r, and as she clasped
his body, they both disappeared under the mountain surge. Another shriek
was raised by the women, while the men stood as if paralyzed. In my
excitement I had gained my legs, and I hastened to seize the part of the
rope which remained on the beach. Others then came and helped; we hauled
upon it, and found that there was weight at the end. Another sea poured
in; we hastily gathered in the slack of the rope, and when the water
retreated, we found both Bramble and Bessy clinging to the rope. In a
moment the men rushed down and hauled up the bodies. Bramble had hold of
the rope by both hands--it was the clutch of death; Bessy had her arms
round her father's neck; both were senseless. The boatmen carried them
up to the cottage, and the usual methods of recovery were resorted to
with success. Still we had to lament the death of two of our best
pilots, whose loss their wives and children were loudly wailing, and
whose bodies were not found for many days afterward. Alas! they were not
the only ones who were lamented. Upward of three hundred vessels were
lost during that dreadful gale, and hardly a seaport or fishing town but
bewailed its many dead.

Whether it was that the women who attended Bessy were more active than
the men, or that she was younger, and her circulation of blood was more
rapid, or because she was a female, certain it is that Bessy first
recovered her speech, and her first question was, "Where was her
father?" Bramble did not speak, but fell into a sleep immediately after
he was brought to life. I had changed my clothes, and was watching by
him for an hour or more when he woke up.

[Illustration: BRAMBLE HAD KNELT BY THE BEDSIDE, AND WAS EVIDENTLY IN
PRAYER--Marryat, Vol. X., p. 411]

"Ah! Tom, is that you? Where's Bessy?"

"She is in bed, but quite recovered."

"Quite recovered--I recollect. I say, Tom, ain't she a fine creature?
God bless her. Well, she owes me nothing now, at all events. I think I
should like to get up, Tom. I wonder whether I smashed my old pipe on
the shingle? Just look into my wet jacket. I say, Tom, were they all
saved?"

"No," I replied; "Fisher and Harrison were both drowned."

"Poor fellows! I wish they had been spared. Fisher has seven
children--and Harrison, he has a wife, I think."

"Yes, and two children, father."

"Poor woman! God's will be done! He giveth and He taketh away! Tom, I
must get up and see Bessy."

I assisted Bramble to dress, and a