ne, I give him my word I'd see him one o' these days, and I've a many
friends beside him on the Devon coast. And then you see, young ladies,
I might be getting a sight o' the _Mermaid_.'

'O Kiah!' gasped Betty, as if she longed to ask him to take her too.

'But are you going alone, Kiah?' asked Angel.

'Trust an old salt to take care of himself, Miss Angel. Ay, and if
Boney ever gets ashore down there, which ain't likely, but just might
be, I'd like to be near about, so I would, for I haven't forgotten how
to fire a gun; a hand and a half's good enough for that.'

'And what does Martha say?' asked Betty.

Kiah chuckled.

'She's a wise one, is our Martha. She says she always knew I was a bit
of a rolling stone, and my chair'll just be waiting against I come in
again.'

And so the little Oakfield world had a fresh, interest in the great
world's doings, and Nancy, at any rate, felt that they might all laugh
at the notion of a French invasion, with the captain and Mr. Godfrey in
the Channel, and Uncle Kiah keeping guard on shore.

[Illustration: Chapter VII tailpiece]

[Illustration: Chapter VIII headpiece]

CHAPTER VIII

IN THE CHANNEL

'Britannia needs no bulwarks,
No towers along the steep:
Her march is o'er the mountain waves,
Her home is on the deep.'--CAMPBELL.

One spring afternoon a gentleman was strolling along the cliff path
which led to a little fishing village on the Devonshire coast, some
miles from Plymouth. He seemed to be in no particular hurry, and
indeed to have no special destination, for he stopped once or twice and
looked about him, and turned off a little way into the fields as if he
were exploring a country that was new to him.

Presently he came in sight of an old man with a wooden leg, who was
standing near the edge of the cliff, scanning the wide expanse of
dancing water with a telescope. He was so much absorbed in what he was
looking at that he never noticed the stranger until he was close to
him, when he touched his hat and wished him good-day.

'You are on the look-out for some ship?' said the gentleman, following
the direction of the old man's eyes.

'Ay, sir, but my sight ain't what it was. I could have vowed I saw a
sail yonder, but I can't be sure. Take a look, will you kindly, sir?
Your eyes are a deal younger than mine.'

The new-comer took the glass accordingly, but though his eyes were
younger they had had less practice than th