Saved at Sea | Page 9

clever face, I thought. He
told me he had come to see Mr. Alexander Fergusson, and asked me if I
could direct him which way to go to the house.
'Yes, sir,' I said; 'Mr. Fergusson is my grandfather.' So we went up
towards the lighthouse, Timpey and I walking first to lead the way, and
the gentlemen following. The other gentleman was quite old, and had
white hair and gold spectacles, and a pleasant, kindly face.
Timpey could not walk very fast, and she kept running first to one side
and then to another, to gather flowers or pick up stones, to I took her in
my arms and carried her.
'Is that your little sister?' asked the old gentleman.
'No, sir,' I said; 'this is the little girl who was on board the Victory!
'Dear me! dear me!' said both gentlemen at once. 'Let me look at her,'
said the old man, arranging his spectacles.
But Timpey was frightened, and clung to me, and began to cry. 'Never

mind, never mind,' said the old gentleman kindly; 'we'll make friends
with one another by-and-by.'
By this time we had reached the house, and the middle-aged gentleman
introduced himself as Mr. Septimus Forster, one of the owners of the
lost vessel, and said that he and his father-in-law, Mr. Davis, had come
to hear all particulars that my grandfather could give them with regard
to the shipwreck.
My grandfather begged them to sit down, and told me to prepare
breakfast for them at once. They were very pleasant gentlemen, both of
them, and were very kind to my grandfather. Mr. Forster wanted to
make him a handsome present for what he had done; but my
grandfather would not take it. They talked much of little Timpey, and I
kept stopping to listen as I was setting out the cups and saucers. They
had heard nothing more of her relations; and they said it was a very
strange thing that no such name as Villiers was to be found on the list
of passengers on board. They offered to take her away with them till
some relation was found; but my grandfather begged to keep her. The
gentlemen, seeing how happy and well cared for the child was, gladly
consented.
After breakfast Mr. Forster said he should like to see the lighthouse, so
my grandfather went up to the top of the tower with him, and showed
him with great pride all that was to be seen there. Old Mr. Davis was
tired, and stayed behind with little Timpey and me.
'This is a strong house, my lad,' he said, when the others had gone.
'Yes, sir,' I said, 'it ought to be strong; the wind is fearful here
sometimes.'
'What sort of a foundation has it?' said the old man, tapping the floor
with his stick.
'Oh, it's all rock, sir,' I answered, 'solid rock; our house and the
lighthouse tower are all built into the rock; they would never stand if
they weren't'

'And are you on the Rock, my lad?' said Mr. Davis, looking at me
through his spectacles.
'I beg your pardon, sir,' I said, for I thought I had not heard him rightly.
'Are you on the Rock?' he repeated.
'On the rock, sir? oh, yes,' I said, thinking he could not have understood
what I said before. 'All these buildings are built into the rock, or the
wind and sea would carry them away.'
'But you,' said the old gentleman again, 'are you on the Rock?'
'I don't quite understand you, sir,' I said.
'Never mind,' he said; 'I'll ask your grandfather when he comes down.'
So I sat still, wondering what he could mean, and almost thinking he
must have gone out of his mind.
As soon as my grandfather returned, he put the same question to him;
and my grandfather answered it as I had done, by assuring him how
firmly and strongly the lighthouse and its surroundings were built into
the solid rock.
'And you yourself,' said Mr. Davis 'how long have you been on the
Rock?'
'I, sir?' said my grandfather. 'I suppose you mean how long have I lived
here; forty years, sir--forty years come the twelfth of next month I've
lived on this rock.'
'And how much longer do you expect to live here?' said the old
gentleman.
'Oh, I don't know, sir,' said my grandfather. 'As long as I live, I suppose.
Alick, here, will take my place by-and-by; he's a fine, strong boy is
Alick, sir.'
'And where will you live when you leave the island?' asked Mr. Davis.

'Oh, I never mean to leave it,' said my grandfather; 'not till I die, sir.'
'And then; where will you live then?'
'Oh, I don't know, sir,' said my grandfather. 'In