. This produced immediate relief and he was about to
speak, when Ruby Brand, who had stood at his elbow all the time with
compressed lips and a stern frown on his brow, suddenly took off his
cap, and waving it above his head, shouted "A boat! a boat!" with all
the power of his lungs.

All eyes were at once turned in the direction to which he pointed, and
there, sure enough, a large boat was seen through the haze, making
towards the rock.

Doubtless many a heart there swelled with gratitude to God, who had thus
opportunely and most unexpectedly sent them relief at the eleventh hour;
but the only sound that escaped them was a cheer, such as men seldom
give or hear save in cases of deliverance in times of dire extremity.

The boat belonged to James Spink, the Bell Rock pilot, who chanced to
have come off express from Arbroath that day with letters.

We have said that Spink came off _by chance_; but, when we consider all
the circumstances of the case, and the fact that boats seldom visited
the Bell Rock at any time, and _never_ during bad weather, we are
constrained to feel that God does in His mercy interfere sometimes in a
peculiar and special manner in human affairs, and that there was
something more and higher than mere chance in the deliverance of
Stevenson and his men upon this occasion.

The pilot-boat, having taken on board as many as it could hold, set sail
for the floating light; the other boats then put off from the rock with
the rest of the men, but they did not reach the _Pharos_ until after a
long and weary pull of three hours, during which the waves broke over
the boats so frequently as to necessitate constant baling.

When the floating light was at last reached, a new difficulty met them,
for the vessel rolled so much, and the men were so exhausted, that it
proved to be a work of no little toil and danger to get them all on
board.

Long Forsyth, in particular, cost them all an infinite amount of labour,
for he was so sick, poor fellow, that he could scarcely move. Indeed,
he did at one time beg them earnestly to drop him into the sea and be
done with him altogether, a request with which they of course refused to
comply. However, he was got up somehow, and the whole of them were
comforted by a glass of rum and thereafter a cup of hot coffee.

Ruby had the good fortune to obtain the additional comfort of a letter
from Minnie, which, although it did not throw much light on the
proceedings of Captain