one of the boats alongside.

The lassitude which strong men feel when obliged to rise before they
have had enough of rest soon wears off. The two boats had not left the
_Pharos_ twenty yards astern, when Joe Dumsby cried, "Ho! boys, let's
have a race."

"Hooray!" shouted O'Connor, whose elastic spirits were always equal to
anything, "an' sure Ruby will sing us `The girl we've left behind us.'
Och! an' there she is, av I'm not draymin'."

At that moment a little hand was waved from one of the ports of the
floating light. Ruby at once waved his in reply, but as the attention
of the men had been directed to the vessel by Ned's remark, each saw the
salutation, and, claiming it as a compliment to himself, uttered a loud
cheer, which terminated in a burst of laughter, caused by the sight of
Ruby's half-angry, half-ashamed expression of face.

As the other boat had shot ahead, however, at the first mention of the
word "race", the men forgot this incident in their anxiety to overtake
their comrades. In a few seconds both boats were going at full speed,
and they kept it up all the way to the rock.

While this was going on, the _Smeaton's_ boat was getting ready to take
the strangers on board the sloop, and just as the workmen landed on the
rock, the _Smeaton_ cast loose her sails, and proceeded to Arbroath.

There were a few seals basking on the Bell Rock this morning when the
men landed. These at once made off, and were not again seen during the
day.

At first, seals were numerous on the rock. Frequently from fifty to
sixty of them were counted at one time, and they seemed for a good while
unwilling to forsake their old quarters, but when the forge was set up
they could stand it no longer. Some of the boldest ventured to sun
themselves there occasionally, but when the clatter of the anvil and the
wreaths of smoke became matters of daily occurrence, they forsook the
rock finally, and sought the peace and quiet which man denied them there
in other regions of the deep.

The building of the lighthouse was attended with difficulties at every
step. As a short notice of some of these, and an account of the mode in
which the great work was carried on, cannot fail to be interesting to
all who admire those engineering works which exhibit prominently the
triumph of mind over matter, we shall turn aside for a brief space to
consider this subject.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

SOMEWHAT STATISTICAL.

It has been already said t