ain that the captain would not return till he had been
compelled to abandon all hope of saving life. Since he had gone out the
rain had cleared off, but at the moment the ship disappeared a thick
driving rain came sweeping on over the ocean, soon shutting out the boat
from view. In vain the lady and her daughter waited till the veil of
mist should clear off; and at length their anxiety became too great for
endurance. They thought that Tom would come in to relieve this
impatience, but he did not appear.

"Come, dearest, come! we must go down to the beach," said Mrs Askew,
taking Margery's hand.

Their cloaks and hats were soon put on, and together they hastened down
to the shore, where they saw a group of men, with Tom in the midst. In
spite of the rain driving in their faces, they pressed on. The men were
eagerly looking out over the sea. Some held coils of rope in their
hands, others long poles, while Tom had fastened a number of cork
net-floats together to form a life-buoy. They drew aside as they saw
the lady and her daughter.

"No fear, marm!" exclaimed Tom, when he observed their alarmed looks.
"We doesn't think anything has happened to the captain, do you see, but
it's just as well to be ready for whatever does happen, and there's no
saying what that may be."

So poor Mrs Askew and Margery thought; and they were thankful that
their friends were making such preparations, as seemed to them, for the
worst. Indeed, they might well do so. The huge billows came rolling in
towards the shore, breaking with a loud roar on the beach into masses of
foam, and then rolling back again, looking as if it must sweep off
everything it might encounter. Mrs Askew found that some parties of
men had gone along the coast to the eastward with ropes, on the
possibility of some of the wreck driving on shore in that direction, for
they were not aware that the ship had gone down, the mist having come on
almost at the moment of the catastrophe. Some of them shook their heads
behind the lady's back when they heard of it. The captain would be
tempted to go looking about round the spot till darkness should come on,
and then the return on shore would be doubly hazardous. One thing was
certain, that he would select the spot where they were for running in
the boat, as it was the only one for miles along the coast affording the
slightest chance of safety. This was owing to its being sheltered by
the cape from the south-west, a smal