very elements scorned the man who could
thus raise his hand against unprotected age, for the wind shrieked
louder than usual in its fury, and a blinding flash of lightning,
accompanied by a deep crash of thunder, added to the horror of the
scene.

Just then an exclamation was heard at the door of the hovel. Long
Orrick released his hold hastily, and turning round, observed a round
ruddy visage scowling at him, and the glittering barrel of a pistol
levelled at his head.

"Ha! ha!" he laughed hoarsely, endeavouring to pass it off as a jest,
"so you've caught us jokin', Coleman,--actin' a bit--and took it for
arnest, eh?"

"Well, if it _is_ actin', it's oncommon ugly actin', _I_ tell ye; a deal
too nat'ral for my tastes, so I'd advise ye to drop it here, an' carry
yer talents to a theaytre, where you'll be paid according to your
desarts, Long Orrick."

"Ah! the night air don't agree with ye, Coleman, so I'll bid ye
good-bye," said the other, rising and quitting the hut.

"Wot's he bin' a doin' of, old man?" inquired Coleman, who was a huge,
ruddy, good-humoured coast-guardsman, with the aspect of a lion and the
heart of a lamb; whose garments were of the roughest and largest kind,
and who was, to adopt a time-honoured phrase, armed to the teeth,--that
is to say, provided with a brace of pistols, a cutlass, and a port-fire,
which last could, on being struck against a rock, burst into flame, and
illuminate the region for many yards around him.

"Oh, he's bin' actin'," replied the old man, with a quiet chuckle, as he
resumed his work on the boat; "he's bin' actin', that's all."

At this moment the boom of a gun fired by the Gull lightship broke on
the ears of the men of Deal, and a moment later the bright flash of a
rocket was seen. It was the well-known signal that there was a ship in
distress on the sands.

Instantly the hardy boatmen were at work. One of their largest boats
was launched through the wild surf, as if by magic, and its stout crew
were straining at the oars as if their lives depended on the result.

The boat happened to be the one belonging to Captain Bluenose and his
comrades, and the first man who leaped into her, as she was driven down
into the sea, was Long Orrick; for, bad man though he was, he was not
without his redeeming points, and, coward though he was before the face
of man, he was brave enough in facing the dangers of the sea.

It was a fearful struggle in which the Deal lugger enga