s the light was seen. "I say, Bill, you won't take Bob,
will you, on an errand like this here?"

"Oh, ay," responded Bill. "He'll want to go; and I promised him he
should next time as we was called out. He's a fine handy lad, and old
enough to take care of himself by this time. Besides, it's time he
began to take his share of the rough work."

Reaching the water's edge they found Bob standing there with the painter
of a boat in his hand, the boat itself being partially grounded on the
beach. They quickly tumbled in over the gunwale; Bob then placed his
shoulder against the stem-head, and with a powerful "shove," drove the
boat stern-foremost into the stream, springing in over the bows and
stowing himself away in the eyes of the boat as she floated.

It appeared intensely dark outside when the members of the expedition
first issued from the hospitable portal of the "Anchor;" but there was a
moon, although she was completely hidden by the dense canopy of fast-
flying clouds which overspread the heavens; and the faint light which
struggled through this thick veil of vapour soon revealed a small fleet
of fishing smacks at anchor in the middle of the creek. Toward one of
these craft the boat was headed, and in a very few minutes the party
were scrambling over the low bulwarks of the _Seamew_--Bill Maskell's
property, and the pride of the port.

The boat was at once dragged in on deck and secured, and then, without
hurry or confusion of any kind, but in an incredibly short time, the
smack was unmoored and got under weigh, a faint cheer from the shore
following her as she wound her way down the creek between the other
craft, and, hauling close to the wind, headed toward the open sea.

In a very few minutes the gallant little _Seamew_ had passed clear of
the low point upon which stands the Martello Tower which had been Bob's
place of look-out, and then she felt the full fury of the gale and the
full strength of the raging sea. Even under the mere shred of sail--a
balance-reefed main-sail and storm jib--which she dared to show, the
little vessel was buried to her gunwale, while the sea poured in a
continuous cataract over her bows, across her deck, and out again to
leeward, rendering it necessary for her crew to crouch low on the deck
to windward under the partial shelter of her low bulwarks, and to lash
themselves there.

It was indeed a terrible night. The thermometer registered only a
degree or two above freezin