confusion in the midst of the otherwise calm sea.
But the fishermen knew that the Bell Rock was underneath the foam, and
that in less than an hour its jagged peaks would be left uncovered by
the falling tide.

As the swell of the sea came in from the eastward, there was a belt of
smooth water on the west side of the rock. Here the fishermen cast
anchor, and, baiting their hand-lines, began to fish. At first they
were unsuccessful, but before half an hour had elapsed, the cod began to
nibble, and Big Swankie ere long hauled up a fish of goodly size. Davy
Spink followed suit, and in a few minutes a dozen fish lay spluttering
in the bottom of the boat.

"Time's up noo," said Swankie, coiling away his line.

"Stop, stop, here's a wallupper," cried Davy, who was an excitable man;
"we better fish a while langer--bring the cleek, Swankie, he's ower big
to--noo, lad, cleek him! that's it!--Oh-o-o-o!"

The prolonged groan with which Davy brought his speech to a sudden
termination was in consequence of the line breaking and the fish
escaping, just as Swankie was about to strike the iron hook into its
side.

"Hech! lad, that was a guid ane," said the disappointed man with a sigh;
"but he's awa'."

"Ay," observed Swankie, "and we must awa' too, so up anchor, lad. The
rock's lookin' oot o' the sea, and time's precious."

The anchor was speedily pulled up, and they rowed towards the rock, the
ragged edges of which were now visible at intervals in the midst of the
foam which they created.

At low tide an irregular portion of the Bell Rock, less than a hundred
yards in length, and fifty yards in breadth, is uncovered and left
exposed for two or three hours. It does not appear in the form of a
single mass or islet, but in a succession of serrated ledges of various
heights, between and amongst which the sea flows until the tide has
fallen pretty low. At full ebb the rock appears like a dark islet,
covered with seaweed, and studded with deep pools of water, most of
which are connected with the sea by narrow channels running between the
ledges. The highest part of the rock does not rise more than seven feet
above the level of the sea at the lowest tide.

To enter one of the pools by means of the channels above referred to is
generally a matter of difficulty, and often of extreme danger, as the
swell of the sea, even in calm weather, bursts over these ledges with
such violence as to render the channels at times impassable.