I've been thinking of it ever since; and, Alick,' he
whispered, 'I believe I _am_ on the Rock now.'
He said no more, but arranged his oars, and in a minute more he was
off. But as he rowed away, I heard, him singing softly to himself:
'On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.'
We watched the boat out of sight, and then went home, wishing that it
was evening and that Jem was back again with all the things that we had
asked him to get for us.
That was a very gloomy afternoon. A thick fog came over the sea and
gradually closed us in, so that we could hardly see a step before us on
the beach.
Little Timpey began to cough, so I took her indoors, and amused her
there with a picture-book. It grew so dark that my grandfather lighted
the lighthouse lamps soon after dinner. There was a dull, yellow light
over everything.
I never remember a more gloomy afternoon; and as evening came on, the
fog grew denser, till at length we could see nothing outside the
windows.
It was no use looking out for Jem's return, for we could not see the
sea, much less any boat upon it. So we stayed indoors, and my
grandfather sat by the fire smoking his pipe.
'I thought Jem would have been here before now,' he said at length, as I
was putting out the cups and saucers for tea.
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