At the grey of the morning after the attempt to seize the smugglers had been defeated by the instrumentality of Snarleyyow, upon the top of the immense fragment of the rock which we have described as lying upon the sea-edge of the platform, was perched a fair, slight-made little girl, of about twelve years of age. She was simply clad in a short worsted petticoat and bodice of a dark colour; her head was bare, and her hair fluttered with the breeze; her small feet, notwithstanding the severity of the weather, were also naked, and her short petticoat discovered her legs half way up to the knee. She stood there, within a few inches of the precipice below, carelessly surveying the waves as they dashed over the rocks, for she was waiting until the light would enable her to see further on the horizon. By those who might have leaned over the ridge above, as well as by those who sailed below, she might have been taken, had she been seen to move, for some sea bird reposing after a flight, so small was her frame in juxtaposition with the wildness and majesty of nature which surrounded her on every side. Accustomed from infancy to her mode of life, and this unusual domicile, her eye quailed not, nor did her heart beat quicker, as she looked down into the abyss below, or turned her eyes up to the beetling mass of rock which appeared, each moment, ready to fall down and overwhelm her. She passed her hand across her temples to throw back the hair which the wind had blown over her eyes, and again scanned the distance as the sun's light increased, and the fog gradually cleared away. "A sharp look out, Lilly, dear; you've the best eyes among us, and we must have a clue from whence last night's surprise proceeded." "I can see nothing yet, mother; but the fog is driving back fast." "It's but a cheerless night your poor father had, to pull twice across the channel, and find himself just where he was. God speed them, and may they be safe in port again by this time." "I say so too, mother, and amen." "D'ye see nothing, child?" "Nothing, dear mother; but it clears up fast to the eastward, and the sun is bursting out of the bank, and I think I see something under the sun." "Watch well, Lilly," replied the woman, who was throwing more wood on the fire. "I see a vessel, mother. It is a sloop beating to the eastward." "A coaster, child?" "No, mother, I think not. No, it is no coaster--it is that king's vessel, I think, but the glare of the sun is too great. When he rises higher I shall make it out better." "Which do you mean, the king's cutter on the station, the _Yungfrau_?" "Yes, mother," replied Lilly, "it is. I'm sure it is the _Yungfrau_." "Then it is from her that the boats came last night. She must have received some information. There must be treachery somewhere; but we'll soon find that out."