they
were obliged to return to harbour, having failed to discover the wreck,
which probably had gone to pieces before they got out to the sands; so
they had all their trouble for nothing. The man--appealing by look to
the coxswain, who smoked in silence, and gazed sternly and fixedly at
the fire, as if his mind were wandering far away--went on to say,
further, that early that morning they had been again called out, and
were fortunate enough to save the crew of a small schooner, and that
they had been looking out for and expecting another call the whole day.
For the truth of all which the man appealed again by look to the
coxswain, who merely replied with a slight nod, while he continued to
smoke in silence, leaning his elbows on his knees, with his strong hands
clasped before him, sailor fashion, and gazing gravely at the fire. It
seemed as if he were resting his huge frame after the recent fatigues to
which it had been exposed, and in anticipation of those which might be
yet in store.

Just then the little door opened quickly, and Pike's dripping head
appeared.

"I think the Gull is signalling," he said, and vanished.

The coxswain's sou'wester and coat were on as if by magic, and he stood
beside his mate at the end of the pier, partly sheltered by the parapet
wall.

They both clung to the wall, and gazed intently out to sea, where there
was just light enough to show the black waves heaving wildly up against
the dark sky, and the foam gleaming in lurid patches everywhere. The
seas breaking in heavy masses on the pier-head drenched the two men as
they bent their heads to resist the roaring blast. If it had been high
water, they could not have stood there for a moment. They had not been
there long before their constant friend, the master of the steam-tug,
joined them. Straining their eyes intently in the direction of the
floating-light, which appeared like a little star tossed on the far-off
horizon, they observed a slight flash, and then a thin curved line of
red fire was seen to leap into the chaos of dark clouds.

"There she goes!" cried the coxswain.

"An' no mistake," said Pike, as they all ran to get ready for action.

Few and to the point were the words spoken. Each man knew exactly what
was to be done. There was no occasion to rouse the lifeboat men on such
a night. The harbour-master had seen the signal, and, clad in oilskins
like the men, was out among them superintending. The steam-tug, whic