ave struck the boat, it caught her on
the side instead of the bow, and hurled her upon a ledge of shelving
rocks, where the water left her. Having been _canted_ to seaward, the
next billow completely filled her, and, of course, drenched the crew.

Instantly Ruby Brand and one or two of the most active men leaped out,
and, putting forth all their strength, turned the boat round so as to
meet the succeeding sea with its bow first. Then, after making
considerable efforts, they pushed her off into deep water, and finally
made the landing-place. The other boat could render no assistance; but,
indeed, the whole thing was the work of a few minutes.

As the boats could not conveniently leave the rock till flood-tide, all
hands set to work with unwonted energy in order to keep themselves warm,
not, however, before they ate heartily of their favourite dulse--the
blacksmith being conspicuous for the voracious manner in which he
devoured it.

Soon the bellows were set up; the fire was kindled, and the ring of the
anvil heard; but poor Dove and Ruby had little pleasure in their work
that day; for the wind blew the smoke and sparks about their faces, and
occasionally a higher wave than ordinary sent the spray flying round
them, to the detriment of their fire. Nevertheless they plied the
hammer and bellows unceasingly.

The other men went about their work with similar disregard of the fury
of the elements and the wet condition of their garments.

CHAPTER TEN.

THE RISING OF THE TIDE--A NARROW ESCAPE.

The portion of the work that Mr Stevenson was now most anxious to get
advanced was the beacon.

The necessity of having an erection of this kind was very obvious, for,
in the event of anything happening to the boats, there would be no
refuge for the men to fly to; and the tide would probably sweep them all
away before their danger could be known, or assistance sent from the
attendant vessels. Every man felt that his personal safety might depend
on the beacon during some period of the work. The energies of all,
therefore, were turned to the preliminary arrangements for its erection.

As the beacon would require to withstand the utmost fury of the elements
during all seasons of the year, it was necessary that it should be
possessed of immense strength.

In order to do this, six cuttings were made in the rock for the
reception of the ends of the six great beams of the beacon. Each beam
was to be fixed to the solid roc