" "Oh, yes," begged the girls, "do
let us go."
The father consented and they all mounted the hill. It was a beautiful
day. The sky was cloudless and the air was so clear and dry, that one
could see distinctly far out into the distance. Suddenly Andreas
shouted: "Father, what is that I see? Isn't smoke coming up out of the
water?" The father looked in the direction pointed, and seeing smoke,
said: "I don't know what it is. I fear it is a steamer on fire. It
seems," continued he, shading his eyes, "that I see a dark spot, out of
which the smoke is ascending. Don't you see it?"
"Oh, yes," cried the girls, "and it has two sharp points at the top."
"I see it, too," cried Andreas. "One point is higher than the other."'
"That is no ship," said the father, "for a ship would have a different
shape, and wouldn't look so big from such a great distance. It must be
an island, but I am sure I never heard of it. People must live there, or
how could smoke arise from it."
"Oh, my," cried one of the girls, "wouldn't it be wonderful if our dear
David lived there."
"Maybe so," cried Andreas.
"Nothing is impossible with God," said the father. "We must leave
nothing undone in our search for him. We will ask Uncle Philip's advice
and get him to help us. Let us retrace our steps, now, for it is time
for us to return."
Little did they know how truly they had prophesied, for the smoke which
they saw was ascending from the fire on the rocky island--the same that
had cost David many tears of anguish and fear.
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