rapes after leading you into this one. It is easier to get into
trouble than out."

"Shall we have to stay here very long, father?" I said.

"Only all night, my boys, so we must make ourselves as comfortable as we
can. We shall have to divide ourselves into two watches and make the
best of it. Certainly we shall not be able to climb down till daylight
to-morrow morning."

"What! Do you mean for us to go to sleep in turns?"

"Or sit up, which you like, my boys," he said quietly. "And no very
great hardship either. You have not touched upon our greatest
difficulty."

"What's that, sir?" said Bob.

"Nothing to eat, my boy, and we are all very hungry."

"Oh!" groaned Bob; and if ever the face of boy suggested that he had
just taken medicine, it was Bob Chowne's then.

"Worse disasters at sea, my lads; we shall not hurt. The worst is that
people at our homes will not know what we know, and be very much
troubled about us. If the boat is picked up they will fear the worst.
For my part, I hope it will not be found."

"But are we safe, sir?" said Bob, with tribulation in his voice.

"Perfectly, my lad, so long as you don't roll off the ledge, which, of
course, you will not do. There, boys, let's look on the bright side of
it all, and be very thankful that we have reached so comfortable a
haven. Make the best of it, and think you are on an uninhabited island
waiting for rescue to come, with the pleasant knowledge that it won't be
long."

"Oh, I don't mind," I said.

"Nor I," cried Bigley.

"I rather like it," said Bob, with a very physicky face.

"Then, choose your places, boys," said my father, "and we'll sit and
sing and tell stories, after we have grown tired of watching the
glorious sunset; for, my lads, while we are talking see what a
magnificent sea and sky are spread before you."

We looked out from our niche under the stony canopy, to see that the sky
was one blaze of orange, and gold, and fiery red, which in turn seemed
to stain the sea, as if it was all liquid topaz, and sapphire, and
amethyst, like the old jewels that had belonged to my mother, and which
I had sometimes seen in my father's desk. Nothing, I suppose, could
have been more lovely, nothing more grand. If we looked to the left,
the rocky cliff was all glow hero, all dark purple shadow there, and the
clustering oaks that ran right up to the top were as if they were golden
green. If we looked to the right, the cliffs seemed as