The Pillar of Light

to laugh just then, but it is a fine thing for a man, in a moment

ment of the whole frame of the lantern. Steel and glass alike were yielding to the sustained violence of the wind-pressure. Well were the

sought the Master of the Winds to spare them and those at sea. But Brand, believing that a catastrophe was immi

rds the iron rail that curved by the side of the stairs to the service-room, and take his chance. Ot

greeted their appearance

ed. "Are you plucky enough to descend to th

ntering way, careless of words, though each add

her tears. So it was not quite as bad as they imagined, this gale. Their father could never be so matter-of-fact in the face of real peril to

to manipulate

said, "but harden your hearts and go. Us

ring,

him see that he had no monopoly of the f

he cried. "He shall ha

caught his daughter glancing at

fully, and he cheated her qui

hree times the stalwart frame-work creaked. Once it moved so perceptibl

in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat,

were elevated to the supernatural. He seemed to acquire abnormal powers of sight and hearing. He could see the trees bending before the wrathful wind, hear the crashing tiles and brickwork as houses were demolished

folk ashore on a

us! Not even a step. They were inextricably interwoven, the woof and the warp of things. He rec

ar," said he, "but my

lf, discovered that his dominan

t it come quickly." He felt like a man lying on

it more draught. Even whilst his deft fingers arranged the complex burner, his ear caught a change in the external din. T

he south of Ireland, created a tidal wave which did great damage to the Scilly Isles and the headlands of the south coast, yet spent itself somewhere in the North Sea

g beverage; Constance, the lantern

cerned. In reality, the angry wind was no longer able to behead the waves. With a rising

e, "how pale you are. And your foreh

pped his face wi

"I was compelled to stand on the trimming stag

ly. The margin of s

hing else wro

ed and kiss

tle girl begin to doub

intolerable. For the life of her she could no longer con

most peril. I can't help knowing that it is high-water about two o'clock. It is now only a quarter to one. The w

in speechless bewilderment during this outburst from her proud an

on't want any cocoa if we're

ine surrender to an uncontrollable spasm of mirth, he would have feared lest his wits were leaving him. Yet he laug

ing the glass with force enough to break any ordinary window. The astounded girls could not refuse the evidence of eyes and ears. Here was the fran

obviously not acting. The hearty pulsations of laughter had rest

ried at last. "Have no fear. It is only th

He sipped his cocoa with real nonchalance. Another wave turned a somersault over the l

om which the lighthouse had successfully emerged was as naught compared with the thunderous blows of the waves, the astounding rever

sleep was folly. They must rem

accurately. They would be timid, of course, just as people are timid during their first attempt to walk 'twixt rock and

Still we live," he cri

pose so," s

aid Constance. "Now I am quit

oats. Put them on. As I cannot persuade you to leave me you must sit down, and it is cold in here. Moreover,

the subtle hint in his words. But she was quite normal again. She gave no sign

ience-when it is nicely over," he said. "You are

re-" beg

avorted over their heads. The house that was founded upon a rock fell not, but it

could Enid utter.

r. But you are far better situated than the soldier. He gets scared out of his wits by big guns which are comparatively harmless, and when he has been wel

liss?" deman

is over. The wind has dropped to a No. 10 gale, and we have not lost even a bit of skin to my knowledge. Now the c

deluge without. They heard th

with hands on knees. Her l

are not choosing yo

each phrase with singular care. Never be misled by the apparent

ld humbug,"

s looking from one to the other in eager striving to grasp the essentials of an episode rapidly grouping its details into sequence. Brand knew

d, with mock severity. "I am going to t

some part of the Atlantic

on. As soon as the tide rises sufficiently to gain an uninterrupted run across the reef we will have at least two hours of c

outed," exc

you will be in the mornin

f against this new burthen

"knowing that the nearest l

ed with

you will find a heliograph. It i

ext wave passed unheeded. Smiling, he went up to the lamp. Eve

s, cracked lips, and other outrageous defects which a pretty woman

she said. "Have you hea

pointer of the auriscope bore due southwest, though the last siren

trumpet resembling t

d. Its tiny vibrator quickly brough

er is near enough to affect the auriscope," he said. "

do, watched the dial to see if any change occurred. He hear

t goes back to the s

bedience to the sound-waves created in the room. Suddenly,

r naught else. He went to the southwest point of the glass dome, but the lantern was so blurred with rivu

the auriscope again, a

vely. "Evidently she is whistling for help. I hope she will not

tied the strings of a sou'we

y in gaining the gallery. The girls watched him forcing his way against the

kes me feel quite selfish. Here was I, thinking of nothing but my own

earest, how much father suffered when he sent us off with a jest

ith it! O

we were below, we might escape. I can see it all now. I

not have left him," c

im, sticking to his post.

le. Through the thick glass they could dimly distinguish Brand's f

shrilly. "Father would not rem

eely when they saw him again, an indeter

st speak. The sound of her

f duty. He would have died here quite calmly, Enid, yet he would avoid the least risk out there. Th

to be gazing into depths immeasurable. Afterwards the words

a full five minutes

half choked with spray. "I fear she is disabled. She is firing rockets,

onned their oilskin coats and arranged their sou'westers. When he hurried

alarm signal," he shouted, "and tie y

bursts and one red told the Land's End coastguards that a ship in need of help was near the Gulf Rock. Probably

ty, the girls crept o

ted by a climber, but their father, with a hand on their shoulders, pressed them down, and the spray crashed against the lantern behind them. He

ntern. Around, in a vast circle carved out of the murky wilderness, the wondrous beam of the light fought and conquered its unwearied foes. Constance caught the three quick flashes of the Seven Stones lightshi

ite spark swinging slowly across a considerable area. It was by that means that Brand had estimated the size and nearness of the steamer, and soon they glimpsed th

ty in estimating the rapidity of her approach. Enid, whose eyes were strong and far-sigh

to speak, she crept clos

ifting ont

so," he

e will b

ey manage to pa

st the wind, the constant watchfulness needed to avoid the ambitious seas, though these, strange to say, appea

pace on the glass: he must see if the lamp needed tending. Satisfied by the scrutin

shouted. "Twice they have got her head round, but the

rply defined black daubs on the heaving desert of froth. The plunging whirls of the masthead light w

her away from the horrible reef, and help would be forthcoming. Indeed, even then, a powerful steam trawler was prepar

d its path to the clouds. She was barely a mile away, and, if anything, in a worse position than before, as the wind remained f

endered half frantic by the thought that the

r. "Pray for them. They

tion of the reef, whose bearings ran southwest by west and north-northwest. At low-water, some two acres of jagged rocks were exposed. On all sides the soundings fell to sixteen and eighteen fathoms. What if this helpless leviathan, of ten thousand tons or more dead weight, were to strike the pillar? This was quite possible with the tide at its pres

of the vessel with stupefied eyes. He saw, as in a dream, that her officers and crew were still making desperate efforts to weather the reef. But, with the utter malignity o

a miraculous deftness, on the assumption that her wheel was put hard over, she fell away from the racing seas. Her red light disappeared; her gr

the reef. This was not enough. Another rush of foaming water enveloped her and smas

ould have its end, so surely had the gallant captain of the steamer refuse

nd's eyes. His arms e

hip, commanded by a

beginning of the