-numbed nor so helpless as some of her less
+fortunate companions.
+
+Presently the lifeboat was close on the lee side of the mast, and a
+cheer burst from her crew when they saw the number of survivors on the
+cross-trees.
+
+"Look out!" cried the man in the bow of the boat, as he swung a
+heavily-loaded stick round his head, and flung it over the mast.  The
+light line attached to this was caught by Bax, and by means of it a
+stout rope was drawn from the boat to the mast of the "Nancy" and made
+fast.
+
+And now came the most dangerous and difficult part of the service.
+Besides the danger of the mast being broken by the violence of the
+increasing storm and hurled upon the lifeboat, an event which would have
+insured its destruction, there was the risk of the boat herself being
+stove against the mast by the lashing waves which spun her on their
+white crests or engulfed her in their black hollows, as if she had been
+a cork.  The greatest care was therefore requisite in approaching the
+wreck, and when this was accomplished there still remained the
+difficulty of getting the exhausted crew into the boat.
+
+Had they all been young and strong like Bax or Guy, they could have slid
+down the rope at the risk of nothing worse than a few bruises; but with
+several of them this method of escape was impossible;--with Lucy and her
+father it was, in any circumstances, out of the question.  A block and
+tackle was therefore quickly rigged up by Bluenose, by which they were
+lowered.
+
+Poor Lucy had not the courage to make the attempt until one or two of
+the seamen had preceded her, it seemed so appalling to be swung off the
+mast into the black raging chaos beneath her feet, where the lifeboat,
+shrouded partially in darkness and covered with driving spray, appeared
+to her more like a phantom than a reality.
+
+"Come, Miss Lucy," said Bax, tenderly, "I'll fasten the rope round
+myself and be swung down with you in my arms."
+
+Lucy would not hear of this.  "No," said she, firmly, "I will conquer my
+silly fears; here, put the rope round me."
+
+At that moment a wave tossed the boat so high that it came up almost to
+the level of the mast-head, and an involuntary cry rose from some of the
+men, who thought she must infallibly be dashed against it and upset.
+One of the men on the mast, seeing the boat at his very feet, made a
+sudden spring towards it, but it plunged into the hollow of the passing
+wave, and, missing his grasp, he fell with a wild shriek into the water.
+He was swept away instantly.  This so unnerved Lucy that she almost
+fainted in her father's arms.
+
+"Come," cried Bax, putting the end of the rope round his waist, "we must
+not trifle thus."
+
+"The rope won't bear ye both," said Bluenose.  "You're too heavy, lad."
+
+"True," interrupted Guy, "let me do it.  I'm light, and strong enough."
+
+Bax, at once admitting the force of the argument, undid the rope without
+hesitation, and fastened it quickly round Guy's waist.  The latter
+seized Lucy in his arms, and in a moment they were both swinging in the
+air over the wild sea.
+
+Every incident in this thrilling scene now passed with the speed almost
+of thought.  The boat rose under them.  Bax at once let the rope run.
+Down they went, but a swirl in the treacherous waves swept the boat two
+or three fathoms to leeward.  Instantly they were both in the sea, but
+Guy did not loosen his hold or lose his presence of mind for a moment.
+Bax hauled on the rope and raised him half out of the water for a few
+seconds; the boat made a wild sheer towards them, and the missionary
+uttered a cry of agony as he fancied his child was about to be run down,
+perhaps killed, before his eyes; but the cry was transformed into a
+shout of joy and thanksgiving when he saw one of the lifeboat's crew
+seize Guy by the hair, and another catch his daughter by a portion of
+her dress.  They were quickly pulled into the boat.
+
+To save the remainder was now a matter of less difficulty.  The
+missionary was the only one left on the mast who was not able more or
+less to take care of himself; but the joy consequent on seeing his
+daughter saved infused new vigour into his frame.  He and the others
+were finally got off--Bax being the last to quit the wreck--and then the
+lifeboat pulled away from the dangerous shoals and made for the land.
+
+Finding it impossible to reach Broadstairs, owing to the direction of
+the gale, they pulled in an oblique direction, and, after narrowly
+escaping an upset more than once, gained Deal beach not far from Sandown
+Castle, where the boat was run ashore.
+
+Here there was a large concourse of boatmen and others awaiting them.
+The men in the lugger,--seeing the lifeboat come up and feeling that the
+storm was almost too much for them, and that their services were not now
+required,--had returned to the shore and spread the news.
+
+The instant the lifeboat touched the shingle, a huge block and tackle
+were hooked on to her, the capstan connected with these was already
+manned, and the boat was run up high and dry with the crew in her.
+
+The cheers and congratulations that followed were checked however, when
+the discovery was made that Guy Foster was lying in a state of
+insensibility!
+
+When the boat sheered towards him and Lucy, as already described, he had
+seen the danger and warded it away from the girl by turning his own
+person towards it.  No one knew that he had been hurt.  Indeed, he
+himself had scarcely felt the blow, but a deep cut had been made in his
+head, which bled so copiously that he had lain down and gradually became
+insensible.
+
+His head was bandaged by Bluenose in a rough and ready fashion; a couple
+of oars with a sail rolled round them were quickly procured, and on this
+he was borne off the beach, followed by his friends and a crowd of
+sympathisers.
+
+"Where to?" inquired one of the men who supported the litter.
+
+"To Sandhill Cottage," said Bax; "it's his mother's house, and about as
+near as any other place.  Step out, lads!"
+
+Before they were off the beach the dull report of a cannon-shot was
+heard.  It came from the light-ship, and immediately after a rocket flew
+up, indicating by the direction in which it sloped that another vessel
+was in distress on the shoals.
+
+All thought of those who had just been rescued was forgotten by the crew
+of the lifeboat.  Those of them who had not been too much exhausted by
+previous toil and exposure leaped into their seats.  The places of those
+who were unable to go off again were instantly filled by eager boatmen.
+Dozens of stout arms thrust her--crew and all seated as they were--down
+into the lashing surf.  There was a short sharp struggle between the
+sturdy men and the heavy rollers, which threatened not only to swamp the
+boat but to hurl her back, stem over stern, upon the shingle, and in a
+few minutes more she was forcing her way through wind, and waves, and
+spray, on this her second errand of mercy that night to the Goodwin
+Sands.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+THE WIDOW'S COTTAGE.
+
+"About a thousand ships are wrecked, and nearly a thousand lives are
+lost on the shores of this country _every year_," was still the burden
+of Mrs Foster's dreams when she was aroused by a loud knocking at the
+door of her cottage, and the sound of confused voices and trampling of
+many feet outside.
+
+"Ho! goodness gracious me, ma'am," cried worthy Mrs Laker, bursting
+into her mistress's apartment--"if here ain't a thousand robbers as is
+come for to pillidge the ouse an' trample down the garding.  It's from
+the hattic winder, I see 'em with the moon, if w'ant the lightenin' a
+glanshin' on their 'orrid faces as is never shaved nor washed, and it's
+bin my dream from the years of unsuspectious hinfancy, as is come for to
+pass now in the days of my womanhood, with dead bodies carryin' too,
+w'ich is wuss.  Ho! dear, wot _shall_ I do!"
+
+"Go and put on your clothes while I open the door," said Amy Russell,
+entering hastily at the moment in a state of comparative dishabille,
+with a shawl thrown round her.  "Dear mamma, don't be alarmed; it must
+be a mistake.  They cannot mean us any harm, I am certain.  May I go and
+open the door?"
+
+"Open the door!" shrieked Mrs Laker in the tone of one almost paralysed
+by astonishment; "open the door to a thousand robbers with swords, and
+guns, and blood, and dead bodies!"
+
+As Mrs Laker was robed in her night-gown, and stood erect, with her
+arms extended and her hair dishevelled, she looked dreadfully tragic and
+awful, while these fearful words flowed from her pale lips.
+
+"Hush, Laker," said Mrs Foster, hastily throwing on her garments with
+trembling hands, while she made a strong effort to restrain her
+agitation, "go, dear Amy, and ask what they want; but don't open the
+door."
+
+She followed Amy to the landing outside, leaving Mrs Laker, glaring in
+sceptical amazement, in the middle of the room.  Presently, Amy was
+heard downstairs speaking through the key-hole.  A man's voice replied;
+there was a suppressed scream and immediately the outer door was
+unlocked, the chain removed, and the bolts withdrawn.  This was followed
+by the heavy tramp of men in the passage below, and a wild shriek from
+Mrs Foster.
+
+Mrs Laker, still standing with uplifted arms in the middle of the
+bedroom, and livid with terror, glared round in search of a place of
+refuge, and gasped horribly.  Her eye fell on the bed from which her
+mistress had issued.  With a spring that would have done her credit in
+the days of her girlhood, she plunged into it, head first, and rolled
+herself tight up in the clothes, where she lay, quaking and listening
+intently.
+
+"It's only a cut on the head, and a little blood, ma'am, don't be
+alarmed," said the gruff voice of Bluenose, as the footsteps ascended
+the stair, and approached the bedroom.
+
+"Cut" and "blood" were the only words in this speech which made any
+impression on poor Mrs Laker, who trembled so violently that the
+curtains around her shook again.
+
+"Lay him in my bed," said Mrs Foster, in an agitated voice.
+
+"W'y, the bed's all alive--O!" exclaimed Bluenose, in surprise.
+
+"O Laker! what _are_ you doing there? get out, quick."
+
+"Mercy, good men, mercy; I--"
+
+The sentence was cut short by a wild yell, as her eye fell on the pale
+and bloody face of Guy.  She tumbled, clothes and all, over the side of
+the bed in a dead faint, and rolled, in a confused white heap, to the
+very feet of her astounded brother, Captain Bluenose.
+
+"Well, if this don't beat Trafalgar all to sticks!" exclaimed the
+Captain.
+
+"Come, attend to Guy," said Bax, in a deep, commanding voice.
+
+He lifted up Mrs Laker and the bed-clothes as if she had been a large
+washing, and carried her down to her own apartment,--guided by Tommy
+Bogey, who knew the way,--where he placed her in bed, and left her to
+recover as she best might.
+
+Bax had taken the precaution to despatch a messenger for a doctor before
+they left the beach, so that Guy's hurt was soon examined, dressed, and
+pronounced to be a mere trifle which rest would heal in a few days.
+Indeed, Guy recovered consciousness soon after being brought into the
+cottage, and told his mother with his own lips that he was "quite well."
+This, and the doctor's assurances, so relieved the good lady, that she
+at once transferred much of her anxious care to the others who had been
+wrecked along with her son.
+
+Lucy was placed in the hands of the sympathetic Amy Russell, and
+conducted by her to her own room, where she obtained dry clothing.  As
+for the others, they dried themselves by the kitchen fire, which was
+stirred up vigorously by the now restored and repentant Laker, who also
+busied herself in spreading a repast for the shipwrecked men.  Mrs
+Foster did the same for a select few, whom she meant to entertain in the
+parlour.
+
+"Who is that handsome sailor," said Amy, as she assisted Lucy Burton to
+dress, "the one, I mean, who came up with Guy?"
+
+"There were four who came up with Guy," replied Lucy, smiling.
+
+"True," said Amy, blushing (she blushed easily), "but I mean the very
+tall, dark man, with the black curling hair."
+
+"Ah! you mean the man who carried good Mrs Laker downstairs in a
+bundle," said Lucy, with a merry laugh.
+
+"Yes," cried Amy, echoing the laugh, "who is he?"
+
+"Why, you ought to know him," said Lucy, with a look of surprise, "he
+resides near you; at least he was one of the boatmen of your own coast,
+before he became captain of the `Nancy'.  His name is Bax."
+
+"Bax!" echoed Amy.  "Is _he_ Bax?  Oh, I know Bax well by name.  He is a
+friend of Guy, and a celebrated man on this coast.  He is sometimes
+called the Stormy Petrel, because he is always sure to be found on the
+beach in the wildest gales; sometimes he is called the Life Preserver,
+on account of the many lives he has saved.  Strange," said Amy musingly,
+"that I should have pictured him to myself so like what he turns out to
+be.  He is my _beau-ideal_ of a hero!"
+
+"He _is_ a hero," said Lucy, with such sudden enthusiasm that her new
+friend looked up in her face in surprise.  "You do not know," continued
+Lucy, in some confusion, "that he saved my life not much more than
+twenty-four hours ago."
+
+Amy expressed deep interest in this matter, and begged to hear all about
+it.  Lucy, nothing loath, related the event circumstantially; and Amy,
+gazing earnestly in her beautiful animated countenance, sighed and
+regarded her with an expression of sad interest,--also with feelings
+which she herself could not understand.
+
+"But how comes it that you have never seen Bax till to-night?" inquired
+Lucy, when she had finished her narrative.
+
+"Because I have not been very long here," said Amy, "and Bax had ceased
+to dwell regularly on the coast about the time I was saved, and came to
+live with Mrs Foster."
+
+"Saved!--Mrs Foster!" exclaimed Lucy.
+
+"Yes, Mrs Foster is not my mother."
+
+"And Guy is not your brother?" said Lucy, with a glance so quick and
+earnest, that Amy felt a little confused.
+
+"No, he is not," said she, "but he saved my life at the end of Ramsgate
+pier, and ever since then I have lived with his mother."
+
+It was now Lucy's turn to express deep interest.  She begged to have the
+circumstances related to her, and Amy, nothing loath, told her how Guy
+had plunged into the sea when no one else observed her danger, and
+caught her just as she was sinking.
+
+As Amy told her story with animation, and spoke of Guy, with sparkling
+eyes, and a rich glow on her fair cheek, Lucy gazed at her with grave
+interest, and felt sensations in her breast, which were quite new to
+her, and altogether incomprehensible.
+
+Three times had Mrs Laker been sent to knock at Amy's door, and inform
+the young ladies that supper awaited them, before they completed their
+toilet, and descended to the drawing-room.
+
+Laker called it supper, because she could not conscientiously give the
+name of breakfast to a meal extemporised about four o'clock in the
+morning!
+
+Mr Burton and Bluenose were already seated at the table.  Bax stood
+near the fireplace bending down to Mrs Foster, who was looking up in
+his face, shaking his hand, and thanking him, with tears in her eyes,
+for having saved her son's life!  Bax was much perplexed by this view of
+the matter, taken and obstinately held to by the widow.
+
+"Really, ma'am," said he, with a deprecatory smile, "you are mistaken, I
+assure you.  I did not save Guy's life--on the contrary, he saved mine
+this night; for if he had not jumped well to wind'ard with the line and
+caught hold of the old foremast, where Tommy and I were perched like two
+birds--"
+
+"Ha," interrupted Bluenose, bluntly, "you'd both's bin in Davy Jones'
+locker by this time; for I seed the old stick myself, not three minits
+arter, go by the board like the stem of a baccy pipe."
+
+It was just as Bluenose concluded this speech that the young ladies
+entered the room.
+
+"Come," cried Bax, turning quickly towards Lucy, who advanced first,
+"here is another witness to the fact.  Do try, Miss Burton, to convince
+Mrs Foster that I did not--"
+
+Bax paused, for his glance fell at that moment on Amy Russell, whom he
+had not observed in the confusion of their first appearance in the
+cottage.
+
+"My adopted daughter," said Mrs Foster, taking Amy by the hand and
+leading her forward; "shake hands with Mr Bax, darling, who has saved
+Guy's life to-night."
+
+Bax held Amy's white little hand for one moment as tenderly as if he
+were afraid his own iron muscles might injure it.
+
+"I see," said he, with a smile, "that I must submit to be misrepresented
+until Guy himself comes to defend me."
+
+Amy glanced at Lucy and blushed.  Lucy glanced at Amy and looked
+confused; then the whole party laughed, and Bluenose said that for his
+part he didn't see no savin' o' life one way or other, 'xcepting as
+regarded the lifeboat, which he wos bound for to say had saved the whole
+lot of 'em, and that was all about it; whereupon they all sat down to
+supper, and the missionary asked a blessing; thanking God for their
+recent deliverance, and praying in a few earnest words for continued
+favour.
+
+Bluenose was a man of peculiar and decided character.  He did not at all
+relish his position in the drawing-room when he thought of his sister
+Mrs Laker supping in the kitchen.  Being an impulsive man, he seized
+his cap, and said abruptly to his hostess:
+
+"I'll tell 'ee wot it is, marm, I aint used to this 'ere sort o' thing.
+If you'll excudge me, marm, I'll go an' 'ave my snack with Bess i' the
+kitchen.  Bax, there, he's a sort o' gen'leman by natur' as well as
+hedication; but as for me I'm free to say as I prefers the fo'gs'l to
+the cabin--no offence meant.  Come along, Tommy, and bring yer pannikin
+along with 'ee, lad, you're like a fish out o' water too."
+
+So saying, Captain Bluenose bowed to the company with what he meant to
+be an affable and apologetic air, and quitted the room without waiting
+for a reply.
+
+"Ah, Bluenose," said Mrs Laker, as her brother entered, cap in hand,
+and seated himself among the men of the "Nancy," who were doing full
+justice to Mrs Foster's hospitality, "I thought ye wouldn't be long in
+the parlour, for you aint bin used to 'igh life, an' w'y should you? as
+was born of poor but respectible parients, not but that the parients of
+the rich may be respectible also, I don't go for to impinge no one, sit
+down, Tommy, my dear child, only think! ee's bin 'alf drownded, an' 'is
+mother dead only two year next Whitsuntide; sit down, Tommy, wot'll ye
+'ave?"
+
+Tommy said he would have a bit of beef-steak pie;--got it, and set to
+work immediately.
+
+It may be as well to state here that Mrs Laker was not a married woman,
+but, having reached a certain age, she deemed it advisable, in order to
+maintain the dignity of her character and personal appearance (which
+latter was stout and matronly) to dub herself Mrs--Laker being her
+maiden name.  This statement involves a further explanation, inasmuch as
+it establishes the fact that Bluenose ought, in simple justice and
+propriety, to have gone by the name of Laker also.
+
+But on the beach of Deal justice and propriety in regard to names are
+not necessarily held in great repute.  At least they were not so a few
+years ago.  Smuggling, as has been said, was rather prevalent in days
+gone by.  Indeed, the man who was not a smuggler was an exception to the
+rule, if such a man ever existed.  During their night expeditions,
+boatmen were often under the necessity of addressing each other in
+hoarse whispers, at times and in circumstances when coast-guard ears
+were uncommonly acute.  Hence, in order to prevent inconvenient
+recognition, the men were wont to give each other nicknames, which
+nicknames descended frequently to their offspring.
+
+The father of Captain Bluenose and of Mrs Laker had been a notorious
+scamp about the beginning of this century, at which period Deal may be
+said to have been in full swing in regard to smuggling and the French
+war.  The old smuggler was uncommonly well acquainted with the towns of
+Calais, Gravelines, Dunkerque, Nieuport, and Ostende--notwithstanding
+that they lay in the enemy's country.  He had also enough of bad French
+to enable him to carry on his business, and was addicted to French
+brandy.  It was the latter circumstance which turned his nose purple;
+procuring for him, as well as entailing on his son, the name of
+Bluenose, a name which our Captain certainly did not deserve, seeing
+that his nose was fiery red in colour,--perhaps a little too fat to be
+styled classic, but, on the whole, a most respectable nose.
+
+Few of the boatmen of Deal went by their right names; but such
+soubriquets as Doey, Jack Onion, Skys'lyard Dick, Mackerel, Trappy,
+Rodney Nick, Sugarplum, etcetera, were common enough.  Perchance they
+are not obsolete at the present day!
+
+While the crew of the "Nancy" were making merry in the kitchen, the
+parlour bell rang violently, and Laker disappeared from the scene.
+
+"You're wanted, Tommy, darling," said the worthy woman, returning
+promptly.
+
+Tommy rose and was ushered into the parlour.
+
+"Little boy," said Mrs Foster, "my son Guy has sent a message requiring
+your attendance.  I tried to prevent him seeing you; but he insists on
+it.  Come, I will take you to his room.  You must try, child, and not
+encourage him to talk.  It will be bad for him, I fear."
+
+"Leave us, mother, dear," said Guy, as they entered; "I wish to be alone
+with Tommy, only for ten minutes--not longer."
+
+Mrs Foster tried to remonstrate, but an impatient gesture from her son
+induced her to quit the room.
+
+"You can write, Tommy?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  I--I hope you ain't much hurt, sir?"
+
+"Oh no!--a mere scratch.  It's only the loss of blood that weakens me.
+I'll be all right in a few days.  Now, sit down at that table and take a
+pen.  Are you ready?"
+
+Tommy said that he was, and Guy Foster dictated the following note to
+Mr Denham, of the house of Denham, Crumps, and Company:--
+
+"Deal.
+
+"Dear Uncle,--I'm sorry to have to inform you that the `Nancy' has
+become a total wreck on the Goodwin Sands.  The cargo has been entirely
+lost--also two of the hands.
+
+"I am at present disabled, from the effects of a blow on the head
+received during the storm.  No doubt Bax will be up immediately to give
+you particulars.
+
+"The cause of the loss of your schooner was, in _my_ opinion,
+_unseaworthiness of vessel and stores_.
+
+"Your affectionate nephew, GUY FOSTER."
+
+"Hallo!" thought Tommy, "that's a stinger!"
+
+"There," said Guy, as he attached his signature, "fold and address that,
+and be off with it as fast as you can to the post."
+
+Tommy vanished in an instant, and was quickly at the post-office, which
+stood, at that time, near the centre of the town.  He dropped the letter
+in, and having thus fulfilled his mission, relapsed into that easy
+swagger or roll that seems to be the natural and characteristic gait of
+Jack when ashore.  He had not proceeded far when the sound of voices in
+dispute attracted his ear.  The gale was still at its height, and the
+noise occasioned by its whistling among the chimneys and whirling round
+street corners was so great that the words uttered by the speakers were
+not distinguishable.  Still there was some peculiarity in the tone which
+irresistibly attracted the boy.  Perhaps Tommy was unusually curious
+that night; perhaps he was smitten, like Haroun Alraschid, with a desire
+for adventure; but whatever was the truth in regard to this, it is
+certain that, instead of passing on, as most people would naturally have
+done, Tommy approached the place whence the sounds proceeded with
+cautious steps--keeping as much in the shade of the houses as possible,
+although owing to the darkness of the night, this latter precaution was
+unnecessary.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+THE LIVING LEFT AMONG THE DEAD--A WILD CHASE ON A WILD NIGHT STOPPED BY
+A GHOST.
+
+On turning the corner of one of those houses on the beach of Deal which
+stand so close to the sea that in many cases they occupy common ground
+with the boats, Tommy found himself suddenly close to a group of men,
+one of whom, a very tall man, was addressing the others in an excited
+tone.
+
+"I'll tell 'ee wot it is, lads, let's put 'im in a sack an' leave him in
+the Great Chapel Field to cool hisself."  [The "Great Chapel Field" was
+the name formerly applied by the boatmen to Saint George's Churchyard.]
+
+"Sarve him right, the beggar," said another man, with a low laugh, "he's
+spoilt our game many a night.  What say, boys? heave 'im shoulder high?"
+
+The proposal was unanimously agreed to, and the party went towards an
+object which lay recumbent on the ground, near to one of those large
+capstans which are used on this part of the Kentish coast to haul up the
+boats.  The object turned out to be a man, bound hand and foot, and with
+a handkerchief tied round the mouth to insure silence.  Tommy was so
+near that he had no difficulty in recognising in this unfortunate the
+person of old Coleman, the member of the coast-guard who had been most
+successful in thwarting the plans of the smugglers for some years past.
+Rendered somewhat desperate by his prying disposition, they had seized
+him on this particular night, during a scuffle, and were now about to
+dispose of him in a time-honoured way.
+
+Tommy also discovered that the coast-guard-man's captors were Long
+Orrick, Rodney Nick, and a few more of his boatmen acquaintances.  He
+watched them with much interest as they enveloped Coleman's burly figure
+in a huge sack, tied it over his head, and, raising him on their
+shoulders bore him away.
+
+Tommy followed at a safe distance, but he soon stopped, observing that
+two of the party had fallen behind the rest, engaged apparently in
+earnest conversation.  They stood still a few minutes under the lee of a
+low-roofed cottage.  Tommy crept as close to them as possible and
+listened.
+
+"Come, Rodney Nick," said one of the two, whose height proclaimed him to
+be Long Orrick, "a feller can't talk in the teeth o' sich a gale as
+this.  Let's stand in the lee o' this old place here, and I'll tell ye
+in two minits wot I wants to do.  You see that old sinner Jeph refuses
+pint-blank to let me use his `hide;' he's become such a hypocrite that
+he says he won't encourage smugglin'."
+
+"Well, wot then?" inquired Rodney Nick.
+
+"W'y, I means to _make_ 'im give in," returned Long Orrick.
+
+"An' s'pose he won't give in?" suggested Rodney.
+
+"Then I'll cut his throat," replied Orrick, fiercely.
+
+"Then I'll have nothin' to do with it."
+
+"Stop!" cried the other, seizing his comrade by the arm as he was
+turning to go away.  "A feller might as well try to joke with a jackass
+as with you.  In coorse I don't mean _that_; but I'll threaten the old
+hypocrite and terrify him till he's half dead, and _then_ he'll give
+in."
+
+"He's a frail old man," said Rodney; "suppose he should die with
+fright?"
+
+"Then let him die!" retorted Long Orrick.
+
+"Humph; and s'pose he can't be terrified?"
+
+"Oh! get along with yer s'posin'.  Will ye go or will ye not? that's the
+question, as Shukspere's ghost said to the Hemperer o' Sweden."
+
+"Just you an' me?" inquired Rodney.
+
+"Ain't we enough for an old man?"
+
+"More nor enough," replied Rodney, with a touch of sarcasm in his tone,
+"if the old boy han't got friends with him.  Don't ye think Bax might
+have took a fancy to spend the night there?"
+
+"No," said Long Orrick; "Bax is at supper in Sandhill Cottage, and _he_
+ain't the man to leave good quarters in a hurry.  But if yer afraid,
+we'll go with our chums to the churchyard and take them along with us."
+
+Rodney Nick laughed contemptuously, but made no reply, and the two
+immediately set off at a run to overtake their comrades.  Tommy Bogey
+followed as close at their heels as he prudently could.  They reached
+the walls of Saint George's Church, or the "Great Chapel," almost at the
+same moment with the rest of the party.
+
+The form of the old church could be dimly seen against the tempestuous
+sky as the smugglers halted under the lee of the churchyard wall like a
+band of black ghosts that had come to lay one of their defunct comrades,
+on a congenial night.
+
+At the north end of the burying-ground of Saint George's Church there is
+a spot of ground which is pointed out to visitors as being the last
+resting-place of hundreds of the unfortunate men who fell in the
+sea-fights of our last war with France.  A deep and broad trench was dug
+right across the churchyard, and here the gallant tars were laid in
+ghastly rows, as close together as they could be packed.  Near to this
+spot stands the tomb of one of Lord Nelson's young officers, and beside
+it grows a tree against which Nelson is said to have leaned when he
+attended the funeral.
+
+It was just a few yards distant from this tree that the smugglers scaled
+the wall and lifted over the helpless body of poor Coleman.  They did it
+expeditiously and in dead silence.  Carrying him into the centre of the
+yard, they deposited the luckless coast-guard-man flat on his back
+beside the tomb of George Philpot, a man who had done good service in
+his day and generation--if headstones are to be believed.  The
+inscription, which may still be seen by the curious, runs thus:--
+
+                           A TRIBUTE TO THE
+                     SKILL AND DETERMINED COURAGE
+                        OF THE BOATMEN OF DEAL,
+                           AND IN MEMORY OF
+                            GEORGE PHILPOT,
+                       WHO DIED MARCH 22, 1850.
+
+                       "FULL MANY LIVES HE SAVED
+                       WITH HIS UNDAUNTED CREW;
+                    HE PUT HIS TRUST IN PROVIDENCE,
+                      AND CARED NOT HOW IT BLEW."
+
+In the companionship of such noble dead, the smugglers left Coleman to
+his fate, and set off to finish their night's work at old Jeph's humble
+cottage.
+
+Tommy Bogey heard them chuckle as they passed the spot where he lay
+concealed behind a tombstone, and he was sorely tempted to spring up
+with an unearthly yell, well knowing that the superstitious boatmen
+would take him for one risen from the dead, and fly in abject terror
+from the spot; but recollecting the importance of discretion in the work
+which now devolved on him, he prudently restrained himself.
+
+The instant they were over the wall Tommy was at Coleman's side.  He
+felt the poor man shudder, and heard him gasp as he cut the rope that
+tied the mouth of the sack; for Coleman knew well the spot to which they
+had conveyed him, and his face, when it became visible, was ghastly
+white and covered with a cold sweat caused by the belief that he was
+being opened out for examination by some inquisitive but unearthly
+visitor.
+
+"It's only me," said Tommy with an involuntary laugh.  "Hold on, I'll
+set you free in no time."
+
+"Hah!" coughed Coleman when the kerchief was removed from his mouth,
+"wot a 'orrible sensation it is to be choked alive!"
+
+"It would be worse to be choked dead," said Tommy.
+
+"Cut the lines at my feet first, lad," said Coleman, "they've a'most
+sawed through my ankle bones.  There, that's it now, help me to git up
+an' shake myself."
+
+A few minutes elapsed before he recovered the full use of his benumbed
+limbs.  During this period, the boy related all he had heard, and urged
+his companion to "look alive."  But Coleman required no urging.  The
+moment he became aware of what was going on he felt for his cutlass,
+which the smugglers had not taken the trouble to remove, and, slapping
+Tommy on the back, stumbled among the tombs and over the graves towards
+the wall, which he vaulted with a degree of activity that might have
+rendered a young man envious.  Tommy followed like a squirrel, and in a
+very few minutes more they were close at the heels of Long Orrick and
+his friends.
+
+While they hurried on in silence and with cautious tread Coleman matured
+his plans.  It was absolutely necessary that the utmost circumspection
+should be used, for a man and a boy could not hope to succeed in
+capturing six strong men.
+
+"Run, Tommy, to the beach and fetch a friend or two.  There are sure to
+be two of the guard within hail."
+
+Tommy was off, as he himself would have said, like a shot, and on
+gaining the beach almost ran into the arms of a young coast-guard-man
+named Supple Rodger, to whom he breathlessly told his tale.
+
+"Stop, I'll call out the guard," said Rodger, drawing a pistol from the
+breast-pocket of his overcoat.  But Tommy prevented him, explained that
+it was very desirable to catch the villains in the very act of breaking
+into old Jeph's cottage, and hurried him away.
+
+At the back of the cottage they found Coleman calmly observing the
+proceedings of the smugglers, one of whom was calling in a hoarse
+whisper through the keyhole.  Apparently he received no reply, for he
+swore angrily a good deal, and said to his comrades more than once, "I
+do b'lieve the old sinner's dead."
+
+"Come, I'll burst in the door," said the voice of Long Orrick, savagely.
+
+The words were followed by a crash; and the trampling of feet in the
+passage proved that the slender fastenings of the door had given way.
+
+"Now, lads," cried Coleman, "have at 'em!"
+
+He struck a species of port-fire, or bluelight, against the wall as he
+spoke; it sprang into a bright flame, and the three friends rushed into
+the cottage.
+
+The smugglers did not wait to receive them.  Bursting the fastenings of
+the front window Long Orrick leaped out into the street.  Supple Rodger
+dashed aside the man who was about to follow and leaped after him like
+an avenging spirit.  All the men but two were over the window before
+Coleman gained it.  He seized the man who was in the act of leaping by
+the collar, but the treacherous garment gave way, and in a moment the
+smuggler was gone, leaving only a rag in Coleman's grasp.
+
+Meanwhile Tommy flung himself down in front of the only man who now
+remained, as he made a dash for the window.  The result was that the man
+tumbled over the boy and fell to the ground.  Having accomplished this
+feat, Tommy leaped up and sprang through the window to aid in the chase.
+As the smuggler rose, the disappointed Coleman turned round, flourished
+the rag in the air with a shout of defiance, and hit his opponent
+between the eyes with such force as to lay him a second time flat on the
+floor.  A fierce struggle now ensued, during which the light was
+extinguished.  The alarmed neighbours found them there, a few minutes
+later, writhing in each other's arms, and punching each other's heads
+desperately; Coleman, however, being uppermost.
+
+When Tommy Bogey leaped over the window, as has been described, all the
+smugglers had disappeared, and he was at a loss what to do; but the
+faint sound of quick steps at the north end of the street led him to run
+at the top of his speed in that direction.  Tommy was singularly fleet
+of foot.  He ran so fast on this occasion that he reached the end of the
+street before the fugitive had turned into the next one.  He saw
+distinctly that two men were running before him, and, concluding that
+they were Long Orrick and Supple Rodger, he did his best to keep them in
+view.
+
+Long Orrick and his pursuer were well matched as to speed.  Both were
+good runners; but the former was much the stronger man.  Counting on
+this he headed for the wild expanse of waste ground lying to the north
+of Deal, already mentioned as the sand hills.
+
+Here he knew that there would be no one to interfere between him and his
+antagonist.
+
+Tommy Bogey thought of this too, as he sped along, and wondered not a
+little at the temerity of Supple Rodger in thus, as it were, placing
+himself in the power of his enemy.  He chuckled, however, as he ran, at
+the thought of being there to render him assistance to the best of his
+power.  "Ha!" thought he, "for Long Orrick to wollop Supple Rodger out
+on the sandhills is _one_ thing; but for Long Orrick to wallop Supple
+Rodger with me dancin' round him like a big wasp is quite another
+thing!"
+
+Tommy came, as he thought thus, upon an open space of ground on which
+were strewn spare anchors and chain cables.  Tumbling over a fluke of
+one of the former he fell to the earth with a shock that well-nigh drove
+all the wind out of his stout little body.  He was up in a moment,
+however, and off again.
+
+Soon the three were coursing over the downs like hares.  It was
+difficult running, for the ground was undulating and broken, besides
+being covered in a few places with gorse, and the wind and rain beat so
+fiercely on their faces as almost to blind them.
+
+About a mile or so beyond the ruins of Sandown Castle there is an old
+inn, called the "Checkers of the Hope," or "The Checkers," named after,
+it is said, and corrupted from, "Chaucer's Inn" at Canterbury.  It
+stands in the midst of the solitary waste; a sort of half-way house
+between the towns of Sandwich and Deal; far removed from either,
+however, and quite beyond earshot of any human dwelling.  This, so says
+report, was a celebrated resort of smugglers in days gone by, and of men
+of the worst character; and as one looks at the irregular old building
+standing, one might almost say unreasonably, in that wild place, one
+cannot help feeling that it must have been the scene of many a savage
+revelry and many a deed of darkness in what are sometimes styled "the
+good old times."
+
+Some distance beyond this, farther into the midst of the sandhills,
+there is a solitary tombstone; well known, both by tradition and by the
+inscription upon it, as "Mary Bax's tomb."
+
+Here Long Orrick resolved to make a stand; knowing that no shout that
+Rodger might give vent to could reach the Checkers in the teeth of such
+a gale.
+
+The tale connected with poor Mary Bax is brief and very sad.  She lived
+about the end of the last century, and was a young and beautiful girl.
+Having occasion to visit Deal, she set out one evening on her solitary
+walk across the bleak sandhills.  Here she was met by a brutal foreign
+seaman, a Lascar, who had deserted from one of the ships then lying in
+the Downs.  This monster murdered the poor girl and threw her body into
+a ditch that lies close to the spot on which her tomb now stands.  The
+deed, as may well be supposed, created great excitement in Deal and the
+neighbourhood; for Mary Bax, being young, beautiful, and innocent, was
+well known and much loved.
+
+There was, at the time this murder was perpetrated, a youth named John
+Winter, who was a devoted admirer of poor Mary.  He was much younger
+than she, being only seventeen, while she was twenty-three.  He became
+almost mad when he heard of the murder.  A little brother of John
+Winter, named David, happened to be going to the Checkers' Inn at the
+time the murder was committed and witnessed it.  He ran instantly to his
+brother to tell him what he had seen.  It was chiefly through the
+exertions of these two that the murderer was finally brought to justice.
+
+John Winter rested neither night nor day until he tracked the Lascar
+down, and David identified him.  He was hanged on a gallows erected
+close to the spot where he murdered his innocent victim.  On the exact
+spot where the murder took place Mary's grave was dug, and a tombstone
+was put up, which may be seen there at the present time, with the
+following inscription upon it:--
+
+                             ON THIS SPOT,
+                         AUGUST THE 25TH 1782,
+                          MARY BAX, SPINSTER,
+                            AGED 23 YEARS,
+                            WAS MURDERED BY
+                       MARTIN LASH, A FOREIGNER,
+                    WHO WAS EXECUTED FOR THE SAME.
+
+Poor John Winter left the country immediately after, and did not return
+until thirty years had elapsed, when the event was forgotten, and most
+of his old friends and companions were dead or gone abroad.  His little
+brother David was drowned at sea.
+
+This Mary Bax was cousin to the father of John Bax, who figures so
+conspicuously in our tale.
+
+At the tomb of Mary Bax, then, as we have said, Long Orrick resolved to
+make a stand.  Tommy Bogey had, by taking a short cut round a piece of
+marshy ground, succeeded in getting a little in advance of Orrick, and,
+observing that he was running straight towards the tombstone, he leaped
+into the ditch, the water in which was not deep at the time, and,
+coursing along the edge of it, reached the rear of the tomb and hid
+himself there, without having formed any definite idea as to what course
+he meant to pursue.
+
+Whatever the intentions of the smuggler were, they were effectually
+frustrated by an apparition which suddenly appeared and struck terror
+alike to the heart of pursuer and pursued.  As Long Orrick approached
+the tomb there suddenly arose from the earth a tall gaunt figure with
+silver hair streaming wildly in the gale.  To Tommy, who crouched behind
+the tomb, and Rodger and Orrick, who approached in front, it seemed as
+if the spirit of the murdered girl had leaped out of the grave.  The
+effect on all three was electrical.  Orrick and Rodger, diverging right
+and left, fled like the wind in opposite directions, and were out of
+sight in a few seconds, while Tommy, crouching on the ground behind the
+tomb, trembled in abject terror.
+
+The spirit, if such it was, did not attempt to pursue the fugitives, but
+turning fiercely towards the boy, seized him by the collar and shook
+him.
+
+"Oh! mercy! mercy!" cried poor Tommy, whose heart quaked within him.
+
+"Hallo!  Tommy Bogey, is it you, boy?" said the spirit, releasing the
+lad from a grasp that was anything but gentle.
+
+"What! old Jeph, can it be _you_?" exclaimed Tommy, in a tone of intense
+surprise, as he seated himself on the tombstone, and wiped the cold
+perspiration from his forehead with the cuff of his coat.
+
+"Ay, it _is_ me," replied the old man, sadly, "although I do sometimes
+doubt my own existence.  It ain't often that I'm interrupted--but what
+brings ye here, lad, and who were these that I saw running like foul
+fiends across the sandhills on such a night as this?"
+
+"They were Supple Rodger and Long Orrick," replied Tommy, "and a foul
+fiend is one of 'em, anyhow, as you'd have found out, old Jeph, if ye'd
+bin at home this evenin'.  As for bein' out on sich a night as this, it
+seems to me ye han't got much more sense to boast of in this respect
+than I have.  You'll ketch your death o' cold, old man."
+
+"Old man!" echoed Jeph, with a peculiar chuckle.  "Ha! yes, I _am_ an
+old man, and I've bin used to such nights since I wos a _young_ man.
+But come away, lad, I'll go home with ye now."
+
+Old Jeph took the boy's hand as he said this, and the two went over the
+moor together--slowly, for the way was rough and broken, and silently,
+for the howling of the gale rendered converse almost impossible.
+
+It is not to be supposed that Tommy Bogey had such command over himself,
+however, as altogether to restrain his curiosity.  He did make one or
+two attempts to induce old Jeph to explain why he was out in such a
+stormy night, and on such a lonely spot; but the old man refused to be
+communicative, and finally put a stop to the subject by telling Tommy to
+let other people's business alone, and asking him how it happened that
+Long Orrick came to make an attempt on his house, and how it was he
+failed?
+
+Tommy related all he knew with alacrity and for a time secured old
+Jeph's attention, as was plain from the way in which he chuckled when he
+heard how his enemy had been outwitted; but gradually the narrative fell
+on uninterested ears, and before they regained the town the old man's
+countenance had become grave and sad, and his mind was evidently
+wandering among the lights--mayhap among the shadows--of "other days."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+UNBUSINESSLIKE PROCEEDINGS IN "THE OFFICE"--PEEKINS GROWS DESPERATE AND
+TAKES REFUGE IN THE "THREE JOLLY TARS."
+
+Mr Denham stood in front of his office fire with a coat-tail, as usual,
+under each arm; his feet planted on two little roses that grew on each
+side of a large bouquet which flourished perennially on his rug, and his
+eyes fixed on the ceiling.  He had just arrived at Redwharf Lane, and
+looked quite fresh and ruddy from the exercise of walking, for Denham
+was a great walker, and frequently did the distance between his house
+and his office on foot.
+
+Mr Crumps sat shivering in his own room, looking the reverse of ruddy,
+for Crumps was old and his blood was thin, and there was no fire in his
+room.  It is but justice to say, however, that this was no fault of
+Denham's, for the apartment of his junior partner did not possess a
+fireplace, and it could not be expected that a fire should be lit, _a
+la_ Red Indian, on the middle of the floor.  At all events Crumps did
+not expect it.  He was not, therefore, liable to disappointment in his
+expectations.  He contented himself, poor old man, with such genial
+gusts of second-hand warmth as burst in upon him from time to time from
+Denham's room when the door was open, or poured in upon him in
+ameliorating rivulets through the keyhole, like a little gulf-stream,
+when the door was shut.
+
+"The letters, sir," said Peekins, the meek blue tiger in buttons,
+entering at that moment and laying a pile of letters on the table.
+
+Had Peekins been a little dog without a soul, capable of wagging his
+tail and fawning, Denham would have patted him, but, being only a boy in
+blue with a meek spirit, the great man paid no attention to him
+whatever.  He continued to gaze at the ceiling as if he were reading his
+destiny there.  Perhaps he would have looked as blank as the ceiling had
+he known what that destiny was to be; but he did not know, fortunately
+(or unfortunately, if the reader chooses), hence he turned with a calm
+undisturbed countenance to peruse his letters after the boy had retired.
+
+We do not say that Denham was a hard man; by no means; he was only
+peculiar in his views of things in general; that was all!
+
+For some time Denham broke seals, read contents, and made jottings,
+without any expression whatever on his countenance.  Presently he took
+up an ill-folded epistle addressed to "Mister Denham" in a round and
+rather rugged hand.
+
+"Begging," he muttered with a slight frown.
+
+"`Dear Uncle' (`eh!' he exclaimed,--turned over the leaf in surprise,
+read the signature, and turned back to the beginning again, with the
+least possible tinge of surprise still remaining), `I'm sorry' (humph)
+`to have to inform you that the _Nancy_ has become a total wreck,'
+(`indeed!') `on the Goodwin Sands.'  (`Amazing sands these.  What a
+quantity of wealth they have swallowed up!') `The cargo has been
+entirely lost,'--(`ah! it was insured to its full value,') `also two of
+the hands.'  (`H'm, their lives wouldn't be insured.  These rough
+creatures never do insure their lives; wonderfully improvident!') `I am
+at present disabled, from the effects of a blow on the head received
+during the storm.'  (Very awkward; particularly so just now.) `No doubt
+Bax will be up immediately to give you particulars.'" (Humph!)
+
+"`The cause of the loss of your schooner was, in _my_ opinion,' (Mr
+Denham's eyebrows here rose in contemptuous surprise), `_unseaworthiness
+of vessel and stores_.'"
+
+Mr Denham made no comment on this part of the epistle.  A dark frown
+settled on his brow as he crumpled the letter in his hand, dropped it on
+the ground as if it had been a loathsome creature, and set his foot on
+it.
+
+Denham was uncommonly gruff and forbidding all that day.  He spoke
+harshly to old Mr Crumps; found fault with the clerks to such an
+extent, that they began to regard the office as a species of Pandemonium
+which _ought_ to have smelt sulphurous instead of musty; and rendered
+the life of Peekins so insupportable that the poor boy occupied his few
+moments of leisure in speculating on the average duration of human life
+and wondering whether it would not be better, on the whole, to make
+himself an exception to the general rule by leaping off London Bridge at
+high water--blue-tights, buttons, and all!
+
+Things continued in this felicitous condition in the office until five
+in the afternoon, when there was a change, not so much in the moral as
+in the physical atmosphere.  It came in the form of a thick fog, which
+rolled down the crooked places of Redwharf Lane, poured through
+keyholes, curled round the cranes on the warehouses, and the old
+anchors, cables, and buoys in the lumber-yards; travelled over the
+mudflats, and crept out upon the muddy river among the colliers,
+rendering light things indistinct, black things blacker, dark places
+darker, and affording such an opportunity for unrestrained enjoyment to
+the rats, that these creatures held an absolute carnival everywhere.
+
+About this period of the day Mr Denham rose, put on his hat and
+greatcoat, and prepared to go.  Peekins observed this through a private
+scratch in the glass door, and signalised the gladsome news in dumb-show
+to his comrades.  Hope at once took the place of despair in the office,
+for lads and very young men are happily furnished with extremely elastic
+spirits.  The impulse of joy caused by the prospect of Denham's
+departure was so strong in the breast of one youth, with red hair, a red
+nose, red cheeks, large red lips, blue eyes, and red hands (Ruggles by
+name), that he incontinently seized a sheet of blotting-paper, crumpled
+it into a ball, and flung it at the head of the youngest clerk, a dark
+little boy, who sat opposite to him on a tall stool, and who, being a
+new boy, was copying letters painfully but diligently with a heavy
+heart.
+
+The missile was well aimed.  It hit the new boy exactly on the point of
+the nose, causing him to start and prolong the tail of a y an inch and a
+quarter beyond its natural limits.
+
+This little incident would not have been worth mentioning but for the
+fact that it was the hinge, so to speak, on which incidents of a more
+important nature turned.  Mr Denham happened to open his door just as
+the missile was discharged and saw the result, though not the thrower.
+He had no difficulty, however, in discovering the offender; for each of
+the other clerks looked at their comrade in virtuous horror, as though
+to say, "Oh! how could you?--please, sir, it wasn't _me_, it was _him_;"
+while Ruggles applied himself to his work with an air of abstraction and
+a face of scarlet that said plainly, "It's of no use staring in that
+fashion at me, for I'm as innocent as the unborn babe."
+
+Denham frowned portentously, and that peculiarly dead calm which usually
+precedes the bursting of a storm prevailed in the office.  Before the
+storm burst, however, the outer door was opened hastily and our friend
+Bax stood in the room.  He was somewhat dishevelled in appearance, as if
+he had travelled fast.  To the clerks in that small office he appeared
+more fierce and gigantic than usual.  Peekins regarded him with
+undisguised admiration, and wondered in his heart if Jack the
+Giant-Killer would have dared to encounter such a being, supposing him
+to have had the chance.
+
+"I'm glad I am not too late to find you here, sir," said Bax, puffing
+off his hat and bowing slightly to his employer.
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated Denham, "step this way."
+
+They entered the inner office, and, the door being shut, Ruggles
+internally blessed Bax and breathed freely.  Under the influence of
+reaction he even looked defiant.
+
+"So you have lost your schooner," began Denham, sitting down in his
+chair of state and eyeing the seaman sternly.  Bax returned the gaze so
+much more sternly that Denham felt disconcerted but did not allow his
+feelings to betray themselves.
+
+"The schooner _has_ been lost," said Bax, "and I am here to report the
+fact and to present these letters, one from the seamen's missionary at
+Ramsgate, the other from your nephew, both of which will show you that
+no blame attaches to me.  I regret the loss, deeply, but it was un--"
+
+Bax was going to have said unavoidable, but he felt that the expression
+would have been incorrect, and stopped.
+
+"Finish your remark," said Denham.
+
+"I merely wished to say that it was out of _my_ power to prevent it."
+
+"Oh!" interjected Denham, sarcastically, as he read the letters.  "The
+seamen's missionary is one of whom I know nothing.  His opinion,
+therefore, carries no weight.  As to my nephew, _his_ remarks are simply
+unworthy of notice.  But you say that no blame attaches to _you_.  To
+whom then does blame attach, if not to the skipper of the vessel?  Do
+you mean to lay it at the door of Providence?"
+
+"No, sir, I do not," replied Bax.
+
+"Have you, then, the presumption to insinuate that it lies with _me_?"
+
+Bax was silent.
+
+"Am I to expect an answer?" said Denham.
+
+"I make no insinuations," said Bax, after a short pause; "I do but state
+facts.  If the `Nancy' had been fitted with a new tops'l-yard and
+jib-boom, as I advised last summer, I would have carried her safe into
+the Downs."
+
+"So," said Denham, in a tone of increasing sarcasm, "you have the
+hardihood to insinuate that it was _my_ fault?"
+
+Bax reddened with indignation at the tone of insult in which these words
+were uttered.  His bass voice grew deeper and sterner as he said:--
+
+"If you insist on plain speaking, sir, you shall have it.  I _do_ think
+the blame of the loss of the `Nancy' lies at your door, and worse than
+that, the loss of two human lives lies there also.  There was not a
+sound timber or a seaworthy article aboard of the schooner from stem to
+stern.  You know well enough that I have told you this,--in more civil
+language it may be,--again and again; and I hope that the telling of it
+now, flatly, will induce you to consider the immense responsibility that
+lies on your shoulders; for there are other ships belonging to your firm
+in much the same condition--ships with inferior charts and instruments,
+unsound spars, not enough of boats, and with anchors and chains scarce
+powerful enough to hold a Deal lugger in a moderate gale."
+
+Mr Denham was not prepared for this sudden and wholesale condemnation
+of himself and his property.  He gazed at the seaman's flushed
+countenance for a few seconds in mute surprise.  At last he recovered
+self-possession, and said in a calm voice--
+
+"You applied last year, if I remember rightly, for the situation of mate
+aboard our ship the `Trident'--now on her second voyage from Australia?"
+
+"I did," said Bax, shortly, not knowing how to take this sudden change
+of subject.
+
+"Do you suppose," said Denham, with a peculiar curl of his lip, "that
+this interview will tend to improve your chance of obtaining that
+situation?"
+
+Denham put the question with the full expectation of humbling Bax, and
+with the further intention of following up his reply with the assurance
+that there was much greater probability of the moon being turned into
+green cheese than of his promotion taking place; but his intentions were
+frustrated by Bax starting, and, in a voice of indignation,
+exclaiming--"Sir, do you suppose I have come here to beg?  If you were
+to offer me the _command_ of the `Trident,' or any other ship that you
+possess, I would refuse it with scorn.  It is bad enough to risk one's
+life in the rotten craft you send to sea; but that would be nothing
+compared with the shame of serving a house that thinks only of gain, and
+holds human life cheaper than the dirt I tread under my feet.  No, sir;
+I came here to explain how the `Nancy' was lost.  Having done so, I take
+my leave."
+
+"Stay," said Denham, as Bax turned to go.  "Perhaps you will do me one
+more service before we part.  Will you kindly inform my nephew that he
+need not be in a hurry to come back here.  I extend his leave.  He may
+continue to absent himself as long as he pleases--to all eternity if it
+suits him."
+
+Mr Denham flushed up with anger as he said the last words.  Bax,
+without deigning a reply, turned on his heel and strode out of the room,
+slamming the glass-door behind him with such violence that every panel
+in it was shivered to atoms!  He wheeled round and re-entered the room.
+Denham grew pale, supposing that the roused giant was about to assault
+him; but Bax only pointed to the door, and said sternly--"Part of the
+wages due me will pay for that.  You can keep the balance, and buy
+yourself a Bible with it."
+
+Next moment he was gone, and Peekins stood staring at his master through
+the shattered door, trembling from head to foot.  Immediately afterwards
+Denham took his hat and stick, and passed through the office.  Pausing
+at the door he looked back:--
+
+"Ruggles."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"There are five or six foreign letters in my desk for tomorrow's post.
+Copy them out to-night.  See that you do it _to-night_.  Peekins will
+remain with you, and lock up after you have done."
+
+Ruggles, who knew that this involved work till near midnight, humbly
+replied, "Yes, sir."
+
+Having thus secured the misery of at least two human beings, Denham went
+home, somewhat relieved, to dinner.
+
+Bax unconsciously, but naturally, followed his example.  He also went to
+dinner, but, having no home in that quarter, he went to the "Three Jolly
+Tars," and found the landlord quite willing to supply all his wants on
+the shortest possible notice, namely, three-quarters of an hour.
+
+In a snug box of that celebrated place of entertainment, he found Tommy
+Bogey (whom he had brought with him) awaiting his appearance.  The
+precocious youth was deeply immersed in a three-days'-old copy of _The
+Times_.
+
+"Hallo!  Bax, you've been sharp about it," said Tommy, laying down the
+paper and pulling a little black pipe out of his pocket, which he
+proceeded coolly and quietly to fill just as if he had been a bearded
+and grey-headed tar; for Tommy, being a worshipper of Bax, imitated, as
+all worshippers do, the bad as well as the good qualities of his hero,
+ignorant of, as well as indifferent to, the fact that it would have been
+more noble to imitate the good and avoid the bad.
+
+"Ay, we've settled it all slick off in no time," said Bax, sitting down
+beside his young companion, and proceeding also to fill his pipe.
+
+"An' wot about the widders and horphans?" inquired Tommy, beginning to
+smoke, and using his extremely little finger as a tobacco-stopper in a
+way that might have surprised a salamander.
+
+"The widows!" exclaimed Bax.
+
+"Ay, the widders--also the horphans," repeated Tommy, with a grave nod
+of the head.  "I 'ope he's come down 'andsome."
+
+"Tommy," said Bax, with a disconcerted look, "I've forgot 'em
+altogether!"
+
+"Forgot 'em?  Bax!"
+
+"It's a fact," said Bax, with much humility, "but the truth is, that we
+got to loggerheads, an' of course you know it was out of the question to
+talk on such a subject when we were in that state."
+
+"In course it was," said Tommy.  "But it's a pity."
+
+The fact was that Bax had intended to make an appeal to Mr Denham in
+behalf of the widows and children of the poor men who had been drowned
+on the night when the "Nancy" was wrecked; but the unexpected turn which
+the conversation took had driven that subject utterly out of his mind.
+
+"Well, Tommy, it can't be helped now; and, after all, I don't think the
+widows will come by any loss by my forgetfulness, for certain am I that
+Denham would as soon supply a best-bower anchor to the `Trident' as give
+a sovereign to these poor people."
+
+Bax and his young friend here relapsed into a state of silent fumigation
+from which they were aroused by the entrance of dinner.  This meal
+consisted of beef-steaks and porter.  But it is due to Bax to say that
+he advised his companion to confine his potations to water, which his
+companion willingly agreed to, as he would have done had Bax advised him
+to drink butter-milk, or cider, or to go without drink altogether.
+
+They were about done with dinner when a weak small voice in the passage
+attracted their attention.
+
+"Is there one of the name of Bax 'ere," said the meek voice.
+
+"Here I am," shouted Bax, "come in; what d'ye want with me?"
+
+Peekins entered in a state of great agitation.
+
+"Oh! sir, please sir,--I'll never do it again; but I couldn't help it
+indeed, indeed--I was dyin', I was.  It's a great sin I knows, but--"
+
+Here Peekins burst into tears, and sat down on the seat opposite.
+
+"Wot a green 'un!" muttered Tommy, as he gazed at the tiger in blue
+through a volume of tobacco smoke.
+
+"What's the matter, boy?" inquired Bax, in some surprise.  "Anything
+wrong at Redwharf Lane?"
+
+"Ye-es--that's to say, not exactly, only I've run'd away."
+
+"You han't run far, then," said Bax, smiling.  "How long is't since you
+ran away?"
+
+"Just ten minutes."
+
+Tommy burst into a laugh at this, and Peekins, feeling somewhat
+relieved, smiled idiotically through his tears.
+
+"Well now, my lad," said Bax, leaning forward in a confidential way
+which quite won the affection of the tiger, and patting him on the
+shoulder, "I would advise you strongly to go back."
+
+"Oh! sir, but I can't," said Peekins dolefully.  "I dursn't.  My life is
+miserable there.  Mr Denham is so 'ard on me that I feels like to die
+every time I sees 'im.  It ain't o' no use" (here Peekins became wildly
+desperate), "I _won't_ go back; 'cause if I do I'm sure to die slow; an'
+I'd rather die quick at once and be done with it."
+
+Bax opened his eyes very wide at this.  It revealed a state of things
+that he had never before imagined.  Tommy Bogey puffed so large a cloud
+that his face was quite concealed by it, and muttered "you _air_ a rum
+'un!"
+
+"Where d'ye stop, boy?" inquired Bax.
+
+"In lodgin's in Fenchurch Street."
+
+"D'ye owe 'em anything at the office?"
+
+"No, nothin'; they owes me seventeen and six."
+
+"D'ye want it very much?"
+
+"O no, I don't mind _that_, bless ye," said Peekins, earnestly.
+
+"What d'ye mean to do?" inquired Bax.
+
+"Go with _you_--to sea," replied the tiger, promptly.
+
+"But I'm not going to sea."
+
+"Then, I'll go with you wherever you please.  I like you," said the boy,
+springing suddenly to his side and grasping his hand, "I've no one in
+the world to care for but you.  I never heard any one speak like you.
+If you'll only let me be your servant, I'll go with you to the end of
+the world, and--and--"
+
+Here poor Peekins was again overcome.
+
+"Bray_vo_!" shouted Tommy Bogey in admiration.  "You're not such a bad
+fellow after all."
+
+"Poor boy," said Bax, stroking the tiger's head, "you are willing to
+trust too easily to a weak and broken reed.  But, come, I'll take you to
+the coast.  Better to go there, after all, than stop with such a
+tender-hearted Christian as Mr Denham.  Here, take a bit of dinner."
+
+Having tasted no food since breakfast, Peekins gladly accepted the
+invitation, and ate heartily of the remnants of the meal, to the great
+satisfaction of his companions, especially of Tommy, who regarded him as
+one might regard a pet canary or rabbit, which requires to be fed
+plenteously and handled with extreme gentleness and care.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+THE "HOVEL" ON DEAL BEACH--A STORM BREWING--PLANS TO CIRCUMVENT THE
+SMUGGLERS.
+
+On a calm, soft, beautiful evening, about a week after the events
+narrated in the last chapter, Guy Foster issued from Sandhill Cottage,
+and took his way towards the beach of Deal.
+
+It was one of those inexpressibly sweet, motionless evenings, in which
+one is inclined, if in ordinary health, to rejoice in one's existence;
+and in which the Christian is led irresistibly to join with the Psalmist
+in praising God, "for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the
+children of men."
+
+Young Foster's thoughts ran for a considerable time in this latter
+channel; for he was one of those youthful Christians whose love to our
+Saviour does not easily grow cold.  He was wont to read the Bible as if
+he really believed it to be the Word of God, and acted in accordance
+with its precepts with a degree of bold simplicity and trustfulness,
+that made him a laughing-stock to some, and a subject of surprise and
+admiration to others, of his companions and acquaintance.  In short, he
+was a Christian of a cheerful, straightforward stamp.
+
+Yet Guy's course was not all sunshine, neither was his conduct
+altogether immaculate.  He was not exempt from the general rule, that
+"through much tribulation" men shall enter into the Kingdom.  As he
+walked along, rejoicing in his existence and in the beauty of that
+magnificent evening, a cloud would rise occasionally and call forth a
+sigh, as he recollected the polite intimation of his uncle, that he had
+extended his leave of absence _ad_ _infinitum_!  He could not shut his
+eyes to the fact that a brilliant mercantile career on which he had
+recently entered, and on which he might naturally look as the course cut
+out for him by Providence, was suddenly closed against him for ever.  He
+knew his uncle's temper too well to expect that he would relent, and he
+felt that to retract a statement which he knew to be true, or to express
+regret for having boldly told the truth as he had done, was out of the
+question.  Besides, he was well aware that such a course would not now
+avail to restore him to his lost position.  It remained, therefore,
+that, being without influential friends, he must begin over again and
+carve his own way in the world.
+
+But what then?  Was this not the lot of hundreds of thousands?  Little
+time had been lost; he was young, and strong, and hearty.  God had
+written, "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall
+bring it to pass."  "Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy
+might, as unto the Lord, and not unto men."  Under the influence of such
+thoughts the clouds cleared away from Guy's brow, and he raised his
+eyes, which for some minutes had been cast down, with a hopeful gaze to
+the heavens.
+
+There he soon became lost in admiration of the clouds that were floating
+in masses of amber and gold; rising over each other--piled up, mass upon
+mass--grotesque sometimes in form, solid yet soft in aspect, and
+inexpressibly grand, as a whole, in their towering magnificence.
+
+There were signs, however, among the gorgeous beauties of this
+cloud-land, that were significant to eyes accustomed to read the face of
+the sky.  Various lurid and luminous clouds of grey and Indian-red hues
+told of approaching storm, and the men of Deal knew that the sea, which
+just then pictured every cloud in its glassy depths as clearly as if
+there had been another cloud-land below its surface, would, ere long, be
+ruffled with a stiffish breeze; perhaps be tossed by a heavy gale.
+
+Men in general are not prone to meditate very deeply on what is going on
+around them beyond the reach of their own vision.  This is natural and
+right to some extent.  If we were to be deeply touched by the joys,
+sorrows, calamities, and incidents that at all times affect humanity, we
+should cease to enjoy existence.  Life would become a burden.  The end
+of our creation would not be attained.  Yet there is an evil of an
+opposite kind which often mars our usefulness, and makes us
+unconsciously participators in acts of injustice.  This evil is, partial
+ignorance of, and indifference to, much that goes on around us beyond
+the range of our vision, but which nevertheless claims our attention and
+regard.
+
+Every one who reflects will admit that it is pleasant to think, when we
+retire to rest, that a splendid system of police renders our home a
+place of safety, and that, although there are villains more than enough
+who would do their best to get at our purses and plate, we need not make
+ourselves uneasy so long as the stout guardians of the night are on the
+beat.  Do we not congratulate ourselves on this? and do we not pay the
+police-tax without grumbling, or at least with less grumbling than we
+vent when paying other taxes?
+
+Should it, good reader, be less a subject of pleasant contemplation
+that, when the midnight storm threatens to burst upon our shores, there
+are men abroad who are skilled in the perilous work of snatching its
+prey from the raging sea; that, when the howling gale rattles our
+windows and shakes our very walls, inducing us perchance to utter the
+mental prayer, "God have mercy on all who are on the sea this night,"
+that then--at that very time--the heroes of our coast are abroad all
+round the kingdom; strong in the possession of dauntless hearts and iron
+frames, and ready to plunge at any moment into the foaming sea to the
+rescue of life or property?
+
+Who can say, during any storm, that he may not be personally interested
+in the efforts of those heroes?
+
+We knew a family, the members of which, like those of all the other
+families in the land, listened to the howling of that fearful storm
+which covered our shores with wrecks on the 25th of November, 1859.
+Their thoughts were sad and anxious, as must be the case, more or less,
+with all who reflect that in such nights hundreds of human beings are
+_certainly_ perishing on our shores.  But ah! what would the feelings of
+that family have been had they known--as they soon came to know--that
+two stalwart brothers of their own went down that night among the 450
+human beings who perished in the wreck of the "Royal Charter?"
+
+In regard to the "Royal Charter," it may be truly said that there was no
+necessity for the loss of that vessel.  God did not send _direct_
+destruction upon her.  The engines were too weak to work her off the
+land in the face of the gale, and the cables could not hold her.  These
+were among the causes of her loss.  And when she did get ashore, every
+life might have been saved had there been a lifeboat or rocket apparatus
+at hand.  We know not why there were neither; but may it not have been
+because lifeboats and rockets are not sufficiently numerous all along
+our shores?  How many bleeding hearts there were that would have given
+drops of their life-blood to have provided the means of saving life on
+the coast of Anglesea on that terrible night!  A few small coins given
+at an earlier date might have saved those lives!  No individual in the
+land, however far removed from the coast, can claim exemption from the
+dangers of the sea.  His own head may indeed lie safe from the raging
+billow, but at any moment the sea may grasp some loved one, and thus
+wreck his peace of mind, or engulf his property and wreck his fortune.
+Why, then, should not the whole nation take the affairs of the coast
+nearer to its heart?  The Lifeboat Institution is not supported by
+taxation like our police force.  It depends on the charity of the
+people.  Don't you think, reader, that it has a strong claim on the
+sympathies, the prayers, and the purse of every living soul in the
+kingdom?  But to return, with many apologies, from this digression.
+
+Guy Foster noted the peculiar appearance of the clouds, and concluded
+that "something was brewing."  All along the shores stout men in glazed
+and tarry garments noted the same appearances, and also concluded that
+it would be dirty weather before long.  The lifeboat men, too, were on
+the _qui vive_; and, doubtless, the coxswain of each boat, from John o'
+Groat's to the Land's-end, was overhauling his charge to see that all
+was right and in readiness for instant service.
+
+"It's going to blow to-night, Bax," said Guy, on entering the hovel of
+the former.
+
+"So 'tis," replied Bax, who was standing beside his friends Bluenose and
+Tommy Bogey, watching old Jeph, as he busied himself with the model of
+his lifeboat.
+
+Jeph said that in his opinion it was going to be a regular nor'-easter,
+and Bluenose intimated his adherence to the same opinion, with a slap on
+his thigh, and a huge puff of smoke.
+
+"You're long about that boat, Jeph," said Bluenose, after a pause,
+during which he scanned the horizon with a telescope.
+
+"So I am.  It ain't easy to carry out the notion."
+
+"An' wot may the notion be?" inquired Bluenose, sitting down on a coil
+of rope, and gazing earnestly at the old man.
+
+"To get lifeboats to right themselves w'en they're upset," replied Jeph,
+regarding his model with a look of perplexity.  "You see it's all very
+well to have 'em filled with air-chambers, which prevents 'em from
+sinkin'; but w'en they're upset, d'ye see, they ain't o' no use till
+they gets on their keels again; and that ain't easy to manage.  Now I've
+bin thinkin' that if we wos to give 'em more sheer, and raise the stem
+and stern a bit, they'd turn over natural-like, of their own accord."
+
+"I do believe they would," said Bax.  "Why, what put that into yer head,
+old man?"
+
+"Well, it ain't altogether my own notion," said Jeph, "for I've heard,
+when I was in the port o' Leith, many years ago, that a clergyman o' the
+name of Bremer had made a boat o' this sort in the year 1792, that
+answered very well; but, somehow or other, it never came to anything.
+There's nothin' that puzzles me so much as that," said the old man,
+looking up with a wondering expression of countenance.  "I don't
+understand how, w'en a good thing is found out, it ain't made the most
+of _at once_!  I never could discover exactly what Mr Bremer's plan
+was, so I'm tryin' to invent one."
+
+As he said this, Jeph placed the model on which he was engaged in a
+small tub of water which stood at his elbow.  Guy, who was much
+interested in the old man's idea, bent over him to observe the result of
+the experiment.  Tommy Bogey sat down beside the tub as eagerly as if he
+expected some wonderful transformation to take place.  Bax and Bluenose
+also looked on with unusual interest, as if they felt that a crisis in
+the experimental labours of their old comrade had arrived.
+
+"It floats first-rate on an even keel," cried Tommy, with a pleased look
+as the miniature boat moved slowly round its little ocean, "now then,
+capsize it."
+
+Old Jeph quietly put his finger on the side of the little boat, and
+turned it upside down.  Instead of remaining in that position it rolled
+over on one side so much, that the onlookers fully expected to see it
+right itself, and Tommy gave vent to a premature cheer, but he cut it
+suddenly short on observing that the boat remained on its side with one
+of the gunwales immersed, unable to attain an even keel in consequence
+of the weight of water inside of it.
+
+"I tell ye wot it is, Jeph," said Bluenose, with emphasis, "you'll do it
+yet; if you don't I'll eat my sou'-wester without sauce, so I will.  As
+the noospapers says, you'll inaggerate a new era in lifeboats, old boy,
+that's a fact, and I'll live to see it too!"
+
+Having delivered himself of this opinion in tones of much fervour, the
+captain delivered his mouth of a series of cloudlets, and gazed through
+them at his old friend with unfeigned admiration.
+
+Guy and Bax were both impressed with the partial success of the
+experiment, as well as with Jeph's idea, and said to him, encouragingly,
+that he had very near hit it, but Jeph himself only shook his head and
+smiled sadly.
+
+"Lads," said he, "_very near_ is sometimes a long way farther off than
+folk suppose.  Perpetual motion has bin _very nearly_ discovered ever
+since men began to try their hands at engineerin', but it ain't
+discovered yet, nor never will be--'cause why? it ain't possible."
+
+"Ain't poss'ble!" echoed Bluenose, "you're out there, old man.  I
+diskivered it, years ago.  Just you go up to Sandhill Cottage, and
+inquire for one Mrs Laker, a hupright and justifiable sister o' mine.
+Open that 'ooman's mouth an' look in (she won't bite if ye don't bother
+her too much), and lyin' in that there cavern ye'll see a thing called a
+_tongue_,--if that ain't an engine of perpetooal motion, shiver my
+timbers! that's all."
+
+Just as the captain made this reckless offer to sacrifice his timbers,
+Peekins--formerly the blue tiger--entered the hovel, and going hastily
+to Bluenose, whispered in his ear.
+
+A very remarkable transformation had taken place in the outward man of
+poor Peekins.  After coming with Bax to Deal he had been adopted, as it
+were, by the co-partners of the hovel, and was, so to speak, shared
+equally by Bax, Bluenose, old Jeph, and Tommy.  The wonderfully thin and
+spider-like appearance which he presented in his blue-tights and buttons
+on his arrival, created such a howl of derisive astonishment among the
+semi-nautical boys of Deal, that his friends became heartily ashamed of
+him.  Bax, therefore, walked him off at once to a slop-shop, where
+sea-stores of every possible or conceivable kind could be purchased at
+reasonable prices, from a cotton kerchief, with the Union Jack in the
+middle of it, to the old anchor of a seventy-four gun ship, with a
+wooden stock big enough to make a canoe.
+
+Here Peekins was disrobed of his old garments, and clad in canvas
+trousers, pilot-cloth jacket and vest, with capacious pockets, and a
+sou'-wester; all of which fitted him so loosely that he felt persuaded
+in his own mind he could easily have jumped out of them with an upward
+bound, or have slipped out of them downwards through either leg of the
+pantaloons.  He went into that store a blue spider, he came out a
+reasonable-looking seafaring boy, rather narrow and sloping about the
+shoulders, it is true, but smart enough and baggy enough--especially
+about the nether garments--to please even Bax, who, in such matters, was
+rather fastidious.
+
+The whispered communication, above referred to, had the effect of
+causing Bluenose to spring up from the coil of rope, and exclaim--"You
+don't say so!"
+
+Then, checking himself, and looking mysterious, he said he wanted to
+have a word with Bax in private, and would be obligated if he'd go with
+him a bit along shore.
+
+"Well, what's the news?" inquired Bax, when they were alone.
+
+"We've heerd of Long Orrick," said Bluenose, eagerly.
+
+"That's not much news," said Bax; "you told me there wasn't enough
+witnesses to swear to him, or something o' that sort, and that it would
+be no use attempting to put him in limbo, didn't you?"
+
+"Ay," replied the other, striking his clenched right hand into the palm
+of his left, "but the villain don't the less deserve to be tied up, and
+get twelve dozen for all that.  I'd content myself with knocking out
+both his daylights for his cowardly attempt to badger an old man, but
+that wouldn't be safe; besides, I know'd well enough he'd take to
+smugglin' again, an' soon give us a chance to nab him at his old tricks;
+so Coleman and I have been keepin' a look-out on him; and we've found
+that small yard o' pump-water, Peekins, oncommon clever in the way o'
+watchin'.  He's just brought me word that he heard Long Orrick talkin'
+with his chum Rodney Nick, an' plannin' to run their lugger to-night
+into Pegwell Bay, as the coast at the Fiddler's Cave would be too well
+watched; so I'm goin' down to Fiddler's Cave to-night, and I wants you
+to go with me.  We'll get Coleman to help us, for he's savage to get
+hold of Long Orrick ever since the night they put him in a sack, an'
+left him to air his timbers in the Great Chapel Field."
+
+"But if," said Bax, "Long Orrick said he would run to Pegwell Bay, which
+is three or four miles to the nor'ard o' this, and resolved that he
+would _not_ go to Fiddler's Cave, which is six miles to the s'uth'ard,
+why should you go to the very place he's not likely to be found at?"
+
+"Because I knows the man," replied Bluenose, with a wink of deep
+meaning; "I knows him better than you do.  W'en Long Orrick is seen
+bearin' away due north with flying colours, you may take your Davy that
+his true course lies south, or thereby."
+
+Bax smiled, and suggested that they should take Guy Foster with them,
+and when Tommy Bogey heard what they were about he volunteered his
+services, which were accepted laughingly.  Being of a sociable
+disposition, Tommy deemed it prudent to press Peekins into the service,
+and Peekins, albeit not pugnacious by nature, was quite willing and
+ready to follow wherever his sturdy little friend chose to lead.
+
+So they all set off, along the road that skirts the beach, towards Saint
+Margaret's Bay.  The sun was just sinking as they started, and the red
+clouds were beginning to deepen in their colour and look ominous, though
+the sea was still quiet and clear like a sheet of glass.
+
+After following the road for some time, they diverged into the footpath
+that leads to, and winds along the giddy edge of, the chalk cliffs which
+rise abruptly from the shore at this part of the Kentish coast to the
+height of several hundred feet.
+
+The path being narrow, they were obliged to walk in single file, Bax
+leading, Bluenose and Guy following, and Tommy with his meek friend
+bringing up the rear.
+
+The view seawards was indescribably magnificent from the elevated ridge
+along which they hastened.  The Downs was crowded with hundreds of
+vessels of every form and size, as well as of every country, all waiting
+for a favourable breeze to enable them to quit the roadstead and put to
+sea.  Pilot luggers and other shore-boats of various kinds were moving
+about among these; some on the look-out for employment, others intent on
+doing a stroke of business in the smuggling way, if convenient.  Far
+away along the beach men of the coastguard might be seen, like little
+black specks, with telescopes actively employed, ready to pounce on and
+overhaul (more or less stringently according to circumstances) every
+boat that touched the shingle.  Everything in nature seemed silent and
+motionless, with the exception of the sea-mews that wheeled round the
+summits of the cliffs or dived into the glassy sea.
+
+All these things were noted and appreciated in various degrees by the
+members of the party who hastened towards Saint Margaret's Bay, but none
+of them commented much on the scenery.  They were too well accustomed to
+the face of nature in every varying mood to be much struck with her face
+on the present occasion.  Perhaps we may except Guy Foster, who, being
+more of a city man than his companions, besides being more highly
+educated, was more deeply impressed by what he saw that evening.  But
+Guy was too much absorbed by the object of the expedition to venture any
+remark on the beautiful aspect of nature.
+
+"D'ye see that lugger, Bax?" said Bluenose, pointing to a particular
+spot on the sea.
+
+"Between the Yankee and the Frenchman?" said Bax, "I see it well enough.
+What then?"
+
+"That's Long Orrick's boat," replied the Captain, "I'd know it among a
+thousand.  Depend on it we'll nab him to-night with a rich cargo of
+baccy and brandy a-board.  The two B's are too much for him.  He'd sell
+his soul for baccy and brandy."
+
+"That's not such an uncommon weakness as you seem to think," observed
+Guy.  "Every day men sell their souls for more worthless things."
+
+"D'ye think so?" said Bluenose, with a philosophical twist in his
+eyebrows.
+
+"I know it," returned Guy; "men often sell both body and soul (as far as
+we can judge) for a mere idea."
+
+Here Bax, who had been examining the lugger in question with a
+pocket-telescope, said that he had no doubt whatever Bluenose was right,
+and hastened forward at a smarter pace than before.
+
+In less than two hours they descended the steep cliffs to the shingle of
+Saint Margaret's Bay; and at the same time the wind began to rise, while
+the shades of night gradually overspread the scene.
+
+Saint Margaret's Bay is one of those small, quiet, secluded hamlets
+which are not unfrequently met with along our coasts, and in regard to
+which the stranger is irresistibly led to ask mentally, if not really,
+"Why did people ever come to build cottages and dwell here, and what do
+they do?  How do they make a livelihood?"
+
+No stranger ever obtains a satisfactory answer to these questions, for
+the very good reason that, short though they be, the answers to them
+would involve almost a volume, or a speech equal in length to that with
+which the Chancellor of the Exchequer introduces his annual budget.
+There would be various classes to describe, numerous wants to apprehend,
+peculiar circumstances and conditions of social life to explain; in
+short, the thing is a mystery to many, and we merely remark on the fact,
+without having any intention of attempting to clear the mystery away.
+
+So narrow is the strip of shingle that lies between the sea and the
+cliffs in Saint Margaret's Bay, that the cottages have been built close
+up to the latter--much too close, we venture to think, for safety; but
+perhaps men who live in constant peril of their lives, count the
+additional risk of being crushed along with their families under twenty
+or thirty tons of chalk, unworthy of consideration!
+
+On descending to the beach the first thing our party saw was the burly
+figure of Coleman seated on his "donkey" by the "sad sea waves."
+
+It must not be supposed that the coast-guard-man was literally astride
+of a live ass!  No; his "donkey" was an exceedingly ingenious
+contrivance invented specially for the use of a class of men who, being
+human, cannot avoid becoming fatigued--yet who, being sentinels, must
+not on any account whatever be permitted to encourage sleep.
+
+The men of the coast-guard are subject to prolonged and frequent periods
+of watching, by night as well as by day, hence they are liable to become
+wearied.  It has been wisely considered that the most self-denying
+mortal alive will, when hard pressed, sit down on a rock or on the
+ground, if need be, just to relieve his legs a little.  The same wise
+consideration has recalled the fact that when men do this they become
+helplessly incapable of resisting the drowsy god, and will assuredly go
+to sleep, against their will and their judgment.
+
+To meet this case, some truly great mind invented the "donkey."  This
+contrivance is simply a stool with _one_ leg.  The top of the stool is
+not round, but oblong, and very small.  A hole in the centre receives
+the solitary leg, which is attached to it by a piece of cord, and can be
+pulled out when occasion requires, and the machine thrown over the arm
+as one would throw a cloak or scarf.  The beauty of the donkey is, that
+it forms an excellent seat on which a man can balance himself and rest
+with great comfort as long as he keeps awake; but should he fall asleep,
+even for one instant, he infallibly comes to the ground with a shock so
+severe that he is quite certain to remain wakeful during the remainder
+of his vigil!
+
+"What, ho!  Coleman," cried Bax, as he and his friends drew near, "have
+you actually acquired the art of sleeping on a donkey?"
+
+Coleman rose and turned round with a good-humoured smile on his ruddy
+visage:
+
+"Nay, not quite that," said he, "but the hiss of the waves is apt to
+dull the hearin' a bit, an' one don't naturally look for enemies from
+land'ard, d'ye see?"
+
+"Mayhap not," said Bluenose, taking a fresh quid of tobacco out of a
+brass box which he carried at all times in his waistcoat pocket; "but I
+expect an enemy from seaward to-night who'll be oncommon glad to make
+your acquaintance, no doubt!"
+
+Here the Captain chuckled, engulfed his fresh quid, and proceeded to
+explain the nature of their errand.  Having done so, he asked Coleman
+what he thought of it.
+
+The worthy coast-guard-man scratched his nose and stared at the shingle
+for some minutes before venturing to reply.
+
+"I think," said he at length, "that we'll cook his goose to-night;
+that's wot it is."
+
+Coleman paused, and looked thoughtfully at Bluenose.  The Captain nodded
+his head pleasantly, but said nothing, and Coleman proceeded:--
+
+"He'll come in with the flood-tide no doubt, if the gale don't drive him
+in sooner, an' run ashore as near to the cave as possible; but he'll be
+scared away if he sees anything like unusual watchin' on the shore, so
+you'd better get out o' sight as fast as ye can, and keep there."
+
+"Don't you think it would be as well that you also should keep out of
+sight, and so leave the coast clear for him?" suggested Bax.
+
+"Not so," said Coleman with a grin, "he'd see that I'd done it for an
+object.  Long Orrick keeps his weather eye too wide open to be caught so
+easy as that comes to."
+
+"Well, but come up for half-an-hour, and have a glass of beer while we
+talk over the business," said Bax.
+
+Coleman shook his head, "Can't quit my post; besides, I don't drink no
+beer."
+
+"Brayvo! old feller," cried Bluenose, "give us your flipper.  Water,
+cold, for ever! say I, as the whale remarked to the porpoise.  But let's
+go under the lee o' the boat-'ouse an' talk it out, for we shan't nab
+Long Orrick this night, if we doesn't go at 'im like a cat at a mouse."
+
+"Just listen to that old codfish," said Tommy Bogey to Peekins, "takin'
+credit to his-self for not drinkin', though he smokes like a steam-tug,
+an' chews like--like--I'm a Dutchman if I know what, unless it be like
+the bo'sun of a seventy-four gun ship."
+
+"Do bo'suns of seventy-four gun ships chew very bad?" inquired Peekins.
+
+"Oh! don't they!" exclaimed Tommy, opening his eyes very wide, and
+rounding his mouth so as to express his utter inability to convey any
+idea of the terrific powers of bo'suns in that particular line.  "But
+Bluenose beats 'em all.  He'd chew oakum, I do believe, if he didn't get
+baccy, and yet he boasts of not drinkin'!  Seems to me he's just as bad
+as the rest of us."
+
+"D'you think so?" said Peekins, with a doubtful look; "don't you think
+the man who does only two nasty things is better off than the one that
+does three?"
+
+"Nasty things!" exclaimed Tommy in a tone of amazement.  "Don't Bax
+drink and smoke, and d'ye think _he'd_ do one or t'other if they was
+nasty?  Peekins, you small villian as was a blue spider only a week
+since, if you ever talks of them things being nasty again, I'll wop
+you!"
+
+"You hear that, Bax?" said Guy Foster, who, being only a few paces ahead
+of the boys, had overheard the remark, spoken as it was in rather a loud
+key.
+
+Bax nodded his head, and smiled, but made no reply.
+
+It is but just to say that Tommy's threat was uttered more than half in
+jest.  He would as soon have thought of "wopping" a little girl as of
+maltreating his meek companion.  But Peekins was uncertain how to take
+his threat, so, not being desirous of a wopping, he held his tongue and
+humbly followed his comrades.
+
+The party walked for some time at the foot of the cliffs under the lee
+of a boat-house, engaged in earnest conversation as to the best mode of
+proceeding in the meditated enterprise.  It was evident to all of them
+that the hour for action could not now be far distant; for the gale
+increased every moment; the light on the South Foreland was already
+sending its warning rays far and wide over the angry sea, whence the
+floating lights that mark the sands sent back their nightly greeting,
+while dark thunderous clouds mantled over the sky and deepened the
+shades of night which, ere long, completely overspread land and sea.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+THE SMUGGLERS' CAVE--A SURPRISE, A DECEPTION, A FIGHT, AND AN ESCAPE.
+
+The Fiddler's Cave, _alias_ Canterbury Cave, _alias_ the Smugglers'
+Cave, is a cavern of unknown extent situated under the high chalk cliffs
+at the southern extremity of Saint Margaret's Bay.
+
+Tradition informs us that its first appellation was bestowed in
+consequence of a fiddler having gone into it with his dog many years
+ago, and never having come out again.  Four days afterwards the dog
+crept out in a dying condition.  It is supposed that the man must have
+wandered too far into the cavern, and been overpowered by foul air.
+Tradition also says that there is a passage from it, underground, all
+the way to Canterbury, a distance of eighteen miles; hence its second
+name.  No one, however, seems to have verified this report.  The Kentish
+smugglers, from whom the cave derives its last title, have undoubtedly
+made much use of it in days of old.  At the period of our story, the
+entrance to Fiddler's Cave was so much obstructed by rubbish and sand
+that a man had to stoop low on entering the passage which led to the
+interior.  At the present day the entrance is so nearly closed up that a
+man could not creep along it even on his hands and knees.
+
+Here, on the threatening night of which we are writing, a boatman stood
+on the watch, close under the rocks that overhung the entrance to the
+cavern.  The man was habited, like most of his brethren of the coast, in
+rough garments, with long boots, sou'-wester cap, and oiled, tarred, and
+greased upper garments, suitable to the stormy night in which he had
+seen fit to hold his vigil.
+
+A feeble ray of light that struggled in the cavern showed that the man
+clutched a pistol in his right hand, and with a frown on his brow,
+glanced alternately out to sea where all was darkness, and along shore
+where the only visible living object was the figure of old Coleman
+seated on his "donkey."  It need scarcely be added that the sight of the
+coast-guard-man was the cause of the smuggler's frown.
+
+The gale was now blowing stiffly, and rolling black clouds so covered
+the sky that the moon was entirely obscured by them, save when an
+occasional break permitted a few rays to stream down and reveal the
+elemental strife that was going on below.
+
+Coleman, regardless of the storm, maintained his position on his
+one-legged companion, and bending his body to the blast, endeavoured to
+pierce the gloom that enshrouded everything seaward beyond the large
+breakers that sent their foam hissing up to his very feet.  While he sat
+there he thought, or muttered, thus:--
+
+"It's odd, now, I'd ha' thought he'd have run ashore afore this; seein'
+that I've sat on this here donkey for more nor an hour, a-purpose to let
+him see that I'm only watchin' _here_, and nowhere else.  He can't but
+see there's a goodish lump o' the coast free to him so long as I sit
+here.  But he's a sly feller; p'raps he suspects somethin'.  An' yet,
+I'll go bound, he don't guess that there's six or seven of his worst
+enemies hidin' all along the coast, with eyes like needles, and ears on
+full cock!  How'sever, it won't do to sit much longer.  If he don't come
+in five minutes, I'll git up an' walk along in an easy unsuspectin' way.
+Dear me, wot a set o' hypocrites we've got to be in the hexecution of
+our dooty!"
+
+While Coleman moralised thus, in utter ignorance of the near proximity
+of an eye-witness, the smuggler at the mouth of the cave, who was no
+other than Orrick's friend, Rodney Nick, muttered some remarks between
+his teeth which were by no means complimentary to the other.
+
+"What are ye sittin' there for, ye old idiot?" said he savagely.  "I do
+b'lieve ye've larned to sleep on the donkey.  Ha! there's two of ye
+together, an' the wooden one's the best.  Wouldn't I just like to be yer
+leftenant, my boy? an' I'd come to know why you don't go on your beat.
+Why, there may be no end o' cats and galleys takin' the beach wi' baccy
+an' lush enough to smother you up alive, an' you sittin' there snuffin'
+the east wind like an old ass, as ye are."
+
+The smuggler uttered the last sentence in deep exasperation, for the
+time appointed for signalising his comrades at sea had arrived, and yet
+that stolid coast-guard-man sat there as if he had become fastened to
+the shingle.
+
+"I've a good mind to run out an' hit ye a crack over yer figure-head,"
+he continued, grasping his pistol nervously and taking a step forward.
+"Hallo! one would a'most think you'd heard me speak," he added and
+shrank back, as Coleman rose from his seat (the five minutes having
+expired), and sauntered with a careless air straight towards the cave.
+
+On reaching it he paused and looked into it.  Rodney Nick crouched in
+the shadow of a projecting rock, and grasped his pistol tightly for a
+moment, under the impression that he was about to be discovered.  He was
+one of those fierce, angry men who are at all times ready to risk their
+lives in order to gratify revenge.  Old Coleman had more than once
+thwarted Rodney Nick in his designs, besides having in other ways
+incurred his dislike, and there is no doubt that had the coast-guard-man
+discovered him at that moment, he would have paid for the discovery with
+his life.  Fortunately for both of them Coleman turned after standing a
+few seconds at the mouth of the cave, and retraced his steps along the
+beach.
+
+He prolonged his walk on this occasion to the extremity of his beat,
+but, long before reaching that point his figure was lost to the
+smuggler's view in darkness.
+
+"At last!" exclaimed Rodney Nick, taking a dark lantern from his breast,
+and peering cautiously in every direction.  "Now then, Long Orrick, if
+ye look sharp we'll cheat 'em again, and chew our quids and drink our
+grog free of dooty!"
+
+As he muttered his words the smuggler flashed the lantern for an
+instant, in such a manner that its brilliant bull's-eye was visible far
+out at sea.  Again he let its light shine out for one instant; then he
+closed the lid and awaited the result.
+
+Out upon the sea, not far from the wild breakers that thundered and
+burst in foam on the south end of the Goodwin Sands, a boat, of the size
+and form styled by men of the coast a "cat," was tossing idly on the
+waves.  The men in her were employed in the easy task of keeping her
+head to the wind, and in the anxious occupation of keeping a "bright
+look-out" on the shore.
+
+"Time's up," said one of the men, turning suddenly towards his
+companions, and allowing the light of a dark lantern to fall on the face
+of a watch which he held in his hand.
+
+"Dowse the glim, you lubber," cried the angry voice of Long Orrick, "and
+keep a sharp look-out for the signal.  If it don't come we'll run for
+Old Stairs Bay, an' if they're too sharp for us there we'll make for
+Pegwell Bay, and drop the tubs overboard with sinkers at 'em."
+
+For nearly quarter of an hour the party in the boat watched in silence.
+It was evident that Long Orrick was becoming impatient from the way in
+which he turned, now to windward, to scan the threatening sky, and then
+to land-ward, to look for the expected signal.  He felt, on the one
+hand, that if the gale continued to increase, it would be necessary to
+run for the nearest place of safety; and he felt, on the other hand,
+that if he did not succeed in landing the goods at Fiddler's Cave, there
+would be small chance of his getting them ashore at all.
+
+"There's the glim," cried one of the men.
+
+"All right! up with a bit o' the sail," said Long Orrick, seizing the
+tiller from the man who held it.
+
+In a second or two they were driving before the wind straight for the
+shore.  With such a stiff breeze the boat was soon close to the
+breakers, and now the utmost care was necessary in order to prevent it
+from broaching-to and being capsized.  No anxiety was felt, however, by
+the crew of the little craft.  Deal boatmen are noted for their
+expertness in beaching their boats and in putting off to sea in rough
+weather, and the man who held the tiller of the little boat which danced
+on the white crests of the waves that night had many and many a time
+come through such trifling danger scatheless.
+
+"Look out, Bill," cried Orrick, as the thunder of the waves on the beach
+sounded in his ears, and the great chalk cliffs rose up, ghostlike and
+dim, before him.  To one unaccustomed to such scenes it might have
+appeared an act of madness to run ashore on such a night.  But the
+danger was not so great as it seemed.
+
+The man at the bow stood ready with a boat-hook.  In a moment the keel
+grated on the shingle.  Instantly the men were over the side, and the
+boat was hauled up the beach.
+
+"Now, then, for the tubs.  Make for the cave straight.  Rodney Nick will
+be here in a minute.  Ah, here he comes!  Well, Rodney, we've done it
+pretty smart," said Long Orrick, wading with a keg of brandy towards a
+figure which approached him from the beach.  "Here you are! there's lots
+more of 'em.  We're in luck.  Look alive.  The coast's clear, I
+suppose?"
+
+"Hall right," said the dark figure in a hoarse whisper, which terminated
+in a low chuckle, as Long Orrick placed the keg innocently in the arms
+of old Coleman and returned to the boat for more!
+
+It may be as well to remark here--in order to clear up this mystery--
+that although Coleman had not observed the flash of Rodney Nick's
+lantern, his sharp eye had observed the gleam of the light in the boat,
+when one of the men, as already mentioned, threw it on the face of his
+timepiece.
+
+Supposing, erroneously, that this latter was a signal to the shore,
+Coleman, nevertheless, came to the correct conclusion that some one must
+be awaiting Long Orrick near at hand, and felt convinced that the
+Smugglers' Cave must needs be the rendezvous.
+
+Hastening cautiously to Bax, whose station was not far distant from the
+cave, he communicated his suspicions, and they went together towards the
+place.
+
+"I'll go in first," said Coleman, "'cause I know the place better than
+you do."
+
+"Very good," assented Bax, "I'll stand by to lend a hand."
+
+Arrived at the cavern, Bax waited outside, and Coleman went in so
+stealthily that he was at Rodney Nick's side before that worthy had the
+smallest suspicion of his presence.  Indeed, Coleman would certainly
+have run against the smuggler in the dark, had not the latter happened
+to have been muttering savage threats against wind and tide, friends and
+foes, alike, in consequence of the non-appearance of the boat.
+
+Seizing him suddenly from behind, Coleman placed his knee in the small
+of his back, forced him almost double, and then laid him flat on the
+ground.
+
+At the same moment Bax knelt by his side, put one of his strong hands on
+the smuggler's right arm--thereby rendering it powerless--and placed the
+other on his mouth.
+
+So quickly was it all done that Rodney was bound and gagged in less than
+two minutes.  Coleman then ran out just in time to receive the first
+instalment of the brandy, as already related.  Being much the same in
+build and height with Rodney Nick, he found no difficulty in passing for
+him in the darkness of the night and violence of the wind, which latter
+rendered his hoarse whispers almost unintelligible.
+
+In this way several kegs of brandy, boxes of cigars, and bundles of
+tobacco were landed and conveyed to the cavern by Coleman, who refused
+to allow Bax to act as an assistant, fearing that his great size might
+betray him.
+
+On the fifth or sixth trip he found Long Orrick waiting for him somewhat
+impatiently.
+
+"You might have brought a hand with ye, man," said the latter, testily.
+
+"Couldn't git one," said Coleman, taking the keg that was delivered to
+him.
+
+"What say?" cried Orrick.
+
+"Couldn't git one," repeated the other, as loudly and hoarsely as he
+could whisper.
+
+"Speak out, man," cried Long Orrick, with an oath; "you ain't used to
+have delicate lungs."
+
+"I couldn't git nobody to come with me," said Coleman, in a louder
+voice.
+
+The tone was not distinct, but it was sufficient to open the eyes of the
+smuggler.  Scarcely had the last word left his lips when Coleman
+received a blow between the eyes that laid him flat on the beach.
+Fortunately the last wave had retired.  There was only an inch or so of
+foam around him.  Long Orrick knelt on his foe, and drew a knife from
+his girdle.  Before the next wave came up, Coleman with one hand caught
+the uplifted arm of his adversary, and with the other discharged a
+pistol which he had drawn from his breast.  In another instant they were
+struggling with each other in the wave which immediately swept over the
+beach, and Bax was standing over them, uncertain where to strike, as the
+darkness rendered friend and foe alike undistinguishable.
+
+The men in the boat at once rushed to the rescue, omitting to take
+weapons with them in their haste.  Seeing this, Bax seized the
+struggling men by their collars, and exerting his great strength to the
+utmost, dragged them both high upon the beach.  He was instantly
+assailed by the crew, the first and second of whom he knocked down
+respectively with a right and left hand blow; but the third sprang on
+him behind and two others came up at the same moment--one on each side--
+and seized his arms.
+
+Had Bax been an ordinary man, his case would have been hopeless; but
+having been endowed with an amount of muscular power and vigour far
+beyond the average of strong men, he freed himself in a somewhat curious
+manner.  Bending forward, he lifted the man who grasped him round the
+neck from behind quite off his legs, and, by a sudden stoop, threw him
+completely over his head.  This enabled him to hurl his other assailants
+to the ground, where they lay stunned and motionless.  He then darted at
+Coleman and Long Orrick, who were still struggling together with
+tremendous fury.
+
+Seeing his approach, the smuggler suddenly gave in, relaxed his hold,
+and exclaimed, with a laugh, as Bax laid hold of him--
+
+"Well, well, I see it's all up with me, so it's o' no use resistin'."
+
+"No, that it ain't, my friend," said Coleman, rising and patting his foe
+on the back.  "I can't tell ye how pleased I am to meet with ye.  You're
+gettin' stouter, I think.  Smugglin' seems to agree with ye!--hey?"
+
+He said this with a leer, and Bax laughed as he inspected Long Orrick
+more narrowly.
+
+The fact was that the smuggler's clothing was so stuffed in all parts
+with tobacco that his lanky proportions had quite disappeared, and he
+had become so ludicrously rotund as to be visibly altered even in a dark
+night!
+
+"Well, it does agree with me, that's a fact," said Long Orrick, with a
+savage laugh; in the tone of which there was mingled however, quite as
+much bitterness as merriment.
+
+Just at this moment the rest of Coleman's friends, including Tommy Bogey
+and Peekins, appeared on the scene in breathless haste, having been
+attracted by the pistol-shot.
+
+In the eager question and answer that followed, Long Orrick was for a
+moment not sufficiently guarded.  He wrenched himself suddenly from the
+loosened grasp of Bax, and, darting between several of the party, one of
+whom he floored in passing with a left-handed blow, he ran along the
+shore at the top of his speed!
+
+Bax, blazing with disappointment and indignation, set off in fierce
+pursuit, and old Coleman, bursting with anger, followed as fast as his
+short legs and shorter wind would permit him.  Guy Foster and several of
+the others joined in the chase, while those who remained behind
+contented themselves with securing the men who had been already
+captured.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+THE STORM--THE WRECK OF THE HOMEWARD BOUND--THE LIFEBOAT.
+
+A stern chase never was and never will be a short one.  Old Coleman, in
+the course of quarter of a mile's run, felt that his powers were limited
+and wisely stopped short; Bax, Guy, and Tommy Bogey held on at full
+speed for upwards of two miles along the beach, following the road which
+wound along the base of the chalk cliffs, and keeping the fugitive well
+in view.
+
+But Long Orrick was, as we have seen, a good runner.  He kept his ground
+until he reached a small hamlet named Kingsdown, lying about two and a
+half miles to the north of Saint Margaret's Bay.  Here he turned
+suddenly to the left, quitted the beach, and made for the interior,
+where he was soon lost sight of, and left his disappointed pursuers to
+grumble at their bad fortune and wipe their heated brows.
+
+The strength of the gale had now increased to such an extent that it
+became a matter not only of difficulty but of danger to pass along the
+shore beneath the cliffs.  The spray was hurled against them with great
+violence, and as the tide rose the larger waves washed up with a
+magnificent and overwhelming sweep almost to their base.  In these
+circumstances Guy proposed to go back to Saint Margaret's Bay by the
+inland road.
+
+"It's a bit longer," said he, as they stood under the lee of a wall,
+panting from the effects of their run, "but we shall be sheltered from
+the gale; besides, I doubt if we could pass under the cliffs now."
+
+Bax made no reply, but, placing his hand on his friend's arm, stood for
+a few seconds in the attitude of one who listens with profound
+attention.
+
+"There it is," said he at last.  "Do ye hear that, Guy?"
+
+"_I_ hear it," cried Tommy Bogey, with some excitement.
+
+"I hear nothing but the howling of the wind," said Guy, "and the roaring
+of the sea."
+
+"Hush! listen! the minute-gun," said Bax in a low voice; "it comes from
+Saint Margaret's Bay; there, did you not--"
+
+"Ah!  I heard it," cried the other; "come, let us run down along the
+beach a bit, and see if we can make out whereabouts she is."
+
+Guy spoke as if he had no doubt whatever of the cause of the sounds
+which had attracted the attention of himself and his friends.  Without
+another word they all bent their heads to the storm, and forced their
+way out upon the exposed beach, where they found some fishermen
+assembled in the lee of a boat-house, looking eagerly towards the
+direction whence the sounds came.
+
+"I'm afear'd she's got on the rocks to the nor'ard o' the bay," said one
+of the men, as Bax and his companions ran towards them; "there goes
+another gun."
+
+A faint flash was seen for an instant away to the southward.  It was
+followed in a few seconds by the low boom of a distant gun.  Almost at
+the same moment the black heavens seemed to be cleft by a sheet of vivid
+flame, which towered high into the sky, and then went out, leaving the
+darkness blacker than before.
+
+"That's a rocket," cried the fishermen.
+
+"Heaven help them," said Bax, as he hastily buttoned his oilskin coat
+close up to his chin.  "Come, Guy, we'll away and do what we can.  Will
+any of you lads join us?"
+
+Most of the younger men on the ground at once volunteered.
+
+"Stop," cried one of the older men, "the tide's too high; ye can't pass
+the cliff, I tell ye."
+
+The man was left abruptly by the whole party, for they knew well enough
+that if they took the inland road they might be too late to render
+effectual assistance, and any needless delay in attempting the beach
+road could only make matters worse.
+
+There was no lifeboat on this part of the Kentish coast at that time,
+and the great distance of the spot from Ramsgate or Broadstairs rendered
+it highly improbable that either of the lifeboats belonging to these
+ports could be in time to render effectual assistance.  Besides, the men
+knew well that on such a night the crews of these boats would have
+enough of work to do in attending to the wrecks in their own immediate
+neighbourhood.
+
+They followed Bax, therefore, at a steady trot until they reached a part
+of the perpendicular cliff which projected somewhat towards the sea.  At
+the foot of this the waves which on this coast roll to the shore with
+tremendous volume and power, burst with a loud roar and rushed up in
+thick foam.
+
+"Don't any of you come on that don't feel up to it," cried Bax, as he
+awaited the retreat of a wave, and prepared to make a dash.  At that
+moment he wheeled round with the look and air of one who had forgotten
+something.
+
+"Tommy," said he, laying his hand on the boy's head, "go back, lad,
+round by the land road."
+
+"No, Bax, _I won't_," replied Tommy, with a fervour of determination
+that would at any other time have raised a laugh in those who heard it.
+
+"Come along, then, you obstinate beggar," said Bax, sternly, seizing the
+boy by the arms, and throwing him over his shoulder as if he had been a
+lamb!
+
+Tommy's dignity was hurt.  He attempted to struggle, but he might as
+well have hoped to free himself from the hug of a brown bear as to
+escape from the vice-like grip of his big friend.  In another moment Bax
+was whelmed in spray and knee-deep in rushing water.
+
+It was a short dangerous passage, but the whole party got round the
+cliff in safety, and hastened as rapidly as possible towards the scene
+of the wreck.
+
+We must now beg the reader to follow us to another scene, and to go back
+a few hours in time.
+
+Shortly after the sun set that night, and before the full fury of the
+storm broke forth, a noble ship of two thousand tons' burden beat up the
+Channel and made for the Downs.  She was a homeward bound ship, just
+arrived from Australia with a valuable cargo, and between two and three
+hundred passengers, many of whom were gold-diggers returning to their
+native land, and nearly all of whom were possessed of a considerable sum
+in nuggets and gold-dust.  The ship was owned by the house of Denham,
+Crumps, and Company.  Her arrival had been already telegraphed to the
+firm in Redwharf Lane.
+
+There was rejoicing that evening on board the "Trident."  Men and women
+and children crowded the high sides of the weather-worn ship, and,
+holding on by shrouds, ratlines and stays, standing on tip-toe,
+clambering on carronades, and peeping through holes, gazed long and
+ardently at the white cliffs of dear Old England.
+
+Some of them had not set eyes on the "old country," as it is
+affectionately called in our colonies, for many years.  Some there were
+who had gone out as boys, and were returning bald-headed and
+grey-bearded men.  There were others who had been out only a few years,
+but who, happening to be on the spot when the goldfields were
+discovered, had suddenly made fortunes.  They were returning to surprise
+and gladden the hearts of those who, perchance, had sent them off to
+seek their fortunes with the sad feeling that there was little chance of
+seeing them again in this world.
+
+There were ladies, also, who had gone out to the distant land with an
+unbelieving, almost despairing, hope of finding employment for those
+talents which they had, alas! found to be of but little value at home.
+These were, in some cases, returning with lucky gold-diggers and
+blooming children to their native land.  In other cases they were merely
+about to visit home to induce some parent or sister, perhaps, to venture
+out to the land of gold.
+
+But all, whether young or old, male or female, gentle or simple, were
+merry and glad of heart that night as they clustered on the bulwarks of
+the "Trident," and gazed at the longed-for and much loved shore.  There
+was no distinction of ranks now.  The cabin and the 'tween-deck
+passengers mingled together and tried to relieve the feelings of their
+hearts by exchanging words of courtesy and goodwill.
+
+The stormy and threatening aspect of the sky had no terrors now for the
+passengers on board the "Trident."  For weeks and months they had tossed
+on the bosom of the great deep.  They were familiar with the varied
+moods of wind and wave; they had faced the dangers of the sea so often
+that they scarce believed that any real dangers could exist.  The very
+children had become sailors; they were precociously weather-wise, and
+rather fond of being tossed on the waves than otherwise.  The prospect
+of a storm no longer filled them with alarm, as it used to do at the
+beginning of the voyage, for they had encountered many storms and
+weathered them all.  Yes, they had experienced all the dangers of the
+sea, but it was reserved for that night--that last night of the long,
+long voyage--to teach them the dangers of the land; the terrors of a
+storm in narrow waters, among shallows and on a lee-shore,--and to
+convince them that for man there is no real safety whatever in this
+life, save, only, in the favour and love of God.
+
+There were some on board the "Trident," however, who knew the danger of
+their position full well, but who were too considerate of the feelings
+of the women and children to let their knowledge appear even in their
+looks.  The sailors knew the danger of a lee-shore; but sailors are to a
+large extent a reckless and hopeful class of men, whose equanimity is
+not easily upset.  The captain, too, and the pilot, were alive to their
+critical position, but both were sanguine and hoped to get into the
+Downs before the storm should break.
+
+A few of the male passengers also seemed to be aware of the fact that
+approaching the Downs on such a night was anything but matter of
+gratulation.  One in particular, a tall strong man of about forty, with
+a bushy black beard and a stern aspect, walked about the quarterdeck
+with a frown on his countenance that betokened a mind ill at ease.
+
+Going up to the captain, who stood near the wheel, this man asked him
+what he thought of the weather.
+
+"It don't look well; we shall have a dirty night, I fear," replied the
+captain.
+
+"Do you expect to make the Downs before the storm breaks?" inquired the
+passenger.
+
+"Well, I _hope_ so," said the Captain.
+
+"Supposing you do," continued the dark man, "do you consider your cables
+and ground-tackle strong enough to hold the ship in the face of an
+easterly gale?"
+
+"Why do you ask that?" said the Captain in surprise.
+
+"Because," replied the passenger, "I have my doubts on the point."
+
+"Well, to tell you the truth," said the other, in a low tone, "I confess
+that my mind is more uneasy on that score than on any other.  The cables
+are fit enough to hold her in ordinary weather; but if we were obliged
+to anchor off a lee-shore in a heavy gale on an exposed coast like this
+I would be somewhat anxious."
+
+"Why is the ground tackle _not_ strong enough?" asked the passenger.
+
+"Well, it's not easy to answer that," replied the Captain, with a smile,
+"and yet it ain't difficult to conceive that it would cost a good deal
+to supply new and heavier chains and anchors to the ship."
+
+"Ay, the old story--_economy_!" said the passenger bitterly, almost
+fiercely; "a set of selfish land-lubbers who know nothing whatever about
+the sea, and care for nothing on earth but their own pockets and
+bellies, are allowed by the Government of this land to send ships loaded
+with human beings to sea in such a state that it almost calls for the
+performance of a miracle to secure their safe arrival in port.  This is
+pointed out again and again to them without effect.  The sea throws its
+dead by dozens on our shores every gale that blows, crying out, `Look
+here at the result of economy and selfishness!'  Goods to the extent of
+thousands of pounds are destroyed annually, and the waves that swallow
+them belch out the same complaint.  Even the statistics that stare in
+the face of our legislators, and are published by their own authority,
+tell the same tale,--yet little or nothing is done to prevent misers
+from sending ships to sea in a totally unfit condition to face even
+ordinary dangers.  Bah! the thing is past remedy, for the men who should
+act are deaf and blind.  Mark my words, Captain; if we don't weather the
+South Foreland before ten o' the clock this night, the `Trident' will be
+a total wreck before morning."
+
+The passenger turned on his heel with an angry fling and went below,
+while the Captain, who was somewhat overawed by his vehemence, walked
+aft to converse with the pilot.
+
+The gale soon burst on the ship, sending nearly all the passengers
+below, and compelling the Captain to reduce sail.  Darkness overspread
+the scene, and as the night wore on, the gale increased to such a degree
+that the ship laboured heavily.  Soon the lights on the South Foreland
+were descried and passed in safety.
+
+"Get the anchors clear," said the pilot.  "Ready about there!"
+
+No one ever knew the reason of the order given at that time.  Perhaps
+the pilot thought he was a little too near the land, and meant to haul
+off a little; but whatever the reason might have been, the command was
+only half carried out when the sheet of the jib gave way; the loosened
+sail flapped itself to shreds in a second, and the ship, missing stays,
+fell off towards the shore.
+
+"Better wear ship," cried the Captain, springing in alarm to the pilot's
+side.
+
+"Too late for that.  Shore's close under our lee.  Let go the anchors!"
+
+The shout with which the command was given proved the necessity of its
+being instantly obeyed; but the men needed no urging, for at that moment
+a temporary lull in the furious blast allowed them to hear the roaring
+of the breakers at the foot of the cliffs.
+
+Two anchors were at once let go, and the ship was brought up with a
+tremendous shock.
+
+And now commenced that prolonged struggle for life which is, alas! too
+often the lot of those who venture out upon the stormy sea.  Yet it was
+some time before the passengers of the "Trident" could be brought fully
+to realise their danger.  It was hard to believe that, after weathering
+the cyclones of the southern seas, and the gales of the Atlantic, they
+had reached home at last to be cast a wreck upon their own threshold,
+and to perish within hail almost of relatives and friends.
+
+For a long time they refused to credit the appalling truth that their
+case was all but hopeless,--anchored as they were close to a lee shore,
+with inadequate ground tackle, and an increasing gale.  When the chain
+of the smaller anchor snapped, and the Captain ordered the minute-gun to
+be fired, and rockets to be thrown up, then the wail of terror began:--
+
+  "Then shrieked the timid, and stood still the brave."
+
+"You'd better order the boats to be lowered," said the dark passenger to
+the Captain, with a sneer that seemed unnatural as well as unfeeling in
+the circumstances.
+
+The Captain, who was standing by the starboard mizzen shrouds at the
+time, glanced angrily at him for a moment, and said:--
+
+"Ha!  You know well enough that there ain't boats enough in the ship to
+carry all the passengers, and if there were, they could not live for a
+moment in such a sea."
+
+"Yes," replied the dark man, vehemently, "I know that well enough; and I
+know, too, that there's no lifeboat of any kind aboard, nor
+life-jackets, nor life-buoys, beyond what would suffice to float some
+half dozen men; and the owners knew this before sending their ship to
+sea, and, knowing it, they cared not a rap, because they had insured
+ship and cargo to the full value.  Human life, not being counted part of
+the cargo, is of no value whatever to _them_."
+
+"Come, Mr Clelland," said the Captain, reproachfully, "is this a time
+for a Christian man to encourage bitter feelings against his fellows
+because of systems and customs, bad or good?"
+
+"Ay, it _is_ the time," answered the other; "at least if I don't let out
+my mind now, it's not likely I'll find a fitter time to do it in this
+world."
+
+He said this somewhat sadly, and turned away, just as the Captain gave
+orders to throw up another rocket.
+
+Far along that stormy coast the rocket was seen by hundreds who knew
+well what the signal meant, and many of whom, no doubt, offered up
+prayer to God for those who were in danger.  Most of them, however, felt
+that they could do nothing in the way of affording aid.  Our friend Bax
+and his companions were not of this mind, as we have seen.
+
+Some of the stout-hearted boatmen of Deal also thought that something
+might be done, and launched their luggers, but were in some cases
+obliged to desist owing to the ever-increasing fury of the storm.
+
+The rockets were seen also by another party of seamen, who stood grouped
+under the lee of a boat-house far away to the southward.  This was the
+crew of a small lifeboat which stood ready to be launched.  The boat was
+quickly run out of its house by command of its coxswain, and the crew
+hastily equipped themselves for their dangerous work.
+
+They put on life-jackets made of a number of pieces of cork sewed on
+canvas, in such a way as to cover their bodies from shoulder to waist
+without interfering with the play of the arms.  Some of the men objected
+to put these on at first, feeling afraid lest their courage should be
+called in question, in consequence of their using a contrivance which
+was not in such general use at that time as it is now.  Their objections
+were overcome, however, except in the case of one young man, who
+exclaimed, "No, no, none o' yer floats for me.  When my time comes I
+must go, and them things won't save me."
+
+The poor man did not see that the same argument, if correct, would have
+justified his going off in a coble instead of a lifeboat.  The want of
+perception on this point, and false pride, cost him his life.
+
+Several young women, wives of some of the men, had assembled there to
+dissuade their husbands from going out on such a terrible night.  These
+were so alarmed at the terrific thunder of the surf on the shores of the
+little bay, and the howling of the wind, that they clung to the men and
+entreated them with tears not to venture.  Is it a matter of wonder that
+these bold fellows, who could not be appalled by the storm, found it
+difficult to resist the power of woman's tears?  They wavered for a few
+seconds; but when the coxswain, who was a cool, intrepid old
+man-of-war's man, cried in a hearty voice, "Now then, lads, look alive;
+shove off and jump in!" every man sprang to his post, and the lifeboat
+was afloat in an instant.  Through some mismanagement, however, she
+turned broadside to the sea, was overturned instantly, and rolled over
+on the beach.  The women shrieked; the men on shore ran to the rescue,
+and fortunately saved every man with the exception of the one who had
+refused to put on the life-jacket, and who being less able to support
+himself than his companions when washed back into deep water by each
+retiring wave, became at length exhausted and ceased to struggle for
+life.  When he was at last laid hold of and dragged ashore, he was dead.
+
+While some of the men were engaged in fruitless efforts to save this
+man, the rest of the crew, having suffered little, were about to launch
+the boat a second time, when the women again rushed forward and clung to
+them with such eager entreaties, that they began at last to entertain
+the idea of the storm being too wild for them to venture off.
+
+Lest the reader should unjustly censure these men, we must remind him of
+the fact that the self-righting principle not having at that time been
+discovered, the danger incurred in case of an upset was very great, and
+the boat about which we are writing, being small, ran considerable risk
+of being capsized by the heavy seas.  In fact, almost the only
+difference between lifeboats and ordinary boats, at this time, was the
+incapacity of the former to sink when filled with water, owing to the
+buoyancy of the air-chambers fitted round their sides.  If filled by a
+sea, much valuable time had to be lost in baling out the water before
+the oars could be effectively resumed, and if overturned it was a matter
+of the greatest difficulty for the men in the water to right them again;
+in some cases it had proved impossible.  All these defects are remedied
+now-a-days; but more on this head hereafter.
+
+While the men were in this undecided state of mind, regardless alike of
+the commands and the taunts of the coxswain, two men were seen to leap
+down the slope that lay between the cliffs and the sea, and make for the
+group of boatmen at full speed.  As they drew near they were recognised
+to be Mr Hamilton, a young midshipman, then on leave of absence, and
+his friend Thompson, an old college companion.
+
+They ran straight to the boat, the former shouting, as he came up:--
+
+"Ho! get her off, lads; a large ship ashore in Saint Margaret's Bay; now
+then, all together, and with a will!"
+
+So powerful was the influence of the young middy's clear voice and
+prompt action, that the men with one accord shoved the lifeboat into the
+sea; succeeded in keeping her stern to the waves until they were beyond
+the roughest of the breakers; and then, laying to their oars manfully,
+pulled away for the scene of the wreck.
+
+They were soon lost in darkness, and the poor women returned weeping to
+their homes, there to throw on some additional covering, and hasten
+towards the same spot by land.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+SAVING THE PASSENGERS AND CREW--OUR HEROES DISTINGUISH THEMSELVES.
+
+When Bax and his party arrived at Saint Margaret's Bay, the scene of
+wreck and death had already begun.
+
+The vessel was just discernible in the midst of the turmoil of warring
+elements that filled the dark air with misty spray.  A boat had tried to
+reach the shore with a number of passengers--chiefly men--in her.  Her
+fate was quickly sealed.  A huge breaker upset her, and six of the dead
+bodies of her crew had already been plucked from the sea, and laid on
+the shingle.  The rest were being hurled on the land and swept back by
+the force of the returning waves, until the people assembled there
+caught and dragged them also beyond their reach.
+
+Messengers had already been sent to the nearest lifeboat stations, and
+the people who remained behind were either occupied in attempting to
+recover the bodies of the drowned, as above described, or in suggesting
+impossible plans for conveying a line on board the ill-fated vessel.
+
+"Ha! here comes the man as'll tell us wot's to be done, and do it too!"
+cried one of the boatmen, "wot say, Bax, can we git a line off, think
+'ee?"
+
+Bax stood on the edge of the roaring sea, silent and motionless, with
+his arms crossed on his broad chest, and his bold gaze directed to the
+wreck.
+
+"No," said he, after standing a few moments thus, "it can't be done.  No
+mortal man could cross the surf on the inner rocks; but there's a point
+o' rocks not far to the nor'ard; does any one know how far the tide may
+cover 'em just now?"
+
+"About half," answered several voices eagerly.
+
+"Ay, so't does," observed a coast-guard-man, "but with sich a surf
+beatin' on 'em there ain't a rock on the whole pint above water this
+minute."
+
+"Come, let's go see," cried Bax, snatching a coil of light rope from the
+hand of a man who stood close by, and hastening away with it in the
+direction of the rocky point referred to.
+
+In a few seconds he stood on its outer extremity, with Guy Foster,
+Coleman, and a few of the more courageous men at his side.
+
+The point on which Bax stood was indeed a position of great danger.
+Besides being whelmed in driving spray, so that it was a matter of
+extreme difficulty to see more than a few yards in any direction, the
+waves at times rushed up to and over them with such violence as to reach
+the knees of those who stood there, and threatened to wash them off.
+Nevertheless, from this point Bax thought it possible that the end of
+the line might be conveyed on board the "Trident," which could be seen
+looming high and black in the murky air, lifting and falling with a
+heavy crash as each successive billow broke under and over her, carrying
+on with irresistible violence the work of destruction.  Both chains had
+given way, and she was now rolling a helpless wreck on the rocks.
+
+"D'ye mean to try it?" said Guy, anxiously, as he observed his friend
+fastening the line round his waist.
+
+"Hold the end of it, Guy, and pay out," said Bax, "mind you don't haul
+in unless you're _sure_ I'm goin' down."
+
+With this caution, Bax plunged into the surf, and struck out for the
+wreck, having previously placed an open clasp-knife between his teeth.
+
+A cheer broke from the nearest group on the rocks when they witnessed
+this bold act.  It was taken up and re-echoed by those farther up the
+beach, who knew that some hopeful effort was being made, although they
+were unable to perceive the precise nature of it.  The people on the
+wreck also heard the cheer, and looked eagerly landward.  But to them
+all was shrouded in darkness.  Even Guy quickly lost sight of his
+friend, and was only made aware of his safety and onward progress by the
+continued running out of the line.  Suddenly it stopped.
+
+"He's a-board," cried Coleman.
+
+"He would jerk on it if he was," said Guy, with a doubtful shake of the
+head.
+
+"He's sunk," cried one of those who stood by and held the slack of the
+rope.
+
+A panic seemed to seize the others who stood by.  "Haul 'im in!" cried
+one.  "Look alive!" shouted another, "he's a gone man."  Before Guy
+could interfere, they acted on the impulse, and drew in two or three
+fathoms.
+
+Twisting his left arm suddenly round the rope, Guy planted his foot on a
+rock and stopped it; at the same time he raised his right hand, and
+threatened to fell the man nearest to him.  The result was that the men
+desisted from hauling, but when the rope was again felt it became
+evident that there was no weight at the farther end of it.  Guy's heart
+sank with horror as the empty line was drawn in.  For a moment he felt
+all the agony of despair; but a gleam of hope rushed in upon him on
+observing that the end of the rope was _cut_, as if with a sharp knife,
+not by the edge of a rock.
+
+Animated by this hope he hastened back to the beach in quest of another
+line, resolved himself to attempt to carry it to the wreck.
+
+Guy was right in his conjecture that Bax had cut the rope.  On nearing
+the ship the latter had come unexpectedly on a large rock, under the lee
+of which he paused to recover breath before making the last gallant
+struggle towards the wreck.  It was this pause that caused the alarm of
+those on shore.  When Bax felt himself dragged violently back to the
+land, he at once divined the cause, and, knowing that there was no other
+resource, he seized the clasp-knife, and cut the rope.  A few minutes
+later he swam under the lee of the wreck, and, catching hold of the
+rigging of the foremast, which had gone by the board when the ship
+struck, he clambered up the side and soon stood on the quarter-deck.
+
+The hope raised among the passengers by the sudden appearance of the
+gigantic stranger in the midst of them, was quickly dispelled when he
+told them how he had failed in the main object of his effort.  But it
+revived somewhat when they observed the active and energetic way in
+which Bax set about preparations for returning to the shore with a line
+from the ship.  His first act was to ask for a blue-light, which after a
+few minutes was produced.  This he set fire to, and, springing into the
+main rigging, held it aloft, and sent a bright glare for a few minutes,
+far and wide, over the scene.
+
+The effect of this was twofold.  It revealed to the shipwrecked people
+the dangers by which they were surrounded, and the active efforts that
+were being made by land and water for their deliverance.  On shore, they
+saw crowds of men and women surrounding an instrument, which Bax, after
+giving vent to a hopeful cheer, explained was a rocket apparatus.
+Scarcely had they learned this, when Bax shouted and waved his hand
+seaward.  On turning their eyes in that direction, they beheld a
+lifeboat bearing down towards them, her white-painted sides gleaming
+like the wings of an angel of light in the midst of the dark tempest.
+
+The lifeboat was also seen by the people on shore, and Guy, who at once
+recognised the figure, and the _vigour_, of his friend with the
+blue-light, lent able assistance to those who managed the rocket.
+
+Dennett's Rocket Apparatus, which was being placed in position on the
+rocks, is an invention by which many human lives are saved on our coasts
+every year.  Like Manby's Mortar Apparatus, it is simple in its action
+and most effective in operation.
+
+The grand difficulty in the case of a wreck near shore is to establish a
+communication, by means of a rope, between the wreck and the land; and
+this difficulty is, of course, much increased when the wreck occurs off
+a coast lined with rocks or steep cliffs.  To swim off from the shore to
+the wreck, or _vice versa_, is, in most cases, an absolute
+impossibility.  The rocket apparatus has been devised for the purpose of
+overcoming this difficulty.  By means of it a light "line" as it is
+called, or rope, the thickness of the point of one's little finger, can
+be thrown over a wreck lying at a distance of several hundred yards from
+the beach.  This line, when caught, is the means by which many a life
+has been saved from the devouring sea.  The _modus operandi_ will be
+seen in the sequel.
+
+The apparatus consists of five parts; the rocket, the stand, the line,
+the whip, and the hawser.  The rocket is a strong metal cylinder, of
+about eighteen inches in length, and more than two in diameter.  When
+about to be used a long stick is attached to it, and the principle on
+which it acts is precisely similar to that of the small rockets used in
+our pyrotechnic displays.  The stand is a tripod supporting a rest for
+the rocket.  The line, which is made of the best material, is coiled in
+a large box in a zig-zag manner on a number of pegs; these pegs, when
+withdrawn in a mass by removing the bottom of the box to which they are
+attached, leave the line loose and free to fly out with the utmost
+rapidity.  The end of the line is fastened to the head of the rocket.
+
+Any one who has stood near an ordinary rocket when it was being fired,
+can form some conception of the force and furor with which this iron
+monster springs into the air and dashes out to sea in the teeth of the
+wildest storm.  So tremendous is the gush of fire and smoke, that it has
+to be let off by means of a lock, the trigger of which is pulled by a
+man standing some yards distant with a cord attached to it in his hand.
+
+Before the rocket was quite ready for action, the lifeboat had
+approached the wreck, a hundred yards or so to windward of her.  Here
+they cast anchor in such a position that by paying out cable they could
+veer down towards her slowly and endeavour to range up under her lee.
+Every different operation the lifeboat had to perform was fraught with
+extreme danger.  The mere being overwhelmed by the furious sea and
+filled was comparatively a trifling risk.  This it had been twice
+already, and, but for the time lost in bailing out, it would have been
+much earlier on the scene.  While paying out cable there was the fear of
+the rope breaking or the anchor dragging; then, on nearing the wreck,
+there was the risk of being dashed to pieces on the rocks, and after
+getting under her lee, the surging of the waves kept them constantly on
+the verge of being hurled against the rigging.  The wreck of the
+foremast, too, which still lay rolling alongside, was a source of
+constant anxiety, and the rolling of the ship itself rendered it
+probable that one or both of the remaining masts would give way and fall
+over the side, in which case the destruction of the boat would be almost
+inevitable.  Add to this the intense darkness, the terrible uproar of
+wind and water, and the difficulty of acting effectively in a boat that
+pitched and swooped wildly on the broken seas like the plungings of a
+fiery charger,--and some faint idea may be formed of the horrors, as
+well as the dangers of the lifeboat service.
+
+Gradually, but surely, the boat dropped nearer and nearer to the doomed
+ship, under the guidance of her able coxswain.  As it passed under the
+stern a cheer burst from the crowd of eager faces that gazed over the
+side of the "Trident."  Yet there were many hearts there that grew faint
+and chill when they beheld the little white speck that seemed to be
+their only hope of rescue in that dark hour.  "What hope was there that
+such a nutshell should save them all?" they thought, perchance, on
+seeing it approach.  They little knew the wonderful vitality of a
+lifeboat!
+
+Just as it passed under the quarter, a sea swept it right up into the
+mizzen-chains.  The utmost efforts of the crew to fend off were
+unavailing.  As the billow rolled on, the boat dropt swiftly, scraping
+against the ship's side as it fell into the trough of the sea, and
+escaping an upset almost by a miracle.
+
+"Throw a line aboard!" shouted Bax, who stood on the lee bulwarks, high
+above the crowd, holding on by the mizzen-shrouds.
+
+The middy caught up the instrument used for this purpose, and threw a
+line on board at once.  This steadied the boat a little, and, watching
+their opportunity, they succeeded in lowering three women and a child
+into it by means of a bow-line.
+
+In this way, one by one, the females and children were placed in the
+boat until it was full.  Then there was a cry to shove off, and a rush
+was made by the more timid and ignorant among the passengers, who
+thought they were about to be forsaken.  Bax had foreseen this.  He and
+several of the sailors met and checked the crowd, and before any
+mischief could be done the boat was away.
+
+It made straight for the shore where hundreds of stout arms were ready
+to seize it.  The midshipman stood on the bow with a rope in his hand.
+The sea through which they rushed was milk white with foam.  To prevent
+the boat broaching-to and being rolled over on the beach was now the
+main effort of the coxswain.  On they went steadily.  A wave broke under
+them, carried them on its boiling crest with lightning speed, and
+launched them with a roar like thunder on the shingle.  The rope was
+thrown before they touched.  It was seized and manned; and before the
+retiring wave could suck them back, the lifeboat with her living freight
+was run high upon the beach.
+
+She was soon emptied and relaunched, for there was no time to waste.
+Many lives were still in danger, and the "Trident" could not be expected
+to hold together long.
+
+It was just as the boat quitted the side of the wreck, as above
+described, that the rocket was got in readiness to act.
+
+"Stand by to fire," said the coast-guard-man who had been engaged for
+some minutes in adjusting it carefully.
+
+"Keep back! clear out o' the road," cried several of the seamen, as they
+pushed back the more curious among the crowd.
+
+There was a flash, a mighty burst of flame and smoke, as the rocket
+trembled for an instant on its stand; then, with an impulse that seemed
+irresistible, and a hissing shriek that rose above the storm, it sprang
+into the air and described a bright curved line of light against the
+black sky.
+
+Its own wild blaze served to show that it had been well aimed, and that
+the line had fallen across the wreck.  This was all that could be done
+by the people on shore, until those on the wreck had performed their
+part of the work.  But while they stood anxiously awaiting the result,
+they had no cause to fear that the ignorance of those whom they sought
+to rescue would render their efforts useless (as has unfortunately been
+the case more than once), for it was known now that Bax was on board.
+
+The ignorance of some seamen as to what should be done with the line
+when it is caught, has been the cause of loss of life several times.  On
+one occasion five men, the crew of a small vessel, being ignorant on
+this point, tied the rocket-line round them and leaped together into the
+sea!  Of course those on shore could do nothing but haul them to land as
+quickly as possible; when they had done so, all were found to be drowned
+except one.
+
+On the present occasion Bax seized the line as soon as it fell on the
+wreck and began to haul it in-board.  Guy had attached to it a pulley or
+block with a stoutish rope rove through it, and soon those on shore had
+the satisfaction of seeing this second and double line (named the
+"whip"), hauled out by the people on the wreck.  After a time it ceased
+to run out, and then they knew that Bax had got hold of the pulley, and
+would quickly attach it to the ship.  This was soon done.  Bax fastened
+the pulley to the mainmast, and then caused a lantern to be shown for a
+moment, to indicate that all was ready.
+
+Still those on shore delayed to act for a minute, in order to make quite
+sure that ample time had been allowed for the fastening of the pulley.
+And now the all-important operation of conveying a thick hawser to the
+wreck was begun.  With the tackle already fast to the ship this was
+comparatively easy.  The _whip_ being rove through a pulley, both ends
+were kept on shore and fastened together.  It thus became a sort of
+endless rope, by which things could be passed to the wreck and back
+again.  Even without any hawser at all, many lives might have been saved
+by this rope; but, being small, it was liable to get broken, therefore
+the end of the thick hawser was sent out and received by Bax, who bound
+it also securely to the mainmast close to the pulley, about fifteen feet
+above the deck.
+
+The reader will understand that two ropes were now fastened to the
+mainmast of the "Trident," their other ends being fixed to a heavy
+anchor buried in the sand on shore.  One of these ropes was the thick
+hawser, the other the whip; but as this whip was an endless or revolving
+rope, as has been explained, to an onlooker it appeared that there were
+_three_ ropes stretched between the vessel and the shore, two of them
+thin and one thick.
+
+These preliminary arrangements having been made, much more rapidly than
+the description of them might lead one to suppose, the purpose for which
+they had been fixed soon began to be carried out.  Just as the lifeboat
+arrived with its first cargo of passengers, a large block or pulley was
+run out along the hawser by means of the whip, having attached to it a
+circular lifebuoy with a canvas bag hanging from it.  This was the
+contrivance into which one individual at a time was placed and drawn
+ashore.  Two holes in the bag allowed the legs of the occupant to hang
+down, and as the belt reached almost up to the neck, there was not much
+chance of his being tossed out of it.  It was in order to prevent this,
+however, that Bax had fastened the end of the hawser high on the
+mainmast, so that the travelling bag was raised sufficiently above the
+water, except when it neared the shore.  Then, indeed, it was frequently
+immersed in the towering waves, but then, too, it was so near the land
+that a few seconds sufficed to draw it beyond the reach of the sea.
+[See Note 1.]
+
+For two hours did these men of the coast toil in this arduous labour of
+love.  More than a hundred persons had been saved; but nearly a hundred
+still remained on board the wreck.
+
+The storm was now at its height, and the vessel rolled over on her bilge
+so violently that the lifeboat was more than once on the point of being
+crushed under her massive sides.  On her last trip she came close up
+under the quarter as on former occasions, but before any one could be
+taken off a monstrous wave lifted the hull right over the rocks on which
+she lay, and let her fall with fearful violence on a bed of sand in such
+a position that one of her large timbers snapped across with a report
+like a cannon shot.
+
+The lifeboat got entangled in the wreck and could not get clear.  To
+make matters worse it grounded on a sandbank that rose close to the side
+of the "Trident," and could not be hauled out of the dangerous position
+in which it was thus suddenly placed.  The top-gallant masts of the ship
+were swaying wildly over it, the yards were swinging to and fro,
+threatening each moment to strike it, and the ragged sails flapped over
+it with a noise like thunder.
+
+"Haul off! haul off!" shouted Bax, who observed the extreme danger in
+which the boat was placed.
+
+The crew attempted to do so, but for some minutes were unsuccessful.  At
+last they got into deep water, but just as this was accomplished the
+mainyard struck it on the side and overturned it in an instant.
+
+Not being constructed on the self-righting principle, the boat remained
+keel up, but the men, buoyed up by their life-jackets, succeeded in
+climbing on board the wreck.
+
+A cry of despair arose from those still on board the ill-fated "Trident"
+when this catastrophe happened.  During the next half-hour the rocket
+apparatus was plied with great success, but although most of the women
+and children were saved by it (and by the boat before it was disabled),
+there were still upwards of fifty men on board the wreck.
+
+"D'you think the ship will hold together long?" said Bax, going aft to
+the captain, who clung to the mizzen-shrouds superintending the
+operations of the men.
+
+"Not long, I fear," he replied.  "If she had been thoroughly repaired
+before starting on this voyage she might have weathered the gale; but,
+but--"
+
+"But," interposed Mr Clelland,--the dark passenger, who during the
+whole of the proceedings which we have narrated had stood calmly beside
+the captain looking on--"but Messrs. Denham, Crumps, and Company, being
+penny wise and pound foolish, thought that the ships were strong enough
+for _their_ purpose, both ship and cargo being fully covered by
+insurance!"
+
+There was a spice of bitterness in this man's tone and manner which
+displeased Bax.  He was about to administer a rebuke to him, when a
+larger wave than usual lifted the ship up, and let her fall with such
+force that another of her large timbers broke across like a pipe-stem,
+and the two remaining masts went by the board, sweeping several of the
+passengers and crew into the sea along with the wreck of spars and
+cordage.
+
+Just under the quarter a child fell into the water.  It had been
+wrenched from its mother's arms by the coil of a flying rope.  The
+mother leaped frantically on the bulwarks, and would have plunged into
+the sea had not Bax seized her.  At that moment Mr Clelland passed a
+rope round his waist, tied it in that swift and perfect manner peculiar
+to seamen, and sprang into the sea.  He seized the child in his arms.
+The captain of the "Trident" had caught the rope as Clelland sprang over
+the side.  Bax assisted him, and in a few minutes both were hauled
+safely on board.
+
+"You're better stuff than I gave you credit for," said Bax, as the dark
+passenger delivered the child to its mother.
+
+"Indeed!" said Mr Clelland, with a touch of sarcasm in his tone; "I
+hope that I may be able to return you the like compliment at a more
+fitting season.  At present there is other work for us to do.  Come,
+lads, we must try to right the lifeboat, who will help me?"
+
+Mr Clelland sprang into the sea as he spoke and swam towards the boat,
+which still lay under the lee of the wreck with its keel uppermost.  Bax
+followed instantly, and so did nearly the whole crew of the boat.  These
+latter, having on their cork-jackets, ran comparatively little risk of
+drowning, but they, as well as Bax and Clelland, were in danger of being
+disabled by the rolling spars that surrounded them.  With great
+difficulty they succeeded in turning the boat over, but, as it was
+nearly full of water, much valuable time was wasted before it could be
+baled out sufficiently to render it once more serviceable.  When this
+was accomplished they hauled clear of the wreck, intending to veer round
+towards the stern, where they could approach the ship with greater
+safety.
+
+The remaining passengers seeing this, rushed upon the poop.  At that
+moment the ship was lifted up, and hurled with such violence on a sunken
+rock that her back was broken; the sea dashed against her side,
+separating the poop from the fore part of the vessel, and turning it
+completely over, so that every soul on board was plunged suddenly into
+the sea.
+
+A wild shriek of despair rose high above the howling of the storm, and
+most of the weaker among the passengers sank in the raging sea to rise
+no more.  But the lifeboat was now in a condition to render effectual
+aid to those who were strong enough to struggle a few minutes for their
+lives, or to cling to broken portions of the wreck.  She was soon as
+full as she could hold, and Bax, seizing the bow oar, forced her head
+round towards the shore.  The coxswain sprang to the helm; "Give way,
+lads," was shouted, and in a few seconds the boat was once again
+careering towards the shore on the crest of a towering billow.  She took
+the beach in safety.
+
+"Now, then, shove off again," cried Bax, when the last of the passengers
+was assisted out of her.
+
+"Stop!" cried a coast-guard-man, "some of the men are too much knocked
+up to go off again."
+
+This was evident, for when the lanterns were held up to the faces of the
+brave fellows it was seen that several of the less robust among them
+were deadly pale from sheer exhaustion and fatigue.  They indignantly
+protested, however, that they were still "game for another bout"; but
+the coxswain firmly, though kindly, insisted that the cork belts should
+be taken off two or three of them and given to the stoutest of at least
+a dozen volunteers who eagerly stepped forward.
+
+The boat was then relaunched, and after a careful search, and another
+sharp struggle with the angry sea, returned with six saved men and a
+woman, besides several apparently dead bodies, which were instantly
+removed to a neighbouring cottage, to be treated according to the rules
+laid down by the Royal Humane Society for the recovery of those who are
+apparently drowned.  [See Note 2.]
+
+After the back of the ship was broken, and the wreck overwhelmed, the
+rocket apparatus of course became useless, as the mast to which the
+ropes were attached broke off close to the deck, and the ropes
+themselves became so entangled with the wreck as to be unmanageable; but
+before this catastrophe occurred good service had been done, for no
+fewer than sixty of the passengers of the ill-fated "Trident" had been
+saved by this means alone.  The lifeboat had been the means of saving
+one hundred and twenty lives; and fifteen men, who succeeded in swimming
+to the beach, were rescued with the utmost difficulty by the people on
+shore.
+
+Among these last was the captain, who, with that heroic self-devotion
+which seems to be a common characteristic of British seamen, had made up
+his mind to be the last man to quit the ship.  This intention was
+frustrated by the breaking up of the vessel.  In the confusion he was
+swept beyond the reach of the lifeboat, and gained the beach he scarce
+knew how.  Here he was launched on the shingle by a billow, and washed
+high up on the beach.  He grasped the loose pebbles with the energy of
+despair, but the cataract of white water that rushed back as the wave
+retired, swept him with irresistible force into the sea.  Again this
+happened and as he dug his fingers into the moving gravel, and felt how
+hopeless was his case, a cry of anguish burst from him.
+
+The cry was heard by Guy Foster, who, with a rope round his waist, had
+been for the last half-hour engaged in rescuing men and women from the
+fatal grasp of these retiring waves.
+
+"This way, lads, fetch the lantern, look alive!" he shouted, and sprang
+towards the part of the shore whence the cry had proceeded, followed by
+a crowd of seamen who had assisted him by holding the rope.
+
+Guy was much exhausted.  Six times already had he plunged into the
+boiling surf and been dragged out with a fellow-creature in his arms.
+He had removed the loop of the rope for a few minutes, and now held it
+in his hand as he ran along the beach looking anxiously at the surf.
+
+Once again the captain was hurled on the beach, but in so exhausted a
+condition that he could make no effort to save himself.  He rolled so
+near to Guy's feet that the latter dropped the rope in his haste as he
+leaped towards the drowning man.  He caught him round the waist just as
+the broken billow began to rush back.  For one moment Guy stood firm,
+but as the retiring water gathered force his limbs quivered, the gravel
+rolled from beneath his feet, and he was swept off his legs!
+
+Before he was engulfed in the surf, and almost before the cry of alarm
+had burst from his companions on the beach, a boy flung the loop of the
+rope over his shoulders, plunged headlong into the sea, and, catching
+Guy round the neck with both arms, held to him like a vice.  It was
+Tommy Bogey!  The men hauled gently on the rope at first, fearing to
+tear the little fellow from his grasp, but they need not have been so
+careful.  Tommy's grip was an uncommonly firm one.  In half a minute the
+three were pulled beyond the reach of the waves--the captain still
+breathing, Guy able to walk, though much exhausted, and Tommy Bogey none
+the worse for his heroic and successful exertions.
+
+This was the last incident worthy of note that occurred.  Of the two
+hundred and fifty souls who had rejoiced that night in the prospect of a
+safe and speedy termination to their long voyage, fifty-five were
+drowned and one hundred and ninety-five were saved.  Of these last the
+fifteen men who swam ashore would have been the sole survivors, in all
+human probability, if there had been no lifeboat or rocket apparatus on
+the coast.
+
+For the service thus rendered, each man who risked his life that night
+in the lifeboat received 2 pounds from the Royal Lifeboat Institution.
+Others who had assisted in saving life on the beach received rewards
+proportioned to their services, and Bax, Guy, and Tommy Bogey were each
+awarded the gold medal of the Society for the distinguished gallantry
+displayed, and the great risks voluntarily encountered by them on this
+occasion.  It was suggested that Denham, Crumps, and Company should give
+something to the men of the lifeboat in acknowledgment of their
+services, but Denham, Crumps, and Company did not act on the suggestion!
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  In order to give those of our readers who happen to be
+interested in this subject a better idea of the manner of using the
+Rocket apparatus, we subjoin the Instructions given by the Board of
+Trade to masters and seamen in regard to it:--
+
+In the event of your vessel stranding within a short distance of the
+United Kingdom, and the lives of the crew being placed in danger,
+assistance will, if possible, be rendered from the shore in the
+following manner, namely:
+
+1.  A rocket or shot with a thin line attached will be fired across your
+vessel.  Get hold of this line as soon as you can, and when you have
+secured it let one of the crew be separated from the rest, and, if in
+the daytime, wave his hat or his hand, or a flag or handkerchief; or if
+at night let a rocket, a blue light, or a gun be fired, or let a light
+be shown over the side of the ship, and be again concealed, as a signal
+to those on shore.
+
+2.  When you see one of the men on shore, separated from the rest, wave
+a red flag, or (if at night) show a red light and then conceal it, you
+are to haul upon the rocket line until you get a tailed block with an
+endless fall rove through it.
+
+3.  Make the tail of the block fast to the mast about 15 feet above the
+deck, or if your masts are gone, to the _highest secure_ part of the
+vessel; and when the tail block is made fast, and the rocket line unbent
+from the whip, let one of the crew, separated from the rest, make the
+signal required by Article 1 above.
+
+4.  As soon as the signal is seen on shore a hawser will be bent to the
+whip line, and will be hauled off to the ship by those on shore.
+
+5.  When the hawser is got on board, the crew should at once make it
+fast to the same part of the ship as the tailed block is made fast to,
+only about 18 inches _higher_, taking care that there are no turns of
+the whip line round the hawser.
+
+6.  When the hawser has been made fast on board, the signal directed by
+Article 1 above is to be repeated.
+
+7.  The men on shore will then pull the hawser taut, and by means of the
+whip line will haul off to the ship a sling life-buoy fitted with
+petticoat breeches.  The person to be hauled ashore is to get into this
+sling, thrusting his legs through the breeches, and resting his armpits
+on the lifebuoy.  When he is in and secure, one of the crew must be
+separated from the rest, and again signal to the shore as directed in
+Article I above.  The people on shore will then haul the person in the
+sling to the shore, and when he has landed will haul back the empty
+sling to the ship for others.  This operation will be repeated to and
+fro until all persons are hauled ashore from the wrecked vessel.
+
+8.  It may sometimes happen that the state of the weather and the
+condition of the ship will not admit of the hawser being set up, in
+which case the sling will be hauled off instead, and the persons to be
+rescued will be hauled in it through the surf instead of along the
+hawser.
+
+Masters and crews of wrecked vessels should bear in mind that the
+success in landing them may in a great measure DEPEND UPON THEIR
+COOLNESS AND ATTENTION TO THE RULES HERE LAID DOWN; and that by
+attending to them many lives are annually saved by the Mortar and Rocket
+Apparatus on the coasts of the United Kingdom.
+
+The system of signalling must be strictly adhered to; and all women,
+children, passengers, and helpless persons should be landed before the
+crew of the ship.--BOARD OF TRADE, 22nd _December_ 1859.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 2.  It is of immense importance that every man in the kingdom
+should possess some degree of knowledge on the subject of the
+restoration of persons apparently drowned, for no one can tell at what
+moment he may be called upon, in the absence of medical aid, to act in a
+case of this nature.  We therefore make no apology for here giving in
+full the rules which have been adopted by the National Lifeboat
+Institution.  They run as follows:
+
+I.  Send immediately for medical assistance, blankets, and dry clothing,
+but proceed to treat the patient _instantly_ on the spot, in the open
+air, with the _face downwards_, whether on shore or afloat; exposing the
+face, neck, and chest to the wind, except in severe weather, and
+removing all tight clothing from the neck and chest, especially the
+braces.
+
+The points to be aimed at are--first and _immediately_, the RESTORATION
+OF BREATHING; and secondly, _after_ breathing is restored, the PROMOTION
+OF WARMTH AND CIRCULATION.
+
+The efforts to _restore breathing_ must be commenced immediately and
+energetically, and persevered in for one or two hours, or until a
+medical man has pronounced that life is extinct.  Efforts to promote
+_warmth_ and _circulation_ beyond removing the wet clothes and drying
+the skin must _not_ be made _until_ the first appearance of natural
+breathing.  For if circulation of the blood be induced before breathing
+has recommenced, the restoration to life will be endangered.
+
+II.  TO RESTORE BREATHING.
+
+TO CLEAR THE THROAT.--Place the patient on the floor or ground with the
+face _downwards_, and one of the arms under the forehead, in which
+position all fluids will more readily escape by the mouth, and the
+tongue itself will fall forward, leaving the entrance into the windpipe
+free.  Assist this operation by wiping and cleansing the mouth.
+
+If satisfactory breathing commences, use the treatment described below
+to promote warmth.  If there be only slight breathing, or no breathing,
+or if the breathing fail, then:--
+
+TO EXCITE BREATHING--Turn the patient well and instantly on the side,
+supporting the head, and excite the nostrils with snuff, hartshorn, and
+smelling salts or tickle the throat with a feather, etcetera, if they
+are at hand.  Rub the chest and face warm, and dash cold water, or cold
+and hot water alternately, on them.
+
+If there be no success, lose not a moment, but instantly:--
+
+TO IMITATE BREATHING--Replace the patient on the face, raising and
+supporting the chest well on a folded coat or other article of dress.
+
+Turn the body very gently on the side and a little beyond, and then
+briskly on the face, back again; repeating these measures cautiously,
+efficiently, and perseveringly about fifteen times in the minute, or
+once every four or five seconds, occasionally varying the side.
+
+[_By placing the patient on the chest the weight of the body forces the
+air out; when turned on the side this pressure is removed, and air
+enters the chest_.]
+
+On each occasion that the body is replaced on the face make uniform but
+efficient pressure with brisk movement, on the back between and below
+the shoulder-blades or bones on each side, removing the pressure
+immediately before turning the body on the side.  During the whole of
+the operations let one person attend solely to the movements of the
+head, and of the arm placed under it.
+
+[_The first measure increases the expiration, the second commences
+inspiration_.]
+
+The result is _respiration_ or _natural breathing_, and, if not too
+late, _life_.
+
+Whilst the above operations are being proceeded with, dry the hands and
+feet; and as soon as dry clothing or blankets can be procured, strip the
+body and cover, or gradually re-clothe it, but taking care not to
+interfere with the efforts to restore breathing.
+
+III.  Should these efforts not prove successful in the course of from
+two to five minutes, proceed to imitate breathing by Dr Silvester's
+method, as follows:--
+
+Place the patient on the _back_ on a flat surface, inclined a little
+upwards from the feet; raise and support the head and shoulders on a
+small firm cushion or folded article of dress placed under the
+shoulder-blades.
+
+Draw forward the patient's tongue, and keep it projecting beyond the
+lips; an elastic band over the tongue and under the chin will answer
+this purpose, or a piece of string or tape may be tied round them, or by
+raising the lower jaw the teeth may be made to retain the tongue in that
+position.  Remove all tight clothing from about the neck and chest,
+especially the braces.
+
+TO IMITATE THE MOVEMENTS OF BREATHING.--Standing at the patient's head,
+grasp the arms just above the elbows, and draw the arms gently and
+steadily upwards above the head, and _keep them stretched_ upwards for
+two seconds.  (_By this means air is drawn into the lungs_.)  Then turn
+down the patient's arms, and press them gently and firmly for two
+seconds against the sides of the chest.  (_By this means air is pressed
+out of the lungs_.)
+
+Repeat these measures alternately, deliberately, and perseveringly about
+fifteen times in a minute, _until a spontaneous effort to respire is
+perceived_, immediately upon which cease to imitate the movements of
+breathing, and proceed to INDUCE CIRCULATION AND WARMTH.
+
+IV.  TREATMENT AFTER NATURAL BREATHING HAS BEEN RESTORED--TO PROMOTE
+WARMTH AND CIRCULATION.
+
+Commence rubbing the limbs upwards, with firm grasping pressure and
+energy, using handkerchiefs, flannels, etcetera: [_by this measure the
+blood is propelled along the veins towards the heart_.]
+
+The friction must be continued under the blanket or over the dry
+clothing.
+
+Promote the warmth of the body by the application of hot flannels,
+bottles or bladders of hot water, heated bricks, etcetera, to the pit of
+the stomach, the arm-pits, between the thighs, and to the soles of the
+feet.
+
+If the patient has been carried to a house after respiration has been
+restored, be careful to let the air play freely about the room.
+
+On the restoration of life a teaspoonful of water warm should be given;
+and then, if the power of swallowing have returned, small quantities of
+wine, warm brandy and water, or coffee, should be administered.  The
+patient should be kept in bed, and a disposition to sleep encouraged.
+
+GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
+
+The above treatment should be persevered in for some hours, as it is an
+erroneous opinion that persons are irrecoverable because life does not
+soon make its appearance, persons having been restored after persevering
+for many hours.
+
+APPEARANCES WHICH GENERALLY ACCOMPANY DEATH.--Breathing and the heart's
+action cease entirely, the eyelids are generally half-closed, the pupils
+dilated, the jaws clenched, the fingers semi-contracted; the tongue
+approaches to the under edges of the lips, and these, as well as the
+nostrils, are covered with a frothy mucus.  Coldness and pallor of
+surface increase.
+
+CAUTIONS.--Prevent unnecessary crowding of persons round the body,
+especially if in an apartment.
+
+Avoid rough usage, and do not allow the body to remain on the back
+unless the tongue is secured.
+
+_Under no circumstances_ hold the body up by the feet.
+
+_On no account_ place the body in a warm bath, unless under medical
+direction, and even then it should only be employed as a momentary
+excitement.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+THE MORNING AFTER THE STORM.
+
+On the fifth morning that succeeded the breaking of the storm, described
+in the last chapter, the sun rose in gorgeous splendour and shone upon a
+sea that was clear and burnished like a sheet of glass.  The wind had
+ceased suddenly, and a perfect calm prevailed; but although no breath of
+air ruffled the surface of the deep, the long swell rose and fell as if
+the breast of ocean were still throbbing from its recent agitation.
+
+All along the east coast of England this swell met the shore in a
+succession of slow-rolling waves, which curled majestically over, and
+appeared almost to pause for a moment ere they fell, with deep solemn
+roar, in a magnificent burst of foam.
+
+Everywhere the effects of the storm were painfully evident.  Wrecks
+could be counted by the dozen from some of the bold headlands that
+commanded an extensive view of the shore.  The work of destruction was
+not yet over.  The services of our lifeboats could not yet be dispensed
+with although the fury of the winds had ceased.
+
+It is a mistake to suppose that when a gale has ceased, all danger to
+man and destruction to his property is over.  We are apt to attribute
+too much influence to the winds.  Undoubtedly they are the origin of the
+evil that befalls us in storms, but they are not the _immediate_ cause
+of the wholesale destruction that takes place annually among the
+shipping of the kingdom.  It is the mighty hydraulic force of the sea,--
+the tremendous lifting power of the waves, that does it all.
+
+Although the storm was over and the wind had gone down, the swell of the
+ocean had not yet ceased to act.  On many a headland, and in many a
+rocky bay, brigs, schooners, barques, and ships of large size and stout
+frame, were that day lifted and battered, rent, torn, riven, and split
+by the sea as if they had been toys; their great timbers snapped like
+pipe-stems, and their iron bars and copper bolts twisted and gnarled as
+if they had been made of wire.
+
+The hardy men of Deal were still out in those powerful boats, that seem
+to be capable of bidding defiance to most storms, saving property to the
+nation, and earning--hardly earning--salvage for themselves.  The
+lifeboats, too, were out,--in some cases saving life, in others, saving
+property when there were no lives in danger.
+
+How inadequate are our conceptions of these things when formed from a
+written account of one or two incidents, even although these be
+graphically described!  How difficult it is to realise the actual scenes
+that are presented all along the coast during and immediately after each
+great storm that visits our shores.
+
+If we could, by the exercise of supernatural power, gaze down at these
+shores as from a bird's-eye point of view, and take them in, with all
+their stirring incidents, at one glance; if we could see the wrecks,
+large and small--colliers with their four or five hands; emigrant ships
+with their hundreds of passengers--beating and grinding furiously on
+rocks that appear to rise out of and sink into a sea of foam; if we
+could witness our lifeboats, with their noble-hearted crews, creeping
+out of every nook and bay in the very teeth of what seems to be
+inevitable destruction; if we could witness the hundred deeds of
+individual daring done by men with bronzed faces and rough garments, who
+carry their lives habitually in their hands, and think nothing of it; if
+we could behold the flash of the rockets, and hear the crack of the
+mortars and the boom of minute guns from John o' Groat's to the Land's
+End, at the dead and dark hours of night, when dwellers in our inland
+districts are abed, all ignorant, it may be, or thoughtless, in regard
+to these things; above all, if we could hear the shrieks of the
+perishing, the sobs and thanksgivings of the rescued, and the wild
+cheers of the rescuers; and hear and see all this at one single glance,
+so that our hearts might be more filled than they are at present with a
+sense of the terrible dangers of our shores, and the heroism of our men
+of the coast, it is probable that our prayers for those who "go down to
+the sea in ships" would be more frequent and fervent, and our respect
+for those who risk life and limb to save the shipwrecked would be
+deeper.  It is also probable that we might think it worth our while to
+contribute more largely than we do to the support of that noble
+Institution whose work it is to place lifeboats where they are wanted on
+our coasts, and to recognise, reward, and chronicle the deeds of those
+who distinguish themselves in the great work of saving human life.
+
+Let us put a question to you, good reader.  If France, or any other
+first-rate Power, were to begin the practice of making a sudden descent
+on us about once a month, on an average, all the year round, slaying
+some hundreds of our fishermen and seamen each time; occasionally
+cutting off some of our first-class emigrant ships, and killing all on
+board--men, women, and children,--thus filling the land with repeated
+wails of sorrow, with widows and with fatherless children: What would
+you do?
+
+What!--do you say that you "would fortify every island on the coast,
+plant Martello towers on every flat beach, crown every height with
+cannon, and station iron-clads in every harbour and bay, so that the
+entire coast should bristle with artillery?"  That sounds well, but what
+guarantee have we that you really would act thus if France were to
+become so outrageous?
+
+"Common sense might assure me of it," you reply.
+
+So it might, and so it would, if we had not evidence to the contrary in
+the fact that our country _is_ thus assailed month after month--year
+after year--by a more inveterate enemy than France ever was or will be,
+and yet how little is done to defend ourselves against his attacks,
+compared with what might be, with what _ought_ to be, done!
+
+This enemy is the storm; but, like France, he is not our _natural_
+enemy.  We have only chosen in time past to allow him to become so.  The
+storm has been wisely and beneficently ordained by God to purify the
+world's atmosphere, and to convey health and happiness to every land
+under heaven.  If we will not take the obvious and quite possible
+precautions that are requisite to secure ourselves from his violence,
+have we not ourselves to blame?
+
+There are far too few harbours of refuge on our exposed coasts; the
+consequence is that our fishing-boats are caught by the storm and
+wrecked, and not unfrequently as many as a hundred lives are lost in a
+few hours: Who is to blame?  A large vessel goes on the rocks because
+there is no lighthouse there to give warning of danger; a post has been
+neglected and the enemy has crept in: Who neglected that post?  After
+the ship has got on the rocks, it is made known to the horrified
+passengers that there are no ship's lifeboats aboard, neither are there
+any life-belts: Whose blame is that?  Still there seems hope, for the
+shore is not far off, and anxious people line it; but no ordinary boat
+can live in such a sea.  There is no rocket apparatus on this part of
+the coast; no mortar apparatus by which a line might be sent on board:
+Why not?  The nearest lifeboat station is fifteen miles off: Whose fault
+is that?  Is the storm our enemy here?  Is not selfish, calculating,
+miserly man his own enemy in this case?  So the ship goes to pieces, and
+the result is that the loss of this single vessel makes 60 widows and
+150 fatherless children in one night! not to speak of thousands of
+pounds' worth of property lost to the nation.
+
+If you doubt this, reader, consult the pages of the _Lifeboat Journal_,
+in which you will find facts, related in a grave, succinct,
+unimpassioned way, that ought to make your hair stand on end!
+
+Thoughts strongly resembling those recorded in the last few pages filled
+the mind and the heart of Bax, as he stood on that calm bright morning
+on the sea-shore.  It was a somewhat lonely spot at the foot of tall
+cliffs, not far from which the shattered hull of a small brig lay jammed
+between two rocks.  Tommy Bogey stood beside him, and both man and boy
+gazed long and silently at the wrack which lined the shore.  Every nook,
+every crevice and creek at the foot of the cliff was filled choke full
+of broken planks and spars, all smashed up into pieces so small that,
+with the exception of the stump of a main-mast and the heel of a
+bowsprit, there was not a morsel that exceeded three feet in length, and
+all laid side by side in such regular order by the swashing of the sea
+in and out of the narrower creeks, that it seemed as if they had been
+piled there by the hand of man.
+
+They gazed silently, because they had just come upon a sight which
+filled their hearts with sadness.  Close beside a large rock lay the
+form of an old white-haired man with his head resting on a mass of
+sea-weed, as if he were asleep.  Beside him lay a little girl, whose
+head rested on the old man's breast, while her long golden hair lay in
+wild confusion over his face.  The countenances of both were deadly
+pale, and their lips blue.  It required no doctor's skill to tell that
+both were dead.
+
+"Ah's me!  Tommy, 'tis a sad sight," said Bax.
+
+Tommy made no reply for a few seconds, but after an ineffectual effort
+to command himself, he burst into tears.
+
+"If we had only been here last night," he sobbed at length, "we might
+have saved them."
+
+"So we might, so we might, Tommy; who knows?  Some one should have been
+here anyhow.  It seems to me that things ain't well managed in these
+days.  They haven't half enough of appliances to save life, that's a
+fact."
+
+Bax said this somewhat sternly.
+
+"Whose fault is it, Bax?" said Tommy, looking up in his friend's face.
+
+"Ha, Tommy," replied the other with a smile, "it don't become the like
+o' you or me to say who's to blame.  You're too young to understand the
+outs and ins o' such matters, and I'm too ignorant."
+
+The boy smiled incredulously.  The idea of Bax being "ignorant" was too
+gross and absurd to be entertained for a moment, even although stated by
+himself.
+
+"Well, but," urged Tommy stoutly, "if things _are_ wrong, it's clear
+that they ain't right, and surely I've a right to say so."
+
+"True, lad, true," returned Bax, with an approving nod; "that's just the
+point which I'd like you and me to stick to: when we see things to be
+wrong don't let's shirk sayin' so as flat as we can; but don't let us
+go, like too many shallow-pates, and say that we know _who's_ wrong and
+_why_ they're wrong, and offer to put them all right on the shortest
+notice.  Mayhap" (here Bax spoke in a soft meditative tone, as if he had
+forgotten his young friend, and were only thinking aloud) "mayhap we may
+come to understand the matter one of these days, and have a better right
+to speak out--who knows?"
+
+"That I'm certain of!" cried Tommy, in a tone and with an air that made
+Bax smile despite the sad sight before him.
+
+"Come, lad," he said, with sudden energy, "we must get 'em removed.
+Away! and fetch a couple of men.  I'll arrange them."
+
+Tommy was off in a moment, and Bax proceeded with gentle care to arrange
+the dress and limbs of the old man and the child.  Two men soon arrived,
+and assisted to carry them away.  Who they were no one knew and few
+cared.  They were only two of the many who are thus cast annually, and
+by no means _unavoidably_, on our stormy shores.
+
+Do not misunderstand us, good reader.  Compared with what is done by
+other lands in this matter, Britain does her duty well; but, compared
+with what is required by God at the hands of those who call themselves
+Christians, we still fall far short of our duty, both as a nation and as
+individuals.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+RELATES TO LOVE, CROSS PURPOSES AND MISTAKES, ETCETERA.
+
+Storms may rage, orphans and widows may weep, but the world must not
+pause in its regular routine of business and of pleasure.  This is
+natural and right.  It was not intended that men should walk perpetually
+in sackcloth and ashes because of the sorrows that surround them.  But
+equally true is it that they were never meant to shut their eyes and
+ears to those woes, and dance and sing through life heedlessly, as far
+too many do until some thunderbolt falls on their own hearts, and brings
+the truth home.
+
+The command is twofold: "Weep with those that weep, and rejoice with
+those that do rejoice."
+
+Come then, reader, let us visit good Mrs Foster, and rejoice with her
+as she sits at her tea-table contemplating her gallant son with a
+mother's pride.  She has some reason to be proud of him.  Guy has just
+received the gold medal awarded him by the Lifeboat Institution.  Bax
+and Tommy have also received their medals, and all three are taking tea
+with the widow on the occasion.  Lucy Burton and Amy Russell are there
+too, but both of these young ladies are naturally much more taken up
+with Tommy's medal than with those of Guy or of Bax!
+
+And well they may be, for never a breast, large or small, was more
+worthy of the decoration it supported.
+
+"My brave boy," said the widow, referring to Tommy, and taking him by
+the arm as he sat beside her, but looking, irresistibly, at her son, "it
+was a noble deed.  If I had the giving of medals I would have made yours
+twice the size, with a diamond in the middle of it."
+
+"What a capital idea!" said Lucy, with a silvery laugh, that obliged her
+to display a double row of brilliant little teeth.
+
+"A coral ring set with pearls would be finer, don't you think?" said
+Guy, gravely.
+
+Tommy grinned and said that that was a toothy remark!
+
+Lucy blushed, and said laughingly, that she thought Mrs Foster's idea
+better, whereupon the widow waxed vainglorious, and tried to suggest
+some improvements.
+
+Guy, fearing that he had been presumptuous in paying this sly
+compliment, anxiously sought to make amends by directing most of his
+conversation to Amy.
+
+Bax, who was unusually quiet that evening, was thus left to make himself
+agreeable to Lucy.  But he found it hard work, poor fellow.  It was
+quite evident that he was ill at ease.
+
+On most occasions, although habitually grave, Bax was hearty, and had
+always plenty to say without being obtrusive in his conversation.
+Moreover, his manners were good, and his deportment unconstrained and
+easy.  But when he visited the widow's cottage he became awkward and
+diffident, and seemed to feel great difficulty in carrying on
+conversation.  During the short time he had been at Deal since the wreck
+of the "Nancy," he had been up at the cottage every day on one errand or
+another, and generally met the young ladies either in the house or in
+the garden.
+
+Could it be that Bax was in love?  There was no doubt whatever of the
+fact in his own mind; but, strange to say, no one else suspected it.
+His character was grave, simple, and straightforward.  He did not assume
+any of those peculiar airs by which young men make donkeys of themselves
+when in this condition!  He feared, too, that it might be interfering
+with the hopes of his friend Guy, whose affections, he had latterly been
+led to suspect, lay in the same direction with his own.  This made him
+very circumspect and modest in his behaviour.  Had he been quite sure of
+the state of Guy's heart he would have retired at once, for it never
+occurred to him for a moment to imagine that the girl whom Guy loved
+might not love Guy, and might, possibly, love himself.
+
+Be this as it may, Bax resolved to watch his friend that night closely,
+and act according to the indications given.  Little did poor Guy know
+what a momentous hour that was in the life of his friend, and the
+importance of the part he was then performing.
+
+Bax rose to go sooner than usual.
+
+"You are very kind, ma'am," he said, in reply to Mrs Foster's
+remonstrances; "I have to visit an old friend to-night, and as it is
+probable I may never see him again, I trust you'll excuse my going so
+early."
+
+Mrs Foster was obliged to acquiesce.  Bax shook hands hurriedly, but
+very earnestly, with each of the party, and quitted the cottage in
+company with Guy.
+
+"Come, Guy, let us walk over the sandhills."
+
+"A strange walk on so dark a night; don't you think it would be more
+cheerful on the beach?"
+
+"So it would, so it would," said Bax, somewhat hastily, "but I want to
+be alone with you, and we're likely to meet some of our chums on the
+beach.  Besides, I want to have a quiet talk, and to tell ye
+something.--You're in love, Guy."
+
+Bax said this so abruptly that his friend started, and for a few seconds
+was silent.  Then, with a laugh, he replied--
+
+"Well, Bax, you've a blunt way of broaching a subject, but, now that you
+put the thing to me, I feel inclined to believe that I am.  You're a
+sharper fellow than I gave you credit for, to have found me out so
+soon."
+
+"It needs but little sharpness to guess that when two young folk are
+thrown much together and find each other agreeable, they're likely to
+fall in love."
+
+Bax's voice sank to its deepest tones; he felt that his hopes had now
+received their deathblow, and in spite of himself he faltered.  With a
+mighty effort he crushed down the feeling, and continued in a tone of
+forced gaiety--
+
+"Come, I'm rejoiced at your good luck, my boy; she's one of a thousand,
+Guy."
+
+"So she is," said Guy, "but I'm not so sure of my good luck as you seem
+to be; for I have not yet ventured to speak to her on the subject of
+love."
+
+"No?" exclaimed Bax in surprise, "that's strange."
+
+"Why so?" said Guy.
+
+"Because you've had lots of time and opportunity, lad."
+
+"True," said Guy, "I have had enough of both, but some folk are not so
+bold and prompt as others in this curious matter of love."
+
+"Ah, very true," observed Bax, "some men do take more time than others,
+and yet it seems to me that there has been time enough for a sharp
+fellow like you to have settled that question.  However, I've no doubt
+myself of the fact that she loves you, Guy, and I do call that uncommon
+good luck."
+
+"Well, it may seem a vain thing to say, but I do fancy that she likes me
+a bit," said the other, in a half jocular tone.
+
+The two friends refrained from mentioning the name of the fair one.  The
+heart and mind of each was filled with one object, but each felt a
+strange disinclination to mention her name.
+
+"But it seems to me," continued Guy, "that instead of wanting to tell me
+something, as you said, when you brought me out for a walk in this
+dreary waste of furze and sand at such a time of night, your real object
+was to pump me!"
+
+"Not so," replied Bax, in a tone so deep and sad as to surprise his
+friend; "I brought you here because the lonely place accords with my
+feelings to-night.  I have made up my mind to go to Australia."
+
+Guy stopped abruptly.  "You jest, Bax," said he.
+
+"I am in earnest," replied the other, "and since I have forced myself
+into your confidence, I think it but fair to give you mine.  The cause
+of my going is love!  Yes, Guy, I too am in love, but alas! my love is
+not returned; it is hopeless."
+
+"Say not so," began Guy, earnestly; but his companion went on without
+noticing the interruption.
+
+"The case is a peculiar one," said he.  "I have known the sweet girl
+long enough to know that she does not love me, and that she _does_ love
+another man.  Moreover, _I_ love that man too.  He is my friend; so, the
+long and the short of it is, I'm going to up-anchor, away to the
+gold-fields, and leave the coast clear to him."
+
+"This must not be, Bax; you may be wrong in supposing your case
+hopeless.  May I ask her name?"
+
+"Forgive me, Guy, I _must_ not mention it," said Bax.
+
+It is not necessary to weary the reader with the variety of arguments
+with which Guy plied his friend in order to turn him from his purpose,
+as they wandered slowly over the sandhills together.  He was
+unsuccessful in his efforts to arouse hope in the bosom of his friend,
+or to induce him to suspend his determination for a time.  Nor was he
+more fortunate in attempting to make Bax say who was the friend--for
+whom he was about to make so great a sacrifice,--little suspecting that
+it was himself!
+
+"Now," said Bax, after having firmly resisted his companion's utmost
+efforts, "I want you to leave me here alone.  I may seem to you to be
+obstinate and ungracious to-night" (he stopped and seized Guy's hand),
+"but, believe me, I am not so.  My heart is terribly down, and you know
+I'm a rough matter-of-fact fellow, not given to be sentimental, so I
+can't speak to you as I would wish on this subject; but wherever I may
+go in this world, I will never cease to pray for God's blessing on you
+and yours, Guy."
+
+"I like to hear you say that, Bax," returned the other; "it will rejoice
+my heart to think that love for me will be the means of taking you often
+to the throne of God."
+
+"You're a good fellow, Guy; perhaps what you have often said to me has
+not been thrown away as much as you suppose.  Come, now, instead of you
+having to urge the subject on me, I'll ask you to give me a text.
+Supposing that you and I were parting _to-night_ for the last time, and
+that I were going off to Australia _to-morrow_, what would you say to me
+in the way of advice and encouragement?"
+
+Guy paused thoughtfully for a moment, and then said, "Delight thyself in
+the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will give thee the desires of thine
+heart."
+
+"Thank 'ee, lad, I'll not forget the words," said Bax, wringing his
+friend's hand.
+
+"Perhaps I'll think of another and more suitable text when the time for
+parting really comes," said Guy, sadly.  "Good-night, Bax; mind you come
+up to the cottage to-morrow, and let me know your plans."
+
+"I shall be busy to-morrow, but I'll write," said Bax, as his friend
+left him.  "Ay," he added, "there goes a real Christian, and a
+true-hearted friend.  Ah's me!  I'll never see him more!"
+
+Bax wandered slowly and without aim over the dark waste for some time.
+Almost unintentionally he followed the path that led past the Checkers
+of the Hope.  A solitary light burned in one of the lower windows of the
+old inn, but no sound of revelry issued from its doors.  Leaving it
+behind him, Bax soon found himself standing within a few yards of the
+tombstone of the ill-fated Mary whose name he bore.
+
+"Poor thing, 'twas a sad fate!" he murmured, as he contemplated the
+grave of the murdered girl, who had been a cousin of his own
+grandfather.  "Poor Mary, you're at rest now, which is more than I am."
+
+For some minutes Bax stood gazing dreamily at the grave which was barely
+visible in the faint light afforded by a few stars that shone through
+the cloudy sky.  Suddenly he started, and every fibre of his strong
+frame was shaken with horror as he beheld the surface of the grave move,
+and saw, or fancied he saw, a dim figure raise itself partially from the
+earth.
+
+Bax was no coward in any sense of that word.  Many brave men there are
+who, although quite fearless in regard to danger and death, are the most
+arrant cowards in the matter of superstition, and could be made to flee
+before a mere fancy.  But our hero was not one of these.  His mind was
+strong, like his body, and well balanced.  He stood his ground and
+prepared to face the matter out.  He would indeed have been more than
+human if such an unexpected sight, in such circumstances, had failed to
+horrify him, but the effect of the shock soon passed away.
+
+"Who comes here to disturb me?" said a weak voice that evidently
+belonged to this ghost.
+
+"Hallo!  Jeph, is that you?" exclaimed Bax, springing forward and gazing
+into the old man's face.
+
+"Ay, it's me, and I'm sorry you've found me out, for I like to be let
+alone in my grief."
+
+"Why, Jeph, you don't need to be testy with your friend.  I'll quit ye
+this moment if you bid me; but I think you might find a warmer and more
+fitting bed for your old bones than poor Mary Bax's grave.  Come, let me
+help you up."
+
+Bax said this so kindly, that old Jeph's temporary anger at having been
+discovered passed away.
+
+"Well, well," said he, "the only two people who have found me out are
+the two I like best, so it don't much matter."
+
+"Indeed," exclaimed the young man in surprise, "who is number two,
+Jeph?"
+
+"Tommy Bogey.  He found me here on the night when Long Orrick was chased
+by Supple Jim."
+
+"Strange, he never told me about it," said Bax.
+
+"'Cause I told him to hold his tongue," replied Jeph, "and Tommy's a
+good fellow and knows how to shut his mouth w'en a friend asks him to--
+as I now ask you, Bax, for I don't want people know that I come here
+every night."
+
+"What! do you come here _every_ night?" cried Bax in surprise.
+
+"Ay, every night, fair weather and foul; I've been used to both for a
+long time now, and I'm too tough to be easily damaged."
+
+"But why do you this, Jeph?  You are not mad!  If you were, I could
+understand it."
+
+"No matter, no matter," said the old man, turning to gaze at the
+tombstone before quitting the place.  "Some people are fond of having
+secrets.  I've got one, and I like to keep it."
+
+"Well, I won't try to pump it out of you, my old friend.  Moreover, I
+haven't got too much time to spare.  I meant to go straight to your
+house to-night, Jeph, to tell you that I'm off to Australia to-morrow by
+peep o' day."
+
+"Australia!" exclaimed Jeph, with a perplexed look in his old face.
+
+"Ay, the blue peter's at the mast-head and the anchor tripped."
+
+Here Bax related to his old comrade what he had previously told to Guy.
+At first Jeph shook his head, but when the young sailor spoke of love
+being the cause of his sudden departure, he made him sit down on the
+grave, and listened earnestly.
+
+"So, so, Bax," he said, when the latter had concluded, "you're quite
+sure she's fond o' the other feller, are ye?"
+
+"Quite.  I had it from his own lips.  At least he told me he's fond of
+_her_, and I could see with my own eyes she's fond of _him_."
+
+"Poor lad," said Jeph, patting his friend's shoulder as if he had been a
+child, "you're quite right to go.  I know what love is.  You'll never
+get cured in _this_ country; mayhap foreign air'll do it.  I refused to
+tell you what made me come out here lad; but now that I knows how the
+wind blows with _you_, I don't mind if I let ye into my secret.  Love!
+ay, it's the old story; love has brought me here night after night since
+ever I was a boy."
+
+"Love!" exclaimed his companion; "love of whom?"
+
+"Why, who should it be but the love o' the dear girl as lies under this
+sod?" said the old man, putting his hand affectionately on the grave.
+"Ay, you may well look at me in wonderment, but I wasn't always the
+wrinkled old man I am now.  I was a good-lookin' lad once, though I
+don't look like it now.  When poor Mary was murdered I was nineteen.  I
+won't tell ye how I loved that dear girl.  Ye couldn't understand me.
+When she was murdered by that"--(he paused abruptly for a moment, and
+then resumed)--"when she was murdered, I thought I should have gone mad.
+I _was_ mad, I believe, for a time; but when I came back here to stay,
+after wanderin' in foreign parts for many years, I took to comin' to the
+grave at nights.  At first I got no good.  I thought my heart would
+burst altogether, but at last the Lord sent peace into my soul.  I began
+to think of her as an angel in heaven, and now the sweetest hours of my
+life are spent on this grave.  Poor Mary!  She was gentle and kind,
+especially to the poor and the afflicted.  She took a great interest in
+the ways and means we had for savin' people from wrecks, and used often
+to say it was a pity they couldn't get a boat made that would neither
+upset nor sink in a storm.  She had read o' some such contrivance
+somewhere, for she was a great reader.  Ever since that time I've bin
+trying, in my poor way, to make something o' the sort, but I've not
+managed it yet.  I like to think she would have been pleased to see me
+at it."
+
+Old Jeph stopped at this point, and shook his head slowly.  Then he
+continued--
+
+"I find that as long as I keep near this grave my love for Mary can't
+die, and I don't want it to.  But that's why I think you're right to go
+abroad.  It won't do for a man like you to go moping through life as I
+have done.  Mayhap there's some truth in the sayin', Out o' sight out o'
+mind."
+
+"Ah's me!" said Bax; "isn't it likely that there may be some truth too
+in the words o' the old song, `Absence makes the heart grow fonder.'
+But you're right, Jeph, it wouldn't do for _me_ to go moping through
+life as long as there's work to do.  Besides, old boy, there's plenty of
+_this_ sort o' thing to be done; and I'll do it better now that I don't
+have anybody in particular to live for."
+
+Bax said this with reckless gaiety, and touched the medal awarded to him
+by the Lifeboat Institution, which still hung on his breast where it had
+been fastened that evening by Lucy Burton.
+
+The two friends rose and returned together to Jeph's cottage, where Bax
+meant to remain but a few minutes, to leave sundry messages to various
+friends.  He was shaking hands with the old man and bidding him
+farewell, when the door was burst open and Tommy Bogey rushed into the
+room.  Bax seized the boy in his arms, and pressed him to his breast.
+
+"Hallo!  I say, is it murder ye're after, or d'ye mistake me for a polar
+bear?" cried Tommy, on being put down; "wot a hug, to be sure!  Lucky
+for me that my timbers ain't easy stove in.  Wot d'ye mean by it?"
+
+Bax laughed, and patted Tommy's head.  "Nothin', lad, only I feel as if
+I should ha' bin your mother."
+
+"Well, I won't say ye're far out," rejoined the boy, waggishly, "for I
+do think ye're becomin' an old wife.  But, I say, what can be wrong with
+Guy Foster?  He came back to the cottage a short while ago lookin' quite
+glum, and shut himself up in his room, and he won't say what's wrong, so
+I come down here to look for you, for I knew I'd find ye with old Jeph
+or Bluenose."
+
+"Ye're too inquisitive," said Bax, drawing Tommy towards him, and
+sitting down on a chair, so that the boy's face might be on a level with
+his.  "No doubt Guy will explain it to you in the morning.  I say,
+Tommy, I have sometimes wondered whether I could depend on the
+friendship which you so often profess for me."
+
+The boy's face flushed, and he looked for a moment really hurt.
+
+"Tutts, Tommy, you're gettin' thin-skinned.  I do but jest."
+
+"Well, jest or no jest," said the boy, not half pleased, "you know very
+well that nothing could ever make me turn my back on _you_."
+
+"Are you sure?" said Bax, smiling.  "Suppose, now, that I was to do
+something very bad to you, something unkind, or that _looked_ unkind--
+what then?"
+
+"In the first place you couldn't do that, and, in the second place, if
+you did I'd like you just as well."
+
+"Ay, but suppose," continued Bax, in a jocular strain, "that what I did
+was _very_ bad."
+
+"Well, let's hear what you call very bad."
+
+Bax paused as if to consider, then he said: "Suppose, now, that I were
+to go off suddenly to some far part of the world for many years without
+so much as saying good-bye to ye, what would you think?"
+
+"I'd find out where you had gone to, and follow you, and pitch into you
+when I found you," said Tommy stoutly.
+
+"Ay, but I did not ask what you'd do; I asked what you'd think?"
+
+"Why, I would think something had happened to prevent you lettin' me
+know, but I'd never think ill of you," replied Tommy.
+
+"I believe you, boy," said Bax, earnestly.  "But come, enough o' this
+idle talk.  I want you to go up to the cottage with a message to Guy.
+Tell him not to speak to any one to-night or to-morrow about what I said
+to him when we were walking on the sandhills; and be off, lad, as fast
+as you can, lest he should let it out before you get there."
+
+"Anything to do with smugglers?" inquired the boy, with a knowing look,
+as they stood outside the door.
+
+"Why, n-no, not exactly."
+
+"Well, good-night, Bax; good-night, old Jeph."
+
+Tommy departed, and the two men stood alone.
+
+"God bless the lad.  You'll be kind to him, Jeph, when I'm away?"
+
+"Trust me, Bax," said the old man, grasping his friend's hand.
+
+Without another word, Bax turned on his heel, and his tall, stalwart
+figure was quickly lost to view in the dark shadows of the night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+TOMMY BOGEY FORMS A MIGHTY RESOLVE, AND MR. DENHAM, BEING PERPLEXED,
+BECOMES LIBERAL.
+
+When Tommy Bogey discovered the terrible fact that his friend Bax had
+really gone from him, perhaps for ever, he went straight up to the
+cottage, sat down on the kitchen floor at the feet of Mrs Laker, laid
+his head on her lap, and wept as if his heart would break.
+
+"My poor boy!" said the sympathising Laker, stroking his head, and
+endeavouring to comfort him more by tone and manner than by words.
+
+But Tommy refused to be comforted.  The strongest affection he had ever
+known was rudely and suddenly crushed.  It was hard in Bax to have done
+it; so Tommy felt, though he would not admit it in so many words.  So
+Bax himself felt when the first wild rush of sorrow was past, and he had
+leisure to consider the hasty step he had taken, while sailing away over
+the distant sea towards the antipodes.  Bitterly did he blame himself
+and repent when repentance was of no avail.
+
+Tommy's grief was deep, but not loud.  He did not express it with a
+howling accompaniment.  It burst from him in gasping sobs for a time,
+then it subsided into the recesses of his young heart and gnawed there.
+It did not again break bounds, but it somewhat changed the boy's
+character.  It made him almost a man in thought and action.  He
+experienced that strong emotion which is known to most young hearts at
+certain periods of early life, and which shows itself in the formation
+of a fixed resolve to take some prompt and mighty step!  What that step
+should be he did not know at first, and did not care to know.
+Sufficient for him, that coming to an unalterable determination of some
+indefinite sort afforded him great relief.
+
+After the first paroxysm was over, Tommy rose up, kissed Mrs Laker on
+the cheek, bade her goodnight with unwonted decision of manner, and went
+straight to the amphibious hut of his friend Bluenose, whom he found
+taking a one-eyed survey of the Downs through a telescope, from mere
+force of habit.
+
+The Captain's name was more appropriate that day than it had been for
+many years.  He was looking uncommonly "blue" indeed.  He had just heard
+of the disappearance of Bax, for the news soon spread among the men on
+Deal beach.  Being ignorant of the cause of his friend's sudden
+departure, and knowing his deliberate, sensible nature, the whole
+subject was involved in a degree of mystery which his philosophy utterly
+failed to clear up.  Being a bachelor, and never having been in love, or
+met with any striking incidents of a tender nature in his career, it did
+not occur to him that woman could be at the bottom of it!
+
+"Uncle," said Tommy, "Bax is gone!"
+
+"Tommy, I knows it," was the brief reply, and the telescope was shut up
+with a bang, as the seaman sat down on a little chest, and stared
+vacantly in the boy's face.
+
+"Why did he do it?" asked Tommy.
+
+"Dun' know.  Who knows?  S'pose he must ha' gone mad, though it don't
+seem likely.  If it wasn't Guy as told me I'd not believe it."
+
+"Does Guy not know why he's gone?"
+
+"Apperiently he does, but he says he's bound not to tell.  Hope Bax
+han't bin and done somethin' not 'xactly right--"
+
+"_Bax_ do anything not exactly right!" cried Tommy, with a look and tone
+of amazed indignation.
+
+"Right, lad, you're right," said Bluenose apologetically.  "I've no
+doubt myself he could explain it all quite clear if he wos here for to
+do so.  That's my opinion; and I've no doubt either that the first
+letter he sends home will make all straight an' snug, depend on it."
+
+"Uncle," said Tommy, "_I_ am going to Australia."
+
+Bluenose, who had just lighted his pipe, looked at the boy through the
+smoke, smiled, and said, "No, Tommy, you ain't."
+
+"Uncle," repeated Tommy, "I am.  I once heard Bax say he'd rather go
+there than anywhere else, if he was to go abroad; so I'm certain he has
+gone there, and I'm going to seek for him."
+
+"Wery good, my lad," said the Captain coolly; "d'ye go by steamer
+to-night, or by rail to-morrow mornin'?  P'raps you'd better go by
+telegraph; it's quicker, I'm told."
+
+"You think I'm jokin', Uncle, but I'm not, as you'll very soon find
+out."
+
+So saying, Tommy rose and left the hut.  This was all he said on the
+subject.  He was a strong-minded little fellow.  He at once assumed the
+position of an independent man, and merely stated his intentions to one
+or two intimate friends, such as Bluenose, Laker, and old Jeph.  As
+these regarded his statement as the wild fancy of an enthusiastic boy in
+the first gush of disappointment, they treated it with good-natured
+raillery.  So Tommy resolved, as he would have himself have expressed
+it, "to shut up, and keep his own counsel."
+
+When Guy told Lucy Burton that the man who had saved her life had gone
+off thus suddenly, she burst into tears; but her tears had not flowed
+long before she asked Guy the reason of his strange and abrupt
+departure.
+
+Of course Guy could not tell.  He had been pledged to secrecy as to the
+cause.
+
+When Lucy Burton went to tell Amy Russell, she did so with a trembling
+heart.  For some time past she had suspected that Amy loved Bax and not
+Guy, as she had at first mistakenly supposed.  Knowing that if her
+suspicions were true, the news would be terrible indeed to her friend,
+she considerately went to her room and told her privately.
+
+Amy turned deadly pale, stood speechless for a few seconds, and then
+fainted in her friend's arms.
+
+On recovering she confessed her love, but made Lucy solemnly pledge
+herself to secrecy.
+
+"No one shall ever know of this but yourself, dear Lucy," said Amy,
+laying her head on her friend's bosom, and finding relief in tears.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Time passed away, as time is wont to do, and it seemed as if Tommy Bogey
+had forgotten to carry out his determination.  From that day forward he
+never referred to it, and the few friends to whom he had mentioned it
+supposed that he had given up the idea altogether as impracticable.
+
+They did not know the mettle that Tommy was made of.  After maturely
+considering the matter, he had made up his mind to delay carrying out
+his plan until Bax should have time to write home and acquaint him with
+his whereabouts.  Meanwhile, he would set himself to make and save up
+money by every means in his power, for he had sense enough to know that
+a moneyless traveller must be a helpless creature.
+
+Peekins was permanently received into Sandhill Cottage as
+page-in-buttons, in which capacity he presented a miserably attenuated
+figure, but gave great satisfaction.  Tommy and he continued good
+friends; the former devoting as much of his leisure time to the latter
+as he could spare.  He had not much to spare, however, for he had, among
+other things, set himself energetically to the study of arithmetic and
+navigation under the united guidance of old Jeph and Bluenose.
+
+Lucy Burton paid a long visit to Mrs Foster, and roamed over the
+Sandhills day after day with her friend Amy, until her father, the
+missionary, came and claimed her and carried her back to Ramsgate.
+During Lucy's stay, Guy Foster remained at the cottage, busily engaged
+in various ways, but especially in making himself agreeable to Lucy, in
+which effort he seemed to be very successful.
+
+When the latter left, he suddenly discovered that he was wasting his
+time sadly, and told his mother that he meant to look out for something
+to do.  With this end in view he set out for London, that mighty hive of
+industry and idleness into which there is a ceaseless flow of men who
+"want something to do," and of men who "don't know what to do."
+
+And what of Denham, Crumps, and Company during this period?
+
+The rats in and around Red Wharf Lane could have told you, had they been
+able to speak, that things prospered with that firm.  These jovial
+creatures, that revelled so luxuriously in the slime and mud and
+miscellaneous abominations of that locality, could have told you that,
+every morning regularly, they were caught rioting in the lane and sent
+squealing out of it, by a boy in blue (the successor of poor Peekins)
+who opened the office and prepared it for the business of the day; that
+about half an hour later they, the rats, were again disturbed by the
+arrival of the head-clerk, closely followed by the juniors, who were
+almost as closely followed by Crumps--he being a timid old man who stood
+in awe of his senior partner; that, after this, they had a good long
+period of comparative quiet, during which they held a riotous game of
+hide-and-seek across the lane and down among sewers and dust holes, and
+delightfully noisome and fetid places of a similar character;
+interrupted at irregular intervals by a vagrant street boy, or a daring
+cat, or an inquisitive cur; that this game was stopped at about ten
+o'clock by the advent of Mr Denham, who generally gave them, the rats,
+a smile of recognition as he passed to his office, concluding, no doubt,
+by a natural process of ratiocination, that they were kindred spirits,
+because they delighted in bad smells and filthy garbage, just as he
+(Denham) rejoiced in Thames air and filthy lucre.
+
+One fine morning, speaking from a rat's point of view, when the air was
+so thick and heavy and moist that it was difficult to see more than a
+few yards in any direction, Denham came down the lane about half-an-hour
+later than usual, with a brisk step and an unusually smiling
+countenance.
+
+Peekins' successor relieved him of his hat, topcoat, and umbrella, and
+one of the clerks brought him the letters.  Before opening these he
+shouted--
+
+"Mr Crumps!"
+
+Crumps came meekly out of his cell, as if he had been a bad dog who knew
+he deserved, and expected, a whipping.
+
+"Nothing wrong, I trust," he said anxiously.
+
+"No; on the contrary, everything right," (Crumps' old face brightened),
+"I've succeeded in getting that ship at what I call a real bargain--500
+less than I had anticipated and was prepared to give."  (Crumps rubbed
+his hands.) "Now, I mean to send this ship out to Australia, with a
+miscellaneous cargo, as soon as she can be got ready for sea.  The gold
+fever is at its height just now, and it strikes me that, with a little
+judgment and prudence, a good thing may be made out there.  At any rate,
+I mean to venture; for our speculations last year have, as you know,
+turned out well, with the exception of that unfortunate `Trident,' and
+we are sufficiently in funds just at this time to afford to run
+considerable risk."
+
+Crumps expressed great satisfaction, and agreed with all that Denham
+said.  He also asked what the name of the new ship was to be.
+
+"The `Trident,'" said Mr Denham.
+
+"What! the name of the ship we lost in Saint Margaret's Bay?" exclaimed
+Crumps, in surprise.
+
+"I thought you knew the name of the ship we lost in Saint Margaret's
+Bay," said Denham sarcastically.
+
+"Of course, of course," replied Crumps, in some confusion, "but I mean--
+that is, don't you think it looks like flying in the face of Providence
+to give it the same name?"
+
+"Mr Crumps," said Denham, with an air of dignified reproof, "it is most
+unnatural, most uncalled for, to talk of Providence in connexion with
+business.  It is a word, sir, that may be appropriately used on Sundays
+and in churches, but not in offices, and I beg that you will not again
+allude to it.  There is no such thing, sir, as Providence in business
+matters--at least such is my opinion; and I say this in order that you
+may understand that any remarks of that kind are quite thrown away on
+me.  I am a plain practical man of business, Mr Crumps; once for all,
+allow me to say that, I object to the very unbusinesslike remarks of a
+theological nature which you are sometimes pleased to introduce into our
+conversations.  I again repeat that there is no such thing as Providence
+in business,--at all events, not in _my_ business."
+
+"I will not again offend you," said poor Crumps, who stood looking
+confused and moving his legs uneasily during the delivery of this
+oration, "but as you have condescended to argue the matter slightly, may
+I venture to hint that our ships are propelled chiefly by means of
+sails, and that the winds are in the hands of Providence."
+
+"There, sir, I utterly disagree with you," retorted Denham, "the winds
+are guided in their courses by the fixed laws of Nature, and cannot be
+altered or modified by the wishes or powers of man; therefore, it is
+quite unnecessary, because useless, to regard them in matters of
+business.  I am utterly devoid, sir, of superstition; and it is partly
+in order to make this clear to all with whom I have to do, that I intend
+to name our new ship the `Trident,' and to order her to sail on a
+Friday."
+
+As Mr Denham accompanied his last word with an inclination of the head
+which was equivalent to a dismissal, Mr Crumps sighed and retired to
+his den.  His practical and unsuperstitious partner opened and read the
+letters.
+
+While Denham was thus engaged a tap came to the door, and old Mr
+Summers entered the room.
+
+"Ah!  Summers, glad to see you, how are you?" said Denham, somewhat
+heartily--_for him_.
+
+"Thank you, Denham, I'm well," replied the benign old gentleman with a
+smile, as he fixed a pair of gold spectacles on his nose, and sat down
+in a most businesslike way to examine a bundle of papers which he pulled
+out of his coat-pocket.
+
+Mr Summers was a very old friend of Denham, and had been the friend of
+his father before him; but _that_ was not the reason of Denham's regard
+for him.  The old gentleman happened to be a merchant in the city, with
+whom Denham, Crumps, and Company did extensive and advantageous
+business.  This was the cause of Denham's unwonted urbanity.  He cared
+little for the old man's friendship.  In fact, he would have dispensed
+with it without much regret, for he was sometimes pressed to contribute
+to charities by his philanthropic friend.
+
+"See, I have settled that matter for you satisfactorily," said Mr
+Summers; "there are the papers, which you can look over at your
+leisure."
+
+"Thank you, Mr Summers," said Denham impressively, "this is _indeed_
+very kind of you.  But for your interference in this affair I am
+convinced that I should have lost a thousand pounds, if not more."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed the old gentleman with a bright smile, "come, I'm
+glad to hear you say so, and it makes my second errand all the more
+easy."
+
+"And what may your second errand be?" said Denham, with a sudden gravity
+of countenance, which showed that he more than suspected it.
+
+"Well, the fact is," began Summers, "it's a little matter of begging
+that I have undertaken for the purpose of raising funds to establish one
+or two lifeboats on parts of our coast where they are very much needed.
+(Denham fidgeted in his chair.)  You know I have a villa near Deal, and
+frequently witness the terrible scenes of shipwreck that are so common
+and so fatal on that coast.  I am sorry to say that my begging
+expedition has not been attended with so much success as I had
+anticipated.  It is not such agreeable work as one might suppose, I
+assure you, one gets so many unexpected rebuffs.  Did you ever try
+begging, Denham?"
+
+Denham said he never had, and, unless reduced to it by circumstances,
+did not mean to do so!
+
+"Ah," continued Mr Summers, "if you ever do try you'll be surprised to
+find how difficult it is to screw money out of some people."  (Mr
+Denham thought that that difficulty would not surprise him at all.) "But
+you'll be delighted to find, on the other hand, what a number of truly
+liberal souls there are.  It's quite a treat, for instance, to meet with
+a man,--as I did the other day,--who gives his charity in the light of
+such principles as these:--`The Lord loveth a cheerful giver;' `It is
+more blessed to give than to receive;' `He that giveth to the poor
+lendeth to the Lord,'--one who lays aside a certain proportion of his
+income for charitable purposes, and who, therefore, knowing exactly how
+much he has to give at any moment, gives or refuses, as the case may be,
+promptly and with a good grace."
+
+"Ha!" exclaimed Denham, whose soul abhorred this sort of talk, but whose
+self-interest compelled him to listen to it.
+
+"Really," pursued Mr Summers, "it is quite interesting to study the
+outs and ins of Christian philanthropy.  Have you ever given much
+attention to the subject, Mr Denham?  Of course, I mean in a
+philosophical way."
+
+"Ha a-hem! well, I cannot say that I have, except perhaps in my capacity
+of a poor-law guardian in this district of the city."
+
+"Indeed, I would recommend it to you.  It is quite a relief to men of
+business like you and me, who are necessarily swallowed up all day in
+the matter of making money, to have the mind occasionally directed to
+the consideration of the best methods of getting rid of a little of
+their superabundance.  It would do them a world of good--I can safely
+say so from experience--to consider such matters.  I daresay that you
+also know something of this from experience."
+
+"Ha!" ejaculated Mr Denham, who felt himself getting internally warm,
+but was constrained (of course from disinterested motives) to keep cool
+and appear amiable.
+
+"But forgive my taking up so much of your time, my dear sir," said Mr
+Summers, rising; "what shall I put you down for?"
+
+Denham groaned inaudibly and said, "Well, I've no objection to give
+twenty pounds."
+
+"How much?" said the old gentleman, as though he had heard imperfectly,
+at the same time pulling out a notebook.
+
+There was a slight peculiarity in the tone of the question that induced
+Denham to say he would give fifty pounds.
+
+"Ah! fifty," said Summers, preparing to write, "thank you, Mr Denham
+(here he looked up gravely and added), the subject, however, is one
+which deserves liberal consideration at the hands of society in general;
+_especially of ship owners_.  Shall we say a hundred, my dear sir?"
+
+Denham was about to plead poverty, but recollecting that he had just
+admitted that his friend had been the means of saving a thousand pounds
+to the business, he said, "Well, let it be a hundred," with the best
+grace he could.
+
+"Thank you, Mr Denham, a thousand thanks," said the old gentleman,
+shaking his friend's hand, and quitting the room with the active step of
+a man who had much more business to do that day before dinner.
+
+Mr Denham returned to the perusal of his letters with the feelings of a
+man who has come by a heavy loss.  Yet, strange to say, he comforted
+himself on his way home that evening with the thought that, after all,
+he had done a liberal thing! that he had "given away a hundred pounds
+sterling in charity."
+
+_Given_ it!  Poor Denham! he did not know that, up to that period, he
+had never _given_ away a single farthing of his wealth in the true
+spirit of liberality--although he had given much in the name of charity.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+DARK DEEDS ARE DONE UPON THE SEA--TOMMY BOGEY IN GREAT DANGER.
+
+"Well, Bluenose, hoo d'ye find yerself to-day?" inquired Supple Rodger
+one fine morning, as the Captain sauntered slowly along the beach in
+front of his hut, with his hands deep in the pockets of his pilot-coat.
+
+"Thankee, I amongst the middlings.  How's yerself?"
+
+"I like myself," said Rodgers; "how's old Jeph?"
+
+"Rather or'nary; but I dessay he'll come all square after a day or two
+in dock," answered the Captain; "I left him shored up in bed with
+bolsters."
+
+"So Tommy's slipped his cable, I'm told?" said Rodgers interrogatively.
+
+"Ay, he's off, an' no mistake.  I thought he was jokin', for I heard him
+talk o' goin' after Bax some time past, but nothin' more come of it till
+yesterday, when he comes to me and bids me good day, and then off like a
+galley after a French smuggler.  It's o' no use tryin' to catch him.
+That boy'll make his way and have his will somehow, whether we let him
+or no.  Ay, ay," said Bluenose, lighting his pipe with a heavy sigh,
+"Tommy Bogey's gone for good."
+
+That was the last that was heard of poor Tommy for many a long day on
+the beach of Deal.  But as there is no good reason why the readers
+should be kept in the dark regarding his movements, we shall follow him
+on the rugged path he had selected, and leave the men of Deal to wonder
+for a time, and talk, and then forget him.
+
+Having waited as long as his patience could hold out, and no letter
+having come from Bax, Tommy at last prepared to carry out his plan.  By
+dint of hard labour among the boats at any odd jobs that people would
+give him, and running messages, and making himself generally useful to
+the numerous strangers who visited that fine and interesting part of the
+coast, he had scraped together a few pounds.  By persevering study at
+nights he had acquired a fair knowledge of figures and a smattering of
+navigation.  Thus equipped in mind and purse he went off to seek his
+fortune.
+
+His intention was in the first place to go to London and visit the
+"Three Jolly Tars," where, he doubted not, every possible and
+conceivable sort of information in regard to shipping could be obtained.
+
+There chanced at the time to be a certain small collier lying in the
+downs, awaiting a fair wind to carry her into the port of London.  This
+collier (a schooner) was named the "Butterfly," perhaps because the
+owner had a hazy idea that there was some resemblance between an insect
+flitting about from flower to flower and a vessel sailing from port to
+port!  Black as a chimney from keelson to truck, she was as like to a
+butterfly as a lady's hand is to a monkey's paw.
+
+The skipper of the "Butterfly" was a friend of Bluenose, and knew Tommy.
+He at once agreed to give him a passage to London, and never thought of
+asking questions.
+
+Soon after the boy went aboard the wind changed to the south-west; the
+"Butterfly" spread her black wings, bore away to the nor'ard, and
+doubled the North Foreland, where she was becalmed, and left to drift
+with the tide just as night was closing in.
+
+"I'm tired, Jager" (this was the skipper's name); "I'll go below and
+take a snooze," said Tommy, "for I've lots o' work before me to-morrow."
+
+So Tommy went below and fell asleep.  The three men who formed the crew
+of this dingy craft lay down on the deck, the night being fine, and also
+fell asleep, Jager being at the helm.
+
+Now Jager was one of those careless, easy-going, reckless seamen, who,
+by their folly, ignorance, and intemperance are constantly bringing
+themselves to the verge of destruction.
+
+He sat near the tiller gazing up at the stars dreamily for some time;
+then he looked round the horizon, then glanced at the compass and up at
+the sails, which hung idly from the yards, after which he began to
+mutter to himself in low grumbling tones--
+
+"Goin' to blow from the nor'ard.  Ay, allers blows the way I don't want
+it to.  Driftin' to the southward too.  If this lasts we'll drift on the
+Sands.  Comfr'able to think on, that is.  Come, Jager, don't you go for
+to git into the blues.  Keep up yer sperits, old boy!"
+
+Acting on his own suggestion, the skipper rose and went below to a
+private locker, in which he kept a supply of rum,--his favourite
+beverage.  He passed Tommy Bogey on the way.  Observing, that the boy
+was sleeping soundly, he stopped in front of him and gazed long into his
+face with that particularly stupid expression which is common to men who
+are always more or less tipsy.
+
+"Sleep away, my lad, it'll do ye good."
+
+Accompanying this piece of unnecessary advice with a sagacious nod of
+the head, the skipper staggered on and possessed himself of a
+case-bottle about three-quarters full of rum, with which he returned to
+the deck and began to drink.
+
+While he was thus employed, a breeze sprang up from the north-east.
+
+"Ease off the sheets there, you lubbers!" shouted the drunken man, as he
+seized the tiller and looked at the compass.  "What! sleeping again,
+Bunks?  I'll rouse ye, _I_ will."
+
+With that, in a burst of anger, he rushed forward and gave one of the
+sleepers a severe kick in the ribs.  Bunks rose sulkily, and with a
+terrible imprecation advised the skipper "not to try that again"; to
+which the skipper retorted, that if his orders were not obeyed more
+sharply, he would not only try it again, but he would "chuck him
+overboard besides."
+
+Having applied a rope's-end to the shoulders of one of the other
+sleepers, he repeated his orders to ease off the sheets, as the wind was
+fair, and staggered back to his place at the helm.
+
+"Why, I do believe it is a sou'-wester," he muttered to himself,
+attempting in vain to read the compass.
+
+It was in reality north-east, but Jager's intellects were muddled; he
+made it out to be south-west and steered accordingly, almost straight
+before it.  The three men who formed the crew of the little vessel were
+so angry at the treatment they had received, that they neither cared nor
+knew how the ship's head lay.  A thick mist came down about the same
+time, and veiled the lights which would otherwise have soon revealed the
+fact that the skipper had made a mistake.
+
+"Why, wot on airth ails the compass?" muttered Jager, bending forward
+intently to gaze at the instrument, which, to his eye, seemed to point
+in all directions at once; "come, I'll have another pull at the b-bottle
+to steady me."
+
+He grasped the bottle to carry out this intention, but in doing so
+thrust the helm down inadvertently.  The schooner came up to the wind at
+once, and as the wind had freshened to a stiff breeze and a great deal
+of canvas was set, she heeled violently over to starboard.  The skipper
+was pitched into the lee scuppers, and the case-bottle of rum was
+shivered to atoms before he had time to taste a drop.
+
+"Mind your helm!" roared Bunks, savagely.  "D'ye want to send us to the
+bottom?"
+
+The man sprang to the helm, and accompanied his remark with several
+fierce oaths, which need not be repeated, but which had the effect of
+rousing Jager's anger to such a pitch, that he jumped up and hit the
+sailor a heavy blow on the face.
+
+"I'll stop your swearin', I will," he cried, preparing to repeat the
+blow, but the man stepped aside and walked forward, leaving his
+commander alone on the quarter-deck.
+
+Bunks, who was a small but active man, was a favourite with the other
+two men who constituted the crew of the "Butterfly," and both of whom
+were strong-limbed fellows.  Their anger at seeing him treated thus
+savagely knew no bounds.  They had long been at deadly feud with Jager.
+One of them, especially (a tall, dark, big-whiskered man named Job), had
+more than once said to his comrades that he would be the death of the
+skipper yet.  Bunks usually shook his head when he heard these threats,
+and said, "It wouldn't pay, unless he wanted to dance a hornpipe on
+nothing," which was a delicate reference to being hung.
+
+When the two men saw Bunks come forward with blood streaming from his
+mouth, they looked at each other and swore a tremendous oath.
+
+"Will ye lend a hand, Jim?" sputtered Job between his clenched teeth.
+
+Jim nodded.
+
+"No, no," cried Bunks, interposing, but the two men dashed him aside and
+rushed aft.
+
+Their purpose, whatever it might have been, was arrested for a moment by
+Bunks suddenly shouting at the top of his lungs--
+
+"Light on the starboard bow!"
+
+"That's a lie," said Jager, savagely; "use yer eyes, you land-lubber."
+
+"We're running straight on the North Foreland," cried Job, who, with his
+companion, suddenly stopped and gazed round them out ahead in alarm.
+
+"The North Foreland, you fool," cried the skipper roughly, "who ever saw
+the North Foreland light on the starboard bow, with the ship's head due
+north?"
+
+"I don't believe 'er head _is_ due north," said Job, stepping up to the
+binnacle, just as Tommy Bogey, aroused by the sudden lurch of the vessel
+and the angry voices, came on deck.
+
+"Out o' the way," cried Jager roughly, hitting Job such a blow on the
+head that he sent him reeling against the lee bulwarks.
+
+The man, on recovering himself, uttered a fierce yell, and rushing on
+the skipper, seized him by the throat with his left hand, and drove his
+right fist into his face with all his force.
+
+Jager, although a powerful man, and, when sober, more than a match for
+his antagonist, was overborne and driven with great violence against the
+binnacle, which, being of inferior quality and ill secured, like
+everything else in the miserable vessel, gave way under his weight, and
+the compass was dashed to pieces on the deck.
+
+Jim ran to assist his comrade, and Bunks attempted to interfere.
+Fortunately, Tommy Bogey's presence of mind did not forsake him.  He
+seized the tiller while the men were fighting furiously, and steered
+away from the light, feeling sure that, whatever it might be, the wisest
+thing to be done was to steer clear of it.
+
+He had not got the schooner quite before the wind when a squall struck
+her, and laid her almost on her beam-ends.  The lurch of the vessel sent
+the struggling men against the taffrail with great violence.  The
+skipper's back was almost broken by the shock, for his body met the side
+of the vessel, and the other two were thrown upon him.  Job took
+advantage of his opportunity: seizing Jager by the leg, he suddenly
+lifted him over the iron rail, and hurled him into the sea.  There was
+one wild shriek and a heavy plunge, and the miserable man sank to rise
+no more.
+
+It is impossible to describe the horror of the poor boy at the helm when
+he witnessed this cold-blooded murder.  Bold though he was, and
+accustomed to face danger and witness death in some of its most
+appalling forms, he could not withstand the shock of such a scene of
+violence perpetrated amid the darkness and danger of a stormy night at
+sea.  His first impulse was to run below, and get out of sight of the
+men who had done so foul a deed; but reflecting that they might, in
+their passion, toss him into the sea also if he were to show his horror,
+he restrained himself, and stood calmly at his post.
+
+"Come, out o' the way, younker," cried Job, seizing the helm.
+
+Tommy shrank from the man, as if he feared the contamination of his
+touch.
+
+"You young whelp, what are ye affeared on? eh!"
+
+He aimed a blow at Tommy, which the latter smartly avoided.
+
+"Murderer!" cried the boy, rousing himself suddenly, "you shall swing
+for this yet."
+
+"Shall I? eh!  Here, Jim, catch hold o' the tiller."
+
+Jim obeyed, and Job sprang towards Tommy, but the latter, who was lithe
+and active as a kitten, leaped aside and avoided him.  For five minutes
+the furious man rushed wildly about the deck in pursuit of the boy,
+calling on Bunks to intercept him, but Bunks would not stir hand or
+foot, and Jim could not quit the helm, for the wind had increased to a
+gale; and as there was too much sail set, the schooner was flying before
+it with masts, ropes, and beams creaking under the strain.
+
+"Do your worst," cried Tommy, during a brief pause, "you'll never catch
+me.  I defy you, and will denounce you the moment we got into port."
+
+"Will you? then you'll never get into port alive," yelled Job, as he
+leaped down the companion, and returned almost instantly, with one of
+the skipper's pistols.
+
+He levelled it and fired, but the unsteady motion of the vessel caused
+him to miss his aim.  He was about to descend for another pistol, when
+the attention of all on board was attracted by a loud roar of surf.
+
+"Breakers ahead!" roared Bunks.
+
+This new danger--the most terrible, with perhaps the exception of fire,
+to which a seaman can be exposed--caused all hands to forget the past in
+the more awful present.  The helm was put down, the schooner flew up
+into the wind, and sheered close past a mass of leaping, roaring foam,
+the sight of which would have caused the stoutest heart to quail.
+
+"Keep her close hauled," shouted Job, who stood on the heel of the
+bowsprit looking out ahead.
+
+"D'ye think it's the North Foreland?" asked Bunks, who stood beside him.
+
+"I s'pose it is," said Job, "but how it comes to be on our lee bow, with
+the wind as it is, beats me out and out.  Anyhow, I'll keep her well off
+the land,--mayhap run for the coast of Norway.  They're not so partikler
+about inquiries there, I'm told."
+
+"I'll tell ye what it is, Bunks," said Tommy, who had gone forward and
+overheard the last observation, but could not bring himself to speak to
+Job, "you may depend on it we're out of our course; as sure as you stand
+there the breakers we have just passed are the north end of the Goodwin
+Sands.  If we carry on as we're going now, and escape the sands, we'll
+find ourselves on the coast o' France, or far down the Channel in the
+morning."
+
+"Thank'ee for nothin'," said Job, with a sneer; "next time ye've got to
+give an opinion wait till it's axed for, an' keep well out o' the reach
+o' my arm, if ye don't want to keep company with the skipper."
+
+Tommy made no reply to this.  He did not even look as if he had heard
+it; but, addressing himself to Bunks, repeated his warning.
+
+Bunks was disposed to attach some weight to it at first, but as the
+compass was destroyed he had no means of ascertaining the truth of what
+was said, and as Job laughed all advice to scorn, and had taken command
+of the vessel, he quietly gave in.
+
+They soon passed the breakers, and went away with the lee-gunwale
+dipping in the water right down the Channel.  Feeling relieved from
+immediate danger, the murderer once more attempted to catch Tommy, but
+without success.  He then went below, and soon after came on deck with
+such a flushed face and wild unsteady gaze, that it was evident to his
+companions he had been at the spirit locker.  Jim was inclined to rebel
+now, but he felt that Job was more than a match for him and Bunks.
+Besides, he was the best seaman of the three.
+
+"Don't 'ee think we'd better close-reef the tops'l?" said Bunks, as Job
+came on deck; "if you'll take the helm, Jim and me will lay out on the
+yard."
+
+There was truly occasion for anxiety.  During the last hour the gale had
+increased, and the masts were almost torn out of the little vessel, as
+she drove before it.  To turn her side to the wind would have insured
+her being thrown on her beam-ends.  Heavy seas were constantly breaking
+over the stern, and falling with such weight on the deck that Tommy
+expected to see them stove in and the vessel swamped.  In other
+circumstances the boy would have been first to suggest reefing the
+sails, and first to set the example, but he felt that his life depended
+that night (under God) on his watchfulness and care.
+
+"Reef tops'l!" cried Job, looking fiercely at Bunks, "no, we shan't;
+there's one reef in't, an' that's enough."  Bunks shuddered, for he saw
+by the glare of the murderer's eyes that the evil deed, coupled with his
+deep potations, had driven him mad.
+
+"P'raps it is," said Bunks, in a submissive voice; "but it may be as
+well to close reef, 'cause the weather don't seem like to git better."
+
+Job turned with a wild laugh to Tommy:
+
+"Here, boy, go aloft and reef tops'l; d'ye hear?"
+
+Tommy hesitated.
+
+"If you don't," said Job, hissing out the words in the extremity of his
+passion, and stopping abruptly, as if unable to give utterance to his
+feelings.
+
+"Well, what if I don't?" asked the boy sternly.
+
+"Why, then--ha! ha! ha!--why, I'll do it myself."
+
+With another fiendish laugh Job sprang into the rigging, and was soon
+out upon the topsail-yard busy with the reef points.
+
+"Why, he's _shakin' out_ the reef," cried Jim in alarm.  "I've half a
+mind to haul on the starboard brace, and try to shake the monster into
+the sea!"
+
+Job soon shook out the reef, and, descending swiftly by one of the
+backstays, seized the topsail-halyards.
+
+"Come, lay hold," he cried savagely.
+
+But no one would obey, so, uttering a curse upon his comrades, he passed
+the rope round a stanchion, and with his right hand partially hoisted
+the sail, while with his left he hauled in the slack of the rope.
+
+The vessel, already staggering under much too great a press of canvas,
+now rushed through the water with terrific speed; burying her bows in
+foam at one moment, and hurling off clouds of spray at the next as she
+held on her wild course.  Job stood on the bowsprit, drenched with
+spray, holding with one hand to the forestay, and waving the other high
+above his head, cheering and yelling furiously as if he were daring the
+angry sea to come on, and do its worst.
+
+Jim, now unable to speak or act from terror, clung to the starboard
+bulwarks, while Bunks stood manfully at the helm.  Tommy held on to the
+mainmast shrouds, and gazed earnestly and anxiously out ahead.
+
+Thus they flew, they knew not whither, for several hours that night.
+
+Towards morning, a little before daybreak, the gale began to moderate.
+Job's mood had changed.  His wild yelling fit had passed away, and he
+now ranged about the decks in moody silence, like a chained tiger; going
+down every now and then to drink, but never resting for a moment, and
+always showing by his looks that he had his eye on Tommy Bogey.
+
+The poor boy knew this well, and watched him intently the whole of that
+terrible night.
+
+Bunks, who had never once quitted his post, began to yawn, and suggested
+to Jim that he might take a spell at the helm now, when the progress of
+the schooner was suddenly arrested with a shock so violent that those on
+board were hurled prostrate on the deck, the fore-topmast snapped and
+went over the side, carrying the main-topmast and the jib-boom along
+with it, and the sea made a clean breach over the stern, completely
+sweeping the deck.
+
+Job, who chanced to have gone down below, was hurled against the cabin
+bulkhead, and the glass bottle he held to his lips was shivered to
+atoms.  With his face cut and bleeding he sprang up the
+companion-ladder.
+
+"On the rocks!" he shouted.
+
+"On the sand, anyhow," answered Bunks.
+
+"The boat! the boat! she won't last ten minutes," cried Jim.
+
+One of the two boats belonging to the "Butterfly" had been washed away
+by the last wave, the other remained in its place.  To this the three
+men rushed, and launched it quickly into the water.  Job was first to
+get into it.
+
+"Jump in, jump in," he cried to the others, who were prompt enough to
+obey.
+
+Tommy Bogey stood motionless and silent close to the main-mast.  His
+face was very pale; but a stern pursing of the lips and compression of
+the eyebrows showed that it was not cowardly fear that blanched his
+cheek.
+
+"The boy! the boy!" cried Bunks, as Job let go his hold of the schooner.
+
+A wild stern laugh from Job showed that he had made up his mind to leave
+Tommy to perish.
+
+"Shame!" cried Jim, seizing one of the oars; "pull, Bunks, pull to
+wind'ard a bit; we'll drop down and save him yet.  Pull, you murderer!"
+shouted Jim, with a burst of anger so sudden and fierce that Job was
+cowed.  He sat down and obeyed.
+
+The boat was very small, and might have been easily pulled by so strong
+a crew in ordinary circumstances; but the strength of wind and sea
+together was so great, that they were in great danger of being swamped,
+and it required their utmost efforts to pull a few yards to windward of
+the schooner.
+
+"Now then, look out!" cried Jim, endeavouring to turn the boat.
+
+As he said this a wave caught its side and upset it.  The men uttered a
+loud cry; a moment later, and they were swept against the bow of the
+"Butterfly."  Tommy had sprung to the side, caught up a rope, and cast
+it over.  Bunks did not see it; he made a wild grasp at the smooth wet
+side of the vessel, but his hands found nothing to lay hold of, and he
+was carried quickly away to leeward.  Jim caught the rope, but was
+brought up so suddenly by it that it was torn from his grasp.  He also
+went to leeward and perished.
+
+Job had caught hold of the cutwater, and, digging his fingers into the
+wood, held on by main strength for a few minutes.
+
+"Here, lay hold o' the rope," cried Tommy, whose only desire now was to
+save the life of the wretched man; "there, don't you feel it?"
+
+He had rubbed the rope against Job's face in order to let him know it
+was there, but the man seemed to have lost all power to move.  He simply
+maintained his death-grip until his strength gave way.  Tommy understood
+his case, and looked quickly round for one of those ring-shaped
+lifebuoys which we are accustomed to see in our passenger steamers tied
+up so securely that they would in most cases of sudden emergency be
+utterly useless.  But the owners of the "Butterfly" were economists.
+They did not think life-preserving worth the expenditure of a few
+shillings, so there was no lifebuoy to be found.  There was a round cork
+fender, however, which the boy seized and flung into the sea, just as
+Job's grasp loosened.  He uttered a wild shriek, and tossed up his arms
+imploringly, as he was carried away.  The buoy fell close beside him,
+and he caught it.  But it was scarce sufficient to sustain his weight,
+and merely prolonged the agonising struggle.  Tommy soon lost sight of
+him in the darkness.  Soon after there arose a wild fierce cry, so loud
+and strong that it seemed to have been uttered at the boy's elbow.
+Tommy shuddered, for it suggested the idea of a despairing soul.
+
+He listened intently, and twice again that thrilling cry broke on his
+ear, but each time more faintly.  Still he continued to listen for it
+with a feeling of horror, and once or twice fancied that he heard it
+rising above the turmoil of wind and waves.  Long before he ceased to
+listen in expectancy, the murderer's dead body lay tossing in that great
+watery grave in which so many of the human race--innocent and guilty
+alike--lie buried.
+
+Ere long Tommy was called to renewed exertion and trial.
+
+The tide happened to be rising when the schooner struck.  While the
+incidents above related were taking place, the "Butterfly" was being
+dashed on the sand so violently, that her breaking up in the course of a
+short time was a matter of certainty.  Tommy knew this well, but he did
+not give way to despair.  He resolved not to part with his young life
+without a struggle, and therefore cast about in his mind what was best
+to be done.
+
+His first idea was to construct a raft.  He had just begun this
+laborious work when the rising tide lifted the schooner over the
+sand-bank, and sent her off into deep water.  This raised Tommy's hopes
+and spirits to an unnaturally high pitch; he trimmed the foresail--the
+only one left--as well as he could, and then, seizing the tiller, kept
+the vessel running straight before the wind.
+
+Standing thus at the helm he began to reflect on his position, and the
+reflection did not tend to comfort him.  He was out in a gale on the
+stormy sea, without companions, without compass to guide him, and
+steering he knew not whither--possibly on rocks or shoals.  This latter
+idea induced him to attempt to lie-to till day-break, but the crippled
+condition of the schooner rendered this impossible.  There was nothing
+for it, therefore, but to run before the gale.
+
+In a short time his attention was attracted to a peculiar sound in the
+hold.  On examination he found that the vessel had sprung a leak, and
+that the water was rising slowly but steadily.  The poor boy's heart
+sank, and for the first time his courage began to give way; but quickly
+recovering himself he lashed the helm in position, and manfully set to
+work at the pump.  He was somewhat relieved to find that the leak was
+small.  In an hour he had pumped out nearly all the water.  Then he
+returned to the helm and rested there for an hour, at the end of which
+the water in the hold had increased so much that he had to ply the pump
+again.
+
+The day broke while he was thus engaged, but the morning was so thick
+that he could see no land.  On returning to the helm the second time,
+Tommy felt that this state of things could not go on much longer.  The
+excitement, the watching, the horrors of the past night were beginning
+to tell on him.  His muscles were exhausted, and he felt an irresistible
+desire to sleep.  He struggled against this till about noon, by which
+time the wind had moderated to a steady breeze, and the sun shone
+through the mist as if to cheer him up a little.
+
+He had eaten nothing for many hours, as he did not dare to quit his post
+to go below for food, lest the schooner should come suddenly on some
+other vessel and be run down.  Hunger and exhaustion, however, soon
+rendered him desperate; he ran below, seized a handful of biscuit,
+filled a can with water, and returned hastily on deck to break his fast.
+It was one of the sweetest meals he ever ate, and refreshed him so much
+that he was able to go on alternately steering and pumping till late in
+the afternoon.  Then he suddenly broke down.  Exhausted nature could
+bear up no longer.  He lashed the helm, pumped out the water in the hold
+for the last time, and went below to rest.
+
+He was half asleep as he descended the companion-ladder.  A strange and
+sad yet dreamy feeling that everything he did was "for the last time,"
+weighed heavily on his spirit, but this was somehow relieved by the
+knowledge that he was now at last about to _rest_!  There was delight in
+that simple thought, though there mingled with it a feeling that the
+rest would terminate in death; he lay down to sleep with a feeling that
+he lay down to die, and a half-formed prayer escaped his lips as his
+wearied head fell upon the pillow.
+
+Instantly he was buried in deep repose.
+
+The sun sank in the ocean, the stars came out and spangled all the sky,
+and the moon rose and sank again, but Tommy lay, regardless of
+everything, in profound slumber.  Again the sun arose on a sea so calm
+that it seemed like oil, ascended into the zenith, and sank towards its
+setting.  Still the boy continued to sleep, his young head resting
+quietly on the pillow of the dead skipper; his breath coming gently and
+regularly through the half-opened lips that smiled as if he were resting
+in peace on his mother's bosom.
+
+Being dashed on the rocks, or run into by steamers, or whelmed in the
+waves, were ideas that troubled him not, or, if they did, they were
+connected only with the land of dreams.  Thus the poor boy rested calmly
+in the midst of danger--yet in safety, for the arm of God was around
+him.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+THE ANTIPODES.
+
+A new scene breaks upon us now, patient reader.  We are among the
+antipodes in that vast and wonderful region where the kangaroo reigns in
+the wilderness, and gold is sown broadcast in the land.  The men we see
+are, to a large extent, the same men we saw before leaving the shores of
+Old England, but they are wonderfully changed!  Red flannel shirts, long
+boots, leathern belts, felt hats, and unshorn chins meet us at every
+turn; so do barrows and pick-axes and shovels.  It seems as if we had
+got into a region inhabited solely by navvies.  Many of them, however,
+appear to be very gentlemanly navvies!
+
+There are no ladies here; scarcely any females at all, for we have left
+the thriving settlements of Australia far behind us, and are now
+wandering over the Daisy Hill gold-diggings.  The particular section of
+that busy spot to which our attention is directed at this moment, is
+named the "Kangaroo Flats."
+
+None but strong men can get on here.  Let us go forward, and see how
+they obtain this yellow metal that turns the world upside down!
+
+Here is a man issuing from a hole in the earth close at our feet, like a
+huge ground-squirrel.  He is tall; stout, and fair, with broad shoulders
+and a fine manly countenance, which is ornamented by a thick beard and
+moustache of glossy yellow hair.  The silken curly hair of this man,
+contrasted with his great size and manliness, is very striking.  He
+seats himself on a mass of clay, wipes the perspiration from his
+forehead, and shouts to some one down in the earth.
+
+"Hallo!  Jack, let's hoist out the stuff now."
+
+"Ay, ay, Harry," replies a strong voice, with a sailor-like ring in it,
+from below, "I'll be on deck in a jiffy."
+
+Let us descend and look at this miner.  The hole is narrow and deep; at
+the bottom of it is a dark tunnel two feet broad, between two and three
+feet high, and twenty-five feet long.  At the farther extremity of it
+crouches a man with a pickaxe in his hands, and a candle beside him.  It
+is a very awkward position in which to work, and the result is that this
+man pants and blows and sighs, and sometimes laughs quietly to himself
+at the comicality of his attitudes, while the perspiration pours over
+his face in large beads continuously.  It seems very hard work, and so,
+indeed, it is, but the man is an unusually big and strong fellow, larger
+even than his fair companion above ground.  His hair is short, black,
+and curly, as are his beard and whiskers, but at this moment his whole
+head and face are so besmeared with clay that his aspect is piebald and
+not more becoming than his attitude.  Still, there is a massive grandeur
+in the outline of his features which cannot be destroyed by
+incrustations of clay, although his complexion is obscured by it.
+
+Like his comrade above, his costume consists of flannel shirt, dark
+trousers, and big boots.  His shirt sleeves being rolled up to the
+shoulders, display a pair of arms that a sculptor might gaze on with
+admiration.
+
+This strong man pants and gasps more than ever with the heat as he
+drives the pick and tears up the earth for gold.  Presently the candle
+burns dim; the air is getting foul.
+
+"Hallo, the candle's going out!" cries the dark miner, scrambling
+towards the bottom of the shaft on his hands and knees.
+
+"Ha! time to take a mouthful o' fresh air, Jack," remarks the fair
+miner, looking into the hole.
+
+In another moment a wild dishevelled clay-bespattered figure comes to
+the surface, rises like a giant out of the earth, and the countenance
+and proportions of our friend John Bax are revealed, in spite of the
+strange costume and black moustache and beard and incrustations of clay
+which more than half disguise him.
+
+"Whew! how hot it is," said Bax, as he stepped out of the hole.
+
+"You may say that," observed his friend, rising; "but come along, Jack,
+let's get up the stuff and wash out as much as we can before dinner.
+Mind, you've got to write home this afternoon, and won't be able to help
+me much in the evening."
+
+"Come along then," said Bax, going to work again with redoubled energy.
+
+There was a windlass over the hole by which the clay was raised to the
+surface.  Bax wrought at this, and his mate went below to fill the
+buckets.  Then they washed it out, and flooded away cartloads of
+worthless soil, until a small residue of clear shining particles
+remained behind.  This they gathered carefully together, added it to the
+bag that held their fortune, remarked that there were "no nuggets this
+time," and that it was "hard work and little pay;" after which they
+flung down their tools, washed their hands and faces, and went into
+their tent to dine.
+
+Thus did Bax and his mate (an old acquaintance unexpectedly met with
+after arrival in Australia) dig, and sweat, and toil for gold.
+
+But Bax and his friend worked thus hard, only because it was their
+nature so to work at whatever their hands found to do.  They had not set
+their hearts upon the gold.
+
+After dinner Harry went out to drive his pick and shovel.  Bax remained
+in the tent to drive the quill.
+
+That night the two friends lay chatting and smoking in their tent after
+supper, with a solitary candle between them, and the result of the day's
+work--a small pile of shining dust--before them.
+
+"We'll not make our fortunes at this rate," observed Harry, with a sigh.
+
+"There's no saying what good fortune may be in store for us," observed
+Bax; "but put away the gold, it will do us no good to gaze at it."
+
+Harry rolled the little heap in a piece of paper, and tossed it into the
+leathern bag which contained their earnings.
+
+"Come now," said he, replenishing his pipe, "let's hear the letter, Bax,
+who d'ye say's the friend you've written to?"
+
+"He's a boy," said Bax, "Tommy Bogey by name, of which name, by the way,
+he has no reason to be proud--but he's a first-rate fellow, and I fear
+will have set me down as a faithless friend, for I left him without
+saying good-bye, and the letter I wrote to him on my arrival here went
+to the bottom with the unfortunate ship that carried it.  However, here
+is the epistle.  I'm open to correction, Harry, if you think any part of
+it not ship-shape."
+
+"All right," said Harry, "go ahead."
+
+Bax read as follows:--
+
+  "Kangaroo Flats, Daisy Hill Diggings,
+
+  "Australia, _10th January_, 18--.
+
+  "MY DEAR TOMMY,--The mail is just about to leave us, so I write to let
+  you know where I am and what doing--also to tell you that I have just
+  heard of the wreck of the ship that conveyed my first letter to you,
+  which will account for my _apparent_ neglect.
+
+  "Gold digging is anything but a paying affair, I find, and it's the
+  hardest work I've ever had to do.  I have only been able to pay my way
+  up to this time.  Everything is fearfully dear.  After deducting the
+  expenses of the last week for cartage, sharpening picks, etcetera, I
+  and my mate have just realised 15 shillings each; and this is the
+  first week we have made anything at all beyond what was required for
+  our living.  However, we live and work on in the hope of turning up a
+  nugget, or finding a rich claim, singing--though we can't exactly
+  believe--`There's a good time coming.'"  Here Bax paused.  "I won't
+  read the next paragraph," said he, with a smile, "because it's about
+  yourself, Harry, so I'll skip."
+
+Nevertheless, reader, as we wish _you_ to hear that passage, we will
+make Bax read on.
+
+  "My mate, Harry Benton, is an old schoolfellow, whom I met with
+  accidentally in Melbourne.  We joined at once, and have been together
+  ever since.  I hope that nothing may occur to part us.  You would like
+  him, Tommy.  You've no idea what a fine, gentle, lion-like fellow he
+  is, with a face like a true, bold man in expression, and like a
+  beautiful woman in form.  I'm not up to pen-and-ink description,
+  Tommy, but I think you'll understand me when I say he's got a splendid
+  figure-head, a strong frame, and a warm heart.
+
+  "Poor fellow, he has had much sorrow since he came out here.  He is a
+  widower, and brought out his little daughter with him, an only child,
+  whose sweet face was once like sunshine in our tent.  Not long ago
+  this pretty flower of the desert sickened, drooped, and died, with her
+  fair head on her father's bosom.  For a long time afterwards Harry was
+  inconsolable; but he took to reading the Bible, and the effect of that
+  has been wonderful.  We read it regularly every night together, and no
+  one can tell what comfort we have in it, for I too have had sorrow of
+  a kind which you could not well understand, unless I were to go into
+  an elaborate explanation.  I believe that both of us can say, in the
+  words of King David, `It was good for me that I was afflicted.'
+
+  "I should like _very_ much that you and he might meet.  Perhaps you
+  may one of these days!  But, to go on with my account of our life and
+  doings here."
+
+(It was at this point that Bax continued to read the letter aloud.)
+
+  "The weather is tremendously warm.  It is now (10th January) the
+  height of summer, and the sun is unbearable; quite as hot as in India,
+  I am told; especially when the hot winds blow.  Among other evils, we
+  are tormented with thousands of fleas.  Harry stands them worse than I
+  do," ("untrue!" interrupted Harry), "but their cousins the flies are,
+  if possible, even more exasperating.  They resemble our own house
+  flies in appearance--would that they were equally harmless!  Myriads
+  of millions don't express their numbers more than ten expresses the
+  number of the stars.  They are the most persevering brutes you ever
+  saw.  They creep into your eyes, run up your nose, and plunge into
+  your mouth.  Nothing will shake them off, and the mean despicable
+  creatures take special advantage of us when our hands are occupied in
+  carrying buckets of gold-dust, or what, alas! ought to be gold-dust,
+  but isn't!  On such occasions we shake our heads, wink our eyes, and
+  snort and blow at them, but all to no purpose--there they stick and
+  creep, till we get our hands free to attack them.
+
+  "A change must be coming over the weather soon, for while I write, the
+  wind is blowing like a gale out of a hot oven, and is shaking the
+  tent, so that I fear it will come down about my ears.  It is a curious
+  fact that these hot winds always blow from the north, which inclines
+  me to think there must be large sandy deserts in the interior of this
+  vast continent.  We don't feel the heat through the day, except when
+  we are at the windlass drawing up the pipeclay, or while washing our
+  `stuff,' for we are generally below ground `driving.'  But, although
+  not so hot as above, it is desperately warm there too, and the air is
+  bad.
+
+  "Our drives are two and a half feet high by about two feet broad at
+  the floor, from which they widen a little towards the top.  As I am
+  six feet three in my stockings, and Harry is six feet one, besides
+  being, both of us, broader across the shoulders than most men, you may
+  fancy that we get into all sorts of shapes while working.  All the
+  `stuff' that we drive out we throw away, except about six inches on
+  the top where the gold lies, so that the quantity of mullock, as we
+  call it, or useless material hoisted out is very great.  There are
+  immense heaps of it lying at the mouth of our hole.  If we chose to
+  liken ourselves to gigantic moles, we have reason to be proud of our
+  mole-hills!  All this `stuff' has to be got along the drives, some of
+  which are twenty-five feet in length.  One of us stands at the top,
+  and hoists the stuff up the shaft in buckets.  The other sits and
+  fills them at the bottom.
+
+  "This week we have taken out three cart-loads of washing stuff, which
+  we fear will produce very little gold.  Of course it is quite dark in
+  the drives, so we use composition candles.  Harry drives in one
+  direction, I in another, and we hammer away from morning till night.
+  The air is often bad, but not explosive.  When the candles burn low
+  and go out, it is time for us to go out too and get fresh air, for it
+  makes us blow terribly, and gives us sore eyes.  Three-fourths of the
+  people here are suffering from sore eyes; the disease is worse this
+  season than it has been in the memory of the oldest diggers.
+
+  "We have killed six or seven snakes lately.  They are very numerous,
+  and the only things in the country we are absolutely _afraid_ of!  You
+  have no idea of the sort of dread one feels on coming slap upon one
+  unexpectedly.  Harry put his foot on one yesterday, but got no hurt.
+  They are not easily seen, and their bite is always fatal.
+
+  "From all this you will see that a gold-digger's life is a hard one,
+  and worse than that, it does not pay well.  However, I like it in the
+  meantime, and having taken it up, I shall certainly give it a fair
+  trial.
+
+  "I wish you were here, Tommy; yet I am glad you are not.  To have you
+  and Guy in the tent would make our party perfect, but it would try
+  your constitutions I fear, and do you no good mentally, for the
+  society by which we are surrounded is anything but select.
+
+  "But enough of the gold-fields.  I have a lot of questions to ask and
+  messages to send to my old friends and mates at Deal."
+
+At this point the reading of the letter was interrupted by an uproar
+near the tent.  High above the noise the voice of a boy was heard in
+great indignation.
+
+For a few minutes Bax and his friend did not move; they were too much
+accustomed to scenes of violence among the miners to think of
+interfering, unless things became very serious.
+
+"Come, Bill, let him alone," cried a stern voice, "the lad's no thief,
+as you may see if you look in his face."
+
+"I don't give a straw for looks and faces," retorted Bill, who seemed to
+have caused the uproar, "the young rascal came peeping into my tent, and
+that's enough for me."
+
+"What!" cried the boy, in an indignant shout, "may I not search through
+the tents to find a friend without being abused by every scoundrel who
+loves his gold so much that he thinks every one who looks at him wants
+to steal it?  Let me go, I say!"
+
+At the first words of this sentence Bax started up with a look of
+intense surprise.  Before it was finished he had seized a thick stick,
+and rushed from the tent, followed by his mate.
+
+In two seconds they reached the centre of a ring of disputants, in the
+midst of which a big, coarse-looking miner held by the collar the
+indignant lad, who proved to be an old and truly unexpected
+acquaintance.
+
+"Bax!" shouted the boy.
+
+"Tommy Bogey!" exclaimed Bax.
+
+"Off your hands," cried Bax, striding forward.
+
+The miner, who was a powerful man, hesitated.  Bax seized him by the
+neck, and sent him head over heels into his own tent, which stood behind
+him.
+
+"Serves him right!" cried one of the crowd, who appeared to be delighted
+with the prospect of a row.
+
+"Hear, hear!" echoed the rest approvingly.
+
+"Can it be _you_, Tommy?" cried Bax, grasping the boy by both arms, and
+stooping to gaze into his face.
+
+"Found you at last!" shouted Tommy, with his eyes full and his face
+flushed by conflicting emotions.
+
+"Come into the tent," cried Bax, hastening away and dragging his friend
+after him.
+
+Tommy did not know whether to laugh or cry.  His breast was still
+heaving with recent indignation, and his heart was bursting with present
+joy; so he gave utterance to a wild hysterical cheer, and disappeared
+behind the folds of his friend's tent, amid the cheers and laughter of
+the miners, who thereafter dispersed quietly to their several places of
+abode.
+
+"Tommy," said Bax, placing the boy directly in front of him, on a pile
+of rough coats and blankets, and staring earnestly into his face, "I
+don't believe it's you!  I'm dreaming, that's what I am, so the sooner
+you pinch me out of this state the better."
+
+It were vain to attempt to give the broken and disjointed converse that
+here took place between the two friends.  After a time they became more
+rational and less spasmodic in their talk, and Tommy at last
+condescended to explain the way in which he had managed to get there.
+
+"But before I begin," said he, "tell me who's your friend?"
+
+He turned as he spoke to Harry, who, seated on a provision cask, with a
+pleasant smile on his handsome face and a black pipe in his mouth, had
+been enjoying the scene immensely.
+
+"Ah! true, I forgot; this is my mate, Harry Benton, an old
+school-fellow.  You'll know more of him and like him better in course of
+time."
+
+"I hope he will," said Harry, extending his hand, which Tommy grasped
+and shook warmly, "and I hope to become better acquainted with you,
+Tommy, though in truth you are no stranger to me, for many a night has
+Bax entertained me in this tent with accounts of your doings and his
+own, both by land and sea.  Now go on, my boy, and explain the mystery
+of your sudden appearance here."
+
+"The prime cause of my appearance is the faithlessness of Bax," said
+Tommy.  "Why did you not write to me?"
+
+When it was explained that Bax had written by a vessel which was
+wrecked, the boy was mollified; and when the letter which had just been
+written was handed to him, he confessed that he had judged his old
+friend hastily.  Thereafter he related succinctly his adventures in the
+"Butterfly" up to the point where we left him sound asleep in the
+skipper's berth.
+
+"How long I slept," said Tommy, continuing the narrative, "I am not
+quite sure; but it must have been a longish time, for it was somewhere
+in a Tuesday when I lay down, and it was well into a Thursday when I got
+up, or rather was knocked up by the bow of a thousand-ton ship!  It was
+a calm evening, with just a gentle breeze blowin' at the time, and a
+little hazy.  The look out in the ship did not see the schooner until he
+was close on her; then he yelled `hard-a-lee!' so I was told, for I
+didn't hear it, bein', as I said, sound asleep.  But I heard and felt
+what followed plain enough.  There came a crash like thunder.  I was
+pitched head-foremost out o' the berth, and would certainly have got my
+neck broken, but for the flimsy table in the cabin, which gave way and
+went to pieces under me, and thus broke my fall.  I got on my legs, and
+shot up the companion like a rocket.  I was confused enough, as you may
+suppose, but I must have guessed at once what was wrong--perhaps the
+rush of water told it me--for I leaped instantly over the side into the
+sea to avoid being sucked down by the sinking vessel.  Down it went sure
+enough, and I was so near it that in spite of my struggles I was carried
+down a long way, and all but choked.  However, up I came again like a
+cork.  You always said I was light-headed, Bax, and I do believe that
+was the reason I came up so soon!
+
+"Well, I swam about for ten minutes or so, when a boat rowed up to the
+place.  It had been lowered by the ship that ran me down.  I was picked
+up and taken aboard, and found that she was bound for Australia!
+
+"Ha! that just suited you, I fancy," said Bax.
+
+"Of course it did, but that's not all.  Who d'ye think the ship belonged
+to?  You'll never guess;--to your old employers, Denham, Crumps, and
+Company!  She is named the `Trident,' after the one that was lost, and
+old Denham insisted on her sailing on a Friday.  The sailors said she
+would be sure to go to the bottom, but they were wrong, for we all got
+safe to Melbourne, after a very good voyage.
+
+"Well, I've little more to tell now.  On reaching Melbourne I landed--"
+
+"Without a sixpence in your pocket?" asked Bax.
+
+"By no means," said Tommy, "I had five golden sovereigns sewed up in the
+waist-band of my trousers, not to mention a silver watch like a saucepan
+given to me by old Jeph at parting, and a brass ring that I got from
+Bluenose!  But it's wonderful how fast this melted away in Melbourne.
+It was half gone before I succeeded in finding out what part of the
+country you had gone to.  The rest of it I paid to a party of miners,
+who chanced to be coming here, for leave to travel and feed with them.
+They left me in the lurch, however, about two days' walk from this
+place; relieving me of the watch at parting, but permitting me to keep
+the ring as a memorial of the pleasant journey we had had together!
+Then the rascals left me with provisions sufficient for one meal.  So I
+came on alone; and now present myself to you half-starved and a beggar!"
+
+"Here is material to appease your hunger, lad," said Harry Benton, with
+a laugh, as he tossed a mass of flour cake, known among diggers as
+"damper," towards the boy.
+
+"And here," added Bax, pitching a small bag of gold-dust into his lap,
+"is material to deliver you from beggary, at least for the present.  As
+for the future, Tommy, your own stout arms must do the rest.  You'll
+live in our tent, and we'll make a gold-digger of you in a couple of
+days.  I could have wished you better fortune, lad, but as you have
+managed to make your way to this out-o'-the-way place, I suppose you'll
+want to remain."
+
+"I believe you, my boy!" said Tommy, with his mouth full of damper.
+
+So Tommy Bogey remained with his friends at the Kangaroo Flats, and dug
+for gold.
+
+For several years they stuck to the laborious work, during which time
+they dug up just enough to keep themselves in food and clothing.  They
+were unlucky diggers.  Indeed, this might have been said of most of the
+diggers around them.  Those who made fortunes, by happening to find rich
+spots of ground, were very few compared with the host of those who came
+with light hearts, hoping for heavy pockets, and went away with heavy
+hearts and light pockets.
+
+We shall not follow the fortunes of those three during their long period
+of exile.  The curtain was lifted in order that the Reader might take a
+glance at them in the far-off land.  They are a pleasant trio to look
+upon.  They do not thirst feverishly for the precious metal as many do.
+Their nightly reading of the Word saves them from that.  Nevertheless,
+they work hard, earn little, and sleep soundly.  As we drop the curtain,
+they are still toiling and moiling, patiently, heartily, and hopefully,
+for gold.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+DENHAM LONGS FOR FRESH AIR, AND FINDS IT.
+
+There came a day, at last, in which foul air and confinement, and
+money-making, began to tell on the constitution of Mr Denham; to
+disagree with him, in fact.  The rats began to miss him, occasionally,
+from Redwharf Lane, at the wonted hour, and, no doubt, gossiped a good
+deal on the subject over their evening meals, after the labours and
+depredations of the day were ended!
+
+They observed too (supposing them to have been capable of observation),
+that when Mr Denham did come to his office, he came with a pale face
+and an enfeebled step; also with a thick shawl wrapped round his neck.
+These peculiarities were so far taken advantage of by the rats that they
+ceased to fly with their wonted precipitancy when his step was heard,
+and in course of time they did not even dive into their holes as in
+former days, but sat close to them and waited until the merchant had
+passed, knowing well that he was not capable of running at them.  One
+large young rat in particular--quite a rattling blade in his way--at
+length became so bold that he stood his ground one forenoon, and
+deliberately stared at Mr Denham as he tottered up to the office-door.
+
+We notice this fact because it occurred on the memorable day when Mr
+Denham admitted to himself that he was breaking down, and that something
+must be done to set him up again.  He thought, as he sat at his desk,
+leaning his head on his right hand, that sea-air might do him good, and
+the idea of a visit to his sister at Deal flitted across his mind; but,
+remembering that he had for many years treated that sister with frigid
+indifference, and that he had dismissed her son Guy harshly and without
+sufficient reason from his employment a few years ago, he came to the
+conclusion that Deal was not a suitable locality.  Then he thought of
+Margate and Ramsgate, and even ventured to contemplate the Scotch
+Highlands, but his energy being exhausted by illness, he could not make
+up his mind, so he sighed and felt supremely wretched.
+
+Had there been any one at his elbow, to suggest a plan of some sort, and
+urge him to carry it out, he would have felt relieved and grateful.  But
+plans for our good are usually suggested and urged by those who love us,
+and Denham, being a bachelor and a misanthrope, happened to have no one
+to love him.  He was a very rich man--very rich indeed; and would have
+given a great deal of gold at that moment for a very small quantity of
+love, but love is not a marketable commodity.  Denham knew that and
+sighed again.  He felt that in reference to this thing he was a beggar,
+and, for the first time in his life, experienced something of a beggar's
+despair.
+
+While he sat thus, musing bitterly, there came a tap at the door.
+
+"Come in."
+
+The tapper came in, and presented to the astonished gaze of Mr Denham
+the handsome face and figure of Guy Foster.
+
+"I trust you will forgive my intrusion, uncle," said Guy in apologetic
+tones, as he advanced with a rather hesitating step, "but I am the
+bearer of a message from my mother."
+
+Denham had looked up in surprise, and with a dash of sternness, but the
+expression passed into one of sadness mingled with suffering.  He
+pointed to a chair and said curtly, "Sit down," as he replaced his
+forehead on his hand, and partially concealed his haggard face.
+
+"I am deeply grieved, dear uncle," continued Guy, "to see you looking so
+very ill.  I do sincerely hope--"
+
+"Your message?" interrupted Denham.
+
+"My mother having heard frequently of late that you are far from well,
+and conceiving that the fresh air of Deal might do you good, has sent me
+to ask you to be our guest for a time.  It would afford us very great
+pleasure, I assure you, uncle."
+
+Guy paused here, but Mr Denham did not speak.  The kindness of the
+unexpected and certainly unmerited invitation, put, as it was, in tones
+which expressed great earnestness and regard, took him aback.  He felt
+ill at ease, and his wonted self-possession forsook him.  Probably much
+of this was owing to physical weakness.
+
+"Come, uncle," said Guy affectionately, "you won't refuse us?  We all
+live together in the cottage now, but we don't quite fill it; there is
+still one room to spare, and my wife will be delighted to--"
+
+"Your wife!" exclaimed Denham in amazement.
+
+"Yes, uncle," replied Guy in some surprise.  "Did you not get our
+cards?"
+
+Mr Denham rested his forehead again in his hand in some confusion, for
+he remembered having received a letter long ago, the address of which he
+knew to be in his nephew's hand, and supposing it to be an application
+to be taken back into the office, he had tossed it into the fire without
+opening it.  Feeling much perplexed, he said--"Oh, ah,--what is the
+lady's name?"
+
+"Lucy Burton was her maiden name," said Guy; "she is the daughter of an
+Independent minister, who was formerly a scripture-reader in Ramsgate."
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated Denham.  "Pray, may I ask what your profession is
+_now_?"
+
+"I am cashier in the office of a very intimate friend of ours--Mr
+Summers."
+
+"What! the house with which we do so much business?"
+
+"The same," said Guy with a smile; "but tell me, uncle, will you come
+and stay with us?  _Do_ say you will, if it were only for a week or
+two."
+
+"I'll think of it, nephew."
+
+Mr Denham did think of it.  More than that, he went, and said he would
+stay a week.  He stayed a week, and found himself in such comfortable
+quarters that he resolved to stay a fortnight.  He did so, and then
+agreed to remain a month.  Finally, it became a standing joke with
+Bluenose, who was a frequent visitor at the cottage kitchen, that he
+(Denham) was no better than the play-actors, who were always at their
+"last week but one," and never could get any farther.
+
+But Mr Denham's health did not improve.  He had imbibed so much tar and
+fog and filth through his nostrils that his constitution could not
+recover from the effects, and at last it began to dawn upon him that
+health was of greater value than gold; that the accumulation of wealth
+was not the main object for which man had been created; that there was a
+future in regard to which it would be well that he should now make some
+inquiries.
+
+Here Mr Denham turned by a sort of instinct to Amy Russell, whose face
+was like a beam of sunshine in Sandhill cottage, and whose labours among
+the poor and the afflicted showed that she regarded life in this world
+as a journey towards a better; as an opportunity of doing good; as a
+ladder leading to a higher and happier sphere.  In regard to this sphere
+he (Denham) knew next to nothing--except, of course, intellectually.
+Mr Denham turned to the right quarter for comfort, and found it.
+
+Still the merchant's health did not improve, so his physicians
+recommended a sea-voyage.  At an earlier period in his career he would
+as soon--sooner perhaps--have taken a balloon voyage, but sickness had
+taught him wisdom.  He gave in; consented to take a passage in one of
+his own ships, the "Trident" (which had made several good voyages to
+Australia), and ere long was ploughing over the billows of the South
+Seas on his way to the antipodes.  Such is life!
+
+Wonderful coincidences are of constant occurrence in this world.  It
+chanced that in the same year that Mr Denham made up his mind to take a
+voyage to Australia and back, Bax and Tommy Bogey made up their minds to
+give up digging for gold, and return to their native land.  Their
+companion, Harry Benton, preferred to remain in the colony.
+
+Bax and Tommy had only made enough to keep themselves alive in the
+gold-fields until their last year; but, during this year they had been
+more successful.  They hit on a good "claim," worked it out, and cleared
+two thousand pounds!  With this they resolved to retire, and push their
+fortunes at home.  Believing that they could realise more by carrying
+their gold home in dust and nuggets than by selling it in the colony,
+they had it packed in boxes, and took it aboard ship along with them.
+The ship that chanced to be ready to sail for England at this time was
+the "Trident," and almost the first face they saw on going aboard was
+the well-known visage of Mr Denham!
+
+Sea air had done him good.  He looked strong and well--comparatively.
+Bax and he started, and gazed in surprise on each other.
+
+"How are you?" said Denham with some stiffness of manner.
+
+"Thank you, very well," answered Bax.
+
+Then both men felt and looked a little awkward.
+
+"A-hem!" coughed Denham.
+
+"Hope you're well, sir?" said Bax.
+
+There was little in the words, but there was much in the tone in which
+this was said.  Mr Denham advanced and held out his hand.  Bax shook it
+warmly.  They were sufficiently good friends during the whole of that
+voyage, although there was just enough of remembrance of former days in
+the breast of each to prevent anything like cordiality between them.
+
+The homeward voyage was prosperous.  Favouring gales wafted them on
+their way.  No storms arose to cause anxiety to the brave, or to terrify
+the timid, and few incidents worthy of notice occurred until after they
+had doubled the Cape of Good Hope.  But soon after this they met with an
+adventure which deserves record.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+A FIRE AT SEA.
+
+On the troubled breast of the Atlantic, a little to the southward of
+that great collection of sea-weed, known by the name of the Sargasso
+Sea, lay a large ship.
+
+She was in distress, for her flag was hoisted with the Union Jack down.
+The nature of her distress was apparent from a column of thick smoke
+that issued from the fore-hatch.  The most terrible of all calamities
+had befallen her--she was on fire!
+
+That she was an emigrant ship was apparent from the great number of
+human beings--men, women, and children--who crowded her decks.  Before
+the fire broke out she had weathered a severe gale, the effects of which
+had not yet passed away, for, although there was little wind, the waves
+were still high, and the burning ship rolled and plunged heavily.
+
+How the fire originated no one could tell, but the instant it was
+discovered, the captain, who was a brave and able man, took prompt
+measures for its extinction.  But his utmost efforts failed of success,
+because (the old story) there was _no suitable machinery on board for
+the extinction of fire_!  The owners of this ship, however, were not,
+like too many, utterly regardless of human life.  On the contrary they
+had done a great deal--much more than is done by many ship-owners--for
+the comfort and safety of those who had entrusted their lives to them.
+There were boats on board sufficient to carry the entire crew and
+passengers; and two of these were lifeboats.  There was also a large
+supply of life-buoys and life-jackets; the latter being made of cork, in
+such a form that the wearers might be able to work in them without
+inconvenience.  But in preparing the ship for sea, fire had not been
+sufficiently considered.  There was no fire-engine aboard.  Buckets
+there were, and these were plied with vigour, but, as we have said,
+without success.
+
+Finding that the fire continued to gain strength, the captain ordered
+the ship to be scuttled; in other words, to be flooded by opening the
+lower ports and letting the sea rush in.  The ship was one of those old
+East Indiamen, which in former days carried guns and marines like our
+men-of-war.  The ports were soon knocked out, and the sea burst in,
+foaming and splashing like a mill-race when the sluice is drawn as it
+swept towards the hold, carrying boxes, bulk-heads, loose furniture and
+all before it.  When it poured in a mighty cataract into the hold, the
+terrified multitude that crowded the upper deck entertained the hope for
+a few minutes that the fire would certainly be put out.  Their hope was
+quickly crushed, for the ship soon gave signs of being waterlogged and
+threatened to settle down, rendering it necessary to close the ports
+before the fire was subdued.
+
+A wail of despair rose, from them when this was done, for now they knew
+that the ship was doomed, and that death in two of its most appalling
+forms stared them in the face.  The scene that followed was
+heart-rending.  The more timid among the passengers lost self-command.
+Some fell on their knees, and with bitter cries implored God to have
+mercy on them.  Others took passionate farewell of each other, or sat
+clinging to each other in the silence of despair.  Many became frantic,
+rushed about the decks and tore their hair, and a few of the braver
+spirits moved calmly and silently about, doing anything that required to
+be done, or coolly making preparation for the last struggle.
+
+Among these last were several women, who, sustained by the Christian's
+hope, went about comforting their companions and calming the poor
+children.  In some cases they became the centres of little groups of men
+and women, who listened intently while they read the word of God, or
+joined with them in prayer.  Many cursing lips had become silent now, or
+tremblingly attempted to call on our Saviour, for the first time, _in
+earnest_.
+
+Meanwhile the officers and crew were not idle.  Preparation was made to
+lower the boats.  The lifebuoys and belts were got ready, and everything
+was done to facilitate the abandoning of the vessel before she should be
+utterly consumed.
+
+The ordinary ship's boats were converted into lifeboats by the simple
+contrivance of fastening small empty casks all round them under the
+seats, and a large-sized cask in the stern and bow of each.
+
+As the sea was still running high, the operation of lowering was a
+matter of difficulty and danger.  The women and children were put into
+the first boat while it hung suspended at the davits.  Two men stood by
+to detach the hooks that held the boat by the bow and stern the instant
+she should touch the water.  This was the moment of danger; for, if one
+man should succeed in this and the other fail, the inevitable
+consequence would be that the stern or the bow of the boat would be
+jerked into the air, and the people in her hurled into the sea.
+
+Four boats were lowered and cast off in safety.  The fifth, which
+contained men chiefly, with only two or three women and no children, was
+upset.  The man in the bow could not detach his hook; it remained fast
+while the stern hook was cast off; and when the ship rose it hung
+suspended by the bow.  Instantly the people in her were struggling in
+the waves.  The captain, knowing that this might occur, had ordered a
+dozen of the strongest of his men to put on cork life-belts, and stand
+in the main chains to be in readiness.  These at once leaped into the
+sea, and supported the people, until another boat was lowered for them.
+But a misfortune here befell them.  While one of the boats was swinging
+it was dashed against the ship's side so violently as to be stove in and
+rendered useless.  This accident happened also to another boat, so that,
+even by overloading those that remained, it would now be impossible to
+accommodate every one.
+
+In this dilemma, the captain at once gave orders to heave overboard all
+the spare spars and the hencoops, together with enough of cordage for
+the construction of a raft.  This was promptly done, and the raft was
+sufficiently far advanced in the course of an hour to admit of the
+emigrants being placed upon it.
+
+It was during the formation of this raft that the great value of the
+life-belts became manifest.  While the spars were in a loose and
+half-fastened state, the men were obliged to work in the water.  To have
+done this without the support of the belts would have been very
+exhausting, almost impossible; but with their floating power the men
+could work with both hands, and move about almost as freely in the water
+as on land.
+
+The life-buoys were also of the greatest value at this time; for the
+burning ship became so hot, before the raft was ready, that the
+passengers were obliged to jump overboard and get upon it as they best
+could, or float about until there was room for them all.  In these
+circumstances the buoys were the means of saving the lives of some who
+could not swim.
+
+It was late in the evening when the raft was commenced, and night was
+far advanced before it was completed.  During all this time the boats
+remained close to it, after having hauled it a short distance from the
+burning ship, which latter was now a mass of flame from the deck to the
+mast-heads, rendering the whole scene as bright as day.  After the
+rigging was consumed, and the masts had fallen over the side, the hull
+continued to burn, for a considerable time, with less flame but with a
+dull red glow that afforded sufficient light to the workers.  It was
+fortunate the light lasted so long, for the night was so dark that it
+would otherwise have been almost impossible to have worked at the raft--
+tossed and rolled about as it was by the heavy sea.
+
+It was a strange weird sight, that busy glowing scene of disaster out
+upon the black ocean at midnight; and wonderful--unaccountable--did it
+appear in the eyes of the night-watch on board the "Trident," as that
+ship came over the sea, ploughing up the water before a steady breeze
+which had sprung up soon after the sun went down.
+
+"What can it be?" said Mr Denham to the captain when they first
+observed the light on the horizon.
+
+"A steamer, perhaps," replied the captain.
+
+"No steamer ever spouted fire like that," said Bax, who was the only
+other passenger on deck, all the others having gone to rest; "the
+steamers on the American lakes and rivers do indeed spout sparks and
+flames of fire like giant squibs, but then they burn wood.  Ocean
+steamers never flare up like that.  I fear it is a ship on fire."
+
+"Think you so?  Steer straight for it, captain," said Mr Denham, whose
+heart, under the influence of bad health, and, latterly, of considerable
+experience in the matter of human suffering, had become a little softer
+than it used to be.
+
+The ship's course was altered, and long before the wreck was reached her
+decks swarmed with men and women who had got up in haste at the first
+mention of the word "fire"--some of them with a confused notion that
+their own vessel was in danger!
+
+It was indeed a novel and terribly interesting sight to most of those on
+board the "Trident."  At first they saw the burning vessel like a red
+meteor rising on the waves and disappearing in the hollows; then the
+flames grew fierce, and spread a halo round the doomed ship that shone
+out vividly against the surrounding darkness.  This latter was rendered
+intensely deep by contrast with the light.  Then the masts went over the
+side, and a bright volume of sparks and scattered tongues of flame shot
+up into, the sky, after which the hull shone like a glow-worm until they
+drew quite near.  The busy workers at the raft were too anxiously intent
+on their occupation to observe the approach of the "Trident," whose
+black hull was nearly invisible, and whose small lanterns might well
+have been overlooked on such an occasion.
+
+"They don't see us," observed Mr Denham.
+
+This was abundantly evident.  Within the circle of red light, they could
+see the raft and the boats floating close to it; the men in cork-jackets
+toiling in the water and on floating spars, with ropes, handspikes, and
+axes.  It was not until the "Trident" herself came within the circle of
+light, and hove-to, with flapping sails, that the people in the boats
+became aware of her presence.
+
+Then, indeed, there arose a shout of joy such as could be uttered only
+by men and women snatched suddenly and unexpectedly from the very jaws
+of death.  Again and again it burst forth, and was replied to by the
+people in the "Trident," many of whom were so excited by the scene, and
+so overjoyed at the thought of having come up in time to save so many
+human beings, that they burst into tears; while others went down on
+their knees and thanked God fervently.
+
+Seeing that the people were getting excited, and knowing that order must
+be preserved, if the work that lay before them was to be done speedily
+and without accident, the captain sprang into the rigging, ordered the
+women and children to go below, and assured the male passengers that if
+any of them showed a disposition to be obstinate or unruly they also
+should be ordered below.  This had the desired effect.  Order was at
+once restored, and the captain then called for volunteers from among the
+stoutest of those on board to go into the chains, and lift the women and
+children out of the boats.
+
+The appeal was responded to by all the strong men in the ship--foremost
+and, strongest among whom was our friend Bax.  From among these the
+captain selected the men that seemed best able for the work they
+undertook to do; and this, be it understood, was no child's play.
+
+The state of the sea rendered it extremely difficult and dangerous to
+bring the boats alongside, heavily laden as they were with human beings.
+To get the men on board would be difficult enough, even although they
+would in most cases be able to spring, and lay hold of ropes, and
+otherwise help themselves; but to get out the women and children by such
+means was not to be thought of.  The men of the "Trident" who had the
+strongest arms and chests were therefore sent into the chains, where
+they leaned forward in slings with outstretched arms, and whenever the
+boats sheered up close enough they caught the women or children in their
+vice-like grasp and dragged them on board.
+
+Bax, owing to his unusual strength and breadth of shoulders, was
+peculiarly fitted for this laborious duty.  His long reach of arm
+enabled him to stretch far beyond the others, and in several instances
+he caught hold of and rescued women after his companions had failed.
+Thus a much larger portion of the work fell upon him than on any of the
+others.
+
+In this sort of work Tommy Bogey was of no use whatever; and severely
+did his youth and want of physical strength press upon his spirits that
+night, poor boy!  But Tommy's nature would not allow him to sit down and
+do nothing.  Feeling that he could not do manly work, he set himself
+with right good-will to womanly employment.  He assisted in carrying the
+children below when they were handed over the side, helped to strip
+them, and brought dry clothing and blankets, besides doing an immense
+amount of what may be termed stewardess' work for the poor ladies.
+There were others on board who worked willingly and well, but none who
+were so ubiquitous as he; none who knew so thoroughly what to do and how
+to do it, and none, certainly, who did everything with such a
+superabundance of energy.
+
+Once or twice Tommy stopped in the middle of these occupations to see
+how Bax was getting on; for to his rather partial eyes it seemed that
+his friend was doing the whole work, and that everybody else was merely
+looking on!
+
+On one of these occasions he saw Bax sustaining the weight of an old man
+and a young woman.
+
+The girl was the old man's daughter; she had clung to him in the boat
+and refused to let him go, having lost self-command through terror.
+Ignorant of this, and observing that the old man could not help himself,
+Bax grasped him under the arms the first time he came within reach.  The
+boat was immediately swept away by the passing wave, leaving the old man
+and the girl, who still clung with a death-like grasp to him, suspended
+in the air.  Bax's great strength enabled him to support this double
+weight, but he could not draw them up.  A comrade stooped to assist him,
+but the strain on the sling was so great that it gave way, and Bax, with
+his burden, fell into the sea like lead.
+
+Tommy saw this happen.  There were plenty of loose ropes about.  He
+seized the end of one and leaped overboard instantly.  He sank for a
+second or two, and on coming to the surface looked hastily round.  A
+hand was raised above the water near him.  He knew it to be that of his
+friend, and struck out for it, but it disappeared.  Again it rose, and
+there was a convulsive grasping of the fingers.  Tommy made one stroke
+and placed the rope in it.  The fingers closed like a vice.  Next moment
+the ship rose and lifted Bax completely out of the water, with the old
+man and the girl still clinging to him.  Before the ship sank again the
+boat sheered up, and they were all pulled into it!
+
+To leap on board the "Trident" again, and resume his position with a new
+and stronger sling, was comparatively easy work for Bax.  Tommy
+clambered up, too, close behind him.  Passing a strong rope round his
+friend's waist, he said quietly:
+
+"It won't do to risk that again."
+
+"True, Tommy," said Bax; "run below and fetch me a glass o' brandy, lad.
+That last plunge almost floored me."
+
+The boy leaped over the side and dived below.  He reappeared in a few
+seconds with a tin can, with which he clambered over the side into the
+chains, and held it to his friend's lips.  Bax drained it at a draught,
+and Tommy left him without another word.
+
+The whole of this scene was enacted with the utmost speed and energy.
+The spectators seemed to be paralysed with amazement at the quiet
+self-possession of the man and the boy, both of whom appeared to divine
+each other's thoughts, and to work into each other's hands with the
+precision and certainty of a machine; they did it all, too, as if they
+were entirely alone in the work.  Until now they had been watched with
+breathless anxiety; but when Tommy gave Bax the can of brandy, and then
+gravely went below with a baby that had just been rescued in his arms,
+there arose a wild cheer of admiration, not unmingled with laughter,
+from those who had witnessed his conduct.
+
+But their attention was soon turned again to the boats, two of which
+still remained with their freight on the heaving water.  Many incidents
+of a thrilling nature were enacted that night.  One of the most
+interesting, perhaps, occurred soon after that which has just been
+related.
+
+In one of the boats was the young wife of an emigrant, who, having been
+compelled to separate from his wife and child when they left the burning
+ship in the first boat, had come alongside of the "Trident" in another
+boat.  Being an active man, he had caught a rope and hauled himself on
+board some time before his wife was rescued.  The poor young mother had
+tied her infant tightly to her bosom by means of a shawl, in order to
+make sure that she should share its fate, whatever that might be.
+
+When the boat sheered up alongside, her husband was standing in the
+chains, anxious to render her assistance.  The woman chanced to come
+near to Bax, but not sufficiently so to grasp him.  She had witnessed
+his great power and success in saving others, and a feeling of strong
+confidence made her resolve to be caught hold of by him, if possible.
+She therefore drew back from the grasp of a stout fellow who held out
+his brawny arms to her.
+
+Bax noticed this occur twice, and understood the poor woman's motive.
+Feeling proud of the confidence thus placed in him, he watched his
+opportunity.  The boat surged up, but did not come near enough.  It
+swept away from the ship, and the poor woman's hands played nervously
+about the folds of the shawl, as she tried to adjust them more securely
+round her infant.  Again the boat rose on a wave; the woman stood ready,
+and Bax stooped.  It did not come quite near enough, but the
+disappointed woman, becoming desperate, suddenly put her foot on the
+gunwale, stood up at full length, and stretched out her arms.  Bax just
+caught her by the hands when the boat was swept from under her.
+
+Similar incidents had occurred so often that little anxiety was felt;
+but our hero's strength was now thoroughly exhausted.  He could not haul
+her up, he could only hold on and shout for assistance.  It was promptly
+rendered, but before the poor woman could be rescued the infant slipped
+from the shawl, which the straightening of the mother's arms and her
+suspended position had loosened.  A cry burst from the agonised father,
+who stooped, and stood in the attitude of one ready to plunge into the
+sea.  The mother felt the child slipping, and a piercing shriek escaped
+from her as she raised her knees and caught it between them.  With
+muscular power, intensified by a mother's love, she held the infant in
+this strange position until both were drawn up and placed in safety on
+the deck!
+
+This was the last of Bax's achievements on that eventful night.  He was
+so thoroughly worn out by the long-continued and tremendous exertions he
+had been called on to make, that his strength, great though it was,
+broke down.  He staggered down into the cabin, flung himself, wet as he
+was, on a couch, and almost instantly fell into a sleep so deep that he
+could not be roused for more than a moment or two at a time.  Seeing
+this, Tommy bade the bystanders leave him alone for a few minutes until
+he should come back, when, according to his own expression, "he would
+screw him up all right and tight!"  Every one was by this time so
+thoroughly convinced that the boy was quite able to manage his friend
+that they stood still awaiting his return with much curiosity.
+
+Tommy soon returned with a tumbler of hot brandy and water, followed by
+the steward with a pile of blankets.
+
+"Hold that a minute," said the boy, handing the tumbler to a little old
+gentleman who stood swaying to and fro with the motion of the vessel,
+and staring at Bax as if he had been a half-drowned sea-monster.
+
+"Now, then," cried Tommy, punching his friend severely in the ribs,
+seizing the hair of his head with both hands, and shaking him until his
+neck seemed dislocated,--to the surprise of all and the horror of not a
+few!
+
+The result was that Bax grumbled angrily, half awoke, and raised himself
+on one elbow.
+
+"Drink, you tom-tit!" said the boy, catching the tumbler from the old
+gentleman, and applying it to his friend's lips.
+
+Bax smiled, drank, and fell back on the pillow with a deep sigh of
+satisfaction.  Then Tommy spread blanket after blanket over him, and
+"tucked him in" so neatly and with such a business-like air, that two or
+three mothers then present expressed their admiration and wonder in
+audible whispers.
+
+While Bax was being thus carefully tended by Tommy and a knot of
+sympathisers, the passengers and crew vied with each other in making the
+rescued people as comfortable as circumstances would permit.
+
+Meanwhile the "Trident" was again laid on her course, and, thus crowded
+with human beings, steered before favouring breezes for the shores of
+old England.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+MYSTERIOUS DOINGS.
+
+We return, now, to the coast of Kent, and beg the reader to follow us
+into the Smuggler's Cave at Saint Margaret's Bay.
+
+Here, in a dark corner, sat old Jeph.  It was a stormy Sunday afternoon.
+The old man had gone to the Bay to visit Coleman, and accompany him to
+his place of worship.  Jeph had wandered alone in the direction of the
+cave after church.  He found that some one had recently cleared its
+mouth of the rubbish that usually filled it, and that, by bending low,
+he could gain an entrance.
+
+Being of an adventurous disposition, the old man went in, and, seating
+himself on a projecting rock in a dark corner, fell into a profound
+reverie.  He was startled out of this by the sound of approaching
+footsteps.
+
+"Come in, come in," said a deep hoarse voice, which Jeph at once
+recognised as that of Long Orrick, his old enemy.  "Come in, Nick; you
+seem to have got a'feer'd o' the dark of late.  We'll be out o' sight
+here, and I'll amuse ye till this squall blows over with an account o'
+what I heer'd the old man say."
+
+"This squall, as ye call it, won't blow over so soon as ye think,"
+replied Rodney Nick in a sulky tone.  "Hows'ever, we may as well wait
+here as anywhere else; or die here for all that I care!"
+
+"Hallo! messmate, wot's ado that ye should go into the blues when we're
+on the pint o' making our fortins?" said Orrick.
+
+"Ado!" cried Rodney angrily, "is it not bad enough to be called messmate
+by _you_, and not be able to deny it?"
+
+"You're civil, anyhow," said Orrick, with an oath.
+
+"I mean to be," retorted Nick, fiercely.
+
+"Come, come, it's no use quarrelling," said Orrick, with an affectation
+of good-humour.  "Never say die!  Nick; them's the words o' the
+immortial Nelson, w'en he gave the signal to blaze away at Trafalgar.
+But sit ye down here on this rock, and I'll tell ye all about wot I
+see'd last night.  Ye'd like to know, I dessay."
+
+"I'd like to have know'd sooner, if you had seen fit to tell me," said
+Rodney Nick, in a gruff tone.
+
+"Well, then, keep yer mind easy, and here goes.  You know as how I
+chanced to hear old Jeph make an appointment with that young puppy, Guy
+Foster, to meet him at the darkest hour o' night at the tomb o' Mary
+Bax.  Thinks I, it won't be for nothin' you're goin' to meet at sich an
+hour in sich a place, my hearties, so I'll go an' keep ye company in a
+_private_ way!
+
+"You may be sure I was up to time.  Two hours did I wait in the ditch
+behind the tomb, and I can tell ye, Nick, it's desprit eerie work
+a-sittin' there all alone of a dark night, a-countin' of the beatins of
+yer 'art, an' thinkin' every shadow of the clouds is a ghost.
+Hows'ever, the old man came at last, and lies down flat on the grave,
+and begins to groan a bit.  Arter that he takes to prayin', an', d'ye
+know, the way that old feller prays is a caution.  The parsons couldn't
+hold a candle to him.  Not that I ever heer'd ony of 'em, but I _s'pose_
+they couldn't!
+
+"Well, he was cut short in the middle by the arrival of the puppy--."
+
+"Wot puppy?" inquired Rodney.
+
+"Guy, to be sure; ain't he the biggest puppy in Deal?" said Orrick.
+
+"Mayhap, but he ain't the _longest_," retorted Rodney; "go on."
+
+"Humph!--well, down sits Guy on the head o' the tombstone, and pats old
+Jeph on the shoulder.
+
+"`Here I am, Jeph; come now, what is it you are so anxious to tell me?'
+
+"The old man sat up: `I'm goin' to die,' says he.
+
+"`Nonsense,' cried the young 'un, in a cheerie tone, by way of "don't
+say that."  `You're as tough as an old bo'sn.  Come, that wasn't what
+you wanted to tell me, I'm sure.'
+
+"`Ay, but it was,' says the old man in sich an earnest voice that the
+young 'un was forced to become serious.  `Listen, Guy,' he goes on, `I'm
+goin' to die, an' there's no one in this world as I've got to look after
+me.'
+
+"Guy was goin' to interrupt him at this point, but he laid his hand on
+his shoulder and bade him be silent.
+
+"`I've got no relations, Guy, except two,' says he, `an' I've no
+childer.  I never married.  The only girl I ever loved lies under the
+cold, cold sod.  You know that I'm a poor man, an' the two relations I
+spoke of are rich--rich--ay, and they're fond o' money.  Mayhap that's
+the reason they _are_ rich!  Moreover, they know I've got the matter o'
+forty pounds or thereabouts, and I know that when I die they'll fight
+for it--small though it is, and rich though they be--and my poor fortune
+will either go to them or to the lawyers.  Now, Guy, this must not be;
+so I want you to do me a kindness.  I'm too old and frail to go about
+matters o' business, an' I never was good at wot they call business in
+my best days, so I want you to pay all my debts for me, and bring me the
+receipts.'
+
+"`I'll do it, Jeph,' said Guy, `and much more than that, if you'll only
+tell me how I can serve you; but you mustn't speak in that sorrowful way
+about dying.'
+
+"`Sorrowful!' cries the old man, quite surprised like; `bless your
+heart, I'm not sorrowful.  Don't the Book say, "It's better to be absent
+from the body and present with the Lord?"' (ah, you may grin as you
+please, Nick, but I give ye the 'xact words o' the old hypocrite.) `No,
+no, Guy,' continued Jeph, `I'll be right glad to go; many a sad yet
+pleasant hour have I spent here, but I'm weary now, and would fain go,
+if the Lord will.  Now, it's my opinion that I've just two weeks to
+live--'
+
+"`Jeph!' exclaimed Guy.
+
+"`Don't interrupt me, lad.  I've got _two weeks to live_, so I want you
+to go and arrange about my funeral.  Get a coffin made--I used to be six
+feet when I was young, but I dessay I'm shorter now--and get the
+undertaker to cast up beforehand wot it'll all come to, and pay him, and
+bring me the receipts.  Will ye do this, lad?'
+
+"`I will, if you wish it, but--'
+
+"`If I didn't wish it I wouldn't ask it.'
+
+"`Well, Jeph,' said Guy, earnestly, `I _will_ do it.'
+
+"`Thank'ee, lad, thank 'ee.  I know'd ye would, so I brought the money
+with me.  Here it is--forty pounds all told; you'll pay for the things,
+and bring me the receipts, and _keep the rest and use it in the service
+of God_.  I know I can trust you, lad, so that's enough.  All I want is
+to prevent my small savin's goin' to the winds, or to those as don't
+need 'em; _you_ understand how to give it to those as do.'"
+
+"Is that all?" said Rodney Nick, impatiently.
+
+"No that's not all," replied his companion, "though if it _was_ all,
+it's a rather coorious fact, for which ye might thank me for takin' the
+trouble to tell you.  But you're thankless by nature.  It seems to me
+that nother you nor me's likely to trouble Guy Foster to look arter
+_our_ spare cash in that way!  But that ain't the end o' my story yet."
+
+"What! you didn't rob 'em? eh! you didn't pitch into the `Puppy,' and
+ease him o' the shiners?"
+
+Rodney Nick said this with a sneer, for he was well aware that his
+boastful companion would not have risked a single-handed encounter with
+Guy on any consideration.
+
+"No, I didn't; it warn't worth the trouble," said Orrick, "but--you
+shall hear.  Arter the old man had said his say, Guy asked him if that
+was all, for if it was, he didn't see no occasion to make no secret
+about it."
+
+"`No,' said the old man, `that's not all.  I want you to take charge of
+a packet, and give it to Bax after I'm gone.  No one must break the seal
+but Bax.  Poor Bax, I'd thought to have seen him once again before I
+went.  I'll leave the old house to him; it ain't worth much, but you can
+look arter it for him, or for Tommy Bogey, if Bax don't want it.  Many a
+happy evening we've spent in it together.  I wanted to give you the
+parcel here--here out on the dark Sandhills, where no one but God hears
+us.  It's wonderful what a place the town is for eavesdroppin'! so I
+made you come out here.  You must promise me never to open the packet
+unless you find that Bax is dead; _then_ you may open it, and do as you
+think fit.  You promise me this?'
+
+"`I do,' said Guy, as the old man pulled a small packet, wrapped in
+brown paper, from his breast pocket, and put it into his hands.  Then,
+they rose and went away together."
+
+"Well?" said Rodney Nick.
+
+"Well!" echoed Long Orrick, "wot then?"
+
+"What next? what d'ye want to do?" inquired Rodney.
+
+"Do," cried Orrick, "I mean to get hold o' that packet if I can, by fair
+means or by foul, _that's_ wot I mean to do, and I mean that you shall
+help me!"
+
+The reader may imagine what were the feelings of the poor old man as he
+sat in the dark corner of the cave listening to this circumstantial
+relation of his most secret affairs.  When he heard Long Orrick's last
+words, and felt how utterly powerless he was in his weakness to
+counteract him in his designs, he could not prevent the escape of a deep
+groan.
+
+The effect on the two men was electrical.  They sprang up, filled with
+superstitious horror, and fled precipitately from the cave.
+
+Old Jeph staggered out after them, and made for the cottage of his
+friend Coleman.  The latter met him near the threshold.
+
+"Why, Jeph, is this you?  I've bin searchin' for ye more than an hour,
+and come to the conclusion ye must ha' gone home; but why, you're ill,
+Jeph!"
+
+"Ay, I'm ill, come, help me home."
+
+"Nay, not this night, you shall stop with me; the missus'll give you a
+cup o' tea as will do yer old heart good."
+
+"No, I must go home now," said Jeph, in a tone so decided that his
+friend was staggered.
+
+"You can't walk it, you know, in a stormy night like this."
+
+"I _will_ walk it," said Jeph.
+
+"Come, then, if you're bent on it, you'd better go in your own lugger;
+it's here just now, agoin' to put off in ten minutes or so.  Nothin'
+ever stops Bluenose, blow high, blow low.  W'en he wants to go off to
+sea, he _goes_ off, right or wrong.  But you'll take a glass o' grog
+first."
+
+Old Jeph would not do this, so he was led down to the beach by Coleman,
+where they found the boat being launched.
+
+"Good-bye, old man," said Coleman, helping him over the side.
+
+"_Good-bye,--farewell_," said Jeph earnestly.  "I came here to-day
+a-purpose to say farewell; shake hands, God bless you."
+
+The coast-guard-man was surprised by the warmth of his friend's manner,
+as well as by his words; but before he could ask him what he meant, the
+boat was run down the beach and out to sea.  An hour later old Jeph was
+carefully put to bed in his own cottage, by his friend Captain Bluenose.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+THE STORM AND THE WRECK.
+
+Guy Foster, clad in a sou'-wester hat and oilskin coat, stood at the end
+of the pier of Ramsgate Harbour, with his sweet wife, Lucy, clinging to
+his arm, and a sturdy boy of about four years old, holding on with one
+hand to the skirts of his coat, and with the other grasping the sleeve
+of his silver-haired grandsire, Mr Burton.
+
+It was night, and a bitter gale was blowing from the north-east,
+accompanied by occasional showers, of sleet.  Crowds of seamen and
+others stood on the pier eagerly watching the lifeboat, which was being
+got ready to put off to sea.
+
+"It is too cold for you, darling," said Guy, as he felt Lucy's arm
+tremble.
+
+"Oh no!  I should like to stay," said Lucy, anxiously.  Just then a
+tremendous wave burst on the massive stone pier, and a shower of spray
+fell upon the crowd.  Lucy and her companions received a copious share
+of it.
+
+"You are wet through, dear, and so is Charlie," said Guy,
+remonstratively.
+
+"Well, I will go home, but you must come with us, papa.  Guy wants to
+remain, I know."
+
+The missionary gave his daughter his arm, and led her away, while Guy,
+pushing through the crowd, soon stood beside the lifeboat, the crew of
+which, already encased in their cork life-belts, were hastily taking
+their places.
+
+"There goes another rocket," cried one of those on the look-out; "it's
+from the North-s'n'-Head light."
+
+"Look alive, lads," cried the coxswain of the boat, more to relieve his
+feelings than to hurry the men, who were already doing their best.
+
+The shrill note of a steam-whistle was heard at this moment, its
+piercing sound rising high above the shriek of the gale and the roaring
+of the sea.  It was a signal from the steam-tug appointed to attend on
+the lifeboat, and told that steam was up and all ready to put to sea.
+
+Put to sea on such a night! with the waves bursting in thunder on the
+shore, the foam seething like milk beneath, the wind shrieking like ten
+thousand fiends above, and the great billows lifting up their heads, as
+they came rolling in from the darkness of Erebus that lay incumbent on
+the raging sea beyond.
+
+Ay, a landsman might have said "madness" with reason.  Even a seaman
+might have said that without much apparent impropriety.  But the boatmen
+of Ramsgate held a different opinion!  The signal gun had been fired,
+the rocket had gone up, a wreck was known to be on the fatal Goodwin
+Sands, and they were as eager to face the storm as if encountering
+danger and facing death were pleasant pastime.
+
+As the oars were about to be shipped, one of the crew stumbled, and
+struck his head so violently against the bollard, that he fell stunned
+into the bottom of the boat.  Guy saw the accident as he stood on the
+edge of the pier.  A sudden impulse seized him.  At one bound he passed
+from the pier to the boat, which was already some half-dozen feet away,
+and took the seat and oar of the injured man.  In the confusion and
+darkness, the others thought he was one of the supernumerary boatmen,
+and took no further notice of him.  The boat was shoved back, the
+life-jacket was transferred to Guy, and the boatman was put ashore.
+
+A few strokes brought the boat alongside the steam-tug.
+
+"Heave the warp! make fast! all right, steam a-head!"
+
+The whistle shrieked again, the warp tautened, and tug and lifeboat made
+for the mouth of the harbour.  As they passed out an inspiring cheer was
+given by the crowd, and a rocket streamed up from the pier-head to
+signal the lightship that assistance was on the way.
+
+The lifeboat which thus gallantly put off to the rescue in a storm so
+wild that no ordinary boat could have faced it for a moment without
+being swamped, was a celebrated one which had recently been invented and
+placed at this station--where it still lies, and may be recognised by
+its white sides and peculiar build.
+
+Its history is interesting.  In the year 1851 the Duke of
+Northumberland, then president of the Lifeboat Institution, offered a
+prize of 100 pounds for the best model of a lifeboat.  The result was
+that 280 models and plans were sent to Somerset House for examination.
+The prize was awarded to Mr James Beeching, boat-builder at Great
+Yarmouth, who was ordered to construct a boat, after the pattern of his
+model, 36 feet long, with 12 oars.
+
+The boat was built, and was found to be the most perfect of its kind
+that had ever been launched.  It was the first self-righting boat ever
+constructed.
+
+The three great points to be attained in the construction of a lifeboat
+are: buoyancy, the power of righting itself if upset, and the power of
+emptying itself if filled with water.  Up to this date the lifeboats of
+the kingdom were possessed of only the first quality.  They could not be
+sunk; that was all.  Of course that was a great deal, but it was far
+from sufficient.  Mr Beeching's boat united all three qualities.
+
+Its self-righting principle was effected by means of two raised
+air-cases, one at the stem, the other at the stern, and a heavy metal
+keel.  When overturned, the boat attempted, as it were, to rest on its
+two elevated cases, but these, being buoyant, resisted this effort, and
+turned the boat over on its side; the action being further assisted by
+the heavy keel, which had a tendency to drag the bottom downwards.  Thus
+the upper part of the boat was raised by one action, and the bottom part
+depressed by the other, the result being that the boat righted itself
+immediately.  In fact, its remaining in an inverted position was an
+impossibility.
+
+The self-emptying principle was accomplished by the introduction of six
+self-acting valves into the bottom of the boat, through which the water,
+when shipped, ran back into the sea!  When we first heard of this we
+were puzzled, reader, as doubtless you are, for it occurred to us that
+any hole made in a boat's bottom would inevitably let water in instead
+of out!  The difficulty was cleared up when we saw the model.
+Beeching's boat had a double floor, the upper one raised to a little
+above the level of the sea.  The escapes were short metal pipes, the
+upper openings of which were fitted into holes in the upper floor.  The
+lower ends passed through the bottom of the boat.  The valves of the top
+opened downward, but could not be opened upwards, so that the rushing of
+the sea into the pipes from below was checked, but the rushing in of the
+sea from above pressed the valves open, and allowed the water to run
+out, in accordance with the well-known law that water must find its
+_level_.  Thus, the _upper_ floor being above the _level_ of the sea,
+all the water ran out.
+
+Boats on this principle, modified in some of the details by Mr Peake,
+of Her Majesty's dockyard at Woolwich, are now adopted by the Lifeboat
+Institution.  They right themselves in less than a minute, and free
+themselves of water in about the same time.
+
+Besides the above advantages, Mr Beeching's boat was fitted with the
+usual air-cases round the sides, and with a thick stripe of cork outside
+the gunwale; also with lines hanging over the sides in festoons, so that
+any one in the water, using them as stirrups, might get into the boat
+with ease.  She was further provided with an anchor and cable; with
+strong but light lines attached to grappling irons at the bow and stern,
+which, when thrown into the rigging or upon a wreck, might fasten
+themselves to the ship and retain the boat without any other aid; also
+with a life-buoy, and a lantern for night work, besides numerous small
+articles.
+
+This boat was purchased by the Harbour Commissioners of Ramsgate, and
+anchored close to the pier, in connexion with a powerful steam-tug (the
+fires of which were never allowed to die down), ready at any moment to
+fly to the rescue, on the signal of distress being given.  This is the
+boat whose splendid deeds have so frequently of late drawn the attention
+and compelled the admiration of the whole country; and it was this boat
+that issued from Ramsgate harbour on the wild night referred to at the
+beginning of this chapter.
+
+Both tide and wind were dead against them as they issued from the
+shelter of the pier and met the storm, but the steamer was very
+powerful; it buffeted the billows bravely, and gradually gained the
+neighbourhood of the Sands, where the breakers and cross seas beat so
+furiously that their noise, mingled with the blast, created a din which
+can only be described as a prolonged and hideous roar.
+
+The night was extremely dark, and bitterly cold.  Heavy seas continually
+burst over the steamer's bulwarks, and swept her deck from stem to
+stern.  The little lifeboat, far astern, was dragged by the strong
+hawser through a wild turmoil of water and spray.  The men nestling
+under the gunwales clung to the thwarts and maintained their position,
+although sea after sea broke over them and well nigh washed them out.
+
+At length they reached the light-ship; hailed her and were told that the
+wreck was on a high part of the shingles, bearing north-west from the
+light.  Away they went in that direction, but, being unable to find her,
+made their way to the Prince's light-ship, where they were told there
+was a large ship on the Girdler.  Once more they steamed in the
+direction indicated, and soon discovered the wreck by the tar-barrels
+which she was burning.  Just as they sighted her an enormous sea broke
+over the steamer with such violence as to stop her way for a moment, and
+cause her strong frame to quiver.
+
+"Look out, lads!" cried the coxswain of the lifeboat, as the black water
+loomed up between them and the tug.
+
+The men grasped the thwarts more firmly as a tremendous sea filled the
+boat to the gunwale.  At this moment the checked steamer again leaped on
+her way; the stout hawser parted like a piece of twine, and the lifeboat
+was left behind.  Hoisting the corner of its small sail they made for
+the wreck.  No time was lost in bailing, as would have been the case
+with the boats of former years; a few seconds sufficed to empty her.
+
+The wind was now blowing a complete hurricane with a terrific sea on,
+the horrors of which were increased by the darkness of the night, so
+that it was with the utmost difficulty they succeeded in getting
+alongside.  The wreck was a coasting vessel with a crew of eighteen men.
+There were no women or children, so they were got into the boat without
+much loss of time, and safely conveyed to the tug which lay to for her
+little consort, about three-quarters of a mile off.
+
+The lifeboat was again taken in tow, and they proceeded together towards
+Ramsgate, when another gun and signal-rocket recalled them to continue
+their arduous duties.
+
+The sleet of a winter's night beat furiously in the faces of these
+boatmen, as already much exhausted, they once again faced the storm.
+But the streaming rocket and the signal-gun seemed to infuse new life
+and vigour into their hardy frames.  Out to sea they went again, and,
+having approached as near as they dared to the breakers, worked their
+way along the edge of the Sands, keeping a bright look-out for the
+vessel in distress.  Up and down they cruised, but nothing could be seen
+of her.
+
+At last, on the eastern side of the Sands, they descried a large ship
+looming against the dark sky.
+
+"There she is!" shouted the coxswain.
+
+The hawser was slipt, and the boat, detached from her bulky companion,
+pushed into the very vortex of the breakers.
+
+To say that no other boat could have lived in such a sea, would convey
+but a faint notion of the powers of this boat.  Any _one_ of the
+deluging billows that again and again overwhelmed her would have swamped
+the best and largest boat that was ever launched, and, although the old
+lifeboats might have floated, they certainly could not have made much
+progress in such a sea, owing to the difficulty of getting rid of the
+water.  But the Ramsgate boat was empty a few seconds after being
+filled.  The men had to take no thought as to this, except to see to it
+that they should not be washed out of her.
+
+On getting alongside, they found the wreck to be a very large ship.  Its
+black hull towered high above them, and the great yards swayed with
+fearful violence over their heads.  A single glance showed that she was
+crowded with men and women.
+
+The grapnels were thrown, and Guy starting up, seized the immense
+boat-hook, used by lifeboats, and stood ready to hook on to the rigging.
+He succeeded in fixing the hook, but a violent lurch of the ship tore
+the handle out of his grasp and cast him into the bottom of the boat.
+Just then a man was seen to run out on the main-yard, and slip down by a
+rope close to the sea.  The boat sheered up towards him, and several
+arms were stretched out to save; but the boat glided away and the
+succeeding wave engulfed him.  Only for a second however.  When it
+passed the man was still seen clinging to the rope; the boat once again
+sheered up so close that he was induced to let go his hold.  He dropped
+into the sea close alongside, caught one of the life-lines, and next
+instant was in the boat.
+
+"All right!  Give me the boat-hook," he cried, seizing the handle as he
+spoke, and affixing it with the strength of a giant to the chains of the
+ship.
+
+The tone of this man's voice thrilled to Guy's heart.  He sprang forward
+and seized him by the arm.  One glance was sufficient.
+
+"Bax!"
+
+"Guy!"
+
+There was no time for more.  The astonishment of both was extreme, as
+may well be supposed, and that of Guy was much increased when he heard
+another familiar voice shout--
+
+"All right, Bax?"
+
+"All right, Tommy; let them look alive with the women and children; get
+up a light if you can."  There were others in the lifeboat who
+recognised these voices, but life and death were trembling in the
+balance at that moment; they dared not unbend their attention from the
+one main object for an instant.
+
+Some one in the "Trident" (for it was indeed that ill-fated ship) seemed
+to have anticipated Bax's wish.  Just as he spoke, a torch made of tar
+and oakum was lighted, and revealed the crowded decks, the raging sea
+that sought to swallow them up, and the lifeboat surging violently
+alongside.  It was an appalling scene: the shrieks of the women and
+children, mingled with the howling wind, the rush of the waves on the
+ship's side, and the shouting of men, created a din so horrible that
+many a stout heart quailed.  Fortunately the men who were the most
+active in the work of saving others were so taken up with what they were
+about, that there was no room for thought of personal danger.
+
+The first human being placed in the boat was a little child.  Its
+mother, despairing of being saved herself, pressed through the crowd,
+held her little one over the side, and cried out "Save my child!"  Bax
+leaped on the air-chamber at the bow of the boat, and grasping the
+shoulder of a boatman with one hand, stretched out the other towards the
+child; but the boat swooped forward and brought him close under the
+chains, where a sailor held a woman suspended in his arm, ready to drop
+her into the boat when it should come close alongside.  It did not,
+however, approach sufficiently near.  The next wave carried them back,
+and enabled Bax to seize the child and lay it in a place of safety.  The
+mother was soon beside it, and in a short time the boat was quite
+filled.
+
+Bax then leaped into the mizzen-chains, the lifeboat pushed off, and
+conveyed her cargo to the steam-tug.  They took off 25 women and
+children the first trip.  The steamer then towed the boat into position,
+to enable her again to make straight for the wreck.  By this means much
+valuable time was saved, and more trips were made than could have been
+accomplished in the time by any lifeboat without the aid of a steamer.
+
+All the women and children, and some of the male passengers, had been
+safely conveyed to the tug, when an accident happened which well-nigh
+destroyed the boat.  This was the sudden falling of the mainmast of the
+"Trident."  With a rending crash it fell on the boat, overturned it, and
+held it down, so that its self-righting principle was neutralised.  The
+crew being secured against sinking by their life-jackets, succeeded in
+clambering into the ship--many of them more or less bruised and cut.
+The coxswain, however, did not appear; he seemed to have been lost.
+
+"He's under the boat!" gasped Guy, who having been entangled in the
+wreck of the mast was the last to get on board.
+
+"Axes, men!" shouted the Captain of the "Trident."
+
+"A hundred pounds to the man who saves him!" cried a voice from the
+quarter-deck.
+
+Who is this that is so liberal of his gold at a time when a hundred
+thousand pounds could not avail to save one hair of his own head?  He
+clings to the mizzen-shrouds with a face so ashy pale that Guy Foster
+scarce recognises his own uncle!  Ah!  Denham, you have seen a storm and
+a wreck at last, in circumstances you little dreamed of when, years ago,
+Guy predicted that you would "change your mind" in regard to these
+matters; and it would seem that your experience has done you no little
+good!
+
+But, although Mr Denham shouted his best, no one heard him.  Not the
+less on that account, however, did the strong men wield their axes and
+hew asunder the tough ropes and spars.  Bax, as usual, was prominent in
+action.  He toiled as if for life; and so it was for life, though not
+his own.  Small was the hope, yet it was enough to justify the toil.
+The curvature of the lifeboat was so great that it was possible a
+portion of air sufficient to maintain life might be confined within it.
+And so it turned out.  For twenty minutes they toiled; the boat was
+finally cleared; Bax struck the blow that set it free, and dragged the
+coxswain out as it turned over.  He was found to be alive though almost
+exhausted!
+
+Once more they pushed off with a full load of human beings.  Among them
+were Mr Denham, Bax, and Tommy Bogey.  The greater part of the crew,
+and some of the male passengers, still remained in the wreck awaiting
+their turn.
+
+When the boat had advanced about a hundred yards a cry of distress was
+heard, but the noise of wind and waves was so great that they thought it
+might have been mere imagination.  Nevertheless, so much were they
+impressed, that the coxswain put about and returned towards the wreck.
+Too soon they discovered that it had been the death-cry of those who
+were left behind, for _not a vestige of the_ "_Trident_" _remained_!
+The ill-fated vessel had been suddenly broken up and utterly swept away!
+
+In their anxiety to save any who might yet survive, and be clinging to
+portions of the wreck, the boat cruised about for some time, and her
+captain was tempted to advance too far over the dangerous shoals.  She
+struck suddenly with great violence, and remained fast on the sands.
+The utmost efforts were made to haul off, but in vain.  The boat was
+hurled again and again on the ridges of sand;--passed over several of
+them, and became hopelessly entangled.
+
+Those well-known ripples that one sees on the shore, are, on the Goodwin
+Sands, magnified from an inch to nearly three feet.  Over these the boat
+now began to surge.
+
+"Hoist the sail! up with it!" cried the coxswain as they suddenly passed
+into deeper water.  Some of the men began to hope that they had crossed
+the shoals, but they were mistaken.
+
+The order was obeyed, and the boat rushed forward wildly, with its lee
+gunwale buried deep in the sea; another moment and it struck again with
+tremendous violence.  Those on board would have been torn out of her had
+they not clung to the seats with the energy of despair.  It now became
+clear to all who knew the locality, that there was no alternative for
+them but to beat right across the Sands.  The violence of the gale had
+increased.  The night was pitchy dark, and the fearful shocks with which
+they struck the gigantic ripples on the banks, sent despair to the
+hearts of all, except the crew of the boat.  These, knowing her
+capabilities, retained a vestige of hope.
+
+Bax, being ignorant on this point, had given up all hope.  He clung to
+the bollard, close beside the coxswain.
+
+"It's all over with us at last," he said, as the boat struck heavily,
+and was then lifted away on the crest of a roaring breaker.
+
+"It may be so," replied the coxswain, calmly; "but if we escape being
+dashed on the wrecks that are scattered over the Sands, we may live it
+out yet."
+
+And what of Mr Denham, the head of the wealthy firm, who years ago had
+expressed the opinion that lifeboats were unnecessary, and that "those
+who devoted themselves to a sea-faring life ought to make up their minds
+to the chances and risks attending such a life"?  What thought _he_ as
+he lay there in the bottom of the boat--terrified almost to death;
+shaken and bruised by the repeated and awful shocks; chilled by the
+intense cold, and drenched to the skin, with just enough life left to
+enable him to cling to a thwart;--what thought _he_ on that terrible
+night?
+
+Perchance he thought of his former life of pride, selfishness, and
+indifference to the woes of others.  Perhaps he reflected that his own
+neglect in other days had something to do with his being here now.
+Whatever he thought he spoke not.  His face was deadly pale.  His lips
+were blue.  He crouched, a hopeless, a helpless, and a pitiful object,
+in the bottom of the lifeboat.
+
+Presently they struck again.  Crash!  Every timber groaned as the boat
+turned broadside to the sea, which made a clear breach over her.  The
+coxswain and Bax alone stood up, both holding on to the mizzen-mast.
+The rest clung on as they best could to the thwarts, sometimes buried in
+water, often with only their heads above it.  The tide was making, and
+as the boat passed each shoal the bow lifted first and swung round--then
+the stern, and it was clear again; but only to be hurled on the next
+ridge, when the sea once more burst over it, sweeping away everything
+that was loose.
+
+It became necessary to alter the trim of the boat by moving some of the
+men from one part to another.  The coxswain shouted the order, but only
+Guy Foster and two others were able to obey.  All that the rest could do
+was to hold on with iron grasp for bare life.  With some this had become
+the involuntary clutch of despair.
+
+Thus on they went crashing and jerking from bank to bank amid the raging
+wind and surf and bitter cold.  None save a lifeboat could have
+survived.  To Bax it seemed miraculous.
+
+"What are you doin'?" said he to one of the men near him.
+
+"I'm takin' off my life-belt," he replied; "it'll be over all the
+quicker, and I don't want to be beatin' about over the sands alive or
+dead longer than I can help; the sooner I go to the bottom the better."
+
+Bax tried to cheer this man, but in vain.  At first a few of the more
+sanguine spirits among them had endeavoured to cheer their comrades, but
+as time wore on their efforts ceased.  All gave themselves up for lost,
+and no word was spoken by any one, save at long intervals, when a brief
+sharp cry of agonising prayer escaped from those who looked to God for
+consolation.  Thus for two hours they beat over the sands--a distance of
+nearly two miles--each moment expecting to be overturned or dashed to
+pieces on some of the old wrecks.  All this time the noble-hearted
+coxswain remained at his post, and Bax stood--hopeless indeed, yet
+watchful, beside him.
+
+Suddenly the beating from ridge to ridge ceased.  The boat swung into
+deep water, and rushed on her wild career over the foam!  Those who were
+not utterly exhausted noticed the fact, and began to show symptoms of
+reviving hope and activity.  Others, thoroughly worn out, remained
+utterly indifferent to the change.
+
+Yes, the great danger was past!  Sail was quickly made.  The storm was
+still wild as ever, but with sufficient water below her, winds and waves
+were powerless for evil to the lifeboat.  Rushing through the surf, she
+soon gained the harbour of Ramsgate, and all on board were landed in
+safety.
+
+Ay, Reader, but the seeds of death had been sown that night.  The
+boatmen returned to their homes, and the saved passengers and crew of
+the "Trident" were cared for by the authorities of the town, but one sad
+result was that several of those who had so nobly risked their lives to
+save others, never recovered from the effects of the sixteen hours of
+exposure to that pitiless storm.
+
+Another and a glorious result was, that a _hundred and twenty souls_
+were snatched from a watery grave.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+HISTORY OF THE LIFEBOAT.
+
+We pause at this point in our story, good reader, to treat you to a
+little of what mankind is prone to consider "dry," namely, a chapter of
+information and statistics.  We dislike sailing under false colours,
+therefore we warn you at the outset of the nature of what is to follow.
+
+And yet our subject ought not to be considered dry, for it is
+indissolubly connected with salt water, and if human hearts were
+suitably affected by the simple statement of facts, drops of salt water
+would frequently moisten these pages!
+
+Please, do not skip.  _Multum in parvo_ shall be our motto.
+
+Lionel Lukin, a coach-builder in London, was the inventor of the
+lifeboat.  He took out a patent for it on the 2nd November, 1785, and
+wrote a pamphlet on lifeboats, entitled "The Invention, Principles, and
+Construction of Insubmergible Boats."  His boat was rendered buoyant by
+means of a projecting gunwale of cork, and hollow air-cases within it;
+one of these being at the head, the other at the stern.  It was
+ballasted by means of a false iron keel.  In these respects this boat
+possessed, in rudimentary form, the essentials of the lifeboat of the
+present day.  A coble was converted into a lifeboat on these principles
+by Lukin, and launched at Bamborough, where, in the course of the first
+year, it was the means of saving many lives.  This was the first
+lifeboat ever brought into action.
+
+Lukin, though a man of energy and perseverance, was doomed to
+disappointment.  The Prince of Wales (George the Fourth), to his credit
+be it said, was his warm and liberal patron, but even the Prince's
+influence failed to awaken the sympathy of the public, or of the men in
+high places who alone could bring this great invention into general use.
+People in those days appeared to think that the annual drowning of
+thousands of their countrymen was an unavoidable necessity,--the price
+we had to pay, as it were, for our maritime prosperity.  Lukin appealed
+in vain to the First Lord of the Admiralty, and to many other
+influential men, but a deaf ear was invariably turned to him.  With the
+exception of the Bamborough coble, not a single lifeboat was placed at
+any of the dangerous localities on the east coast of England for several
+years.  Wrecked men and women and children were (as far as the Naval
+Boards were concerned) graciously permitted to swim ashore if they
+could, or to go to the bottom if they couldn't!  Ultimately, the
+inventor of the lifeboat went to his grave unrewarded and
+unacknowledged--at least by the nation; though the lives saved through
+his invention were undoubtedly a reward beyond all price.  The high
+honour of having constructed and set in motion a species of boat which
+has saved hundreds and thousands of human lives, and perchance prevented
+the breaking of many human hearts, is certainly due to Lionel Lukin.
+
+In 1789, the public were roused from their state of apathy in regard to
+shipwrecked seamen by the wreck of the "Adventure" of Newcastle, the
+crew of which perished in the presence of thousands who could do nothing
+to save them.  Under the excitement of this disaster the inhabitants of
+South Shields met to deplore and to consult.  A committee was appointed,
+and premiums were offered for the best models of lifeboats.  Men came
+forward, and two stood pre-eminent--Mr William Wouldhave, a painter,
+and Mr Henry Greathead, a boat-builder, of South Shields.  The former
+seems to have been the first who had a glimmering idea of the
+self-righting principle, but he never brought it to anything.  Cork was
+the buoyant principle in his boat.  Greathead suggested a curved keel.
+The chairman of the committee modelled a boat in clay which combined
+several of the good qualities of each, and this was given to Greathead
+as the type of the boat he was to build.
+
+From this time forward lifeboats gradually multiplied.  Greathead became
+a noted improver and builder of them.  He was handsomely rewarded for
+his useful labours by Government and others, and his name became so
+intimately and deservedly associated with the lifeboat, that people
+erroneously gave him the credit of being its inventor.
+
+The Duke of Northumberland took a deep interest in the subject of
+lifeboats, and expended money liberally in constructing and supporting
+them.  Before the close of 1863, Greathead had built 31 boats, 18 for
+England, 5 for Scotland, and 8 for foreign countries.  This was so far
+well; but it was a wretchedly inadequate provision for the necessities
+of the case.  Interest had indeed been awakened in the public, but the
+public cannot act as a united body; and the Trinity House seemed to fall
+back into the sleep from which it had been partially aroused.
+
+It was not till 1822 that the great (because successful) champion of the
+lifeboat stood forth,--in the person of Sir William Hillary, Baronet.
+
+Sir William, besides being a philanthropist, was a hero!  He not only
+devised liberal things, and carried them into execution, but he
+personally shared in the danger of rescuing life from the raging sea.
+Our space forbids a memoir, but this much may be said briefly.  He dwelt
+on the coast of the Isle of Man, and established a Sailors' Home at
+Douglas.  He constantly witnessed the horrors of shipwreck, and seemed
+to make it his favourite occupation to act as one of the crew of boats
+that put off to wrecks.  He was of course frequently in imminent danger;
+once had his ribs broken, and was nearly drowned oftentimes.  During his
+career he personally assisted in saving 305 lives!  He was the means of
+stirring up public men, and the nation generally, to a higher sense of
+their duty to those who risk their lives upon the sea; and eventually--
+in conjunction with two members of Parliament, Mr Thomas Wilson and Mr
+George Hibbert--was the founder of "THE ROYAL NATIONAL INSTITUTION FOR
+THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE FROM SHIPWRECK."
+
+This noble Institution--now named THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT
+INSTITUTION--was founded on the 4th of March, 1824.  From that date to
+the present time it has unremittingly carried out the great ends for
+which it was instituted.
+
+Let us glance at these in detail, as given in their publication, _The
+Lifeboat Journal_.
+
+The objects of the Institution are effected--
+
+"_1st_, By the stationing of lifeboats, fully equipped, with all
+necessary gear and means of security to those who man them, and with
+transporting carriages on which they can be drawn by land to the
+neighbourhood of distant wrecks, and by the erection of suitable houses
+in which the same are kept.
+
+"_2nd_, By the appointment of paid coxswains, who have charge of, and
+are held responsible for, the good order and efficiency of the boats,
+and by a quarterly exercise of the crew of each boat.
+
+"_3rd_, By a liberal remuneration of all those who risk their lives in
+going to the aid of wrecked persons, whether in lifeboats or otherwise;
+and by the rewarding with the gold or silver medal of the Institution
+such persons as encounter great personal risk in the saving of life.
+
+"_4th_, By the superintendence of an honorary committee of residents in
+each locality, who, on their part, undertake to collect locally what
+amount they are able of donations towards the first cost, and of annual
+contributions towards the permanent expenses of their several
+establishments."
+
+In order to see how this work is, and has been, carried out, let us look
+at the results, as stated in the last annual report, that for 1864.
+
+The lifeboats of the Institution now number 132, and some of them were
+the means of saving no fewer than 417 lives during the past year; nearly
+the whole of them in dangerous circumstances, amidst high surfs, when no
+other description of boats could have been launched with safety.  They
+also took into port, or materially assisted, 17 vessels, which might
+otherwise have been lost.  The number of persons afloat in the boats on
+occasions of their being launched was 6,000.  In other words, our army
+of coast-heroes amounts, apparently, to that number.  But in reality it
+is much larger, for there are hundreds of willing volunteers all round
+the coast ready to man lifeboats, if there were lifeboats to man.
+Although nearly every man of this 6000 risked his life again and again
+during the year, not a single life was lost.
+
+Nearly all these boats have been supplied with transporting carriages
+and boat-houses by the Institution.  The cost in detail is as follows:--
+
++===========================+==========+
+|Lifeboat and her equipments|300 pounds|
++---------------------------+----------+
+|Transporting carriage      |100 pounds|
++---------------------------+----------+
+|Boat-house (average cost)  |150 pounds|
++---------------------------+----------+
+|Total                      |550 pounds|
++===========================+==========+
+
+The sums granted last year for the saving of 714 lives by lifeboats,
+shore-boats, etcetera, amounted to nearly 1,300 pounds (about 1 pound 16
+shillings 6 pence each life!)  Fifteen silver medals and twenty-six
+votes of thanks, inscribed on vellum and parchment, were also awarded
+for acts of extraordinary gallantry.
+
+The income of the Institution in 1863 amounted to 21,100 pounds.
+Fifteen new lifeboats were sent to various parts of the coast in that
+year.
+
+It is interesting to observe in the report the persons by whom donations
+are sometimes given to the Institution.  We read of "100 pounds from a
+sailor's daughter"; and "100 pounds as a thank-offering for preservation
+at sea, during the storm of 31st October last."  Another thank-offering
+of 20 pounds, "for preservation from imminent danger at sea," appears in
+the list. "100 pounds from `a friend,' in gratitude to God for the
+preservation of his wife for another year"; and "20 pounds from a
+seaman's daughter, the produce of her needle-work."  Among smaller sums
+we find 1 pound, 6 shillings, 9 pence collected in a Sunday school; 3
+pounds, 18 shillings, 8 pence collected in a parish church, as a New
+Year's offering.  Last, and least in one sense, though by no means least
+in another, 1 shilling, 6 pence in stamps, from a sailor's orphan child!
+
+The prayer naturally springs to one's lips, God bless that dear orphan
+child! but it has been already blessed with two of God's choicest
+gifts,--a sympathetic heart and an open hand.
+
+Small sums like this are not in any sense to be despised.  If the
+population of London alone--taking it at two millions--were individually
+to contribute 1 shilling, 6 pence, the sum would amount to 150,000
+pounds!  Why, if everyone whose eye falls on this page--to descend to
+smaller numbers--were to give a shilling, it is not improbable that a
+sum would be raised sufficient to establish two lifeboats!  [See Note
+1.]
+
+But there are those who, besides being blessed with generous hearts, are
+fortunate in possessing heavy purses.  We find in the same report
+donations of from two hundred to two thousand pounds, and legacies
+ranging from ten to a thousand pounds.  The largest legacy that seems
+ever to have been bequeathed to the Institution was that of 10,000
+pounds, left in 1856 by Captain Hamilton Fitzgerald, R.N., one of the
+vice-presidents of the Society.
+
+The mere mention of such sums may induce some to imagine that the
+coffers of the Institution are in a very flourishing state.  This would
+indeed be the case if the Society had reached its culminating point--if
+everything were done that can be done for the preservation of life from
+shipwreck; but this is by no means the case.  It must be borne in mind
+that the Institution is national.  The entire coasts of the United
+Kingdom are its field of operations, and the drain upon its resources is
+apparently quite equal to its income.  Its chief means of support are
+voluntary contributions.
+
+Since the Society was instituted, in 1824, to the present time, it has
+been the means of saving 13,570 lives!--many, if not most, of these
+being lives of the utmost consequence to the commerce and defence of the
+country.  During the same period, it has granted 82 gold medals, 736
+silver medals, and 17,830 pounds in cash; besides expending 82,550
+pounds on boats, carriages, and boat-houses.
+
+Considering, then, the magnitude and unavoidable costliness of the
+operations of this Institution, it is evident that a large annual income
+is indispensable, if it is to continue its noble career efficiently.
+
+Closely allied to this is another society which merits brief notice
+here.  It is the "Shipwrecked Fishermen's and Mariners' Royal Benevolent
+Society."  Originally this Society, which was instituted in 1839,
+maintained lifeboats on various parts of the coast.  It eventually,
+however, made these over to the Lifeboat Institution, and confined
+itself to its own special and truly philanthropic work, which is--
+
+To board, lodge, and convey to their homes, all destitute, shipwrecked
+persons, to whatever country they may belong, through the
+instrumentality of its agents.  To afford temporary assistance to the
+widows, parents, and children of all mariners and fishermen who may have
+been drowned, and who were members of the Society; and to give a
+gratuity to mariners and fishermen, who are members, for the loss or
+damage of their clothes or boats.  Membership is obtained by an annual
+subscription of three shillings.
+
+Assuredly every mariner and fisherman in the kingdom ought to be a
+member of this Society, for it is pre-eminently useful, and no one can
+tell when he may require its assistance.
+
+The Lifeboat Institution and the Shipwrecked Fishermen's and Mariners'
+Society are distinct bodies, but they do their benevolent work in
+harmonious concert.  The one saves life, or tries to save it; the other
+cherishes the life so saved, or comforts and affords timely aid to
+broken-hearted mourners for the dead.
+
+Both Institutions are national blessings, and as such have the strongest
+possible claim on the sympathies of the nation.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  In case any reader should sympathise with us, and desire to act
+on the above hint, we subjoin the following address, to which money may
+be sent: The Secretary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, 22
+Charing Cross Road, London, W.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+A MEETING--A DEATH, AND A DISCOVERY.
+
+Resuming our story, we remind the reader that we left off just as the
+Ramsgate lifeboat had gained a glorious victory over a great storm.
+
+Availing ourselves of an author's privilege, we now change the scene to
+the parlour of Mrs Foster's temporary lodgings at Ramsgate, whither the
+worthy lady had gone for change of air, in company with her son Guy, her
+daughter-in-law Lucy, her little grandson Charlie, and her adopted
+daughter Amy Russell.
+
+Bax is standing there alone.  He looks like his former self in regard to
+costume, for the only man approaching his own size, who could lend him a
+suit of dry clothing, happened to be a boatman, so he is clad in the
+familiar rough coat with huge buttons, the wide pantaloons, and the
+sou'-wester of former days.  His countenance is changed, however; it is
+pale and troubled.
+
+On the way up from the harbour Guy had told him that he was married, and
+was surprised when Bax, instead of expressing a desire to be introduced
+to his wife, made some wild proposal about going and looking after the
+people who had been saved!  He was pleased, however, when Bax suddenly
+congratulated him with great warmth, and thereafter said, with much
+firmness, that he would go up to the house and see her.  On this
+occasion, also, Bax had told his friend that all the produce of his
+labour since he went away now lay buried in the Goodwin Sands.
+
+Bax was ruminating on these things when the door opened, and Guy
+entered, leading Lucy by the hand.
+
+"Miss Burton!" exclaimed Bax, springing forward.
+
+"My _wife_," said Guy, with a puzzled look.
+
+"Bax!" exclaimed Lucy, grasping his hand warmly and kissing it; "surely
+you knew that I was married to Guy?"
+
+Bax did not reply.  His chest heaved, his lips were tightly compressed,
+and his nostrils dilated, as he gazed alternately at Guy and Lucy.  At
+last he spoke in deep, almost inaudible tones:
+
+"Miss Russell--is she still--"
+
+"My sister is still with us.  I have told her you are come.  She will be
+here directly," said Guy.
+
+As he spoke the door opened, and Mrs Foster entered, with Amy leaning
+on her arm.  The latter was very pale, and trembled slightly.  On seeing
+Bax the blood rushed to her temples, and then fled back to her heart.
+She sank on a chair.  The sailor was at her side in a moment; he caught
+her as she was in the act of falling, and going down on one knee,
+supported her head on his shoulder.
+
+"Bring water, she has fainted," he cried.  "Dear Miss Russell!--dearest
+Amy!--oh my beloved girl, look up."
+
+Stunned and terrified though poor Mrs Foster was, as she rushed about
+the room in search of water and scent-bottles, she was taken aback
+somewhat by the warmth of these expressions, which Bax, in the strength
+of his feelings, and the excitement of the moment, uttered quite
+unconsciously.  Guy was utterly confounded, for the truth now for the
+first time flashed upon him, and when he beheld his friend tenderly
+press his lips on the fair forehead of the still insensible Amy, it
+became clear beyond a doubt.  Lucy was also amazed, for although she was
+aware of Amy's love for Bax, she had never dreamed that it was returned.
+
+Suddenly Guy's pent-up surprise and excitement broke forth.  Seizing
+Mrs Foster by the shoulders, he stared into her face, and said,
+"Mother, I have been an ass! an absolute donkey!--and a blind one, too.
+Oh!--ha! come along, I'll explain myself.  Lucy, I shall require your
+assistance."
+
+Without more ado Guy led his mother and Lucy forcibly out of the room,
+and Bax and Amy were left alone.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Again we change the scene.  The Sandhills lying to the north of Deal are
+before us, and the shadows of night are beginning to deepen over the
+bleak expanse of downs.  A fortnight has passed away.
+
+During that period Bax experienced the great delight of feeling assured
+that Amy loved him, and the great misery of knowing that he had not a
+sixpence in the world.  Of course, Guy sought to cheer him by saying
+that there would be no difficulty in getting him the command of a ship;
+but Bax was not cheered by the suggestion; he felt depressed, and
+proposed to Guy that they should take a ramble together over the
+Sandhills.
+
+Leaving the cottage, to which the family had returned the day before,
+the two friends walked in the direction of Sandown Castle.
+
+"What say you to visit old Jeph?" said Guy; "I have never felt easy
+about him since he made me order his coffin and pay his debts."
+
+"With all my heart," said Bax.  "I spent a couple of hours with him this
+forenoon, and he appeared to me better than usual.  Seeing Tommy and me
+again has cheered him greatly, poor old man."
+
+"Stay, I will run back for the packet he left with me to give to you.
+He may perhaps wish to give it you with his own hand."
+
+Guy ran back to the cottage, and quickly returned with the packet.
+
+Old Jeph's door was open when they approached his humble abode.  Guy
+knocked gently, but, receiving no answer, entered the house.  To their
+surprise and alarm they found the old man's bed empty.  Everything else
+in the room was in its usual place.  The little table stood at the
+bedside, with the large old Bible on it and the bundle of receipts that
+Guy had placed there on the day he paid the old man's debts.  In a
+corner lay the black coffin, with the winding-sheet carefully folded on
+the lid.  There was no sign of violence having been done, and the
+friends were forced to the conclusion that Jeph had quitted the place of
+his own accord.  As he had been confined to bed ever since his illness--
+about two weeks--this sudden disappearance was naturally alarming.
+
+"There seems to have been no foul play," said Bax, examining hastily the
+several closets in the room.  "Where _can_ he have gone?"
+
+"The tomb!" said Guy, as Jeph's old habit recurred to his memory.
+
+"Right," exclaimed Bax, eagerly.  "Come, let's go quickly."
+
+They hastened out, and, breaking into a smart run, soon reached the
+Sandhills.  Neither of them spoke, for each felt deep anxiety about the
+old man, whose weak condition rendered it extremely improbable that he
+could long survive the shock that his system must have sustained by such
+a walk at such an hour.
+
+Passing the Checkers of the Hope, they soon reached Mary Bax's tomb.
+The solitary stone threw a long dark shadow over the waste as the moon
+rose slowly behind it.  This shadow concealed the grave until they were
+close beside it.
+
+"Ah! he is here," said Bax, kneeling down.
+
+Guy knelt beside him, and assisted to raise their old friend, who lay
+extended on the grave.  Bax moved him so as to get from beneath the
+shadow of the stone, and called him gently by name, but he did not
+answer.  When the moonlight next moment fell on his countenance, the
+reason of his silence was sufficiently obvious.
+
+Old Jeph was dead!
+
+With tender care they lifted the body in their arms and bore it to the
+cottage, where they laid it on the bed, and, sitting down beside it,
+conversed for some time in low sad tones.
+
+"Bax," said Guy, pulling the sealed packet from his breast-pocket, "had
+you not better open this?  It may perhaps contain some instructions
+having reference to his last resting-place."
+
+"True," replied Bax, breaking the seals.  "Dear old Jeph, it is sad to
+lose you in this sudden way, without a parting word or blessing.  What
+have we here?" he continued, unrolling several pieces of brown paper.
+"It feels like a key."
+
+As he spoke a small letter dropt from the folds of the brown paper, with
+an old-fashioned key tied to it by a piece of twine.  Opening the letter
+he read as follows:--
+
+  "DEAR BAX,--When you get this I shall be where the wicked cease from
+  troubling, and the weary are at rest.  There is a hide in the
+  north-west corner of my room in the old house, between the beam and
+  the wall.  The key that is enclosed herewith will open it.  I used to
+  hide baccy there in my smugglin' days, but since I left off that I've
+  never used it.  There you will find a bag of gold.  How much is in it
+  I know not.  It was placed there by an old mate of mine more than
+  forty years ago.  He was a great man for the guinea trade that was
+  carried on with France in the time of Boney's wars.  I never rightly
+  myself understood that business.  I'm told that Boney tried to get all
+  the gold out o' this country, by payin' three shillings more than each
+  guinea was worth for it, but that seems unreasonable to me.
+  Hows'ever, although I never could rightly understand it, there is no
+  doubt that some of our lads were consarned in smugglin' guineas across
+  the channel, and two or three of 'em made a good thing of it.  My mate
+  was one o' the lucky ones.  One night he came home with a bag o' gold
+  and tumbled it out on the table before me.  I had my suspicions that
+  he had not come honestly by it, so would have nothin' to do with it.
+  When I told him so, he put it back into the bag, tied it up, and
+  replaced it in the hide, and went away in a rage.  He never came back.
+  There was a storm from the east'ard that night.  Two or three boats
+  were capsized, and my mate and one or two more lads were drowned.  The
+  guineas have lain in the hide ever since.  I've often thought o' usin'
+  them; but somehow or other never could make up my mind.  You may call
+  this foolish, mayhap it was; anyhow I now leave the gold to you;--to
+  Tommy, if you never come back, or to Guy if he don't turn up.
+  Bluenose don't want it: it would only bother him if I put it in his
+  way.
+
+  "This is all I've got to say: The old house ain't worth much, but such
+  as it is, it's yours, or it may go the same way as the guineas.
+
+  "Now, Bax, may God bless you, and make you one of His own children,
+  through Jesus Christ.  My heart warms to you for your own sake, and
+  for the sake of her whose name you bear.  Farewell.--Your old friend
+  and mate, JEPH."
+
+Bax stooped over the bed, and pressed his lips to the dead man's
+forehead, when he had finished reading this letter.  For some time the
+two friends sat talking of old Jeph's sayings and doings in former days,
+forgetful of the treasure of which the epistle spoke.  At last Bax rose
+and drew a table to the corner mentioned in the letter.  Getting upon
+this, he found an old board nailed against the wall.
+
+"Hand me that axe, Guy; it must be behind this."
+
+The board was soon wrenched off, and a small door revealed in the wall.
+The key opened it at once, and inside a bag was found.  Untying this,
+Bax emptied the glittering contents on the table.  It was a large heap,
+amounting to five hundred guineas!
+
+"I congratulate you, Bax," said Guy; "this removes a great difficulty
+out of your way.  Five hundred guineas will give you a fair start."
+
+"Do you suppose that I will appropriate this to myself?" said Bax.  "You
+and Tommy are mentioned in the letter as well as me."
+
+"You may do as you please in regard to Tommy," said Guy, "but as for me,
+I have a good salary, and won't touch a guinea of it."
+
+"Well, well," said Bax, with a sad smile, "this is neither the time nor
+place to talk of such matters.  It is time to give notice of the old
+man's death."
+
+Saying this, he returned the gold to its former place, locked the hide,
+and replaced the board.  As he was doing this, a peculiar cut in the
+beam over his head caught his eye.
+
+"I do believe here is another hide," said he.  "Hand the axe again."
+
+A piece of wood was soon forced out of the side of the beam next the
+wall, and it was discovered that the beam itself was hollow.  Nothing
+was found in it, however, except a crumpled piece of paper.
+
+"See here, there is writing on this," said Guy, picking up the paper
+which Bax flung down.  "It is a crabbed hand, but I think I can make it
+out:--`Dear Bogue, you will find the tubs down Pegwell Bay, with the
+sinkers on 'em; the rest of the swag in Fiddler's Cave.'"
+
+"Humph! an old smuggler's letter," said Bax.  "Mayhap the tubs and swag
+are there yet!"
+
+We may remark here, that, long after the events now related, Bax and Guy
+remembered this note and visited the spots mentioned out of curiosity,
+but neither "tubs" nor "swag" were found!
+
+Quitting the room with heavy hearts, the two friends locked the door,
+and went in search of those who are wont to perform the last offices to
+the dead.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
+
+THE CONCLUSION.
+
+There came a day at last when the rats in Redwharf Lane obtained an
+entire holiday, doubtless to their own amazement, and revelled in almost
+unmolested felicity from morning till night.  The office of Denham,
+Crumps, and Company was shut; the reason being that the head of the firm
+was dead.
+
+Mr Denham had died without a will.
+
+At the time when Guy offended his uncle by expressing his opinion too
+freely, Denham vowed in his heart that his nephew should not inherit his
+business or fortune.  He resolved to leave both to another nephew, the
+son of a younger brother, at that time in the East India Company's
+service.  But as death was a contingency inconceivably remote from
+himself, at least in his own opinion, he did not think it necessary to
+make his will at that time.  He died, therefore, as we have said,
+without making it.
+
+He died, also, without carrying out any of his good intentions!
+
+It is a common mistake to suppose that a man has only to repent of his
+evil deeds, and that thenceforth all will be plain sailing.  The habits
+of a lifetime are not to be overcome without a hard struggle, even in
+the most sincere of Christians.
+
+Denham, after being saved by the Ramsgate lifeboat, had made up his mind
+to turn his wealth to good account, and, in his philanthropic plans, had
+resolved to look with special favour on the Lifeboat Institution.  But
+he delayed to carry out these plans.  He did not strike when the iron
+was hot, and so the iron began slowly to cool.  He had also determined
+to reinstate Bax in his employment, and to take Guy into partnership,
+but he delayed in these matters also.  The love of gold and the memory
+of fancied insults began to tell on him, as of old.  He even went so far
+as to meditate carrying out his former intention of making his will in
+favour of the nephew in India!
+
+Still Denham did not fall back to his old position.  A struggle which
+began when he resided with his sister at Deal, went on in his breast
+continually.  While this struggle was yet undecided, a fever seized him.
+His constitution, weakened by the hardships which he had so recently
+undergone, gave way, and he died.
+
+The result was that the business fell to the next-of-kin,--Mrs Foster,
+whose son, in the natural course of things, stepped into his uncle's
+shoes.  The result of this was that poor Denham's good resolves, and a
+great many more good resolves than Denham could ever have conceived of,
+were carried out in a way that would have amazed him had he been there
+to see it, and that almost took the breath away from old Mr Crumps.
+
+A glance at Guy in his office, not long after his uncle's death, will
+show the reader how things were managed by the new head of the firm.
+
+Guy was seated in Denham's chair, at Denham's desk, reading and writing
+what, in former days, would have been Denham's letters.  Presently Mr
+Crumps entered.
+
+"I was just going to ask you to consult with me," said Guy; "pray sit
+down, sit down, Mr Crumps."
+
+The old man in his modesty meant to stand, as, in former days, he would
+have stood before Denham.
+
+"Here is a letter from a friend," continued Guy, "asking for a
+contribution towards the establishment of a lifeboat on the coast of
+Wales.  He reminds me that I myself was once indebted to the services of
+a lifeboat when my life was in great danger, and hopes that I will
+respond liberally to his appeal.  His name is Clelland.  He was on board
+the old `Trident,' when she was wrecked in Saint Margaret's Bay.  I made
+his acquaintance then.  Now, what do you think we ought to give?  I
+should like to have your advice on this point, and on several other
+matters of a similar nature, Mr Crumps, because there has been no
+regular `Charity' account in our ledger, I find, and I would like to
+open one.  Don't you think it would be as well to open one?"
+
+Mr Crumps thought it would, and--being a man of naturally charitable
+and liberal impulses, who had been constantly snubbed by Mr Denham for
+many years past--he felt overjoyed at the prospect of a new era opening
+up before him.
+
+"Well, what shall we send to Mr Clelland?" pursued Guy.  Mr Crumps,
+unable all at once to get over old habits and associations, suggested
+fifty pounds, timidly.
+
+"The district is a poor one," said Guy; "perhaps, that being the case--"
+
+"Say a hundred," put in Crumps eagerly (and then, in a partially
+apologetic tone), "the business can afford it, my dear sir.  Heaven
+knows it is but little that--"
+
+The old man's voice faltered and stopped.  He was going to have made a
+remark that would have cast a slur on the character of his late partner,
+so he checked himself and sighed.
+
+"Well, then, it shall be a hundred," said Guy, jotting down the sum on a
+slip of paper.  "I would not advise more to be given to that particular
+district just now, because it might tend to check the efforts of the
+people on the spot.  If they fail to raise the requisite sum, we can
+then give what is necessary.  Now, there is an urgent appeal for funds
+being made just now to the public by the Lifeboat Institution.  I think
+this a good opportunity to give away some of the cash which ought to
+have been--"
+
+Guy hesitated.  He too was about to make a remark that would have been
+unfavourable to the character of his late uncle, so he checked himself.
+
+"What do you say to giving them a thousand pounds?"
+
+Mr Crumps said nothing to it.  He was too much taken aback to say
+anything; but when he saw that Guy had jotted the sum down, and was
+apparently in earnest, he nodded his head, blew his nose violently, for
+a man of his years and character, and chuckled.
+
+"Well, then," continued Guy, "there is another subject which occurs to
+me just now, although it does not come under the head of charities.  I
+wish to supply a ship's lifeboat to every vessel that belongs to us, and
+a set of life-belts, besides other things.  I estimate that this will
+require a sum of nearly two thousand pounds.  Let me see--"
+
+Here Guy began to jot and calculate, and to talk to himself in an
+undertone, while Mr Crumps, utterly bereft of speech, sat staring in
+amazement and delight at his young partner.
+
+While they were thus engaged, the tiger in blue who had supplanted
+Peekins entered, and said that three gentlemen wished to see Mr Foster.
+
+"Show them in," said Guy.  "Sit still, Mr Crumps, I have not yet done
+with my calculations."
+
+In a few seconds Bax, Bluenose, and Tommy Bogey were ushered into the
+office.  The latter had become a tall, handsome stripling during his
+residence abroad, and bid fair to rival Bax himself in stature.  They
+shook hands cordially with Guy and Mr Crumps.
+
+"Well, Bax, is the new ship a good one?" said Guy; "d'you think she will
+suit you?"
+
+"That will she," said Bax, with a gratified look.  "As the old song
+says--
+
+  "`She's a ship that's as tight to my fancy
+  As ever sailed o'er the salt seas.'
+
+"I think she will be ready for sea in a couple of months.  By that time
+I will be ready to take command, if you choose to trust her to me."
+
+"Trust her to you, Bax!  Do you think we may trust our new vessel to
+him, Mr Crumps?" inquired Guy, with a smile.
+
+Mr Crumps, not having recovered the power of speech, nodded his head,
+and rubbed his hands slowly, a benignant smile playing on his old face
+the while.
+
+"Well, then," continued Bax, "Amy, so far from making any objection to
+going to sea with me, says that she won't let me go away without her, so
+that's settled, and the wedding day is fixed for Monday next week.  But
+I'm not satisfied yet.  I want you to do me still another favour, Guy."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"To let Tommy Bogey go as supercargo.  He's seaman enough to go as first
+mate, but he's too young for that yet.  Also, I want to take Bluenose as
+a free passenger."
+
+"A free passenger!" said Guy, looking at the Captain with surprise.
+
+"Yes, you see," said Bluenose, modestly, "I'm raither moloncholy about
+old Jeph, an' if Bax and Tommy leave me, I'll feel quite desarted like.
+Moreover, I wants to see furrin' parts--specially the antypodes.  But I
+hain't blunt enough to pay my passage, d'ye see, and so--and so--"
+
+"In short," interpolated Tommy, "he's blunt enough to ask a free one!"
+
+"A1 on Lloyds'!" said Bluenose, looking at Tommy with a broad grin; for
+the Captain regarded all his nephew's jokes--good, bad, and
+indifferent--as being perfect!
+
+It need scarcely be said that Guy readily agreed to their request, and
+that Mr Crumps was ready to agree to whatsoever Guy proposed.
+
+These matters being happily settled, the trio, having been invited to
+dine with Guy at a neighbouring chop-house at five o'clock, rose and
+left the partners to continue their consultation.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+From that time forward Bax and Tommy Bogey remained in the service of
+Denham, Crumps, and Company, and Amy Russell went regularly to sea with
+her husband.  Bluenose was afterwards appointed coxswain to a lifeboat
+on the coast of Kent where he rendered good service in many a wild
+storm, and was the means of snatching many a fellow-creature from the
+devouring sea.  His friend Coleman happened to be on the coast-guard
+station near him; and many a pipe did these two smoke together, under
+the lee of the boat-house--spinning yarns of other days, chiefly
+connected with the sea and shipwrecks.  Old Coleman had had considerable
+experience in rough, coast life, and was well able to speak on such
+subjects.  The records of the Lifeboat Institution show that about
+one-third of the medals and rewards granted for meritorious services are
+awarded to men of the coastguard.  Old Coleman was one of those who had
+taken his full share of the dangerous work of saving life.  He was also
+gifted with that rare quality--the power of telling a story well, so
+that he and Bluenose became fast friends and constant companions during
+their residence on the Kentish coast.
+
+Similarity of tastes and desires drew other members of our tale
+together, besides Coleman and Bluenose.  Old Mr Summers and Mr
+Clelland, the dark passenger in the "Trident," found such a strong bond
+of sympathy existing between them, that they took cottages in
+juxtaposition in the town of Deal, and went about continually "doing
+good."  Mrs Foster, Lucy, and Guy were allies, as a matter of course.
+Rodney Nick improved somewhat in his character, and became a respectable
+boatman.  People said that Mr Burton, the missionary to seamen, had
+something to do with this improvement.  It is not improbable that he
+had.  But Long Orrick died as he had lived,--a notorious and
+incorrigible smuggler.
+
+Peekins was changed from a tiger into a clerk; and, in process of time,
+came to keep the books of that celebrated firm in which he had
+originally figured as a spider in blue tights and buttons.
+
+Bax and Tommy sailed together for several years.  They also engaged in
+mercantile ventures to China on their own account, and were so
+prosperous in their career that they realised ample fortunes, and
+finally settled near each other on the coast of Kent.
+
+Here they resumed their old career of saving human life.  They became
+noted as men who were ready to devise and prompt to act in cases of
+emergency.  They helped to man the lifeboat in their neighbourhood when
+occasion required.  They were the means of establishing a library and a
+mission to seamen, and were regarded as a blessing to the district in
+which they dwelt.
+
+They were literally heroes of the coast, for they spent their time in
+doing good to those whose lot it is to brave the dangers of the deep and
+sweep the stormy sea.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lifeboat, by R.M. Ballantyne
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