Whose names here be.]

General Rolleston and Captain Moreland returned to the cabin and
discussed this document. They came on deck again, and the men were piped
aft. General Rolleston touched his cap, and, with the Round Robin in his
hand, addressed them thus:

"My men, I thank you for taking my trouble to heart as you do. But it
would be a bad return to send any of you to Easter Island in that cutter;
for she is not seaworthy, so the captain tells me. I will not consent to
throw away your lives in trying to save a life that is dear to me. But,
as to the Dutchman's story about an unknown island, our captain seems to
think that is possible; and you tell us you are of the same opinion.
Well, then, I give up my own judgment, and yield to yours. Yes, we will
go westward with a good heart (he sighed), and a willing crew."

The men cheered. The boatswain piped; the anchor was heaved, and the
_Springbok_ went out on a course that bade fair to carry her within a
hundred miles of Godsend Island.

She ran fast. On the second day some ducks passed over her head, one of
which was observed to have something attached to its leg.

She passed within sixty miles of Mount Lookout; but never saw Godsend
Island; and so pursued her way to the Society Islands; sent out her
boats; made every inquiry around about the islands, but with no success;
and, at last, after losing a couple of months there, brought the
heart-sick father back on much the same course, but rather more
northerly.

CHAPTER XLIV.

HAZEL returned homeward in a glow of triumph, and for once felt disposed
to brag to Helen of his victory--a victory by which she was to profit;
not he.

They met in the wood; for she had tracked him by his footsteps. She
seemed pale and disturbed, and speedily interrupted his exclamations of
triumph by one of delight, which was soon, however, followed by one of
distress.

"Oh, look at you!" she said. "You have been in the water. It is wicked;
wicked."

"But I have solved the problem. I caught three ducks one after the other
and tied the intelligence to their legs. They are at this moment
careering over the ocean, with our story and our longitude, and a guess
at our latitude. Crown me with bays."

"With foolscap, more likely," said Helen. "Only just getting well of
rheumatic fever, and to go and stand in water up to the middle."

"Why, you don't listen to me!" cried Hazel, in amazement. "I tell you I
have solved the problem."