s world do the worst _that they can_, an' surely devils can do no
more than that."

This incident, however, aroused the hopes and expectations of the party
to a high pitch, so that the beacon-fire was kept burning more steadily
and brightly than before, and the look-out hill was more frequently
visited; still, weeks and months passed by, and no deliverance came to
them.

During this period, the seal-hunting, fishing, clothes-mending,
etcetera, were carried on with unflagging energy, and the nightly
entertainments became more and more entertaining, by reason of use and
effort developing new capacities and talents that might in less
favourable circumstances have lain altogether dormant. All this was due
very much to their leader; for, besides being a God-fearing man, Hayward
was pre-eminently cheery, and full of fun as well as vigour. The
coxswain, too, was like-minded, and of great capacity in every way;
while his wife's voice was so charming that the party became almost
dependent on it. They could scarcely have gone to rest at last without
Nellie's hymn or song as a lullaby! We must state, however, that Tomlin
did not share in this pleasure. That poor man had been born musically
deaf, as some people are born physically blind. There was no musical
inlet to his soul! There was, indeed, a door for sound to enter, and
music, of course, sought an entrance by that door; but it was
effectually destroyed, somehow, in passing through the doorway, so that
poor Tomlin showed no symptom of pleasure. What he heard, and how he
heard it, is known only to himself!

Once or twice during this time they visited the cavern of the wreck,
with the view, if possible, of recovering something from the sunk
vessel, but though most of the men could swim, none of them could dive,
therefore the result was failure.

They succeeded, however, in making soap by boiling wood-ash and seal's
fat in their cast-iron pot. Those who are accustomed to the celebrated
"Pears" can scarcely understand what an addition to cleanliness and
comfort resulted from this coarsely manufactured article.

Gulls' eggs were found in great quantity on the cliffs, and the
discovery and capture of wild pigs added to the luxury of their table--
which latter, by the way, was an ingenious contrivance of Joe Slag.
Binding four sticks together in the form of a stout oblong frame, Joe
had covered this--filled it in as it were--with straight branches about
a finger thick,