note of all he saw. When we came to talk, I found that he had made up
his mind to stay with us. I need not say how glad I was to hear this,
for he had brought out with him a large stock of farm tools, of which
we had long been in want.

The boys were of course in high glee at all this, but I did not share
their joy so much as I could wish. The ship which now lay close to our
shore was the first we had seen since we came to the isle, and no one
could tell when the next might come. My wife and I did not wish to
leave. I had a love for the kind of life we led, and we were both at an
age when ease and rest should take the place of toil. But then our sons
were young--not yet in the prime of life--and I did not think it right
that we should keep them from the world. Jane, I could tell, would not
stay with us, nor did she hide from us the fact that her heart drew her
to the dear one at home, from whom she had been kept so long. So I told
my wife that I would ask my boys to choose what they would do--to stay
with us on the isle, or leave with Captain Stone in the ship.

Fritz and Jack said they would not leave us; Ernest spoke not a word,
but I saw that he had made up his mind to go. I did not grieve at this,
as I felt that our isle was too small for the scope of his mind, and
did not give him the means to learn all he could wish. I told him to
speak out, when he said he should like to leave the place for a few
years, and he knew Frank had a wish to go with him.

I thought this would give my wife pain, but she said that the boys had
made a good choice, and that she knew Ernest and Frank would make their
way in the world.

Captain Stone gave Jane, Ernest, and Frank leave to go with him, as