rt for her mother, and sometimes her boat would be seen
crossing the bay more than once a morning, if there were many supplies
to be carried over; then the children must be rowed back after school
hours. Small wonder that Ida came to know every rock in the bay, and
was able to steer her boat safely in and out among the many
obstructions which were a peril to less intelligent mariners.

Towering over all neighboring buildings, the Lime Rock Light stood on
its rocky ledge, clearly seen by men on vessels entering or leaving
Narragansett Bay, and by officers and men at Fort Adams, as well as by
those who lived within sight of the light, and it came to be a daily
word, "Watch for the girl," for Ida sturdily rowed across the bay, no
matter how furious the storm, how dense the fog.

Late one afternoon, after visiting a friend, she was rowing from
Newport at the hour when a snub-nosed schooner sailed slowly into the
harbor on its way from New York to Newport with every sign of distress
visible among its crew, for not even the Captain knew where lay the
channel of safety between the perilous rocks, and the fog was thick.

[Illustration: IDA LEWIS]

Ida saw the schooner, and guessed its dilemma. Rowing as close to it
as she could, she signaled to the captain to follow her, and her
words were carried to him on the heavy air:

"Come on! Don't be afraid!"

Obediently he went on, as the girl directed, and reached the dock of
his destination in safety, where he shook hands heartily with his
bright-eyed guide before she pushed off again for her island home.
Later he spread the news among his mates that there was a "boss in
Baker's Bay who knew what she was about," and his advice was, "In
danger look for the dark-haired girl in a row-boat and follow her."

This came to be the accepted fashion among captains of the schooners
which in that day plied so frequently between New York and Newport,
and many a letter of thanks, or a more substantial remembrance, did
she receive from some one she had piloted across the angry bay.

Soldiers trying to reach the fort, or sailors anxious to row out to
their ships, always found a ready ferry-woman in Ida, and before the
Lewis family had been in the lighthouse for many months she was one of
the most popular young persons on land or sea within many miles--for
who had ever before seen such a seaworthy young mariner as she, or
where could such a fund of nautical wisdom be discovered as was stored