The boys grow homesick and the search starts to find the lost boys, why do you think the three decide to stay hidden?

They like the peace and adventure of the island. The atmosphere on the island is a very peaceful one, the land not yet domesticated like the mainland off the Mississippi. The unadulterated landscape seems to reflect the innocence of the young boys as they live off the island. Away from home, they care nothing for society and all its ills. Rather, they are pirates. The only things that disrupt the peacefulness of the boys are the boom of the cannons and their own thoughts of home.