'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.