THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE FISHERMAN'S CHILDREN.
 
 FlSHEEMAN'S CHILDEEN; 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 SUNBEAM OF HARDRICK COVE. 
 
 Jt ^al* for the 
 
 By the Author of 
 "HOPE ON," "KING JACK OF HAYLANDS," ETC. 
 
 T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 EDINBURGH ; AND NEW YORK. 
 1882.
 
 TZT 
 AIF53 
 
 L THE FISHERMAN S CHILDREN, ... ... ... ... 7 
 
 II. TEA WITH UNCLE PETER, ... ... ... ... 22 
 
 IIL GRACIE'S MINISTRY OF LOVE, ... ... ... ... 36 
 
 IV. A SEA-SIDE TALK, ... ... ... ... ... 51 
 
 v. ADRIFT! ... ... ... ... ... ... 66 
 
 VI. THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT, ... ... ... 76 
 
 VII. HASTE TO THE RESCUE 1 ... ... ... ... 89 
 
 vni. THE WRECKER'S PRIZE, ... ... ... ... 105 
 
 rx. FRANK'S WISH, ... ... ... ... ... 120 
 
 X. WHERE IS HE? ... ... ... ... ... 131 
 
 XI. FALLEN OVER, ... ... ... ... ... 142 
 
 XIL FAREWELL TO MOTHER ENGLAND, ... ... ..157 
 
 XIII. CONCLUSION, ... ... ... ... .. 161 
 
 718714
 
 And children too may do God's will, 
 Each in his lowly earthly place. 
 
 Like Him, the lowly child, who dwelt 
 Where gleams the Galilean sea, 
 
 Whose meat it was to do Thy will 
 Our Guide, our Trust, our Pattern. He,
 
 THE SUNBEAM OF HARDRICK COVE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE FISHERMAN'S CHILDREN. 
 
 " Briskly blows the evening gale, 
 
 Fresh and free it blows ; 
 Blessings on the fishing-boat, 
 How merrily it goes. 
 
 " Christ, he loved the fishermen 
 
 Walking by the sea; 
 How he blessed the fishing-boats 
 Down in Galilee ! " 
 
 E baby would not go to sleep, though 
 the little girl who held it sung to it 
 gently, and rocked it in her arms as 
 she sat on the step of the cottage 
 
 door. 
 
 It was a fisherman's dwelling, built in a 
 
 little cove on the sea-shore, and close to the
 
 8 THE FISHERMAN S CHILDREN. 
 
 small fishing village of Hardrick, on the coast 
 of Cornwall. 
 
 Jacob Williams, its owner, had been a 
 sailor during the early part of his life, but 
 when he was married he gave up his sea- 
 faring life and settled down at Hardrick as 
 a fisherman ; and on account of his steady, 
 persevering habits and his former experience, 
 he was looked up to as quite an authority in 
 those parts. 
 
 He had three children now, and there was 
 one who was never mentioned, but who was 
 always in his thoughts, who slept in the 
 little churchyard within sound of the breakers 
 on the shore where he had met his death. 
 Jacob had never been the same man since 
 his sailor-boy had been drowned. But still 
 there were some left for him to love. There 
 was his little lame daughter Gracie, whose 
 sweet face and gentle ways were a perpetual 
 delight to him, and whose infirmity made 
 her only more dear to his loving, fatherly 
 heart; there was music to his ear in the
 
 THE FISHERMAN S CHILDREN. 9 
 
 sound of her crutch, in her ringing laugh, 
 and low, clear voice ; and often and often 
 when at his employment, during long days 
 and stormy nights, his mind was cheered with 
 the thought of the smile that would light up 
 her face, and the cry of joy that would break 
 from her, when she heard "father's step" 
 upon the shingle. And then there was 
 " mother's pet," as he was always called, 
 the merry, laughing, mischievous Frank, who 
 would get his way in everything, and who 
 was the most active, playful, and handsome 
 boy that lived in Hardrick. 
 
 Frank Williams was a general favourite, 
 and was welcome everywhere ; the fishermen 
 unloading their boats smiled at the tricks of 
 the boy as he pretended to help them, told 
 him a hundred times to keep out of the way, 
 and yet missed him if he was not in the har- 
 bour when they came in. The mothers who 
 were busy in their cottages nodded to Frank 
 as he passed, and gladly trusted their wee 
 toddling things to his charge to be taken on
 
 10 THE FISHERMAN S CHILDREN. 
 
 the shore, knowing that, wild as he was, he 
 would be faithful to his trust ; and the chil- 
 dren looked up in his face with perfect faith, 
 feeling quite secure of his kindness and 
 gentleness, and believing that he would 
 always defend them from the roughness and 
 teasing of the village torment, Ralph Lennox. 
 
 Gracie was not, to the eye of the casual 
 observer, so calculated to win affection as her 
 inerry brother ; and she seemed to know this 
 herself, for there was a timid shrinking in 
 her manner, and she was accustomed always 
 to give place to Frank, thinking that it would 
 be quite wrong if people did not admire and 
 love him as much as she did herself. But 
 yet there were some who loved Gracie more 
 than Frank. There was an old fisherman at 
 the other side of the harbour, whom Gracie 
 always called Uncle Peter, and who always 
 called her " Sunshine," and watched for her 
 daily visit as the chief brightness of his lonely 
 life. 
 
 There was old Dame Kenrick, who could
 
 THE FISHERMAN'S CHILDREN. 
 
 11 
 
 not see to read the blessed Book, but who 
 knew that Gracie would never pass her door 
 without going in to brighten her up by read- 
 ing some of those words of comfort which she 
 could think of for the rest of the day ; and 
 her little grandson Abel, who had been ill 
 for such a long time, while his face got paler 
 and thinner, and his childish strength dwined 
 
 away, had watched for the sound of Gracie's 
 crutch, and welcomed her approach to the
 
 12 THE FISHERMAN'S CHILDREN. 
 
 cottage door, where his father placed his small 
 wooden chair every morning when the sun 
 shone. But Abel had gone to heaven now, 
 and David, his father, had grown reckless, 
 people said, since his little white-faced boy 
 had died, and changed his honest occupation 
 of fishing for some work of dishonesty, and 
 had given up the little cottage by the sea ; 
 and now nobody knew where he lived, though 
 he was sometimes seen, in the gloom of the 
 evening, stealing along the shore. Some 
 said he was a wrecker, and watched with 
 greedy eyes for the spoils washed up by the 
 waves; and some called him Kenrick the 
 sheep-stealer ; but he was the village mystery, 
 and when mothers wanted to frighten their 
 children into good behaviour, they threatened 
 them with the name of "wicked Kenrick." 
 
 But we have wandered a long way from 
 the cottage door, where we left Gracie sing- 
 ing the baby to sleep. It took a long time, 
 for the baby was not inclined to do as its 
 sister wished ; and Gracie with wistful eyes
 
 THE FISHERMAN S CHILDREN. 13 
 
 watched the red sun going down over the 
 sea, and knew that Uncle Peter was watch- 
 ing for her, and that Frank was down in 
 the fishing harbour seeing the nets dragged 
 in, and father's boat would be coming in 
 soon, and she would not be down on the 
 shore to meet him ; and it required all her 
 patience not to shake the baby by way of 
 hastening its slumbers. 
 
 " Gracie, Gracie," cried a merry voice at 
 her side, " Uncle Peter says you must come 
 down to the harbour. Father's boat is coming 
 in, and they've got a haul of mackerel none 
 of your common pilchard this time, but 
 beautiful coloured mackerel and they're 
 leaping up in the net. Come quick, Gracie." 
 
 " I can't, Frank, I can't. Look, baby's wide 
 awake, and she'll cry if I put her down." 
 
 " Mother will mind her till you come back ; 
 I'll ask her," and there was a touch of 
 superiority in the boy's tone, as if he knew 
 that he could be refused nothing, though 
 Gracie might. A little sigh burst from
 
 14 THE FISHERMAN'S CHILDREN. 
 
 Gracie as she heard the emphasis he laid 
 upon the words " I'll ask her ; " but it was 
 quickly stopped, for she had learned to 
 "esteem others better than herself;" and 
 quietly checking Frank's impetuosity by 
 laying her disengaged hand on his arm, she 
 said, "Don't, Frank; mother's busy; she 
 don't want baby now. I 'd rather stop, please. " 
 
 " Well, you're a fool to lose such a chance, 
 that's all ; but good-bye, I'm off ! " 
 
 And still Gracie sat on with the restless 
 baby. For a moment or two a cloud over- 
 shadowed the sweet calm of her face, but it 
 passed away as she gazed out towards the 
 sunset, and watched the sun slowly dipping 
 down behind the water, and casting a bright 
 red glow over the harbour, the fishing-boats, 
 and the sturdy fishermen who were drawing 
 in their nets. She was not near enough to 
 distinguish faces, but she knew that her 
 father's voice was amongst those which she 
 heard mingling with the noise of the waves ; 
 and when she looked down into her little
 
 THE FISHERMAN S CHILDREN. 16 
 
 sister's face she saw that she was asleep, so, 
 quietly rising up, she went into the cottage, 
 where her mother was ironing some blue 
 shirts of her father's, and laying her finger 
 on her lips, said in a hushed voice, " Mother, 
 she's fast asleep ; " then gently laying little 
 Peggy in the cradle, she added, "May. I go 
 down to the beach now, mother ? " 
 
 Her mother was hot and irritated by her 
 work, wiiich she had not got through as 
 quickly as she wished, and she looked round 
 the disorderly room, and replied curtly, 
 " You're always running off to that beach ; 
 you should have a thought now and then 
 that there's work to be done at home. What's 
 the use of you setting up to be better than 
 your neighbours, if you don't practise it? " 
 
 Gracie coloured. " I haven't been down 
 in the harbour all day, mother." 
 
 " Well, and what business has a big girl 
 like you always to be running after the 
 fishermen ? " 
 
 " Frank goes," replied Gracie.
 
 16 THE FISHERMAN S CHILDREN. 
 
 " Frank's a boy," said her mother, taking 
 an iron from the fire, energetically rubbing 
 it on the blanket, and then holding it to her 
 cheek, while Gracie stood twirling her bonnet 
 on one finger and looking out of the window. 
 There was a long silence, and at last the 
 little girl said, " Mayn't I go, then ? " 
 
 " Oh, go off if you like," said her mother 
 angrily. So Gracie went. 
 
 But she was not happy; she did not look 
 at the scene in the harbour with the same 
 pleasure she had done a few minutes before ; 
 she did not feel as if she had done right; 
 and there darted into her mind the words 
 which were her daily motto, "If any man 
 will come after me, let him deny himself 
 and take up his cross and follow me." She 
 was trying to come after her Master, and 
 surely for his sake she should take up this 
 little cross ; and so she turned round and 
 entered the cottage, saying brightly, "Please, 
 mother, I would rather help you." 
 
 Her mother smiled; she did not know the
 
 THE FISHERMAN S CHILDREN. 17 
 
 motive which influenced her little daughter, 
 but she guessed that it was some of " Grade's 
 queer notions," which she was quite content 
 that she should keep so long as they made 
 her the useful and sweet-tempered child 
 that she was at home, though she could 
 never be like her pet Frank. And Gracie 
 folded up the clothes that were scattered 
 over the table, and put some coal on the 
 fire, filled the kettle and set it on, brushed 
 up the hearth, put the net which Frank was 
 making into the corner, and then turned 
 round with a smile to ask her mother if there 
 was anything else which she could do. The 
 ironing was finished, and Dame Williams 
 was folding up the blanket, and putting the 
 pile of clothes into her husband's sea-chest, 
 which was the receptacle for all the family 
 wearing apparel. Now that the work was 
 over, the good woman was relieved, and 
 both herself and her temper began gradually 
 to cool down, and she looked kindly at her 
 daughter and said, 
 
 (319) 2
 
 18 THE FISHERMAN'S CHILDREN. 
 
 " No, thank ye, my dear you're growing 
 a nice handy little maid. I wonder father 
 isn't come in." 
 
 " They had a haul of mackerel, mother," 
 said Gracie, her heart beating fast with 
 pleasure at the unusual praise bestowed 
 upon her, and feeling at that moment as if 
 no mackerel haul she had ever seen was as 
 well worth looking at as that kind smile on 
 mother's face. 
 
 " Mackerel was it, child \ Are you sure 
 it was mackerel ? " 
 
 " Yes, mother ; Frank came up and told 
 me." 
 
 " "Why didn't you go to see them ? it's a 
 pretty sight, a mackerel haul." 
 
 "Baby wasn't asleep then," said Gracie 
 looking down, so that she did not see her 
 mother's approving glance ; but Dame Wil- 
 liams was quick of comprehension, she knew 
 directly the sacrifice which the child had 
 made, and as she walked over to the cup- 
 board to get out the tea-things she stroked
 
 THE FISHERMAN'S CHILDREN. 19 
 
 Grade's hair back from her forehead, and 
 stooping down, left a hearty kiss there. This 
 was no common thing, and Gracie put it 
 away in her mind to be thought of in quiet 
 corners and at happy times, and always to 
 bring a thrill of joy to the heart of the loving 
 child. 
 
 And now there was a shout at the cottage 
 door, and Frank burst in with a fine mackerel 
 dangling by its tail. 
 
 "There, mother, there, Gracie, that's 
 mine. I dodged down under Uncle Peter's 
 arms, and I dragged this one out of the net; 
 and they called me thief and I laughed, 
 and told them it would be so good for my 
 supper; and father's got beauties a fine haul 
 here he comes." And just as Gracie 
 reached the door her father met her. 
 
 "Well, Mother Carey, why didn't you 
 come when I sent for you?" ("Mother 
 Carey's Chicken " was the pet name which 
 he had given to his little daughter, in re- 
 membrance of his early days, and the birds
 
 20 
 
 THE FISHERMAN S CHILDREN. 
 
 which he had so often protected in a storm, 
 when they had sought refuge in the ship to 
 which he belonged.) 
 
 " I was busy, father ; I couldn't come then." 
 
 "Silly lass, it's not every day we have 
 such a haul no pilchard this time. Uncle 
 Peter was lost without you ; so I promised
 
 THE FISHERMAN'S CHILDREN. 21 
 
 you should go over to-morrow night and 
 make his cup o' tea, and show him you know 
 how to broil a fish." 
 
 A great hug was Gracie's only answer ; 
 and then she turned to admire Frank's 
 mackerel, and to help her mother in getting 
 the evening meal ready for the hungry 
 fisherman.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 
 
 ' The roseate hues of early dawn, 
 
 The brightness of the day, 
 The crimson of the sunset sky, 
 How fast they fade away ! 
 
 ' Oh ! for the pearly gates of heaven, 
 
 Oh ! for the golden floor, 
 Oh ! for the Sun of Eighteousness 
 That setteth nevermore ! " 
 
 ;ERE I am, Uncle Peter here I 
 am," said Gracie merrily, as she 
 stood in the doorway of his hut 
 the next evening, a little before 
 sundown. 
 
 There was no mistaking it for anything 
 but a fisherman's abode, for outside the 
 door there was the half of a boat standing 
 on end, with a seat inside it, where Uncle
 
 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 23 
 
 Peter used to smoke his pipe, and which 
 Gracie called his summer-house ; on the 
 rocks near the cottage some nets were 
 spread, and two oars were lying about ; but 
 the interior of the dwelling was as tidy as 
 possible, though its furniture was scant and 
 poor. However, Uncle Peter always said it 
 was enough for him, and he would not have 
 exchanged it for the finest in the world. 
 
 "Why, Sunbeam, I began to think you 
 wasn't coming any more, that you'd got 
 tired of the old man and his yarns." 
 
 " Then you are a very bad old uncle, and 
 I'll go away again if you say that." 
 
 " No, you won't," said the old fisherman, 
 putting his arm round her, and kissing her. 
 " Now, what have you been doing with your- 
 self?" 
 
 "Mother wanted me." 
 
 " Why, I thought you told me that no 
 one ever wanted you except me." 
 
 " Well, but, Uncle Peter, don't you know 
 you told me something then about trying to
 
 24 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 
 
 be useful, and I have been trying, and so 
 now people do want me." 
 
 " That's right, my lass ; and so you're 
 learning that though you mayn't be able to 
 be a little craft yourself, you can still be an 
 oar to help other crafts on." 
 
 "Yes, Uncle Peter," replied the child, 
 smiling at his simile. 
 
 " No, no, lass, our great Captain, he won't 
 have none of his hands idle ; from the chief 
 mate down to the lad that mops the deck, 
 every one's got their own work, and they 
 must see to do it, that it's done," continued 
 the old man thoughtfully. 
 
 It was to Uncle Peter that Gracie owed 
 her "queer notions ; " partly, at least. He had 
 strengthened the early impressions which 
 her brother George had made ; for long ago 
 the young sailor had told her " that sweet 
 story of old," of the holy life and death of 
 the Saviour of mankind, -and prayed that 
 his little sister might be brought into the 
 fold of the Good Shepherd and made one of
 
 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 25 
 
 his lambs ; and now his prayer was being 
 answered, and Gracie was being led into the 
 " green pastures " and " beside the still 
 waters " which he had found so peaceful ; 
 and in her life the fruits of the Holy Spirit 
 were becoming daily more and more visible. 
 
 " Uncle Peter, do you know, there's one 
 bad thing about coming to you, and only 
 one," said the little girl as she hung her 
 bonnet up. 
 
 " What's that, dearie ? " 
 
 "Why, I hate passing Simon Lennox's 
 cottage, for if Ralph's outside he's sure to 
 call out, 'Humpty Dumpty,' or 'Run it, 
 cripple,' or something cruel ; and sometimes 
 he comes out and stops me to-night he did." 
 
 " And what did you do ? " 
 
 " I looked him straight in the face and* 
 said, 'I'm not afraid of you, Ralph Lennox.'" 
 
 " He's a shocking bad lad," said Peter. 
 
 " Indeed he is ; father doesn't like Frank 
 going with him, but he does sometimes." 
 
 " He's got a dreadful home, poor chap ;
 
 26 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 
 
 his father drinks his mother's dead and 
 his aunt scolds him terribly. I've seen the 
 lad turned out of doors late on a winter's 
 night, and allowed to stop out all night ; 
 and then I've had him in here, and let him 
 warm himself, and given him a bit of my 
 mind ; but he has generally made a face at 
 me, and gone off with an oath. Oh, he'll 
 come to some bad end ! " 
 
 " I hope not," said little Gracie, putting 
 her hands over her eyes ; and in her heart 
 there rose up a deep and strong yearning for 
 the wretched, loveless boy poor, poor Ralph. 
 
 "Now, Gracie, we'll have our tea; and 
 then we'll go down to the Point, and I'll 
 take you out in the Sea Gull for a bit." 
 
 Gracie's eyes brightened with delight, she 
 did so enjoy an evening with Uncle Peter ; 
 and then she moved about quietly arranging 
 their little meal, and broiled some fish in 
 her best style ; while the old man sat at his 
 door and smoked. 
 
 When tea was over, Uncle Peter took
 
 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 27 
 
 down an old pea-jacket, and made Gracie 
 put it on, to keep her " tight and warm," as 
 he said. She looked a funny little figure 
 with her cottage bonnet, her golden curls 
 peeping out underneath it, her pale face lit 
 up by a sunshiny smile of pleasure, her 
 simple little dress of dark blue, and the big 
 jacket over all coming down to her heels. 
 Uncle Peter laughed heartily when he 
 looked at her, and then took her hand, and 
 they set off in the direction of the Point, 
 where his little white rowing-boat lay 
 moored. Very gently the old man helped 
 the little girl over the wet and slippery 
 rocks, into a comfortable seat in the stern, 
 where she sat to steer, and then taking up 
 his oars, he began to push off from the 
 shore ; and Gracie in silent delight sat 
 listening to the splash of the oars, and 
 watching them dip into the clear water, so 
 smoothly and steadily that it seemed no 
 trouble or exertion for the boat to go so fast. 
 " Look, Uncle Peter ! Oh, do you see
 
 28 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 
 
 the sun's glory path ? " she cried at length, 
 as she pointed to the glowing track of light 
 which was thrown across the sea from the 
 setting sun. 
 
 The old man smiled, and turned the boat 
 in that direction, fixing his eyes on the 
 glorious scene as though it possessed some 
 fascination for him. 
 
 " What is it like, Uncle Peter ? " said the 
 little girl thoughtfully. 
 
 " Like many things, my child ; the sunset 
 is a sermon to me every day." 
 
 Gracie still looked inquiringly, for she 
 loved the simple fancies of the old fisher- 
 man, and he went on, 
 
 " It's like the Christian's path to heaven. 
 Christ the beginning of the way, Christ the 
 whole of the way, and Christ himself the 
 Sun of Righteousness in fuller glory at the 
 end of the way." 
 
 Gracie looked up full of pleasure. " 
 Uncle Peter, I think it's like the hymn we 
 had last Sunday,
 
 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 29 
 
 A light to shine upon the road 
 That leads me to the Lamb.'" 
 
 " Yes, you're right, Sunbeam ; and do you 
 see how the path gets brighter as it gets 
 nearer the sun ? ' the path of the just is as 
 the shining light, which shineth more and 
 more unto the perfect day ' the perfect day; 
 Gracie, child, what a day that'll be, with 
 no squalls, no clouds, nothing but clear sun- 
 shine." 
 
 "Don't you think King Solomon must 
 have been looking at the sunset when he 
 wrote that 1 " 
 
 " Yes, child," said the old fisherman ; but 
 his eyes were fixed on the sinking sun, and 
 the "glory path," as if his thoughts were 
 away at the end of the pathway where all 
 his hopes and affections were fixed, and he 
 continued, as if speaking to himself, " Yes, 
 the waters of this stormy sea of life may be 
 rough and raging all round, but what need 
 the Christian mind so long as that light 
 shines across them and leads him to his
 
 30 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 
 
 horne ? ' Walk as children of light/ " he 
 added aloud. 
 
 And Gracie repeated the words to herself, 
 as her eyes wandered in the direction of the 
 cottage home upon the shore where her life- 
 work was carried on. 
 
 " Sing to me, Gracie," said Peter at length, 
 after he had rowed on for some time in silence. 
 
 Gracie thought for a moment, and then 
 began in a sweet, clear voice, which sounded 
 peculiarly so as the little boat glided through 
 the water, the hymn commencing 
 
 " Why those fears ? Behold, 'tis Jesus 
 Holds the helm and guides the ship." 
 
 It was a long one, and the little girl did not 
 sing all the verses, but chose out those which 
 she knew Uncle Peter loved best ; and the 
 old man's voice chimed in with the child's, 
 as she sang, 
 
 " Though the shore we hope to land on 
 
 Only by report is known, 
 
 Yet we freely all abandon, 
 
 Led by that report alone, 
 
 And with Jesus 
 Through the trackless deep move on.
 
 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 31 
 
 " Kendered safe by his protection, 
 
 We shall pass the watery waste ; 
 Trusting to his wise direction, 
 We shall gain the port at last, 
 
 And with wonder 
 Think on toils and dangers past." 
 
 "Ay, ay," said Uncle Peter. "Thank 
 you, lass ; I often think of that when I'm 
 out in my fishing-smack. There's the last 
 of the sun, child, and it will be getting cold 
 on the water." 
 
 " And mother said I mustn't be late going 
 home," said Gracie. 
 
 So Uncle Peter turned the boat round, 
 and began rowing in towards the shore. 
 
 " Button that jacket up round your throat, 
 Gracie." 
 
 She did so, nestling her head down into 
 the warmth of the collar. 
 
 " Are you warm, dearie ? " 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Peter. Oh, I'm so happy 
 I do love you so much ! " 
 
 "Thank you, little Sunshine; it b'aint 
 many that's left to love old Peter now ; " 
 and there was a mournful tenderness in his
 
 32 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 
 
 voice as he said the last words, and yet he 
 added in an undertone, as if to comfort him- 
 self, " / have loved thee with an everlasting 
 love." 
 
 No more words were exchanged until 
 they reached the Point, where Uncle Peter 
 moored the boat in safety, and gently lifted 
 Gracie out of it, carrying her over the rocks 
 until they reached the smooth sand, where 
 he put her down and took her hand as they 
 walked up to his cottage. 
 
 "Now, Uncle Peter, I must be going," 
 said Gracie. 
 
 " I'll take you back along the shore," 
 said Uncle Peter, when he had put his oars 
 away in safety behind the house. 
 
 "No. no, Uncle Peter; please, I would 
 rather not," said Gracie earnestly, for a 
 desire had sprung up in her heart, which 
 she hoped to put into execution ; besides 
 which she knew that Uncle Peter was 
 getting old and infirm, and had had a hard 
 day's labour.
 
 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 
 
 33 
 
 " But aren't you afraid of passing Simon 
 Lennox's cottage ? " 
 
 " No, not now indeed, I'm not. I would 
 rather, Uncle Peter. There, now, let me 
 light your pipe and be off." 
 
 The old man consented, and sitting 
 down under the shadow of the boat, waited 
 until Gracie came out with his lit pipe, and 
 
 THE GOOD-NIGHT. 
 
 divested of his pea-jacket, for which she 
 had exchanged her own little brown cape. 
 
 (319) 3
 
 84 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 
 
 "Good-night, Uncle Peter; I've had a 
 fine time to-night." 
 
 " So have I, dearie ; may the Almighty 
 bless thee, and bring thee safe to port at 
 last," he added tenderly, as he kissed her 
 forehead ; and then he watched her fondly, 
 as, leaning on her crutch, she made slow 
 progress along the shore, until a turn in the 
 rocks hid her from his sight, and he relapsed 
 into deep thought. 
 
 His was a simple, trusting mind. He had 
 not escaped the buffeting of " the waves of 
 this troublesome world," but the heavenly 
 Pilot was his friend, and he was 
 
 " Calm amidst tumultuous motion, 
 Knowing that his Lord was nigh." 
 
 His wife had died when he was compara- 
 tively young, leaving him two children. 
 His boy Jack, who had been his greatest 
 pride, had been drowned at sea before his 
 eyes ; and his daughter Mary, weary of the 
 quiet life on the shore, and hearing grand 
 stories of the pleasures and delights of town,
 
 TEA WITH UNCLE PETER. 35 
 
 had run away from her home, and never been 
 heard of since, though every night Uncle 
 Peter took a long look up and down the 
 shore in the hope of seeing the wanderer 
 returning ; but night after night, and year 
 after year passed away, and still she came 
 not ; and her name was nearly forgotten at 
 Hardrick, except in that loving father's 
 heart, who prayed daily that God would 
 bring back his stray lamb, as he fondly 
 called her. And in calm and steadfast 
 trust, the old man looked out over the sea, 
 and thought lovingly and rejoicingly of those 
 who had gone before him, and whose barks 
 were safely moored "in the haven where 
 they would be."
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 GRACIE'S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 
 
 "So deeds of love will cheer and bless 
 
 A low laborious life ; 
 So words of peace and gentleness 
 Glide in and soften strife." 
 
 JlTTLE Gracie, meanwhile, was walk- 
 ing home very thoughtfully and 
 slowly, though her heart began to 
 beat faster as she came in sight of 
 Simon Lennox's cottage, and she 
 feared that either the drunken sailor himself 
 or his scolding sister might appear ; so she 
 quickened her steps a little, and, as she 
 neared the wretched abode, she saw the 
 door opened, and Ralph forcibly pushed 
 outside it. He turned round crying with 
 rage and passion, and Gracie heard some
 
 GRACIE'S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 37 
 
 wicked words fall from his lips; and then, 
 sitting down upon a rock near the cottage 
 door, the boy cried bitterly ; in fact, it was 
 hardly a cry that he uttered, but rather a 
 howl of rage and fury mixed with pain, for 
 he was smarting from his aunt's blows. 
 
 Gracie's courage melted away, and she 
 tried to pass him. as quickly as she could, 
 hoping that he would not see her; but as 
 she did so her thoughts wandered back to 
 Uncle Peter's teaching, and she remembered 
 reading the parable of the Good Samaritan 
 to him one day; and now she felt that she 
 was behaving just like the Levite and the 
 priest, whose conduct she had then con- 
 demned so severely, for she too was 
 " passing by on the other side " when a 
 fellow-creature was in trouble and distress. 
 Surely she could return good for evil now ; 
 and so she went up to Ralph, and said, in a 
 low, gentle voice, " Poor Ralph ! " 
 
 The boy started. Who could have spoken ? 
 Surely no one could be saying that to him
 
 38 GRACIE S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 
 
 " Poor Ralph ! " and the voice which said the 
 words so gentle and so soft. He raised his 
 head, and his eyes fell upon Gracie. 
 
 His was a strange face ; there was such 
 a wonderful mixture in it. There were 
 the dark eyes, black hair, and olive com- 
 plexion that belong to most of the children 
 in that part of England ; but the eyes had 
 a wild, cunning, and yet frightened expres- 
 sion in them, the mouth had a sullen com- 
 pression, and the cheeks were haggard and 
 pale. He looked like a half-starved crea- 
 ture, and the blood which streamed from 
 his nose in consequence of one of the blows 
 he had received increased his wretched ap- 
 pearance. And yet, miserable and revolt- 
 ing as he looked, Gracie softly repeated the 
 words, " Poor Ralph ! " 
 
 He held his hand up to stop the flow of 
 blood, but only muttered, 
 
 "Go along; I don't want none of your 
 talk ; " and yet there was a strange feeling 
 in his heart, produced by those simple
 
 GRACIE'S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 39 
 
 words of the child whom he had delighted 
 to tease by his cruel remarks, a feeling as if 
 he longed to hear her say them again. 
 
 " I'm so sorry for you," said Gracie simply; 
 " your nose is bleeding are you hurt much? " 
 
 " Yes," and an oath followed ; but Gracie 
 saw that he was becoming whiter and whiter, 
 and feared that he was going to faint. 
 
 " Put your head back upon that rock 
 there, that way and I'll get some water 
 for you," said the little girl quickly; and, 
 looking about, she spied one of those old 
 tin cans which continually are seen lying 
 in the vicinity of a cottage, bent, dinged, 
 and battered, and generally with a hole 
 in the bottom, which prevents them any 
 longer from filling the post of conveying 
 "father's dinner" to him. Gracie picked 
 up one of this kind, dropped a quantity of 
 sea-weed into the bottom of it, and then 
 dipped it into one of the clear pools of sea- 
 water amongst the rocks, after which she 
 took out of her pocket her own little check
 
 40 GRACIE'S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 
 
 handkerchief, and, soaking it in the water, 
 held it to poor Ralph's nose. The feeling 
 
 THE GOOD SAMARITAX 
 
 of the cold water against his face soon re- 
 vived him, and when he no longer saw the 
 blood streaming over his hand, the sight of 
 which had turned him sick and faint before, 
 he grew better and raised himself up a little. 
 But then the thought of his injuries came 
 back to him, and he howled louder than ever. 
 "Don't, don't, Ralph, please don't," cried 
 Gracie ; " I can't bear to hear you cry. 
 What's the matter ? "
 
 GRACIE S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 4] 
 
 "Why they've turned they've turned 
 me out ! " 
 
 " Who \ " asked Gracie, wondering if she 
 could help or comfort him in any way. 
 
 " Aunt Poll ; she knocked me over the 
 head 'cos I hadn't done nothing." 
 
 "Well, go in now," suggested his little 
 comforter. 
 
 " She'd thrash me again, or make dad do 
 it." 
 
 " What had you done ? " 
 
 " I hadn't done nothing, only upset the 
 pot that was boiling." 
 
 " That was something, Ralph." 
 
 " She's always a-beating and thrashing 
 me, and I'd like to give it her, I should 
 ooh ! ooh ! ooh ! " and a prolonged howl 
 followed the words. 
 
 " Hush, Ralph; please don't," said Gracie; 
 but Ralph found it a relief to vent his angry 
 feelings in words, and went on, 
 
 " I wish I was a man, growed up, I'd get 
 the toughest broomstick I could find, and
 
 42 GRACIE'S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 
 
 I'd thrash Aunt Poll all day ; and every 
 time she cried out, I'd lay it on harder." 
 
 " Ralph, don't say such wicked, dread- 
 ful words." 
 
 " I would, I tell you, I would I'd thrash 
 her till she couldn't stand." 
 
 "Then you would be a coward," said 
 Gracie bravely ; "for my father says none 
 but a coward would raise his hand to a 
 woman." 
 
 " I wouldn't raise my hand, I'd raise the 
 broomstick, because it would lay on harder," 
 said Ralph, whose sobs were subsiding as 
 the pain gradually went off. 
 
 " The rain is coming on; won't you go and 
 ask her to let you come in ? It's clouding 
 over, and Uncle Peter said he thought it 
 would be a wet night." 
 
 " She wouldn't let me in, I tell you." 
 
 "But you'll get wet." 
 
 " It wouldn't be the first time," he replied 
 sullenly, as he rose up to look at the black 
 clouds which were gathering overhead ; but
 
 GRACIE'S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 43 
 
 he staggered back again, dizzy and weak. 
 " I can't stand." 
 
 "What is the matter ? " 
 
 " She beat me with the back of a brush ; 
 and I've had nothing to eat to-day." 
 
 "Poor Ralph," said the pitying little 
 Gracie softly ; and then added, with a great 
 effort, " I'll go and ask her to let you in, 
 and you can go to bed." 
 
 " Do 1 " said Ralph earnestly ; and so 
 Gracie summoned up all her courage and 
 went to the cottage door. Her first knock 
 was so feeble that it was not heard, but her 
 second was louder, and Ralph's aunt lifted 
 the latch. 
 
 Poll Lennox was a tall, powerful woman ; 
 she had a rough, hard, weather-beaten face, 
 with a most repulsive scowl upon it, and 
 she spoke like a man, walked like a man, 
 and, had it not been for her striped woollen 
 petticoat, looked like a man ; for, in addi- 
 tion to this, she wore a glazed hat con- 
 stantly, a blue pea-jacket with brass but-
 
 44 GRACIE S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 
 
 tons, and men's boots. The sleeves of the 
 jacket were now rolled up, and revealed a pair 
 of red and brawny arms. Gracie trembled 
 as this fierce-looking woman addressed her 
 in an angry voice, 
 
 " What do you want ? " 
 
 " I want Ralph's Aunt Poll." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " I want for Ralph to come in ; " but her 
 voice trembled at the end of the sentence, 
 and her eyes filled with tears. 
 
 " What business is it of yours, girl ? Go 
 off with yourself." 
 
 " Please let him in ; it's going to rain. " 
 
 " A wetting may take some of the sauce 
 out of him." 
 
 "But please let him in, he's sick and 
 dizzy." 
 
 " Will you go along, or must I make 
 you ? " said Poll with a meaning gesture. 
 
 " I'm going, but I'm afraid Ralph will get 
 sick if he's out in the wet, and he's so white, 
 and his nose has been bleeding badly."
 
 GKACIE S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 45 
 
 " Will you be off?" said Poll, slamming 
 the door in her face ; and Gracie, baffled and 
 disappointed, returned to where Ralph was 
 sitting awaiting her arrival. 
 
 "She won't let you in. I'm so sorry, 
 poor Ralph ; and I must go on, or mother 
 will be vexed." 
 
 " Go on," said Ralph sulkily. " I knew 
 she wouldn't." 
 
 Gracie looked at him for a moment, think- 
 ing if there was anything else she could say. 
 There was much she longed to say, but which 
 shyness kept back. And so, after a long, 
 kind, pitying gaze into his miserable face, 
 she said again, " Poor Ralph ! " and he saw 
 that tears were running down her cheeks. 
 She quickly raised her hand to wipe them 
 away, and then walked on, very sorrowfully, 
 comparing in her mind Ralph's lot and her 
 own, which she had sometimes thought so 
 hard. Before she turned the corner which 
 shut out Simon Lennox's cottage from her 
 view, she turned round, and had the satisfac-
 
 46 GRACIE'S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 
 
 tion of seeing the cottage door opened, and 
 Poll's head put out, and of hearing her cry, 
 " Come in, you young dog, and behave 
 yourself;" and then she saw poor Ralph rise 
 up and totter forwards, holding on by the 
 cottage wall, until the door was shut upon 
 him, and, with a thankful heart, she con- 
 tinued her walk. The evening shadows 
 were gathering quickly, and twilight was 
 fast giving place to darkness ; but Gracie 
 was now within sight of her father's cottage, 
 and had not much further to go. Neverthe- 
 less she was destined to meet with another 
 adventure before reaching home, for she had 
 not gone very far along the lonely shore, 
 before she saw a dark figure coming up 
 towards her, whom, from his ragged appear- 
 ance and fierce look, she knew to be Kenrick 
 the sheep-stealer. He never ventured out 
 except at night, and Gracie had the same 
 fear of him as all the other village children 
 possessed, and she walked out nearer to the 
 sea to avoid him ; but Kenrick did not intend
 
 GRACIE'S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 47 
 
 that she should do this, and advanced to 
 meet her. " Good evening, Grace," he said ; 
 and Gracie replied, in a very low voice, 
 "Good evening." 
 
 " Look here, I've been watching this many 
 evenings for you." 
 
 Gracie got more frightened. What could 
 he mean ? what was he going to do ? 
 
 " Please, I'm in a hurry," she said quickly. 
 " I'm out too late. Mother'll be vexed." 
 
 "Wait a bit." 
 
 " I mustn't wait," said Gracie again, and 
 wishing in her heart that Uncle Peter had 
 been with her. 
 
 " Are you afraid of me, like the rest of 
 'em 1 ?" said Kenrick, and there was a sorrow- 
 ful tone in his voice. 
 
 Gracie look up into his face wistfully, but 
 there seemed to be something there that 
 satisfied her, for she answered quietly, 
 
 "No, I don't think I'm afraid of you." 
 
 " Look here, I've been wanting to give 
 you this; " and he put into her hand an old-
 
 48 GRACIE S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 
 
 fashioned ornament, with a precious stone 
 in the middle of it, which flashed and 
 glittered even in the dim evening light. 
 
 " Oh, is it for me ? " asked Gracie, her 
 eyes beaming with pleasure. " Where did 
 you get this pretty thing ? " 
 
 " From the sea," replied Kenrick, a strange 
 smile passing over his face as he spoke. 
 "You keep it, little one, for Abel's sake." 
 
 11 Dear little Abel," murmured Gracie. 
 
 " Ay, you loved him, and so did I ; but it 
 doesn't matter now, only don't you think so 
 hard of Abel's father as the neighbours do 
 d'ye hear ? " 
 
 "No, I won't," said Gracie; "but but " 
 and she hesitated and coloured very much. 
 
 " But what, lass ? speak up." 
 
 " You aren't what they say you are, are 
 you ? " 
 
 "Never mind what they say I am; you 
 just remember that I'd do anything for you. 
 And now good-night, and don't be feared of 
 me when next I meet you."
 
 GRACIE S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 49 
 
 In an instant he was gone. And then 
 Gracie looked at the pretty jewel in her 
 hand, and wondered where it came from. 
 That had been an adventurous evening, but 
 she was not sorry that she had nearly 
 reached home ; and then she saw her father 
 coming to meet her, for he had been smok- 
 ing his pipe outside the cottage door, and 
 watching for his little daughter's approach. 
 
 " Who were you speaking to \ " he asked, 
 as soon as he had got up to her. 
 
 " David Kenrick, father ; and look what 
 he gave me ! " 
 
 " Phew ! how came he to speak to you, 
 child ? " 
 
 " He wanted to give me this ; look, father, 
 this glittering, pretty thing ; he says he got 
 it out of the sea ! " 
 
 " Ay, I'll warrant he did," said Jacob. 
 " Off the body of some poor drowned or 
 drowning creature," he added in a lower tone. 
 
 "0 father," said little Gracie with a 
 shudder, "is it bad to keep it ? " 
 
 (319)
 
 50 GRACTE S MINISTRY OF LOVE. 
 
 "No, no, my child; keep it if you fancy it. 
 That's a queer chap." 
 
 Gracie did fancy it, and so it was laid up 
 with her other little treasures, after having 
 been displayed to all the members of the 
 family, and being commented on rather 
 severely by Dame Williams. 
 
 Ralph, meanwhile, had crept away to his 
 little garret-room, and stretched himself, stiff 
 and weary, on his wretched bed. But still 
 there rang in his ears the words spoken by 
 that childish, pitying voice, " Poor Ralph ! " 
 and the angry demon within his heart seemed 
 to be silenced by the remembrance.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A BE A- SIDE TALK. 
 
 " There is freedom in the ocean, 
 There is spirit in the breeze, 
 There is life in every motion 
 Of the ever-restless seas. 
 
 " With the binding crest of foam 
 
 In the sunny radiance glancing, 
 And the rippling sounds that come, 
 StiU dying, still advancing." 
 
 was a fine clear day, about a week 
 after Gracie's evening with Uncle 
 Peter, and she and Frank were 
 perched on the end of a ledge of 
 rocks which jutted out into the sea at low- 
 water. 
 
 "Look, Gracie, there it comes ! I've 
 counted eight ; this is the ninth wave yes, 
 it is a big one bang ! what a roar it makes ! "
 
 52 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 
 
 " Father says it's the death- wave," replied 
 Grade, looking wistfully at the long line of 
 foam breaking along the sandy shore. 
 
 " Why \ " asked her brother, as he dipped 
 his hand into the pool of sea-water by his 
 side, and played with the bright sea-weeds 
 at the bottom of it. 
 
 " Because, sometimes when there's a 
 wreck, the poor sailors have got quite close 
 to shore, and then this big wave comes and 
 dashes them back again." 
 
 " Father's boat is out ever so far ; look, 
 Gracie, all over there ! " and Frank pointed 
 eagerly to a dark speck out on the dancing 
 water. " Oh, I wish I might go in it with 
 him ! I shall, when I am bigger." 
 
 Gracie looked up fondly into his bright 
 face, and said, " Frank ! George went 
 out, and he never, never came back again. 
 I don't want you to go too ! " 
 
 " Nonsense, Gracie ; that's because you're 
 only a silly girl ; you don't suppose every 
 fisherman must be drowned, do you ? "
 
 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 68 
 
 "No, no," replied Gracie gently; "of 
 course I don't, Frank ; but it's only that 
 that" 
 
 "Well, what?" asked her brother im- 
 patiently, flinging a stone from the rock on 
 which they were sitting down into the water, 
 which was tumbling and breaking in foam 
 beneath them. 
 
 Gracie laid her little hand quietly on her 
 brother's dark, curly hair, and answered,
 
 54 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 
 
 "It's only, Frank, that I don't think 1 
 could bear it if anything were to happen to 
 you. George loved me so, and he used to 
 carry me in his arms, and bring me shells, 
 and sea-weeds, and all manner of wonderful 
 things, and lift me up on the high rocks and 
 keep me safe there with his arms round me, 
 while the great waves rolled up against the 
 rock and broke ; and then how we used to 
 laugh when the foam dashed up into our 
 faces : and then, one night George went out 
 fishing (not in father's boat, in another), and 
 he never came back. There was a storm, 
 and the boat was upset ; he struggled to- 
 wards the shore he could swim ! and he 
 had nearly reached it, when, oh ! " and 
 Gracie covered her face with her hands as 
 if to shut out the sight " you know it all, 
 Frank don't you ? " 
 
 " I never heard it rightly ; father never 
 speaks about it, nor mother, and I only 
 remember a noise when I was in bed, and 
 it woke me in my sleep. And then I saw
 
 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 55 
 
 George next day lying on his bed, and they 
 told me he was dead ; but I thought he 
 was asleep, only he looked so white, and 
 his hair all wet with sea-water ; but you 
 were down on the beach, Gracie, weren't 
 you ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes," said Gracie, shuddering ; 
 "mother and I. It was moonlight, and 
 we saw him so near the shore ; and then a 
 big wave came and washed him away back 
 again. We did not see him for some minutes, 
 and then suddenly another great wave 
 dashed him on shore ; but he was dead. 
 The fishermen and sailors carried him up to 
 the cottage ; but oh, Frank, nothing could 
 bring him back nothing ! " and the little 
 girl's voice died away mournfully as she 
 repeated the word. There was silence 
 between the brother and sister for some 
 minutes ; Gracie was gazing far away to 
 the horizon where the clouds and water 
 seemed to meet, and Frank looked at her 
 thoughtful face, with its deep, earnest eyes,
 
 56 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 
 
 its pale cheeks, and its sweet- calm mouth, 
 and then his eyes wandered down to the 
 crutch which lay beside her. At last he 
 spoke, 
 
 "Gracie, was George like me, anything 1 ?" 
 
 " You should rather say, are you like 
 him ? " she replied, turning round with a 
 smile. " I think you will be, Frank ; but 
 you know our George was sixteen, and you 
 are only nine." 
 
 " I shall be ten, mother says, in seven 
 months more. 
 
 "Yes ; but you are only nine now." 
 
 " Then you are only thirteen." 
 
 " I know that ; I shall not be fourteen till 
 next month, " said Gracie, smiling ; " but 
 your hair is dark, and George's was bright 
 and sunny ; and your eyes are brown, and 
 his were blue. I think you are like him in 
 other things you have the same sunburnt 
 face, and rosy cheeks, and smile like him." 
 
 "That's why father sighs so sometimes 
 when he looks at me."
 
 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 57 
 
 " Yes," replied Gracie ; " it's five years, 
 Frank, since that dreadful evening." 
 
 " But look, look, Gracie ! the tide is 
 rising ; we must get back towards home," 
 and Frank sprang to his feet, and then 
 helped his sister to get up, kindly and gently. 
 
 "Let us go into my cove," said Gracie, 
 as she moved with difficulty along the ledge 
 of rock. 
 
 Gracie's cove was a little sheltered corner 
 among the rocks where the waves never 
 came ; they were stopped by two large 
 boulders at the entrance of this little nook, 
 and expending all their fury in dashing 
 against them with a great roar, they came 
 in gently in small ripples, and broke on 
 the shining sand before they had reached 
 Gracie's seat. This was a kind of natural 
 arm-chair of rock which George had found 
 for her, and another large rock served for a 
 table, while two or three ledges were used 
 for shelves. Here the little girl spent a 
 good part of her life ; for, as she was not able
 
 58 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 
 
 to join in the active sports of the other 
 children who lived in the small fishing-village 
 at Hardrick Cove, it was a great pleasure 
 to her to sit in her little rock -chamber 
 watching the waves, which seemed like 
 familiar friends and playmates to her, and 
 doing some work, or reading in her little 
 books. 
 
 Frank's great delight was to ornament 
 this little cove for his sister : the wild rock- 
 creepers and all the flowering plants which 
 grew near the sea hung in festoons from the 
 top of it, and were planted around the spot ; 
 a little mat of plaited sea-weed was under 
 Gracie's seat ; large shells and stones were 
 its ornaments, and were arranged with great 
 taste ; while near the entrance there was a 
 small natural basin amongst the rocks which 
 the tide filled each day, and which was full 
 of beautiful sea-weeds of various colours, 
 amongst which Frank sometimes discovered 
 little crabs crawling about to investigate the 
 premises.
 
 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 59 
 
 This was Grade's cove, and she loved it. 
 She and Frank had not long established 
 themselves in it that evening before they 
 spied a face peeping at them from round 
 the corner of the rock. 
 
 " There's Kalph ! " said Frank, jumping 
 up ; and Gracie said merrily, 
 
 " Come in, Kalph ; this is my rock-room." 
 
 Ealph advanced shyly, and holding out 
 something in his hand, he mumbled, 
 
 " I've come ; I've brought it there's 
 some things for you in it." 
 
 " What is it, Kalph ? " 
 
 " Your rag, you lent me ; " and in the 
 discoloured thing he held out, Gracie recog- 
 nized her little handkerchief. She took it 
 with a smile, and began to untie the various 
 hard knots in which Kalph had fastened up 
 its contents. 
 
 " What can it be ? " said Gracie ; but 
 when the last knot was undone she dis- 
 covered several sea-gulls' eggs, and one or 
 two light-coloured shells. Frank instantly
 
 60 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 
 
 seized upon the eggs, and Gracie looked up into 
 Ralph's face with a pleased laugh, and said, 
 " I like them very much, Ralph; thank you." 
 
 ''Where did you get these, Ralph?" 
 cried Frank eagerly ; " they're beauties ! " 
 
 " Ah, I knows where they come from ! " 
 said Ralph, grinning with satisfaction at the 
 reception his gift was meeting with. 
 
 " Tell us where," said Frank. 
 
 " That's a secret," replied Ralph. 
 
 " I want to get some." 
 
 " It's out there," said Ralph, nodding in 
 the direction of a point of rock in the dis- 
 tance, which was of a peculiarly dark colour, 
 and was generally known by the name of 
 Sea-Gull Point. 
 
 Frank's face fell. "I'm not let go there," 
 he said sorrowfully. 
 
 Ralph looked at him in surprise. 
 
 " Not let ! why not 1 who won't let it ? " 
 
 " My father." 
 
 " And do you really mean that you mind 
 what your dad says 1 "
 
 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 61 
 
 " Fathers are made to be obeyed," said 
 Gracie, quoting one of her mother's favour- 
 ite axioms. 
 
 "/think dads are meant to be cheated, "said 
 Ralph, laughing bitterly. "Anyways, mine is." 
 
 " Oh, don't, don't, Ralph, you mustn't 
 speak like that to us ; we love ours, and like 
 to do what he tells us," said Gracie ear- 
 nestly; but Frank did not speak, for his 
 eyes were fixed longingly on the Point. 
 His father said it was dangerous there be- 
 cause of the way the tide came up, and the 
 shelving of the rocks ; but Frank's spirit of 
 adventure was only the more roused by the 
 thought of the danger. 
 
 " I'll put your eggs here, amongst my 
 pretty things," said Gracie, arranging them 
 on one of the ledges. " Ralph, I'll show 
 you something that was given me ; " and 
 taking from the bosom of her frock a baby's 
 stocking, she pulled out of it the ornament 
 with the jewel in its centre, and a sixpence 
 with a hole in it.
 
 82 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 
 
 Ralph eyed the ornament with great curi- 
 osity. " Where did you get that thing ? " 
 
 " It was given me." 
 
 " I wish it had been gived to me, and the 
 sixpence along with it." 
 
 " Uncle Peter gave me that." 
 
 "Is that Peter Hambly who lives near us ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I don't like him because 
 
 " Why don't you ? " 
 
 " Because he talks Bible to me." 
 
 A pained look flitted over Gracie's face. 
 
 " Ralph ! " she whispered, " if you only 
 read that, perhaps you'd be happier." 
 
 " Does you read it ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And does it make you happy ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I love it." 
 
 " But isn't it all about burning fire, where 
 the bad folks go ? " 
 
 " No ; there's a lot more." 
 
 " I'm thinking " said Ralph, very slowly, 
 
 " Well, what is it ? "
 
 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 63 
 
 " I'm thinking it'll be a good thing to see 
 Aunt Poll burnt up." 
 
 " Ralph ! if you only wouldn't say 
 such words ; I can't like you when you do." 
 
 "I'll not call you Humpty Dumpty, 
 never again." 
 
 " You'd better not," said Frank fiercely. 
 
 " Look here," said Gracie, "shall I read 
 you a story; it's Sunday evening, and so 
 you can't do better than sit down here." 
 
 " Very well, do ! " said Ralph, throwing 
 himself down on the sandy floor of Gracie's 
 rock-chamber ; and then she opened her little 
 Bible and read the history of Noah's ark, 
 explaining it simply as she went on. 
 
 " That's a fine story," said Ralph; " I'd like 
 to have seen those beasts going into the ark." 
 
 " That's the first ship that ever was made, 
 isn't it, Gracie ? " asked Frank. 
 
 " I think so," said Gracie ; " but what I 
 like to think is, that God kept Noah so safe 
 while everybody else was drowned ; I like to 
 remember that when father's out on the water. "
 
 A SEA-SIDE TALK. 
 
 THE STORY IN THE COVE. 
 
 " What book is that tale in ? " asked 
 "Ralph, after a long pause.
 
 A SEA-SIDE TALK. C6 
 
 "In the Bible," replied Gracie simply. 
 
 " Well, now, that's odd." 
 
 " Ralph, I wish you'd come to the Sun- 
 day school with us," said Gracie. 
 
 " Me go to Sunday school ! " said Ralph, 
 with a laugh. 
 
 "Yes you," answered Gracie earnestly; 
 " and then you'd learn about plenty of these 
 stories." 
 
 " No, no ; I'll come here at odd times, and 
 you may read us a bit if it's all as good as that 
 last. And I must be off now, I'm thinking." 
 
 " We must all be going home," said 
 Gracie, rising and taking her crutch. 
 
 " I say, Ralph," said Frank, " are those 
 sea-gulls' eggs hard to get ? " 
 
 " No, not a bit of it," said Ralph ; " easy 
 enough when you know the place. But 1 
 can tell you where there's some without 
 going to the Point out at Gull Rock," 
 pointing to a dark rock out in the sea at 
 some little distance. And the cloud went 
 off Frank's sunny face. 
 
 (319) 5
 
 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ADRIFT ! 
 
 " Oh, well for the fisherman's boy 
 That he shouts with his sister at play ; 
 Oh, well for the sailor lad 
 That he sings in his boat on the bay." 
 
 |OME, mother; let this child out a 
 bit," said Jacob Williams, one bright 
 day soon after the scenes recounted 
 in our last chapter. " She's been 
 working hard. It's only fair she 
 should play." 
 
 " It's time she should work," said Dame 
 Williams, looking up. "She'll grow up a 
 good-for-nought, helpless lass if she doesn't." 
 " Well, let her out to-day," said her father, 
 smiling at the pleasure which was lighting 
 up Gracie's face at the thought of a holiday.
 
 ADRIFT ! 67 
 
 " You may go, Gracie ; but be back be- 
 fore sundown to take the baby," said her 
 mother. 
 
 And Gracie rose with a joyous face, put 
 away her knitting, tied on her bonnet, and 
 then set off in search of Frank. He was at 
 no great distance, for she soon saw him 
 playing with Ralph on the rocks ; but 
 directly he caught sight of her he bounded 
 over to her with a shout. 
 
 " Well done, Gracie ! Is that plague of a 
 sock put away \ I'd rather go barefoot all 
 my days than that you should always be at 
 them." 
 
 " I've got a holiday, Frank. Where shall 
 we go ? " 
 
 " Down to the rocks, near Uncle Peter's." 
 
 "But he's out fishing." 
 
 " Never mind ; we'll go to the rocks." 
 
 Gracie complied as usual, and Ralph went 
 with them. 
 
 When they had reached the little land- 
 ing-place where Uncle Peter's small white
 
 68 ADRIFT ! 
 
 boat was moored, Frank came close up to 
 Gracie, and throwing one arm round her 
 neck, said coaxingly, " Gracie, Ralph can 
 row beautifully. Will you just get in here 
 for a little while, and let us have one little 
 pull." 
 
 " Frank, what would Uncle Peter 
 say?" 
 
 "We'll be back before he comes in, and 
 then he won't mind." 
 
 " But do you think father would let us ? " 
 
 " Yes ; we aren't babies now ; and Ralph 
 is a big boy, and he can pull, and we'll be 
 all safe." 
 
 " I don't think it's right, Frank." 
 
 " Oh do, Gracie ; just for me just be- 
 cause I ask you." 
 
 How could she refuse when those beauti- 
 ful eyes were looking so beseechingly up 
 into her face ? 
 
 "Well, just for a very little way," said 
 Gracie. " But I'm afraid it's not right, 
 Frank."
 
 ADRIFT ! 69 
 
 " It can't be any harm," said Frank, 
 springing into the boat ; and then Gracie 
 was helped into her seat in the stern, and 
 Ralph took the oars. 
 
 On, on they went dancing over the water, 
 and Gracie soon forgot, in the delight of the 
 boating, that she had said they would only 
 go a very little way. 
 
 " Shall we go to the Gull Rock ? " said 
 Ralph, when they had got some distance 
 from the shore. 
 
 " Oh yes, yes," said Frank, longing to get 
 the much-coveted eggs. 
 
 Half-an-hour's pulling brought them up 
 to the rock ; and running the boat into a 
 little creek, the two boys sprang out of it. 
 
 " What will you do, Gracie ? " asked 
 Frank. 
 
 " I'll stay here," said Gracie. " I'll sit 
 in the boat while you go and get the eggs. 
 But make haste, please ; because I must be 
 back before sundown." 
 
 " Oh yes ; we'll be very quick."
 
 70 ADRIFT ! 
 
 "The gulls' eggs are round the other 
 side," said Ralph. 
 
 " Is the boat safe here ? " asked Gracie, 
 looking rather anxiously at her position. 
 
 " Oh yes ; and the tide is still coming 
 in," said Ralph. " We'll be back before it's 
 turned." 
 
 "All right;" and the little girl leaned 
 back in the seat, and made herself quite 
 comfortable, to wait for them. 
 
 It was very pleasant lying there, and 
 watching the birds curling and flying above 
 her, and the waves coming up over the 
 rocks, and the little fishing-boats far out at 
 sea, while the evening sun poured a flood of 
 glorious light over everything. But Gracie 
 began to fear, after some time, that they 
 would be too late in getting home, and to 
 watch anxiously for the arrival of the boys. 
 Her anxiety was greatly increased by feel- 
 ing the boat moving a little. She thought 
 it had been drawn up to high-water mark ; 
 but on looking down she saw the water all
 
 ADRIFf ! 71 
 
 around her, and perceived that she most 
 certainly was further from the rock than 
 she had been at first. And now every wave 
 seemed to be sending her further and further. 
 She tried to seize a rock that was jutting 
 out into the water ; but it was useless, for 
 the waves washed over it just as she stretched 
 her arms out towards it, and the boat was 
 further from it than ever. In another minute 
 she would be past all the rocks, and out on 
 the wide sea ! 
 
 " Frank ! " she cried, as loudly as she 
 could. " Frank, come ! " 
 
 But it was only a dismal echo from the 
 rocks which repeated her words, " Frank, 
 come ! " and another wave sent her further 
 out to sea. 
 
 She burst into tears, and covered her face 
 with her hands. But crying could do no 
 good ; and she began at last to try and 
 discover in which direction the tide was 
 carrying her. Alas ! it was away from the 
 shore; and when they were outside their
 
 72 ADRIFT i 
 
 own little cove the sea was rough and 
 stormy. 
 
 " Oh, why, why did I do it ? " sobbed the 
 frightened child. " I knew it was wrong, 
 and I ought to have been firm ; and now I 
 shall be drowned most likely, and then, oh, 
 what will become of me when my last act 
 was disobedient ! And Frank, poor Frank, 
 is on that rock, and he will starve, and no 
 one will know where he is ; and mother and 
 father will watch for us to come back, and 
 we shall never come. Oh, what shall I do ? " 
 
 And then Gracie clasped her hands and 
 prayed. She prayed for forgiveness for 
 every sin in the name of her Saviour ; she 
 prayed that she might be saved from this 
 fearful peril ; and that if not, she might be 
 taken to heaven for her Saviour's sake. 
 But oh, above all things, she prayed that 
 Frank might be saved. What would mother 
 do if he was dead ! And as long as she 
 could she prayed for him. Then she leaned 
 back in the boat, which she felt was being
 
 ADRIFT ! 
 
 73 
 
 carried further and further out to sea. The 
 sun had set, and darkness had come on. 
 The moon, however, Avas beginning to rise, 
 and the stars to come out one by one ; but 
 the waves were stormy enough, and every 
 now and then a shower of spray drenched 
 the poor little girl. She began to get very 
 stiff and cold ; and she found that she could 
 not stretch herself out, she was so cramped. 
 And on went the boat dancing over the 
 water, as if glad to be free from all control.
 
 74 ADRIFT ! 
 
 By degrees a pleasanter feeling began to 
 creep over little Gracie. She felt drowsy, 
 the pain of cramp and stiffness had gone 
 away, and she thought, as she laid her head 
 down on the edge of the boat, that she 
 heard murmurs in her ears like angels' 
 voices calling her. The moon was shining 
 out above her, and the stars seemed to look 
 down upon her with friendly eyes. She no 
 longer thought of the grief in her home, or 
 of Frank's danger, but only how pleasant it 
 was to lie there, and how sorry she should 
 be to be roused by any one. And then 
 she thought no more. The moonlight shone 
 down upon the little white boat, and the 
 still whiter face resting on one of its seats, 
 and the waves carried the boat up and 
 down, and sometimes washed over it sides 
 a little ; but Gracie moved not spoke not 
 and did not even feel, as she was drifted, 
 on and on, into the great, restless, heaving 
 ocean.
 
 CHArTER VL 
 
 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 
 
 " Oh, is it weed, or fish, or floating hair? 
 A tress of golden hair, 
 O' drowned maiden's hair, 
 Above the nets at sea. " 
 
 'T'S a wild night, Michael it's a wild 
 night, though it's fine," said an old 
 fisherman, who stood on the deck 
 of his little fishing-smack looking 
 over the stormy sea. 
 
 " Yes, we can't do much," replied the 
 other. 
 
 " Nothing, lad, nothing," said the old 
 man. " I'm glad we've no nets out." 
 
 " Yes ; look at that old chap asleep," said 
 the younger speaker, pointing to an old 
 gray-haired and weather-beaten man who
 
 76 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 
 
 was lying on the deck, with his head resting 
 on a coil of rope. 
 
 " Yes, lad, he's getting on in years like 
 myself," said Joseph Pendrid, as he struck 
 a light and began to fill his pipe with to- 
 bacco. 
 
 " It's a fine moon," remarked Michael, 
 looking up. 
 
 " It is," replied Joseph ; and then both 
 men stood in silence for some moments 
 looking out over the " watery waste." 
 
 At last Joseph said hurriedly, " Michael, 
 lad, you've younger eyes than mine. Look 
 there look out yonder. D'ye see any- 
 thing ? " and he pointed towards a small 
 object on the water, which the moonlight 
 revealed distinctly. 
 
 "It's a boat, and it's drifting towards 
 us," said Michael. " I suppose some poor 
 neighbour's boat has got loosed from the 
 shore, and is being driven away to sea ; and 
 as it is coming right up against us, we'll 
 stop it."
 
 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 77 
 
 The boat came nearer and nearer, until 
 at last it got alongside of the fishing-smack. 
 The moon shone directly upon it, and the 
 fisherman perceived that it was half full of 
 water. 
 
 "It's uncommon like Peter Hambly's 
 little Sea Gull" said Joseph, as Michael 
 was endeavouring to fasten it to their ves- 
 sel. But while he was doing so, a cry of 
 surprise broke from him. 
 
 " Joseph Joseph Pendrid ! Look here, 
 old man ! What's this 1 " and he pointed to 
 something which floated in the water ; and 
 then, on looking more closely, he cried, 
 " It's a dead child ! O Joseph, look here. 
 Her head resting on the seat, her bonnet's 
 washed away, and this is her hair," and he 
 lifted up the mass of Gracie's golden hair, 
 which had fallen about her; and then the 
 young man gently lifted the child out of the 
 boat, and handed her up to Joseph. 
 
 " Well, here's a sorry sight," said the old 
 man tenderly, as he sat down with the poor
 
 78 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 
 
 little girl in his arms. " You poor lamb, 
 perhaps there's a father's heart a-breaking 
 for you," and he looked mournfully down 
 upon the white face, and wrung the water 
 out of the fair hair, while Michael secured 
 the boat. 
 
 At last Joseph cried out, " Peter ! wake 
 up, will ye, Peter Peter Hambly ! " and 
 the old man who was sleeping on the deck 
 roused himself, and looked up in sleepy 
 wonder. 
 
 " Come here, Peter. Here's a poor little 
 drowned maiden washed up against us in a 
 half-swamped boat." 
 
 Old Peter rose as quickly as he could, 
 and came over to Joseph's side. Then bend- 
 ing down, he looked long and earnestly into 
 the face of the lifeless child. It was a 
 strange sight : the moonlight streaming 
 down upon the stormy water, the little fish- 
 ing-smack, the rugged faces of the fisher- 
 men, and that strangely still and marble 
 white face, with the long damp hair hanging
 
 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 
 
 79 
 
 about it. At last Peter Hambly spoke in 
 a low, broken voice, "It's Gracie it's my 
 little Sunbeam ! " 
 
 "IT'S ORACIE IT'S MY LITTLE SUNBEAM." 
 
 "Do you mean Jacob's Gracie?" said 
 Joseph. 
 
 "Yes," replied Peter, taking the child 
 from his arms, and holding her closely in his 
 own. Then, looking up suddenly, he said, 
 " Hush, will ye. Stop she lives ! Joseph,
 
 80 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 
 
 old friend, she lives ! The Almighty be 
 thanked ! " 
 
 Uncle Peter wrapped a warm coat of his 
 own round her, and then called to Michael 
 to bring him a small bottle of spirits which 
 he knew was in the locker, and hastily 
 putting some into a little horn mug, he 
 poured it down the throat of the child ; 
 after which he chafed her cold hands, and 
 eagerly watched for her to open her eyes. 
 
 At last she did so, slowly and heavily ; 
 and looking wonderingly into Uncle Peter's 
 face, she said, " Where am I ? " 
 
 " Safe, dearie ; quite safe, with Uncle 
 Peter," said the old man joyfully, and 
 pressing her closer and more tightly in his 
 arms. 
 
 " The night is cold and dark. I am 
 wet." 
 
 "Yes, child; but lie still. You'll soon 
 be warmer and drier." 
 
 " Shall I be drowned ? " 
 
 " No, no, my dear ; not if I knows it."
 
 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 81 
 
 " How was it ? I forget," and the little 
 girl's voice was dreamy and bewildered. 
 
 "Never mind, dearie. You were in the 
 boat, and we picked you out, that's all." 
 
 A look of recollection passed over her 
 pale face. 
 
 " Oh, I know, I remember it all now ; 
 and Frank Uncle Peter ! Frank's on 
 the rock, and he'll die ! Won't you go and 
 take him off?" 
 
 " Yes, my dear, in the morning we will ; 
 but it's dark now. If Frank's on the Gull 
 Rock, he'll be safe for to-night. Lie down 
 here, little one, and go asleep. Old Uncle 
 Peter will take good care of his Sunbeam." 
 
 And Gracie look earnestly at him for a 
 moment, and said, " You are quite sure we'll 
 go to Frank in the morning ? " 
 
 " Yes, dearie." 
 
 Then the child looked satisfied, and clasp- 
 ing her arms round his neck, laid her head 
 on his shoulder, and was fast asleep before 
 many minutes had passed.
 
 82 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 
 
 Uncle Peter sat quietly holding her for 
 some time, and thinking how marvellous 
 were the ways of that God who had guided 
 the little boat over the stormy sea, and 
 brought the child through the perils of the 
 deep into safe keeping. And then the good 
 old man began wondering how Gracie had 
 come to be in the boat at all ; and after 
 turning it over several times in his own 
 mind, he settled that it was sure to be some 
 trick of that young cub Ralph Lennox's, 
 and that that boy was certainly not born to 
 be drowned, for the good reason that he 
 would in all probability be hanged instead. 
 When he found that Gracie was sound 
 asleep, he carried her gently over to a quiet 
 corner of the deck, laid her on a sail which 
 he spread out, and then wrapped a large 
 piece of tarpaulin over her, lashing it down, 
 to keep her warm. 
 
 It was thus the morning sun found her, 
 when it shone out warm and bright over 
 the sea. The storm had abated, and the
 
 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 83 
 
 waves were stilled, and the fishing-smack 
 was " homeward bound." Gracie lay quiet 
 for some time, thinking over all the strange 
 events of the night before. Presently Uncle 
 Peter came to her, and stooped down to 
 unfasten the rope which lashed the covering 
 over her. 
 
 " Well, Gracie, you didn't think to find 
 yourself a prisoner in your old uncle's boat, 
 did ye ? " 
 
 " No, uncle," said Gracie, and her voice was 
 low and ashamed, her eyes filled with tears. 
 
 " What is it, dearie ? You know you're 
 safe." 
 
 " Yes ; but" 
 
 " Well, what ? " said the old man, helping 
 her up, and giving her the crutch which 
 he had just found in the bottom of the boat. 
 
 " O Uncle Peter, I've been such a 
 naughty, bad girl ! " and the poor child 
 began to cry most bitterly. 
 
 " Come, come, Sunbeam, this won't do. 
 Don't, my dear, I don't like it ; " and Uncle
 
 84 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 
 
 Peter tried to remove the hands in which 
 Gracie had hidden her tearful face. " What 
 is it you've done 1 " 
 
 " We got into your boat when you were 
 away, and and went to Gull Rock and 
 then I was waiting, and I was drifted away. 
 
 Uncle Peter, do forgive me," she sobbed. 
 " Who's we ? " said Uncle Peter. 
 
 " Ralph, and Frank, and I ; but I was 
 worst, because I could have stopped it and 
 didn't." 
 
 " I knew that chap was at the bottom of 
 it," said the old fisherman. 
 
 " Uncle Peter, it wasn't more him 
 than us. But oh, please forgive me ; don't 
 be angry with me, please don't." 
 
 There was a merry twinkle in the old 
 man's eye as he replied, 
 
 "Why, Gracie, child, did you fancy that 
 
 1 thought ye perfect ? " 
 
 " No, no, Uncle Peter ; but have you for- 
 given me ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes, child, now that you're safe,
 
 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 85 
 
 I'll forgive ye ; if you'd been drowned 1 
 never would," and Uncle Peter shook his 
 head and tried to look very fierce ; then 
 stooping down he kissed the little girl, and 
 added, seriously, "It shows us, lass, how 
 careful we must be ; how easily we all of 
 us may fall into sin. Let it make you 
 more watchful, more prayerful, more humble. 
 There, that's all the scolding the old man 
 means to give you ; only next time you want 
 to go out boating in the Sea Gull, give 
 notice to Peter Hambly, and he'll be proud 
 to make you welcome to it, with or without 
 his company, as you may think best." 
 
 Then Gracie saw that it was all right, 
 and she was content. 
 
 " Uncle Peter," she said at length, " are 
 we near the Gull Rock ? " 
 
 "No, dearie; we were there before you 
 woke this morning." 
 
 " uncle, and Frank is he safe ? " 
 
 " I hope so, for there were no tracks of 
 him there."
 
 86 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 
 
 Grade's face fell. 
 
 " Look where we are, lass ; " and on turn- 
 ing round the little girl saw that they were 
 just coming into the harbour at Hardrick 
 Cove. 
 
 " Lpok, who's waiting for you on the 
 beach ? " said Uncle Peter. 
 
 And Gracie cried out joyfully, " Oh, it's 
 father, and and yes ! it is Frank ; Uncle 
 Peter, look, it's Frank." 
 
 At the same moment there was a joyful 
 sound from the shore. 
 
 " Father, here's our Gracie ! Gracie ! 
 Gracie ! " and Frank could hardly be kept 
 from running through the surf to reach his 
 sister. 
 
 A few minutes more, and Jacob Williams 
 clasped his little daughter in his arms. 
 "Father, please forgive me," whispered 
 Gracie, pressing her cheek close to his. 
 
 " Yes, my child ; yes, I will you've had 
 enough to bear, poor lamb ; only, don't 
 frighten us so again ! "
 
 THE EETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 87 
 
 " Frank, how did you get back 1 " asked 
 Gracie, looking down from her exalted posi- 
 tion upon her little brother, who was trotting 
 along by his father's side, holding on to the 
 end of his coat. 
 
 " We came to look for you, and you were 
 gone ; and we couldn't see you, and we 
 thought we should die there; and Simon 
 Lennox came late in the night and took us 
 home in his boat. He said he knew pretty 
 well where to look for Ralph." 
 
 " Will mother be angry ? " whispered 
 Gracie to her father. 
 
 "No, no, child." And then Dame 
 Williams appeared at the door, looking out 
 to see if there were any signs of their re- 
 turn. When she saw Gracie in her father's 
 arms, a hearty " Thank God ! " burst from 
 her ; and though she had prepared a frown 
 by the time they reached her, yet the joyous 
 satisfaction written on her broad face was 
 unmistakable. 
 
 " Please, mother, I'm so sorry," said Gracie.
 
 88 THE RETURN OF THE FISHING-BOAT. 
 
 " Indeed, I hope you. are, you naughty 
 girl, for giving us all this worry," said the 
 worthy dame. 
 
 "Now, mother, don't worret the child. 
 ' She was lost, and is found ; ' let that be 
 enough for us, and make us thankful for the 
 rest of our days," said her husband. 
 
 Dame Williams's countenance relaxed, and 
 the tears gathered in her eyes, as she held 
 out her arms to Gracie, who sprung into 
 them ; and the kiss which passed between 
 the mother and daughter told of complete 
 reconciliation. 
 
 They were soon seated at breakfast, 
 during the course of which Gracie looked 
 up quietly and asked Frank how many 
 gulls' eggs he had found at the rock ; and 
 Frank looked very sheepish, hung down 
 his head, and answered, " None ! "
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 HASTE TO THE RESCUE ! 
 
 Man the life-boat ! man the life-boat ! 
 
 Help, or yon ship is lost ! 
 Man the life-boat ! man the life-boat ! 
 
 See how she's tempest-tossed. 
 
 Life-saving ark yon doomed barque 
 
 Immortal souls doth bear ; 
 Nor gems, nor gold, nor wealth untold, 
 
 But men, brave men, are there." 
 
 jHE next few weeks passed away very 
 quietly in Gracie's home. The chil- 
 dren had had a fright, and its effects 
 were visible for some time. Gracie 
 was quiet and subdued, and Frank was less 
 wild and mischievous, and clung to his 
 sister with warmer love than ever. Ralph, 
 too, was not the same boy that he had for- 
 merly been, for his intercourse with Gracie
 
 90 HASTE TO THE RESCUE ! 
 
 had softened his rough ways, and given him 
 fresh interests and pleasures. His great 
 delight was to find curious things for Gracie, 
 and bring them to her to ornament her cove ; 
 and his knowledge of all the places around 
 helped him in this. Frank used often to 
 accompany him in his wild searches after 
 sea-birds' eggs, rare sea-weeds and shells, 
 or pebbles to lay down as a flooring in 
 the rock-chamber ; and though Jacob Wil- 
 liams sometimes watched in fearfulness and 
 anxiety the growing friendship between the 
 two boys, he trusted very much to Gracie's 
 influence to counteract the bad effects of 
 companionship with Ralph, while he felt 
 that the wild neglected boy might perhaps 
 be kept from much that was evil by asso- 
 ciating with his children. 
 
 Gracie's life went on very quietly; her 
 daily round of household duties was per- 
 formed patiently and steadily, and her 
 gentle influence for good was very percep- 
 tible. She seemed to live with the one
 
 HASTE TO THE KESCUE ! 91 
 
 thought always uppermost, how she might 
 show her love to Him who had shown such 
 wondrous love to her ; and this ruling motive 
 seemed to brighten everything she did. No 
 action was too small to come under its 
 power, and it lightened every cross, and 
 made every trial less painful to her. 
 
 It was about six weeks after that night of 
 adventure which we told of in the last 
 chapter, and the day had been one of rain 
 and wind. 
 
 The leaden colour of the sky was re- 
 flected in the sea, except where' the white 
 foam of the crested waves broke the mono- 
 tonous gray, and the noise of the breakers 
 on the shore was like that of great guns 
 booming. The fisher's boats were all safely 
 moored in the harbour, for " nothing could 
 live in such a sea," they said ; and the fisher- 
 men themselves were mending their nets, or 
 playing with their children in their various 
 homes. 
 
 It was drawing towards evening, and
 
 92 HASTE TO THE RESCUE ! 
 
 Grade's work was finished ; the baby was 
 asleep in its cradle, the dame was preparing 
 the evening rneal, Frank was making a net 
 by the fire, and Jacob sat near the cottage 
 window with one arm round his little 
 daughter, whose head was resting on his 
 shoulder as she stood by his side. 
 
 The wind howled in fury as it swept past 
 the cottage door, an occasional peal of 
 thunder rent the air, and a vivid flash of 
 lightning lit up the seething, restless water. 
 
 " father, it's a terrible night," said 
 Gracie fearfully, as they looked out at the 
 wild scene before them in the dim twilight. 
 
 " It is, my lass ; you must pray for those 
 at sea." 
 
 Gracie's arm tightened round his neck, as 
 if she would, by that means, express her 
 thankfulness for his safety. 
 
 " Should you be 'feared, lass, if you were 
 out to-night ? " said Jacob. 
 
 " I don't know, daddy ; I should think of 
 something."
 
 HASTE TO THE RESCUE 
 
 93 
 
 A. STOKMY NIGHT. 
 
 " What should you think of? " 
 
 Gracie hesitated, but at length she re-
 
 94 HASTE TO THE KESCUE ! 
 
 plied, in a low voice, " What Mr. Trelawney 
 preached about last Sunday." 
 
 " What was that 1 " said her father. And 
 Gracie answered, 
 
 " Of Him who is ' the confidence of them 
 
 that are afar off upon the sea; which 
 
 stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of 
 their waves, and the tumult of the people.' " 
 
 " Quite right, my lass," answered her 
 father ; " I often think of that when I'm 
 out." 
 
 They were silent for a few minutes, lis- 
 tening to the fury of the sounds which were 
 mingling outside the cottage. At last 
 Jacob spoke, 
 
 " I remember when I was a youngster 
 my mother once read me something about a 
 storm out of the Bible, but I've never 
 found the place since, though it was. a very 
 true and a good bit." 
 
 " I wonder if it was what Mrs. Trelawney 
 was teaching us on Sunday last," said Gracie', 
 " because that's exactly like this evening."
 
 HASTE TO THE RESCUE ! 95 
 
 " Can you say it, lass ? " 
 
 " I think so," replied Gracie, and, after 
 pausing for a few moments, she repeated it. 
 ' The waters saw thee, God, the waters 
 saw thee ; they were afraid : the depths also 
 were troubled. The clouds poured out 
 water ; the skies sent out a sound : thine 
 arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy 
 thunder was in the heaven : the lightnings 
 lightened the world : the earth trembled and 
 shook Thy way is in the sea, and thy 
 path in the great waters, and thy footsteps 
 are not known. ' ' 
 
 " It's very true ; the men that wrote that had 
 seen a storm, I'll warrant," said her father, as 
 he stroked her hair when she had done. 
 
 " I should think so," replied Gracie. " 
 daddy, look ; d'ye see ? " 
 
 " See what, child ? " 
 
 " Look ! those two ; " and Gracie pointed 
 to a couple of figures, dimly seen in the 
 gloom of the evening light, who were steal- 
 ing stealthily along the shore.
 
 %' HASTE TO THE RESCUE ! 
 
 " I see," muttered Jacob half to himself; 
 " it's Kenrick the wrecker, and Poll Len- 
 nox. They are up to no good, child." 
 
 Gracie knew quite enough of the evil 
 ways and cruel actions of the wreckers to 
 guess her father's meaning ; but she did not 
 answer, for at this moment a vivid flash of 
 lightning lit up the whole scene, and was 
 quickly succeeded by a loud crash of 
 thunder. After this, for a few seconds, 
 there seemed to be a lull in the storm ; the 
 wind abated, the waves broke more gently, 
 and then distinctly above them there rose a 
 sound which made Jacob start to his feet, 
 and Gracie clasp her hands in terror. 
 
 " father ! " she cried, " what w T as it ? " 
 
 " Hush ! " said her father, laying his 
 finger on his lips and listening intently ; but 
 the wind swept past the window with a wild 
 shriek, and the angry waves broke with a 
 louder roar than ever, as if, in that momen- 
 tary lull, they had been gathering fresh 
 strength and fury. Then there was seen
 
 HASTE TO THE RESCUE ! 97 
 
 over the sea for one instant a bright flash, 
 and Jacob cried, " God have mercy on 
 them ; it is a ship in distress ; " and he seized 
 his sou'-wester from the nail on the wall, 
 snatched up his pea-jacket, and opened the 
 cottage door. 
 
 " Jacob, good-man, don't ye go," said his 
 wife, coming hastily forward ; "no boat can 
 live in such a sea. Don't ye go for to risk 
 your life. Think of me and these poor chil- 
 dren." 
 
 " Hold your peace, dame. Think you 
 I'll sit in my house while poor souls are 
 perishing in the wild waters, and I've a 
 hand to save them 1 I knew it was not for 
 nothing that those beggarly wreckers were 
 sneaking about." 
 
 " Father," said Gracie, throwing her 
 arms round his neck, " come back ; oh, do ! " 
 
 " Yes, yes, my lass ; what were those 
 words? say them, ' The confidence of 
 them 
 
 " ' That are afar off upon the sea,' " whig- 
 law) 7
 
 98 HASTE TO THE RESCUE ! 
 
 pered Gracie. " He will take care of you ; 
 I know he will." 
 
 " Bless you, iny child. And, Gracie, if I 
 don't come back, take care of your mother, and 
 be a comfort to her ; " and then he kissed 
 her, and walked off through the darkness 
 and the wind and rain in the direction of 
 the harbour, where already a knot of fisher- 
 men were gathering. 
 
 After her father had gone, Gracie moved 
 restlessly from the door to the window, 
 then to the fireplace, and then back again 
 to the window. " Mother," she said at last, 
 coming round to her mother's side, "the 
 rain has nearly ceased, the moon is rising. 
 mother, come to the harbour; I want to 
 watch father's boat ; I know he's gone out, 
 it was in his face that he would." 
 
 " Yes, yes, mother, come down to the 
 harbour," cried Frank, who had long ago 
 thrown aside his netting, and was leaning on 
 the window-seat, gazing out very longingly 
 in the direction of the harbour, and wishing
 
 HASTE TO THE RESCUE ! 99 
 
 vainly that he was a man, that he might go 
 into the midst of the danger. 
 
 " Baby is asleep," whispered Gracie ; " 
 mother, come ; " and the little girl's voice 
 was tremulous with eagerness. 
 
 The good woman's heart was yearning to 
 know something of her husband, and she rose 
 quickly, threw a cloak around her and over 
 her head, put on Frank's cap, and taking a 
 hand of each child, locked the cottage door 
 behind her, and set off in the direction of 
 the harbour. 
 
 The storm was certainly abating, the rain 
 had ceased, and the moon was struggling to 
 come out from behind its covering of dark 
 and stormy clouds, and distinctly above the 
 sound of the howling wind and the furious 
 waves was heard that solitary booming gun, 
 more heart-rending than the most piercing cry 
 of distress that ever passed from mortal lips. 
 
 At length they reached the harbour, and 
 Dame Williams eagerly inquired after her 
 husband.
 
 100 HASTE TO THE RESCUE '. 
 
 " Ay," replied old Joseph Pendrid, shak- 
 ing his head, " you may well ask for him, 
 dame ; ask them waves, and they'll tell ye." 
 
 " He would go," said another man ; " we 
 told him how it would be. Look, dame, 
 there's the wreck ; " and he pointed out to a 
 dark object which seemed sometimes to be 
 engulfed by the \vaves, and sometimes was 
 lifted high upon the top of them. 
 
 " But speak tell me, he isn't drowned ? 
 Speak, can't ye ! " said the poor woman in 
 terror. 
 
 " We saw the boat go out, he and two 
 more chaps in it ; but we haven't seen it 
 since, and nothing could stand against this 
 sea," replied Joseph. 
 
 Gracie stood quietly by her mother's side, 
 clasping her hand tightly, and straining her 
 eyes " across the stormy water," endeavour- 
 ing to catch sight of her father's boat. It 
 was a terrible time of suspense, but suddenly 
 there arose a joyful cry, " It's safe there, 
 and it's coming back ; God speed them ! "
 
 HASTE TO THE RESCUE ! 101 
 
 And, true enough, the moonlight shone down 
 clearly and brightly over the water, and 
 showed the little boat, as full as it could 
 hold, high on the crest of an immense wave. 
 It was lost to sight again directly ; but a 
 long and loud cheer broke from the whole 
 crowd, and a faint kind of echo seemed to 
 come from the sea. And now it came 
 nearer and nearer to the harbour, though 
 each wave seemed threatening to over- 
 whelm it. 
 
 "It's safe ! " shouted two or three ; but 
 Joseph shook his head, and pointed to a 
 large wave just gathering over it. Again 
 it was lost to sight, and a wild, bitter cry 
 came up from the sea. 
 
 " Lost ! lost ! " cried Joseph ; " that wave 
 has done for them." 
 
 " No ! no ! " cried a child's voice, clearly 
 rising above the din and confused murmur 
 of the voices all round. " I know he's safe 
 look!" and they did look, and then a shout 
 arose, "Gracie, you're right they're safe;"
 
 102 HASTE TO THE RESCUE ! 
 
 and there was the little boat close under 
 them, brought safely into the haven where 
 it would be. 
 
 11 All safe?" cried Joseph. 
 
 " Two men and a woman washed over- 
 board before ; eight saved," replied Jacob, 
 as the rescued mariners sprang to the shore ; 
 and then, having secured the boat, he fol- 
 lowed them quietly, and stood amongst 
 them with his honest, brave face a little 
 brighter than usual, but otherwise unmoved. 
 
 " Take care of these good fellows," he said 
 cheerily, as his neighbours flocked around 
 him, pouring out their congratulations and 
 praise, and eager to testify their approbation 
 of his conduct by a hearty squeeze of his 
 hand ; " they've had cold water enough for 
 one night, give them something warmer now. 
 Why, little daughter, you here ! " he added, 
 as his eyes fell upon Gracie, who was press- 
 ing forward to meet him. 
 
 "Yes; and mother and Frank," cried 
 Gracie, when she had reached him.
 
 HASTE TO THE .RESCUE ! 
 
 103 
 
 " Thank God," said the dame, raising her 
 apron to her eyes, "you're safe, Jacob. 
 Come home now and change your things." 
 
 And Jacob, taking his little daughter's 
 hand, turned in the direction of his own 
 home, while a loud cheer arose from the 
 fishermen. 
 
 JACOB'S RETURN. 
 
 The good dame was, in no small degree, 
 gratified by this token of esteem for her 
 husband, and turning round, she cried, 
 " Thank ye, neighbours ; we're very much
 
 104 HASTE TO THE RESCUE ! 
 
 obliged to ye all. May ye all be as brave 
 men and as good husbands as my Jacob, 
 though I say it as shouldn't." 
 
 A loud laugh and still louder cheer fol- 
 lowed this speech. 
 
 " Why do they cheer ? " asked Frank. 
 
 " Only because I've done my duty/' re- 
 plied his father, as they reached the cottage 
 door, and the cheering died away in the dis- 
 tance. 
 
 For one moment Gracie and her father 
 lingered to look out over the sea, and stoop- 
 ing down, he said to her in a low, earnest 
 voice, 
 
 " ' The waves of the sea are mighty, and 
 rage horribly ; but yet the Lord, who 
 dwelleth on high, is mightier.' O Gracie, 
 child, never till this night did I know the 
 full blessedness of having him for my con- 
 fidence when I was ' afar off upon the sea.' "
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 THE WRECKER'S PRIZE. 
 
 " Or if He see fit that our boat should sink, 
 By a storm, or a leak, like lead ; 
 Yet still of the glorious day we'll think, 
 When the sea shall yield her dead. 
 For they who depart in his faith and fear 
 Shall find their passage is short, 
 From the troublesome waves that beset life here, 
 To the everlasting port." 
 
 [HE next day Gracie was sitting in 
 her little cove, knitting and singing 
 to herself, though she could hardly 
 hear her own voice above the noise 
 of the waves, which had not quieted down 
 entirely, though their fury was much abated. 
 The little girl's heart was full of thank- 
 fulness for her father's preservation, and 
 pleased and proud because every one was 
 praising him ; and Mr. Trelawney had that
 
 106 THE WRECKER'S PRIZE. 
 
 morning come down from the Rectory and 
 asked all about the wreck, and shaken hands 
 with her father, and wished that he could 
 have shared his glory. 
 
 The Polly Ann for such was the name of 
 the unfortunate vessel was lying on one side 
 out in the water. It was now only a miser- 
 able hulk, and a sad object it looked ; but 
 the lives of eight of its crew were saved. 
 
 It was a small trading vessel, which was 
 going round from one of the southern ports 
 to the coast of Wales, and had been driven 
 out of its course by contrary winds. 
 
 Gracie had never seen an actual wreck 
 before, and it made a strong impression upon 
 her ; and while her heart was full of grati- 
 tude about her father, she could not help 
 thinking of the three poor souls who had 
 been washed overboard, and wondering as to 
 what could be their fate. 
 
 Frank was with his father down in the 
 harbour, and so Gracie sat by herself and 
 sung ; for the louder the waves, roared, the
 
 THE WRECKER S PRIZE. 107 
 
 more she enjoyed trying to raise her voice 
 above them. But she was interrupted by 
 hearing some one saying her name close to 
 her, and turning her head, she saw David 
 Kenrick leaning over the rock behind her. 
 
 Gracie's thoughts flew back to the even- 
 ing before, when she saw him, like some bird 
 of prey, ready to seize upon any unfortunate 
 victims, and strip them of their possessions, 
 and she involuntarily shrunk from him. 
 
 " Grace," he repeated in a louder tone ; 
 and then she answered slowly, 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " It was a wild storm last night." 
 
 " It was," replied Gracie, knitting faster 
 than ever. 
 
 " Your father spoilt our profit." 
 
 " Oh, don't, don't speak like that," said 
 Gracie, shuddering; "you can't mean it." 
 
 " Mean what, lass ? " 
 
 " Why, that you wanted that you would 
 have liked those poor men to be drowned, 
 that you might get their clothes and things
 
 108 THE WRECKER S PRIZE. 
 
 when they were washed up," she answered 
 hesitatingly. 
 
 " Well, I don't know that exactly I can't 
 swear to that ; but when they are drowned 
 I don't see that this world's goods can do 
 much for them." 
 
 " No ! but still " 
 
 " Well, child, don't you see dead folks 
 don't want clothes and food, and living ones 
 do ; that's all the difference ; " and the man's 
 dark countenance grew a shade darker as 
 he spoke, and after a moment's silence he 
 added, " It don't signify what / do. I 
 may as well make my living that way as 
 another ; there's no one to care. " 
 
 Gracie's eyes swam with tears, and lifting 
 her face from her work, she said gently, 
 " Oh, for Abel's sake, don't do it ! " 
 
 A quick sharp look of pain passed over 
 the man's face, and his voice had a slight 
 huskiness in it as he answered, " That minds 
 me of what I came here for. Will ye come 
 with me ? "
 
 THE WRECKER S PRIZE. 109 
 
 Oracle started. " Why ? " she asked 
 rather fearfully. 
 
 " Well, I'll tell you. Last night the water 
 washed up a poor creature from the wreck, 
 not quite dead, but nearly so. Poll Lennox 
 would soon have dispatched her; but I 
 wouldn't have it, for there was something 
 in the woman's face that reminded me of 
 my boyish days. She was all dressed in 
 rags, and had a child in her arms ; but the 
 poor baby was dead, and the woman's dying 
 fast. She's lying in the little ruined hut, 
 down along the shore towards the Point ; 
 and now she's come to, she's moaning and 
 crying out." 
 
 " But why should / go ? " asked Gracie. 
 
 " Well, the poor thing knows she's dying, 
 and she's been calling out to know if it's 
 true that there's any one to save a dying 
 soul ; and she says the Name that Abel used 
 to say, and wants to hear if it's true ; and I 
 said I'd come and look you up, because 
 you'd know all about it."
 
 no 
 
 THE WRECKER S PRIZE. 
 
 " But mother's out ; and I don't know if 
 I may."
 
 THE WRECKER'S PRIZE. 111 
 
 " I'll take care of you, child," said Ken- 
 rick gravely ; " the poor thing hasn't much 
 longer to hold out come now." 
 
 " Why didn't you go and fetch Mr. Tre- 
 lawney ? " 
 
 " Well, I don't think I'm likely to do 
 that," said Kenrick, with a laugh, " though 
 he's a good man too is that parson, and a 
 gentleman as well ; but he's been a-talking 
 to me, and I'm not going to bring him about 
 my places. Will ye come, little Gracie ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Gracie, trembling; and she 
 rose and followed Kenrick along the shore 
 until they reached the hut. Her fears in- 
 creased when she saw Poll Lennox in the 
 corner of it, tying up in a bundle some of 
 the spoils collected 'from the last night's 
 storm. 
 
 In one corner of the hut, stretched on 
 a piece of tarpaulin, lay a woman whose 
 wasted features and short quick breathing 
 told that death was not far from her ; and in 
 her arms she clasped a dead child, whose
 
 112 THE WRECKER S PRIZE. 
 
 little white face bore a sweet, cairn look, 
 very unlike that of its wretched mother, 
 whose restless, wandering eyes seemed to be 
 looking round vainly in search of comfort 
 and hope. 
 
 " Here's Gracie Williams," said Kenrick, 
 approaching her side, and leading Gracie up ; 
 " she can tell you." 
 
 "Tell me tell me what?" asked the 
 woman, raising herself. " Can she tell me 
 when my child will awake tell me when 
 my husband will come from the sea again ? " 
 
 " No, no," said Gracie. " I'm so sorry you 
 are ill, I want to do anything I can for you." 
 
 " It's too late, too late ; it's all too late," 
 said the woman wildly. " Tell me," she 
 cried, clasping her child closer to her, " is 
 there any one who can save 1" 
 
 Gracie's tongue seemed tied ; she knew 
 not what to say ; but she silently prayed for 
 strength, and then answered slowly, " The 
 Bible says, ' Jesus Christ came into the 
 world to save sinners.' "
 
 THE WRECKER S PRIZE. 113 
 
 " Are you sure \ " asked the poor sufferer. 
 
 " Quite, quite sure ; and it says, ' The 
 blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all 
 sin.' " 
 
 " Oh, I know it, I know it ; I heard it 
 long ago. Read me of Him ;" and she 
 took from her bosom a little book wrapped 
 up, and feebly handing it to Gracie, lay back 
 faint and exhausted. It was a New Testa- 
 ment, and Gracie read of the love of the 
 Saviour to all who would come to him. 
 
 " Read me of the two sons the one that 
 ran away," whispered the woman with diffi- 
 culty. 
 
 Gracie turned to the 15th of St. Luke, 
 and began reading the history of the pro- 
 digal son ; but she had not got far before 
 the woman uttered a long piercing cry of 
 "Father, my father !" and fell back in a 
 faint." 
 
 "I'll go and look for more assistance," 
 said Gracie, taking her crutch and rising. 
 
 " Make haste," said Poll Lennox, who 
 
 (819) 8
 
 114 THE WRECKER'S PRIZE. 
 
 was supporting the dying woman, and Grace 
 set off. 
 
 She had not got far before she spied the 
 well-known figure of Uncle Peter coming to 
 meet her. 
 
 " Well, Gracie, child," he said, " here I am 
 come all this way to look for ye ; and some 
 one told me you'd been walking along with 
 Kenrick the wrecker bad company for you," 
 and he shook his head at her playfully. But 
 he soon saw that something was the mat- 
 ter, for she could hardly speak, but seized his 
 hand and drew him on in the direction of 
 Kenrick's hut. 
 
 " Come, Uncle Peter, come ! she's dying 
 a poor woman from the wreck, and I don't 
 know how to speak to her rightly ; come." 
 
 Uncle Peter hurried after her as fast as 
 he could, and they had soon reached the hut, 
 'and found that the poor woman had recovered 
 from the faint, and was looking round for 
 Gracie. 
 
 But no sooner did her eyes fall upon
 
 THE WRECKER S PRIZE. 
 
 115 
 
 Uncle Peter, than she stretched her arms 
 out to him, and in an instant he was kneel- 
 ing by her side, sobbing like a child, while 
 the woman's cry of " Father I father !" told 
 that Uncle Peter's lost one had returned, 
 and that Mary would be forgiven and com- 
 forted before she died. 
 
 TATHER! FATHJCK!" 
 
 " Father, I have sinned," she whispered. 
 " my girl ! my daughter ! you've come 
 home ; all the past is forgot. My God, this
 
 116 THE WRECKER'S PRIZE. 
 
 is thy mercy !" and then Uncle Peter's voice 
 failed him. 
 
 " Father," she went on, " I was coming 
 back to you some time. Richard said he 
 would bring me. I was wretched for years 
 after I went, and yet I could not get back. 
 I went to America, and there I found my 
 happiness ; for after I'd been a servant some 
 years I married him my Richard, my brave, 
 good Richard him that the cruel sea took 
 from me last night ; and we were come back 
 to England, and were going to Wales to his 
 father, and he said he'd bring me to you 
 some day and he was so good ! O father, 
 I did not deserve him. But God gave him 
 to me ; and my child look, father, my little 
 dead baby ; Richard had him called Peter 
 for your sake, though he never saw you. 
 And then the storm came, and he was try- 
 ing to save me, and we were both washed 
 over, and they say he's drowned- father, 
 father ! " 
 
 " My poor lamb," said the old man ten-
 
 THE WRECKER S PRIZE. 117 
 
 derly, as he laid his hand on her head ; " nry 
 poor dear child." 
 
 " Father, pray" she whispered ; " pray 
 God to forgive me for Jesus Christ's sake, 
 as you used to do when I was a child by 
 your knee." 
 
 Then the old man knelt, and Gracie knelt, 
 and Kenrick the wrecker knelt too (Poll 
 Lennox had stolen away), and earnestly and 
 simply the old man prayed for the parting 
 soul of his child ; and as he prayed, a look 
 of peace stole over her face a look resem- 
 bling that of the dead child by her side. 
 
 " Forgiven !" she whispered when he had 
 done ; " forgiven for His sake, saved through 
 Him. Kiss me, father ; say you forgive me ; 
 bless me." 
 
 " God Almighty bless you, my daughter. 
 I forgive ye as I hope to be forgiven, and 
 soon I'll be following you to that safe haven." 
 
 "Lay me by mother and Jack, father, 
 won't you ! and put Richard with me, and 
 my baby."
 
 118 THE WRECKE11S PRIZE. 
 
 " I will, my child," said the old man. 
 
 Mary held out her hand to Gracie. " God 
 bless you, dear ; will you be good to father 
 when I'm gone ? Is that David Kenrick 
 that used to play with me and Jack ? Good- 
 bye, David." 
 
 Then there was a long, long silence in the 
 little hut, only broken by the short breath- 
 ing of the dying woman. At last she spoke, 
 or tried -to say something to her father, of 
 which he could only catch the last words, 
 " Him that cometh 
 
 " To me, I will in no wise cast out," said 
 her father gently. A smile spread itself 
 over her face, a smile full of peace and hope ; 
 and then she died. 
 
 " Look here, Gracie," said Kenrick, call- 
 ing her outside the cottage, and closing the 
 door behind him. " Look, this is her Rich- 
 ard ; poor Mary!" and he lifted up a sail 
 which was spread over something that lay 
 there, and showed her a man who had been 
 washed on shore that morning. " We haven't
 
 THE WRECKER S PRIZE. 
 
 119 
 
 touched anything of his," he added ; and 
 Gracie looked upon the still, white features, 
 and the damp curly hair, and thought of 
 Richard and of poor Mary ; and then, as 
 Kenrick laid the sail down again over him, 
 she whispered to herself, " They are to- 
 gether now."
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 FRANK'S WISH. 
 
 " Summer ocean ! how 111 miss thee, 
 
 Miss the thunder of thy roar, 
 Miss the music of thy ripple, 
 
 Miss thy sorrow-soothing shore ! 
 Summer ocean ! how I'll miss thee 
 When ' the sea shall be no more !' " 
 
 [HE grass had grown green on Mary 
 and Richard's graves, and a year 
 had passed away. There were not 
 ^ many changes in the quiet little 
 village, however, except that old Joseph Pen- 
 drid was dead, and Uncle Peter was obliged 
 to give up work, and lived now upon his 
 small savings in his comfortable little cot- 
 tage by the sea. His hair had grown grayer 
 and his step more feeble, now that his last 
 earthly hope was gone ; but all his affections
 
 FRANKS WISH. 121 
 
 were fixed in that quiet haven where he 
 longed to be with " those who had gone be- 
 fore." 
 
 It had been a calm still day, and the 
 evening was one of extreme beauty. Gracie 
 was sitting by his side reading to him out 
 of his large Bible, while the old man smoked 
 his pipe. The chapter he had asked for was 
 in the Book of Revelation, and told of the 
 time when the old heaven and earth were to 
 pass away, and there was to be no more sea. 
 
 Gracie paused when she came to this, and 
 looking up thoughtfully, she said, 
 
 " Uncle Peter, I can't make this out ; I 
 don't like to think that we shall have no sea 
 in heaven." 
 
 " I don't think it, lass," replied the old 
 man. 
 
 "But it says so," said Gracie, laying her 
 finger on the verse she had been reading. 
 
 "Well, lass, I've not much learning, but 
 I think just this : there'll not be the same 
 sea ; no more storms, no more wrecks ; we
 
 122 FEANK'S WISH. 
 
 can ne'er again lose our loved ones in its 
 angry waves, and it can never part folks 
 more; but, dearie, we read of a sea of glass 
 mingled with fire, and on it harpers harping 
 on their harps. A calm sea, lass, with no 
 more cruel storms." 
 
 Gracie's face brightened considerably. ' ' 
 Uncle Peter, I'm glad of that ! I'll always 
 think of that a sea like this, so calm and 
 clear, with the sunlight across it." 
 
 "No more sea," repeated Uncle Peter, 
 half to himself. "When we've passed 
 through the waves of this troublesome world, 
 and have reached the quiet haven, there will 
 be printed clear above the entrance to it 
 that which will stop every wave of trouble, 
 of pain, or of care from coming near the 
 Lord's children ; for he himself will say to 
 them, ' Hitherto shall ye come, and no 
 further.'" 
 
 " Uncle Peter, I want to tell you some- 
 thing," said Gracie, when she had finished 
 reading, and had closed the book.
 
 FRANK S WISH. 123 
 
 "Well, dearie!" 
 
 " Do you know Frank's been so good 
 lately ; he's so kind to me, and so good and 
 nice at home, I think he's going to be just 
 like our George." 
 
 " I hope so, lass ; isn't that the boy him- 
 self coming to look for you \ " 
 
 "Yes, Uncle Peter, it's him; he said he'd 
 come to fetch me home." 
 
 And Frank approached them, whistling 
 merrily to himself, and looking the picture 
 of health and joy, as if the mere fact of 
 living were a delight to him ; and any one 
 who had seen him, would not have wondered 
 that Gracie was proud of her brother. 
 
 " Well, Gracie, I've come," he cried, as he 
 flung himself down on the sand by their side. 
 
 " I see you have," said Gracie, laughing ; 
 " and I suppose I must put on my cloak, as 
 mother will be wanting me." 
 
 " Yes, come along. " And as soon as Gracie 
 was dressed, they bid Uncle Peter good- 
 night, ai)d set off on their homeward walk.
 
 124 FRANK'S WISH. 
 
 For some time Frank did not speak, but 
 walked on whistling ; at last, however, he 
 stopped abruptly, and said, 
 
 " Grade, I say, haven't I been a good boy 
 lately?" 
 
 "Yes, Frank, very," replied Gracie, smiling 
 at the blunt way in which the question was 
 put. 
 
 " I've done everything I've been told ; 
 I've not been mischievous ; I've not let 
 Peggy toddle down into the sea more than 
 once ; I've made a big net ; and I've 
 
 " I know, Frank, but we shouldn't praise 
 ourselves so much," answered his sister, 
 laughing merrily. 
 
 " I don't care, I just wanted to know." 
 
 " Well, I think you have been very good/' 
 
 "Then, Gracie, don't you think," and the 
 little boy's voice sunk to a confidential whis- 
 per, " don't you think they might let me go 
 to the Point with Ralph ? " 
 
 " No, Frank ; you know daddy doesn't like 
 you to go there."
 
 FRANK'S WISH. 125 
 
 Frank's face fell. 
 
 " I'm no baby now ; I don't see why I 
 shouldn't go it's a famous clambering place, 
 and there are quantities of eggs there. 
 Gracie, I mean to ask daddy to-night." 
 
 " It'll only vex him," said Gracie gravely. 
 
 " I'll try," said Frank. " Of course it 
 wouldn't do for a girl like you to go there, 
 but a man ought to be able to climb any- 
 where." 
 
 " A man ! " said Gracie rather mockingly. 
 
 " How you do tease one," replied Frank 
 impatiently. " I believe it's because you 
 can't go yourself you don't want me to have 
 the fun." 
 
 "Frank, that's not true," said Gracie, 
 while the bright colour mounted into her 
 pale cheeks. 
 
 Frank was sorry in an instant, and said, 
 " No, it's not true ; you're a good Gracie ; " 
 but there was a cloud on his sunny face as 
 they entered their cottage door. 
 
 When the evening meal was ended, and
 
 126 FRANK S WISH. 
 
 Jacob's pipe was lit, Frank came to his side, 
 bringing the large net he had finished that 
 day. 
 
 " Look, father, isn't it a big one ? " 
 
 " Yes, lad. Why, you're getting quite a 
 handy little fisherman ; I'll soon be taking 
 you out in my boat." 
 
 Frank looked up joyfully. 
 
 "I'm growing a big fellow, daddy too 
 big to be idle, don't you think^? " and he 
 stretched his head up to see if it reached his 
 father's shoulder when he was sitting down. 
 
 "Ay, ay, too old to be idle, my lad." 
 
 " Daddy," said Frank hesitatingly, but in 
 a very entreating voice, " I want to ask you 
 something." 
 
 "Well, lad, speak up." 
 
 "Will you say <Yes"?" 
 
 "If I don't say 'No' I will," replied 
 Jacob, taking his pipe from his mouth and 
 shaking the ashes out of it. 
 
 " May I go along with Ralph to Sea Gull 
 Point to-morrow ? "
 
 FRANK S WISH. 
 
 127 
 
 ASKING LHAVE. 
 
 " No ! " said his father hastily but decided 
 " Mind my words, youngster, if I catch you 
 going there, I'll make you remember it." 
 
 " But I'd be very careful, father," pleaded 
 the little boy. 
 
 " Be quiet, Frank ; I won't have one word 
 of that. You're not to go ; d'ye hear ? " 
 
 " It's too bad," muttered the boy sullenly, 
 as he turned into the house ; and wicked re- 
 bellious thoughts rose up in his mind that 
 night as he lay in his little bed.
 
 128 FRANK'S WISH. 
 
 The next day, Gracie was sitting at work 
 in the afternoon on a rock near the sea, when 
 she saw Frank come out of the cottage, look- 
 ing very downcast. She called to him, and 
 he came over to her slowly. 
 
 " What's the matter ? " she said very 
 gently, and in a sympathizing tone which 
 Frank knew well. His lip quivered, and 
 he turned his head away, and then she re- 
 peated her question. 
 
 A sob was the only answer she received, 
 and gently putting her arm round her little 
 brother's neck, she looked lovingly into his 
 face, which he was trying vainly to conceal, 
 that she might not see that he was crying. 
 
 " What is it, Franky ? " 
 
 " I want oh, I want to go to the Point." 
 
 "But, Frank, you know daddy knows 
 best.' : 
 
 " Oh, don't preach like that; I want to go." 
 
 " Why do you want it so much ; I never 
 saw you cry for anything of that kind be- 
 fore ? "
 
 FRANK'S WISH. 129 
 
 "Because because Ralph thinks I'm a 
 coward, and afraid to go there." 
 
 " But you're not, Franky dear ; you need 
 not mind what Ralph thinks, need you ? " 
 
 " I can't help it," sobbed Frank. 
 
 " Oh yes, you can ; now, Frank, we'll 
 have a merry time out here this afternoon ; 
 don't go away and leave me." 
 
 Frank dried his tears. 
 
 " I'll tell you what I'll do," said Gracie, 
 " I'll give you those sea-gull eggs that Ralph 
 brought me ; would you like them ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Frank, rubbing the sleeve of 
 his blue fustian jacket across his eyes, and 
 brightening up considerably. 
 
 "Gracie, Gracie," cried her mother, coming 
 to the door of the cottage, " come and take 
 Peggy for a while ; I'm afraid she'll get into 
 mischief." 
 
 Gracie rose. " Now, Frank, wait here for 
 me, like a good boy ; I won't be long." 
 
 "All right," said Frank, seating himself 
 on the rock she had quitted, and throwing 
 
 (319)
 
 130 FRANK S WISH. 
 
 some pebbles and pieces of broken shells 
 down into the water below him. 
 
 Gracie meanwhile went into the cottage 
 and asked her mother's leave to take Peggy 
 out ; and the little one held out her hand in 
 token of her willingness to go with "Gay," 
 as she called her sister in the peculiar baby 
 language which she was beginning to acquire. 
 
 "Yes, you shall come, darling," said Gracie, 
 getting down the little pink bonnet and tying 
 it on the curly head. " Come along and 
 play with brother ; " but when she had reached 
 the rock, Frank was gone I
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 WHERE IS HE? 
 
 The billows swell, the winds are high, 
 
 Clouds overcast the wintry sky ; 
 Out of the depths to thee we call, 
 
 Our fears are great, our strength is small 
 
 1 Amidst the roaring of the sea 
 
 Our souls still hang their hope on thee ; 
 Thy constant love and faithful care 
 Support, and save us from despair." 
 
 r ENING came, and Jacob Williams 
 returned from his work. 
 
 " Where's Frank ? " was his first 
 question, as he glanced round the 
 cottage and saw his wife, Gracie, 
 and little toddling Peggy, but missed the 
 merry face of his boy. 
 
 " I don't know, daddy," said Gracie, look- 
 ing up ; " he was with me in the early part
 
 132 WHERE IS HE ? 
 
 of the afternoon, and then when I came in 
 to fetch Peggy, he went off." 
 
 "He ought to be in, it's getting dark," 
 said Jacob, putting down his nets in a corner. 
 
 " He's out later than this at times," said 
 his mother. 
 
 "Let's have our tea, wife." 
 
 An hour passed, and still Frank came not. 
 
 "This is getting beyond a joke," said 
 Jacob, rising. "Gracie, child, where do 
 you think he is ? " 
 
 " I don't know, daddy," replied the little 
 girl fearfully. 
 
 "He couldn't have gone to the Point, 
 could he 1 " said the father, while a look of 
 terror passed over his face. 
 
 " I don't think so, father, but Ralph would 
 know ; will you step down and ask Ralph ? " 
 
 " I don't think you need, for that's the 
 boy himself coming," said his mother eagerly ; 
 but the footstep passed the door, and an 
 anxious, terrified look settled down on the 
 parents' faces.
 
 WHERE IS HE? 133 
 
 "I'll be off to Simon Lennox's," said 
 Jacob, seizing his hat, and hastily quitting 
 the house. A few minutes' quick walking 
 brought him to Ralph's house, and he 
 knocked loudly at the door. 
 
 Poll Lennox opened it. 
 
 " Is your Ralph in 1 " asked Jacob. 
 
 "He is, worse luck to him," replied his aunt. 
 
 " Can I speak a word to him ? " 
 
 " As many as you will, but I doubt you'll 
 get no answer ; the boy's in a sulk, and sits 
 there like a log." 
 
 Jacob entered the house, and, glancing 
 round the room, saw Ralph on a low stool 
 near the fire, with his elbows on his knees, 
 and his chin supported by his hands, look- 
 ing hard into the glowing coals. The fire- 
 light shone on his face, and showed that it 
 was ashen pale ; his eyes had a scared and 
 terrified look about them, and his mouth 
 bore the impress of dogged obstinacy. 
 
 " Ralph, where's my Frank 1 " said Jacob, 
 coming up to him suddenly.
 
 134 WHERE IS HE ? 
 
 The boy gave a wild start, but when Jacob 
 repeated his question, he only shook his head 
 in reply, and stared straight into the fire. 
 
 " Have you been with Frank this after- 
 noon ? " asked the fisherman again. 
 
 Ralph shook his head. 
 
 " Speak, can't ye ! " said his Aunt Poll, 
 coming up to him and striking him hard 
 across the face. 
 
 A cry of pain burst from him, and Jacob 
 eagerly interposed : " Don't strike the lad, 
 that'll do no good ; speak, Ralph, tell me if 
 you know anything of Frank." 
 
 But the dogged silence was still main- 
 tained. 
 
 " Ralph, I've never been unkind to you, 
 I've let my children play with you, and be 
 with you tell me now the truth, where's 
 Frank I " 
 
 Ralph looked up for one moment, and 
 said in a loud voice, " I know nothing at all 
 about him." 
 
 " Has he not been with you ? "
 
 WHERE IS 11E ? 135 
 
 " No ! " and then the boy shuddered, and 
 relapsed once more into his old position and 
 his former silence. 
 
 " There, ye see, ye can make naught of 
 him," said his aunt. 
 
 And Jacob turned sorrowfully away, and 
 went home to tell the sad news to his anx- 
 ious wife and poor frightened Gracie. All 
 night he wandered up and down the shore, 
 between the Point and his own house, call- 
 ing to his boy, and thinking that everything 
 he stumbled against was Frank's dead body. 
 The news had fled like wildfire through the 
 village, and many neighbours had offered 
 their help to him. When the morning 
 dawned Jacob returned home, weary and 
 broken-hearted, from his fruitless search. 
 
 At the door of his cottage he met Michael, 
 the young fisherman, who has been before 
 mentioned in this story. 
 
 "I'm sorry for your trouble, Jacob," said 
 the young man, who had a year-old baby at 
 home, and knew what he himself should be
 
 136 WHERE IS HE ? 
 
 feeling if anything had happened to his 
 treasure. " It goes to niy heart to see ye." 
 
 Jacob's face had changed considerably 
 during that night of anxiety, and he now 
 looked like a haggard old man, and the tears 
 rushed to his eyes as Michael spoke. 
 
 " Where was the boy last seen ? " asked 
 Michael 
 
 " On the rocks opposite our cottage," re- 
 plied the father, in a low, broken voice. 
 
 " Why, man, I saw him after that," said 
 the young fisherman musingly. 
 
 " Saw him ! where ? when ? speak, 
 Michael Penrose." 
 
 " I saw him now, let me see I saw 
 him, about four of the clock, going along the 
 cliff above the Point Ralph Lennox, I 
 think it was, with him. They clambered 
 down the rocks on to the Point, and then I 
 didn't see him any more. I thought you 
 must be somewhere near; you'd never let 
 that chap go to such a place alone." 
 
 A look of the most extreme anguish
 
 WHERE IS HE ? 137 
 
 crossed the father's face. " I've asked 
 Ralph already he will not speak except to 
 deny that he saw Frank at all." 
 
 "The young liar," said Michael angrily. 
 " Come along, Jacob, and ask him again." 
 
 So they went together to Lennox's cot- 
 tage. The father was in this time, and 
 greeted them with a hoarse laugh. 
 
 " Come to make my youngster talk, have 
 ye?" 
 
 " Yes," said Michael ; " I saw him with 
 Frank Williams yesterday, and he shall 
 speak. What became of him, Ralph ?" and 
 to enforce his words, he seized the boy by the 
 collar of his jacket, and shook him violently. 
 
 Ralph wrenched himself away from his 
 grasp, and glared at him in anger, but did 
 not speak. 
 
 " You'd better speak, my chap, I can tell 
 ye," said Simon angrily, " or I'll make ye." 
 
 The boy put his hand up to his head as if 
 bewildered, and gazed from one to another 
 with a look of wonder.
 
 138 WHEEE IS HE ? 
 
 " Speak, Ralph ; there's a good lad," said 
 Jacob earnestly. 
 
 But Ralph only shook his head again. 
 
 " Leave him alone," said Simon ; " I'll 
 make him tell, and then I'll come and let ye 
 know." 
 
 And as Jacob and Michael walked away 
 down the shore, they heard the sound of 
 screaming and cries of pain, which told them 
 that Simon was trying to extract the secret 
 by blows. 
 
 When Jacob again reached his own 
 home, Gracie met him on the door-step ; her 
 face was very pale and eager, and her eyes 
 were swollen with crying. 
 
 " Well, daddy ?" she cried as he came up. 
 
 Her father did not speak, but passed her 
 quickly and went into the house. 
 
 "What is it, Michael?" asked Gracie, 
 lingering for a moment. 
 
 " That young dog Ralph knows, but will 
 not tell," replied Michael. " Gracie, I 
 fear it's very bad ; you know the tide is so
 
 WHERE IS HE ? 139 
 
 dangerous at the Point and it was there he 
 was, for I saw him." 
 
 Gracie turned away from him and entered 
 the house. Her father was sitting by the 
 table, with his arms leaning on it, and his 
 face buried in them, and his whole frame 
 was heaving with deep sobs. Dame Wil- 
 liams was crying loudly, but was tying on 
 her bonnet. 
 
 "I'm going to make Ralph tell," she said 
 hastily, as she met Gracie's inquiring look, 
 and then she went out. 
 
 "Father," whispered Gracie, coming up 
 close beside him, "dear, dear, father." 
 
 He did not speak, for the sound of her 
 voice seemed only to increase his sorrow. 
 She slipped her hand under his arm, and 
 took one of his. " Father !" she said again. 
 
 " Oh, my boy my boy ! " sobbed Jacob ; 
 and then he raised his head, took Gracie in 
 his arms, and the father and child wept to- 
 gether. 
 
 " Daddy," she said at length, clasping her
 
 140 WHERE IS HE? 
 
 arms tightly round his neck, " God says, 
 ' Call upon me in the time of trouble, and I 
 will deliver thee.' " 
 
 Jacob pressed her more closely to him, 
 but did not answer. 
 
 " I prayed for Frank all last night," said 
 Gracie. 
 
 " I could bear anything but this uncer- 
 tainty," muttered her father. 
 
 " Dear father, ask God to tell us one way 
 or the other." 
 
 "You are right, lass; we will;" and 
 Jacob flung himself on his knees and 
 prayed. It was a wild, broken prayer, but 
 it seemed to comfort him just to say over 
 and over again, " Lord, have mercy upon 
 us ! and tell us what to do save my boy 
 have mercy upon us ! " And after this they 
 rose stronger and calmer. 
 
 " My best little comforter," said Jacob, as 
 he kissed Gracie's forehead. "And now, 
 child, what shall we do ? here's mother, and 
 I see by her face she's had no news."
 
 WHERE IS HE? 141 
 
 "No news that wicked boy seems as if 
 he was possessed with a dumb devil," said 
 the poor mother. 
 
 " Father," said Gracie very earnestly, 
 " let me go and try. Ralph has always been 
 good to me ; may / try, dear father ?" 
 
 " I don't like you to go amongst that lot," 
 said her father. 
 
 "Oh, do let me I'm not afraid do, 
 father." 
 
 " Well go, lass ; and the Lord prosper 
 you. I'll get Michael to come to the Point 
 with me." 
 
 So Gracie went over to her little treasure- 
 box, and taking out of it Uncle Peter's six- 
 pence and the ornament which Kenrick had 
 given her, wrapped them up, slipped them 
 inside her dress, and set off.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 FALLEN OVER. 
 
 " He can save us still, 
 For His are the winds and the sea ; 
 And if He is with us, we'll fear no ill, 
 Whatever the danger be." 
 
 was leaning against the door- 
 post as Gracie came up to the cot- 
 tage, and as soon as he saw her he 
 turned his head away. 
 The little girl went close up to him, and, 
 holding out her hand, said gently, 
 
 " Poor Ralph, they've been beating 
 you." 
 
 " I don't care," said Ralph sulkily, and 
 stooping down to pick up a stone. 
 
 "I'm so sorry," said Gracie, in the same 
 pitying tone which she had used to him on
 
 FALLEN OVER. 143 
 
 that day long ago, when she had first com- 
 forted and helped him. 
 
 " You're not ! " said Ealph, looking wist- 
 fully into her face. 
 
 " I am indeed," said Gracie. " Look 
 here, Kalph I've brought you these things ; 
 you said once you'd like them ;" and she drew 
 the little parcel from its hiding-place. 
 
 " I don't want 'em," said Kalph. 
 
 " I'll give them both to you, if if " and 
 her voice sunk very low, " if you'll tell me 
 where Frank is." 
 
 "I've said I don't know," muttered Ralph. 
 
 " But you do know you know quite 
 well. O Ralph, Ralph, please tell me ; I 
 love him, and I shall be so unhappy, and I 
 am so miserable and you are miserable too 
 Ralph, tell me ! " and she burst into tears. 
 
 " Don't cry," said Ralph, covering his face 
 with his hands ; " I can't bear it, Gracie 
 don't. Oh, what shall I do ? what shall I 
 do?" 
 
 "Please please tell me," said Gracie.
 
 144 
 
 FALLEN OVER. 
 
 " Well, come here ;" and Ralph drew her 
 away behind the house. 
 
 Oracle trembled violently she knew not 
 why but she dreaded hearing what he had 
 got to tell. 
 
 " Do you want to know ?" said Ralph. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Will you not let me be hanged ? " he 
 asked, while his voice sunk to a low, mys- 
 terious whisper. 
 
 CONFESSION'. 
 
 " Ralph, Ralph, speak ; where is he ? " 
 " I've killed him," said Ralph, while his
 
 FALLEN OVER. 145 
 
 whole face seemed working with some great 
 terror. 
 
 " Where is he ?" asked Gracie. 
 
 " Fallen over," was all Ralph's reply. 
 
 A bitter cry broke from Gracie, and she 
 turned her head away ; but then she remem- 
 bered the necessity there was for finding out 
 all she could, and, when she looked up, 
 Ralph's miserable appearance moved her to 
 some degree of compassion. After all, her 
 grief could not be the same as his, and she 
 said to him, more kindly than ever, " Poor 
 Ralph ! " These words melted down all his 
 obstinacy, the hard heart was softened, and 
 he cried bitterly. 
 
 "Please, Ralph, tell me all about it," 
 she whispered, coming to his side and seat- 
 ing herself on a rock. 
 
 " I will oh, I will," he sobbed out; "I'm 
 so miserable, I think I shall die." 
 
 " How was it 1" said Gracie ; " you came 
 to the rock when I left him, I suppose, and 
 then you laughed at him for not going 
 
 (319) 10
 
 146 FALLEN OVER 
 
 with you, and then he said he would, and 
 then?" 
 
 " Did you see it ?" asked Ralph. 
 
 " No ; only I think that was the way." 
 
 " Yes ; and then we were getting eggs : 
 we clambered down the rocks, and then he 
 saw a nest and was trying to get them, and 
 I wanted to get them, and we squabbled 
 about it, and then I I pushed him and 
 he fell over. I saw him fall ; I heard him 
 scream ; I saw him lying on a ledge of rock 
 some feet below me ; and then I ran away. 
 I was afraid I should be hung, and so I 
 would not tell ; but I hear him screaming 
 still. O Gracie, stop him ; I think I hear 
 him even now." 
 
 " He may be saved still," said Gracie, 
 starting to her feet ; and then she hurried 
 home and told all that she knew to her 
 mother, and they sent off a messenger to 
 her father at the Point ; but the messenger 
 met him returning, with a face on which 
 certainty was written instead of suspense;
 
 FALLEN OVER. 147 
 
 and as he came near Grade, he held out a 
 cap which she knew was Frank's. 
 
 She quickly told him Ralph's story, and 
 then her father answered, 
 
 " Ay, but for that lad he might have been 
 saved. We searched that ledge of rock, but 
 the tide comes up there at high-water, and 
 he has been washed away. That's his cap ; 
 we found it close to the place. My boy is 
 drowned. Both drowned both dead !" said 
 the wretched nian as he entered his cottage ; 
 and the mother broke into a wild burst of 
 grief. 
 
 Gracie stole away to her little cove, and 
 sat down there. The heavy stupor of tear- 
 less grief was over her now ; she looked out 
 over the sea, and longed that she was dead 
 too ; and then she looked round her little 
 rock-chamber, and saw a hundred things 
 which reminded her of her brother. At last 
 tears came to her relief, and covering her 
 face, she gave way to her sorrow in long 
 piercing cries.
 
 148 FALLEN OVER. 
 
 Presently she thought she heard a foot- 
 step, and raising her head, she saw Kenrick 
 standing before her. 
 
 " Gracie," he said, more gently than she 
 had ever heard him speak. " Gracie, come 
 with me ; I've found something belonging 
 to you." 
 
 " Is it anything of Frank 1 " she said, look- 
 ing up at him eagerly. 
 
 " What's the matter ? " said the wrecker, 
 when he saw her tearful face. 
 
 " Frank's dead," sobbed Gracie, covering 
 her face again. 
 
 "Ay, then those shoes I found did be- 
 long to him ; come with me and I'll give 
 them to you." 
 
 Gracie rose ; she did not care where she 
 went, and she followed Kenrick without 
 speaking. 
 
 "Were you ever in a place called the 
 Wrecker's Den ? " he asked suddenly. 
 
 " No," replied Gracie. 
 
 " Well, I'll show it to you."
 
 FALLEN OVER. 149 
 
 By this time they had reached the Point, 
 and Gracie shuddered as she looked at the 
 rocks ; but Kenrick led her on past them 
 till they came to a little sheltered cove, on 
 one side of which some rough steps had 
 been hewn. 
 
 " I'll lift you up here," he said ; " it's a 
 rough home that I live in, but as I'm leav- 
 ing it, I don't mind showing it to you ! " 
 and then he helped her up the steps, until 
 they came to a large opening in the rock, 
 which was partially concealed by a curtain 
 of creepers which hung down over it. Ken- 
 rick pushed them aside, and led Gracie into 
 a large winding cavern. It was very dark, 
 but after going through two or three pas- 
 sages the little girl found herself in a cave 
 of considerable size, into which the light 
 streamed through several fissures in the 
 rock, and which was furnished like a fisher- 
 man's hut. In one corner there was a 
 wooden settle, and on this lay a pair of 
 boy's shoes.
 
 150 FALLEN OVER. 
 
 Kenrick pointed to them, and Oracle took 
 them up, and stood looking at them very 
 earnestly. 
 
 " Well, are they his ? " said Kenrick. 
 
 " They are," replied Gracie mournfully. 
 
 "Then I've got something else of his 
 here, in my sleeping-room," and he led the 
 way into a little inner cave. It was quite 
 dark, but the wrecker found his way to one 
 side of it, and pulling aside another curtain 
 formed of the tangled sea-weed which clung 
 to the outside of the rock, he let the light 
 stream into the cavern, and pointed to a 
 small bed of sea-weed on which lay Frank 
 himself ! 
 
 He looked very white, but Gracie could 
 hear his regular breathing as he lay there 
 in a sound sleep ; and a scream of plea- 
 sure broke from her, which made him open 
 his eyes and fix them on her. " Gracie ! " 
 he murmured, and then, fancying himself 
 at home, turned round and went asleep 
 again.
 
 FALLEN OVER. 
 
 151 
 
 " Oh, how did you find him ? " she cried, 
 as she clasped Kenrick's hands tightly in 
 
 A JOYFUL DISCOVERY. 
 
 her own, and looked into his face with 
 thankfulness that could not find words. 
 
 " It's a queer story, and it's all your doing, 
 little one." 
 
 Gracie looked astonished, and then asked 
 Kenrick to tell her all about it. 
 
 " Well, ye see, last night I was in here,
 
 152 FALLEN OVER. 
 
 and the tide was coming in, and the waves 
 wash up close to this little cave at the high 
 tide, and all of a sudden I heard a voice 
 underneath me crying and I didn't care, 
 for I'm a hard man, Grade ; but the tide was 
 coming up faster and faster, and then I heard 
 a wild, loud cry of, ' mother, Gracie, I 
 shall never see you again ; ' so when I heard 
 your name I pulled aside this sea-weed, and 
 there, on the ledge of rock down below me, 
 lay a boy, whom I knew directly for your 
 little brother Frank ; and there was the tide 
 coming up as fast as it could, and the little 
 fellow kneeling down, with his face scared 
 and terrified, and his clothes all torn and 
 jagged ; and then there came the remem- 
 brance of all your goodness to my little 
 Abel, Gracie, and I determined to run any 
 risk to save your brother ; so I fastened a 
 rope securely up here, and I let myself down, 
 and seized his jacket just as the wave was 
 carrying him off, and clambered up again 
 the best way I could."
 
 FALLEN OVE11. 
 
 153 
 
 TI1E RESCUE. 
 
 Grade's tears were flowing fast, but as 
 Kenrick paused, she looked up and said, " T
 
 154 FALLEN OVER. 
 
 don't know how to tell you that I thank 
 you." 
 
 "I'll tell you, little one ; I'm sick of this 
 life here, and I'm going away to another 
 country far off over the sea it's what they 
 call emigrating and, Gracie, you shall think 
 of me sometimes kindly as the man who 
 saved your brother." 
 
 "And as Abel's father," said Gracie, 
 softly. 
 
 " Yes, child, as Abel's father ; my little 
 boy," he said, with a tender, mournful tone 
 in his voice. 
 
 " I wonder how it is Frank isn't more 
 hurt ! " said Gracie. 
 
 "He's a good deal bruised, but he fell 
 very lightly, and on to a bed of sea-weed in- 
 stead of the hard rock," said Kenrick. 
 
 "Well, I must go and tell daddy and 
 mother," cried Gracie joyfully. 
 
 "Wake up, Frank," said Kenrick, bend- 
 ing down over the sleeping boy. " Here's 
 Gracie come to take you home."
 
 FALLEN OVER. 155 
 
 " Gracie, Gracie ! " cried the little fellow, 
 springing up. " I was so wicked ; I'm so 
 sorry." 
 
 " I hope you've learnt a lesson," said Ken- 
 rick ; and then he added gravely, "if I had 
 minded a father's word, I wouldn't be what 
 I am now. But go, children ; look, Frank, 
 there are your boots." 
 
 The boy drew them on. " My cap's gone," 
 he said thoughtfully. 
 
 "Yes, father brought it home," said Gracie. 
 And then, after many earnest thanks being 
 given to Kenrick, he helped them down the 
 steps, and they went together along the 
 sands. 
 
 " Gracie, will father be very angry ? " said 
 Frank, who was very quiet and subdued. 
 
 "I don't think he will," said Gracie; 
 "but, Frank, you'll never disobey him 
 again ? " 
 
 " I won't ; indeed, I won't. Gracie, 
 when the waves were coming up so close to 
 me, I was so frightened, and I prayed to
 
 15.6 
 
 FALLEN OVER. 
 
 God to keep them back ; and then when 
 they kept coming on still, I thought he was 
 punishing me for being so bad ; and I asked 
 him to forgive me, and to take me to heaven 
 when I died, for the Saviour's sake ; and 
 then I thought that if he only kept me alive 
 I would try to serve him all my life." 
 
 "FRANK, THERE'S DADDY!" 
 
 " Look, look, Frank, there's daddy ! " cried 
 Gracie, and in another instant Frank was in 
 his father's arms, and all was forgiven.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FAREWELL TO MOTHER ENGLAND. 
 
 " Cheer, boys, cheer! no more of idle sorrow: 
 Courage ! true hearts shall bear us on our way ; 
 Hope points before, and shows the bright to-morrow, 
 Let us forget the darkness of to-day ! " 
 
 IRACIE slipped away after a little 
 while, and went along the shore to 
 tell Uncle Peter the good news, 
 and on the way she met Ralph, 
 looking more miserable than ever. 
 "Ralph," she cried, "don't look so sad, 
 don't he's found he's at home ! " 
 
 The boy's whole face lighted up in an 
 instant, and seizing Gracie's arm, he eagerly 
 inquired, " How ? " 
 
 Gracie, only too glad to find a ready 
 listener, poured out the whole wonderful
 
 158 FAREWELL TO MOTHER ENGLAND. 
 
 story. When it was done, Ralph said very 
 earnestly, "I am glad." 
 
 "I know you are," said Gracie, "and I 
 ani glad for you." 
 
 "Will you ever be for forgiving me, or 
 will you hate me always ? " asked Ralph in 
 a low voice. 
 
 " I have forgiven you long ago," said 
 Gracie. " Ralph, I wish you would try 
 to be a good boy." 
 
 " I never could be good in such a home ! " 
 said Ralph ; and Gracie was inclined to think 
 that he spoke the truth. 
 
 " Gracie, you're good, aren't you ? " 
 
 "No, I'm not." 
 
 " I wish I was you." 
 
 " Ralph, will you do something for me 1 " 
 
 "Yes, anything." 
 
 " Come with me to the Sunday school." 
 
 "All right, if I've nothing better to do." 
 And then Gracie went on to Uncle Peter's, 
 and found him as willing to rejoice with her 
 joy as he always was to sorrow with her
 
 FAREWELL TO MOTHER ENGLAND. 159 
 
 griefs ; and when everything had been told, 
 she returned home, and the evening passed 
 joyfully away. 
 
 Jacob had sought out Kenrick and thanked 
 him most cordially, and then made him come 
 back to his house to spend a few hours there 
 in the evening ; and Michael Penrose and 
 his wife and baby came too, for Jacob was 
 not content until he had called his friends 
 and neighbours to rejoice with him. 
 
 The next evening, Kenrick came to bid 
 Gracie " Good-bye." 
 
 " Shall I ever see you again \ " asked the 
 little girl. 
 
 "No, little one, not here ; I'll never come 
 back to England while I live, but I hope to 
 lead a better and honester life in the land 
 I'm going to." 
 
 Gracie slipped into the house and whis- 
 pered something to her mother, and presently 
 she came out with a little Bible in her hand, 
 which she held out to Kenrick, saying, 
 " Please take it ; I've got another."
 
 160 FAREWELL TO MOTHER ENGLAND. 
 
 " I will, Gracie, and I'll keep it for your 
 sake. Good-bye, little one ; " and wringing 
 her hand, he turned away, and Gracie saw 
 that he was going in the direction of the 
 churchyard to bid farewell to Abel's grave. 
 She never saw Kenrick the wrecker again. 
 
 On the following Sunday, she went to call 
 for Ralph to go to the school with them ; 
 but when she got to the house, Poll Lennox 
 opened the door and told her to be off with 
 her hypocritical face, for that Ralph had 
 run away to sea. 
 
 It was quite true. The boy, weary and 
 wretched in his life at home, had left Hard- 
 rick and gone to one of the nearest ports, 
 where he had got a berth as cabin-boy ; and 
 his father and aunt felt that they were well 
 rid of him. 
 

 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ?NCE more let us glance at the fishers' 
 homes in Hardrick before we close 
 our story. Years have rolled on, 
 and made their changes even in 
 that quiet place. Uncle Peter is 
 laid in his resting-place in the churchyard. 
 
 Jacob Williams and his wife are now silver- 
 haired people, and Gracie and Frank are the 
 supports and comfort of their old age. 
 
 Simon Lennox has been drowned at sea, 
 and Poll his sister has met at last with the 
 just reward of her evil deeds, and been trans- 
 ported for stealing. 
 
 And far away in the backAVOods of America 
 there is a lonely grave which covers Kenrick 
 
 (310) H
 
 162 CONCLUSION. 
 
 the wrecker ; but it is " well with him," for, 
 through the mercy of the Saviour whom 
 Abel had loved, his father has found an 
 everlasting home with his child, where he is 
 waiting to welcome Gracie, who has been 
 like a ministering angel to him. 
 
 One evening a sailor had appeared in the 
 village, who seemed very well acquainted 
 with everything concerning the place, and 
 eagerly inquired for the Williams's cottage. 
 
 He was not recognized there, for no one 
 would have known the fine manly face and 
 figure of the stranger. 
 
 Gracie was sitting with her father at the 
 cottage door, and the sailor held out his 
 hand to her, saying, "Do you remember 
 me, Gracie?" 
 
 "No," she replied, looking earnestly at 
 him. 
 
 " Well, then, forget that you ever knew 
 me before ; forget the sins of my youth. I 
 have grown a wiser and a happier man. I 
 am Ralph Lennox."
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 168 
 
 " Ralph Lennox ! Oh, we have so often 
 talked of you, and wanted to hear of you. 
 I am so glad ! " said Oracle, holding out her 
 hand to him very cordially, and gazing with 
 extreme pleasure at his honest sunburnt 
 face, so different from that of the obstinate, 
 half-starved boy. 
 
 " Yes, Gracie, I have come now to settle 
 down in my native village. I have saved 
 enough money to buy a fishing-boat, and I
 
 164 CONCLUSION. 
 
 look forward to a peaceful life in Hardrick, 
 very different from the stormy days of my 
 boyhood." 
 
 "Frank," cried Gracie to a tall handsome 
 young man who was coming up the shore 
 with a net in his hand, " here's Ralph Len- 
 DOX come home ! " 
 
 And now let us leave the little village of 
 Hardrick while the setting sun is casting 
 its bright beams across the sea. Gracie, we 
 know, will go on steadfastly in the right 
 way, and be a sunbeam to all around her ; 
 for " the path of the just is as the shining 
 light which shineth more and more unto the 
 perfect day."
 
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 This book is DUE on the last 
 date stamped below 
 
 lOm-ll, '50 (2555)470
 
 PZ7.A1 E71 
 
 y 
 
 The fi 
 
 children. L 09 523 93 
 
 PZ7