had no reason to complain. They were so well suited
to this life, and were, besides, so accustomed to the island, that
they could not have left its hospitable soil without regret!

And yet so deeply is the love of his country implanted in the heart of
man, that if a ship had unexpectedly come in sight of the island, the
colonists would have made signals, would have attracted her attention,
and would have departed!

It was the 1st of April, a Sunday, Easter Day, which Harding and his
companions sanctified by rest and prayer. The day was fine, such as an
October day in the northern hemisphere might be.

All, towards the evening after dinner, were seated under the verandah
on the edge of Prospect Heights, and they were watching the darkness
creeping up from the horizon. Some cups of the infusion of elder
berries, which took the place of coffee, had been served by Neb. They
were speaking of the island and of its isolated situation in the
Pacific, which led Gideon Spilett to say,--

"My dear Cyrus, have you ever, since you possessed the sextant found
in the case, again taken the position of our island?"

"No," replied the engineer

"But it would perhaps be a good thing to do it with this instrument,
which is more perfect than that which you before used."

"What is the good?" said Pencroft. "The island is quite comfortable
where it is!"

"Well, who knows," returned the reporter, "who knows but that we may
be much nearer inhabited land than we think?"

"We shall know to morrow," replied Cyrus Harding, "and if it had not
been for the occupations which left me no leisure, we should have
known it already."

"Good!" said Pencroft. "The captain is too good an observer to be
mistaken, and, if it has not moved from its place, the island is just
where he put it."

"We shall see."

[Illustration: THE VERANDAH ON THE EDGE OF PROSPECT HEIGHTS]

On the next day, therefore, by means of the sextant, the engineer made
the necessary observations to verify the position which he had already
obtained, and this was the result of his operation. His first
observation had given him for the situation of Lincoln Island,--

In west longitude: from 150 deg. to 155 deg.;
In south latitude: from 30 deg. to 35 deg..

The second gave exactly:

In longitude: 150 deg. 30';
In south latitude: 34 deg. 57'.

So then, notwithstanding the imperfection of his apparatus, Cyrus
Harding had operated with so much skill that his e