ment, and then dies again, like the light of a firefly."
"Now it blazes like a bonfire!" cried Elizabeth; "you can see the figures moving around the light. Oh! I would bet my jewels against the gold beads of Remarkable, that my impatient cousin Dickon had an agency in raising that bright flame;—and see; it begins to fade again, like most of his brilliant schemes."
"Thou hast guessed the truth, Bess," said her father; "he has thrown an armfull of brush on the pile, which has burnt out as soon as lighted. But it has enabled them to find a better fuel, for their fire begins to blaze with a more steady flame. It is the true fisherman's beacon now; observe bow beautifully it throws its little circle of light on the water!"
The appearance of the fire urged the pedestrians on, for even the ladies had become eager to witness the draught of the seine. By the time they reached the bank, which rose above the low point where the fishermen had landed, the moon had sunk behind the tops of the western pines, and, as most of the stars were obscured by the clouds, there was but little other light, by which to view the scene, than that which proceeded from the large piles of brush, branches, and roots, that had been collected, under the superintendence of Richard. At the suggestion of Marmaduke, his companions paused to listen to the conversation of those below them, and examine the party, for a moment, before they descended to the shore.
The whole group were seated around the fire, on the ground, with the exception of Richard and Benjamin; the former of whom occupied the root of a decayed stump, that had been drawn to the spot as part of their fuel, and the latter was stand-
