d
of the man-of-war's man, came upon the scene. Seeing what had occurred,
he seized the end of a rope which some men had just brought down, tied
it round his waist, dashed into the sea, caught the sailor and the girl
in the wide grasp of his strong arms--and then all three were hauled to
the land in safety.

The poor child was nearly insensible, and had to be carried to a
neighbouring cottage; and the young sailor staggered so from exhaustion
that his friend and another man were obliged to support him as he went.

"Who is he?" inquired one of the fisherwomen, as she followed behind.

The Coastguardsman looked over his shoulder with a proud glance in his
sparkling eye, and said aloud, "His name is Richard Thorogood."

A statement which was received with three loud and ringing cheers.

CHAPTER THREE.

But what of the wreck under the Sunland cliffs, which had sent up
rocket-signals of distress on that same dismal night?

When our Coastguardsman with the black beard reached the scene, he
found, as he had expected, that his comrades of the Coastguard had not
been idle. They had brought down the famous rocket apparatus, with
which so many lives are saved every year on our stormy shores.

The wreck was in a very different position from that in the bay.
Instead of being far away from shore, among rolling billows that raged
over the flat sands, this vessel, a brig, lay hard and fast among the
rocks, not a hundred yards from the foot of the cliffs. Against these
frowning cliffs the wild waves thundered as if they wished to beat them
down. Failing in that, they fell back and seemed to go mad with
disappointment; leaping, hissing, and whirling among the rocks on which
the brig had been cast. The brig was so near, that the men on shore
could see the forms of her crew as they clung to the rigging,
frantically waving their arms and sending up shrieks of despair and loud
cries for help. Truly there was urgent need for help, for the sea broke
over the vessel so furiously that it was evident she must soon go to
pieces.

There was only one little spot of partial shelter at the foot of the
cliffs where man could stand on that fearful night. Here the men of the
Coastguard had set up the rocket apparatus. The rocket was in position,
and about to be fired, when our black-bearded Coastguardsman arrived.
The light was applied. Suddenly the group of spray-washed men, and a
few pale-faced spectators who had ventured to desc