Page:Poems David.djvu/92

After a little while, off they went
On their adventure anxious and intent;
Strolling along by a murmuring stream,
Each wondering at the fair lovely scene,—
Thinking no footstep had e'er trod before
This beauteous island or its glorious shore!
And often turning to have a scan
At the charming scene on either hand,
On went the thoughtful and lone castaways,
Thro' the verdant groves pursuing their way,
Till near a clump of bread-fruit trees
A ruined cottage there they did see!
O'er it the orchids gracefully bent and twined,
A vine around it also flourished and climbed.—
Deserted and sad, there the cottage lay,
Now left and abandoned by time to decay!
Not even a trace could there be seen
Of what the owners once had been,
Or the land from whence they came,—
Nor even a mark or trace of name!

Days, weeks and months now had flown,
And still the castaways remained alone.
Horace, one evening, when near the shore,
Was watching a sea-bird wheel and soar,
Suddenly he saw a white and distant sail;