r the death of my
two companions, were indeed sad ones," he continued. "Often I believed
that I should never again see the face of a fellow-creature. I thought
of you, too, my child, left as I feared you would be when your
grandmother was taken away, alone in the hard, cruel world, with no one
to protect you from its snares, or to help you in your distress."

"But God protects those who trust in Him, and He never forsook me, but
sent me kind friends who gave me all the help I needed," exclaimed
Jessie, looking up in her father's face.

"I know that now, Jessie, but I did not then. I should have borne my
misfortunes much better had I done so," he answered. "That good young
fellow Peter, my mate, first put the truth before me on the voyage home.
Many men would not dare to speak as faithfully to their captain as he
did to me. He got me to read the Bible, and showed me throughout the
Psalms God's numberless gracious promises to those who trust to Him, and
His boundless love to sinful men in the Gospels, and what ample rules
under all circumstances in life He has afforded us in the Epistles."

"Peter did not tell me of this," said Jessie.

"No, I should have supposed that he would not," answered her father; "he
is too modest and humble to boast of anything he has done. I need not
tell you, after the years I had spent in solitude, with what joy I
welcomed the sight of a ship approaching the island. It was greatly
damped, however, when I discovered that she was French. Still I
resolved if I could to go on board her, hoping ultimately to make my
escape. The very day before the wreck I had discovered the latitude and
longitude we were in, and had noted it in my pocket-book, so that I
could calculate the exact position of the island. I had also buried all
the treasure which my companions and I had landed, and had raised over
it a mound exactly resembling those I had placed over their graves. I
thus should be able at any time to find the spot, I thought, while no
one else was likely to disturb it. On ascertaining from the Frenchmen
who landed that their ship was a privateer, and that they were still at
war with the English, I said nothing about the treasure, determined
rather to let it remain concealed for ever than allow them to possess
it, for I knew that though I might claim it they would without scruple
take it from me. Of this I was convinced from the way in which they
pulled up all the vegetables in my garden