Still the life of the young girl was not all play, with the dear brothers and sisters whom she loved.
Lessons had to be learned, and they were well learned too; copies had to be written, and in these little Grace soon excelled, for she "wrote a beautiful hand."
The kind, homely parents, too, taught her to think, and as she read nicely, and was bright and quick in acquiring the information within her rather limited grasp, she became very intelligent.
A fair share of household duties also fell to her lot, and these were discharged in a quiet, orderly, and unobtrusive way.
Though very neat in her dress, she was never smart; the only trace of feminine vanity was this:—After her brave conduct in the shipwreck of the "Forfarshire," the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland sent for Grace Darling to Alnwick Castle, and presented her with a gold watch, which she always wore when visitors came to the lighthouse; taking care that the watch-seal should be slightly conspicuous on the plain, simple striped cotton gown!
Thus the childhood and girlhood passed gently on in almost unvarying home love, duty, and quiet happiness, until the 5th of September, 1838, Grace being then in her twenty-third year.
On that night an awful storm rose in tempestuous fury and swept up to the Farne Islands, raging and swelling around, and tossing the black billows into surging foam amongst the cliffy little isles that chafed it into such majestic madness. A steamer had left Hull a day or two before, and as her boilers were not in good repair, she was soon rendered helpless in the wide ocean, and presently drifted on towards the perilous Longstone Lighthouse. She struck on one of the dreaded islands, and the cries of the few survivors who could cling to that portion of the wreck which was forcibly driven between the rocks, reached the ears of Grace Darling, who immediately awakened her father. Utter darkness prevented them from seeing where the wreck lay, and both father and daughter watched till the dawn. An attempt to rescue the moving forms which they could faintly discern in the misty daylight was almost hopeless, but for all that it was made, and the two stepped without hesitation into the frail, small boat, which they then rowed towards the wreck. Here the difficulty increased, as the tempestuous sea threatened to dash the boat and its occupants on the rocks where the "Forfarshire" was stranded. But the father succeeded in landing, Grace pushing off with the boat to avoid its being engulphed, and with her oars balancing it amongst the rolling billows until the nine survivors and her father were safely with her in the tiny craft. Then both rowing back to the lighthouse, they carefully nursed, cheered, and tended those rescued men, Grace especially devoting herself to them with unremitting care.
This event gave Grace Darling the notoriety which her noble conduct so well merited.
It was on the 20th of October, 1842, when the wild equinoctial gales had not long swept over the surrounding seas, that she died gently in the midst of her own loving family circle, at the early age of twenty-seven.
It is easy to imagine the gratitude and joy of the nine perishing men who were rescued from an awful death!