lamber out, had in the first instance somewhat obscured his faculties;
and the subsequent appearance of Dick on the scene, as he was just
recovering from this douche, did not tend to make matters clearer to the
retriever, whose eyes and ears were full of water, besides being
moreover tired out by his previous exertions.

Any hesitation poor Rover might have felt, though, barely lasted an
instant; for, the sight of two figures battling for life in the sea
there under his very nose, and the knowledge that one of these was his
young master, brought in an instant all his sagacious instincts into
play.

He did not need the Captain or anybody else to tell him what to do. Not
he!

Giving his head a quick shake to clear his eyes and uttering a short,
sharp bark, as if to say, `Hold on, my boys, I'm coming to help you!'
the dog appeared to scramble through the water by a series of leaps,
rather than to swim, towards the spot where the two unfortunates were
struggling.

Reaching the pair, he at once gripped Bob's collar in his powerful teeth
and proceeded to tow him to land, Dick hanging on behind; and Rover's
muzzle was already turned shorewards, dragging his double burthen astern
ere the Captain's cry of encouragement came to his ears, although on
hearing it the noble animal redoubled his efforts.

It was, however, a terrible ordeal; nay, almost a hopeless one!

Had the boys been conscious, Rover would have had comparatively easy
work of it, as then one of them might have held on to his collar and the
other to his tail, and he could have pulled them both out without much
trouble; as it was, now, they clung so frantically to each other and to
him that they retarded in lieu of assisting his gallant attempt to save
them.

But, help was at hand.

Just as the Captain called out, a couple of coastguardsmen were coming
round the corner of the castle on their beat towards the east pier; and,
hearing his shout to Rover, they stopped.

"Hullo!" cried one of the men, observing that Mrs Gilmour was in a
state of great agitation, with Nellie sobbing beside her and the Captain
at the bottom of the sloping rampart in the act of taking off his
coat--"Anything wrong, mum?"

Mrs Gilmour's heart was so full that she could not speak at once, and
the man who addressed her jumped to a wrong conclusion from the absence
of any explanation at the moment.

"Oh, I see, mum, he's a-going to commit sooacide? We'll soon spoil his
little gam