“I know that, mother; and I am wrong to express my fears,” answered Hannah. “Still I cannot help feeling for the poor seamen who may be battling with the tempest to-night; and that makes me more anxious, perhaps, about those who are far away, and of the dangers to which they may be exposed. Surely there was another gun!”
She again went to the window, and, throwing it open, looked out into the darkness. The fierce wind coming in made the curtains flutter, and almost blew out the lamp.
“I saw the flash of a gun, mother. It is in the direction of those dark rocks which lift their heads above the water!” exclaimed Hannah. “Ah! I heard the sound also. There is another flash! They must have come from some unfortunate ship. Perhaps she is already on the rocks. Can any boat venture out to her assistance in a storm like this? I will shut the window directly, mother,” she added, looking round, and trying to catch the fluttering curtains.
Again she looked out. “I cannot be mistaken!” she exclaimed, the tone of her voice showing her anxiety. “There is another gun. The ship must be in fearful peril! Can nothing be done to help the poor people?”
Mrs Graybrook, convinced that Hannah was right in her conjecture, came to the window, and mother and daughter stood gazing out for some minutes, and trying to penetrate the thick gloom which hung over the wild, tempestuous sea raging below them.
A fiercer blast than before, which drove the rain and spray against their faces, compelled them to close the window; yet Hannah could not withdraw herself from it, for she still caught an occasional flash, and could distinguish the roar of the guns even amidst the howling of the wind.
“What help can we render to them?” she again asked.
“We may give them aid—all the aid which we have the power to give,” said Mrs Graybrook, placing her work on the table. “We can pray for them as we pray for those who are far away.”
“I never cease to pray for those dear ones, mother, morning and evening, and every hour of the day,” said Hannah. “Oh, that they had learned to pray for themselves,” she murmured; “to seek that aid in time of need which will never be withheld!”
Together the mother and daughter knelt, and offered up their prayers to the throne of grace, that help might be sent to those near at hand, while their petitions went up also for those loved ones at a distance. They knew that the all-seeing eye of the God of mercy could follow them, that His far-reaching hand could protect them, and that, feeble as were their petitions, He heard and would grant them if He saw fit.