lock the previous evening, in a heavy
gale and in a leaky condition; the motion of the vessel soon increased
the leak to such a degree that the fires could not be kept burning.
About ten o'clock she bore up off St. Abb's Head, the storm still
raging. Soon after the engineer reported that the engines would not
work; the vessel became unmanageable; it was raining heavily, and the
fog was so dense that it was impossible to make out their situation. At
length the appearance of breakers close to leeward, and the Farne lights
just becoming visible, showed to all on board their imminent danger.

The captain vainly tried to run the vessel between the islands and the
main land, she would no longer answer the helm, and was driven to and
fro by a furious sea. Between three and four o'clock in the morning she
struck with her bows foremost on a jagged rock, which pierced her
timbers. Soon after the first shock a mighty wave lifted the vessel
from the rock, and let her fall again with such violence as fairly to
break her in two pieces; the after part, containing the cabin with many
passengers, all of whom perished, was instantly carried away through a
tremendous current, while the fore part was fixed on the rock. The
survivors, only nine in number, five of the crew and four passengers,
remained in this dreadful situation till daybreak, when they were
descried by the family at the light-house. But who could dare to cross
the raging abyss which lay between them?

Grace, full of pity and anxiety for the wretched people on the wreck,
forgot all toil and danger, and urged her father to launch the boat; she
took one oar and her father the other; but Grace had never assisted in
the boat before, and it was only by extreme exertion and the most
determined courage that they succeeded in bringing the boat up to the
rock, and rescuing nine of their fellow creatures from a watery grave,
and with the help of the crew in returning, landed all safe at the
light-house.

Happy Grace Darling! she needed no other reward than the joy of her own
heart and the warm thanks of those she had helped to deliver; but the
news of the heroic deed soon spread, and wondering and admiring
strangers came from far and near to see Grace and that lonely
light-house. Nay more, they showered gifts upon her, and a public
subscription was raised with a view of rewarding her bravery, to the
amount of seven hundred pounds. She continued to live with her parents
on their bar