The Light on the Rock by M. Durward

4.5

Part I

One summer day Bill and Harry took some bread and butter with them and went down to the sea. They sat on the sand and looked at the little boats on the water. Soon a boat came up to them.

“Hello, Tony!” Bill called to the boy in the boat.

“Hello, Bill!” Tony called back. Then he got out of the boat and went up to the two boys.

“Tony, will you take us out in your boat?” asked Harry.

“Not today, Harry,” said Tony, “I must help at home this morning. I am going home now.”

“Never mind!” said Bill, “we can go to the rocks and see the caves there. When you finish your work, Tony, will you come there too?”

“All right!” said Tony and he went down the road.

Bill and Harry began to walk along the sand. It was not far to the caves and soon they could see them. They left their things on the sand and went into the first cave. It was very cold and dark there and they could not see much. The next cave was also dark.

When they came out on the sand again. Bill looked over to the place where their things were. Suddenly he cried, “Look at that dog! It’s eating out lunch!” The dog looked up and saw the boys. Then it ran off along the sand with one of Bill’s sandals in its mouth. Bill ran after it, but the little dog ran very quickly. Bill began to laugh.

“We left our bread and butter for that dog,” he said.

Part II

“Let's go and see the beacon," said Bill. The boys left Bill’s other sandal on the sand and walked along the rocks. Then they came to a big rock and at the top of it they saw the beacon. It gave out a very bright light at night. The boys could see it from their grandfather’s house.

Suddenly it began to rain. Bill looked up at the sky.

“There’s a storm coming up,” he said. “We must run home quickly.” But Harry looked at the water at his feet. It was the tide which always came in at this time of the day. He began to cry.

“What shall we do, Bill?” he asked his brother. “There is no way over the rocks and we cannot swim so far.”

“No, we can't," said Bill, “we must go up to the beacon, it is on a big rock and the water will not get up there.” And the two brothers began to climb up the big rock to the beacon.

The weather was good when Tony went out after lunch to meet Bill and Harry. He walked along the rocks and saw that the water was almost up to the caves.

“Where are the boys?” thought Tony and he looked into the caves, but the boys were not there. He sat down on a rock. Suddenly it began to rain. Tony looked up at the sky.

“There’s a storm coming up,” he said to himself. “But where can the boys be?”

Then suddenly he saw the light of the beacon. Tony jumped up.

“They must be on that big rock where the beacon is. They don’t know that the tide cuts off the rock. Yes, they are there. I can see them. They are waving something. I must run back and tell their grandfather.”

Part III

Grandfather saw Tony from the window and asked:

“Have you seen Bill and Harry?”

“Yes, they are out on the rock where the beacon is,” said Tony. "I saw them there.”

“The beacon rock?” said Grandfather.

“Yes,” said Tony. “My father is in the motor-boat. He will take us out to the beacon.”

“It will be very difficult to get them off the rock in this wind,” said Grandfather, as they ran along the sand. Tony showed him where the big motor-boat was and soon they were on their way to the big rock. But the motor-boat could not come up to it because there were many small rocks and stones in the water. The motor-boat went out to sea again.

All this time Bill and Harry were on the beacon rock. They were very cold and hungry. The rain did not stop and the wind blew hard. Soon they saw a motor-boat on the sea. “It must be Tony and Grandfather,” said Bill. “They will find us.” The boys watched the boat. They saw that the motor-boat could not come up to the big rock. Soon it went out to sea again. Harry began to cry.

“Don’t cry,” said Bill. “Look, there are people down there on the sand. They are waving to us."

Bill took off his shirt and began to wave back. Then the people went away.

Soon the rain stopped and the sun came out. Harry looked up at the sky and cried, “A helicopter! Look, Bill, a helicopter!”

The helicopter was soon over the big rock. Then it stopped. A door in it opened and a man came down a ladder.

"Hello,” he said as he jumped down on the rock. “You did not think that a helicopter could fly here, did you?"

“No," said Bill and Harry. “But we are very happy you have come."

“How did you know we were here?” asked Bill.

“Some people saw you from the sand and told us where you were,” said the man.

Soon they were in the helicopter and flew over the sea.

“Look, Harry. There’s Grandfather and Tony in the motor-boat. They are going home, too,” said Bill.