The Lighthouse

. Stevenson was now most anxiou

to; and the tide would probably sweep them all away before their danger could be known, or assistance sent from the attendant vessels. Every man felt that his pers

of the elements during all seasons of the year, it was

s, of iron. These bats, for the fixing of the principal and diagonal beams and bracing chains, required fifty-four holes, each measuring a foot and a half deep, and two inches wide. The operation of boring such h

blow of the hammer; he also sponged and cleaned out the hole, and supplied it occasionally with a little water, while the other two, with hammers of si

it, as it enabled him to get rid of some of his superabundant energy, and afforded him a suitable exercise for his gigantic strength. It also tende

found that when the tools were of a very good temper, these holes could be sunk at the rate of one inch per minute, including stoppages. But the tools were not always of good temper; and

they should be of the required shape, two holes had to be bored a few inches apart from each other,

employed about the beacon were

ndered the importance of the beacon, if possible, more obvious than ever, and which we

k; but one of the smaller vessels, the sloop Smeaton, lay much closer to it, and

on the rock; soon after which the crew of the boat pushed off and returned to the Smeaton to examine her rid

rd endeavoured to hoist the mainsail of the Smeaton, with the view of working her up to the buoy from which she had parted; but it

awing attention to the fact, and walked slowly to the farther point of the rock to watch her. He was quickly followed by the lan

he fails to make the rock within a

aid Wilson, in a tone that convinced

e said hurriedly; "s

d and tide together. No human power can bring that vessel to

with intense anxiety the ineffectual effort

anion and said, "They cannot save us, Wilson. Th

. For ordinary rough weather they would be quite full enough. In a sea like that," he said, pointing to th

ed air of confidence, as he moved slowly towards the place where the men were still working

and in so heavy a sea, a complement of eight men for each boat was as much as could with propriety be attempted, so that about half of their number was thus unprovided for. Under these circumstances he felt that to despatch one of the boats in expectation of either working the Smeaton sooner up to the rock, or in hopes of getti

in sitting or kneeling postures, excavating the rock or boring with jumpers, their attention was naturally diverted from everything else around

were aware of what had occurred. But ere long the tide began to rise upon those who were at work on the lower parts of the beacon and lighthouse. From the ru

men began pretty generally to make towards the

made the discovery tha

a word was spoken by anyone. All appeared to be silently calculating their numbers, and looking at each other with evident marks of perplexity depicted in the

nct, to Mr. Stevenson. The men seeme

ge, gazing in deep anxiety at the distant Smeaton, in the hope that he migh

; sending each successive wave nearer and nearer to the feet of those who

ch mind saw clearly the impossibility of anything being devi

of their circumstances; intending to propose that all hands should strip off their upper clothing when the higher parts of the rock should be laid under water; that the seamen should remove every unnecessary weight and encumbrance from the boat

ble experience, that saliva is as necessary to speech as the tongue itself. Stooping hastily, he dipped his hand into a pool of salt water and moistened his mouth. This produced immediate relief and he was about to speak,

ich he pointed, and there, sure enough, a large boa

unexpectedly sent them relief at the eleventh hour; but the only sound that escaped them was a

Rock pilot, who chanced to have come off

Rock at any time, and never during bad weather, we are constrained to feel that God does in His mercy interfere sometimes in a peculiar and special m

hen put off from the rock with the rest of the men, but they did not reach the Pharos until after a long and weary

for the vessel rolled so much, and the men were so exhausted, that it pr

eed, he did at one time beg them earnestly to drop him into the sea and be done with him altogether, a request with which they of course r

eedings of Captain Ogilvy (for that sapient seaman's proceedings were usually involved in a species of obscurity which light could not pene

that he became for a time perfectly regardless of all other sublunary things, and even came to look upon the Bell Rock as a speci

d seaweed, workmen and hammers, and forges and picks, and jumpers and seals, while his strong musc

, expressed as it was in her own innocent, truthful, and straightforward way, rendered his body, big though it was, almost incapable of containing his soul. He pulled the oar, hammered the jumper, battered th