CHAP, x.] THE LAST SCENE OF ALL. 473 



penury to many a household. Anxious children and gaunt 



women 



" Wives and mithers maist despairin' " 



with questioning eyes, rush wildly about the shore, piercing 

 with their frightened looks the hidden secrets of the subsid- 

 ing waters ; and here and there a manly form, grim and stark 

 and cold, cold in the icy embrace of death, his pale brow 

 bound with wreaths of matted seaweed, gives silent token 

 of the majesty of the storm. 



