self. You must know, Ruby, that we've got what
they calls an hoccasional light-keeper ashore, who larns the work out
'ere in case any of us reg'lar keepers are took ill, so as 'e can
supply our place on short notice. Well, 'e was out 'ere larnin' the
dooties one tremendous stormy night, an' the poor fellow was in a
mortial fright for fear the lantern would be blowed right hoff the
top o' the stone column, and 'imself along with it. You see, the door
that covers the manhole there is usually shut when we're on watch,
but Junk (we called 'im Junk 'cause 'e wos so like a lump o' fat
pork), 'e kep the door open all the time an' sat close beside it, so
as to be ready for a dive. Well, it was my turn to watch, so I went
up, an' just as I puts my fut on the first step o' the lantern-ladder
there comes a sea like wot we had a minit ago; the wind at the same
time roared in the wentilators like a thousand fiends, and the spray
dashed agin the glass. Junk gave a yell, and dived. He thought it wos
all over with 'im, and wos in sich a funk that he came down 'ead
foremost, and would sartinly 'ave broke 'is neck if 'e 'adn't come
slap into my buzzum! I tell 'e it was no joke, for 'e wos fourteen
stone if 'e wos an ounce, an'----"

"Come along, Ruby," said Dove, interrupting; "the sooner we dive too
the better, for there's no end to that story when Dumsby get off in
full swing. Good night!"

"Good night, lads, an' better manners t'ye!" said Joe, as he sat down
beside the little desk where the lightkeepers were wont during the
lonely watch-hours of the night to read, or write, or meditate.

CHAPTER XXXII

EVERYDAY LIFE ON THE BELL ROCK, AND OLD MEMORIES RECALLED

The sun shone brightly over the sea next morning; so brightly and
powerfully that it seemed to break up and disperse by force the great
storm-clouds which hung about the sky, like the fragments of an army
of black bullies who had done their worst and been baffled.

The storm was over; at least, the wind had moderated down to a fresh,
invigorating breeze. The white crests of the billows were few and far
between, and the wild turmoil of waters had given place to a grand
procession of giant waves, that thundered on the Bell Rock
Lighthouse, at once with more dignity and more force than the raging
seas of the previous night.

It was the sun that awoke Ruby, by shining in at one of the small
windows of the library, in which he slept. Of course it did not shine
in his f