"Finally our boat was overturned. Heaven alone knows what became of my two companions; but I fear they must have been drowned. Only by the rarest of good fortune, and the favor of Providence, was I able to keep afloat until cast up amid the tree-tops where you found me." "But why did you shout? Surely you could not imagine that any one would be on this island to hear you?" asked Sandy, curious still. "I did not know then it was an island. And it seemed to me that I had heard a voice calling, which I supposed must belong to one of my friends who had luckily gained a footing on the shore. That was why I cried out, for I was frantic. But I fear much that I am the only survivor of the three voyagers." The newcomer was eying them in turn curiously. "And now," he said, "I would like to know your names; for I shall never forget what I owe you both. I can see that you must be brothers, for there is some resemblance between you; though I should say that this one," indicating Sandy, "probably takes after his mother; while the other is more like his father. This without knowing who your parents may be." "My name is Alexander, though they always call me Sandy. We are the sons of David and Mary Armstrong." As Sandy spoke Silas Hemphill's eyes took on a new glow, and again he thrust out both hands to seize those of the boys. "How wonderful are the ways of Providence!" he muttered, in a way that gave the listening boys a start. "To think that my life should have been saved by the sons of David Armstrong, of all men!" "Then you know our father?" demanded Bob. "No, I have never met him," came the reply. "But I have heard much about him in the country I happened to pass through while on my way here from Carolina, where my former home lay." The rescued man looked at them both, and Bob was thrilled to see tears in his eyes. Why should this stranger be so moved at sight of David Armstrong's two boys? He spoke of having heard about their father--could that have been down in Virginia, in the town which had been so cruel to the man who valued his honor as he did his very life? Bob saw a faint gleam of light. He hardly dared believe it at first, in fear lest it prove only a hollow mockery. Still, he could not resist saying: "You say you heard much about our father, sir,--was it to his credit that these things were said; or did they tell you the hateful, lying stories that drove him to come far away from those who were once his neighbors and friends?"