Produced by Roy Brown, Wiltshire, England THE LIGHTHOUSE By R.M.BALLANTYNE Author of "The Coral Island" &c. BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED LONDON GLASGOW BOMBAY E-Test prepared by Roy Brown CONTENTS CHAPTER I. THE ROCK. II. THE LOVERS AND THE PRESS-GANG. III. OUR HERO OBLIGED TO GO TO SEA. IV. THE BURGLARY. V. THE BELL ROCK INVADED. VI. THE CAPTAIN CHANGES HIS QUARTERS. VII. RUBY IN DIFFICULTIES. VIII THE SCENE CHANGES--RUBY IS VULCANIZED. IX. STORMS AND TROUBLES. X. THE RISING OF THE TIDE--A NARROW ESCAPE. XI. A STORM, AND A DISMAL STATE OF THINGS ON BOARD THE PHAROS. XII. BELL ROCK BILLOWS--AN UNEXPECTED VISIT--A DISASTER AND A RESCUE. XIII. A SLEEPLESS BUT A PLEASANT NIGHT. XIV. SOMEWHAT STATISTICAL. XV. RUBY HAS A RISE IN LIFE, AND A FALL. XVI. NEW ARRANGEMENTS--THE CAPTAIN'S PHILOSOPHY IN REGARD TO PIPEOLOGY. XVII. A MEETING WITH OLD FRIENDS, AND AN EXCURSION. XVIII. THE BATTLE OF ARBROATH, AND OTHER WARLIKE MATTERS. XIX. AN ADVENTURE--SECRETS REVEALED, AND A PRIZE. XX. THE SMUGGLERS ARE "TREATED" TO GIN AND ASTONISHMENT. XXI. THE BELL ROCK AGAIN--A DREARY NIGHT IN A STRANGE HABITATION. XXII. LIFE IN THE BEACON--STORY OF THE EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE. XXIII. THE STORM. XXIV. A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS. XXV. THE BELL ROOK IN A FOG--NARROW ESCAPE OF THE SMEATON. XXVI. A SUDDEN AND TREMENDOUS CHANGE IN FORTUNES. XXVII. OTHER THINGS BESIDES MURDER "WILL OUT". XXVIII. THE LIGHTHOUSE COMPLETED--RUBY'S ESCAPE FROM TROUBLE BY A DESPERATE VENTURE. XXIX. THE WRECK. XXX. OLD FRIENDS IN NEW CIRCUMSTANCES. XXXI. MIDNIGHT CHAT IN A LANTERN. XXXII. EVERYDAY LIFE ON THE BELL ROOK, AND OLD MEMORIES RECALLED. XXXIII. CONCLUSION. THE LIGHTHOUSE CHAPTER I THE ROCK Early on a summer morning, about the beginning of the nineteenth century, two fishermen of Forfarshire wended their way to the shore, launched their boat, and put off to sea. One of the men was tall and ill-favoured, the other, short and well-favoured. Both were square-built, powerful fellows, like most men of the class to which they belonged. It was about that calm hour of the morning which precedes sunrise, when most living creatures are still asleep, and inanimate nature wears, more than at other times, the semblance of repose. The sea was like a sheet of undulating glass. A breeze had been expected, but, in defiance of expectation, it had not come, so the boatmen were obliged to use their oars. They used them well, however, insomuch that the land ere long appeared like a blue line on the horizon, then became tremulous and indistinct, and finally vanished in the mists of morning.