When we came to the beach, my wife and the rest were there to meet us.
Jane was half wild with joy when she heard that Captain Stone had
brought her good news from home.
We led them round our house and through the grounds and Mr. West took
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.
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