chance for her to reach her home, and she dreamed she heard the
well-known voice of her sire call her to come to him. The boys were half
crazed with vague hopes, and lay for hours ere they went to sleep. My
wife and I sat up late to think and talk of the use that might be made
of this chance. We felt that we were now full of years, and should not
like in our old age to leave the place where we had spent the best part
of our lives; still we might do some trade with the land from which the
ship came, if it were but known that we were here, and we might hear
news of our dear Swiss home.

At break of day we put on board our boat a stock of fruit and fresh
food of all kinds, such as we thought the crew of the ship would like to
have, and Fritz and I set sail for the bay. We took with us all the arms
we could find, so as not to be at a loss should the crew prove false to
their flag, and turn out to be a set of thieves.

As we drew near the ship I fired a gun, and told Fritz to hoist a flag
like theirs to the top of our mast, and as we did so the crew gave a
loud cheer. I then went on board, and the mate of the ship led me to his
chief, who soon put me at my ease by a frank shake of the hand. I then
told him who we were, and how we came to dwell on the isle. I learned
from him, in turn, that he was bound for New South Wales; that he knew
Captain Rose, who had lost his child, and that he had made a search for
her on the coast. He told me that a storm had thrown him off his course,
and that the wind drove him on this coast, where he took care to fill
his casks from a fresh stream that ran by the side of a hill, and to
take in a stock of wood.

"It was then," he said, "that we first heard your guns; and when on the
third day the same sound came to our ears, we knew that there must be
some one on the coast, and this led us to put up our tents and wait till
the crew should search the land round the bay."

I then made the crew a gift of what we had brought in our boat, and said
to Captain Stone, for that was his name: "I hope, sir, that you will now
go with me to Rock House, the place where we live, and where you will
see Miss Rose, who will be glad to hear some news of home."

"To be sure I will, and thank you much," said he; "and I have no doubt
that Mr. West would like to go with us." This Mr. West was on his way,
with his wife and two girls, to New South Wales, where he meant to build
a house and clear a piece of land.

We