he held on to a strong spike-nail; and though his hands
were bleeding, and almost raw, he would not let go, for he knew that if
he did he would lose his only chance of safety.

So they waited and prayed for deliverance, while the terrible moments
wore into hours. It must have seemed to them that God had forgotten to
be gracious, and that they were forsaken both by Him and their fellow
men. But many an agonising prayer rose to heaven, and at last, though
they little expected it, succour was nigh. It is true that it came by
a maiden's hands, but God was, indeed, the deliverer. His time often
seems very late, and His coming long delayed, but, after all, He knows
the right moment, and those who put their trust in Him will not be
confounded. Over the stormy water came a little boat on an errand of
mercy; and He, without whom not a sparrow can fall, was Himself in it,
aiding and blessing His servants. Let us see how wonderfully He had
cared for the few survivors on the Farne rocks, and by what
enthusiastic heroism He had filled the breast of the youthful
lighthouse-girl. And let us learn from it to trust in Him when our
times of need come.

"Say not my soul, 'From whence
Can God relieve my care?'
Remember that Omnipotence
Has servants everywhere."

CHAPTER XII.

GRACE TO THE RESCUE.

"Thus her compassion woman shows,
Beneath the line her acts are these;
Nor the wide waste of Lapland snows,
Can her warm flow of piety freeze.
From some sad land the stranger comes,
Where joys like ours are never found,
Let's soothe him in our happy homes,
Where freedom sits with plenty crowned.

"Man may the sterner virtues know,
Determined justice, truth severe;
But female hearts with pity glow,
And women holds affliction dear;
For guiltless woes her sorrow flows,
And suffering vice compels her tear;
'Tis hers to soothe the ills below,
And bid life's fairer views appear.

"To woman's gentle kind we owe
What comforts and delights us here;
They, its gay hopes on youth bestow,
And care they soothe, and age they cheer."--Crabbe.

That night Grace could not sleep. Had she been any other girl, indeed,
there would have been nothing remarkable in that, for the storm was
tremendous. But dwellers in lighthouses are so used to storms, that
generally they take but little notice of them; and the fact that this
storm really sent a thrill of solicitude