erywhere there
were iron machines, casting out smoke, puffing and running about on iron
rails. Robinson had never seen these.

Robinson, however, did not stop to admire; he pushed on to a certain
street and house where lived his parents at the time of his departure.
It was with difficulty that he found the place. It was now in the heart
of the city. Upon inquiry he found, after much searching, that his
father had removed his store and home to another part of the city, his
mother had died of grief for her disobedient son. Robinson was sorely
grieved at this. He had hoped to see her and tell her how sorry he was
that he had caused her so much anxiety and sorrow.

When he had found the place where his father lived he stole quietly up
to the house and opened the door. His father, now a gray-haired man,
bent with age and sorrow, was sitting in his arm-chair reading.

Robinson came forward, but his father did not recognize him. "Who are
you?" he said. "I am Robinson, your long-lost son." He knelt by his
father's side and asked forgiveness for all the trouble he had caused.
His father was overcome. He could not speak. He drew Robinson with
feeble hands to his breast. "My son, I forgive you," he said.

Robinson's boyhood friends heard of his strange return. They had thought
him dead long ago. They never tired of hearing him tell his strange
story. They pitied him in his misfortune. But Robinson told them that it
all happened to him because he was idle and disobedient in his youth.

Robinson at once relieved his father at the store. The business
thrived. His father died. He soon had a home of his own with a happy
family. Friday, the dog, and the parrot lived in it, dearly beloved and
cared for by their master the rest of their days. In the home there is a
young Robinson who loves to hear his father read from his diary of the
wonderful things that happened on the island.

Robinson tried many times to find the rightful owner of the gold and
jewels, but never succeeded. At last he gave them to a school where boys
with idle habits were taught to lead useful and industrious lives.

End of Project Gutenberg's An American Robinson Crusoe, by Samuel. B. Allison

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN AMERICAN ROBINSON CRUSOE ***

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