ggs. Two were boys; and the red
cap and serge frock of another proclaimed her to be a girl. About
fifty feet below, with nothing between him and the waves which looked
small in the distance, a lad hung suspended by a rope, while the birds
circled and screamed around him.

One of the boys came to where the ledge ended in a sheer drop down to
the sea; and putting something very carefully in his pocket, he rose to
his feet and began to climb upward.

Catching hold of the tufts of heather on the verge of the cliff, he
swung himself on to firm ground, and proved to be a boy of about ten
years of age; thin and wiry, with a dark face and bright twinkling
eyes. His thin brown wrists had grown a long way out of the sleeves of
his jacket; and he had torn a hole in the knee of each knicker.

After rubbing his elbows, which he had grazed against the rocks, he
turned to speak to a little girl who was sitting on a tuft of heather,
looking somewhat forlorn. A handsome collie dog, yellow-brown with a
white ruffle round his neck, was lying impatiently at her feet, every
now and again glancing up at his mistress with bright, inquiring eyes.

'Well, Tricksy,' said the boy; 'tired of waiting, eh?'

'Yes,' replied his sister, 'you've been a long time, and I'm cold. I
don't see why I shouldn't go down the cliffs with the rest of you.
Laddie's tired of waiting too.'

The collie rose upon hearing his name mentioned, and thrust his nose
into the boy's hand, wagging his tail and looking as though he would
say, 'Come along now, do; and tell the others to come; you've played at
that dangerous game long enough; let's all have a jolly scamper after
rabbits!'

A red cap appeared over the edge of the cliff, followed immediately by
a laughing face framed in a crop of fair curly hair; then a girl
scrambled on to firm ground.

'Hulloa, Reggie! are you there already?' she said. 'How many have you
got?'

'Five,' said Reggie, displaying the contents of his pockets; 'an auk's,
two puffin's, and two kittiwake's. Aren't they prettily marked?'

'Beauties,' replied the girl, examining the eggs. 'Better get Neil to
blow them for you; he always does it the best. I have only two, and
another broke as I was getting it out; but oh, it was glorious down on
these ledges! I'd like to have a scramble like this every morning!'

'I daresay,' broke in an exasperated little voice; 'fine fun for you
others to get up at four in the morning when the steam