ted long enough to show figures
gesticulating and pointing. The old sailor, Mitchell, tried to build a
fire among the rocks nearest the vessel, but it was impossible, because
of the wind. This was a disappointment, for the light would have taken
away half the danger, and more than half the terror. Though the cove was
more quiet than the ocean, yet it was fearful enough, even there. The
vessel might hold together till morning, but who could tell? It was
almost certain that those on board would try to land, and there was
nothing to do but to await the effort. The men from the farmhouse had
meanwhile come down with ropes.

It was simply impossible to judge with any accuracy of the distance of
the ship. One of these new-comers, who declared that she was lodged very
near, went to a point of rocks, and shouted to those on board to heave
him a rope. The tempest suppressed his voice, as it had put out the
fire. But perhaps the lightning had showed him to the dark figures on
the stern; for when the next flash came, they saw a rope flung, which
fell short. The real distance was more than a hundred yards.

Then there was a long interval of darkness. The moment the next flash
came they saw a figure let down by a rope from the stern of the vessel,
while the hungry waves reared like wolves to seize it. Everybody crowded
down to the nearest rocks, looking this way and that for a head to
appear. They pressed eagerly in every direction where a bit of plank or
a barrel-head floated; they fancied faint cries here and there, and went
aimlessly to and fro. A new effort, after half a dozen failures, sent
a blaze mounting up fitfully among the rocks, startling all with the
sudden change its blessed splendor made. Then a shrill shout from one of
the watchers summoned all to a cleft in the cove, half shaded from the
firelight, where there came rolling in amidst the surf, more dead than
alive, the body of a man. He was the young foreigner, John Lambert's
boatman. He bore still around him the rope that was to save the rest.

How pale and eager their faces looked as they bent above him! But the
eagerness was all gone from his, and only the pallor left. While
the fishermen got the tackle rigged, such as it was, to complete the
communication with the vessel, the young men worked upon the boatman,
and soon had him restored to consciousness. He was able to explain that
the ship had been severely strained, and that all on board believed she
would go