he had got out of the hollow, she had vanished, and where she had gone he
could not conjecture. He half feared she had fallen over the precipice;
and several times that night, as the vapour of dreams gathered around him,
he started from his half-sleep in terror at seeing the little genius of
the storm fall from her rock-pedestal into the thundering waves as its
foot.

"Next day the wind continuing off the sea, with vapour and rain, the
children were compelled to remain within doors, and betake themselves to
books and playthings. But Herbert's chief resource lay in watching the sea
and the low grey sky, between which was no distinguishable horizon. The
wind still increased, and before the afternoon it blew a thorough storm,
wind and waves raging together on the rocky shore. The fishermen had
secured their boats, drawing them up high on the land; but what vessels
might be labouring under the low misty pall no one could tell. Many
anxious fears were expressed for some known to be at sea; and many tales
of shipwreck were told that night in the storm-shaken cottages.

"The day was closing in, darkened the sooner by the mist, when Herbert,
standing at the window, now rather weary, saw the little girl dart past
like a petrel. He snatched up his cap and rushed from the house, buttoning
his jacket to defend him from the weather. The little fellow, though so
quiet among other boys, was a lover of the storm as much as the girl was,
and would have preferred its buffeting, so long as his strength lasted, to
the warmest nook by the fireside; and now he could not resist the
temptation to follow her. As soon as he was clear of the garden, he saw
her stopping to gaze down on the sea--starting again along the heights--
blown out of her course--and regaining it by struggling up in the teeth of
the storm. He at once hastened in pursuit, trying as much as possible to
keep out of her sight, and was gradually lessening the distance between