ather. In the twinkling of an eye, the boat,
moored in a creek, was unfastened, and launched upon the boiling
waves, when a voice cried from the shore,--

"And will you leave me behind? I have a right to run the same risks
with you; I wish to take my part." The mother threw herself into the
bark, which rose for a moment on the menacing crest of an enormous
wave, then disappeared, swallowed up in the furrow left between two
mountains of water.

In the mean while, the fog lifted, and a group of shipwrecked people
were seen clinging to the sharp points of a ledge of rocks upon
which beat the hull of a ship, split in two.

"They come nearer," cried one of them. "O, that terrible wave has
carried them farther off."

"Let us thank God for that," said the captain; "it might have dashed
them against the reef."

"They will arrive too late," said a poor mother who pressed to her
heart an infant already stiff and motionless with cold.

"They are making superhuman efforts," said the captain. "Courage,
brave hearts!" And he raised a white handkerchief.

The mother uttered a loud cry. She had just discovered that the
child that she was trying to warm was dead.

At this moment, the bark made a desperate effort to land; but a
furious wave carried it off for a third time. It whirled round and
round, as if taken into one of those bottomless gulfs which the
currents form around the rocks, and disappeared.

The group of shipwrecked sufferers, six men and five women, fell
upon their knees at this awful moment. Suddenly they perceived the
boat nearer to them than ever. It had rounded the reef, and gained a
quieter sea. It was coming along the edge of the rock, which on that
side sunk precipitately into the sea.

"Bless me," said the captain, "they are women."

"Angels come down from heaven to save us," cried a sailor.

Grace had already seized hold of the poor mother. She had gently
taken the dead baby out of her arms, under the pretence of carrying
it for her. She led her over the rough parts of the rock into the
boat.

There was not a minute to lose; the tide was rising; a delay of a
few moments might render a return impossible. The heroic young girl
insisted only that she would remain on the reef till the skiff,
which could only take half of the company, returned for the
remainder.

God rewarded her faith and courage. All those who had been wrecked
on the frightful reefs of Longstone were saved, and brought in
safety i