d up as close as she could now be
kept to the wind. One of her guns only was fired, for the crew had
somewhat else to do just then. The cutter no longer kept as close to
her as before; well did her commander know the danger of standing too
near those terrible rocks, over which the sea was breaking in masses of
foam.

"There seemed a chance that the lugger might still scrape clear of the
rocks; if not, in a few moments she must be dashed to pieces and every
soul on board perish.

"I could not help thinking of the poor lad whom his father had taken
with him in spite of his mother's tears and entreaties. It must have
been a terrible thought for the captain that he had thus brought his
young son to an untimely end. For that reason I would have given much
to see the lugger escape, but it was not to be.

"The seas came rolling in more heavily than before. A fierce blast
struck her, and in another instant, covered with a shroud of foam, she
was dashed against the wild rocks, and when we looked again she seemed
to have melted away--not a plank of her still holding together.

"The cutter herself had but just weathered the rocks, and though she
stood to leeward of them on the chance of picking up any of the luggers
crew who might have escaped, not one was found.

"Such was the end of the `Lively Nancy,' and your bold grandfather.
Your poor grandmother never lifted up her head after she heard of what
had happened. Still she struggled on for the sake of her little
daughter, but by degrees all the money she possessed was spent. She at
once moved into a small cottage, and then at last she and her young
daughter found shelter in a single room. After this she did not live
long, and your poor mother was left destitute. It was then your father
met her, and though she had more education than he had, and remembered
well the comfort she had once enjoyed, she consented to become his wife.
He did his best for her, for he was a true-hearted, honest man, but she
was ill fitted for the rough life a fisherman's wife has to lead, and
when the news of her husband's death reached her she laid down and died.

"There, Michael, now you have learned all you are ever likely to know of
your family, for no one can tell you more about them than I can.

"You see you cannot count upon many friends in the world except those
you make yourself. But there is one Friend you have Who will never, if
you trust to Him, leave or forsake you. He is tru