"Oh, Theophilus, take care of yourself!" she exclaimed, as he opened the front door and was lost from sight in the blackness of the night.
Dick ran upstairs to ascertain if anything was to be seen from his bedroom window, but all was in darkness over the sea now. On opening the window he found the rain had ceased, though the wind was higher than ever. He strained his ears to listen, but heard no more guns fired. Presently Miss Warren joined him, remarking that the servants had asked if they might go down to the beach, and had started off immediately on receiving her permission.
"Oh, let us go too!" Dick pleaded. "Oh, Aunt Mary Ann, do say yes! See, it has stopped raining—it has, indeed! The wind won't hurt us a bit! Oh, do let us go!"
At first Miss Warren would not hear of it; but she was curious and anxious to know what was wrong, and finally consented to lock up the house and follow the other members of the household to the beach.
Miss Warren in a waterproof, with the hood over her head, and Dick in a thick overcoat, were suitably clad to face the weather. The rain had cleared temporarily, so they had only the wind to combat with as they hurried hand in hand down the village street. Not until they reached the beach did they realise the full fury of the gale; then it was as much as they could do to keep their feet.
The villagers were standing about in groups, straining their eyes in their vain endeavours to pierce the darkness; the men, for the most part, were quiet, but the women talked fast and excitedly, whilst the children clung to their mothers' skirts, some in tears, others awed into silence.
"I wonder where Theophilus is?" Miss Warren murmured anxiously. "I wonder if any one has seen him?"
"Are you speaking of the doctor, ma'am?" said a woman's voice. "He was here a few minutes ago! I heard him asking for volunteers!"
"Volunteers! What do you mean?" gasped Miss Warren, her heart sinking with dread at the thought of what she knew she was going to hear.
"There's a ship on the Pope's Nose," the same voice replied, "a coasting vessel—a schooner they say. She struck about an hour ago, and she'll not be long in breaking up, I'm thinking! The ship's boat has landed some of the crew in safety, but the captain and the mate are still aboard, and I heard Dr. Warren just now asking for volunteers to go with him to fetch them off!"