creek leading from the vault out into the open sea.

As the storm at length began to break, the men were certain to be
sitting ready in their boats, awaiting the expected "sacrifice."

And as certainly it came.

As night began to fall the Master ascended alone to the observatory.
He at once lighted the furnace, and heightened its brilliancy by means
of lime and oxygen. He then removed the wainscot from the three walls
opposite the large windows facing the sea. Behind the wainscot were
immense concave mirrors of burnished steel. These now reflected back
the dazzling light from the furnace in three directions away to the
distant horizon.

Before the exercises of the night it was customary to ring the
"chapel" bell. This was an enormous bell, which had once been taken as
booty. It was suspended in a secret chamber beneath the observatory,
and on being rung, its rumbling notes sounded through a semicircular
window of the tower far out into the night. The tower had no opening
on the land side, and the inhabitants of the island could neither see
the light of the furnace nor hear the tolling of the bell. Every ship
which appeared on the horizon in a stormy night must inevitably fall
a prey to this diabolical stratagem.

In the channel connecting the Baltic with the Gulf of Finland there
were two lighthouses--one on the Swedish coast at Gustavsvarn, and
another on the Finnish coast near Revel. Even on a stormy night seamen
might easily have steered their course by these two lights. But the
Devil's apostle in the Tower of Dago confused them with his light and
the sound of his bell. The mariners imagined that one of the two
lighthouses known to them lay before them. They felt sure that the
light beckoned them on to safety. So, with heartfelt thanks to God for
His mercy, they steered directly towards it, and about an hour later
were dashed against the rocks of Dago.

Then, as signals for help and cries of terror rose above the roar of
wind and sea, the small boats swarmed forth from their concealment and
boarded the stranded vessel. The crews killed all who were still alive
on board, and plundered everything of value to be found--money, bales
of goods, and provisions. They then carried everything ashore and
stored it in the lower vaults of the tower. Such an expedition would
often have to be repeated twice or thrice in a single night, for the
deceptive light enticed vessels from three different quarters, and all
went into t