the salvation of fallen men. He told the history of the Son of man from His birth up to the final scene on Calvary. In strangely agitated tones he spoke of the earthly ending to the life of Him who had wept and mourned over Jerusalem. In his words there was no sectarian spirit of bigotry, his fervent address was free from cant and idle repetition. His religion was, as all knew, a matter of daily life, not put on with his coat on Sundays; and all were moved on that Christmas morning as they rarely were. Tears rolled down the faces of many men and boys who were seldom moved to any outward show of feeling.

Perhaps he had a presentiment in making that touching address that he was speaking there for the last time; and that far-away, rapt look in his eyes came from an inward conviction that the Master would soon call him to Himself. Who can say? Before teachers and scholars had met again the old seaman and his vessel had gone down at sea, there to rest until the command shall be given to the sea to give up her dead.

Alas! that in the same Sunday-school with that true old Christian there should have been so un

mitigated a hypocrite and humbug as the skipper who went by the name of Old Grab, who, after standing up in that room to "testify" and "to give thanks fur crownin' marcies vouchsafed to him on his last voyage," went home to get drunk on his smuggled brandy.

That irrepressible salt - water sprite, Scoot, remarked, after one of Old Grab's public thanksgivings, that "the old varmint put him in mind of a biled owl."

There was more in Scoot's comparison than might be generally understood; owls were not regarded with favour by the coast people. Strange rites were observed by some of the less godly of the marsh folks; and an owl, parboiled, with its feathers on, was supposed to have some very peculiar and close connection with the devil.

CHAPTER X.

OLD TITLARK'S DOMAIN.

THE sexton of the marshland church by the sea knew more about grave-digging than he did about ornithology. He got the nickname of "Titlark" because of a nest of the meadow pipit, or titlark of the flats, which he had found once. It was full of young birds; he reared them carefully, but always insisted that they were skylarks, until at last he was obliged to confess his error. He was notoriously self-opinionated, and the lads were jubilant when they could catch him tripping in any matter. When a son was born to him, he too, according to marsh custom, was called by the same name. As long as they remained. in the marshes, they were known as old and young Titlark.

Folks were long-lived, as a rule, about Marshton ; a funeral was quite an event there, and one which the sexton made the most of. He would be seen coming down the street in the direction of the churchyard, with his bright shovel and pick on his shoulder, followed at a respectful distance by the younger Titlark, who carried a coil of rope in his hand. He had a gruesome way, intended to be humorous, of telling the numerous acquaintances he met, as he walked slowly along towards the church, that he was going to bury them.

The village lads always said that young Titlark's life was rendered bitter to him by the fact that he had to polish that shovel and pick every Saturday, when he cleaned the family knives and forks. The amount of bathbrick used on those two implements was something fabulous, according to their account.

The churchyard was shaded by finely grown old walnut-trees, and one of Titlark's duties was to see that they were properly thrashed down in the nut season. The old crones of the district stated-and it was a matter of fact that "when we fit old Boneypart, some consarned in the Guv'nment cum an' offered a lot o' money fur them big walnut-trees fur

tu turn 'em inter musket-stocks; but them as had tu du with 'em and the church wouldn't hear on it."

When the men thrashed those trees, Titlark used to tell them they need not be very particular in picking them all up; he could see to that when he straightened up after they had done. The hint was always taken, and Den, Scoot, and Winder used to help over the work and secure a goodly store for themselves. Those walnuts were fine, and thoroughly appreciated by the three boys, who were favoured in being allowed to assist the Titlarks in their manifold duties, in consideration of Denzil's relationship to the Portreeve, who had the business connected with the plumbing and glazing, and other matters needing frequent attention, in the old parish church.

As winter drew near, the primitive warming apparatus inside the building had to be got into working order again; and that was one of old Titlark's times for having what he termed a "reg'lar rootin' out."

The only bit of work inside the church that he would intrust to Titlark the younger and our three friends, was the scaring and routing out of the white owls, and poking up the bats that had undisturbed possession there for many months in the year.