'Neil.

"I must go, I must go!" she exclaimed. "If no men are to be found, I,
at least, will go off!"

"Why, you would not venture out in such a sea as that?" cried Mr
Finlayson, calling after her as she began to descend the cliffs.

"That I will, sir, and go alone if no men will accompany me."

From the position of the coast in which the cottage was situated, it was
easy to launch a boat, although the sea was agitated outside. On
reaching her hut, the widow found her brother Shane standing outside it.

"Shane," she exclaimed, "you promised to stand by me on all occasions,
now prove your words. I am resolved to go out to yonder vessel; there
may be some alive on board. My heart tells me there are, and we must
save them. O stir up some of the other men, and bid them follow us, if
they are worthy of the name of men."

"I would go with you, sister," answered Shane, "if I could get others to
go, but they will not raise a finger to save any on board a king's
ship."

"But sure, they are our fellow-creatures, brother Shane," exclaimed the
fishwife. "Shame on the cowards if they dare not come, and shame on
you, brother, if you will not help me. Listen now; I dreamed last night
that he who has been so long away is coming back. It is not the first
time I have dreamed it either, and you may say if you will, that this is
only another fancy, but my days are numbered, and I know that before I
die he will come back; he promised, and Dermot was not the boy to break
his word. Come, Shane, come. Look, the sea has gone down, and you and
I with your boy Patrick, though he may have less sense than other lads,
will go off to the ship."

The widow's exhortations made Shane promise to accompany her. Her boat
was ill-fitted for the task, yet for some distance they could pull out
under shelter of a point which projected north of the cove. As the wind
had hauled round somewhat more to the north also, it might be possible
to set a sail, and with less difficulty reach the frigate. Patrick was
summoned, and with his father and the fishwife, the boat was launched.
She was cleared of all superfluous lumber, while Shane lashed under her
thwarts several empty casks, which would assist in giving her buoyancy.
It was a simple attempt at a life-boat, yet with all these precautions,
the old fishing craft was but ill-fitted for the undertaking. The
fishwife again and again urged her brother to hasten his work, so eager
was she to reach