CONTENTS
[I. Rilla.] 3 [II. A Gift From the Sea.] 12 [III. A First Adventure.] 22 [IV. A Shipwrecked Mariner.] 33 [V. A Swim in the Night.] 41 [VI. A Searching Party.] 46 [VII. The Heart of Cap’n Ezra.] 53 [VIII. A Secret Told.] 57 [IX. A First Letter.] 66 [X. The Hoped for Message.] 71 [XI. A Party for Two.] 78 [XII. Wee Irishy Cakes.] 86 [XIII. Neighborliness.] 95 [XIV. The Storm.] 102 [XV. Three More Girls.] 108 [XVI. An Expected Surprise.] 113 [XVII. The Blue Jewels.] 120 [XVIII. Memories.] 125 [XIX. The Owner of the Box.] 129 [XX. New Year’s Eve.] 139 [XXI. Christmas in February.] 144 [XXII. Facing Realities.] 149 [XXIII. The Storm.] 153 [XXIV. High Cliff Seminary.] 162 [XXV. Muriel Finds a Friend.] 174 [XXVI. Muriel Receives a Letter.] 183 [XXVII. Muriel Begins Her Studies.] 191 [XXVIII. A Lesson in Tennis.] 196 [XXIX. Joy Kiersey.] 204 [XXX. Joy’s Secret.] 214 [XXXI. The Tennis Game.] 218 [XXXII. Wainwater Castle.] 225 [XXXIII. The Poetry Contest.] 235 [XXXIV. Marianne Wins the Prize.] 242 [XXXV. Muriel Writes a Letter.] 253 [XXXVI. Muriel Visits Tunkett Again.] 262 [XXXVII. Muriel Surprised.] 269 [XXXVIII. Muriel Visits Windy Island.] 276 [XXXIX. A Letter from Gene.] 288 [XL. Joy and Faith Visit Tunkett.] 292 [XLI. Muriel Hears from Her Father.] 298 [XLII. Muriel Meets Her Father.] 304 [XLIII. Rilla of the Lighthouse.] 308
RILLA OF THE
LIGHTHOUSE
CHAPTER I.
RILLA.
“Here yo’, Shags! What yo’ got thar, ol’ dog? Haul it out! Like it’s a treasure from a ship that’s gone down. Ahoy, thar, Shagsie! Here comes a crashin’ big wave. Whoo! Wa’n’t that-un a tarnal whopper? An’ yo’ lost yer treasure, sure sartin! Sharp ahead now, ol’ dog, d’y see it anywhar?”
The wind-blown girl and the big shaggy dog stood side by side on the narrow, pebbly strip of beach and gazed intently at the whirling, seething water where a breaker of unusual size had crashed high, sending these two for a moment scrambling up the rocks.
Back of them towered an almost perpendicular cliff, on top of which stood the Windy Island Lighthouse, severe in outline, but glaring red and white in color that it might be readily observed in the daytime by pilots who were strangers in those dangerous waters.
Many a shoal there was under the tossing, turbulent waves, unsuspected by the unwary mariner, and, in the heavy fogs that often hung like wet, impenetrable blankets over that part of the New England coast, many a vessel would have crashed to its destruction had it not been for the faithful Captain Ezra Bassett, who had been keeper of the light since Rilla was a baby.
The dog’s sight must have been keener than that of the girl, for a moment later he dashed away up the narrow strip of beach and began to bark furiously at some object that was tossing on an incoming wave. The girl raced after him, her hazel eyes glowing with excitement, her long brown hair, with a glint of red in it, unfastened, flying back of her.
“’Tain’t the same thing, Shagsie!” she shouted to her companion. “’Tain’t what yo’ was tryin’ to fetch ashore down below by the rocks. This-un is more like a box or suthin!”