than two hours before. It was Millar's turn to watch, so he went up to
the tower, and my grandfather and I remained on the pier.

'Can nothing be done, grandfather?'

'I'm afraid not, my lad. We can't make any way against such a sea as
this; if it goes down a bit, we'll have another try at it.'

But the sea did not go down. We walked up and down the pier almost in
silence.

Presently a rocket shot up into the sky, evidently from the same place
where we had seen the flare.

'There she is again, Alick! Poor things! I wonder how many of them there
is.'

'Can we do nothing at all?' I asked again.

'No, my lad,' he said; 'the sea's too much for us. It's a terrible
night. It puts me in mind of the day you were born.'

So the night wore away. We never thought of going to bed, but walked up
and down the pier, with our eyes fixed on the place where we had seen
the lights. Every now and then, for some hours, rockets were sent up;
and then they ceased, and we saw nothing.

'They've got no more with them,' said my grandfather. 'Poor things! it's
a terrible bad job.'