hint, and lifted his daughter in his arms and
seated her by the side of Miss Herbert; and the next moment the boat
was dancing merrily over the waves.

The warm welcome which our heroine received from Mr. and Mrs. Herbert,
showed that they cherished a kindly affection for her. She was made to
feel indeed how glad they were to receive her as their guest, by the
care which they exhibited to make her thoroughly happy and comfortable,
In this they were seconded by all the members of their family, among
whom the gentle lighthouse-maiden was a decided favourite.

"You have come from play to work, Grace," they said, "for we shall
begin harvest operations to-morrow."

But Grace replied that such work would be as good as play to her. At
least they would be carrying on the pleasures which they had begun on
the Farne Islands, and in the neighbourhood; for if they could not take
excursions, they would all be together, and their work at any rate
would be done merrily enough. There was one missing, however; for, on
the night of their arrival at Mr. Herbert's, the young student left
them for the Highlands of Scotland, where he intended to spend part of
his vacation. Grace did not forget him, for he was one of whom she
often spoke pleasantly as long as she lived; and such a holiday as they
had spent together, though short, had been very delightful, and would
be sure to be remembered by one whose life was on the whole very
uneventful, until the great event occurred.

The harvest fields of the Herberts presented a most lively appearance;
for a large number of country girls, and active young men, were engaged
in them. They reaped the fields in those days with the sickle; and had
not come to our own times, when the work is mostly done by a machine,
and all the music, poetry, and pleasure, seem to have gone out of the
operation. Harvest-time used to be of all the year the most merry and
joyous. Masters and men were then on the best of terms, and worked
together in harmony. Friendship seems too often quite left out of the
contract now, when people do their work by steam, and have not time, as
they seem to think, to cultivate good fellowship.

In Grace Darling's time, as we have said, there were merry days in the
harvest-field, and she herself very gladly helped. Indeed, all hands
had to assist, and it was only by so doing that the harvest could be
gathered in time. But the reaping, and binding into sheaves, and
carrying home,