selves out by the fire together.

"Just lave it to me," said Pete; "I'll hear them if they come in the
night. I'll always does. I'm sleeping that light it's shocking. Why,
sometimes I hear Black Tom when he comes home tipsy. I've done it
times."

"We'll have carpets to lie on to-morrow, not stones," said Philip,
wriggling on a rough one; "rolls of carpets--kidaminstrel ones."

They settled themselves side by side as close to each other as they
could creep, and tried not to hear the surging and sighing of the sea.
Then came a tremulous whimper:

"Pete!"

"What's that?"

"Don't you never say your prayers when you take the watch below?"

"Sometimes we does, when mother isn't too tired, and the ould man's
middling drunk and quiet."

"Then don't you like to then?"

"Aw, yes, though, I'm liking it scandalous."

The wreckers agreed to say their prayers, and got up again and said
them, knee to knee, with their two little faces to the fire, and then
stretched themselves out afresh.

"Pete, where's your hand?"

"Here you are, Phil."

In another minute, under the solemn darkness of the night, broken only
by the smouldering fire, amid the thunderous quake of the cavern after
every beat of the waves on the beach, the Carrasdhoo men were asleep.

Sometime in the dark reaches before the dawn Pete leapt up with a start
"What's that?" he cried, in a voice of fear.

But Philip was still in the mists of sleep, and, feeling the cold, he
only whimpered, "Cover me up, Pete."

"Phil!" cried Pete, in an affrighted whisper.

"Cover me up," drawled Philip.

"I thought it was Black Tom," said Pete.

There was some confused bellowing outside the cave.

"My goodness grayshers!" came in a terrible voice, "it's them, though,
the pair of them! Impozzible! who says it's impozzible? It's themselves
I'm telling you, ma'm. Guy heng! The woman's mad, putting a scream out
of herself like yonder. Safe? Coorse they're safe, bad luck to the young
wastrels! You're for putting up a prayer for your own one. Eh? Well,
I'm for hommering mine. The dirts? Weaned only yesterday, and fetching
a dacent man out of his bed to find them. A fire at them, too! Well, it
was the fire that found them. Pull the boat up, boys."

Philip was half awake by this time. "They've come," he whispered. "The
ships is come, they're on the reef. Oh, dear me! Best go and meet them.
P'raps they won't kill us if--if we--Oh, dear me!"

Then the wreckers, hand in hand