,
my fine fellow, and I'll have something to say to you. Another cup of
tea?"

"Weel, I'll no objec'."

Davy Spink rose, swallowed the beverage, and left the cottage. The
captain returned, and stood for some time irresolute with his hand on
the handle of the door of his sister's room. As he listened, he heard
a sob, and the tones of Minnie's voice as if in prayer. Changing his
mind, he walked softly across the kitchen into his own room, where,
having trimmed the candle, refilled and lit his pipe, he sat down at
the table, and, resting his arms thereon, began to meditate.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE LIGHTHOUSE COMPLETED--RUBY'S ESCAPE FROM TROUBLE BY A DESPERATE
VENTURE

There came a time at last when the great work of building the Bell
Rock Lighthouse drew to a close. Four years after its commencement it
was completed, and on the night of the 1st of February, 1811, its
bright beams were shed for the first time far and wide over the sea.

It must not be supposed, however, that this lighthouse required four
years to build it. On the contrary, the seasons in which work could
be done were very short. During the whole of the first season of
1807, the aggregate time of low-water work, caught by snatches of an
hour or two at a tide, did not amount to fourteen days of ten hours!
while in 1808 it fell short of four weeks.

A great event is worthy of very special notice. We should fail in our
duty to our readers if we were to make only passing reference to this
important event in the history of our country.

That 1st of February, 1811, was the birthday of a new era, for the
influence of the Bell Rock Light on the shipping interests of the
kingdom (not merely of Scotland, by any means), was far greater than
people generally suppose.

Here is a _fact_ that may well be weighed with attention; that might
be not inappropriately inscribed in diamond letters over the lintel
of the lighthouse door. Up to the period of the building of the
lighthouse, the known history of the Bell Rock was a black record of
wreck, ruin, and death. Its unknown history, in remote ages, who
shall conceive, much less tell? _Up_ to that period, seamen dreaded
the rock and shunned it--ay, so earnestly as to meet destruction too
often in their anxious efforts to avoid it. _From_ that period the
Bell Rock has been a friendly point, a guiding star--hailed as such
by storm-tossed mariners--marked as such on the charts of all
nations. From that date not a