The noise was made by a party who were searching for the young Crusoe. For several hours the fears of his sister had filled her with agony. Some one told her that her brother had been making a raft, and she called upon the neighbors to explore the river.
She feared that he had been drowned, for no one thought of such a thing as that he had turned Crusoe. It was possible he had gone ashore, and got lost; so the people took boats and went down the river, searching closely on their way.
They were looking for the raft, and had been down to the dam below without finding it. On their way down they had shouted all the time; but Robert slept so soundly that he did not hear them.
On their return they went nearer to the island, and their cries had roused him from his uneasy slumber. Robert heard them call his name, and his fears vanished.
“Halloo!” he shouted in reply.
“Where are you?” asked one of the men in the boat.
“On the island.”
In a moment more, the boat touched the shore, where Robinson Crusoe, Jr., shivering with cold, was waiting for them.
“What in the world are you doing here? Where is your raft?” asked Mr. Green, who was in the boat.
“I pulled it to pieces, for I meant to stay here and be a Robinson Crusoe,” answered Robert.