The Pillar of Light

onotonous ticking of the clockwork attachment that governed it, the sharp and livelier click of the occulting hood's machinery, were the only sounds which alternat

xternally as the everlasting rock on which it stood,-replete within with burnished steel and polished brass, great cylinders and powerful pumps,-the lighthouse thrust its glowing torch beyond the reach of the most daring wave. Cold, dour, defiant

middle watch a gentle breeze from the Atlantic followed the tide and swept the shivering wraith landwar

waters under the heaven were gathered into one place

in melting despair, were etched in shadows of dreamy purple. Over the nearer sea-floor the quickly dying vapor spread a hazy pall of opal tints. Across the face of the waters glistening bands

o flood his soul afresh with a beauty made entrancing by the knowledge that

mple thing, beloved alike of poets and navvies,-yet his eyes drank in the mute

waves of musi

hariot of th

sers paw the u

nnons at her w

ient to the r

e worker within, busily cleaning an eight-inch bur

ail me?" h

awoke the dreamer. He tur

but it was Aurora, Spirit of the Dawn,

p'n. I thought I heard yo

am of amusement in his eyes. His mate sniffed the fragrant odor of the tobacco longingly, but the Elder Breth

e of good advi

on at eight. You ought to be dead beat after your double spell of the last two days. I'

whiffs, Jim. The

t one was a gentleman, born and bred, and the other a bluff, good-natured, horny-handed A.B., to whom

ent splashes of gray, brown and green through the purple. The rose flush on the horizon was assuming a yellower tinge and the blue of sky and water was deepening. Twen

abreast of the Gulf Rock Light. The watcher believed-was almost certain, in fact-that she was the Princess Royal, homeward bound from New York to Southampton. From her saloon deck those enthusiasts who h

ning as if she were beginning, not ending, her ocean race of three thousand miles, was carrying eager hundreds to the pleasures and follies of the great city. Yet he, the man smoking and silently staring at the

yes. His mouth set in a stern contempt. For a little while his face bore a steely express

so did the music of the morning chase away the lurking devil of memor

itterly perhaps. Behind him

l be in Lo

lads, y

King in his

y lads,

pe on the iron railing, and was about to enter the lantern-and so to the region of sleep beneath-when suddenly his glance, trained to an

the lighthouse. In calm weather, such as prevailed just then, it was difficult enough to effect a landing at the base of

over the stern. Its color, with the sun shining on it, no less than the vaporous eddies fading down to the surface of the sea, had prevented him from seeing

ow distinctly visible. But the lighthouse keeper knew he was not mistaken. Here was a boat adrift, forlorn, deserted. Its contour told him that it was no local craft straying adve

" he

rays, came at the call. He was lame-the result of a wound received

you make

s with his right hand, a mere shipboard trick of concentratin

ere's bin no blow to speak of for days. But they're gone. Knocked

under no control. She would drift steadily into the Bay until the tide turned, wander in an aimless circle for half an hour the

tted his companion and came back with a glass. He poised it with th

he bows. Can't make it out. And there's a couple of cormorants perched on the gunwale. But she'll

vast area of sea. Excepting the approaching steamer-which would flit past a mile away to the south-and a few distant brown s

d try and get hol

eye glued to

useful, an' we might tie her up to the buoy on the off chance until the relief comes or we signal a s

what I ha

ered th

ever heard you say a d--d s

nt in his voice now. He was

ically silly, Jim?"

What's under that sail? What's that lyin' crumpled up forra

am not afraid of any odd prowler. On

on't hea

vexed, Jim. Stand by and sing out directions if needful when I am in the

too, by the reference to Leander, whom he hazily

ulf Rock itself, and an occasional heavy surge as the swell revealed and instantly smothered some dark tooth of the reef, he heard no sound save the ring of Stephen Brand's boots on the iron s

experienced an anxious watch. Not for an instant could he forego attendance on the lamp. Owing to the sleet it was necessary to keep the light at full pressure. The surplus oil, d

ail to fall periodically, thus changing the character of the light, to the bewilderment an

oulders in the temperature of a Turkish bath an

hout the rest of his life, the sciatic nerve would remind him of that lonely

arrow-shaped ripple on the surface of the sea. The breeze which had vanquished the fog now k

uch as contain biscuits and compressed beef. The shapeless mass in the bows puzzled him. It was partly covered with broken planks from the damage

rain, was about eight miles away, sou'west by west. According to present indications steamer and derelict would be abr

rand, but Jones. Jim, whose rare irritated moods found safety in stolid silence

d rules, found the boat instantly, and recapitulated Jim's inve

out doors, forty feet above high-water mark, from which a series

hardly worth while signalin' to

ped to his underclothing, with a leather belt supporting a she

r Jim was the cheeriest nurse who ev

od swimmer, is it?" wa

o distance

a's like a

s smooth

o try it? Every fine mornin

ght for him an' you i

n the interference of authority, and Jones, whose maritime experiences were confined to the hauling in or

oulders swung into view. After a dozen vigorous breast strokes he rolled o

rapid progress. Jones, unencumbered

in' about in the service for. He's eddicated up to the top notch, an' he has money, too. His lodgin'

lined to genial gossip, but Jim was watching the boat curving towards t

s taken on this job for a change. I

that his subordinate harbore

ied. "He'll board

en, and Jones would guffaw at his "deep-sea" fancies. Anyhow, it

The swing of the tide carried the broken bow towards him. He was not more than the boat's length distant when he dived suddenly and the cormorants

enuinely st

e cried, "w

new it. I warned him. Eh, b

nes. Under reversed conditions he w

ying glasses brought this horror so close that they could see-they almost thought they could hear-its tensely dramatic action. The rapidly moving black signal reached the small

xpletive died

y. "He's ripped him. Oh, bully! Ma

rithed in agonized contortions and the sea showed masses of froth and dark blotches. The flutterings of the birds became irregular and alarmed. Their wheeling fli

perspiration. "I wouldn't have had i

fight to a finish, and the cap'n'll win. There ain't another s

red and Jim relieved the

now, Brand. Keep

t. Brand, who perhaps had seen a Malay diver handling his life-long enemy, coolly struck out towards the stern of the boat. The shark, churning the sea into a white

vered Jones, wh

n other terms when his attention wa

rd, stooped, caught a limp body by the belt which every sailor wears, and, with a mighty effort, slung it into the sea, where it sank instantly. So the shark, like many a human

s could distinguish anything of special interest under the heavy canvas sheet

sweeps, impelled the derelict away from the char

one transverse, the other lengthwise, proving how coolly and scientifically Brand had done his work. An occasional spasm revealed that life was not ye

his accomplished to his satisfaction, he looked towards the Gulf Rock for the first time since he drew the knife from its sheat

he telescope

oard," he announced, "so ther

?" said Jones, whose n

the cap'n had to go. It 'ud be the same if there was a funeral wante

ed with a winch, in case it might be needed, whilst the sailor climbed to the narrow

lantic swell, even in calm weather, rendered landing or boarding a boat a matter of activity. At this stage of the

rustling in rapid flight in the wake of the boat, darting ever an

stance. With the ease of a practised oarsman he turned

what the urgency in his voice betokened, there reached them the deep

incess Royal. She was close in, much ne

owing that a steamship trumpets the same note to express all sorts of emotion, understood that the offic

omethin' to crack about when you go ashore tonight or I'm very much mistaken. Now, cap