'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.
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