This unexpected incident compelled the man to abandon further pursuit for the time. Giving utterance to a "puir laddie," he raised the boy in his arms and carried him to the nearest hut, which happened to be that of old Moggy. No one was there but the young woman who acted as nurse to the invalid. It chanced that Moggy had had a sleep, and she awoke with her mental faculties much cleared when the constable entered and laid Willie on a mat not far from her bed.

The old woman gazed long and earnestly in the boy's face, and seemed much troubled and perplexed while the nurse applied water to his temples. At last Willie opened his eyes. Moggy at once recognised him. She strove eagerly to reach her long-lost child, and Willie, jumping up, sprang to her side; but ere they met she raised both arms in the air, and, uttering a long, piercing cry, fell back insensible upon the bed.

(To be continued.)

THE ROPEMAKER OF THE SEA.

A MUSSEL'S HISTORY OF HIMSELF AND HIS RELATIVES.

BY MRS. RYMER JONES.

CAST

AST out into the world in the earliest stage of my existence, away from all friends, and without any help but the energies with which Nature had endowed me, I have been compelled to exert them to the utmost in order to obtain that station in society which my family had always maintained and to which my birth entitled me. My efforts have met with their reward; I am now established to my entire satisfaction upon a solid basis, and for the encouragement of all young beginners will relate to them my history. When first driven forth with my brothers and sisters from the parent shell, with the volatility natural to youth, I sported hither and thither among the bright sea-flowers, delighting in my freedom. I soon, however, became weary of roving, and, finding a shelving rock which promised a pleasant abode, I determined to settle there. But though I wished for rest, I did not desire monotony, and the station which I selected exactly suited me, as it afforded an agreeable and constant change. During some hours in the day the sea flowed over our heads, bringing with it numbers of beautiful objects; till the receding tide restored to our view the sun and the sky. My house, you must know, I had carried with me, like many other emigrants, and, as a portable house is seldom spacious, I thought after a time that I might add to its dimensions with advantage.

It had been a custom in our family, and a good one too, not to be burdened at first with too great an establishment, but to be satisfied with beginning in a small way, and enlarging our dwellings as we increased in importance. I was well furnished with the means of making the fitting additions to my little tenement. My whole person was invested by a mantle of an extraordinary kind, the form and size of which exactly corresponded with those of my shell, to which it formed a lining. Its margin had the remarkable power of giving out a kind of fine cement, which spread around the edges of the shell and gradually increased its size. I was not without the means of beautifying these

new additions, for, at intervals around this serviceable mantle, colours were supplied which, oozing out as the work proceeded, tinted it with the most beautiful purple. Nor was the interior of my dwelling neglected; again my mantle furnished the material, and from its inner surface exuded a pearly fluid which enamelled in the most exquisite manner the whole of the walls, so smoothly and so well that no eye could detect the slightest roughness. You may be inclined to disbelieve my tale, but if you examine the outside of my dwelling you will be able to trace the gradual progress of its construction. The form of my house was one generally adopted by our race, as most convenient to our wants and habits, although this form was modified so as to suit the peculiar requirements of different families. My dwelling was constructed in two separate parts, each perfect and exactly resembling the other. These two parts were joined together by an elastic hinge which while it connected served also to throw open these compartments of my house, and when I wished for retirement, two strong pulleys enabled me to shut my shell and exclude all intruders. When I had fixed on a convenient place of abode I determined to wander about no longer, but to settle down at once to the same quiet life that my ancestors had always led, and began to make preparations for mooring myself to the rock. In order to do this with security, I put out my foot to test the solidity and the fitness of the ground about me, and, as this was a business that required some care and prudence, it was not until after a careful investigation that I determined upon a proper place to anchor in. Besides the occupations of mason, painter, and plasterer, I had now to commence the business of a ropemaker. My undertaking was not, however, an easy piece of work, as it is amongst men, who have simply to spin the hemp with which they are supplied, and twist the strands together till they form a rope.

I had, myself, to produce the material in a fluid state, to draw it out, and let it harden under water. My foot accomplished that which it would puzzle any number of human hands to perform. This useful organ, which in creatures like us is adapted to a variety of offices, had on its lower surface a deep groove, continually filled with a thick gluey fluid, which hardened into a strong though slender cord. This cord, while still soft, I cemented to the rock, and then, drawing my foot back again, spun another and another in the same manner, until a bunch of threads had been formed, all safely and separately fastened, which moored my little domicile so securely as to defy the roughest wave. My task, however, took a considerable time to perform, as it required some patience to spin my ropes, and I was rarely able to complete more than four of them

in one day. I was not the only labourer; numbers of our family were settled on the same rock, and though we were all of solitary natures, and had but little intercourse with each other, it was pleasant to have them all about me; and we lived in happy seclusion, plentifully supplied with provisions, for we found, in the small creatures with which that part of the sea was filled, a constant and abundant supply of food. This state of things had continued for a considerable time, when the general tranquillity was destroyed by the reckless attacks of some fishermen, who ruthlessly tore from their abode the greatest portion of our community. Happily for me, my youth and insignificance preserved me. I was overlooked in this attack and allowed to remain in obscurity. The scene of desolation which our rock presented after this occurrence was too much for me, and a feeling of insecurity came over me; so, detaching my moorings, I roamed forth once more in search of a resting place, and stopped at last on a broad pleasant ledge near the shore.

To approach this ledge, however, it was necessary to climb up the perpendicular face of the rock beneath it, and in order to do so my powers of cable-making came in again to my assistance. Stretching out my foot to a convenient distance above me, I drew out and glued a thread to the rock, then hauling myself up by it, I fixed another and another in a similar way, until, by the assistance of this rope ladder of my own manufacture, I had ascended to the flat surface which I desired to reach.

Once more I began the work of spinning and anchoring my cables; and, while engaged in this undertaking, I was not a little interested in watching the operations of a fellow-labourer and distant relative, who, to make assurance doubly sure, was constructing, as a covering for his shell, a grotto of the most curious kind. He was provided, like me, with the means of spinning an abundant supply of thread, but for a different purpose. Collecting such shells and stones as he could obtain, he bound them together with strong cords, till he had formed with them a complete casing, which quite concealed his natural form from view, and showed instead a strong fence; for he had cleverly turned the points of all the shells outwards. In this manner his ropes secured him a defence in his travels, as they enabled me to rest in safety at home. When I had finished my moorings, and had leisure to observe what was around me, I had every reason to be satisfied with the place I had selected. It was sheltered by an overhanging rock, garlanded by weeds of every shade of red, and green, and purple; and, in a hollow of the basin, a multitude of sea-anemones had fixed themselves, making it gay with their variegated forms. On the ledge itself not the smallest portion of bare surface was to be seen, so luxuriantly was it covered with

sea verdure.

Besides this general garden around me, some choice delicate corallines planted themselves on my shell, and adorned it with their rosy flowers. So rich and varied a spot was sure to find visitants as well as occupants. The prickly sea-urchin frequently rolled himself along and climbed to our ledge to crop its abundant herbage; and the many-armed star-fish slung himself up the steep ascent; but at the first glimpse of him I always quickly closed my shell, for I knew him to be a deadly enemy, against whose stealthy approach I was only safe when shut close in my house. I might go on for ever were I to attempt to describe all the beautiful and busy creatures among whom I lived while gradually enlarging my dwelling and spinning my cables; for in our sea-homes we are as active and as happy as the dwellers on earth, and labour as continually for the benefit of mankind.

One of our race spins thread so fine, and of such singular lustre, that it has been thought to vie with the productions of the silkworm; and in bygone times so rare was it esteemed that none but those of kingly dignity were allowed to wear it. But though that time has passed away, this sea-silk is still sought for, and manufactured into the delicate fabrics for which it is best suited.

I have said that from the inner side of our mantles flows a pearly fluid, which enamels the interior of our dwellings. But, in beautifying our abodes, we work not for ourselves alone, we are preparing for man's use materials far more exquisite than any that he could manufacture. A neighbouring family especially not only produces, for his service, shells exceeding all others in their varying tints and delicate lustre, but affords pearls, which have in all ages been eagerly sought for, to blend with the jewels of earth.

The mantle which lines their shells with nacre, has still a store of its precious fluid ready for any case of need. Sometimes, as they rest in their sea-beds, a deadly foe will insidiously approach, and with his keenedged instruments make an effectual though narrow entrance to their dwellings, in order to secure them for his prey. In such an emergency, although unable forcibly to resist the attack, they have within themselves a means of defence, fully proportioned to their need. They can pour from their mantles a drop of fluid which, filling up the hole, not only excludes the enemy, but forms a pearl. This, as the interior of the shell is again and again enamelled, gradually increases in value and in size. Nor is it only in cases of necessity that this material is employed. Should even a grain of sand enter the shell, and cause uneasiness, though they cannot remove it, they can envelope it in nacre, and change that which might have remained an annoyance into a precious gem.