The Pillar of Light

vigil, itself the culmination of two days of hard work, the fierce battle with the shark had shocked into active ex

ant, horrified and astounded to a degree hitherto beyond his experience. Not even the stiff pull of two hundred yards

fellow-keeper, more insistently.

id Brand, in a cur

, stretched out over the

was not proof against the jar of incredulity induced by this statement

heard it cry," murmured the oth

anvas quite near to Jim. But the Royal Navy does not encourage neurosis. The ligh

hat Brand had exchanged one Inferno for another, when he

ed up t

Swing the derrick until I grab the

g to his wounded limb, Jim, clinging to a

th some brandy. He's

he spirit, the sailor stoop

had rumpled into a roll beneath the arms, was an infant whose precise age it wa

s, during the first hours of vigor after abandonment, the little one might have rolled over in infantile search for food and human tendance, b

lity. Yet he gave slight heed to such considerations. Jim was the father of three lusty youngste

g environment. It was piteous to see the way in which the shrunken hands at once strove to clasp his wrists, thoug

windlass lowered a basket, there was not only a supply of brandy within but also a bottle of fre

jug to his exha

cockles of your heart. An' the sooner you shin up the ladder and get them soaked rags

collapse utterly, and the soft breeze, rendered c

lest quantity of milk into the baby's mouth. He produced a handkerchief, steeped a

s eagerness to gulp in the life-giving fluid was only matched by the t

while he paid no heed to Brand. Jones, forty feet ove

n' a lump of sugar,' my missus says. Pore little dear! However did it come to live, when that man must ha' bin dead for days? Now, Jim, slow an' sur

. Just hold on a bi

a he or

guess it's a g

g again, uttered a gurgling cry, a

"You think every kid is a hardy young savag

now who you're talking' to. Why, when I was on the

eir anxiety to rescue the fluttering existence of the tiny atom

t personality was rapidly r

e. Her skin is raw and her eyes sore with inflammation. The little foo

y the infant when supplies were temporarily withheld, and Jones was too pleased that his

oat must be thoroughly examined and swabbed out: Jones will signal for help. Meanwh

e was much to be done, and no time should b

he asked, as Stephen ca

ut sickness which overcame me

returning from his c

"He ought to be skipper of a battleship, instead of hous

ugh the air. Discomfited, it retired, with a scream. Its companion darted to the vacant site and pecked industriously. The neighborhood of

"When all's said an' done, it's t

issing, broken off probably when the mast fell. His trained scrutiny soon solved a puzzle suggested by the state of the cordage. Under ordinary conditions, t

-rope were bitten, not torn, asunder. The shark had str

in and sluicing the fore part. Then he passed a rope under the after thwart and reeved it throu

buoy three cables' lengths away to the northwest. If there was the least suspicion of

rless. By that time all her movable contents-she appeared to have plenty of t

ory of the deep would be forthcoming when the recent histor

e, Jim. I am l

was duly

or, cap'n?" was

ve as mementoes for the girl if she grows up, which i

ng' of?" came t

ellently well, too. He is e

thumb,' you're right, cap'n. The

were wheeling a perambulator. Now

rated rows used to such serious purpose in life that he had attained a length of nearly twelve feet. Set double in

rcharodon galeid? on the same lines as an alligator. If this big fellow's sharp embroidery were not

er, ignoring for the nonce what he ter

y dangerous species

e to keep 'em, but he would look fine in the museum. Plenty of folk

used in

Please do not mention my connection with the affair in any way. The story will get into the newspapers as it

u mean

boat, and the finding of the baby, together

chap was he?"

is all I can tell you. He must

world did that

he child until madness came, caused by drinking salt water. The next step is suicide. The little one, left living, fell into the bilge created by the shipping of a sea, and adopted, by the mercy of Providence, a method of avoiding dea

t's a sla

well nourished, in all likelihood, before the accident happened which set her adrift on the Atlantic. She may have lost twenty or thirty pounds in weight, but starvation is a slow affair, and her plumpness sa

ys of their acquaintance, he had sought to pin his friend with clumsy logic to some admission as to his past li

pernumeraries who helped to preserve the rotation of two months rock duty and one ashore, soon realized that Brand-

his relief hailed his reappearance with joy. During the preceding winter he actually entertained them with a free translation of the twenty-four books of the "Il

s a tacit admission of his higher social rank. They feared lest inquisitiveness should drive him from their midst, and one supernumerary, who heard from the

y that had his advice been taken "the bloomin' kid

Think how the seeming accident of a fallen sail saved the child from the cormorants and other birds-how a chance sea fe

t be a shark in her wake, or you wouldn't have taken the knife. An' now you won't have a word

we have not yet discovered w

n't find out in a hurry. He

othing left

y th

It was of the safety-pin order, but made of gold and orn

er's name o

aft was rigged on board s

and wearily acro

tate," he murmured. "That man had

ate. It was bad enough for me.

baby's clothe

ce. She was we

A noiseless procession of dim forms rushed after the carcass. The bird

r rows of wedge-shaped teeth, naught remained to testify to the drama of the h

ff. It would be noted at the Land's End and telegraphed to Penzance. The morn

s's bedroom they found him hard at

of mixture. She cried a bit when there was no more to be had, but a warm bath

s was up to his elbow

dry marks or initials on h

Here y

ittle vest, on which were worked

establish her identity, especially

'll take me all my time to get everything dry afore the tug comes. As for ironin', it

may be

some news of the s

be separated from her mother only by the mother's death. There is a very real chance that poor 'E. T.' wil

"You always dig to the heart of

d by relatives. It is almost a duty imposed on me by events. When the doctor comes, therefore, I purpose asking him to see that she is handed over to Mrs. Shepp

to grasp the motives which cause others to avoid publicity. They live sedate, lonely lives. The noise, the rush, the purposeless activities of existence ashore weary them. They

w placid in sleep, they quietly separated. Brand flung himself wearily into a bunk to obt

ent lookout must be maintained, signals answered or hoisted, everything kept spotlessly clean, and meals cooked. Until noon each day a rock lighthouse is the scene of unremitting diligence, and the

as awakened from a heavy sl

baby's had another pint of Jones's brew-Lord love her little eyes, though I haven't seen

The doctor would be on the rock by the time breakfas

he shook his head dubiously

e lived. She is a me

matters, and hin

inger. At others, you can fling him headlong from the Alps and he will merely suffer a bruise or two. Of course, this infant has an exceptionally strong constitution

ed in a clean blanket, she was lowered into the steamer's boat, but the doctor, pr

bailed out the derelict

's clothes were beautifully made and of a very expensive type. She was feverish, the doctor said, but t

rio were enjoying an evening pipe on the "pro

ow up," observed Jim, "what

ion," sa

th surprise. The prompt an

on whose distant confines the Scilly Isles were silhouetted by the last glow of the vanished sun. "Well, the name of the only pe

ce, always high-pitched, became s

"but what about the 'E'? Elizabeth is a

o that come to my mind, Elaine and Enid. Elaine died young, the victim of

remost in

t the tilt a

the great Prince

m her ladies

r, a gratefu

the G

e as how Miss Enid Trevillion is asleep an' doin' well, an' that she'll gro

ships and the Seven Stones Lightship were solemnly staring at their fellow-warden of the Gulf Rock, whilst, in the f