e could be lulled to sleep by the lapping of
waters on every side, while at the front of the house stood the tower
from which the light sent its searching beams to guide mariners trying
to enter the Newport harbor.

The girls climbed the spiral staircase leading up to the light, and
looked with wonder not unmixed with awe at the great lamp which was
always filled and trimmed for immediate use--saw the large bell which
tolled continuously during storm or fog; then they went down again to
the sunshiny out of doors, and were shown the boat-house, not so far
back of the light that it would be difficult to reach in a storm.

It was all a fairy residence to those young girls, and little could
they imagine that bright-eyed Ida, who was about to become a
lighthouse-keeper's daughter, was to be known in later years as the
Grace Darling of America, because of her heroic life on that small
promontory in Baker's Bay!

The Lewis family settled in the lighthouse as speedily as possible,
and when their simple household goods were arranged, the island home
was a pretty and a comfortable place, where the howling winds of
winter or the drenching, depressing fogs of all seasons would have no
chance to take from the homelike cheer inside, no matter how severe
they were. Books, pictures, a large rag rug, a model of a sloop, made
by Captain Hosea, family portraits belonging to his wife--whose
girlhood had been spent on Block Island as the daughter of Dr. Aaron
C. Wiley, and to whose ears the noise of wind and waves was the music
of remembered girlhood--all these added to the simple interior of the
lighthouse, while out of doors there was, as Ida said, "All the sea,
all the sky, all the joy of the great free world, and plenty of room
to enjoy it!"

And enjoy it she certainly did, although she had to rise early and
eat the plainest of fare, for the pay of a lighthouse-keeper would not
allow of many luxuries. At night she was in bed and fast asleep before
her friends on land had even thought of leaving their amusements or
occupations for sleep. It was a healthy life, and Ida grew broad of
shoulders, heavier in weight and as muscular as a boy. Every morning
she inspected her boat, and if it needed bailing out or cleaning she
was at work on it before breakfast; then at the appointed hour she was
ready to row her younger brothers and sisters to the mainland to
school. Like a little housekeeper, after dropping them, she went to
market in Newpo