nts; indeed it was very like the description
of Robinson Crusoe's island. They waved the flag and shouted, though
shouting was of no use, as no one in the valley could have heard them.
At length they descended towards the east, the point from which the ship
was to take them off. Still they hoped that some one might appear.

"He may have been all the time watching the ship, and not have looked up
towards the mountain," observed Owen, who had assumed the fact of Jack's
existence, even more than Charley himself. They reached the beach
without meeting the trace even of a human being. All the party looked
blank at each other; it was very clear that that was not Jack's island.

Disappointed they returned on board. "Don't let us despair," cried
Charley. "There may be, in the latitude where the _Truelove_ was lost,
fifty other islands, and Jack can only be in one of them, so that we
cannot hope to find him in a hurry."

"No! of course not," cried Owen; "but we will find him notwithstanding
that. Just let us get our little schooner fitted out and we'll visit
every one of them, and twice as many if necessary."

Captain Harper had most liberally and kindly done his best for Charley's
object. Captain Askew's friends at Liverpool had promised a reward of a
hundred pounds to any man or ship's company, half to go to the master,
who should discover and bring off young Askew, and half that amount for
the discovery of any of the crew of the ill-fated ship. This
information he gave to every whaler and other vessel the _Southern
Cross_ fell in with. Whalers especially, visit so many out-of-the-way
spots while searching for their prey, to obtain wood and water and
vegetables, essentials for the support of the health and life of the
crew, that it was possible some of them might be tempted to make a more
thorough examination of islands near which they might find themselves,
than they would otherwise do. At length Callao was reached, and Charley
with his two friends obtained their discharge.

The next thing was to find a vessel suited for their purpose. After
inspecting a number, a beautiful little Spanish schooner, of about
eighty tons, which had just come into the harbour, was purchased, and a
motley crew engaged. The crew consisted of one Englishman, who had been
twenty years from home, a negro, a Tahitian, and a native Indian; but
still they all pulled wonderfully well together. Charley Blount was
captain; Elton, first ma