which, when it was insulated at high water,
the tide always swept with a peculiar and
dangerous swirl. But when they joined the group,
among which were several of their friends, they
found that the concourse were regarding, with
interest mingled with fright, the movements of
a swimmer who had rounded the extremity
of Catherine's, and was seen making for the
shore.

"He'll never do it," said Captain Calthorp,
an old half-pay dragoon, who had been tempted
by the cheapness of Penethly to pitch his tent
there; " he'll never do it, by Jove! Yes! Well
struggled, sir; he made a point there—hold on,
now, and he's in."

"Who is it?" asked the coast-guard
lieutenant, who was standing by. " Any one we
know?"

"I can't tell at this distance*!" said
Captain Calthorp, " though it looks like—stay!
There's one of your look-out men on the height,
with a glass; give him a hail!"

"Yoho! Morgan!" cried the lieutenant. "Ay,
ay, sir!" was the man's ready response, though
the glass was never moved. " Bring that glass
down here!" " Ay, ay, sir;" and in two minutes
the old coast-guard-man was by his officer's side.
He saluted and handed the glass, but as he did
so he said, in an under tone, " God help the
gentleman, he's done! Ah, look you now, poor
thing, nothing can save him."

"What!" cries the lieutenant, clapping the
glass to his eye. " By Jove, you're right! he's
in a bad way, and it—why it's the artist-chap,
that friend of the Barfords'!"

"Who?" screamed Kate, rushing up at the
moment. " Who did you say, Mr. Lawford?
Oh, for God's sake, save him! Save him, Mr.
Lawford! Save him, Captain Calthorp!"

"My clear young lady," said the last-named
gentleman, " I am sure Lawford didn't know
you were here, or he wouldn't—"

"This is no time for ceremony, Captain Cal-
thorp," said Ellen; " for Heaven's sake, let
some effort be made to save my sister's—to
save Mr. Sandham!"

"My dear Miss Barford," said Lawford, who
had been whispering with Morgan, " I fear no
mortal aid can avail the poor dear fellow now.
Before we could descend the rock, and launch
a boat, with the tide ebbing at the rate it now
is—"

"Hur would have been swep' round
Cath'rine's, and away out to sea!" said Morgan.

"Oh, help him!" screamed Kate. " Oh, how
cruel! how cowardly! Oh, help him, Mr.
Lawford!" She lifted up her hands piteously to
the lieutenant. " Oh, Mr. Mortiboy," she
exclaimed, as that gentleman came slowly
sauntering up the hill with Beppo at his heels, " for
God's sake, save Mr. Sandham!"

"Save—Mr. Sandham—my dear young lady;
I don't exactly comprehend!" began Mr.
Mortiboy, looking vaguely in the direction of her
outstretched hand; then suddenly, " Good
Lord! is that his head? There! Down
there!"

"Yes!" whispered Ellen Barford; "yes!
They say he will be whirled away before a boat
could be launched—they say he is lost now!"

"Not at all! Not yet; at least!" replied
Mortiboy, excited, but without much perceptible
alteration of manner. " While there's life there's
hope, you know, Miss B., and even yet we
may—Here, Beppo! Hi, man! hi! Good
boy!" The dog came, leaping round his
master. "Hi! ho! Not here! There! there!
Look, boy!" catching him by the collar, and
pointing down to where Sandham's head was
a mere speck on the water. " Look, man!
Look, old boy! He sees it, by Jove!" as the
dog uttered a low growl, and became restive.
"In, old man! In, fine fellow! In, Beppo!
Look! Noble dog, in he goes!"

In he went, with one bound over the low
stone wall, then quickly down the sloping
slippery boulders, then with a plunge into the
sea—lost sight of for a moment, rising to
view again, paddling off straight for the drowning
man. The swift current whirled him in
eddies here and there, but still the brave dog
persevered; the spectators held their breath,
as they saw him bearing down upon the black
speck, which was every second growing smaller
and smaller, and receding further and further
from the land. But the dog made grand
progress, the strong sucking under-current helped
him, and he arrived at Sandham's side just
in time for the drowning man to fling his
arm round the dog's neck, and to feel his
shoulder seized by the dog's teeth. They saw
this from the shore, and then Kate Barford
fainted.

But the work was only half done: the dog
turned round, and battled bravely for the shore,
but he was encumbered by his burden, and now
the current was against him. He strove and
strove, but the way he made was small, and every
foot was gained with intense struggling and
exertion. " By Jove! He'll never do it," cried
Lieutenant Lawford, with the glass at his eye;
and, as he said the words, old Morgan, the
preventive-man, added through his teeth, " Hur
must be helped, at any cost," and sped away
down the rock, shaping his course to where
a small pleasure-boat lay high and dry on
the sand. " I'm with you, governor," cried
John Mortiboy; " I can't feather, but I pull a
strongish oar;" and he followed the old man as
best he could. The boat was reached, and
pushed by main force to the water's edge, where
Mortiboy entered it, and old Morgan ran in,
waist-deep, to give it the starting shove, and
then, leaped in to join his comrade. On they
pulled, Morgan with a measured steady stroke,
Mortiboy with fevered strong jerks that sent
the boat's head now to the right, now to the
left: when old Morgan, suddenly looking over
his shoulder, called out, " Hur's done! Hur's
sinking now, both on 'em!" Mortiboy looked
round too; they were still some ten boats' length
from the objects of their pursuit, and both dog
and man were vanishing. " Not yet!" cried
he; and in an instant he had torn off the black