ter falls
through the eye of the quern, it roars and rushes about, and the
quern goes on grinding and grinding salt, and giving its saltness
to the whole ocean.

The mist having lifted, Captain Flett had a reef or two let out,
and himself took the helm until he got us into calmer water, when
we luffed to the windward and headed for South Ronaldsay, with a
stiff breeze springing up that gave us a clear seaway to get past
the Lother Reef, when we sailed steadily through a lesser rush of
tide across a quiet, landlocked sea, into the little haven of
Burwick, where in the gathering darkness the chain went rattling
down, and we came to a restful anchorage.

But our stay at Burwick was not for long, as we had lost much time
in the outer sea, and the skipper wanted to get round to St.
Margaret's Hope. No sooner had we put a boatload of goods ashore
than we set sail again. And now that we were in smoother water, I
was not allowed to shirk my watch, but had to spend the better part
of the night on deck.

A little after midnight we were sailing under easy sail through the
dark Sound of Hoxa. I was at the helm, the mate walking the deck in
front of me. The night was extremely cold, and some light flakes of
snow were falling. I had difficulty in making out the points of
land as we passed, but Jerry was at the bow, and I depended upon
him and Peter for my steering. Just as we were abreast of Stanger
Head, on the little island of Flotta, I thought I saw a small
vessel creeping along, well inshore. I drew the mate's attention to
it, and he was denying me, when a bright flash of light was seen,
followed by a loud report, as of a small piece of ordnance. Peering
through the darkness, we could distinguish the sails of a large
cutter, which was now bearing down upon us.

"It's the Clasper," said Jerry, coming aft.

"Confound him!" said the mate. "Does she take us for a smuggler?"

From these words I at once understood the meaning of the shot that
had been fired; the revenue cutter had evidently mistaken the
Falcon for one of the famous smuggling craft of Scapa Flow.

We were at once hauled round, and a boat from the Clasper came
alongside. A sprightly young lieutenant climbed over our starboard
bulwarks, followed by a sailor who carried a large lantern. This
the officer took from him, and coming aft to where we all three
stood, he held the light aloft peering into our faces.

By this time our skipper came up from the cabin, rubb