Then Ruby sprang on the deck and shook himself like a great mastiff,
and resolved to devote himself, heart and soul, from that moment, to
the work in which he was about to engage.

The scene that presented itself to our hero when he woke up from his
dreams would have interested and excited a much less enthusiastic
temperament than his.

The breeze had died away altogether, just as if, having wafted the
_Smeaton_ to her anchorage, there were no further occasion for its
services. The sea was therefore quite calm, and as there had only
been light westerly winds for some time past, there was little or
none of the swell that usually undulates the sea. One result of this
was, that, being high water when the Smeaton arrived, there was no
sign whatever of the presence of the famous Bell Rock. It lay
sleeping nearly two fathoms below the sea, like a grim giant in
repose, and not a ripple was there to tell of the presence of the
mariner's enemy.

The sun was rising, and its slanting beams fell on the hulls of the
vessels engaged in the service, which lay at anchor at a short
distance from each other. These vessels, as we have said, were four
in number, including the Smeaton. The others were the _Sir Joseph
Banks_, a small schooner-rigged vessel; the _Patriot_, a little
sloop; and the _Pharos_ lightship, a large clumsy-looking Dutch-built
ship, fitted with three masts, at the top of which were the lanterns.
It was intended that this vessel should do duty as a lightship until
the lighthouse should be completed.