244 CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 



ing. And I had begun so bravely ! I had re- 

 solved here to live out my life, to spend it in the 

 search for truth. This island was to have been my 

 microcosm. 



But at last there came a day — I remember well 

 its brightness and the sweetness of the air — when the 

 choice was offered me to leave or stay. A vessel 

 sailed around the promontory and dropped anchor 

 behind the coral reefs. I knew then that the end of 

 my dreaming was at hand, that my friends had come 

 for me. 



It matters not why, but I went ; and that was 

 years ago. But even now I often find myself sigh- 

 ing for the home on the Hilltop, for the trusted 

 friends I found there, and living in retrospect the 

 time when, in the words of Crusoe, " I wanted noth- 

 ing but what I had, and had nothing but what I 

 wanted." 



