was coming in,
the howl of the Wolf Rock sounded over the sea to warn mariners of the
perilous crag."

"Handy," remarked Eric; "it would save the Lighthouse Service a good bit
of money if every rock could be fixed like that."

"It didn't do the English Lighthouse Service much good," said his
friend. "What do you suppose the good people of Devonshire did? They set
to work and hunted for weeks to try to find the hole, but it was so
small that they failed. At last, having made up their minds that the
Wolf Rock should cease to give its warning, they combined together and
carted boulders from the beach to the top of the rock, with incredible
labor, and after a month's hard work filled up the entire lower part of
the chasm and then shoveled small stones on top."

"And thus silenced the wolf's howl?"

"Very nearly. If you stand on Wolf Rock now, you can still hear a low
moaning sound as the tide comes in, but it's very faint. So far as a
warning is concerned, the wolf is chained forever."

"And did the people profit by it, sir?"

"Within three months from the time of the silencing of the wolf, over
thirty vessels crashed to pieces on the rocks around, and the people of
the villages were made rich by the wreckage of the cargoes that came
floating in, or by the plunder they took from the vessels which held
together after the storm had passed."

"And those who were drowned?"

"They were drowned, that was all," the other said. "Of course if any
survivors were washed ashore, the coast folk treated them very kindly."

"I don't suppose," Eric remarked, "that they ever told these survivors
that they had done their best to make them the victims of the hungry
sea?"

"Hardly! You've got to remember that people often have queer local ways.
There are superstitions you can't defend on any ground. You know, at one
time, it was considered bad luck to try to save any one who had been
partly drowned. There are plenty of people, even nowadays, who won't cut
down a would-be suicide who has hanged himself because they think it's
bad luck.

"So far as the sea and sailors are concerned, I believe there's more
humanity than on land. It's very rarely that you ever hear of a vessel
that has refused to go to another's assistance. I think, too, the whole
work of the Coast Guard is a standing example of the modern idea that
nothing is more important than the saving of life."

"It often takes some big disaster to start it, though," said Eric