fortunate colonists might have made her out some hours before if they had had the strength to watch the horizon.
"The Duncan!" murmured Ayrton—and fell back without sign of life.
.....
When Cyrus Harding and his companions recovered consciousness, thanks to the attention lavished upon them, they found themselves in the cabin of a steamer, without comprehending how they had escaped death.
A word from Ayrton explained everything. "The Duncan!" he murmured.
"The Duncan!" exclaimed Cyrus Harding. And raising his hand to Heaven, he said, "Oh! Almighty God! mercifully hast Thou preserved us!"
It was, in fact, the Duncan, Lord Glenarvan's yacht, now commanded by Robert, son of Captain Grant, who had been dispatched to Tabor Island to find Ayrton, and bring him back to his native land after twelve years of expiation. The colonists were not only saved, but already on the way to their native country.
"Captain Grant," asked Cyrus Harding, "what can have suggested to you the idea, after having left Tabor Island, where you did not find Ayrton, of coming a hundred miles farther northeast?"
"Captain Harding," replied Robert Grant, "it was in order to find, not only Ayrton, but yourself and your companions."
"My companions and myself?"
"Doubtless, at Lincoln Island."
"At Lincoln Island!" exclaimed in a breath Gideon Spilett, Herbert, Neb and Pencroft."
"How could you be aware of the existence of Lincoln Island?" inquired Cyrus Harding, "it is not even named in the charts."
"I knew of it from a document left by you on Tabor Island," answered Robert Grant.
"A document?" cried Gideon Spilett.
"Without doubt, and here it is," answered Robert Grant, producing a paper which indicated the longitude and latitude of Lincoln Island, "the present residence of Ayrton and five American colonists."
"It is Captain Nemo!" cried Cyrus Harding, after hav-
