oise and excitement. I
was told that the Ramsgate lifeboat could not well be out in less than
an hour. It seemed to my excited spirit a terrible thing that human
lives should be kept so long in jeopardy; and, of course, I began to
think, "Is it not possible to prevent this delay?" But excited spirits
are not always the best judges of such matters, although they have an
irresistible tendency to judge. There was nothing for it, however, but
patience; so I turned in, "all standing," as sailors have it, with
orders that I should be called when the lights of the tug should come in
sight. It seemed but a few minutes after, when the voice of the watch
was again heard shouting hastily, "Lifeboat close alongside, sir.
Didn't see it till this moment. She carries no lights." I bounced out,
and, minus coat, hat, and shoes, scrambled on deck, just in time to see
the _Broadstairs_ lifeboat rush past us before the gale. She was close
under our stern, and rendered spectrally visible by the light of our
lantern. "What are you firing for?" shouted the coxswain of the boat.
"Ship on the sands, bearing south," replied Jack at the full pitch of
his stentorian voice. The boat did not pause. It passed with a
magnificent rush into darkness. The reply had been heard; and the
lifeboat shot straight as an arrow to the rescue. We often hear and
read of such scenes, but vision is necessary to enable one to realise
the full import of all that goes on. A strange thrill ran through me as
I saw the familiar blue and white boat leaping over the foaming billows.
Often had I seen it in model, and in quiescence in its boat-house--
ponderous and ungainly; but now I saw it, for the first time, endued
with life. So, I fancy, warriors might speak of our heavy cavalry as we
see them in barracks, and as _they_ saw them at Alma. Again all was
silent and unexciting on board of the _Gull_. I went shivering below,
with exalted notions of the courage and endurance of lifeboat men. Soon
after, the watch once more shouted, "Tug's in sight, sir;" and once
again the mate and I went on deck. On this occasion, the tug _Aid_ had
made a mistake. Some one on shore had reported that the guns and
rockets had been seen flashing from the _Gull_ and _North-Sand-Head_
lightships; whereas the report should have been, from the _Gull_ and
_South-Sand-Head_ vessels. The single word was all-important. It
involved an unnecessary run of about twelve miles, and an hour