ly; "where that
suggestion of clouds is--see!"

"N-no, but I guess they are. Ain't he the lookin'est thing you ever
saw?"

"Quite the lookin'est!"

Belle giggled. I bore her out in it sympathetically.

Wesley, who observed how we were at least keeping the crows off of the
clams, smiled upon us with feeble indulgence.

But as we read on, Belle did come to a lesson of such useful terror
that she decided to take her rake and assist Wesley among the flats.

I approved her, and lay back, smiling, in the I heard Wesley's little
old voice pipe up, considerately: "You'll scare 'em jest as well if you
do go to sleep, major."

I kept on smiling. The sun seemed a lake of glory and I a boatman,
fair and free, sailing vast distances upon it with just one stroke of
my wand-oar--and here I began to scare the crows unconsciously.

The air of the Basin anon exhilarated one, anon soothed one into
wondrous, deep, peace-drunken slumber.

When I awoke Vesty stood over me, calling me.

There was a purple, dark sky--now but little after mid-day--glowing
with red at the edges like a sunset; the wind was blowing strong. It
was dark, yet all was distinct about me. I sprang to my feet with a
sort of solemn exultation and bared my head.

"Wake, major, wake!" Vesty cried to me. She drew me and pointed out to
sea. "Notely's boat--it was trying to make home--it is on the reefs."

I saw it then by a flash of that unearthly light, the wind descending
like the last of days. I hastened with Vesty to the low beach, where
the people were moving strangely, looking out on the sea with its
swift-crested breakers.

From the yacht, beating helpless on the ledges, Notely and the few who
had sailed with him that morning were putting out the life-boat; but
Captain Rafe kept running his weather-stained hand down his white face,
his head shaking.

"Bare chance t' save half of 'em in the gale--they'll swamp her; nay,
nay, they'll never get her home with that freight; and it's no sea--it
's a herricane, above and below. I see the sky in broad day like that
but once before, and then----"

His voice was hushed, the boat was off, was lost; then once again we
saw her; we felt the gale rushing; when we could see again, there were
a few struggling in the waves, a few climbing back upon the sinking
masts of the vessel, with wild signals.

The little Basin boats were old and frail; only Gurdon had lately been
building a new fishing-boat. While w