nard's, very like him in appearance and
manner; and an artist engaged in sketching in the neighbourhood, who had
brought a letter of introduction to Captain Maynard.

As the cutter rounded the headland before spoken of, most of the party
evinced their admiration of the scenery by expressions of delight, and
the artist exhibited his skill by making a faithful sketch in a few
minutes. The wind freshening, the cutter made rapid progress towards
the bay. Harry had taken the telescope, and was directing it towards
the shore.

"Some of our party are there already," he exclaimed; "I see my father
and Mr Lennard, and I conclude that the other people must be the new
vicar and his wife, from the unmistakable cut of the gentleman's coat,
and the lady's irreproachable costume. There are several more, though I
cannot exactly make out who they are; I see, however, that the servants
are bringing down the baskets of provisions, so we need have no fear of
starving."

"I did not expect that they would arrive so soon. The wind has been
light, and we have had the tide against us," observed Captain Maynard.
"It will run long enough, however, to take us home again, if you young
people are on board in good time. I must trust to you, Harry, to
collect all our passengers; or, should the wind drop, we may find
ourselves drifting down Channel for the best part of the night."

"Oh! that will be capital fun," cried Mrs Sims. "Mary, you'd like it
amazingly. We can sit on deck, and look at the stars, and sing songs,
and have our tea, and listen to the sailors' yarns--"

"And have the chance of being run down and sunk by one of those big
blundering iron steam-kettles," growled the lieutenant, who had the
antipathy long felt by old sailors to all the modern innovations, as he
considered them, in the navy.

As the cutter glided up towards the shore, the party standing on the
beach waved their handkerchiefs, and the ladies on board waved theirs.
The jib was taken in, the foresail hauled down, and the yacht rounding
to, the anchor was let drop at a short distance from the beach.

"Haul the boat up alongside, Tom," said Captain Maynard. "Now, Mr
Sims, I must get you to take charge of the first party for the shore."

"With the greatest pleasure in the world; I am always at the service of
the ladies," answered the lieutenant, bowing round to them, "but my
difficulty is to know who is to go first, unless I select by seniority.
Miss Sarah Pemb