en
on the look-out since then, not a sail has come near enough to see my
signals--the flag I have hoisted by day, and the beacons I have kept
burning at night. When I caught sight of your ship yesterday, I was in
hopes that she was approaching; but when the gale came on I knew she
could only do so with great peril, and was thankful when I saw her
weather the island."

I was glad to know from this that the _Phoebe_ had escaped.

I knew by the tone of voice and manners of the old man that he was a
gentleman, and, from his expressions, I guessed that he was a naval
officer; but I felt a delicacy in putting questions to him, though I was
anxious to learn who he was.

"We must not eat the bread of idleness," I said, when the meal was over.
"Is there no work you would wish us to do?"

"All you can do now, my lads, is to lie down and rest," he answered,
smiling. "When you are recovered, you will have to put up a hut for
yourselves, and to cultivate some ground, as perhaps you may have to
remain here as long as I have done."

"We must not go to sleep without thanking God for His great mercy to
us," said Bill.

I felt rebuked. Without hesitation, I knelt down with my companion near
a heap of dried grass and matting, which our host had prepared for us.
He looked on, slightly astonished, but I heard him utter "Amen" at the
end of my prayer.

Worn out with fatigue, we slept on till nearly daybreak the following
morning.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

REUNION.

During the first few weeks we were on the island, Bill and I built
ourselves a comfortable hut, and planted a plot of ground with roots and
seeds given to us by our host, several boxes of which, he said, had
fortunately been washed on shore from the wreck. Great had been my
astonishment to find who he was. I had been narrating my previous
adventures. When I came to give him an account of Miss Kitty, I saw
that he was deeply interested. He asked me question upon question. I
told him of her belief that her father was still alive, and of her
resolution not to marry till his return home.

"Then, dear boy, I pray more than ever that we may make our escape ere
long, for I am her long missing father, Lieutenant Raglan. Misfortune
has pursued me for many years, but I shall be recompensed by finding my
child all you describe her."

I had not expected to find her father so old a man, but I discovered
that care and anxiety had whitened his hair and furrowed his chee