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The rough men loved this gentle child who had known sorrow so early. They
listened as she read to them, and used to say she was their good angel. If
we remember that an angel means a messenger, we shall perhaps think it not
a wrong name to give to her, since she read to them God's Book, which is
His message to us.
While we were talking about the earth-crust, I daresay you were wishing to
know, as I did, how thick it is--how far down the layers of rocks go, and
what lies underneath the lowest layer of all.
These are questions which cannot be answered; for no one has ever been able
to search so far into the hidden parts of the earth as to tell us what lies
beneath those fire-rocks, which are the lowest known, although they are
sometimes found upon the tops of mountains, cast up by a mighty heaving of
the crust, such as happens when there is an earthquake, or what is called
the "eruption" of a volcano.
But what power could be strong enough to heave up solid rocks, and to make
the firm ground upon which we tread, and upon which the houses are built,
waver to and fro like the restless sea, so that the strongest buildings
begin to totter and fall, and the bravest men run for their lives?
It is the mighty power of steam--caused by the great heat far down
below--which, when it does come to any part of the earth's surface, makes
itself known in very terrible ways.
We do not often hear of earthquakes near home; but in some of the most
beautiful parts of the world they are so common that the houses are built
only one storey high, and of wood, not stone, because low houses are less
likely to fall, and wooden ones are easily built up again, if overthrown.
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