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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e0841f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #53509 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53509) diff --git a/old/53509-8.txt b/old/53509-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f8f762b..0000000 --- a/old/53509-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,21461 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Joshua Marvel, by B. L. Farjeon - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Joshua Marvel - -Author: B. L. Farjeon - -Release Date: November 12, 2016 [EBook #53509] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSHUA MARVEL *** - - - - -Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by -Google Books (the University of California) - - - - - - - - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - 1. Page scan source: Google Books - https://books.google.com/books?id=yZ4pAQAAIAAJ - (the University of California) - 2. [=e] indicates a macron over "e" - - - - - -JOSHUA MARVEL. - - -BY - -B. L. FARJEON, - -AUTHOR OF "GRIF." - - - -NEW YORK: -HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, -FRANKLIN SQUARE. -1872. - - - - - - -JOSHUA MARVEL. - - - - -CHAPTER I. -CONCERNING CERTAIN FAMILY CONVERSATIONS AND THEIR RESULT. - - -In the parish of Stepney, in the county of Middlesex, there lived, -amidst the hundreds of thousands of human bees who throng that -overcrowded locality, a family composed of four persons--mother, -father, and two children, boy and girl--who owned the surprising name -of Marvel. They had lived in their hive for goodness knows how many -years. The father's father had lived there and died there; the father -had been married from there; and the children had been born there. The -bees in the locality, who elbowed each other and trod upon each -other's toes, were poor and common bees, and did not make much honey. -Some of them made just enough to live upon; and a good many of them, -now and then, ran a little short. The consequence was, that they could -not store any honey for a rainy day, and were compelled to labor and -toil right through the year, in cold weather and in warm weather, in -sunshine and in rain. In which respect they were worse off than other -bees we know of that work in the summer and make themselves cosey in -the winter. - -The bees in the neighborhood being common and poor, it was natural -that the neighborhood itself should partake of the character of its -inhabitants. But, common and poor as it was, it was not too common nor -too poor for love to dwell in it. Love did reside there; not only in -the hive of the Marvels, but in hundreds of other hives, tenanted by -the humblest of humble bees. - -George Marvel had married for love; and, lest the reader should -suppose that the contract was one-sided, it may be as well to mention -that George Marvel's wife had also married for love. They fell in love -in the way, and they married in the usual way; and, happy and -satisfied with each other, they did not mar their enjoyment of the -then present by thinking of the sharp stones which, from the very -circumstances of their position, were pretty sure to dot the road of -their future lives. There are many such simple couples in the world -who believe that the future is carpeted with velvet grass, with the -sun always shining upon it, and who find themselves all too soon -stumbling over a dark and rocky thoroughfare. - -It was not long before the Marvels came to the end of _their_ little -bit of carpet sunshine; yet, when they got upon the stones, they -contrived by industry and management to keep their feet. George Marvel -was a wood-turner by trade, and earned on an average about thirty-two -shillings a week. What with a little new furniture now and then, and a -little harmless enjoyment now and then, and a few articles of -necessary clothing now and then, and the usual breakfasts, dinners, -and teas, with a little bit of supper now and then, the thirty-two -shillings a week were pretty well and pretty fully employed. So well -and so fully were those weekly shillings employed, that it was often a -very puzzling matter to solve that problem which millions of human -atoms are studying at this present moment, and which consists in -endeavoring to make both ends meet. That they did contrive, however, -to make both ends meet (not, of course, without the tugging and -stretching always employed in the process), was satisfactorily -demonstrated by the fact that the family, were respected and esteemed -by their neighbors, and that they owed no man a shilling. Not even the -baker; for they sent for their loaves, and paid for them across the -counter. By that they almost always received an extra piece to make up -weight; and such extra pieces are of importance in a family. Not even -the butcher; for Mrs. Marvel did her own marketing, and found it far -cheaper to select her own joints, which you may be sure never had too -much bone in them. Not even the cat's-meat man; for the farthing a day -laid out with that tradesman was faithfully paid in presence of the -carroty-haired cat (who ever heard of a cat with auburn hair?) who sat -the while with eager appetite, looking with hungry eyes at the skewer -upon which hung her modicum of the flesh of horse. - -Mrs. Marvel was a pale but not sad woman, who had no ambition in life -worthy of being called one, save the ambition of making both ends -meet, and of being able, although Stepney was not liable to floods, to -keep the heads of her family above water. But, because Mrs. Marvel had -no ambition, that was no reason why Mr. Marvel should not have any. -Not that he could have defined precisely what it was if he had been -asked; but that the constant difficulties which cropped up in the -constant attempt to solve the problem (which has something perpetual -in its nature) of making both ends meet, made him fretful. This -fretfulness had found vent in speech day after day for many years; so -that Joshua Marvel, the wood-turner's heir, had from his infancy -upwards been in the habit of hearing what a miserable thing it was to -be poor, and what a miserable thing it was to be cooped up, as George -Marvel expressed it, and what a miserable thing it was to live until -one's hair turned gray without ever having had a start in the world. -It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that Joshua Marvel had -gathered slowly in his mind the determination not to be a wood-turner -all his life, but to start in the world for himself, and try to be -something better; never for one moment thinking there was the most -remote possibility of his ever being any thing worse. When, in the -course of certain family discussions and conversations, this -determination became known, it did not receive discouragement from the -head of the family, although the tender-hearted mother cried by the -hour together, and could not for the life of her see why Joshua should -not be satisfied to do as his father had done before him. - -"And what is that, mother?" Mr. Marvel would ask. "What have I done -before him? I've been wood-turning all my life before him--that's what -I've been doing; and I shall go on wood-turning, I suppose, till my -dying day, when I can't wood-turn any more. Why, it might be yesterday -that I started as a boy to learn wood-turning. The first day I used -the lathe I dreamed that I had cut my thumb off; and I woke up with a -curious sensation in my jaw which has haunted me ever since like a -ghost. That was before I knew you, mother. And now it is to-day, and -I'm wood-turning still; and--How many white hairs did you pull out of -my head last night, Sarah?" - -"Fourteen," replied Sarah; "and you owe me a farthing." - -"Fourteen," said Mr. Marvel, quietly repudiating the liability, which -arose from an existing arrangement that Sarah should have a farthing -for every dozen white hairs she pulled out of his head; "and next week -it will be forty, perhaps; and the week after four hundred." - -"White hairs will come, father," said Mrs. Marvel; "we must all get -'em when we're old enough." - -"I'm not old enough," grumbled Mr. Marvel. - -"And I don't see, father," continued Mrs. Marvel, "what the fourteen -white hairs Sarah pulled out of your head has to do with Joshua." - -"Of course _you_ don't see, mother," said, Mr. Marvel, who had a -contempt for a woman's argument; "you're not supposed to see, being a -woman; but I _do_ see; and what I say is, wood-turning brings on white -hairs quicker than any thing else." - -"Grandfather was a wood-turner," remarked Mrs. Marvel, "and he didn't -have white hairs until he was quite old." - -"Well, he was lucky--that's all I can say; but, for all that, Josh -isn't going to be a wood-turner, unless he's set his mind upon it." - -"I won't be a wood-turner, father," said Joshua. - -"All right, Josh," said Mr. Marvel; "you sha'n't." - -From this it will be seen that the voice maternal was weak and -impotent when opposed to the voice paternal. But Mrs. Marvel, although -by no means a strong-minded woman, had a will of her own, and a quiet -unobtrusive way of working which often achieved a victory without -inflicting humiliation. She did not like the idea of her boy leading -an idle life; she had an intuitive conviction that Joshua would come -to no good if he had nothing to do. She argued the matter with her -good man, and never introduced the subject at an improper time. The -consequence was, that her first moves were crowned with success. - -"If Joshua won't be a wood-turner, father "--she said. - -"Which he won't," asserted her husband. - -"Which he won't, as you say," Mrs. Marvel replied, like a sensible -woman. "If he won't be a wood-turner, he must be something. Now he -must be something, father--mustn't he?" - -This being spoken in the form of a question, left the decision with -Mr. Marvel; and he said, as if the remark originated with himself,-- - -"Yes; he must be something." - -And with that admission Mrs. Marvel rested content for a little while; -but not for long. She soon returned to the attack; and asked her -husband what Joshua should be. Now this puzzled Mr. Marvel; and he -could not see any way out of the difficulty, except by remarking that -the boy would make up his mind one of these fine days. But "these fine -days"--in which people, especially boys, make up their minds--are -remarkably like angels' visits; and the calendar of our lives often -comes to an end without one of them being marked upon the record. To -all outward appearance, this was likely to be the case with Joshua; -and the task of making up his mind seemed to be so tardy in its -accomplishment, that George Marvel himself began to grow perplexed as -to the future groove of his son and heir; for Joshua kept himself -mentally very much to himself. Vague wishes and desires he had; but -they had not yet shaped themselves in his mind--which was most likely -the reason why they had not found expression. - -Meanwhile Mrs. Marvel was not idle. She saw her husband's perplexity, -and rejoiced at it. Her great desire was to see Joshua settled down to -a trade, whether it were wood-turning or any other. Wood-turning she -would have preferred; but, failing that, some other trade which would -fix him at home; for with that keen perception which mothers only -possess with regard to their children--a perception which springs from -the maternal intellect alone, and which is born of a mother's watchful -anxious love--she felt that her son's desires, unknown even to -himself, might possibly lead him to be a wanderer from her world, the -parish of Stepney, in which she was content to live and die. In that -beehive she had been born; in that beehive she had experienced calm -happiness and wholesome trouble; and in that beehive she wished to -close her eyes; and to see her children's faces smiling upon her, when -her time came to say good-by to the world of which she knew so little. -With all a woman's cunning, with all a woman's love, she devoted -herself to the task of weaning the mind of her favorite child from the -restless aspirations which might drive him from her side. - -"Until Joshua makes up his mind what he is going to be, father," she -said one night at candle-time, "it's a pity he should remain idle. -Idleness isn't a good thing for a boy." - -"Idleness isn't a good thing for boy or man," said Mr. Marvel, -converting his wife's remark into an original expression of opinion by -the addition of the last two words. "But I don't see what we are to -do, mother." - -"Suppose I get him a situation--as an errand-boy, perhaps--until he -makes up his mind." - -"I'm agreeable," said Mr. Marvel, "if Josh is." - -But Josh was not agreeable. Many a fruitless journey did Mrs. Marvel -make, trudging here and trudging there; and many an application did -she answer in person to written announcements in shop-windows of -"Errand-boy wanted." Joshua would not accept any of the situations she -obtained for him. She got him one at a watchmaker's; no, he would not -go to a watchmaker's: at a saddler's; no, he would not go to a -saddler's; at a bootmaker's, at a tailor's; no, nor that, nor that. -Still she persevered, appearing to gain fresh courage from every -rebuff. As for Joshua, he was beginning to grow wearied of her -assiduity. He was resolved not to go to any trade, but being of a very -affectionate nature he desired to please his mother, and at the same -time to convince her that it was of no use for her to worry him any -longer. So he set her, what he considered to be an impossible task: he -told her that he was determined not to go anywhere except to a -printing office. He felt assured that she would never be able to get -him within the sacred precincts of such an establishment. And even if -she did, there was something more noble, something more distinguished -and grander, in printing than in bootmaking, or tailoring, or -watchmaking, or wood-turning. There was a fascinating mystery about -it; he had seen watchmakers and tailors, and cobblers working, but he -had never seen the inside of a printing-office. Neither had any of his -boy-friends. He had been told, too, that there was an act of -parliament which allowed printers to wear swords in the streets. That -was a fine thing. How all the neighbors would stare when they saw him -walking through the narrow streets of Stepney with sword at his side! -Joshua had some sense of humor; and he chuckled to himself at the -impossible task he had set his mother. - -He was therefore considerably astonished one day, when Mrs. Marvel -told him she had obtained a situation for him as errand-boy in a -newspaper-office. Did ever a woman fail, except from physical or -mental prostration, in the accomplishment of a certain thing upon -which she has set her mind? And if, in working for the accomplishment -of the desired result, she brings to her aid an unselfish, unwearying -love, _then_ did ever a woman fail? At all events Mrs. Marvel did not. -After much labor, fortune befriended her; and she heard that an -errand-boy was wanted at a certain printing-office where a weekly -newspaper was printed. Thither she hurried, and soon found herself in -a small dark office, in which the master sat. - -He treated her in the most off-hand manner. Yes, he wanted an -errand-boy. Was he sharp, intelligent, willing? Oh, her son! Very -well. Let him come to-morrow. Wages, four shillings a week. Time, from -eight to eight. An hour to dinner, half an hour to tea. Good-morning. - -Thus the matter was settled, and Joshua engaged. Mrs. Marvel went home -rejoicing. - -With fear and trembling, a little pleased and a good deal dismayed, -Joshua made his way the next morning to the printing-office. Groping -along a dark passage he came to a door on which the word "Office" was -dimly discernible. The freshness of youthful paint had departed from -the word; the letters were faded, and they appeared to be waiting to -be quite rubbed out with a kind of jaded resignation. In response to -the sharply-uttered "Come in!" Joshua opened the door, and entered the -room. The person he saw before him had such a dissipated appearance, -that any stranger would have been warranted in coming to the -conclusion that he had not been in bed for a fortnight. The room was -full of papers, very dusty and very dirty; and looked as if, from the -day it was built, it had not found time to wash itself. Scarcely -raising his eyes from a long slip of paper, upon which he was making a -number of complicated marks, the occupant of the room said,-- - -"It's of no use bothering me. I sha'n't have any copy ready for half -an hour. Hallo! Who are you?" - -"The new errand-boy, sir," said Joshua, humbly. - -"Oh, very well! Take this proof up stairs and sweep the -composing-room; then come down and clean the street-door plate. Cut -along! Look sharp!" - -Looking as sharp as he could, Joshua walked up stairs, and found -himself in the composing-room of the establishment. A number of men -and boys, decorated with aprons with large bibs, were playing a -mysterious game with hundreds and thousands of small pieces of lead, -which they clicked with marvellous rapidity, but without any apparent -meaning, against an instrument they held in their hands. He looked in -vain for the swords which he had heard printers were allowed to wear, -and he was covered with confusion at finding himself in the midst of -so large an assemblage, who one and all appeared as if they were -playing on a number of pianos without any tune in them. Going up to a -youth whose head, covered with a profusion of red hair, looked as if -it were in a blaze, Joshua asked to whom he should give the proof. "To -Snooks," was the prompt reply. For which piece of information he -received a slap on the side of his head from some person in authority; -who taking the proof from Joshua, directed him to sweep up the room. -While performing this task he surveyed the scene before him. There -were sixteen men and four boys at work. All the men had the same -dissipated look that he had observed upon the countenance of the -master. Their faces, otherwise, were very clean; but the tips of the -right-hand fore-finger and thumb of each were black with dirt, caused -by the types which they picked up with those extremities from the -boxes before them. Not a word was spoken, except what appeared to have -reference to the business, and the conversation proceeded somewhat in -this wise. One of the workmen, walking to a slab of iron placed in the -middle of the room, took therefrom a sheet of manuscript, and looking -at it negligently, shouted,-- - -"Number three!" - -Another voice at the end of the room cried out,-- - -"Awful Collision!" - -Joshua stopped in the midst of his sweeping, and waited for the shock. -But as none came, he proceeded with his work, and thought that the -second speaker was crazy. In the mean time the dialogue continued. - -Speaker number one: "End a break." - -Speaker number two: "All right," with a growl. - -Speaker number one: "What type?" - -Speaker number two, with another growl: "Minion." - -At the word "minion," which Joshua considered was a term expressive of -any thing but respect, he expected speaker number one would walk up to -speaker number two, and punch his head. Instead of which the insulted -individual went into his corner again, and re-commenced playing his -tuneless piano in the meekest possible manner. The overseer then going -to a part of the room where long rows of type were placed in detached -pieces, asked,-- - -"How long will this Dreadful Suicide be before it's finished?" - -"Done in five minutes, sir," was the reply, in a cheerful voice. - -"Who's on the Inquest?" asked the overseer. - -"I am, sir." - -"Be quick and get it finished; you've been long enough over it. Now, -then, how long is this Chancery Court to remain open?" - -"Close it up in two minutes, sir." - -And Joshua gazed with a kind of wonder at the individual who spoke, as -if it were as easy to close the Court of Chancery as to close his -hand. - -It was the day on which the paper was sent to press; the publishing -hour was three o'clock in the afternoon; and as the work was -behindhand, everybody was very busy. In the centre of the room was a -large iron slab, and at one time the hammering and beating on this -slab were terrific. Two, or three excited individuals, with mallets -and iron sticks in their hands, advanced towards the type, which was -laid upon the slab, with the apparent intention of smashing it to -pieces. They commenced to do this with such extraordinary earnestness, -that Joshua was on the point of rushing down stairs to the master to -inform him that his property was being wantonly destroyed; but as the -other workmen appeared to regard the proceeding as quite a matter of -course, Joshua checked himself and thought it would perhaps be as well -for him to say nothing about it. The overseer also continued to issue -his strange orders; and during a slight cessation in the hammering, he -peremptorily ordered the workman to "lock up that Escaped Lunatic, and -be quick about it." At another time he gave directions to lay the -Female in Disguise on the stone (meaning the iron slab), to unlock the -Old Bailey, and to correct the Chancellor's Budget. Joshua grew -perfectly bewildered. The information that there was an Escaped -Lunatic in the room did not so much astonish as alarm him; but as to -the Female in Disguise he could not identify her, and he waited in -amazement to see what disguise she wore and where she would be brought -from; at the same time entertaining the idea that to lay any female -upon a stone was a decidedly improper proceeding. While in this state -of mental perplexity, the overseer cried out,-- - -"Now, then, who has the Female in Disguise in hand?" - -"I have, sir," a voice replied. - -"Bring it here, then," ordered the overseer, "and finish the -corrections on the stone." - -"All right, sir." - -Joshua started and looked round to catch a sight of the female; in his -agitation he stumbled against a workman who held a column of type in -his arms. The type fell to the ground, and was smashed into thousands -of pieces. In an instant the whole office was in confusion. - -"You've done it this time, youngster," the workman said in dismay, -looking at the scattered type on the floor. - -Joshua did not exactly know what it was he _had_ done, but felt that -it must be something very bad. He soon received practical proof of the -extent of the mischief, for the master, rushing into the room, kicked -him down stairs and told him to go about his business. Which Joshua -did in a state of much bewilderment. - -Thus all the good intentions of Mrs. Marvel were frustrated. Joshua -declared he would not take another situation, and his father sided -with him and encouraged him. It must be confessed that Mr. Marvel -continued to have his perplexities about Joshua's career, but to have -openly admitted them would have been handing the victory to his wife. -So he kept them to himself, and thus maintained his supremacy as -master of the house. Many of his neighbors were henpecked, and he used -to laugh at them. It would not have done to have given them the chance -to laugh at him. Therefore, as time progressed, Mrs. Marvel's protests -were less and less frequently made, and Joshua's determination not to -be a wood-turner gathering strength month after month, it soon came to -be recognized as quite a settled thing that he was to start in life -for himself, and was not to do as his father had done before him. -Pending his decision, Joshua continued to lead an idle life. But he -was by no means viciously inclined; and much of his time was spent in -the cultivation of two innocent amusements, both of which served him -in good stead in the singular future which was in store for him. One -of these amusements was a passion for music. He knew nothing of -musical notation, and played entirely by ear; yet he managed to -extract sweet melody from a second-hand accordion, of which, after -long and patient saving of half pence and pence, he had become the -happy purchaser. The other of his tastes grew out of a boyish love. -How he acquired it will be recounted in the following chapters. - - - - -CHAPTER II. -SHOWING HOW A PASSION FOR PUNCH AND JUDY MAY LEAD TO DISASTROUS -CONSEQUENCES. - - -There are few boys in the world who are without their boy-friends whom -they worship, or by whom they are worshipped, with a love far -surpassing in its unselfishness the love of maturer years. The memory -of times that are gone is too often blurred by waves of sorrowful -circumstance. Our lives are like old pictures; the canvas grows -wrinkled, and the accumulated dust of years lies heavy upon figures -that once were bright and fair. But neither dust nor wrinkles can -obliterate the memory of the love we bore to the boy-friend with whom -we used to wander in fields that were greener, beneath skies that were -bluer, than fields and skies are now. - -Cannot you and I remember the time when we used to stroll into the -country with our boy-friend, and, with arms thrown lovingly around -each other's neck, indulge in day-dreams not the less sweet because -they were never to be realized? And how, when we had built our -castles, and were looking at them in the clouds, with our hearts -filled with joyful fancies, we wandered in silence down the shady -lane, sweet with the scent of the flowering May that shut us out from -view on either side; and across the field with its luxuriant grass up -to our ankles with everywhere the daisy peeping out to watch us as we -passed; and over the heath where the golden gorse was blushing with -joy; and down the narrow path to the well which shrunk from public -observation at the bottom of a flight of cool stone steps, hewn out by -the monks of a cloister which should have been hard by, but wasn't, -having been destroyed in a bloody battle which took place once upon a -time? - -Not many such experiences as these did Joshua and his boy-friend -enjoy; for our Damon's Pythias, whose proper name was Daniel Taylor, -was lame, with both his legs so badly broken that, had he lived unto -the age of Methuselah and been fed upon the fat of the land, those -props of his body would have been as useless to him all through his -long life as if they had been blades of the tenderest grass. - -The Taylors had three children: Susan, Ellen, and Daniel Ellen and -Daniel were twins, and when they were born Susan was ten years old. -The worldly circumstances of the Taylors were no better than those of -their neighbors; indeed, if any thing, they were a little worse than -those of many around them. The parents, therefore, could not afford to -keep a nurse-girl, and it was fortunate for them that they had -provided one in the person of their elder daughter, and had allowed -her to grow to a suitable age before they ventured to bring other -children into the world. Fortunate as it was for the parents, it was -most unfortunate for Daniel; for before he and his other half were -born, Susan Taylor had contracted a passion almost insane in its -intensity, to which her only brother was doomed to be a victim. That -passion was a love for the British drama, as represented in Punch and -Judy. All Susan's ambitions and yearnings were centred in the show; -and it was not to be supposed that she would allow so small a matter -as twins to interfere with her absorbing passion. How the liking for -Punch and Judy had grown with her years and strengthened with her -strength, it is not necessary here to trace. The fact remains, and is -sufficient for the tragedy of poor Daniel's life. Squeezed to their -sister's breast, Daniel and Ellen were condemned to take long journeys -after Punch and Judy, and to be nursed at street-corners by a girl who -had eyes and mind for nothing but the _dramatis personæ_ of that -time-honored play. In her scrambles after the show she often wandered -a long way from home, and tore her dress, and jammed her bonnet, and -mudded her stockings, and knocked her boots out at the toes, and got -herself generally into a disreputable condition. But in presence of -the glories of Punch and Judy, which were to her ever fresh and ever -bright, such discomforts sank into absolute insignificance. All paltry -considerations were forgotten in the absorbing interest with which she -watched the extraordinary career of the hero of the drama. She was -insensible to the cuffs and remarks of the acting-manager who went -round for contributions, which the on-lookers were solicited to drop -into a tin plate or a greasy cap. He naturally resented Susan's -presence at the exhibition, for she had never been known to contribute -the smallest piece of copper towards the expenses. But neither his -cuffs nor his resentful language had any effect upon Susan, who, in -her utter disregard of all adverse circumstances, proved herself to be -an ardent and conscientious admirer of the British drama. As a -consequence of her peregrinations, she often found herself in strange -neighborhoods, and did not know her way home. The anxiety she caused -her mother, who was naturally proud of her twins, almost maddened that -poor woman. She used to run about the neighborhood of Stepney, -wringing her hands and declaring that her twins were kidnapped. At -first the neighbors were in the habit of sympathizing with her, and of -making anxious inquiries of one another concerning the children; but -when, after some months of such uneventful excitement, they found that -Susan and her twins were always brought home in good condition as -regarded their limbs--although in a very disgraceful condition as -regarded their personal appearance: but dirt counted for nothing in -such a case of excited expectation--their ardor cooled, and they -withheld their sympathy from the distressed mother. Indeed, they -looked upon themselves in the light of injured individuals, because -something really calamitous had not happened to the children. At -length Susan became such a nuisance--not only at home, but at -many police-stations, where she was popularly known as "that dirty -girl again, with the twins"--that the mother was recommended to -lock her up. Despairing of being able to cure her daughter of her -Punch-and-Judy mania by any other means, the mother locked her up with -her infant charges in a room on the first floor. - -That was a sad thing for poor Daniel. Susan very naturally sulked at -being locked up, and at being deprived of her favorite amusement. Life -had no joy for her without Punch and Judy. With Punch and Judy, -existence was blissful; without Punch and Judy, existence was a blank. -Regarding the twins as the cause of her imprisonment, she vented her -spleen upon the unfortunate couple, and was spiteful enough to leave -traces of yellow soap in their eyes when she washed them; and when -they cried because of the smart, and rubbed their eyelids with their -little fists to get rid of the unwelcome particles, she smacked them -on the tenderest parts of their persons, and made them cry the more. -But they were not destined to endure this kind of torture for more -than a couple of days. - -On the third day of their imprisonment, Susan was sitting moodily on -the floor, sulking as usual, and biting her lips and fretting, when -suddenly the well-beloved "too-to-too-a-too" of the Punch-and-Judy -showman came floating through the window. Wild with delight, she -snatched up the twins, and, rushing to the window, bent her body -forward, and looked out. Yes; there it was--there was the show -Preparations were being made for the drama; the green curtain was -down, the crowd was collecting, and the acting manager was already -taking a critical survey of the persons who loitered, and was mentally -marking down those who would not be allowed to stroll or slink away -without being solicited for a fee. The front of the stage was not -turned towards the window out of which Susan was looking; and she -could only see part of the show. That was a terrible disappointment to -her; and her suffering was really very great when she found that the -gallows upon which Punch was to be hanged was erected just in that -corner of the stage of which she could not obtain a glimpse. She -stamped her foot upon the floor excitedly; and, bending her body still -more forward in her eagerness, poor Daniel slipped out of her arms on -to the pavement. For a moment Susan was so bewildered that she could -not realize what had occurred: but, when she heard the sharp cry of -agony to which Daniel gave utterance, and when she saw the crowd of -people rushing with frightened faces towards the spot where the little -fellow was lying, she ran into a corner of the room with the other -child in her arms, and throwing her frock over her head, cowered down -with her face to the wall, and began to cry. But little notice was -taken of her. Daniel was picked up and carried into the house. He was -not killed; but his two legs were badly broken, and were destined -never to be of any use to him. So, as he had to depend upon artificial -legs for support, Daniel began to learn the use of crutches almost -before he had begun to learn to toddle. - -The love that existed between Joshua and Daniel sprang out of an -innocent flirtation which was indulged in by Joshua Marvel and Ellen -Taylor. The amatory youngsters exchanged vows when they were quite -little things, and pledged themselves not to marry any one else: "no, -not for the wide, wide world!" Innocent kisses, broken pieces of -crockery with which they played at dinners and shops on back-window -sills, and the building of grottoes when the oyster-season came round, -were the material bonds which united the youthful loves of Joshua and -Ellen. - -In due time Joshua was introduced to the family; not exactly as the -accepted suitor of the little damsel, but in a surreptitious sneaking -manner, which older suitors would have considered undignified. Such a -mean position did he for sometime occupy in the house of his -affianced, that on several occasions when Mr. Taylor came home drunk, -Joshua was locked up in the coal-cellar, lest he should meet the eye -of the tipsy parent, who, when he was in his cups, did not possess the -most amiable disposition in the world. From that coal-cellar Joshua -would emerge low-spirited and grimy, and in a despondent mood; but -sundry marks of affection from Ellen, the effects of which were -afterwards visible in black patches on her nose and cheeks and cherry -lips, invariably restored him to cheerfulness. Such a courtship was -not dignified; but Joshua and Ellen were perfectly satisfied; and so -was Dan, who thoroughly approved of his twin-sister's choice of a -sweetheart. - -As the children grew in years, the ties that united Ellen and Joshua -were weakened; while those that united the boys were strengthened, -until a very perfect and unselfish love was established between them. -Both the lads were in the same condition as regarded their time. -Joshua had his on his hands because he had not made up his mind what -he was going to be; and Daniel had his on his hands because he had -broken his legs. Each had his particular fancy. Joshua's was music; -Dan's was birds. - -Condemned to a sedentary life from the nature of his affliction, and -not able to run about as other boys did--for when his sister had let -him fall from her arms out of the window the breaking of his legs was -not the only injury he had received--Dan turned his attention to a -couple of canaries which were part of his parents' household gods. In -course of time the birds grew to be very fond of him; and he trained -them to do such pretty tricks, and was himself of so gentle and -amiable a disposition, that good-natured neighbors made him occasional -presents of birds--such as a linnet, or a lark, or a pair of -bullfinches--until he had gathered around him a small collection of -feathered younglings. With these companions his life was as happy as -life could be. He did not mope or fret because his legs were useless, -and because he was compelled to use crutches; on the contrary, he -absolutely loved his wooden props, as if they were bone of his bone -and flesh of his flesh. - -"You are right not to be a wood-turner Jo," said Dan, when his friend -related to him the substance of the family discussions. "If my legs -were like yours, I wouldn't be." - -Dan called his friend "Jo." It was not quite right for Joshua, he -said, but it sounded pretty. And so it did, especially from his lips. - -"I wish your legs _were_ like mine, Dan," said Joshua. - -"It's of no use wishing," replied Dan. "You know what mother says; it -takes all sorts to make a world." - -"Sound legs and broken legs--eh, Dan?" - -"Yes," answered Dan merrily; "and long ones and short ones, and thick -ones and thin ones. Besides, if I had the strongest and biggest legs -in the world, I don't think I should be happier than I am." - -"But wouldn't you like to be a hero--the same as I am going to be?" -asked Joshua. - -"We can't all be heroes. You go and fight with lions; I will stop and -play with birds. I couldn't tame lions; but I _can_ tame birds." Which -he could, and did. - -Dan was fond of speaking about lions because his name was Daniel; and -many and many a time had he and Joshua read the wonderful story of -Daniel in the lions' den. Joshua did not know much of the Bible until -Dan introduced it to him, and read to him in his thin sweet voice the -marvellous romances in that Book of books. - -"There was a hero for you!" exclaimed Joshua admiringly, referring to -the biblical "I wonder what made him so brave." - -"Because he was doing what he knew to be right," replied Dan. - -"I dare say," was the acquiescent rejoinder. - -"And because he was not afraid to speak the truth even to Belshazzar; -and because, above all, he believed in God. So God delivered him." - -"All because he was doing right," said Joshua. - -"All because he was doing right," repeated Dan. "I'm not a bit brave; -that is because I am lame, perhaps. If I was thrown into a lions' den -I should die of fear--I am sure I should; but if I was thrown into a -birds' cage, full of strange birds, I would soon make friends with -them; they would come and eat out of my hand in no time." - -Dan, indeed, was wonderfully learned about birds and their habits, and -possessed a singular power over them. He could train them to any thing -almost. And bear this in mind; he used no cruel means in his training -of them. What he taught them he taught them by kindness; and they were -subservient to him from love and not from fear. The nature of the -affliction which condemned him to a sedentary life, sharpened and -concentrated his mental faculties, and endued him with a surprising -patience. If it had been otherwise, he could never have trained the -birds so thoroughly. Never mind what they were--blackbirds, linnets, -larks, bullfinches, canaries--they were one and all his willing -slaves, and, in the course of time, performed the tasks he set them -with their best ability. Give Dan any one of these birds' and in a few -weeks it would hop upon his finger, dance at his whistle, come at his -call, fall dead upon the table, and jump up again at a given signal as -lively as a cricket. He made little carts for them to draw, little -swords for them to carry, little ladders for them to climb up, little -guns for them to fire off, little houses for them to go in at the -doors of and come out of the chimneys of. It was a sight worth seeing -to watch them go through their performances; to see the dead bird lie -on its back on the table, and watch cunningly out of a corner of its -left eye for the signal which allowed it to come to life again; to see -the family birds, after indulging in a little sensible conversation on -the doorstep, go into the house, the door of which closed with a -spring directly they got on the inside of it, and then presently to -see their heads pop out of the chimneys, as if their owners were -wondering what sort of weather it was; to see the first villain of the -company hop upon the cart in which the pop-gun was fixed, and hop upon -a slip of wood which in some mysterious manner acted upon the gun, and -caused it to go off--and then to see the desperado watch for dreadful -consequences which never followed; to see that cold-blooded and -desperate bird jump briskly down, as if it were not disappointed, and -place its neck in a ring in the shafts, and hop away to another -battle-field; to see the two military birds march up and down in front -of the house, holding little wooden swords in their beaks, as who -should say to an advancing foe, "Approach if you dare, and meet your -doom!" to see the climbing-bird hop up the steps of the ladder, and -then hop down again triumphantly, as if it had performed a feat of -which bird-kind might be proud; and to know that the birds enjoyed the -fun and delighted in it; were pleasant things to see and know, and -could do no one any harm. Of course there were hitches in the -performances; occasionally the birds were dull or obstinate; but, as a -rule, they were tractable and obedient; and if they did sometimes -bungle their tricks they might very well be excused, for they were but -feeble creatures after all. - -So Dan passed his time innocently, and loved his pets, and his pets -loved him. Joshua grew to love them too. He learned all their pretty -little vocal tricks, and could imitate the different languages of the -birds in such a wonderful manner that they would stop and listen -to his warbling, and would answer it with similar joyful notes of -their own. And when Dan and he were in a merry mood--which was not -seldom--they and the birds would join in a concert which was almost as -good, and quite as enjoyable, as the scraping of fiddles and the -playing of flutes. Sometimes, in the evening, Joshua would play soft -music upon his second-hand accordion; and directly he sounded the -first note the birds would hop upon the table and stand in a line, -with their heads inclined on one side, listening to Joshua's simple -melodies with the gravity of connoisseurs, and would not flutter a -feather of their little wings for fear they should disturb the harmony -of sound. - - - - -CHAPTER III. -LIFE AND DEATH OF GOLDEN CLOUD. - - -There was one canary which they had christened Golden Cloud. It was -one of the two canaries that Dan had first trained; and for this and -other reasons Golden Cloud was a special favorite with the lads. Dan -used to declare that Golden Cloud literally understood every word he -spoke to it. And it really appeared as if Dan were right in so -declaring and so believing; it was certainly a fact that Golden Cloud -was a bird of superior intelligence. The other birds were of that -opinion, or they would not have accepted its leadership. When they -marched, Golden Cloud was at the head of them--and very proud it -appeared to be of its position; when the performances took place, -Golden Cloud was the first to commence; if any thing very responsible -and very particular were to be done, Golden Cloud was intrusted with -it; and if any new bird was refractory, it devolved upon Golden Cloud -to assist Dan to bring that bird to its senses. The birds did not -entertain a particle of envy towards Golden Cloud because it had -attained an eminence more distinguished than their own; and this fact -was as apparent, as it must have been astonishing, to any reflective -human being who enjoyed the happy privilege of being present now and -then at the performances of Dan's clever troupe. Even when old age -crept upon it--it was in the prime of life when Dan first took it in -hand--the same respect was paid to the sagamore of the company. Its -sight grew filmed, its legs grew scaly, its feathers grew ragged. What -matter? Had it not been kind and gentle to them when in its prime? -Should they not be kind and gentle to it now that Time was striking it -down? And was it not, even in its decrepitude, the wise bird of them -all? - -Notwithstanding that it grew more and more shaky every hour almost, -the old sense of duty was strong in the heart of Golden Cloud; and it -strove to take part in the performances to the last. Golden Cloud had -evidently learned the lesson, that to try always to do one's duty is -the sweetest thing in life. In that respect it was wiser than many -human beings, who should have been wiser than it. It was a melancholy -sight, yet a comical one, withal, to see Golden Cloud lift a sword -with its beak, and try to hold it there, and hop with it at the head -of the company. It staggered here and there, and, being almost blind, -sometimes hit an inoffensive bird across the beak, which caused a -momentary confusion; but every thing was set right as quickly as could -be. The other birds bore with Golden Cloud's infirmities, and made its -labors light for it. Even the tomtit--that saucy, beautiful rascal, -with its crown of Cambridge blue, who had been the most refractory -bird that Golden Cloud ever had to deal with, who _would_ turn heels -over head in the midst of a serious lesson, and who _would_ hop and -twist about and agitate its staid companions with its restless -tricks--even the tomtit, whose greatest delight was to steal things -and break things, but whose spirit had been subdued and tamed by -Golden Cloud's firmness, assisted the veteran in its old age, and did -not make game of it. - -One evening Joshua came round to Dan's room rather later than usual, -and found Dan in tears. - -"What is the matter, Dan?" asked Joshua. - -Dan did not reply. - -"Do your legs hurt you, Dan?" asked Joshua tenderly. - -Dan formed a "No" with his lips, but uttered no sound. - -Joshua thought it best not to tease his friend with any more -questions. He saw that Dan was suffering from a grief which he would -presently unbosom. He took his accordion on his knee and began to play -very softly. As he played, a canary in a mourning-cloak came out of -the toy-house; another canary in a mourning-cloak followed; then a -bullfinch, and another bullfinch; then the tomtit and the linnets; and -then the blackbirds; all in little black cloaks which Ellen Taylor's -nimble fingers had made for them that day out of a piece of the lining -of an old frock. At the sight of the first canary, with its black -cloak on, Joshua was filled with astonishment; but when bird after -bird followed, and ranged themselves solemnly in a line before him, -and when he missed the presence of one familiar friend, he solved the -riddle of their strange appearance; the birds were in mourning for the -death of Golden Cloud. - -They seemed to know it, too; they seemed to know that they had lost a -friend, and that they were about to pay the last tribute of respect to -their once guide and master. The bullfinches, their crimson breasts -hidden by their cloaks, looked, with their black masks of faces like -negro birds in mourning; the amiable linnets, unobtrusive and shy as -they generally were, were still more quiet and sad than usual; even -the daring blackbirds were subdued--with the exception of one who, in -the midst of a silent interval, struck up "Polly, put the kettle on," -in its shrill whistle, but, observing the eyes of the tomtit fixed -upon it with an air of reproach, stopped in sudden remorse, with the -"kettle" sticking in its throat. - -Dan had made a white shroud for Golden Cloud; and it was both -quaint and mournful to see it as it lay in its coffin--Dan's -money-box--surrounded by the mourners in their black cloaks. They -stood quite still, with their cunning little heads all inclined one -way, as if they were waiting for news concerning their dead leader -from the world beyond the present. - -Joshua, with a glance of sorrow at the coffin, said,-- - -"Your money-box, Dan!" - -"I wish I could have buried it in a flower-pot, Jo," replied Dan, -suppressing a sob. - -"Why didn't you?" - -"Mother said father would be angry,"-- - -Here the blackbird--perceiving that the tomtit was no longer observing -it, and inwardly fretting that it should have been pulled up short in -the midst of its favorite song; also feeling awkward, doubtless, with -a kettle in its throat--piped out, with amazing rapidity and -shrillness, "Polly, put the kettle on; we'll all have tea." - -The blue feathers in the tomtit's tail quivered with indignation, and -its white-tipped wings fluttered reprovingly. Moral force was -evidently quite thrown away upon such a blackbird as that; so the -tomtit bestowed upon the recreant a sharp dig with its iron beak, and -the blackbird bore the punishment with meekness; merely giving vent, -in response, to a wonderful imitation of the crowing of an extremely -weak cock, who led a discontented life in a neighboring back-yard. -After which it relapsed into silence. - -Dan, who had stopped his speech to observe this passage between the -birds, repeated,-- - -"Mother said father would be angry; he knows how many flower-pots we -have. So I used my money-box." - -"But you would rather have a flowerpot, Dan?" - -"I should have liked a flower-pot above all things; it seems more -natural for a bird. Something might grow out of it; something that -Golden Cloud would like to know is above it, if it was only a blade of -grass." - -Joshua ran out of Dan's room and returned in a very few minutes with a -flowerpot with mignonette growing in it. He was almost breathless with -excitement. - -"It is mine, Dan," he said, "and it is yours. I bought it with my own -money; and it shall be Golden Cloud's coffin." - -"Kiss me, Jo," said Dan. - -Joshua kissed him, and then carefully lifted the flower-roots from the -pot, and placed Golden Cloud in the soft mould beneath. A few tears -fell from Dan's eyes into the flowerpot coffin, as he looked for the -last time upon the form of his pet canary. Then Joshua replaced the -flower-roots, and arranged the earth, and Golden Cloud was ready for -burial. - -"Play something, Jo," said Dan. - -Joshua took his accordion in his hands, and played a slow solemn -march; and the birds, directed by Dan, hopped gravely round the -flower-pot, the tomtit keeping its eye sternly fixed upon the -rebellious blackbird, expressing in the look an unmistakable -determination to put an instant stop to the slightest exhibition of -indecency. - -"I don't know where to bury it," said Dan, when the ceremony was -completed. "Ellen has been trying to pick out a flagstone in the yard, -but she made her fingers bleed, and then couldn't move it. And if it -was buried there, the stone would have to be trodden down, and the -flowers in the coffin couldn't grow." - -"There's that little bit of garden in _our_ yard," said Joshua. "I can -bury it there, if you don't mind. I can put the flowerpot in so that -the mignonette will grow out of it quite nicely. It isn't very far, -Dan," continued Joshua, divining Dan's wish that Golden Cloud should -be buried near him; "only five yards off; and it is the best place we -know of." - -Dan assenting, Joshua took the flowerpot, and buried it in what he -called his garden; which was an estate of such magnificent proportions -that he could have covered it with his jacket. He was proud of it -notwithstanding, and considered it a grand property. A boundary of -oyster-shells defined the limits of the estate, and served as a -warning to trespassing feet. In the centre of this garden Golden Cloud -was buried. When Joshua returned to Dan's room, the mourning-cloaks -were taken off the birds--who seemed very glad to get rid of them--and -they were sent to bed. - -Dan was allowed to sit up an hour longer than usual that night, and he -and Joshua occupied those precious minutes in confidential -conversation. First they spoke of Golden Cloud, and then of Joshua's -prospects. - -"You haven't made up your mind yet what you are going to be, Jo," said -Dan. - -"I haven't made up my mind," replied Joshua, "but I have an idea. I -don't want you to ask me what it is. I will tell you soon--in a few -weeks perhaps." - -"Where have you been to-day? You were late." - -"I went to the waterside." - -"To the river?" - -"To the river." - -"To the river that runs to the sea," said Dan musingly, with a dash of -regret in his voice. "What a wonderful sight it must be to see the -sea, as we read of it! Would you like to see it, Jo?" - -"Dearly, Dan!" - -"And to be on it?" - -"Dearly, Dan!" - -Dan looked at Joshua sadly. There was an eager longing in Joshua's -eyes, and an eager longing in the parting of his lips, as he sat with -hands clasped upon his knee. - -"I can see a great many things that I have never seen," said Dan; "see -them with my mind, I mean. I can see gardens and fields and trees, -almost as they are. I can fancy myself lying in fields with the grass -waving about me. I can fancy myself in a forest with the great trees -spreading out their great limbs, and I can see the branches bowing to -each other as the wind sweeps by them. I can see a little stream -running down a hill, and hiding itself in a valley. I can even see a -river--but all rivers must be muddy, I think; not bright, like the -streams. But I can't see the sea, Jo. It is too big--too wonderful!" - -Rapt in the contemplation of the subject, Dan and Joshua were silent -for a little while. - -"Ships on the top of water-mountains," resumed Dan presently, "then -down in a valley like, with curling waves above them. That is what I -have read; but I can't see it. 'Robinson Crusoe' is behind you, Jo." - -Joshua opened the book--it was a favorite one with the lads, as with -what lads is it not?--and skimmed down the pages as he turned them -over. - -"'A raging wave, mountain-like, came rolling astern of us,'" he said. - -"That is the shipwreck," said Dan, looking over Joshua's shoulder. -"Then here, farther down: 'I saw the sea come after me as high as a -great hill, and as furious as an enemy.' Think of that! Here picture." - -The lads looked for the thousandth time at the rough wood-cut, in -which Robinson was depicted casting a look of terror over his shoulder -at the curling waves, ten times as tall as himself; his arms were -extended, and he was supposed to be running away from the waves; -although, according to the picture, nothing short of a miracle could -save him. - -"Look!" said Joshua, turning a few pages back and reading, "'yonder lies -a dreadful monster on the side of that hillock, fast asleep.'" - -"'I looked where he pointed,'" read Dan--it was a favorite custom with -them to read each a few lines at a time--"'and saw a dreadful monster -indeed, for it was a terrible great lion that lay on the side of the -shore, under the shade of a piece of the hill that hung as it were a -little over him. Xury, says I, you shall go on shore, and kill him.'" - -"Could you kill a lion, Jo?" asked Dan, breaking off in his reading. - -"I don't know," said Joshua, considering and feeling very doubtful of -his capability. - -Dan resumed the reading:-- - -"I took our biggest gun, which was almost musket-bore, and loaded it -with a good charge of powder and with two slugs, and laid it down; -then I loaded another gun with two bullets; and the third (for we had -three pieces), I loaded with five smaller bullets.'" - -"No, I couldn't kill a lion," said Joshua, in a tone of disappointed -conviction; "for I can't fire off a gun. But that occurred nearly two -hundred years ago, Dan. I don't suppose there are as many lions now as -there used to be." - -"And ships are different, too, to what they were then, Jo," said Dan, -closing the book. "Stronger and better built. I dare say if it had -been a very strong ship that Robinson Crusoe went out in, he wouldn't -have been wrecked." - -"I am glad he was, though; if he hadn't been, we shouldn't have been -able to read about him. It is beautiful, isn't it?" - -"Beautiful to read," replied Dan. "But he was dreadfully miserable -sometimes; for twenty-four years and more he had no one to speak to. -It appears strange to me that he didn't forget how to speak the -English language, and that he didn't go mad. Now, Jo, supposing it was -you! Do you think, if you had no one to speak to for twenty years, -that you would be able to speak as well as you do now? Don't you think -you would stammer over a word sometimes, and lose the sense of it?" - -Dan asked these questions so earnestly, that Joshua laughed, and -said,-- - -"Upon my word, I don't know, Dan." - -But the time was to come when the memory of Dan's questions came to -Joshua's mind with a deep and solemn significance. "He had his parrot -certainly," continued Dan; "but what used he to say to it? 'Robin, -Robin, Robin Crusoe! Poor Robin Crusoe! How came you here? Where have -you been, Robin?' That wasn't much to say, and to be always saying; -and I am sure that if he kept on saying it for so many years, he must -have entirely forgotten what the meaning of it was. You try it,--say a -word, or two or three words, for a hundred times. You will begin to -wonder what it means before you come to the end." - -"But he had his Bible; and you know what a comfort that was to him." - -"Perhaps that was the reason he didn't go mad. I dare say, too, that -some qualities in him were strengthened and came to his aid because he -was so strangely situated. What qualities now, Jo?" - -"I don't understand you, Dan." - -"I _do_ say things sometimes you don't understand at first, don't I, -Jo?" - -Joshua nodded good-humoredly. - -"I am often puzzled myself to know what I mean. Leaving Robinson -Crusoe alone, and speaking of qualities, Jo, take me for an instance. -I am a cripple, and shall never be able to go about. And do you know, -Jo, that my mind is stronger than it would have been if I were not -helpless? I can see things." - -"Can you see any thing now, Dan?" - -"Yes." - -"What?" - -"I can see something that will separate you and me, Jo." - -"Forever, Dan?" - -"No, not forever; we shall be together sometimes and then you can tell -me all sorts of things that I shall never be able to see myself." - -"Don't you think your legs will ever get strong?" asked Joshua. - -"Never, Jo; they get worse and worse. And I feel, too, so weak, that I -am afraid I shall not have strength to use my crutches much longer. -Every thing about me--my limbs, and joints, and every thing--gets -weaker and weaker every day. If it wasn't for my body, I should be all -right. My mind is right. I can talk and think as well as if my body -were strong. Stupid bits of flesh and bone!" he exclaimed, looking at -his limbs, and good-humoredly scolding them. "Why don't you fly away -and leave me?" - -At this point of the conversation Mrs. Taylor called out that it was -time for Dan to go to bed, so the lads parted. That night Joshua -dreamed that he killed a lion; and Dan dreamed that Golden Cloud came -out of the flower-pot, and it wasn't dead, but only pretending. - -Dan had good reason for speaking in the way he did of his body, for it -distressed him very much. Soon after the death of Golden Cloud, he -grew so weak and ill that he was confined to his bed. But his mind -scarcely seemed to be affected by his bodily ills, and his -cheerfulness never deserted him. He had his dear winged companions -brought to his bedroom, and they hopped about his bed as contentedly -as could be. And there he played with them and took delight in them; -and, as he hearkened to their chirrupings, and looked at their pretty -forms, a sweet pleasure was in his eyes, a sweet pleasure was in his -heart. And this pleasure was enhanced by the presence of Joshua, who -spent a great deal of time with his sick friend. - -The tender love that existed between the lads was undefiled by a -single selfish act or thought. They were one in sympathy and -sentiment. Joshua was Dan's almost only companion during his illness. -Dan's mother tended him and gave him his physic, which could not do -him any good, the doctor said; but Mrs. Taylor's household duties and -responsibilities occupied nearly the whole of her time; she could not -afford to keep a servant, and she had all the kitchen-work to do. -Ellen--Dan's twin-sister and Joshua's quondam sweetheart--was often in -the room; but, young as she was, she was already being employed about -the house assisting her mother. She scrubbed the floors and washed the -clothes; and, although she was so little that she had to stand on a -chair in the tiny yard to hang the clothes on the line, she was as -proud of her work, and took as much pleasure in it, as if she were a -grown woman, who had been properly brought up. Notwithstanding the -onerous nature of her duties, she managed to spend half an hour now -and again with Josh and Dan, and would sit quite still listening to -the conversation. Her presence in the room was pleasing to the -boy-friends, for Ellen was as modest and tidy a little girl as could -be met with in a day's walk. - -Susan, Dan's unfortunate nursemaid, was a young woman now. But she had -a horror of the sick-room. She entertained a secret conviction that -she was a murderess, and really had some sort of an idea that if -Daniel died she would be taken up and hanged. She was as fascinated as -ever with Punch and Judy; but the fascination had something horrible -in it. Often when she was standing looking at the show--and she was -more welcome to the showman than she used to be, for now she sometimes -gave him a penny--she would begin to tremble when the hangman came on -the scene with his gallows, and would then fairly run away in a -fright. Ever since she had let Daniel slip from her arms out of the -window, there had been growing in her mind a fear that something -dreadful was following her; and a dozen times a day she would throw a -startled look behind her, as if to assure herself that there was -nothing horrible there. She had been sufficiently punished for her -carelessness. For a good many weeks after it occurred, bad little boys -and girls in the neighborhood used to call after her, "Ah-h-h Who -killed her little brother? Ah-h-h!" If she ran, they ran after her, -and hooted her with the dreadful accusation. It took different forms. -Now it was, "Ah-h-h-h! Who killed her little brother? Ah-h-h!" And now -it was, "Ah-h-h! Who'll be hung for killing her little brother? -Ah-h-h-h!" Such an effect did this cruel punishment have upon her, -that she would wake up in terror in the middle of the night with all -her fevered pulses quivering to the cry, "Ah-h-h-h! Who'll be hung for -killing her little brother? Ah-h-h-h!" But time, which cures all -things, relieved her. The bad boys and girls grew tired of saying the -same thing over and over again. A new excitement claimed their -attention, and poor Susan was allowed to walk unmolested through the -streets. But the effect remained in the terror-flashes that would -spring in her eyes, and in the agonized looks of fear that she would -throw behind her every now and again, without any apparent cause. -These feelings had such a powerful effect upon her, that she never -entered Dan's room unless she were compelled to do so; and once, when -Dan sent for her and asked her to forgive him for being naughty when -he was a baby, she was so affected that she did nothing but shed -remorseful tears for a week afterwards. - -One day, when Dan was playing with the birds, and no other person but -he and Joshua was in the room, he said,-- - -"Do you think the birds know that I am so weak and ill, Jo, dear?" - -"Sometimes I think they do, Dan," answered Joshua. - -"Dear little things! You haven't any idea how weak I really am. But I -am strong enough for something." - -"What, Dan?" - -"If you don't ask any questions, I sha'n't tell you any stories," -replied Dan gayly. "Lend me your penknife." - -Joshua gave Dan his penknife, and when he came the next day Dan was -cutting strips of wood from one of his crutches. - -"O Dan!" exclaimed Joshua, bursting into tears. - -Dan looked at Joshua, and smiled. - -"O you cry-baby!" he said. But he said it in a voice of exquisite -tenderness; and he drew Joshua's head on to the pillow, and he laid -his own beside it, and he kissed Joshua's lips. - -"I shall not want my crutches any more," he whispered in Joshua's ear -as thus they lay; "that is all. It isn't as bad as you think." - -"You are not going to die, Dan?" asked Joshua in a trembling voice. - -"I don't think I am--yet. It is only because I am almost certain--I -feel it, Jo--that I shall be a helpless cripple all my life, and that -I shall not be able to move about, even with the help of crutches." - -"Poor dear Dan!" said Joshua, checking his sobs with difficulty. - -"Poor Dan! Not at all! I can read, I can think, and I can love you, -Jo, all the same. I have made up my mind what I am going to do. I -shall live in you. You are my friend, and strong as you are, you can't -love me more than I love you. And even if I was to die, dear"-- - -"Don't say that, Dan; I can't bear to think of it." - -"Why? It isn't dreadful. If I was to die, we should still be -friends--we should still love each other. Don't you love Golden -Cloud?" - -Joshua whispered "Yes." - -"But Golden Cloud is not here. Yet you love him. And so do I, more -than I did when pet was alive. I don't quite know how it is with -birds, but I do know how it is with us. If you was here, Jo, and I was -there, we should meet again." - -"Amen, Dan!" - -"And it is nice to believe and know--as you and I believe and -know--that if we were parted, we should come together again by and by; -and that perhaps the dear little birds would be with us there as they -are here, and that we should love them as we love them now. They are -so pretty and harmless that I think God will let them come. Besides, -what would the trees do without them?" - -"What do you mean, Dan, by saying that you are going to live in me?" - -"It is a curious fancy, Jo, but I have thought of it a good deal, and -I want you to think of it too. I want to be with you, although I shall -not be able to move. You are going to be a hero, and are going to see -strange sights perhaps. I can see farther than you can; and I know the -meaning of your going down to the riverside, as you have done a good -many times lately. I know what you will make up your mind to be, -although I sha'n't say until you tell me yourself. Well, Jo, I want -you to fancy, if I don't know what is happening to you--if you are in -any strange place, and are seeing wonderful things--I want you to -fancy, 'Dan is here with me, although I cannot see him.' Will you do -that, Jo, dear?" - -"Yes; wherever I am, and whatever I shall see, I will think, 'Dan is -here with me, although I cannot see him.'" - -"That is friendship. This isn't," said Dan, holding up a finger; "this -is only a little bit of flesh. If it is anywhere about us, it is -here;" and he took Joshua's fingers, and pressed them to his heart. -Then, after a pause of a few moments, he said, "So don't cry any more -because I am cutting up my crutches; I am making some new things for -the birds." - -They had a concert after that; and the blackbird whistled "Polly, put -the kettle on," to its heart's content; and the tomtit performed -certain difficult acrobatic tricks in token of approval. - -Dan recovered so far from his sickness as to be able to leave his bed. -But it almost appeared as if he was right in saying that he should not -want his crutches. He had not sufficient strength in his shoulders to -use them. He had to be lifted in and out of bed, and sometimes could -not even wash and dress himself. Ellen Taylor was his nurse, and a -dear good nurse she proved herself to be. A cross word never passed -her lips. She devoted herself to the service of her helpless brother -with a very perfect love; and her nature was so beautiful in its -gentleness and tenderness that those qualities found expression in her -face, and made that beautiful also. Dan had yielded to Joshua's -entreaties not to destroy his crutches. "You might be able to use them -some day," Joshua would say. To which Dan would reply by asking gayly -if Joshua had ever heard of a miracle in Stepney. However, he kept his -crutches, and Joshua was satisfied. In course of time Joshua began to -train a few birds at his own house, and now and then Dan's parents -would allow Dan to be carried to Joshua's house, and to stop there for -a few days. When that occurred, Dan and Joshua slept together, and -would tell stories to each other long after the candle had been blown -out--stories of which Joshua was almost always the hero. Joshua had -one great difficulty to overcome when he first introduced the birds -into his house; that difficulty was the yellow-haired cat, of which -mention has already been made. With the usual amiability of her -species, the domestic tigress, directly she set eyes upon the birds, -determined to make a meal of them, and it required all Joshua's -vigilance to prevent the slaughter of the innocents. But he was -patient, and firm, and kind, and he so conquered the tigerish -propensities of the cat towards the birds, that in a few weeks she -began to tolerate them, and in a few weeks more to play with them and -to allow them to play with her, and gradually grew so cordial with -them that it might have been supposed she had kittened them by -mistake. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. -IN WHICH DAN GETS WILD NOTIONS INTO HIS HEAD, AND MAKES SOME VERY -BOYISH EXPERIMENTS. - - -If every farthing of the allowance of pocket-money which Joshua and -Dan received from their respective parents had been carefully saved -up, it would not have amounted to a very large sum in the course of -the year. Insignificant, however, as was the allowance, it sufficed -for their small wants, and was made to yield good interest in the way -of social enjoyment. The lads did not keep separate accounts. What -was Joshua's was Dan's, and what was Dan's was Joshua's. As there were -no secret clasps in their minds concealing something, which the other -was not to share and enjoy, so there was no secret clasp in their -money-box which debarred either from spending that which, strictly -speaking, belonged to his friend. Dan was the treasurer; the treasury -was the money-box which was to have been Golden Cloud's coffin. Dan's -allowance was two pence a week, which was often in arrears in -consequence of his father being too fond of public-houses; Joshua's -allowance was four pence a week, which he received very regularly. But -each of their allowances was supplemented by contributions from -independent sources. The motives which prompted these contributions -were of a very different nature; as the following will explain:-- - -"Something more for the money-box, Dan," said Joshua, producing a -four-penny piece, and dropping it into the box. - -"From the same party, Jo?" asked Dan. - -"From the same jolly old party, Dan. From the Old Sailor." - -"Is he nice?" - -"The Old Sailor? You should see him, that's all." - -"You have been down to the waterside again, then?" - -"Yes. Tuck-tuck-joey!" This latter to the linnet, who came out to have -a peep at Joshua, and who, directly it heard the greeting, responded -with the sweetest peal of music that mortal ever listened to. When the -linnet had finished its song the obtrusive and greedy blackbird, -determined not to be outdone, and quite ignoring the fact that it had -had a very good supper, ordered Polly to put the kettle on, in its -most piercing notes. - -"Did you go on the river, Jo?" asked Dan. - -"Yes. In a boat. Rowing. The Old Sailor says I am getting along -famously." - -"I _should_ like to see the Old Sailor." - -"I wish you could; but he is such a strange old fellow! He doesn't -care for the land. When I tell mother what I am making up my mind to -be--what I shall have _made_ up mind then to be--I will coax him to -come to our house. I want him to talk to mother about the sea, for she -is sure to cry and fret, and although the Old Sailor doesn't think -that women are as good as men, he thinks mothers are better." - -Dan laughed a pleasant little laugh. - -"That is queer," he said. - -"He knows all about you, and he asks me every day, 'How is Dan?'" - -"I am glad of that--very glad." - -"So am I. I have told him all about the birds, and how, they love you. -You would never guess what he said to-day about you." - -"Something very bad, I dare say," said Dan, knowing very well, all the -time, that it was something good, or Joshua would not tell him. - -"Something _very_ bad. He said, 'He must be a fine little -chap'--meaning you, Dan--'or the birds wouldn't love him.'" - -"Has he been all over the world, Jo?" - -"All over the world; and O Dan, he has seen _such_ places!" - -"I tell you what we will do," said Dan. "To-morrow you shall buy a -couple of young bullfinches, and you shall find out some tune the Old -Sailor is fond of; and I will teach the bullfinches to whistle it. -Then you shall give the birds to the Old Sailor, and say they are a -present from me and you." - -"That will be prime! He will be so pleased!" - -"Have you ever heard him sing, Jo?" - -"Yes," answered Joshua, laughing; "I have heard him sing,-- - - - 'Which is the properest day to drink, - Saturday, Sunday, Monday? - Each is the properest day, I think-- - Why should I name but one day? - Tell me but yours, I'll mention my day, - Let us but fix on some day-- - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, - Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.'" - - -"I don't think that would do," said Dan, echoing Joshua's laugh. - -"Here's another," said Joshua, and he played a prelude to "Poor Tom -Bowling," and sang the first verse,-- - - - 'Here a sheer hulk lies poor Tom Bowling, - The darling of our crew; - No more he'll hear the tempest howling, - For death has broached him too. - His form was of the manliest beauty, - His heart was kind and soft, - Faithful below Tom did his duty, - But now he's gone aloft, - But now he's gone aloft.'" - -Joshua sang the words with much tender feeling, but Dan shook his -head. - -"The birds would never be able to get the spirit of the song -into them," he said, "and the tune is nothing without that. Never -mind--we'll teach them something, and then the Old Sailor shall have -them." - -"And I shall tell him they are a present from you alone." - -"No," said Dan energetically; "that would spoil it all. They are from -you and me together. Can't you guess the reason why?" - -"I believe I can," replied Joshua, after a little consideration. "The -Old Sailor likes me, and you want him to like you because of me, not -because of yourself alone; you want him to like me more because of -you--as I am sure he will when he knows you." - -"That's it. I want him to know that we love each other, and that we -shall always love each other, whether we are together or separated. I -want everybody who likes you, Jo, to like me." - -Joshua laid his hand upon Dan's, which rested on the table, and Dan -placed his other hand upon Joshua's playfully. Their hands were -growing to be very unlike. Dan's hand, as it grew, became more -delicate, while Joshua's grew stronger and more muscular. Dan laughed -another pleasant laugh as he remarked the difference between them. -"That is a proper kind of hand for a hero," he said. And then, in a -more serious voice, "Joshua, do you know I think we can see each -other's thoughts." And so, indeed, it appeared as if they could. - -The next day the bullfinches were bought, and Dan began to train them. -They were a pair of very young birds, not a dozen days old, and the -air Dan fixed upon to teach them first was "Rule, Britannia." - -So much for Joshua's supplemental contributions to the general fund. -Now for Dan's. - -"Another sixpence in a piece of paper, Jo!" - -"That makes eighteen pence this month, Dan. Poor Susan!" - -"Poor Susan!" echoed Dan. - -Susan was very much to be pitied. Looking upon herself as her -brother's destroyer, she endeavored, by offerings of sixpences as -often as she could afford them, to atone for the crime--for so she now -regarded it--by which she had made him a helpless cripple. These -sixpences were not given openly; they were laid, as it were, upon the -sacrificial altar in secret. Sometimes the altar was one of Ellen's -shoes, and Ellen, when she dressed herself, would feel something -sticking in her heel, and discover it to be a sixpence tightly screwed -up in a piece of paper, with the words, "For Dan; from Susan," written -on it; sometimes the altar was one of Dan's pocket-handkerchiefs, -and the sixpence was tied up in a knot; sometimes it was a bag of -bird-seed; sometimes Dan's cap. She was so imbued with a sense of -guilt, that she trembled when she met Dan's eye. He was as kind and -gentle to her, when he had the opportunity, as he was to all around -him; and divining her secret remorse, he tried by every means in his -power to lessen it. But the feeling, that, if Dan died, she was a -murderess, was too deeply implanted in her to be ever removed. She -lived in constant fear. She was afraid of the dark, and could not -sleep without a rush-light near her bedside. Often in the night, on -occasions when Dan was weaker than usual, she would creep down stairs, -and listen at his bedroom-door to catch the sound of his breathing. If -she did not hear it at first, the ghostly echo of the old terrible -cry, "Ah-h-h-h! who killed her little brother? Ah-h-h-h!" filled the -staircase and the passage with dreadful shadows; shadows that seemed -to thicken and gather about her as if possessed with a desire to -stifle her--and she would press her hands tightly upon her eyes so -that she should not see them. Then perhaps she would open Dan's door -quietly, and hearing him breathe, ever so softly, would creep up -stairs again, a little more composed; always closing her door quickly, -to prevent the shadows on the stairs from coming into her room. - -The supplemental contributions from Susan and the Old Sailor were very -acceptable to Dan and Joshua, who were both fond of reading. What was -not spent in birds' food was spent in books. They subscribed to two -magazines, the "Penny Magazine" and the "Mirror," which came out -weekly; the subscription was a serious one for them, and made a great -hole in their pocket-money: it swallowed up three pence per week. The -addition of a new book to their modest library was one of the proudest -events in their quiet lives. "New" books is not a strictly correct -phrase, for the collection consisted of second-hand volumes, picked up -almost at random at old-book stalls. Although their library was a -small one, not numbering in its palmiest days more than fifty volumes, -it was wonderfully miscellaneous. Now it was a book of travels that -Joshua bought; now a book of poems; now an odd volume of a magazine; -now a book on natural history; now a speculative book which neither of -the boys could understand--not at all a weak reason in favor of its -being purchased. Over these books the boys would pore night after -night, and extract such marrow from them as best suited their humor. -The conversations which arose out of their readings were worth -listening to; Dan's observations, especially, were very quaint and -original, and gave evidence, not only of good taste, but of the -possession of reflective powers of a high order. - -An old book on dreams which Joshua bought for a song, as the saying -is, proved especially attractive to Dan. The proper title of the book -was the "Philosophy of Dreams," an ambitious sub-title--the "Triumph -of Mind over Matter"--being affixed. Dan read and re-read this book -with avidity. In it the writer contended that a person could so -command and control his mental forces, as to train himself to dream of -events which were actually taking place at a distance from him, at the -precise moment they occurred. Space, said the author, was of the -smallest consequence. There was one thing, however, that was -absolutely necessary--that a perfect sympathy should exist between the -dreamer and the person or persons of whom he was dreaming. It was a -wildly-speculative book taken at its best, and contained much -irrelevant and ridiculous matter; but it was just the kind of book to -attract such a lad as Dan, and it set him thinking. "Perfect sympathy! -Such a sympathy," he thought, "as exists between me and Jo;" and he -proceeded to read with greater eagerness. The author, in support of -his theory, dragged in nearly all the sciences; and drew largely upon -that of phrenology. He explained where certain organs lay, such as -wonder, veneration, benevolence, destructiveness, and proceeded -somewhat in the following fashion: Say that a person is sleeping, and -that he is not disturbed by any special powerful emotion, arising -probably from strong anxiety connected with his worldly circumstances. -His mind must be at rest, and his sleep be calm and peaceful. Under -these circumstances, if a certain organ, say the organ of veneration, -be gently pressed, the sleeper will presently dream a dream, in which -the sentiment of veneration will be the quality most prominently -brought into play. And so with wonder, and benevolence, and -combativeness, and other qualities. Having stated this very -distinctly, the writer proceeded, as if the mere statement were -sufficient proof of its incontestability: say that between the sleeper -and the operator a strong and earnest sympathy existed; the operator, -selecting in his mind some person with whom they are both acquainted, -brings his power of will to bear upon the sleeper. (Here the writer -interpolated that the experiment would fail if the organs of -concentrativeness and firmness were not more than ordinarily large in -the operator.) With his mind firmly fixed upon the one object, he -wills that the sleeper shall dream of their mutual acquaintance; and -as he wills it, with all the intensity he can exercise, he gently -manipulates the sleeper's organ of tune--which, by the way, the author -stated he believed was the only one of the purely intellectual -faculties which could be pressed into service. The sleeper will then -dream of the selected person, and his sense of melody and the harmony -of sound will be gratified. Then, in a decidedly vague manner, as if -he had got himself in a tangle from which he did not know how to -extricate himself, the author argued that what one person could do to -another, he could do also to himself, and that the effect produced -upon another person by physical manipulation may be produced upon -one's self by a strong concentration of will. During our waking -moments he said, the affective faculties of our mind are brought into -play. Thus, we see and wonder; thus, we see and venerate; thus, we see -and pity. These faculties or sentiments are excited and make -themselves felt without any effort on our part. If, then, -circumstances, which previously did not affect us, can thus act upon -us without the exercise of voluntary effort to produce sensation; if -circumstances, in which we had no reason to feel the slightest active -interest, can cause us to venerate, to pity, to wonder--broadly, to -rejoice and to suffer--why should we not be able, by the aid of a -powerful sympathy and an earnest desire, to bring into reasoning -action the faculties which are thus excited by uninteresting and -independent circumstances? - -Thus far the author: unconscious that he had fallen into the serious -error of confounding the affective with the intellectual faculties, -and not appearing to understand that, whereas an affective faculty can -be brought into conscious action by independent circumstances, an -intellectual faculty requires a direct mental effort before it is -excited. His essay was not convincing. He wandered off at tangents; -laid down a theory, and, proceeding to establish it, so entangled -himself that he lost its connecting threads; and had evidently been -unable to properly think out a subject which is not entirely unworthy -of consideration. However, he had written his book, and it got into -Dan's hands and into Dan's head. Joshua did not understand it a bit, -and said so; and when he asked Dan to explain it, Dan could scarcely -fit words to what was in his mind. - -"Although I cannot explain it very clearly, I can understand it," said -Dan. "He means to say that a person can see with his mental sight"-- - -"That is, with his eyes shut," interrupted Joshua jocularly. - -"Certainly, with his eyes shut," said Dan very decidedly. "Our eyes -are shut when we dream, yet we see things." Joshua became serious -immediately; the answer was a convincing one. "And that proves that we -have two senses of sight--one in the eyes, the other in the mind. -Haven't you seen rings, and circles, and clouds when you are in bed at -night, and before you go to sleep? I can press my face on the pillow -and say--not out loud, and yet I say it and can hear it--which shows -that all our senses are double." (In his eagerness to explain what he -could scarcely comprehend, Dan was in danger of falling into the same -error as the author of the "Triumph of Mind over Matter" had fallen -into, that of flying off at tangents: it was with difficulty he could -keep to his subject.) "Well, Jo, I press my head into the pillow, and -say, 'I will see rings,' and presently I see a little ball, black, -perhaps, and it grows and grows into rings--like what you see when you -throw a stone in the water--larger, and larger, all the different -colors of the rainbow; and then, when they have grown so large as to -appear to have lost themselves in space--just like the rings in the -water, Jo--another little ball shapes itself in the dark, and -gradually becomes visible, and then the rings come and grow and -disappear as the others did. When I have seen enough, I say--not out -loud again, Jo, but silently as I did before--'I don't want to see any -more,' and they don't come again. What I can do with rings, I can do -with clouds. I say, 'I will see clouds,' and they come, all colors of -blue, from white-blue to black-blue; sometimes I see sunsets." - -"I have seen them too, Dan," said Joshua; "I have seen skies with -stars in them, just as I have seen them with my eyes wide open." - -"Now, if we can do this," continued Dan, "why cannot we do more?" - -"We can't do what he says in this book," said Joshua, drumming with -his fingers on the "Philosophy of Dreams." - -"I don't know. Why should he write all that unless he knew something? -There is no harm in trying, at all events. Let me see. Here is a chart -of a head, Jo turning to a diagram in the book. Where is -combativeness? Oh! here, at the back of the head, behind the ear. Can -you feel it, Jo? Is it a large bump? No; you are going too high up, I -am sure. Now you are too much in the middle. Ah! that's the place, I -think." - -These last sentences referred to Joshua's attempt to find Dan's organ -of combativeness. - -"I don't feel any thing particular, Dan," he said. - -"But you feel something, don't you, Jo?" asked Dan anxiously. "There -_is_ a bump there, isn't there?" - -"A very little one," answered Joshua, earnestly manipulating Dan's -head, and pressing the bump. "Do you feel spiteful?" - -"No," said Dan, laughing. - -"There's a bump twice as large just above your fighting one." - -"What is that bump?" said Dan, examining the diagram again. "Ah that -must be adhesiveness." - -"I don't know what that means." - -"Give me the dictionary;" and Dan with eager fingers turned over the -pages of an old Walker's Dictionary. "'Adhesive--sticking, -tenacious,'" he read. "That is, that I stick to a thing, as I mean to -do to this. Now I'll tell you what we'll do, Jo. I shall sleep at your -house to-morrow night, and when I am asleep, you shall press my organ -of combativeness--put your fingers on it--yes, there; and when I wake -I will tell you what I have dreamed of." - -"All right," said Joshua, removing his fingers. - -"You will be able to find the place again?" - -"Yes, Dan." - -"And you will be sure to keep awake?" - -"Sure, Dan." - -The following night, Joshua waited very patiently until Dan was -asleep. He had to wait a long time; for Dan, in consequence of his -anxiety, was longer than usual getting to sleep. Once or twice Joshua -thought that his friend was in the Land of Nod, and he commenced -operations, but he was interrupted by Dan saying drowsily, "I am not -asleep yet, Jo." At length Dan really went off, and then Joshua, very -quietly and with great care, felt for Dan's organ of combativeness, -and pressed it. Joshua looked at his sleeping friend with anxiety. -"Perhaps he will hit out at me," he thought. But Dan lay perfectly -still, and Joshua, after waiting and watching in vain for some -indication of the nature of Dan's sleeping fancies, began to feel very -sleepy himself, and went to bed. In the morning, when they were both -awake, Joshua asked what Dan had dreamed of. - -"I can't remember," said Dan, rubbing his eyes. - -"I pressed your combativeness for a long time, Dan," said Joshua; "and -I pressed it so hard that I was almost afraid you would hit out." - -"I didn't, did I?" - -"No; you were as still as a mouse." - -"I dreamed of something, though," said Dan, considering. "Oh, I -remember! I dreamed of you, So; you were standing on a big ship, with -a big telescope in your hand. You had no cap on, and your hair was all -flying about." - -"Were there any sailors on the ship?" - -"A good many." - -"Did you quarrel with any of them?" - -"I didn't dream of myself at all." - -"Did any of the sailors quarrel with me?" - -"There wasn't any quarrelling, Jo, that I can remember." - -"So you see," said Joshua, "that it is all fudge." - -"I don't see that at all. Now I think of it, it isn't likely that I -should dream of quarrelling with any one or fighting with any one when -I was dreaming of you, Jo." - -"Or perhaps you haven't any combativeness, Dan." - -"Perhaps I haven't. It wouldn't be of much use to me if I had, for I -shouldn't know how to fight." - -"Or perhaps your combativeness is so small that it won't act," said -Joshua sportively. - -"Don't joke about it, Jo," said Dan. "You don't know how serious I am, -and how disappointed I feel at its being a failure. Will you try it -again to-night?" - -Joshua, seeing that Dan was very much in earnest, readily promised; -and the experiment was repeated that night, with the same result. -After that the subject dropped for a time. - -But if Dan's organ of adhesiveness--which, phrenologically, means -affection, friendship, attachment--was large, it was scarcely more -powerful than his organ of concentrativeness. His love for Joshua was -perfect. He knew that Joshua's choice of a pursuit would separate him -from his friend. When he said to Joshua, "I shall live in you, Jo," -the words conveyed the expression of no light feeling, but of a deep -earnest longing and desire to be always with his friend--to be always -with him, although oceans divided them. If no misfortune had befallen -him, if his limbs had been sound and his body strong, Dan would have -been intellectually superior to boys in the same station of life as -himself. Debarred as he was from their amusements, their anxieties, -and their general ways of life he was thrown, as it were, upon his -intellect for consolation. It brought him, by the blessing of God, -such consolation that his misfortune might have been construed into a -thing to be coveted. There is good in every thing. - -All Dan's sympathies were with Joshua. Dan admired him for his -determination, for his desire to be better than his fellows. It was -Dan who first declared that Joshua was to be a hero; and Joshua -accepted Dan's dictum with complacency. It threw a halo of romance -around his determination not to be a wood-turner, and not to do as his -father had done before him. The reader, from these remarks, or the -incidents that follow, may now or presently understand why the -wildly-vague essay on the "Philosophy of Dreams; or the Triumph of -Mind over Matter," took Dan's mind prisoner and so infatuated him. - -Referring to the book again, after the failure of the experiments upon -his organ of combativeness, Dan found a few simple directions by which -the reader could test, in a minor degree, the power of the mind over -the sleeping body. One of the most simple was this: A person, before -he goes to sleep, must resolutely make up his mind to wake at a -certain hour in the morning. He must say to himself, "I want to wake -at five o'clock--at five o'clock--at five o'clock; I _will_ awake at -five o'clock--I will--I will--I will!" and continue to repeat the -words and the determination over and over again until he fell asleep, -with the resolve firmly fixed in his mind. If you do this, said the -writer, you will awake at five o'clock. Dan tried this experiment the -same night--and failed. He repeated it the following night, and the -night following that, with the same result. His sleep was disturbed, -but that was all. But on the fourth night matters were different. Five -o'clock was the hour Dan fixed upon, and nothing was more certain than -that on the fourth night Dan woke up at the precise moment. There were -two churches in the immediate neighborhood, and, as he woke, Dan heard -the first church-bell toll the hour. One, two, three, four, five. Each -stroke of the bell was followed by a dismal hum of woful tribulation. -Then the other church-bell struck the hour, and each stroke of that -was followed by a cheerful ring, bright and crisp and clear. Dan -smiled and hugged himself, and went to sleep again, cherishing wild -hopes which he dared not confess even to himself. He tried the -experiment on the following night, fixing on a different time, -half-past three. Undaunted by that and many other failures, he tried -again and again, until one night he awoke when it was dark. He waited -anxiously to hear the clocks strike. It seemed to be a very long -half-hour, but the church-bell struck at last. One, two, three, four. -With a droning sound at the end of each stroke, as if a myriad bees, -imprisoned in a cell, were giving vent to a long-sustained and -simultaneous groan of entreaty to be set free; or as if the bell were -wailing for the hour that was dead. Then the joyous church-bell struck -One, two, three, four. A wedding-peal in each stroke; sparkling, -although invisible, like stars in a clear sky on a frosty night. - -Dan went to sleep, almost perfectly happy. - -He repeated his experiment every night, until he had a very nearly -perfect command over sleep as far as regarded time, and could wake -almost at any hour he desired. Then he took a forward step. While -playing with his birds he said, "To-night I will dream of you." But the -thought intervened that he had often dreamed of the birds and that to -dream of them that night would not be very remarkable. So he said, -"No, I will not dream of the birds that are living; I will dream of -Golden Cloud." It was a long time now since Golden Cloud had been -buried, but Dan had never forgotten his pet. When he went to bed he -said, "I will dream of Golden Cloud--a pleasant dream." And he dwelt -upon his wish, and expressed it in words, again and again. That night -he dreamed of Golden Cloud, and of its pretty tricks; of its growing -old and shaky; of its death and burial. Then he saw something that he -had never seen before. He saw it lying quite contented and happy at -the bottom of its flower-pot coffin, and when he chirruped to it, it -chirruped in return. - -He told his dream to Joshua. - -"I have dreamed of Golden Cloud a good many times," said Joshua. - -"But I made up my mind especially to dream of Golden Cloud," said Dan, -"and I dreamed of it the same night. At other times, my dreaming of it -was not premeditated. It came in the usual way of dreams." - -"What do you want me to believe from all this Dan? - -"That, as the author of that book says, you can dream of any thing you -wish. I scarcely dare believe that I shall be able to dream of what I -shall most desire by and by. By and by, Jo," he repeatedly sadly, -"when you and me are parted." - -Joshua threw his arms around Dan's neck. - -"And you are doing all this, dear Dan, because you want to dream of -me?" - -"And because I want to be with you, Jo, and to see things that you -see, and never, never to be parted from you." The wistful tears ran -down Dan's cheek as he said these words. - -"It would be very wonderful," said Joshua; "almost too wonderful. And -I shall think, 'Dan is here with me, although I cannot see him.'" - -"Listen again to what he says, Jo," said Dan, opening the "Triumph of -Mind over Matter." "A person can so command and control his mental -forces as to train himself to dream of events that are actually taking -place at a distance from him, at the precise moment they occur." - -"And that is what you want to do when I am away, Dan." - -"That is what I want to do when you are away, dear Jo." - -"I am positive you can't do it." - -"Why? I dreamed of Golden Cloud when I wanted to." - -"I can understand that. But how did you dream of Golden Cloud, Dan? -You dreamed of him as if he was alive"-- - -"At first I did; but afterwards I saw him in the flower-pot, dead." - -"And Golden Cloud chirruped to you?" - -"Yes, Jo." - -"Think again, Dan. Golden Cloud was dead, and Golden Cloud chirruped -to you!" - -"Yes, Jo," faltered Dan, beginning to understand the drift of Joshua's -remarks. - -"That is not dreaming of things as they are, Dan," said Joshua gently, -taking Dan's hand and patting it. "If you could dream of Golden Cloud -as he is now, you would see nothing of him but a few bones--feathers -and flesh all turned to clay. Not a chirrup in him, Dan dear, not a -chirrup!" - -Dan covered his eyes with his hand, and the tears came through his -fingers, But he soon recovered himself. - -"You are right, Jo," he said: "yet I'm not quite wrong. The man who -wrote that book knew things, depend upon it. He was not a fool. _I_ -was, to think I could do such wonders in so short a time." - -Dan showed, in the last sentence, that he did not intend to relinquish -his desire. He said nothing more about it, however, and in a few -minutes the pair of bullfinches were on the table in a little cage, -whistling, "Rule, Britannia," the high notes of which one of the birds -took with consummate ease. - - - - -CHAPTER V. -JOSHUA MAKES UP HIS MIND TO GO TO SEA. - - -Who was the Old Sailor? - -Simply an old sailor. Having been a very young sailor indeed once upon -a time, a great many years ago now, when, quite a little boy, he ran -away from home and went to sea out of sheer love for blue water. In -those times many boys did just the same thing, but that kind of boyish -romance has been gradually dying away, and is now almost dead. Steam -has washed off a great deal of its bright coloring. The taste of the -salt spray grew so sweet to the young sailor's mouth, and the sight of -the ocean--the waters of which were not always blue, as he had -imagined--grew so dear to his eyes, that every thing else became as -naught to him. And so, faithful to his first love, he had grown from a -young sailor to an old sailor. At the present time he was living in a -rusty coal-barge, moored near the Tower stairs; and, although he could -see land and houses on the other side of the water, there was a curl -in his great nostrils as if he were smelling the sweet salt spray of -the sea, and a staring look in his great blue eyes, as if the grand -ocean were before him instead of a dirty river. He was a short -thick-set man, and his face was deeply indented with small-pox; -indeed, so marked were the impressions which that disease had left -upon him, that his face looked for all the world like a conglomeration -of miniature salt-cellars. His name was Praiseworthy Meddler. The sea -was his world--the land was of no importance whatever. Not only was -the land of no importance in his eyes, but it was a place to be -despised, and the people who inhabited it were an inferior race. From -him did Joshua Marvel learn of the glories and the wonders of the -ocean, and from him came Joshua's inspiration to be a sailor. - -For Joshua had settled upon the road which was to lead him to fame and -fortune. By the time that he had made up his mind what was to be his -future walk in life, most other lads in the parish of Stepney of the -same age and condition as himself were already at work at different -businesses, and had already commenced mounting that ladder which led -almost always to an average of something less than thirty-two -shillings a week for the natural term of their lives. Although, up to -this period of his life, Joshua's career had been a profitless one, as -far as earning money was concerned, his time had not been thrown away. -The tastes he had acquired were innocent and good, and were destined -to bear good fruit in the future. The boyish friendship he had formed -was of incalculable value to him; for it was undoubtedly due, in a -great measure, to that association that Joshua was kept from contact -with bad companions. He had not yet given evidence of the possession -of decided character, except what might be gathered from a certain -quiet determination of will inherited from his mother, but stronger in -him than in her because of his sex, and from a certain unswerving -affection for any thing he loved. A phrenologist, examining his head, -would probably have found that the organs of firmness and adhesiveness -predominated over all his other faculties; and for the rest, something -very much as follows. (Let it be understood that no attempt is here -being made to give a perfect analysis of Joshua's faculties, but that -mention is only being made of those organs which may help to explain, -if they be remembered by the reader, and if there be any truth in -phrenology, certain circumstances connected with Joshua's career, the -consequences of which may have been varied in another man.) Well, -then, adhesiveness and firmness very large; the first of which will -account for his strong attachment for Dan, and the second for his -determination, notwithstanding his mother's efforts, not to -take to wood-turning nor any other trade, but to start in -life for himself: Inhabitiveness very small; and as inhabitiveness -means a tendency to dwell in one place, the want of that faculty -will account for his desire to roam. All his moral and religious -faculties--such as benevolence, wonder, veneration, and -conscientiousness--were large; what are understood as the -semi-intellectual sentiments--constructiveness, imitation and -mirthfulness--he possessed only in a moderate degree; but one, -ideality, was largely developed. Four of his intellectual -faculties--individuality, language, eventuality, and time--call for -especial notice: they were all very small, the smallest of them being -eventuality, the especial function of which is a memory of events. -Mention being made that his organs of color and tune were large, this -brief analysis of Joshua's phrenological development is completed. - -For the purpose of fitting himself for his future career, Joshua had -lately spent a great deal of his time at the waterside, and in the -course of a few months' experience in boats and barges on the River -Thames, had made himself perfectly familiar with all the dangers of -the sea. Praiseworthy Meddler had a great deal to do with Joshua's -resolve. His attention had been directed to the quiet well-behaved -lad, who came down so often to the waterside, and who sat gazing, with -unformed thoughts, upon the river. Not upon the other side of it, -where tumble-down wharves and melancholy walls were, but along the -course of it, as far as its winding form would allow him to do so. -Then his imagination followed the river, and gave it pleasanter banks -and broader, until he could scarcely see any banks at all, so wide had -the river grown; then he followed it farther still, until it merged -into an ocean of waters, in which were crowded all the wonders he had -read of in books of travel and adventure: wastes of sea, calm and -grand in sunlight and in moonlight; fire following the ship at night, -fire in the waters, as if millions of fire-fish had rushed up from the -depths to oppose the wooden monster which ploughed them through; -shoals of porpoises, sharks, whales, and all the wondrous breathing -life in the mighty waters; curling waves lifting up the ship, which -afterwards glides down into the valleys: blood moons, and such a -wealth of stars in the heavens, and such feather-fringed azure clouds -as made the heart beat to think of them; storms, too--dark waters -seething and hissing, thunder awfully pealing, lightning flashes -cutting the heavens open, and darting into the sea and cutting that -with keen blades of light, then all darker than it was before: all -these pictures came to Joshua's mind as, with eager eyes and clasped -hands, he sat gazing at the dirty river. He held his breath as the -storm-pictures came, but there was no terror in them; bright or dark, -every thing he saw was tinged with the romance of youthful imagining. -Praiseworthy Meddler spoke first to Joshua, divined his wish, -encouraged it, told the lad stories of his own experience, and told -them with such heartiness and enthusiasm, and made such a light matter -of shipwreck and such like despondencies, that Joshua's aspirations -grew and grew until he could no longer keep them to himself. And, of -course, to whom should he first unbosom himself in plain terms but to -his more than brother, Dan? - -He disclosed his intentions in this manner: he was playing and singing -'Tom Bowling,' the words of which he had learned from old -Praiseworthy. He sang the song through to the end, and Dan repeated -the last two lines,-- - - - "For though his body's under hatches, - His soul is gone aloft." - - -"_My_ body has been under hatches today, Dan," said Joshua, "although -I wasn't in the same condition as poor Tom Bowling. I dare say," with -a furtive look at Dan, "that I shall often be under hatches." - -"Ah!" said Dan. He knew what was coming. - -"The Old Sailor has been telling me such stories, Dan! What do you -think? He was taken by a pirate-ship once, and served with them for -three months." - -"As a pirate?" - -"Yes; he has been a pirate. Isn't that glorious? It was an awful -thing, though; the ship he was in--a merchantman--saw the pirate-ship -giving chase. They tried to get away, but the pirates had a ship twice -as good as theirs, and soon overhauled them. Then the grappling-irons -were thrown, and the pirates swarmed into the merchantman, and there -was a terrible fight. Those who were not killed were taken on board -the pirate-ship, the Old Sailor among the rest. There were three women -with them, and O Dan! would you believe it?--those devils, the -pirates, killed them every one, men and women too, and threw them -overboard--killed every one of them but the Old Sailor." - -"How was it that he was saved, Jo?" - -"That is a thing he never could make out, he says. It turned him sick -to see the pirates slashing away with their cutlasses, but when they -came to the women he was almost mad. He was bound to a mast by a -strong rope, and when he saw a woman's face turned to him and looking -at him imploringly, although her eyes were almost blinded by blood"-- - -"Oh!" cried Dan with a shudder, as if he could see the dreadful -picture. - -"It was a woman who had had a kind word for every one on the -merchant-ship--a lady she was, and everybody loved her," continued -Joshua, with kindling eyes and clinched fists. "When the Old Sailor -saw her looking at him, he gave a yell, and actually broke the rope -that bound him. But a dozen pirates had him down on the deck the next -moment. He fought with them, and called out to them, 'Kill me, you -devils!' You should hear the Old Sailor tell the story, Dan! 'Kill me, -you devils!' he cried out, and he grappled with them, and hurt some of -them. You may guess that they were too many for him. They bound him in -such a zig-zag of ropes--round his neck and legs and back and -arms--that he couldn't move, and they kicked him into a corner. There -he lay, with his eyes shut, and heard the shrieks of his poor -companions, and the splashes in the water as their bodies were thrown -overboard. After that there was a great silence. 'Now it is my turn,' -he said to himself, and he bit his tongue, so that he should not -scream out. But it wasn't his turn; some of the pirates came about -him, and talked in a lingo he couldn't understand, and when he thought -they were going to slash at him, they went away, and left him lying on -the deck alive! He lay there all night, dozing now and then, and, -waking up in awful fright; for every time he dozed, he fancied that he -heard the screams of the poor people who had been killed, and that he -saw the bloody face of the poor lady he had tried to save. They didn't -give him any thing to eat or drink all night; all they gave him was -kicks. 'Then,' said the Old Sailor, 'they're going to starve me!' If -he could have moved, he would have thrown himself into the sea, but he -was too securely tied. Well, in the morning, the captain, who could -speak a little English, came and ordered that the ropes should be -loosened. 'Now's my time,' said the Old Sailor, and he felt quite -glad, Dan, he says; and he says, too, that he felt as if he could have -died happy if they had given him a chew of tobacco. 'Open your eyes, -pig of an Englishman!' cried the captain, for the Old Sailor kept his -eyes shut all the time. 'I sha'n't, pig of the devil!' roared the Old -Sailor; but, without meaning it, he did open his eyes. 'Look here, -pig,' said the captain, 'you are a strong man, and you ought to be a -good sailor.' 'I'd show you what sort of a sailor I am, if you would -cut these infernal'"-- - -"O Jo!" said Dan, with a warning finger to his lips. - -"That is what the Old Sailor said, Dan," continued Joshua. "'I'd show -you what sort of a sailor I am, if you would cut these--you know -what--ropes, and give me a cutlass or a marlin-spike!' But the captain -only laughed at him; and said, 'Now, pig, listen. You will either do -one of two things. You will either be one of us'-- 'Turn pirate!' -cried the Old Sailor; 'no, I'll be--you know what, Dan--if I do!' -'Very well, pig,' said the captain; 'refuse, and you shall be cut to -pieces, finger by finger, and every limb of you. I give you an hour, -pig, to think of it.' The Old Sailor says that, if he had had a bit of -tobacco, he would have chosen to be killed, even in that dreadful -manner, rather than consent to join them. He never in all his life -longed so for a thing as he longed then for a quid, as he calls it. It -made him mad to see the dark devils chewing their tobacco as they -worked. 'Anyhow,' he thought, 'I may as well live as be killed. I -shall get a chance of escape one day.' So when the hour was up, and -the captain came, the Old Sailor told him that he would oblige them by -not being chopped into mince-meat, if they would give him a chew of -tobacco. They gave it to him, and unbound him; and that is the way he -became a pirate." - -"And how did he get away, Jo?" asked Dan. - -"That is wonderful, too," continued Joshua. "He was with them for -three months, and saw strange things and bad things, but never took -part in them. They tried to force him to do as they did, but he -wouldn't. And he made himself so useful to them, and worked so hard, -that it wasn't to their interest to get rid of him." - -"I think the Old Sailor must be a little bit of a hero, Jo," -interrupted Dan. - -Joshua laughed heartily at this. "You will not say so when you see -him." - -"Why? I suppose he is ugly." - -Joshua raised his hand expressively. - -"And weather-beaten, and all that"-- - -"And knows," said Joshua, still laughing, "'Which is Saturday, Sunday, -Monday?'" - -"Still he may be a hero--not like you, Jo, because you will be -handsome." - -"Do you think so?" - -If by some strange chance a picture of Joshua, as he was to be one -day, had presented itself to the lads, how they would have wondered -and marvelled as to what could have been the youth of such a man as -they saw before them! Look at Joshua now, as he is sitting by Dan's -side. A handsome open-faced lad, full of kindly feeling, and with the -reflex of a generous loving nature beaming in his eyes. Honest face, -bright eyes, laughing mouth that could be serious, strong limbs, head -covered with curls--a beautiful picture of happy boyhood. But no more -surprising miracle could have occurred to Dan than to see Joshua, as -he saw him then sitting by his side, and then to see the shadow of -what was to come. - -"Do you think so?" and Joshua laughingly repeated the question. - -"Do I think so" said Dan, gazing with pride at his friend. "O Mr. -Vanity! as if you didn't know!" - -Joshua, laughing more than ever, protested that he had never given it -a thought, and promised that he would take a good long look at himself -in the glass that very night. At the rate the lads were going on, it -appeared as if the Old Sailor's story would never be completed, and so -Daniel said, to put a stop to Joshua's nonsense. - -"It is all your fault, Dan," said Joshua, "because you _will_ -interrupt. Well, when the Old Sailor had been in the ship for three -months, it was attacked by a cruiser which had been hunting it down -for a long time. All the pirates were taken--the Old Sailor and -all--and sold as slaves at Algiers. They wouldn't believe his story -about his not being a pirate, and he was sold for a slave with the -rest of them. He worked in chains in the fields for a good many -weeks--he doesn't remember how many--until Lord Exmouth bombarded the -forts, and put a stop to Christian slavery. And that is the Old -Sailor's pirate-story." - -"And now to return to what we were saying before you commenced," said -Dan. Joshua placed his hands at the back of his head, and interlacing -his fingers, looked seriously at Dan, and drew a long breath: "You -have something to tell me, Jo." - -"I have," said Joshua. "I have made up my mind what I am going to be. -You can guess if you like." - -"I have no need to guess, Jo, dear; I know, I have seen it all along." - -"What is it, then?" - -"You are going to sea," said Dan, striving to speak in a cheerful -voice, but failing. - -"Yes, I shall go to sea;" and Joshua drew another long breath. "How -did you find it out, Dan the Wise?" - -"How did I find it out, Jo the Simple? Haven't I seen it in your eyes -for ever so long? Haven't you been telling me so every day? It might -escape others' notice, but not mine." - -"I told the Old Sailor to-day, and he clapped me on the back, and said -I was a brave fellow. But he knew it all along, too, he said. And he -took me into his cabin--such a cabin, Dan--and poured out a tiny glass -of rum, and made me drink it. My throat was on fire for an hour -afterwards." - -"Have you told mother and father?" - -"No." - -"Tell them at once, Jo. Go home now, and tell them. I want to be left -alone to think of it. O Jo! and I am going to lose you!" - -Dan had tried hard to control himself, but he now burst into a passion -of weeping; and it is a fact, notwithstanding that they were both big -boys, that their heads the next moment were so close together that -Dan's tears rolled down both their faces. Joshua's heart was as full -as Dan's, and he ran out of the room more to lessen Dan's grief than -his own. - -Thus it fell out that in the evening, when the members of the Marvel -family, variously occupied, were sitting at the kitchen fire, Joshua -said suddenly to his relatives,-- - -"I should like to go to sea." - -George Marvel was smoking a long clay-pipe; Mrs. Marvel was darning a -pair of worsted stockings, in which scarcely a vestige of their -original structure was left; and Sarah Marvel was busily engaged in a -writing-lesson, in the execution of which she was materially assisted -by her tongue, which, hanging its full length out of her mouth, was -making occasional excursions to the corners of her lips. George Marvel -took the pipe from his lips and looked at the fire meditatively; Mrs. -Marvel burst into tears, and let the worsted stocking, with the needle -sticking in it, drop into her lap; and Sarah Marvel, casting a -doubtful look at her writing-lesson, every letter in which appeared to -be possessed with a peculiar species of drunkenness, removed her eyes -to her brother's face, upon which she gazed with wonder and -admiration. So engrossed was she in the contemplation, that she put -the inky part of the pen into her mouth, and sucked at it in sheer -absence of mind. - -"Don't cry, mother," said George Marvel. "What was that you said, -Josh?" - -"I should like to go to sea, father." - -"Ah!" ejaculated Mr. Marvel thoughtfully, looking steadily into the -fire. - -Joshua was also looking into the fire, and he saw in it, as plain as -plain could be, a fiery ship, full-rigged, with fiery ropes and fiery -sails, and saw himself, Joshua Marvel, standing on the poop, dressed -in gold-laced coat and gold-laced cocked-hat, with a telescope in his -hand. For Joshua, without the slightest idea as to how it was all to -come about, had made up his mind that he was to be a captain, dressed -as Nelson was in a picture which was one of Praiseworthy Meddler's -prize possessions, and which occupied the place of honor in the Old -Sailor's cabin. While this vision was before Joshua Mrs. Marvel -continued to cry, but in a more subdued manner. - -"And so you want to be sailor, Josh?" queried Mr. Marvel. - -"Yes. A sailor first, and then a captain." - -The intermediate grades were of too small importance to be considered. - -"I am sure, Josh," said Mrs. Marvel, crying all the while, "I don't -see what you want to go away for. Why don't you make up your mind even -now to apprentice yourself to father's trade and be contented? You -might get a little shop of your own in time, if you worked very hard, -and it would be pleasant for all of us." - -"You be quiet, mother," said Mr. Marvel. "What do women know about -these things? I'm Joshua's father, I believe"-- - -"Yes, George, I believe you are," sobbed Mrs. Marvel. - -"And, as Joshua's father, I tell you again, once and for all, that -he's not going to be a wood-turner. Here's the old subject come up -again with a vengeance! I wish a woman's clothes were like a woman's -ideas; then they would never wear out. A wood-turner! A pretty thing a -wood-turner is! I've been a wood-turner all my life, and what better -off am I for it?" - -"I am sure, father, we have been very happy," said Mrs. Marvel. - -"I am not saying any thing about that," observed Mr. Marvel, -expressing in his voice a very small regard for domestic happiness, -although, in reality, no man better appreciated it. "What I say is, -I've been a wood-turner all my life; and what I ask is, what better -off am I, or you, or any of us, for it? If Josh likes to be a -wood-turner, he can; I have nothing to say against it, except that -he's been a precious long time making up his mind. And if he likes to -be a sailor, he can; I have nothing to say against that. I'm Joshua's -father, and, as Joshua's father, I say if Josh likes to make a start -in life for himself as a sailor, let him. If I was Josh, I would do -the same myself." - -"Thank you, father," said Joshua. "And, mother, if you only heard what -Mr. Praiseworthy Meddler says of the sea, you would think very -differently; I know you would." - -But Mrs. Marvel shook her head and would not be comforted. - -"My father was a wood-turner," said Mr. Marvel, "and he made me a -wood-turner. He never asked me whether I would or I wouldn't, and I -didn't have a choice. If he had have asked me, perhaps we shouldn't -have gone on pinching and pinching all our lives. Now Joshua's -different; he's got his choice: never forget, Josh, that it was your -father who gave you the world to pick from--and I think he's acting -sensibly, as I should have done if _my_ father had given me the -chance. But he didn't, and it's too late for a man with his head full -of white hairs to commence life all over again." - -And Mr. Marvel fell to smoking his pipe again, and studying the fire. - -"I've never seen the sea myself," he presently resumed; "but I've read -of it, and heard talk of it. There are better lands across the seas -than Stepney, for a youngster like Josh. There are lots of chances, -too; and who knows what may happen?" - -"That's where it is, father," whimpered Mrs. Marvel; "we don't know -what might happen. Suppose Josh is shipwrecked; what would you say -then? You'd lie awake night after night, father--you know you -would--and wish he had been a wood-turner. I've never seen the sea, -and I never want to; I've been happy enough without it. It's like -flying in the face of Providence. And what's to become of us when we -are old, if Josh can't take care of us?" - -"Just so, mother. Listen to me, and be sensible. Suppose Josh becomes -a wood-turner; he can't expect to do better than his father has done. -I am not a bad workman myself; and though Josh might make as good, I -don't think he'd make a better. Now what I say again is--and it's -wonderful what a many times a man has to say a thing before he can -drive it into a woman's head, if she ain't willing--although I'm a -good workman what better off am I for it? And what better off would -Josh be for it, when he gets to be as old as I am? We've commenced to -lay by a good many times--haven't we, Maggie?--but we never could keep -on with it. First a bit of sickness took it; then a bit of furniture -that we couldn't do without took it; then a rise in bread and meat -took it; and then a bit of something else took it. You've been a good -woman to me, Maggie, and you've pinched all you could for twenty -years; and what has come of all your pinching? There's that old teapot -you used to lay by in. It's at the back of the cupboard now, and it -hasn't had a shilling in it for I don't know when's the time. It would -be full of dust, mother, only you don't like dust; and a good job too. -But it ain't your fault that it isn't full of something better; and it -ain't my fault. It's all because I've been a wood-turner all my days. -And the upshot of it is, that we're not a bit better off now than we -were twenty years ago. We're worse off; for we've spent twenty good -years and got nothing for them." - -"We've got Josh and Sarah," Mrs. Marvel ventured to say. The simple -woman actually regarded those possessions as of inestimable value--but -that is the way of a great many foolish mothers. - -Her husband did not heed the remark. He took another pull at his pipe, -but drew no smoke from it. His pipe was out; but in his earnestness he -puffed away at nothing, and continued,-- - -"Who is to take care of us, you want to know, when we grow old, if -Josh don't. When Josh grows up, Josh will get married, naturally." - -"So shall I, father," interrupted Sarah, who was listening with the -deepest interest to the conversation. - -"Perhaps, Sarah," said Mr. Marvel a little dubiously. "Girls ain't -like boys; they can't pick and choose. Josh will get married, -naturally; and Josh will have children, naturally. Perhaps he'll have -two; perhaps he'll have six." - -"Mrs. Pigeon's got thirteen," remarked Sarah vivaciously. - -"Be quiet, Sarah. Where did you learn manners? Now if Josh has six -children, and, being a wood-turner, doesn't do any better as a -wood-turner than his father has done--and he's a presumptuous young -beggar if he thinks he's going to do better than me"-- - -"I don't think so, father," said Joshua. - -"Never mind. And he's a presumptuous young beggar if he thinks he's -going to do better than me," Mr. Marvel repeated; he relished -the roll of the words--"what's to become of us then? Josh, if he's a -wood-turner with six children, can't be expected to keep his old -father and mother. He will have enough to do as it is. But if Josh -strikes out for himself, who knows what may happen? He may do this, or -he may do that; and then we shall be all right." - -There was not the shadow of a doubt that in that house the gray mare -was the worse horse, in defiance of the old adage. - -"And as to Joshua's being shipwrecked," continued Mr. Marvel, "you -know as well as I do, mother, that it would be enough to break my -heart. But I don't believe there's more danger on the sea than on the -land. There was Bill Brackett run over yesterday by a brewer's dray, -and three of his ribs broken. You don't get run over by a brewer's -dray at sea. And what occurred to William Small a month ago? He was -walking along as quiet and inoffensive as could be, when a brick from -a scaffold fell upon his head, and knocked every bit of sense clean -out of him. They don't build brick houses on the sea. Why, it might -have happened to me, or you, or Josh!" - -"Or me, father," cried Sarah, not at all pleased at being deprived of -the chance of being knocked on the head by a brick. - -"Or you, Sarah. So, mother, don't let us have any more talk about -shipwrecks." - -"But if Josh _does_ get shipwrecked, father," persisted Mrs. Marvel, -"remember that I warned you beforehand." - -"But Josh is not going to get shipwrecked," exclaimed Mr. Marvel, -slightly raising his voice determined not to tolerate domestic -insubordination; "therefore, hold your tongue, and say nothing more -about it." - -There was one privilege for the possession of which Mr. Marvel, had -fought many a hard battle in the early days of his married life, and -which he now believed he possessed by right of conquest; that was the -privilege of having the last word. To all outward appearance Mrs. -Marvel respected this privilege; but in reality she set it at -defiance. It was a deceptive victory that he had gained; for if he had -the last audible word, Mrs. Marvel had the last inaudible one. Woman -is a long-suffering creature; she endures much with patience and -resignation; but to yield the last word to a man is a sacrifice too -great for her to make. There are, no doubt, instances of such -sacrifice; but they are very rare. Many precious oblations had Mrs. -Marvel made in the course of her married life; but she had not -sacrificed the last word upon the domestic altar. True it was always -whispered inly, under her breath; but it was hers nevertheless; and -she exulted in it. When a woman cannot get what she wants by hook, she -gets it by crook, depend upon it. For twenty years had the Marvels -lived together man and wife; and during all that time Mr. Marvel had -never known, that in every family conversation and discussion his wife -had invariably obtained the victory of the last word; although -sometimes a half-triumphant look in her eyes had caused him to doubt. - -So, upon this occasion, notwithstanding the decided tone in which her -husband had closed the conversation, Mrs. Marvel bent her head over -her worsted stocking, and whispered to herself, half tearfully and -half triumphantly,-- - -"But if Josh _does_ get shipwrecked, father, don't forget that I -warned you beforehand." - - - - -CHAPTER VI. -THE ACTOR AND HIS DAUGHTER. - - -THAT night, as Joshua was lying half-awake and half-asleep, his mind -being filled with pleasant sea-pictures, he was surprised to hear his -bedroom-door creak. Without moving in his bed, he turned his eyes -towards the door, and, in the indistinct light, he saw his mother -enter the room. She opened the door very softly, as if fearful of -disturbing him, and she paused for a moment or two in the open space, -with her hand raised in a listening attitude. Joshua saw that she -believed him to be asleep, and he closed his eyes as she approached -the bed. Her movements were so quiet, that he did not know she was -close to him, until she gently took his hand and placed it to her -lips. Then he knew that she was kneeling by his bedside, and knew -also, by a moisture on his hand, that she was crying. His heart -yearned to her, but he did not move. He heard her whisper, "God -protect you, my son!" Then his hand, wet with his mother's tears, was -released, and when he re-opened his eyes, she was gone. - -"Poor mother!" he thought. "She is unhappy because I am going to sea. -I will ask the Old Sailor to come and tell her what a glorious thing -the sea is. Perhaps that will make her more comfortable in her mind." - -He acted upon his resolution the very next day, and his efforts were -successful. In the evening, he wended his way homewards from the -waterside, in a state of ineffable satisfaction because the Old Sailor -had promised to come to Stepney, for the express purpose of proving to -Mrs. Marvel how superior in every respect the sea was to the land, and -what a wise thing Joshua had done in making up his mind to be a -sailor. - -The lad was in an idle happy humor as he walked down a narrow street, -at no great distance from his home. It differed in no respect from the -other common streets in the common neighborhood. All its -characteristics were familiar to him. The sad-looking one-story brick -houses; the slatternly girls nursing babies, whose name was legion; -the troops of children of various ages and in various stages of -dirtiness, one of their most distinguishing insignia being the yawning -condition of their boots, there not being a sound boot-lace among the -lot of them; and here and there the melancholy and desponding shops -where sweet stuff and cheap provisions were sold. Joshua walked down -this poor woe-begone street, making it bright with his bright fancies, -when his attention was suddenly aroused by the occurrence of something -unusual near the bottom of the street. - -A large crowd of boys and girls and women was gathered around a -person, who was gesticulating and declaiming with startling -earnestness. Pushing his way through the throng, Joshua saw before him -a tall, spare man, with light hair hanging down to his shoulders. So -long and waving was his hair, that it might have belonged to a woman. -His gaunt and furrowed face was as smooth as a woman's, and his mouth -was large, as were also his teeth, which were peculiarly white and -strong. But what most arrested attention were his eyes; they were of a -light-gray color, large even for his large face, and they had a -wandering look in them strangely at variance with the sense of power -and firmness that dwelt in every other feature. He was acting the -Ghost scenes in "Hamlet;" in his hand was a wooden sword, which he -sheathed in his ragged coat, and drew and flourished when occasion -needed. His fine voice, now deep as a man's, now tender as a woman's, -expressed all the passions, and expressed them well. In the library -which Dan and Joshua possessed there was an odd volume of Shakspeare's -works, and when the street-actor said, in a melancholy dreamy tone,-- - - - "It waves me still:--go on, I'll follow thee," - - -Joshua remembered (as much from the intelligent action of the actor as -from the words themselves) that it was a Ghost whom Hamlet was -addressing. The words were so impressively spoken, that Joshua almost -fancied he saw a Shade before the man's uplifted hand. Then, when -Hamlet cried,-- - - - "My fate cries out, - And makes each petty artery in this body - As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve. - Still am I called. Unhand me, gentlemen!" - - -(struggling with his visionary opponents and breaking from them, and -drawing his wooden sword) - - - "By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me! - I say, away! Go on, I'll follow thee;" - - -Joshua experienced a thrill of emotion that only the representation of -true passion could have excited. As the man uttered the last words, -Joshua heard a shuddering sigh close to him. Turning his head, he saw -Susan, whose face was a perfect encyclopædia of wondering and -terrified admiration. - -"Who is he following, Joshua?" she asked in a whisper, clutching him -by the sleeve. - -"The Ghost! Hush!" - -"The Ghost!" (with a violent shudder.) "Where?" - -Joshua pressed her hand, and warned her to be silent, so as not to -disturb the man. Susan held his hand tightly in hers, and obeyed. - -The Ghost that the actor saw in his mind's eye was standing behind -Susan. The man advanced a step in that direction, and stood with -outstretched sword, gazing at the airy nothing. Susan trembled in -every limb as the man glared over her shoulder, and she was frightened -to move her head, lest she should see the awful vision whose presence -was palpable to her senses. The man had commenced the platform-scene, -where Hamlet says, "Speak; I'll go no further;" and the Ghost says, -"Mark me!" when a tumult took place. At the words, "Mark me!" a -vicious boy picked up a piece of mud, and threw it at the man's face, -with the words, "Now you're marked;" at which several of the boys and -girls laughed and clapped their hands. The actor made no answer, but, -seizing the boy by the shoulder held him fast and proceeded with the -scene. The boy tried to wriggle himself away, but at every fresh -attempt the man's grasp tightened, until, thoroughly desperate, the -boy broke into open rebellion. - - -_Actor_. Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand -Of life, of crown, of queen, at once despatched. - -_Boy_ (_struggling violently_). Just you let me go, will you? - -_Actor_. Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, -Unhousel'd, disappointed, unaneal'd. - -_Boy_ (_beginning to cry_). Come now, let me go will you? You're a -hurting of me! Let me go you--(_bad words_). - -_Actor_ (_calm and indifferent_). No reckoning made, but sent to my - account -With all my imperfections on my head. - -_A girl's voice_. Pinch him, Billy! - -_A boy's voice_. Kick him, Billy! - -Billy did both, but the actor continued. - -_Actor_. Oh, horrible! Oh, horrible! Most horrible! - -_Billy_. Throw a stone at him, some one! - -_Actor_ (_sublimely unconscious_). If thou hast nature in thee, bear -it not. - -A stone was thrown; and as if this were a signal for a general attack, -a shower of stones was hurled at the actor. One of them hit him on the -forehead; hit him so badly that he staggered, and, releasing his hold -of Billy, raised his hand to his head, while an expression of pain -passed into his face. Hooting and yelling, "Look at the mad actor!" -"Hoo, hoo! look at the crazy fool!"--the crowd of boys and girls -scampered away, and left the man standing in the road, with only Susan -and Joshua for an audience. Joshua was hot with indignation, and -Susan, spell-bound by awe and fear, stood motionless by Joshua's side, -while large tears trickled from her eyes into her open mouth. - -The blood was oozing from the wound in the man's forehead, and his -long fair hair was crimson-stained. His eyes wandered around -distressfully, and a sighing moan died upon his lips. The fire of -enthusiasm had fled from his countenance, and in the place of the -inspired actor, Joshua saw a man whose face was of a deathly hue, and -from whose eyes the light seemed to have departed. With his hand -pressed to his forehead, he staggered a dozen yards, and then leaned -against the wall for support. - -"He is badly hurt, I am afraid," said Joshua. - -Susan walked swiftly up to the man. - -"Shall we assist you home?" she said. "Home!" he muttered. "No, no! -Money! want money!" - -As he spoke he drooped, and would have fallen to the ground but for -Joshua, who caught the man on his shoulder, and let him glide gently -on to a doorstep. Susan wiped the blood from his face with her apron. -He looked at her vacantly, closed his eyes, and fainted. - -"He is dying, Joshua!" cried Susan, her trembling fingers wandering -about the man's face. "Oh, the wicked boys! Oh, the wicked boys!" - -A woman here came out of a house with a cup of cold water, which she -sprinkled upon his face. Presently the man sighed, and struggled to -his feet, murmuring, "Yes, yes; I must go home." - -"Where do you live?" asked Joshua. "We will assist you." - -He did not answer, but walked slowly on like one in a dream. Assisting -but not guiding his steps, Joshua and Susan walked on either side of -him, and supported him. Although he scarcely seemed to be awake, he -knew his way, and turning down a street even commoner than its -fellows, he stopped at the entrance to a miserable court. Waving his -hand as if dismissing them, he walked a few steps down the court, and -entered a house, the door of which was open. Impelled partly by -curiosity, but chiefly by compassion, Joshua and Susan followed the -man into a dark passage, and up a rheumatic flight of stairs, into a -room where want and wretchedness made grim holiday. - -"Minnie!" he muttered hoarsely, and all his strength seemed to desert -him as he spoke--"Minnie, child! where are you?" - -He sank upon the ground with a wild shudder, and lay as if death had -overtaken him. At the same moment there issued from the corner of the -room where the deepest shadows gathered, a child-girl, so marvellously -like him, with her fair waving hair, her large beautifully-shaped -mouth, her white teeth, and her great restless gray eyes, that Joshua -knew at once that they were father and daughter. - -Minnie crept to the man, and sat beside him. She spoke to him, but he -did not reply. And then she looked at Joshua and Susan, whose forms -were dimly discernible in the gathering gloom. - -"What is the matter with father?" she asked of them in a faint moaning -voice. - -"Some bad boys threw a stone at him, and hit him on the forehead," -Joshua answered. "He will be better presently, I hope." - -Minnie did not heed what he said, but felt eagerly in her father's -pockets, and, not finding what she searched for, began to cry. - -"No, no," she said, beating her hands together; "it is not that. He is -weak and ill because he has had nothing to eat. I thought he would -have brought home enough to buy some bread, but he hasn't a penny." - -Joshua remembered the man's words, "Money! I want money!" and he -immediately realized that the poor creatures were in want. - -"Are you hungry, Minnie?" he asked. - -"I have not had any breakfast," she answered wearily. "No more has -father. Nor any dinner. We had some bread last night. We ate it all -up. Father went out to-day, hoping to earn a little money, and he has -come home without any. We shall die, I suppose. But I should like -something to eat first." - -"How do you know he has had nothing to eat?" asked Joshua; the words -almost choked him. - -Minnie looked up with a plaintive smile. - -"If he had had only a hard piece of bread given him," she said in a -tender voice, "he would have put it into his pocket for me." - -"Stop here, Susan," said Joshua, a great sob rising in his throat. "I -will be back in ten minutes." - -He ran out of the room and out of the house. Never in his life had he -run so fast as he ran now. He rushed into Dan's room, and said, almost -breathlessly,-- - -"Where is the money-box, Dan? How much is there in it?" - -"Fourteen pence," said the faithful treasurer, producing the box. -"What a heat you are in, Jo!" - -"Never mind that. I want every farthing of the money, Dan. Don't ask -me any questions. I will tell you all by and by." - -Dan emptied the money-box upon the table, and Joshua seized the money, -and tore out of the house as if for dear life. Soon he was in the -actor's room again, with bread and tea. Susan had not been idle during -his absence. She had bathed the man's wound, and had wiped the blood -and mud from his face and hair. He had recovered from his swoon, and -was looking at her gratefully. - -Joshua placed the bread before him, and he broke a piece from the loaf -and gave it to Minnie, who ate it greedily. - -"So fair and foul a day I have not seen,'" the man muttered; and both -Joshua and Susan thought, "How strangely yet how beautifully he -speaks!" - -Susan made the tea down stairs, and she and Joshua sat quietly by, -while the man and his daughter ate like starved wolves. It was a -bitterly-painful sight to see. - -"I think we had better go now, Susan," whispered Joshua. - -They would have left the room without a word; but the man said,-- - -"What is your name, and what are you?" - -"My name is Joshua Marvel, and I'm going to be a sailor." - -"'There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft,'" said the actor, -"'to keep watch for the life of poor Jack.'" - -"That's what Praiseworthy Meddler says," said Joshua, laughing. "I -shall come and see you again, if you will let me." - -"Come and welcome." - -"Goodnight, sir." - -"Goodnight, and God bless you, Joshua Marvel!" - -Minnie went to the door with Joshua and Susan, and looking at Joshua, -with the tears in her strangely-beautiful eyes, said, - -"Goodnight, and God bless you, Joshua Marvel!" - -She raised herself on tiptoe, and Joshua stooped and kissed her. After -that, Susan gave her a hug, and she returned to her father, and lay -down beside him. - -When he arrived home, Joshua told Dan of the adventure, and how he had -spent the fourteen pence. Dan nodded his head approvingly. - -"You did right," he said,--"you always do. I should have done just the -same." - -Then they took the odd volume of Shakspeare from the shelf, and read -the Ghost scenes in "Hamlet" before they said goodnight. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. -EXPLAINS WHY PRAISEWORTHY MEDDLER REMAINED A BACHELOR. - - -Here is Praiseworthy Meddler, sitting in the best chair in a corner of -the fireplace in the little kitchen in Stepney. In his low shoes and -loose trousers, and blue shirt open at the throat, he looks every inch -a sailor; and his great red pock-marked face is in keeping with his -calling. On the other side of the fireplace, facing Praiseworthy -Meddler, is Mr. George Marvel; next to Praiseworthy Meddler is Mrs. -Marvel; on a stool at her father's feet sits Sarah; and Joshua sits at -the table, watching every shade of expression that passes over his -mother's face. The subject-matter of the conversation is the sea; and -Praiseworthy Meddler has been "holding forth," as is evidenced by his -drawing from the bosom of his shirt a blue-cotton pocket-handkerchief, -upon which is imprinted a ship of twelve hundred tons burden, A 1 at -Lloyd's for an indefinite number of years. The ship is in full sail, -and all its canvas is set to a favorable breeze. Upon this blue vessel -Praiseworthy Meddler dabs his red face in a manner curiously -suggestive of his face being a deck, and the handkerchief a mop. When -he has mopped his deck, which appears to be a perpetually-perspiring -one, he spreads his handkerchief over his knee to dry, and says, as -being an appropriate tag to what has gone before,-- - -"There is no place on earth like the sea." - -The Old Sailor was not aware that any thing of a paradoxical nature -was involved in the statement, or he might not have repeated it. - -"There is no place on earth like the sea. Show me the man who says -there is, and I'll despise him; if I don't, I'm a Dutchman;" adding, -to strengthen his declaration, "or a double Dutchman." - -The man not being forthcoming--probably he was not in the -neighborhood, or, being there, did not wish to be openly -despised--Praiseworthy Meddler looked around with the air of one who -has the best of the argument, and then produced a piece of pigtail -from a mysterious recess and bit into it as if he were a savage boar -biting into the heart of a foe. - -"But the danger, Mr. Meddler," suggested Mrs. Marvel, in a trembling -voice. - -"There is more danger upon land, lady." - -"There, mother," said Mr. Marvel; "didn't I tell you so, the other -night?" - -"You told her right," said Praiseworthy, with emphasis. "Danger on the -sea, lady! What is it to danger on the land? A ship can ride over a -wave, let it be ever so high; but a man can't step over a wagon. -Are carts and drays and horses safe? Are gas-pipes safe? And if -there is danger on the sea, lady--which I don't deny, mind you, -altogether--what does it do? Why, it makes a man of a boy, and it -makes a man more of a man." - -"Hear, _hear_, HEAR!" exclaimed Mr. Marvel, rapping on the table. - -"Look at me!" said the enthusiastic sailor. "Here am I--I don't know -how many years old, and that's a fact--I've lived on the sea from when -I was a boy; and I've been blown by rough winds, and I've been blinded -by storms and I've been wrecked on rocky coasts, and I've been as near -death, ay, a score of times, as most men have been. Lord love you, my -dear! All we've got to do is to do our duty; and when we're called -aloft, we can say, 'Ay, ay, sir!' with a brave heart. What better life -than a life on sea is there for boy or man? And doesn't Saturday night -come round? - - - "'For all the world's just like the ropes aboard a ship, - Each man's rigged out, - A vessel stout, - To take for life a trip. - The shrouds, the stays, the braces, - Are joys, and hopes, and fears; - The halliards, sheets, and traces, - Still as each passion veers, - And whim prevails, - Direct the sails. - As on the sea of life he steers. - Then let the storm - Heaven's face deform, - And danger press; - Of these in spite, there are some joys - Us jolly tars to bless; - For Saturday night still comes, my boys, - To drink to Poll and Bess.'" - - -Praiseworthy Meddler roared out the song at the top of his voice, as -if it were the most natural and appropriate thing for him to do just -there and then. The effect of his sudden inspiration was, that every -member of the Marvel family, without being previously acquainted with -the young ladies referred to, repeated in their honor the refrain of -the last two lines,-- - - - "For Saturday night still comes, my boys, - To drink to Poll and Bess," - - -with such extraordinary enthusiasm, that the carroty-haired cat rose -to her feet in alarm, debating within herself the possibility of the -Marvel family having suddenly caught a contagious madness from the Old -Sailor. Convinced that the matter required looking into, puss walked -softly to the door, with the intention of arousing the neighbors; but, -silence ensuing at the conclusion of the refrain, she became -reassured, and stole back to her warm space on the floor, and curled -herself up again, and blinked at the fire. - -After this exertion, Praiseworthy Meddler took the twelve-hundred-ton -ship off his knee, and dabbed his face with it energetically. - -"What does it amount to," he continued, "if the heart's brave? What -does it amount to when it is all over, and when one gets to be as old -as I am? I'm tough and firm;" and he gave his leg a great slap. "I'm -as young as a younger man; and I know that there's no place on earth -like the sea." - -"And you can get promotion, can't you?" asked Joshua, eagerly. "A man -needn't be a common sailor all his life?" - -"No, Josh; he needn't stick at that, if he's willing and able, and -does his duty. I know many a skipper who once on a time was only an -able-bodied seaman." - -"Do you hear that, mother?" cried Joshua. "Now are you satisfied?" and -he jumped up and gave her a kiss. - -"What is a skipper, Mr. Meddler?" asked Mrs. Marvel, with her arm -round Joshua's waist. She had a dim notion that a skipper was -connected with a skipping-rope, and that she might have been a skipper -in her girlhood's days. If that were the case, she could not see what -advantage it would be to Joshua to become one. - -"A skipper's a captain, mother," whispered Joshua. - -"Oh!" said Mrs. Marvel, but not quite clear in her mind on the point. -"Then, if I might be so bold, Mr. Meddler"-- - -But here Mrs. Marvel stopped suddenly, and blushed like a girl. - -"Ay, ay, lady, go on," said the Old Sailor, encouragingly. - -"If I might make so bold," continued Mrs. Marvel, with an effort, "how -is it that you never rose to be a skipper?" - -"O mother!" cried Joshua. - -"The question is a sensible one, Joshua," said Praiseworthy Meddler -slowly, "and a right one too; though, if all able-bodied seamen rose -to be skippers, there wouldn't be ships enough in the world for them. -I should have been promoted, I have no doubt; but I was born with -something unfortunate, which has stuck to me all my life, and which I -have never been able to get rid of." - -"Is it any thing painful?" asked Mrs. Marvel with womanly solicitude. - -Praiseworthy Meddler looked at her with a droll expression on his -face, and folded his twelve-hundred-ton ship into very small squares, -and laid it in the palm of his left hand, and flattened it with the -palm of his right, before he spoke again. - -"It wasn't my fault, it was my misfortune. I couldn't help my father's -name being Meddler, and I couldn't help being a Meddler myself, being -his son, you see. My father didn't like his name any more than I did, -but he didn't know how to change it; he was born a Meddler, and he -died a Meddler. My being a Meddler is the only reason, I do believe, -why I am not a skipper this present day of our Lord; and I don't think -I am sorry that, when I die, I sha'n't leave any Meddlers behind me." - -"You have never been married, Mr. Meddler?" - -"No, lady; but I was very near it once, as you shall hear. It was all -because of my name that I wasn't. My father didn't like his name, as I -have told you. His Christian name was Andrew; he was a saddler. He got -along well enough to set up shop for himself, and one morning he took -the shutters down for the first time, and commenced business. Over his -window was the sign, 'A. Meddler, saddler.' There was a rival saddler -in the same town, whose name was Straight, and who didn't like my -father setting up in opposition to him; and he put in his window a -bill, with this on it: 'Have your saddles made and repaired by a -Straightforward man, and not by A. Meddler.' That ruined my father: -people laughed at him, instead of dealing with him; he soon had to -shut up shop, and go to work again as a journeyman. He had two -children; the first was a girl, the next was me. I heard that he was -very pleased when my sister was born, because she was a girl. 'She can -marry when she grows up,' he said, 'and then she will have her -husband's name.' When I was born, my father wasn't pleased: he didn't -want any more Meddlers, he said. But he couldn't help it; no more -could I. He did what he thought was the very best thing for me--he -gave me a fine Christian name to balance my surname he had me -christened Praiseworthy. Now that made it worse. If I was laughed at -for being a Meddler, I was laughed at more for being a Praiseworthy -Meddler. Once, when I was a young fellow, I did good service in a ship -I was serving in. When we came into port, the skipper reported well of -me, and the owners sent for me. I went to the office, thinking that I -should be promoted for my good services. The firm owned at least a -dozen merchant-ships; and I should have been promoted, if it hadn't -been for my name. The owners spoke kindly to me; and after I had -satisfied them that I was fit for promotion, the youngest partner -asked my name. I told him Meddler. He smiled, and the other partners -smiled. 'What other name?' he asked. 'Praiseworthy,' I answered; -'Praiseworthy Meddler.' He laughed at that, and said that I was the -only Praiseworthy Meddler he had ever met. They seemed so tickled at -it, that the serious part of the affair slipped clean out of their -heads; they called me an honest fellow, and said that they would not -forget me. They didn't forget me; they gave me five pounds over and -above my pay. If it hadn't been for my name, they might have appointed -me mate of one of their ships. I was so mad with thinking about it, -that I began to hate myself because I was a Meddler. If the name had -been something I could have got hold of, I would have strangled it. At -last I made up my mind that I would get spliced, and that I would take -my lass's name the day I was married. Being on leave, and stopping at -my father's house, I told him what I had made up my mind to do. He was -a melancholy man--it was his name that made him so, I do believe--and -he told me, in his melancholy voice, that it was the best thing I -could do, and that he wished he had thought of doing so before he -married. 'Wipe it out, my boy,' he said, 'wipe out the unlucky name; -sweep all the Meddlers out of the world. It would have been better you -had been born with a hump than been born a Meddler.' He talked a -little wild sometimes, but we were used to it. I began to look about -me; and one day I caught sight of a lass who took my fancy. My leave -was nearly expired, and I had to join my ship in a few days. I wanted -to learn all about the girl, and I was too bashful to do it myself, -which is not the usual way of sailors, my dear. So I pointed out the -lass to a shipmate, and told him I had taken a fancy to her, and would -he get me all the information he could about her. That very night, as -I was bolting the street-door, just before going to bed, I heard my -shipmate's voice outside in the street. 'Is that you, Meddler?' he -asked. 'Yes, Jack,' I answered. 'I thought I'd come to tell you at -once,' he cried; 'I've found out all about her. Her father's dead, and -her mother's married again, and the lass isn't happy at home.' 'That -makes it all the better for me,' I said. 'Has she got a sweetheart?' -'None that she cares a button for, or that a sailor couldn't cut out,' -he answered. 'Hurrah!' I cried; 'I will go and see her to-morrow. -Thank you, Jack; goodnight.' 'Goodnight,' he said, and I heard him -walking, away. Just then I remembered that I had forgotten the most -important thing of all--her name. I unbolted the door, and called -after him, 'What is her name, Jack?' 'Mary Gotobed!' he cried from a -distance. 'Mary what?' I shouted. 'Gotobed!' he cried again. I bolted -the door, and went." - -Praiseworthy Meddler, pausing to take breath, cast another droll look -upon his attentive auditors. - -"Gotobed!" he then resumed. "Why, it was worse than Meddler! I -couldn't marry a lass named Gotobed, and take her name; I didn't want -to marry and keep my own name; I couldn't put them together and make -one sensible name out of the two. Gotobed Meddler was as bad as -Meddler Gotobed. And the worst of it all was, that I liked the lass. -She was as pretty a lass as ever I set eyes on. She looked prettier -than ever when I saw her the next day; and forgetting all about the -names I spoke to her and lost myself." - -"Lost yourself!" exclaimed Mrs. Marvel. - -"Yes, my dear," said the Old Sailor, with a bashfulness that did not -set ill upon him. "I fell in love." - -He said this in a confidential hoarse whisper to Mrs. Marvel, as if -the youngsters ought not to hear it. - -"Oh, that!" said Mrs. Marvel with a smile. - -"But directly she heard what my name was," continued the Old Sailor, -"she burst out laughing, and ran away. I had to go to my ship soon -after that; and when I came back again, she was married to some one -else. So I gave up the idea of marrying; and the name I was born to -has stuck to me all my life. And that is the reason why I never -married, and why I never became a skipper." - -They made merry over the Old Sailor's story, and over other stories -that he told of the sea, and of the chances it afforded a youngster -like Joshua of getting on in the world. And towards the close of the -evening Mrs. Marvel fairly gave in, and promised that she would not -say another word against Joshua's determination to be a sailor. In -token of which submission a large jug of grog was compounded, -in honor of the Old Sailor; and when that was drunk, another was -compounded in honor of Joshua. Of both of which Praiseworthy Meddler -drank so freely, that he staggered home to his barge in a state of -semi-inebriation, singing snatches of sea-songs without intermission, -until he tumbled into his hammock and fell asleep. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. -A HAPPY HOLIDAY. - - -In after years, when Joshua was many thousands of miles away from -Stepney, Dan loved to linger over the memory of one especially happy -day which he, and Joshua, and Ellen and the Old Sailor spent together. -Upon that day the sun was rising now; and Dan, lying in bed, was -waiting impatiently for the solemn and merry church-bells to strike -the hour of seven. His Sunday clothes were smoothly laid out upon a -chair, close to his bed. Had the day not been an eventful one, he -would not have been allowed to wear his best suit in the middle of the -week. When Joshua makes his appearance in Dan's bedroom, it will be -seen that he will also be dressed in his best clothes. The secret of -all this is, that the lads had received permission from their parents -to spend the day with the Old Sailor at the waterside, and were to be -taken in a cart to the Old Sailor's castle--the barge near the Tower -Stairs. Twenty times at the least had Dan said to Joshua, "I should so -like to see the Old Sailor, Jo!" And Joshua, in the most artful -manner, had fished for the invitation, which would have been very -readily given had the Old Sailor been aware of Joshua's desire. But -Joshua, like a great many other diplomatists who think themselves wise -in their generation, went to work in a subtle roundabout way, and so -gave himself a vast deal of trouble, which would have been saved had -he come straight to the point at once. At length, one day, when the -Old Sailor had said, "And how is Dan, Josh?" and Joshua had answered -that he thought Dan was beginning to grow strong, he ventured to add, -with inward fear and trembling: "And he would so much like to see you, -sir, and hear some of your sea-stories! When I tell them they don't -sound the same as when you tell them. There's no salt in them." Artful -Joshua! "Well, my lad," the Old Sailor had said with a chuckle (he was -not insensible to flattery, the old dog!), "why not bring him here to -spend the day?" - -"When shall it be, sir?" asked Joshua secretly delighted. - -"Next Wednesday, Josh," said the Old Sailor. So next Wednesday it was. -And Joshua ran to Dan's house wild with delight, and coaxed Dan's -parents in to giving their permission. - -It was on this very Wednesday morning that Dan was lying awake, -waiting for seven o'clock to strike. He awoke at least two hours -before the proper time to rise; and those hours appeared to him to be -longer than hours ever were before. The ride itself would be an event -in Dan's life; but it was not to be compared with what was to come -afterwards--the spending of a whole day and night in a house on the -water. During the past week Dan had been in a fever of pleasurable -anticipation, and in a fever of fright also, lest it should rain upon -this particular day. The previous night it _had_ rained; and Dan, -lying awake for a longer time than usual, had prayed for the rain to -go away. Ellen--standing at the window in his bedroom, after she had -got out his clean shirt and Sunday clothes, and brushed and smoothed -them, and taken up a stitch in them here and there, as women (and -girls after them) say--had seen the spots of rain falling, and, -joining her prayer to his, had begged very earnestly to the rain to go -away and come again another day. - -And now the day was dawning; and Dan, opening his eyes, clapped his -hands in delight to see the sun shining so brightly upon the broken -jug which stood upon the window-sill, and in which was a handful of -the sweet-smelling humble wall-flower. The pair of bullfinches which -Joshua had bought for the Old Sailor were busily at work in their -cage, which was hanging at the window, and were as conscious of the -beauty of the morning as the most sensible human being could possibly -be. Dan was so delighted that he whistled "Rule, Britannia! Britannia -rules the waves!" And one of the bullfinches, after abstracting the -last hemp-seed from the glass containing their morning meal, -immediately piped out with fervid patriotism, "For Britons never, -_never_, NE-_ver_ shall be slaves!" From this episode the reader will -learn that the education of the bullfinches was completed. "Rule, -Britannia," was not their sole vocal accomplishment. They could -whistle "And did you not hear of a jolly young waterman?" in a very -superior manner. On that day the bullfinches were to be presented to -their new master--to whom not a hint had been given of the pleasant -surprise in store for him; which made it all the more delightful. - -While the patriotic bullfinch was asserting in the most -melodiously-persuasive notes that "Britons never, _never_, NE-_ver_ -shall be slaves," its mate was engaged drawing up water in the tiniest -little bucket in the world--another of the accomplishments (coming, -presumably, under the head of "extras")which patient Dan had taught -the birds in order to win the heart of the Old Sailor. The industrious -bullfinch had a remarkably rakish eye, which flashed saucily and -impatiently as the music fell upon its ears. The slender rope which -held the bucket being in its beak, it could not join in the harmony; -but directly the bucket was hauled up and secured, it whetted its -whistle, and piped out in opposition,-- - - - "And did you not hear of a jolly young waterman, - Who at Blackfriars-bridge used for to ply? - He feathered his oars with such skill and dexterity, - Winning each heart and delighting each eye;" - - -repeating, as was its wont, the last line, "Winning each heart and -delighting each eye," so as to produce a greater effect. I do not -assert that the bullfinch actually uttered the words, but I _do_ -assert positively that it sang the music of them with the most -beautiful trills that mortal ever heard. - -But there was the solemn church-bell striking seven o'clock in tones -less solemn than usual, and there was the joyous church-bell following -suit. And as if the sound had conjured him up, there was Joshua, -dressed in his best, and looking so fresh and handsome with his -holiday-face on, that Dan might well be proud of him. He had his -accordion under his arm, and in one hand was a bunch of flowers which -Dan was to give to the Old Sailor, and in the other a glass containing -some rape-seed soaked in canary-wine for the birds. They knew as well -as possible--knowing little bullfinches!--that Joshua had something -nice for them; and as he approached the cage they came as close to him -as they could, and, to show their appreciation of his kindness, -greeted him with a gush of the sweetest melody. What better beginning -could there be for a happy holiday! - -When Dan was dressed the lads went into the kitchen to have breakfast. -And there was Ellen, as fresh as a daisy. The breakfast things were -laid; and there was a clean cloth (not damask, mind!) on the deal -table, and there, absolutely, were two new-laid eggs, one for Joshua -and one for Dan, which Ellen had bought and paid for with her own -money the day before, without saying a word about it. Ellen stooped -and kissed Dan, and as she raised her head Joshua looked at her, and -felt a huge longing to take her face between his two hands and kiss -her, as he used to do in the time when they played sweethearts -together. But he hadn't the courage. Yet he could not help looking at -Ellen again and thinking, What a pretty girl Ellen is! and then, -seeing Ellen's eyes fixed upon his, he turned away his head and -blushed. And Ellen smiled at that, and, if she had been asked, really -could not have told the reason why. Surely never was such a happy -commencement to a holiday, and never was such a happy couple as Dan -and Joshua! After all, are not simple pleasures the best? Are not -those the sweetest pleasures that cost the least? - -What put it into Joshua's head? Was it the sentiment of perfect -happiness that actuated the wish? Or was it a passing shadow, lighter -than the lightest cloud, that passed over Ellen's face, as the lads -were talking of the coming delights of the day? It was there but a -moment, but Joshua saw it, or thought he did, and thought also that -there was regret in it. Or was it Ellen's pretty face, or the little -piece of blue ribbon that she had put round her neck, the puss? For -Ellen was fair, and knew what colors best suited her complexion. -Whatever it was that actuated it, there was Joshua saying, just as -they had sat down to breakfast and Ellen was pouring out the -milk-and-water--you may imagine that there was not a great deal of tea -drank in Stepney--there was Joshua saying,-- - -"Ellen, I wish you were coming with us." - -Ellen's hand shook so that she spilt some of the milk-and-water, and a -spasm rose in her throat, for she had wished the same thing fervently, -but had never spoken of it. She checked the spasm, hoping that her -emotion would not be noticed, and answered not a word. But she looked. -Such a look! - -Dan was biting into a slice of bread-and-butter, but directly he heard -Joshua's wish, and saw the yearning, look that sprang into Ellen's -eyes, he ceased eating, and leaned his head upon his hand. - -"I think I am very selfish," he said, and hot tears gushed into his -eyes. - -In an instant Ellen was by his side, and Ellen's face was close to -his. Any one who saw that action, any one who could understand the -quick sympathy that caused her to put her face so close to Dan's, to -show that she knew what he was reproaching himself for, might have -been able to comprehend the depth of unselfish tenderness that dwelt -in the soul of that little maid. Ah! it was only in a kitchen, but how -beautiful it was to see! - -"Don't bother about me, my dear," she said almost in a whisper. "If -you are happy, I am happy." And then she added, pretending to be -comically indignant, "You stupid Dan! I've a good mind to rumple your -hair! You selfish, indeed!" - -"I am selfish!" exclaimed Dan, looking up and thinking--just as Joshua -had thought--that he had never seen her look so pretty. "I _am_ -selfish, Joshua!" he cried, so energetically that Joshua was quite -startled. "What would the Old Sailor say?" - -"But, Dan"--said Ellen. - -"Seriously, Jo" said Dan, putting his hand over Ellen's mouth, "what -_would_ the Old Sailor say?" - -"The Old Sailor would be delighted." - -"Now, look here," said Dan, with a determination almost comical in its -intensity when one considered what inspired it; as if it were a -question of tremendous national consequence, or something in which -mighty interests were involved; "are you sure?" - -"I am sure he would be delighted, Dan," replied Joshua without the -slightest hesitation. - -"It's of no use, Dan and Josh dear," said Ellen, shaking her head. -"You musn't think of it. I can't go. Mother wouldn't be able to spare -me. Why, don't you know"-- - -"Don't I know what, Ellen?" asked Dan. - -"Don't you know that it's washing-day?" said Ellen with a sharp nod, -as if that settled the question. - -Dan's head was still resting upon his hand. He pondered for a few -moments, and then raising his head, said, "Good little Ellen;" and -kissed her. "Now let us have breakfast." - -Breakfast being over, Dan said he wanted to see Susan. - -"Tell her I want to speak to her most particularly," he said to Ellen. -"And, Ellen! when Susan comes, you go out of the room, and Joshua as -well. I want to speak to her quite privately." - -Ellen and Joshua left Susan with Dan, and went into the passage; which -gave Joshua opportunity to ask Ellen if she remembered when he used to -be pushed into the coal-cellar. Yes, Ellen remembered it very well -indeed; and they both laughed over the reminiscence. - -"How black your face used to be!" exclaimed Ellen. - -"And yours too, Ellen!" retorted Joshua saucily. - -Whereat Ellen blushed, and did not reply. - -What passed between Susan and Dan was never divulged. It was nothing -very dreadful, you may be sure; for when Dan called to Joshua and -Ellen to come in, they found him smiling. Susan was gone, but -presently she entered again with a radiant face and nodded to Dan, who -nodded to Susan in return, and said gayly,-- - -"Thank you, Susey!" - -When Susan went into the passage, she wiped her eyes, and did not once -look round to see if any thing was behind her. That day, over the -washing-tub, Susan was happier than she had been for a long time. - -Then Dan rubbed his hands, and said, "I really think this is going to -be the happiest day of my life." - -The happiest day of my life! How often, and with what various -meanings, are those words uttered! At dinner-parties when the invited -guest rises to respond to the toast of his health, and commences by -saying in tones which falter from emotion, "This is the happiest day -of my life!" At wedding-feasts, if healths are being proposed, when -the bridegroom, the bridegroom's father, and the bride's father, each -in his turn declares, "This is the happiest day of my life!" At the -presentation of testimonials, whether to humbug, worthy man, or fool, -it is "The happiest day of my life!" with one and all of them. With -copious use of pocket-handkerchief, and with face more suitable for a -funeral than for a joyful occasion. But a fig for moralizing on such a -day as this! - -Dam's countenance was suffused with a flush of genuine delight, as he -repeated,-- - -"Yes, Ellen, this is going to be the happiest day of my life." - -She gave him a questioning, imploring look, which asked the reason why -as plainly as any words could put the question. - -"Come here, and I'll whisper," said Dan. - -Ellen put her ear close to his mouth, but Dan, instead of whispering, -blew into her ear, which caused her to start away with a pleasant -shiver, and to cry out that he tickled her. Nothing daunted, however, -she placed her ear a second time to his lips; and then he whispered -something, which made Ellen jump for joy, and hug him round the neck, -and tear out of the room as if she were mad. And almost before you -could say "Jack Robinson!" there she was back again, her eyes all -aglow with excitement, in her modest Sunday dress and pretty Sunday -bonnet. - -Susan's voice was heard calling out,-- - -"Here's the cart at the door!" - -"She means our carriage, Jo," said Dan merrily, as Joshua carried him -out. - -And there they were, the three of them in the cart; Dan lying his full -length on some straw between Joshua and Ellen, who sat upon a kind of -bench in a state of perfect happiness. And there were the bullfinches -in their cage, wondering what on earth it all meant, but very blithe -and merry notwithstanding. And there was the cart moving, along -slowly, so that Dan should not be jolted. And there they were, -presently, looking at each other, and laughing and nodding pleasantly -without any apparent cause. - -Not among all the stars that gem the heavens (which some wise men -assert are really worlds in which forms that have life fulfil the task -ordained by the Master of all the worlds) could there be found a more -beautiful world than this was to our young holiday-folk on that bright -summer morning. Whitechapel the Dingy was as a flower-garden in their -eyes; and as they rode through the busy neighborhood a great many -persons turned to look at the crazy cart--the springs in which were -the only uneasy part of the whole affair--and at the three joyful -faces that peered about, enjoying every thing, and thankful for every -thing, from the flying clouds to the lazy gutters. - -Soon they were at the waterside; and soon they were on the barge, with -the Old Sailor welcoming them in downright sailor fashion. Directly -Dan put out his little hand, and felt it imprisoned in the Old -Sailor's immense palm, and directly he looked at the great open face, -pock-marked as it was, and into the staring pleasant eyes, which -returned his look honestly and pleasantly, he nodded to himself in -satisfaction. His delight was unbounded when the Old Sailor lifted him -tenderly, and placed him in a hammock specially prepared for him. He -was deeply impressed by the Old Sailor's thoughtful kindness. The mere -fact of his lying in a hammock was entrancing. And there Dan swung, -and, gazing in wonder upon the busy life of the flowing river, fancied -himself in dreamland. - -Before he gave himself up to that trance, however, there was much to -be done and much to be observed. When the Old Sailor lifted him into -the hammock and arranged him comfortably--Dan was surprised that those -great strong hands could be so light and tender--he said to the Old -Sailor, "Thank you, sir;" and the Old Sailor replied, "Ay, ay, my -lad," just as he had read of, and in just the kind of tone he imagined -a sailor would use. - -The next thing the Old Sailor did was to rest his hand upon Ellen's -head. Thereupon Joshua said, "You don't mind, Mr. Praiseworthy, do -you?" referring to the liberty they had taken in bringing Ellen -without an invitation. "Mind!" the Old Sailor exclaimed. "A pretty -little lass like this!" and he stooped and kissed her. And Ellen did -not even blush, but seemed to like it. The Old Sailor seemed to like -it too. There was something wonderfully charming in his manner of -saying "Pretty little lass;" none but a downright thoroughbred old tar -could have said it in such a way. And there was something wonderfully -charming in the rough grace with which he accepted the bunch of -flowers from Ellen. His first intention was to stick them in the bosom -of his shirt; but second consideration led him to reflect that their -circumference rendered such a resting-place inappropriate. So he -placed them in a large tin mug, and sprinkled them with water, which -glistened on their leaves as freshly as the dew-kisses which glisten -in the early morning wherever Nature makes holiday. Then Dan took the -cage containing the bullfinches, and asked the Old Sailor to accept -the birds as a present from him and Joshua; and the Old Sailor thanked -him in such cordial terms, that his heart was stirred with a fresh -delight. Truth to tell, the Old Sailor was mightily gratified with the -birds; but, at the same time, he was mightily puzzled as to what he -was to do with them. Prettier little things he had never seen; but, -small and beautiful as they were, they were a responsibility for which -he was not prepared. He stood with his legs wide apart, regarding the -birds with a perplexed expression on his face; and Dan divining what -was in his mind, opened the door of the cage and out hopped the -bullfinches looking about them with an air of having been accustomed -to the water all their lives. As if impelled by a sudden desire to fly -away and join their mates in distant woodlands, they took wing and -fluttered around the hammock in which Dan lay; now coming -tantalizingly near, and now sailing away with an independent air, as -much as to say, "We're off!" But when Dan held out his forefinger, they -came and perched upon it contentedly. The Old Sailor gazed on the -little comedy in admiration. His admiration was increased a hundred -fold when Dan, taking his hand, transferred the birds on to his -forefinger. He looked at the birds timorously; the birds looked at him -confidently. He was afraid to move lest some mischief should happen to -the delicate creatures. - -"Put them in the cage, sir," said Dan. The Old Sailor did so. "Now," -continued Dan, "I will send you food for them regularly; and it will -not be too much trouble for you to fill this well with fresh water -every morning, will it, sir?" - -"No," said the Old Sailor. "But how will the birds get at the water, -my lad? It is out of their reach." - -"Ah! you think so, sir. But have you ever been in want of water?" - -"Of fresh water, I have, my lad; not of salt. Was for three days on a -raft, with not a drop of fresh water among thirty-seven of us. Two -drank salt water, and went raving mad; one threw himself into the -sea." - -"And the others, sir?" inquired Dan, immensely interested. - -"The others, my lad, waited and suffered, and prayed for rain. And it -came, my lad, and we were saved, by the mercy of God. It was awful -suffering; our very eyeballs were blazing with thirst. It would have -been a relief to us if we could have cried." - -"But the heavens cried for you, sir," said Dan tenderly. - -"Ay, ay, my lad," said the Old Sailor; "that's well said. The heavens -cried for us; and we lay on our backs with our mouths open to catch -the blessed drops. The salt water that was death to us dashed up from -below; and the fresh water that was life to us came down from above. -In five minutes we were soaked with the rain; and we sucked at our -clothes. We caught enough rain-water to last us until we were picked -up by a merchantman, homeward bound from the Indies." - -"That was good," said Dan, feeling as if he had known the Old Sailor -all his life. "Now, supposing you were wrecked, sir, on a high rock. -Here is the rock," pointing to the perch on which the bullfinches were -standing. - -"Here is the rock," repeated the Old Sailor, chiming in readily with -Dan's fancy. - -"And here you are, sir, with another sailor," identifying Praiseworthy -Meddler and the other sailor with the two bullfinches. - -"And here am I, with another sailor," said the Old Sailor attentively, -nodding familiarly at his new shipmate in the cage, who, making much -too light of the calamity which had befallen them, winked saucily in -return. - -"And you are very thirsty." - -"And I am very thirsty," said the Old Sailor, smacking his parched -lips. - -"And here, out of your reach, is the water," indicating the well, "you -want to drink." - -"And here, out of my reach, is the water I want to drink," said the -Old Sailor, growing more parched. - -"Now, then," said Dan, "you can't get at the water with your beak--I -mean your mouth--and you can't reach it with your claws--I mean your -hands. Now what do you do?" - -"Ah what do I do?" repeated the Old Sailor, not seeing his way out of -the difficulty. - -"Why," exclaimed Dan enthusiastically, "you get a rope--or, if you -haven't got one, you make one out of some strong grass, or out of -strips of your clothes; and you get a bucket--or you make one out of a -cocoanut," in his enthusiasm Dan took the cocoanut for granted; and -the Old Sailor accepted its existence on the rock with most implicit -faith--"and you attach the cocoanut to the rope, and you lower it into -the water, and draw it up full. Here you are, doing it." - -And, obedient to Dan's signal, the bullfinches lowered their tiny -bucket into the well, and drew it up full, and dipped their beaks into -the water, as if they were shipwrecked bullfinches, and were nearly -dead with raging thirst. - -A thoughtful expression stole into the Old Sailor's face. - -"They are wise little creatures," he said. "I have seen a might of -strange things and pretty things; but this is as pretty as any thing I -have seen." - -"You can learn them any thing almost, sir," said Dan, who was bent -upon making the Old Sailor love the birds. - -"To climb ropes like a sailor?" - -"In a week they could. If I had a little ship, with two or three sails -and a rope-ladder, I could teach them to climb the ladder and set the -sails." - -"I dare say, my lad, I dare say." - -"Did you ever see a mermaid, sir?" - -This was one of the questions Dan had made up his mind to ask the Old -Sailor directly they grew familiar. - -"Yes," answered the Old Sailor. "I wasn't very near her; and I was -laughed at for saying I had seen her. But I saw her, for all that." - -"Where was it that you saw her, sir?" - -"In the South Pacific, where there are the ugliest images of men and -women, and the most wonderful birds and flowers and trees, in the -world. I have walked for miles through forests of wild flowers and -strange trees, while thousands of parrots were flying about, with -their feathers all blue and gold and scarlet and silver." - -"Oh, how beautiful!" exclaimed Dan, twining his fingers together. "And -they're there now, sir?" - -"Surely. Your land-lubbers don't know any thing of the world." - -"Those men and women, sir--are they very ugly?" - -"As ugly as sin can make 'em--brown and copper-colored and nearly -black; cannibals they are." - -"That's very dreadful!" said Dan with a shiver. "What else have you -seen, sir?" - -"What would you say to gardens in the sea?" asked the Old Sailor -enthusiastically. "What would you say to fields in the sky?" - -"No!" said Dan in wonder. - -"Yes, my lad. Gardens in the sea, with the flowers growing and -blooming. I only saw land in the sky once; but it was a sight that -can't be forgot. We were thousands of miles away from land; but there -in the sky was the country, with fields and forests and mountains. We -saw it for near an hour; then it melted away. What would you say to -flying fish--showers of 'em. I heard of a talking fish; but I never -saw it. I shouldn't wonder, now, if these pretty little birds could -talk." - -"No, sir," said Dan; "they can't talk, but they can sing." - -With that he whistled the first stave of "Rule, Britannia;" and the -bullfinches piped the patriotic song so spiritedly, that the Old -Sailor roared out in a hoarse voice, "Rule, Britannia! Britannia rules -the waves!" and then stopped, and wiped the perspiration from his -forehead, and exclaimed, "Lord, Lord!" with rapturous bewilderment. -But when Dan whistled "And have you not heard of a jolly young -waterman?" and the birds answered, "Oh, yes! we have heard of a jolly -young waterman," and proceeded to narrate where that jolly young -waterman plied, and how dexterously that jolly young waterman -feathered his oars, the Old Sailor was fairly dumfoundered, and sat -down in silence, and watched and listened, while Dan put the birds -through the whole of their performances. - -Ah, what a happy day was that--never, never to be forgotten! As he lay -in his hammock, with a delicious sense of rest upon him, he saw -pleasure-boats and barges floating down with the tide, with a happy -indolence in keeping with every thing about him. What else? Bright -visions in the clouds; not for himself, but for his friend, his -brother Joshua; bright visions of beautiful lands and beautiful seas. -What did the Old Sailor say? Gardens in the sea, with the flowers -growing and blooming! He saw them in the clouds; and each flower was -bright with beauty, and each petal was rimmed with light. Fields in -the skies! There they were, stretching far, far away; and some one was -walking through forests of wild flowers and strange trees. Who was it? -Joshua! And there were the parrots that the Old Sailor had spoken of; -with their feathers of blue and gold and scarlet and silver. But Dan -happened to turn his eyes from the clouds to the water, and dreamland -faded. Joshua was rowing on the river. - -Bravo, Joshua! How strong he looked, with his shirt-sleeves tucked up -to his shoulders; and how well he managed his oars! Not that Dan was -much of a judge; but he knew what grace was, and surely he saw that -before him when he saw Joshua rowing. Joshua looked at Dan, and smiled -and nodded; and Dan clapped his hands. And Joshua, to show how clever -he was, made a great sweep with the oars, and fell backwards in the -boat, in a most ridiculous position, with his heels in the air. But he -was up again like lightning, and recovered his oars, and made so light -of it, that Dan, who had caught his breath for an instant, laughed -merrily at the mishap, and thought it was good fun. His laugh was -echoed by Ellen, who was sitting by his side, and who had also been a -little alarmed at first. The industrious maid was making holiday in -her own peculiar way. She was not accustomed to sit idly down with her -hands in her lap. By some mysterious means she had obtained possession -of two of the Old Sailor's shirts which required mending; and there -she was stitching away at them, as if it were the most natural thing -in the world for her to do when she came out for a holiday. Did she -have a design upon the Old Sailor? It really looked suspiciously like -it, if one might judge from the demure glances she cast upon him every -now and then, and from the admiring manner in which he returned her -artful glances. One thing was certain: she had fairly captivated him; -and there is no telling what might have occurred, if he had been -thirty years younger. - -What more beautiful phase of human nature can be seen than that of an -old man with a young heart? Place, side by side, two pictures of old -manhood: one, with crafty face; with cautious eyes that never rove; -with compressed lips that keep guard on every word; with puckered -forehead and eyebrows, from every ugly crevice in which the spirit of -"You can't take me in" peeps out, as if the essence of a fox were in -hiding there;--the other, with open face, which says, "Read me; I am -not afraid;" with eyes that, be they large or small, enjoy what they -see; with full-fleshed wrinkles on forehead and eyebrows; with lips -that smile when others smile. - -No younger heart ever beat in the breast of an old man than that which -beat in the breast of Praiseworthy Meddler. He had never mingled with -children; yet here he was, at nearly seventy years of age, a hale and -hearty old man, with a nature as simple as a child's. What was it that -made him so? Was it because he had lived his youth and manhood away -from cities, where the tricky webs of trade teach men to trick as -their brethren do, or where the anxiety how to live, and with many, -alas, how to get to-morrow's bread, stops the generous flow of a -generous nature, and robs life's summer of its brightness? Or did he -inherit it? If so, how deserving of pity are those children who are -born of crafty parents! There are human mysteries which science has -not dared to probe, and there are inherited ills and calamities which -philanthropists, up to the present time, have not tried to get to the -root of. - -Anyhow, here was Praiseworthy Meddler sitting upon the deck of his -barge by the side of Ellen, showing her, in the intervals of -stitching, how to splice a broken rope, and initiating her into the -mysteries a short-splice, long-splice, and eye-splice. Dan, looking -on, begged some rope, and proved himself a wonderfully-apt scholar, -which caused the Old Sailor to remark,-- - -"You ought to be a sailor, my lad;" forgetting for the moment that -Dan's legs were useless. - -"I should have to work in a hammock, sir," said Dan cheerfully. - -The Old Sailor blushed. - -"I forgot," he said in a gentle voice. - -"There's the sailor for you, if you like," said Dan, pointing to -Joshua, who, a couple of hundred yards away, was pulling lazily -towards the barge. - -"Ay, ay, my lad; Joshua has the right stuff in him. He will be a fine -strong man." - -"He is better than strong, sir," said Dan; "he is noble and -tender-hearted. If you knew, sir, how good he has been to me, you -would admire and love him more. If you knew how gentle he has been to -me--how tender, and how self-sacrificing--you would think even better -of him than you do. We have been together all our lives; every day he -has come to me as regularly as the sun, and has been to me what the -sun is to the day. I look back now that he is going away, and I cannot -remember that he has ever given me a cross word or a cross look. And I -have been very troublesome sometimes, and very peevish; but he has -borne with it all. Look, sir," and Dan drew the Old Sailor's attention -to two pieces of rope, one thin and one thick, the strands of which he -had been interweaving, "this thin rope is me; this thick rope is -Joshua. Now we are spliced, and you can't pull us apart. Joshua and me -are friends for ever and ever!" - -The Old Sailor listened attentively, and nodded his head occasionally, -to show that he was following Dan's words, and understood them. Ellen, -having mended the Old Sailor's shirts, sat with her hands folded in -her lap, indorsing every word that Dan uttered. - -Just then Joshua reached the barge, and having secured the boat, -climbed on to the deck. As he did so, eight bells struck. - -"Eight bells," said the Old Sailor. "Dinner." - -With that, he lifted Dan out of the hammock, and carried him to where -dinner was laid on a table which extended fore and aft down the centre -of what it would be the wildest extravagance of courtesy to call a -saloon, and where every thing was prepared in expectation of a storm. -Joshua and Ellen followed, and the four of them made a very merry -party. Lobscouse and sea-pie were the only dishes, and they were -brought in by a Lascar with rings in his ears, whom the Old Sailor -called a "lubberly swab," because he was unmistakably drunk; and who -in return, notwithstanding his drunken condition, cast upon the Old -Sailor an evil look, which flashed from his eyes like a dagger-stroke. -This Lascar was the man who had struck eight bells, and who cooked for -the Old Sailor, and did odd work about the barge, in return for which -he got his victuals and a bunk to sleep in. A lazy, indolent rogue, -who would do any thing, never mind what, for rum and tobacco; a -cringing, submissive, treacherous rogue, ripe for the execution of any -villainy on the promise of rum and tobacco; a rogue who would fawn, -and lie, and stab, and humble himself and play Bombastes for rum and -tobacco. They were all he seemed to live for; they were his -Thirty-nine Articles, and he was ready to sell himself for them any -day. Of what quality might be the work proposed to him to do, so as to -earn the reward, was of the very smallest consequence to him. He gave -Ellen such an ugly look of wicked admiration that she was glad when he -was gone. - -Dinner over, they returned to the deck, and the Old Sailor told them -stories of the sea-stories so enthralling, that the afternoon glided -by like a dream; and the setting sun was tinged with the glories of -the distant lands whither it was wending. They had tea on deck--a -delicious tea, of shrimps, water-creases, and bread-and-butter. The -task of preparing the tea was performed by Ellen and the Old Sailor; -and during the performance of this task, it may be confidently stated -that the conquest of the Old Sailor was completed, and that he was -from that moment, and ever afterwards, her devoted slave. Then they -went down, and sat two and two on each side of the table, Joshua and -Dan being on one side, and Ellen and the Old Sailor on the other; and -they had more sea-stories, and were altogether in a state of supreme -happiness. - -During the latter part of the evening the conversation turned upon -Joshua's approaching voyage. - -"Always bear in mind the sailor's watchword, my lad," said the Old -Sailor. "Along the line the signal ran: 'England expects that every -man this day will do his duty.' That's meant not for this day alone, -but for always. What a sailor's got to do is to obey. Many a voyage -has had a bad ending because of a sailor's forgetting his watchword. -Don't you forget it, Josh." - -"I won't, sir." - -"The 'Merry Andrew,' that you're going to make your first voyage in, -is a fine ship; the skipper is a fine skipper--a man he is, and that's -what a ship wants--a man and not an image." The Old Sailor said this -in a tone of exasperation, inspired, possibly, by some tantalizing -remembrance of a ship commanded by an image instead of a man. "So -stick to your watchword, my lad. It wouldn't be a bad thing now if we -were to drink to it." - -The cunning old rascal was only too glad of a chance to get at his -grog. - -"Bravo!" exclaimed Dan, clapping his hands. - -No sooner said than done. Hot water, lemon, sugar, rum, compounded -with the skill of an artist. A glass for Joshua, a glass for Dan, a -glass for the Old Sailor, and a small glass for Ellen. Not one of them -seemed afraid of it--not even Ellen. - -"Now then," said the Old Sailor, smiling as the steam rose to his -nostrils. "Now, then; the sailor's watchword--Duty, and may Joshua -never forget it!" - -"Duty, Jo," said Dan, nodding over his glass to Joshua. - -"Duty, Dan," said Joshua, nodding to Dan. - -Ellen said nothing aloud, but whispered something into her glass. Then -they drank and sipped their grog, and resumed the conversation. - -"Have you been to New Holland, sir?" asked Dan. The "Merry Andrew" was -bound for New Holland. - -"I was there when I was a youngster," replied the Old Sailor, mixing a -second glass of grog for himself. "It was a wild country then; I am -told it is growing into a wonderful country now. We were six months -going out. We had nearly four hundred convicts aboard, most of them in -irons. A miserable lot of desperate wretches they were! They were not -well treated, and they knew it. We had to keep close watch over them; -if they could have set themselves free by any means--they talked of it -many a time among themselves--they would have captured the ship, and -flung us overboard, or something worse. We landed them at Port -Phillip, where the British Government wanted to form a settlement." - -"Why New Holland, sir?" asked Dan, always eager for information. - -"Discovered by the Dutch in about 1600," replied the Old Sailor -oratorically. "Victoria was discovered by Capt. Cook; let us drink to -him." They took a sip--all but the Old Sailor, who scorned sips. -"Discovered by Capt. Cook in 1770, after he had discovered New -Zealand." - -"Any savages, sir?" - -"Swarms. We were out in a boat exploring, and when we were close in -shore, two or three hundred savages came whooping down upon us. We -weren't afraid of them; we pulled in to shore, and they stopped short -about twenty yards from us, jabbering like a lot of black monkeys. -They soon got courage enough to come closer to us, and we gave them -some grog; but the ignorant lubbers spit it out of their mouths at -first. Then they began to steal things from the boat; and when we gave -them to understand that what was ours wasn't theirs, they grew saucy. -A black fellow caught up the master's-mate, and ran away with him." - -"What did they want with him, sir?" - -"To eat him, of course. We fired over their heads, and they dropped -the master's-mate, who ran back to us, glad enough to get free, for he -didn't relish the idea of being made a meal of. But when the savages -found that the guns didn't hurt them, they came whooping up to us -again, flourishing their spears. Their faces were painted, and they -had swans' feathers sticking out of their heads. Some of them had skin -cloaks on, painted all over with figures of naked men, and some of -them had bones stuck through their nostrils. On they came, yelling and -leaping like so many devils, thinking what a fine roast the fattest of -us would make. Then we fired and killed one of them. Directly they saw -him fall, they scampered off like madmen." - -When the conversation flagged, they had music and singing. Joshua -played, and Dan sang a song, and the Old Sailor sang a good many. The -best of the Old Sailor's songs was, that they were all about the sea, -and that every one of them had a chorus in which the company could -join. Of course he sang "Heave the Lead," and "Yeo, heave, ho! To the -windlass let us go, with yo, heave ho!" and "Saturday Night at Sea;" -and when "Saturday night did come, my boys, to drink to Poll and -Bess," he flourished his glass, and drank to those young ladies with a -will. The number of lovely ladies with whom the Old Sailor made them -acquainted was something astonishing. Poor Jack had his Poll, whom he -addressed in a not very dignified manner, when he said to her,-- - - - "What argufies sniv'ling and piping your eye? - Why what a--(_hem!_) fool you must be!" - - -Out of respect for Ellen, the Old Sailor coughed over a good many -words in the songs he sang; for it must be confessed that there was -more swearing in them than was absolutely necessary. Poor Jack, -however, who called his Poll a something fool, made up for it in the -end by declaring that "his heart was his Poll's" (a very pretty though -somewhat trite sentiment), and "his rhino's his friend's" (a very -unwise and foolish sentiment, as the world goes). Then there was a -Polly whom the lads called so pretty, and who entreated her -sweetheart, before he sailed in the good ship the "Kitty" to be -constant to her; and who, when he returned without any rhino, turned -up her nose at him, as young women do now and then. Then there were -Poll in "My Poll and my partner Joe" (it was wonderful how faithless -the Polls were), and Poll in "Every inch a Sailor," who, when poor -Haulyard came home in tatters, swore (very unfeminine of her) that she -had never seen his face. But honest Ned Haulyard was a philosophical -sailor, for he something'd her for a faithless she, and singing went -again to sea. The Nancies were a better class of female:-- - - - "I love my duty, love my friend, - Love truth and merit to defend, - To moan their loss who hazard ran; - I love to take an honest part. - Love beauty with a spotless heart, - By manners love to show the man; - To sail through life by honor's breeze-- - 'Twas all along of loving these - First made me dote on lovely Nan." - - -And so on, and so on, with gentle Anna and buxom Nan; and poor Fanny, -who drowned herself in the waves near to the place where hung the -trembling pines; and poor Peggy, who loved a soldier lad (a marine, -without doubt); and bonny Kate, who lived happily afterwards with Tom -Clueline. Ellen joined in the choruses with her sweet voice; but, -strange to say, she had not been asked to sing until the Old Sailor, -struck perhaps by a sudden remorse at monopolizing the harmony, called -upon her for a song. Ellen, nothing loth, asked what song; and Joshua -said,-- - -"Sing the song you learned of mother, Ellen." - -"'Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses?'" inquired Ellen. - -"Yes, 'Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses.' 'Tisn't quite a girl's song sir" -(to the Old Sailor); "but it is a good song, and Ellen sings it -nicely." - -"Hooray, then, for 'Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses!'" cried the Old -Sailor, casting a glance of intense admiration at Ellen, who, without -more ado, sang as follows:-- - - -BREAD-AND-CHEESE AND KISSES. - - One day, when I came home fatigued, - And felt inclined to grumble, - Because my life was one of toil, - Because my lot was humble, - I said to Kate, my darling wife, - In whom my whole life's bliss is, - "What have you got for dinner, Kate?" - "Why, bread-and-cheese and kisses!" - - Though worn and tired, my heart leaped up - As those plain words she uttered. - Why should I envy those whose bread - Than mine's more thickly buttered? - I said, "We'll have dessert at once." - "What's that?" she asked. "Why, this is." - I kissed her. Ah, what sweeter meal - Than bread-and-cheese and kisses! - - I gazed at her with pure delight; - She nodded and smiled gayly; - I said, "My love, on such a meal - I'd dine with pleasure, daily. - When I but think of you, dear girl, - I pity those fine misses - Who turn their noses up and pout - At bread-and-cheese and kisses. - - "And when I look on your dear form, - And on your face so homely; - And when I look in your dear eyes, - And on your dress so comely; - And when I hold you in my arms, - I laugh at Fortune's misses. - I'm blessed in you, content with you, - And bread-and-cheese and kisses." - - -Thus ended the happy day. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. -MINNIE AND HER SHELL. - - -So the simple ways of Joshua's simple life were drawing to a close. He -had chosen his career, and to-morrow he would be at the end of the -quiet groove in which he had hitherto moved, and would step upon -rougher roads, to commence the battle which dooms many a -fair-promising life to a despairing death, and out of which no one -comes without scars and wounds which art and time are powerless to -heal. To-morrow he was to leave a father almost too indulgent; a mother -whose heart was as true in its motherly affection for him as the -needle is to the pole; a friend who gave him a love as tender and as -pure as that which angels could feel. - -During the past week he had been busily engaged in leave-taking, and -he had been surprised to find what a number of friends he had. There -was not one of the poor neighbors, in the poor locality in which he -had passed his boyhood's days, who had not kind words and good wishes -for him, and who did not give them heartily and without stint. Many a -hearty handwillshake from men whose hands he had never touched before, -and many a motherly kiss from women he had been in the habit of saying -only "Good-morning" to, did Joshua receive. There is a stronger -knitting of affection between poor people in poor neighborhoods than -there is among the rich in their wider thoroughfares. Perhaps it is -the narrow streets that draw them closer to each other; perhaps it is -the common struggle to keep body and soul together in which they are -all engaged; perhaps it is the unconscious recognition of a higher law -of humanity than prevails elsewhere; perhaps it is the absence of the -wider barriers of exclusiveness, among which the smaller and more -beautiful flowers of feeling--being so humble and unassuming--are in -danger of being lost or overlooked. Anyhow the ties of affection are -stronger among the poor. Putting necessity and sickness aside, more -mothers nurse their babes from love among the poor than among the -rich. - -The secret of this unanimity of goodwill towards Joshua lay in his -uniformly quiet demeanor and affectionate disposition. The wonderful -friendship that existed between Dan and Joshua was a household word in -the poor homes round about; there was something so beautiful in it, -that they felt a pride in the circumstance of its having been cemented -in their midst; and many tender-hearted women said that night to their -husbands, that they wondered what Dan would do now that Joshua was -going away. "And Josh, too," the husband would reply; "do you think -he won't miss Dan?" But the women thought mostly of Dan in that -relationship. The romance of the thing had something to do with this -general interest in his welfare. Here was a young man, one of their -own order, born and bred among them, who, from no contempt of their -humble ways of life but from a distinct desire to do better than they -(not to _be_ better; that they would have resented), had resolved to -go out into the world to carve a way for himself. It was brave and -manly; it was daring and heroic. For the world was so wide! Cooped-up -as _they_ were, what did they know of it? What did they see of it? -Those of them--the few--who worked at home in their once-a-week -shirt-sleeves, could raise their eyes from their work, and see the -dull prospect of over the way; or, resting wearily from the monotonous -labor, could stroll to their street-doors, and look up and down the -street in a meaningless, purposeless manner: like automatons in -aprons, with dirty faces and very black finger-nails, coming out of a -box and performing a task in which there was necessarily no sense of -enjoyment. - -Those of them--the many--who toiled in workshops other than their -homes, saw with the rising and the setting of every sun a few narrow -streets within the circumference of a mile, mayhap. Moving always in -the same groove, trudging to their workshops every morning, trudging -home every night--it was the same thing for them day after day. The -humdrum course of time was only marked by the encroachment of gray -hairs and white; or by the patching-up of the poor furniture, which -grew more rheumatic, and groaned more dismally every succeeding -season; or by the cracking and dismemberment of cups and saucers and -plates; or by the slow death of the impossible figures on the -tea-trays--figures which were bright and gay once upon a time, as -their owners were upon a certain happy wedding-day. Here, as a type, -are three small mugs, the letters upon which are either quite faded -away, or are denoted by a very mockery of shrivelled lines, as if -their lives were being drawn out to the last stage of miserable -attenuation. Once they proclaimed themselves proudly, and in golden -letters, "For George, a Birthday Present;" "For Mary Ann, with -Mother's Love;" "Charley, for a Good Boy." George and Mary, Ann and -Charley used to clap their little hands, and swing their little legs -delightedly, when they and the mugs kept company at breakfast and -tea-time; but now flesh and crockery have grown old, and are fading -away in common. The hair on George's head is very thin, although he is -not yet forty years of age; Mary Ann is an anxious-looking mother, -with six dirty children, who, as she declares twenty times a day, are -enough to worry the life out of her; and Charley has turned out any -thing but "a Good Boy," being much too fond of public-houses. With -such like uninteresting variations, the lives of George and Mary Ann -and Charley were typical of the lives of all the poor people amongst -whom the Marvels lived. From the cradle to the grave, every thing the -same; the same streets, the same breakfasts, the same dinners, the -same uneventful routine of existence, the only visible signs upon the -record being the deepening of wrinkles and the whitening of hairs. But -they were happy enough, notwithstanding; and if their pulses were -stirred into quicker motion when they shook Joshua's hand and wished -him good luck, there was no envy towards him in their minds, and no -feeling of discontent marred the genuineness of their God-speed. When -at candle-time they spoke of Joshua and of the world which he was -going to see, some of the women said that it would have been better if -"you, John," or "you, William," "had struck out for yourself when you -were young;" and John and William assenting, sighed to think that it -was too late for them to make a new start. Well, their time was past; -the tide which they might have taken at the flood, but did not, would -never come again to their life's shore. Joshua _had_ taken it at the -flood, and would be afloat to-morrow; good luck be with him! In the -heartiness of their good wishes there was no expressed consciousness -that there was as much heroism in their quiet lives as in the lives of -great heroes and daring adventurers; which very unconsciousness and -unexpressed abnegation made that heroism (begging Mr. Ruskin's pardon -for calling it so) all the grander. - -Joshua had bidden the Old Sailor good-by. The dear, simple old fellow -had given Joshua some golden rules to go by; had enjoined him to be -respectful and submissive; to learn all he could; to be cheerful -always, and to do his work willingly, however hard it seemed; not to -mix himself up in the men's quarrels or grumblings; had told him how -that some officers were querulous, and some were tyrannical, but that -he could always keep himself out of mischief by obeying orders; and -had impressed upon him, more particularly than all, the value of the -golden motto--Duty. "Keep that for your watchword, my lad," said the -Old Sailor, "and you will do." - -"I am glad it is nearly all over," said Joshua to Dan. "I have only -two or three more to say good-by to, with the exception of mother and -father, and Ellen and you, dear Dan." - -"There's Susan, Jo," said Dan after a pause. "I wish you could see her -before you go." - -"I wish so, too. I am going now to say good-by to Minnie and her -father." - -"Is he better, Jo?" - -"I haven't seen him for a week; but I don't think he is ever quite -right here;" touching his forehead. - -They were speaking of the street actor, whose name was Basil Kindred. - -"And Minnie is very pretty, you say." - -"Very pretty, but with such strange ways, Dan, as I have told you -before." - -"Yes," said Dan, looking earnestly at Joshua. - -"Sometimes like a woman, which she is not; sometimes like a little -child, which she is not. Yet for all she is so strange, one can't help -loving her, and pitying her." - -"Is she at all like Ellen, Jo?" - -"Minnie is not like Ellen," said Joshua, considering. "Ellen's face is -calm and peaceful; Minnie's is grander, larger. Minnie is the kind of -girl for a heroine, and Ellen is not, I think. She is too peaceful. -Say that Ellen is like a lake, Minnie is like the sea." - -A quiet smile passed over Dan's lips, yet a regretful one, too. - -"You don't know Ellen, Jo," he said "Give me the lake." - -"And me the sea," said Joshua, not meaning it at all with reference to -the girls, but literally, with reference to his choice of a -profession. - -From the first part of this conversation it will be gathered that -Susan Taylor had left her home, and had chosen to keep her residence a -secret from her family. She was not to blame for it; for she had been -most unhappy in the family mansion of the Taylors. Although she earned -her own living, and paid for her board and lodging, her father, a -drunken, lazy mechanic, had lately been pestering her for small loans, -to be spent, of course, at the public-house. These she could not -afford to give him; and when he found that she would not assist him, -he quarrelled with her. He twitted her about her ungainly person, -jeered at her strange mannerisms, pricked her with domestic pins and -needles, and made her life so miserable, that she was glad when the -culminating quarrel gave her the opportunity to run away. - -She had never had a friend. Nearly every girl has a girl-companion -with whom she exchanges little confidences, and whom she consults as -to the fashion of the new bonnet, and how it is to be trimmed, the -pattern of the new dress, and how many flounces it is to have, the -color of the new piece of ribbon, and how it should be worn, the -personal appearance and intentions of the last new admirer, and how he -is to be treated. Susan never had such a companion; worse than that, -she never had a sweetheart. She had grown to woman's estate without -ever having experienced the pleasures of courtship, either as a child -or as a woman. No little boy had taken a liking to her when she was a -little girl; and when she grew to be a young woman, no young man had -cast a favorable eye upon her. Sooth to say, there was nothing -singular in the circumstance; for she was as little attractive -externally, as a young woman well could be. - -If it were necessary to define and describe her with brevity, a happy -definition and description might be given in two simple words--Joints -and Knobs. Susan Taylor was all Joints and Knobs, from the crown of -her head to the soles of her feet. There was not a straight line about -her; every square inch of her frame was broken by a joint or -intersected by a knob. Her face did not contain one perfect feature. -Bones, with sharp rugged outlines, asserted themselves in her cheeks, -in her chin, in her nose (most aggressively there), and in the arches -of her eyes. Her shoulders were suggestive of nothing but -salt-cellars; her fingers were covered with knuckles; her arms were -all elbows; and her knees, as she walked, forced themselves into -notice with offensive demonstrativeness. There was nothing round and -soft about her. Every part of her was suggestive of Bone; she was so -replete with mysterious and complicated angles that she might be said -to resemble a mathematical torture. Her angular proportions, broken -here by a joint, or intersected there by a knob, did not agree with -one another. As not one of them would accept a subordinate position, -they were necessarily on the very worst of terms: like a regiment in -which every soldier insisted on being colonel, and struggled for the -position. The result was Anatomical Confusion. - -Cupid is popularly represented to be a mischievous young imp, who -delights in tying persons together who are not in the least suited to -each other, and as being so reckless and indiscriminate in the use of -the metaphorical arrow, which he is everlastingly fixing to that -metaphorical bow with such malicious nicety, that the right man seldom -finds himself in the right place, and the right woman is similarly -unfortunate. As a consequence of this eccentric and inhuman conduct, -long men and short women and long women and short men, get absurdly -matched, and the mental disparity is often found to be no less than -the disparity in limb and bulk. But never, surely, did that tricksy -youngster (who is so convenient to writers as a reference, and in -various other ways, that they cannot be sufficiently grateful for his -mythological existence) play a stranger prank than when he made Susan -Taylor and Basil Kindred acquainted with each other. The evening on -which Susan, for the first time, saw Basil Kindred act the Ghost -scenes in "Hamlet," marked an era in her life not less important than -that sad era which was commenced by her letting her brother Daniel -fall from her arms out of the window on to the cruel stones. For if -ever woman fell in love (which is so violently suggestive that it may -well be doubted) with man, Susan Taylor, on that evening, fell in love -with Basil Kindred. - -But Susan was not the woman to exhibit her passion in words. In -another fashion she did exhibit it: in the best fashion that devotion -Can show itself--in deeds. She was not a cunning woman, nor a wise one -either. Being from the very infirmities of her nature a kind of social -outcast, she was not likely to consider what the world would say of -any action of hers. And here was an anomaly; she was neither foolish -enough nor wise enough to consider what the world would say; yet had -she considered that her conduct was open to censure, she would not -have swerved a hair's breadth because of the world's opinion; and this -very independence proceeded not from a hardened nature, but from a -nature utterly simple. So she did what a very considerable majority of -the busy bees in this busy world would consider either a very foolish -thing or some thing worse. When she left her home she rented a room in -the miserable house in which Basil Kindred and his daughter resided. -She did this because she loved him; and yet looking for no return of -her passion, she did it so that she might make herself useful to him -and to Minnie. The living she earned as a dressmaker was a poor and a -scanty one enough; but she managed, out of her small earnings, to -contribute some little towards the comfort of the couple whose -acquaintance she had so strangely made. - -Joshua was always certain of a warm welcome from Basil and Minnie; an -affectionate intimacy had sprung up between them, and he had spent -many a pleasant hour in their company. But in the first flush of their -intimacy he had been sorely puzzled by Basil Kindred's strange ways -and oft-times stranger remarks; the wandering restlessness of his -eyes, and the no less wandering nature of his speech, engendered grave -doubts whether he was quite right in his mind. And as Joshua looked -from Basil's fine mobile face to that of his daughter, so like her -father's in all its grand and beautiful outlines, it distressed him to -think that her intellect also might be tainted with her father's -disease. It might not be; it might be merely the want of proper moral -training that induced her to be so strangely incoherent, so reckless -and defiant, and yet at the same time so singularly tender in her -conduct. With Minnie every thing was right or wrong according to the -way in which it affected herself. She recognized no general law as -guiding such and such a principle or sentiment. There was this -similarity and this difference between Minnie and Susan: they both -ignored the world's opinion and the world's judgment of their actions. -But where Susan would be meek, Minnie would be defiant; where Susan -would offend through ignorance, Minnie would offend consciously, and -be at the same time ready to justify herself and argue the point; -which latter she would do, of course, only from her point of view. -Supposing that it could be reduced to weights and measures, Minnie -would have been content to place herself and her affections on one -side of the scale, and all the world on the other, with the positive -conviction that she would tip the scale. - -She was very affectionate and docile to Joshua; she looked up to him -with a kind of adoration, and this tacit acknowledgment of his -superiority was pleasing to his vanity. He was her hero, and she -worshipped him, and showed that she did so; and he, too, dangerously -regarding her as a child, received her worship, and was gratified by -it. And so she drifted. - -Now as he entered the room, Minnie sprang towards him with a joyous -exclamation, and taking his hand, held it tightly clasped in hers as -she led him to a seat. The room was not so bare of furniture as it was -when he first saw it. He looked round for Basil Kindred. - -"Father is not at home, Joshua," said Minnie. "He will be in soon, I -dare say." She pushed him softly into a chair, and sat on the ground -at his feet. "I am so glad you have come!" - -"But I don't think I have time to stay." - -"You mustn't go; you mustn't go," said Minnie, drawing his arm round -her neck. "I shall be so lonely if you do." - -"But you were alone before I came in, Minnie." - -"Yes," returned Minnie; "but I did not feel lonely then. I shall now, -if you go away." - -"Then I will stop for a little while," said Joshua, humoring her. - -"Always good!" said Minnie gratefully, resting her lips upon her hand, -"always good!" - -"Why did you not feel lonely before I came, Minnie?" - -"I was thinking." - -"Of what?" - -"Of long, long ago, when father was different to what he is now." - -"It could not have been so long, long ago, little Minnie,"--here came -a little caressing action from the child,--"you are only--how old?" - -"Fourteen." - -"And fourteen years ago is not so long, long ago, little Minnie." - -Minnie repeated her caressing action. - -"To you it isn't perhaps, but it is to me. It seems almost," she said, -placing Joshua's hand upon her eyes, and closing them, "as if I had -nothing to do with it. Yet I must have had; for mother was mixed up -with what I was thinking. - -"But I shall think of something else now that you are here," she said -presently. "I am going to listen." - -With the hand that was free she took something from her pocket, and -placing it to her ear, bent her head closer to the ground. She was so -long in that attitude of watchful silence, that Joshua cried "Minnie" -to arouse her. - -"Hush!" she said; "you must not interrupt me. I am listening. I can -almost hear it speak." - -"Hear what speak?" asked Joshua, wondering. - -Minnie directed his fingers to her ear, and he felt something smooth -and cold. - -"It is a shell," she said softly, "and I am listening to the sea." - -"Ah," said Joshua in a voice as soft as hers, "that is because I am -going to be a sailor." - -"For that reason. Yes. Call me little Minnie." - -"Little Minnie!" said Joshua tenderly; for Minnie's voice and manner -were very winsome, and he could not help thinking how quaintly pretty -her fancy was. - -"Little Minnie, little Minnie!" whispered Minnie in so soft a tone -that Joshua could scarcely hear it,--"little Minnie, little Minnie! -The sea is singing it. How kind the sea is! and how soft and gentle I -should like to go to sleep like this." - -"Does the shell sing any thing else, little Minnie?" - -"Listen! Ah, but you cannot hear! It is singing, 'Little Minnie, -little Minnie, Joshua is going to be a sailor. Little Minnie, little -Minnie, would you like to go with him?'" - -"And you answer?" - -"Yes, yes, yes! I should like to go with him, and hear the sea always -singing like this. I should like to go with him because"--But here -Minnie stopped. - -"Because what?" - -"Because nothing," said Minnie, taking the shell from her ear. "Now -the sea is gone, and the singing is gone, and we are waiting at home -for father." - -"What for, Minnie? What am I waiting at home for father for?" - -"To see him of course," answered Minnie. - -"And to wish him and you good-by," said Joshua. - -"Good-by!" echoed the child, with a sudden look of distress in her -large gray eyes. "So soon!" - -"Yes. My ship sails to-morrow." - -"And this is the last day we shall see you," she said, her tears -falling upon his hand. - -"The last day for a little while, little Minnie," he said, striving to -speak cheerfully. - -"For how long?" asked the child, bending her head, so that her fair -hair fell over her face. - -"For a year, perhaps, Minnie," he answered. - -"For a long, long year," she said sorrowfully. "You will not do as -mother did, will you?" - -"How was that?" - -"She went away from us one afternoon, and was to come back at night. -And it rained--oh, so dreadfully!--that night. We were lodging under -some trees, father, mother, and I. Father was ill--very ill, but not -with the same kind of illness that he has now sometimes. He had a -fever. And mother went into the town to get something for us to -eat--as you did that night when the bad boys threw a stone at father, -and you brought him home. When father woke we went in search of her. -But I never remember seeing mother again. And you are going away, and -perhaps I shall never see you again." - -"What does the shell say, Minnie?" - -Minnie placed the shell to her ear. - -"I cannot make out any thing," she said in a voice of pain. "It isn't -singing now; it is moaning and sighing." - -He took the shell and listened. - -"It will speak to me, because I am a sailor." - -"And it says?" asked Minnie anxiously. - -"And it says--no, it sings--'Little Minnie, little Minnie, Joshua is -going to sea, and Joshua will come back, please God, in a year, with -beautiful shells and wonderful stories for you and all his friends. -So, little Minnie, little Minnie, look happy; for there is nothing to -be sorrowful at.'" - -"Ah!" said Minnie in less sorrowful tones, "if I was a woman and loved -anybody very much, I would not let him go away by himself." - -"Why, what would you do?" - -"I would follow him." And she pulled Joshua's head down to hers, and -whispered, "I should like to go to sea with you." - -"Would you indeed, miss!" - -"Yes; for I love you, oh, so much!" whispered the child innocently in -the same low tones. "But you wouldn't let me go, would you?" - -"I should think not. A nice sailor you would make; a weak little thing -like you!" - -The girl sprang from her crouching attitude, and stood upright. As she -did so, expressing in her action what her meaning was, Joshua noticed -for the first time that she was growing to be large-limbed and strong. -She tossed her hair from her face, and said,-- - -"Father says I shall be a tall woman." - -"Well?" - -"Well," she repeated half-proudly and half-bashfully. "I should not -make such a bad sailor, after all." And then with a motion thoroughly -childlike, she knelt on the ground before him; and placing her elbows -on his knees, rested her chin in her upturned palms, and looked -steadily into his face. "If I was a woman," she said slowly and -earnestly, "I would go with you, even if you would not let me." - -"How would you manage that?" - -"I would follow you secretly." - -"You must not say so," said Joshua reprovingly; "it would be very, -very wrong." - -"To follow any one you loved?" questioned the child, shaking her head -at the same time to denote that she had no doubt whether it would be -right or wrong. "Wrong to wish to be with any one you loved? It -would be wrong not to wish it. But"--and she looked round, as if -fearful, although they were alone, lest her resolution should become -known--"nobody should know; I would not tell a living soul." - -Joshua was silent, puzzled at Minnie's earnestness. Minnie, with the -shell at her ear, soon broke the silence, however. - -"Has your friend--the boy you have told me about"-- - -"Dan?" - -"Yes, Dan. Has Dan got a shell?" - -"No. I don't suppose he ever thought of it." - -"And yet he loves you very much, and a shell is the only thing that -can bring the sea to him." - -"Who gave you the shell, Minnie?" - -"No one." - -"How did you get it, then?" - -"I took it from a stall." - -"O Minnie!" exclaimed Joshua, grieved and shocked; "that was very -wicked." - -"I know it was," said Minnie simply; "but I did it for you. Two days -afterwards, when father had money given to him, I asked him for some, -and he gave it me. I went to the stall where the shells were, and -asked the man how much each they were. 'A penny,' he said. I gave him -two pence and ran away. That was good, wasn't it?" - -Joshua shook his head. - -"It was very wicked to steal the shell; and I don't think you made up -for it by paying double when you got the money." - -But Minnie set her teeth close, and said between them, "It was wicked -at first, but it wasn't wicked afterwards, was it, shell?"--She -listened with a coaxing air to the shell's reply.--"The shell says it -wasn't'. Besides, I did it for you; Dan wouldn't have done it." - -"No, that he wouldn't." - -"Shows he doesn't love you as much as I do," muttered Minnie with -jealous intonation. "If he did, he would have thought of a shell, and -would have got it somehow. If he did, he would go with you, and would -never, never leave you!" - -"Now, Minnie, listen to me." - -"I am listening, Joshua." She would have taken his hand; but he put it -behind his back, and motioned her to be still. She knew by his voice -that something unpleasant was coming, and she set her teeth close. - -"You know that it is wrong to steal, and you stole the shell." - -"I did it for you," she said doggedly. "That does not make it right, -Minnie. I want you to give me a promise." - -"I will promise you any thing but one thing," she said. - -"What is that." - -"Never mind. You would never guess, so you will never ask me. What am -I to promise?" - -"That you will never steal any thing again." - -"Do you think I ever stole any thing but the shell, then?" she asked, -with an air that would have been stern in its pride if she had not -been a child. - -It was on the tip of Joshua's tongue to say, "I don't know what to -think;" but her manner of putting the question gave the answer to it. -"No," he said instead, "I don't think you ever did, Minnie." - -Her head was stubbornly bent; and she had enough to do to keep back -her tears. She would not have succeeded had his answer been different. - -"No, I never stole any thing else. Stole is the proper word, I know; -but it is a nasty one, and makes me ashamed." - -"That is your punishment, Minnie," said Joshua, wondering at himself -for his tenaciousness. - -"That is my punishment, then," said Minnie not less doggedly than -before; "but I did it for you"--nothing would drive her from that -stand-point--"and I promise you, Joshua, that I will never steal any -thing again--never, never!" - -He gave her his hand, and she took it and caressed it. - -"And now, Minnie, about Dan," he said. "You must not say or think any -thing ill of him. He is the best-hearted and the dearest friend in the -world; and I cannot tell you how much I love him, or how much he loves -me." - -"Why doesn't he go to sea with you, then?" - -Joshua looked at her reproachfully. - -"Your memory is not good, Minnie. He is lame, as I told you." - -"I forgot. He can't go because he is lame. Would he go if his legs -were sound?" - -"I think he would." - -"Don't think," Minnie said, with a sly look at him; "be sure." - -"I am sure he would then." - -"Caught!" cried Minnie, clapping her hands, the sly look, in which -there was simplicity, changing to a cunning one, in which there was -craft. "Caught, caught, caught!" - -"I should like to know how," said Joshua. "How ridiculous of you, -Minnie, to cry 'Caught!' as if I was a fox!" - -"No, I am the fox," she cried, shaking her hair over her face with -enchanting grace. "I am in hiding--just peeping round the corner." She -made an opening in her thick hair, and flashed a look at him; a look -that was saucy, and cunning, and charming, and wilful, all at once. -"Am I a good fox?" - -"You are a goose. Tell me how I am caught." - -"Listen, then," throwing her hair back, and becoming logical. "Dan -loves you as well as any man or woman could love another, you said." - -"Did I say as well? I thought I said better. I meant better." - -"That's no matter. Dan loves you,"--she held up her left hand, and -checked off the items on her fingers--"that is one finger. And Dan -would go to sea with you; and it would be right, because he loves -you--that is two fingers. But Dan can't go because he is lame--that is -three fingers. Now I love you, and I am not lame--that is four -fingers. And it would not be wrong in me to follow you--and that is my -thumb, the largest reason of all. So you are caught, caught, caught, -you see." - -"I do not see," said Joshua in a very decided voice. "Dan is a boy, -and you are a girl; and what is right for a boy to do is often wrong -for a girl. I do not see that I am caught." - -But Minnie had relinquished the argument. She was satisfied that she -was right. - -"And you would really be very angry with me if I did it?" she asked. - -"I should be very angry with you now, Minnie, if it were not that you -were a stupid little girl, just a trifle too fond of talking nonsense. -Such nonsense, too! Why, there's Ellen, Dan's sister, _she_ wouldn't -talk so." - -All the brightness went out of Minnie's face, and a dark cloud was -there instead. - -Joshua noticed it with surprise. He took her hand gently; but she -snatched it away. - -"Ellen would not behave like that," he said; "she is too mild and -gentle." There came into his mind what he had said to Dan of the two -girls--that Ellen was like a lake, and Minnie like the sea; and he -thought how true it was. "It would do you good to know her." - -"I don't want to know her," said Minnie sullenly, "and I don't want to -be done good to." - -"I didn't think you would be cross-tempered on my last day at home," -said Joshua in a grave and gentle voice. He paused, as if expecting -her to speak; but she remained silent. "Ah, well," he said, rising, "I -shall go and see if I can find your father." - -She jumped up and walked with him to the door. - -"Say that you are not angry with me," she said in a voice of the -softest pleading, raising her face to his. - -He would have made a different reply, but he saw that her face was -covered with tears. - -"Angry with you!" he said kindly. "Who could be angry with you for -long, little Minnie?" - -She smiled gratefully and thoughtfully as he kissed her; and when he -had gone, and she had heard his last footstep, she returned to her old -place upon the floor, and crouching down, placed the shell to her ear, -and listened to the singing of the sea. - - - - -CHAPTER X. -GOOD-BY. - - -Minnie's obliviousness of what was right had never before been -presented so clearly to Joshua. He knew well enough that Minnie, -although she was aware that it was wrong to steal, could not -understand that she did wrong in stealing the shell. At the same time -he could not help feeling tenderly towards her because of that wrong -action. After all, how much she was to be pitied! Could it be wondered -at that she was hard to teach, and that she was wayward and wilful, -living such a lonely life as she lived, with no friend to counsel, no -mother to guide her? How quaint was her fancy, and what a pretty thing -it was to see her as he saw her in his imaginings--sitting alone in -her room, with the shell at her ear, listening to the singing of the -sea! With what a daintily-caressing motion she nestled to him when he -called her "Little Minnie!" He repeated the pet words to himself, -"Little Minnie, little Minnie!" as he walked along, and smiled. As for -her telling him that she would like to go to sea with him, what was it -but a childish whimsey? If he had not contradicted her, and made a -matter of importance of it, she would have said it, and there an end. -She would like to go to sea with him, and would follow him if she were -a woman: Well! she was but a child, and the wish was as innocent as -her declaration that she loved him. - -When he had thought out all this, he thought of to-morrow, and looked -round upon the familiar streets and the familiar houses with a pang of -regret. To-morrow he would be far away from them, and every succeeding -day would take him farther and farther away from them and all that he -loved. From mother, father, the Old Sailor, his pet birds, and from -Dan--ah! dear, dear Dan! Did ever boy or man have such a friend? Then -there was Ellen, his dear little sweetheart in the days when they were -children together. Was there ever such another unselfish little maid -as that? So devoted, so tender, so loving! How quickly she had won -the heart of the Old Sailor! He remembered that old salt saying, -pointing his great finger at Ellen as he said it, "Joshua, my lad, -that little lass there is the prettiest, the best, the truest and the -kindest-hearted in these dominions." And he remembered himself looking -at Ellen's mild face--peaceful as a lake--and saying, "So she is, -sir," and meaning it heartily; and he remembered the Old Sailor -saying, "That's right, my lad; all you've got to do is to mind your -bearings." Although he had answered, "Yes, sir, I will," he wondered -afterwards, and he found himself wondering now, what on earth the Old -Sailor meant by saying, "Mind your bearings." But what matter? Ellen -_was_ the prettiest, the best, the truest, and the kindest-hearted -lass in these or any other dominions. God bless her! - -As he thought of these things, he felt himself growing so -soft-hearted, that he stopped and stamped his feet upon the pavement, -and thumped himself upon the chest, saying as he did so, between -laughing and crying, "This won't do, Josh; this won't do." - -He had given himself a score of thumps, and had said, "This won't do, -Josh," half-a-score of times, when loud cries for help fell upon -his ears. He had been walking in the direction of the river, through -some of the streets where he would be most likely to find Basil -Kindred; and he was in a locality where there was a number of low -public-houses, patronized by the worst class of seamen. Turning in the -direction of the cry, Joshua saw a woman run swiftly out of a narrow -thoroughfare. Pursuing her was a man, a dark-looking fellow, with -glittering eyes, and rings in his ears, and a knife in his hand, and -with all his copper-colored fingers and black-serpent locks of hair -flashing in the air with evil intent. Impelled by the unmistakable air -of terror in the form of the flying girl, and the unmistakable air of -mischief in the form of the pursuing man--partly, also, by the -impulsion born of the hunting spirit implanted in man and beast, -Joshua started off at a great pace, and flew after the flying couple. - -It was that part of the day when the neighborhood was most quiet. All -the men were at work in the dockyards, and the few women about (having -a wholesome horror probably of a man with an open knife in his hand, -and being perhaps accustomed to such diversions) seemed disinclined to -take part in the chase. With the exception of one drunken creature, -with a blotched and bloated face, who made a frantic motion to follow, -but being tripped up by her draggling petticoats, stumbled, more like -a heap of rags than a woman, into the gutter, Where she lay growling -indistinctly. - -The flying woman and the pursuing man were fleet of foot, but Joshua -was younger and more nimble than they. As he gained upon them, a dim -consciousness stole upon him that he knew them; and, as he approached -nearer, the doubt grew into conviction. The almost breathless woman, -throwing affrighted looks behind her, as if a dozen men were pursuing -her instead of one, was Susan; and the evil-looking man who was bent -on running her down was the Lascar who served the Old Sailor, and who -cooked for him, and would have poisoned him for rum and tobacco. Some -other than those, the ruling cravings of his existence, influenced him -now. All the passions of love and hate, and the desire to achieve his -purpose by striking terror, were expressed in every motion of every -limb: they were so eloquent and earnest in the savage pursuit that -they seemed to proclaim their owner's intention, as he raced after the -panting girl. - -He was almost upon her, and she felt his ugly lips reeking their -detestable flavor of rum and tobacco upon her neck, when Joshua, -coming up to him, seized him by the throat. He had been so savagely -vindictive in the pursuit, that Joshua's hand upon his throat was the -first indication he received that he was being himself pursued; but, -wasting no look upon his pursuer, he slipped from Joshua like an -eel--his neck was redolent of grease--and with an inarticulate cry of -rage and baffled lust, he sprang after Susan again, who had gained a -few steps by Joshua's ineffectual interposition. But Susan, thoroughly -bewildered and terrified, turned into a blind alley, and perceiving -that there was no thoroughfare, and that she was trapped, fell upon -the rough stones, prostrate from fear and exhaustion. - -On one side of the blind alley were four or five houses, in which no -signs of life were visible. They seemed stricken to death by disease. -On the other side was a black dead wall, which shut out the sky. -Before the Lascar could reach Susan--what the man's intention was, or -what he would have done in his wild fury, he, being more beast than -man, might probably not have been able to explain--Joshua had knocked -the knife out of his hand, and had knocked him down with a blow, the -force of which astonished Joshua himself, even in the midst of his -excitement. Almost before Joshua could realize what had occurred, the -cowardly Lascar was crouching by the side of the dead wall, as if his -lair were there, and Joshua was on his knee assisting Susan to recover -herself; keeping a wary look, however, upon the knife, which was lying -in the road at an equal distance from him and the Lascar. The Lascar -saw it too--saw it without looking at it, and without seeming to see -it. A surprising change had taken place in him. A minute since a -volcano of delirious lust was raging in his breast, and every nerve in -his body was quivering with dangerous passion; now, as if by magic, he -was coiled up like a snake, with no motion of life in him but the -quiet glitter of his eyes, which watched every thing, but seemed to -watch nothing. - -"What is it all about, Susan?" asked Joshua in wonderment, after a -pause. But, before Susan could reply, a crawling motion on the part of -the Lascar towards the knife caused Joshua to spring into the road. -The snake had no chance with the panther. The Lascar was knocked back -to his position by the dead wall, and Joshua stood over him grasping -the knife. This was the most eventful transaction that had ever -occurred to Joshua; and, as he stood over his antagonist palming the -knife, a strange sensation of pride in his own strength tingled -through his veins. There was blood upon the Lascar's face; Joshua had -struck him so fiercely as to loosen one of his teeth--so decidedly to -loosen it, that the Lascar put his finger into his mouth and drew it -out. He said nothing, however, but kept the tooth clasped in his -hand. - -"You black devil!" exclaimed Joshua, gazing upon the crouching figure -with a kind of loathing amazement. "What do you mean by all this?" - -The Lascar wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve, and shaking -the hair from his eyes, threw upon Joshua a covert look of deadly -malice--a look expressive of a bloody-minded craving to have Joshua -helpless on the stones beneath him, that he might press the life out -of his enemy. His eye spoke, but his tongue uttered no word. Raging -inwardly as he was with bad passion, he had sufficient control over -himself to suppress any spoken manifestation of it. But his attitude -and demeanor were not less dangerous for all that. - -"He follows me everywhere," said Susan, still gasping and panting for -breath. "He dogs me by day and by night. He waylays me in the dark, -and I can hardly get away from him." - -"What for?" demanded Joshua, with his eye upon the Lascar, who was -sitting cunningly quiet, nursing his wounded mouth. - -"I don't know," replied Susan, with an appalled look over her -shoulder, as if she were haunted by a fear that the spirit of the -Lascar was there, notwithstanding that he was crouching before her in -the ugly flesh. "I am afraid to think." - -"Afraid! in broad daylight!" - -"Day or night it is all the same," moaned Susan. "Whenever he sees me, -he dogs me till I am ready to die. You don't know his power--you don't -know his power!" - -"What were you doing before I saw you?" - -"I was looking for some one." - -"For whom?" - -"For Mr. Kindred," with a curious hesitation. - -"For Mr. Kindred!" exclaimed Joshua, more amazed than ever; "why for -him?" - -"He is ill. I will tell you about it by and by," replied Susan -nervously. "I thought I should find him in this neighborhood, and -while I was looking for him, he"--pointing to the Lascar with a -shudder--"he saw me and spoke to me, and would not leave me--wanted me -to go with him and drink with him, and when I refused, he seized me, -and then--then--I scratched him--and--I don't remember any thing more, -except that I was afraid he wanted to kill me." - -Joshua looked up at the Lascar's face, and observed the scratch for -the first time. It was a long scratch downwards from the eye to the -wounded mouth. The Lascar made no attempt to hide it, but sat still, -with his hand on his mouth. - -"Serve you right, you black dog!" exclaimed Joshua. "What do you mean -by dogging her? What do you mean by following her with a knife? Why, -you Lascar dog, for two pins"--he raised his hand indignantly, and -advanced a step towards the Lascar, who made a shrinking movement -backwards, although in truth he could not get nearer to the dead wall -than he was already. - -"Don't, Joshua, don't!" cried Susan, seizing his arm, and clinging to -him imploringly. "Don't touch him, for God's sake, or"--with another -scared look behind her--"he'll haunt you as he haunts me." - -A taunting wicked smile crossed the Lascar's lips, but it was gone a -moment afterwards. It might have been the shadow of an evil thought -finding expression there. - -"How does he haunt you more than you have already told me he does?" -demanded Joshua in a great heat. "You don't think he can frighten me -as he frightens you, Susan, do you? The black dog! Look at him! He's -frightened of a white man's little finger!" - -"Hush!" implored Susan. "He haunts me when he is not near me." - -"How can he do that, you foolish girl?" - -"He does it--he _can_ do it--with his double!" - -"His double?" - -"He has a double--a spirit, a wicked spirit"--she turned her head -slowly and trembled in every limb; "and he told me it should haunt me, -and follow me wherever I go. And it does! I feel it behind me when I -don't see him. It is there now! It is there now!" And wrought to the -highest pitch of mental terror and excitement, Susan threw up her -hands, and would have fallen to the ground but for Joshua's protecting -arm. - -The taunting smile came again upon the Lascar's lips, as he secretly -watched Susan's terror. With a special maliciousness he flashed his -fingers towards her, as if he were issuing a command to his double not -to leave her. It was evidence of the power he possessed over her weak -mind that, notwithstanding her almost fainting condition, a stronger -shuddering came upon her when he made even that slight motion. - -Feeling that, for Susan's sake, it was necessary to put an end to the -scene, Joshua, with an indignant motion, commanded the Lascar to leave -them. The Lascar rose submissively, like a whipped dog, and so stood -with bent head before Joshua. - -"Now then, what are you waiting for?" asked Joshua. - -"My knife," answered the Lascar doggedly. - -"Not likely," said Joshua; "I know you too well to let you have it." - -"What do you know of me?" asked the Lascar in a low guttural voice. - -"I have heard enough of you from Mr. Meddler"--the Lascar grated his -teeth with tigerish ferocity--"you and the likes of you. I know how -free you are with your knives, you Lascars, on land and on sea. Be -off!" - -"My knife!" again demanded the Lascar, with his eyes directed to -Joshua's feet; but he saw Joshua's face and every motion of Joshua's -body. "My knife! It is mine. I bought it and paid for it." - -"Stole it more likely," said Joshua with a sneer. - -"It is a lie. I bought it. Even if I did steal it, you have no right -to it. Give me my knife, and let me go." - -"Joshua reflected. Clearly he had no just claim to the man's knife, -and had no right to retain it. His mind was soon made up. Releasing -his hold of Susan, he placed the blade beneath his foot, and broke it -off close to the handle. Then he threw the handle and the blade over -the Lascar's head. A dangerous fire gleamed in the man's downcast eyes -and a cold-blooded grating of teeth came from his mouth. He stood -silent for a few moments, with his hands tightly pressed, striving to -master the devil that was raging within him. But he could not restrain -his passion. - -"Curse you!" he hissed; "I owe you something; I will pay it you, by -hell!" - -He crouched to receive the blow which he expected Joshua would give -him, in return for his curse. But no blow was given nor intended; yet -he quivered as if he had been struck before he spoke again. - -"See you!" he cried; "I never forget--never--never! My turn will come. -You called me black devil"-- - -"So you are," said Joshua scornfully. "And black dog--dog of a -Lascar!" - -"So you are." - -"You shall pay for it! If it is years before I can pay you, you shall -be paid for it! See you--remember!" With all his fingers menacingly, -as if each was possessed with a distinct will, and was swearing -vengeance against Joshua. "Your life shall pay for it--more than your -life shall pay for it!" He spat upon the ground and trod savagely upon -the spittle. "I mark you--see!" With his forefinger he marked a cross -in the air. "I put this cross against you--curse you!" - -Susan, gazing on with sight terror-fixed, saw the infuriated man stamp -upon the stones, as if he had Joshua's life-blood beneath his foot, -and then saw the cross marked in the air. The fire of her fevered -imagination gave red color to the shadowy lines; and when the Lascar -lowered his forefinger, she saw the recorded cross standing -unsupported in the air--a cross of bright red blood. Fascinated, she -gazed until the bright color faded into two dusky lines, and so -remained. Joshua laughed lightly at the vindictive action and the -curse; yet he did not feel quite at his ease. - -"Come, Susan," he said, "let us be going." - -But Susan did not move. Every sense was absorbed in watching the -dreadful cross and the Lascar's passion-distorted face. He, stooping -to pick up the handle of the knife and the broken blade, turned again -upon Joshua, and remained faithful to his theme. - -"Don't forget," he said in his low, bad voice, the words coming slowly -from a throat almost choked with passion. "By this"--placing his hand -upon his wounded mouth--"and these"--holding up the pieces of the -knife--"I will keep you in mind. If it is to-morrow, or next week, or -next month, you shall be paid! The dog of a Lascar never forgets! See -you--remember!" - -"Storm away," said Joshua, drawing Susan aside to allow the Lascar to -pass. "You will have to be very quick about it, for to-morrow I go to -sea." - -"You do, eh!" exclaimed the Lascar, with another harsh grating of his -teeth, and stopping suddenly in his course. "See you now--take this -with you for my good-by!" With a swift motion, he cut his finger with -the broken blade, and shook the blood at Joshua. It fell in a sprinkle -over his clothes, and a drop plashed into his face. The Lascar saw it, -and laughed. "Take that with you for luck!" he cried. "By that mark I -shall live to pay you, and you will live to be paid!" - -So saying, he turned and fled. Joshua sprang after him, but the man -was out of sight in a minute. Returning to Susan, Joshua found her -sitting upon the pavement, nursing her knees and sobbing -distressfully. - -"O Josh!" she cried, "it is a bad omen." - -"Not at all," said Joshua, cooling down a little, and wiping the spot -of blood from his face. "What does the old proverb say? 'Curses always -come home to roost.' Do you hear me?" - -It was evident that she did not; her fright was still strong upon her. -With a shrinking movement of her head, she looked slowly round, and -clutching Joshua's hand, whispered, "For pity's sake, don't let him -come near me! Hold me tight! Keep close to me! He is not gone!" - -With a firm and gentle force, Joshua compelled her to stand upright. - -"There is no one here but you and I," he said, in a firm voice. "You -are letting your fancies make a baby of you. There is no one here but -you and I. If you will not believe what I say--I can see, I suppose, -and I am calm, while you are in a regular fever--if you will not -believe what I say, I shall leave you." - -"No, no!" she cried, clinging to him. - -He compelled her to walk two or three times up and down the court. His -decided action calmed her. She gave vent to a sigh of relief, and -wiped her eyes. - -"That's right," said Joshua as they walked out of the court. "Now I -can tell you that I am glad I have met you. I join my ship to-morrow." - -"I had no idea you were going away so soon." - -"I am going now to see if Mr. Kindred is at home." - -"I live in the same house as he does," she said, looking timidly at -Joshua. - -"That is strange. Are you and he intimate?" - -"Yes. They are poor, you know, Joshua." - -"So are you, Susey." - -"But I can help them a little. He's often ill, and Minnie isn't strong -enough to take care of him, and so I nurse him sometimes. Minnie and I -are great friends." - -When they arrived at Basil Kindred's poor lodging, Minnie met them at -the door. With her finger to her lips, she motioned them to be quiet. - -"Tread softly," she whispered; "father has come home, and is lying -down." - -They walked to the bed, and saw Basil Kindred lying on the bed in -unquiet sleep. Susan placed her hand on his hot forehead, and said,-- - -"I have been afraid of this for a long time, Josh. He has got a fever. -What would he do without me now?" - -There was a touch of pride in her voice as she asked the question. The -pride arose from the conviction that the man she loved really needed -her help, and from the knowledge that she could make some little -sacrifice for him. - -"He is very, very ill, I think," whispered Minnie. - -"We will make him well between us, Minnie," said Susan. - -Al! the fears by which she was assailed but a few minutes since were -gone. Joshua was glad to see that, at all events. - -Minnie took Susan's hand gratefully, and kissed it. - -"She has been so good to us, Joshua," she said. - -Susan's eyes kindled, and she directed to Joshua a look which said, -"Have I not done right in coming to live here? See how useful I can -be, and how happy I am!" - -"I shall tell them at home where you live, Susey," said Joshua. - -"Very well. Give my love to Dan." - -Joshua nodded, and bent over Basil Kindred. The action disturbed the -sleeping man. He seized Joshua's wrist in his burning hand, and said, -in a trembling voice, "She died in my arms, and the earth was her bed. -The stars were ashamed to look upon her. Well they might be! Well they -might be!" - -"He is speaking of his wife," said Susan softly to Joshua. "He loved -her very dearly, and would have died for her. When she died, his heart -almost broke." - -Sympathy and devotion made her voice like sweet music. Joshua looked -at her with a feeling of wonder, and was amazed at the change that had -come over her. An hour ago, she was crouching in drivelling terror, -overpowered by absurd fancies; now she moved about cheerfully, strong -in her purpose of love. But he had never in all his life seen her as -he saw her now. He bade her good-by, and she wished him Godspeed, and -kissed him. Minnie accompanied him to the door. - -"Good-by, dear little Minnie," he said. - -"Good-by," she said, with tears in her voice. "You forgive me, don t -you, for what I said this afternoon?" - -"Yes, my dear." - -"Ah! I like to hear you speak like that; it sounds sweet and good. -Say, 'I forgive you, little Minnie.'" - -"But I haven't any thing to forgive, now I come to think of it." - -"Yes, you have. You say that out of your good nature. You mustn't go -away and leave me to think that you are angry with me." - -"I am not angry with you, Minnie. After all, what you did, you did -through love, and there could not be much wrong in it." - -The brightest of bright expressions stole into her face, and she -clasped her hands with joy. - -"Say that again, Joshua, word for word, as you said it just now." - -"What you did, you did through love," repeated Joshua to please her, -"and there could not be much wrong in it." - -"O Joshua!" she cried, pressing her hands to her face, "you have made -me almost quite happy. I have heard father say the same thing, but in -different words. Now I shall follow you to sea. Yes, I shall, with -this," holding up her shell. "To-morrow night, and every night that -you are at sea, I shall listen to my shell and think of you." - -"Stupid little Minnie," he said affectionately. - -"And you will come back in a year?" - -"I hope so, please God." - -"Then I shall be growing quite a woman," she said thoughtfully. - -The next moment she raised her face quickly to his. The tears were -streaming down it. As he bent to her, she caught him round the neck, -and kissed him once, twice, thrice, with more than the passionate -affection, but with all the innocence, of a child. Then she ran into -the house; and Joshua, taking that as a farewell, walked slowly -homewards, to go through the hardest trial of all. - - -That hardest trial through which he had to go awaited him at home. All -the members of the Marvel family, and Dan and Ellen Taylor, were -assembled together in the old familiar kitchen. They were all of them -sad at heart, and made themselves sadder by vain little attempts to be -cheerful. The tea was a very silent affair, and the two or three extra -delicacies provided by Mrs. Marvel--as if it were a feast they were -sitting down to--were failures. The most remarkable feature about the -tea was the pretence they all made to eat and drink a great deal, and -the miserableness of the result. They pretended to accomplish -prodigies, and handed about the bread-and-butter and the cake very -industriously, as if it were each person's duty to be mightily anxious -about every other person's appetite, and to utterly ignore his own. -But every thing in the way of eating and drinking was a mistake. The -bread-and-butter was disregarded, and was taken away in disgrace; the -cake was slighted, and retired in dudgeon. It was a relief when the -tea-things were cleared. Mrs. Marvel was the bravest of the party; she -who had so strongly protested against Joshua's going to sea, did all -she could to administer little crumbs of comfort to every one of them, -and especially to her husband, who had so heartily encouraged Joshua -not to do as his father had done before him, but who was now the most -outwardly miserable person in the kitchen. Thus, Mrs. Marvel sang -snatches of songs, and bustled about as if she really enjoyed Joshua's -going, and was glad to get rid of him. When she had accomplished a -good deal of nothing, she rose and did nothing else; and when that was -done, she sat down and remonstrated with her good man, and would even -have rejoiced if she could have worried him into blowing her up. - -"Don't take on so, George," she said; "you ought to be cheerful -to-night of all nights. What is the use of fretting? Joshua's going to -make a man of himself, and to do good for all of us--ain't you, my -dear?" - -"I intend it, mother, you may be sure." - -"Of course you do; and here is father in the dumps when he ought to be -up in the skies." - -"Some day, I hope," said George Marvel, mustering up spirit to have -his joke in the midst of his sadness; "not just now, though. I want to -see what sort of a figure Josh will cut in the world first. Give me my -pipe, Maggie." - -Mrs. Marvel made a great fuss in getting the pipe, knocking down a -chair, and clattering things about, and humming a verse of her -favorite song, "Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses;" and really made matters -a little less sad by her bustle. Then, instead of handing her husband -the pipe without moving from her seat, as she might have done, she -made a sweep round the table, and pinched Ellen's cheek, and patted -Dan on the head, and wiped her eyes on the sly, and kissed Joshua, and -so worked her way to George Marvel, and put the pipe between his lips. - -"You are as active as a girl, Maggie," said George Marvel, putting his -arm round her waist, and gently detaining her by his side. - -She looked down into his eyes, and for the life of her could not help -the tears gathering in her own. She made no further attempts to be -cheerful; and what little conversation was indulged in occurred -between long intervals of silence. They had an early supper; for -Joshua was to rise at daybreak. When supper was over, George Marvel -took out the Bible, and in an impressive voice read from it the one -hundred and seventh Psalm. They all stood round the table with bent -heads, Joshua standing between his mother and Dan, clasping a hand of -each. Very solemn was George Marvel's voice when he came to the -twenty-third verse:-- - - - "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great - waters; - These see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. - For He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the - waves thereof. - They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; - their soul is melted because of trouble. - They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at - their wits' end. - Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them - out of their distresses. - He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. - Then are they glad because they be quiet; so He bringeth them unto - their desired haven." - - -When the reading of the Psalm was over, and they had stood silent for -a little while, they raised their heads, but could scarcely see each -other for the tears in their eyes. Then they kissed, and said -goodnight; and Joshua, casting a wistful glance round the kitchen, -every piece of furniture and crockery in which appeared to share in -the general regret, assisted Dan up to his bedroom for the last time. - -They had scarcely time to sit down before the handle was gently -turned, and George Marvel entered. In the room were all Joshua's -little household gods--his accordion, his favorite books, and his dear -little feathered friends. - -George Marvel threw his arm round Joshua's waist, and drew him close. - -"What are you going to do with the birds, Josh?" he asked. - -"Dan will take care of them, father." - -"Don't fret at leaving them--or us. Be a man, Josh--be a man," he -said, with the tears running down his face. - -"Yes, dear father, I will," said Joshua with a great sob. - -"An don't forget father and mother, my boy." - -"No, father, never!" - -"It's better than being a wood-turner, Josh. Don't you think so?" -doubting at the last moment the wisdom of his having encouraged Joshua -in the step he was about to take. - -"A great deal better, father. You'll see!" - -"That's right, Josh--that's right! I'm glad to hear you say so. -Goodnight, my boy. God bless you!" And pressing Joshua in his arms, -and kissing him, George Marvel went away to bed. - -He had not been gone two minutes before the handle of the door was -turned again, and Mrs. Marvel's pale face appeared. She did not enter -the room; and Joshua ran to her. She drew him on to the narrow -landing, and shut the door, so that they were in darkness. She pressed -him to her bosom, and kissed him many times, and cried over him -quietly. - -"O mother!" whispered Joshua, "shall I go? Shall I go?" - -"Hush, dear child," Mrs. Marvel said. "It is the very best thing; and -you must not doubt now. Bless you, my dear, dear child! You will come -home a man; and we shall all be so proud of you--so proud--and happy!" -She pressed him closer, and tried to speak cheerfully; but it was a -poor attempt. "And write whenever you can, and tell us every thing." - -"Yes; I will be sure." - -"Be a good boy, Joshua." - -"Yes, mother." - -"And you will say your prayers every night?" - -"I will, mother." - -"Dear child, God will protect you. I shall think of you of a night -saying your prayers my dear, and it will comfort me so! And here I am, -keeping my boy out of bed, like a selfish, selfish, selfish mother! -Now, my dear, one more kiss, and say goodnight." - -He kissed her again, and she left his arms, and crept softly to her -room. These heart-shocks were hard to bear, and he paused to recover -himself before he re-entered the room. Dan did not look at him, nor -ask him any questions. But Joshua sat down beside Dan, and said,-- - -"It was mother kept me, Dan." - -"Yes, I know, Jo dear. There's somebody else at the door." - -It was Sarah, who asked if she might come in. Of course she might. And -might Ellen come in? Of course. So Ellen came in, and she and Sarah -sat with their brothers for a few minutes. They talked quietly -together, and Joshua drew close to Ellen, and grew calmer as he looked -at her sweet peaceful face. She raised her eyes shyly to his, and told -him she had a little present for him, and would he accept it? _There_ -was a question to ask him! Joshua answered almost gayly. She produced -her present--a poor little purse, which she had herself worked for -him--and Joshua kissed it, and kissed her afterwards, and she nestled -to his side very tenderly and very prettily, and cast down her eyes, -and was perfectly happy. The girls did not stay long. Goodnight was -said again and again, and Joshua asked Ellen to kiss him, and she did -so without hesitation. When they were gone, Joshua sat down, and -rested his head upon his hands. He was weary after the day's -excitement, but although he was tired, he was wakeful, and did not -feel inclined for sleep. So he and Dan had a long chat together, -recalling the many tender memories that enriched their friendship. - -"I have a present for you, too, Jo," said Dan, producing a Bible. - -Joshua opened it, and read on the first page, "From Dan, to his -dearest friend and brother, Joshua. With undying love and confidence." - -"With undying love and confidence," mused Joshua. "Nothing could ever -change our friendship, Dan, could it?" - -"Nothing, Jo." - -"Come, now," said Joshua, "suppose, for the sake of argument, that I -was to turn out bad." - -Dan smiled. "That couldn't happen, Jo." - -Thereupon Joshua told Dan the adventure he had had that day with Susan -and the Lascar. "And, do you know, Dan, when I knocked him down, and -saw his mouth bleeding. I was glad--savagely glad, I am sorry to say. -Yet afterwards when I thought of it, and when I think of it now, it -seems as if it was a bad feeling that possessed me." - -"It doesn't seem so to me, Jo; it gives me greater confidence in you. -If you had not acted so, what would have become of poor Susan?" - -"That's true," said Joshua. - -"I knew all along, Jo dear, that you were loving and tender and good, -but I did not know until now that you were so bold and brave. And so -strong too! I am proud of you. You can't tell what may happen. Think -of this strange new world you are going to now, Jo, and of the strange -things the Old Sailor has told us of it. You have no more idea of the -wonders you will see than I have. But you will see them, and I shall -see them through you. Listen now to me, Jo. I love you, my dearest -friend and brother, and you have my undying love and confidence. I, a -poor helpless cripple, had no future of my own; and you have given me -one. I live in you. I shall follow you in my thoughts, in my dreams. -Somehow, Jo, our minds have grown together, and I smile at your words -that you might turn out bad. Could you believe it of me, if I was -strong like you even?" - -"No." - -"You answer for me Jo. You have always been noble and good to me, and -you will always be the same. I would not think of thanking you, Jo, -for what you have done for me--I would not think of thanking you for -making my poor crippled legs a blessing to me instead of a burden. Not -with words do I or can I repay you--but with undying love and -confidence. Kiss me now, Jo, and say that you fully understand my -friendship and truth." - -"Fully, Dan;" kissing him. "And I have never forgotten what I promised -you a long time ago, Dan. Wherever I am, and whatever I shall see I -will think, 'Dan is here with me, although I cannot see him.' Although -we are parted, we shall be together." - -"Yes, in spirit, Jo dear," said Dan with a beautiful light of -happiness upon his face. "And now, goodnight." - -"Good night, Dan." - -"If I am asleep in the morning, Jo, do not wake me. I am content to -part from you now with this goodnight." - -"Very well, Dan. Goodnight." - -"Goodnight, MY FRIEND." - -With that Dan turned to the wall, and Joshua, going to the bird-cages -hanging in that the room, said goodnight to the birds. They were -asleep on their perches, and he did not disturb them. "They will give -me a chirrup in the morning," he thought, and, blowing out the candle, -he said his prayers and went to bed. But he could not sleep; the -events of the day presented themselves to his mind in the strangest -forms. Minnie and her shell came and faded away, and her place was -filled by Susan nursing Basil Kindred; then came the ugly figure of -the Lascar crouching down, and afterwards making a cross against him, -and cursing him; his father reading the Psalm, while they all stood -round; he and his mother standing in the dark passage, and his mother -sobbing over him; Ellen kissing him and nestling close to him, oh so -prettily and innocently! All these pictures presented themselves to -him consecutively at first; but presently they grew disturbed, and the -Lascar, the evil genius of the group, was mischievously and -triumphantly at work, now in one shape, now in another. Joshua and -Ellen were sitting together when the Lascar came between them, and -struck Ellen out of the picture. Then the two were locked in a deadly -struggle on the ground, and the Lascar, overpowering him, knelt upon -his chest and hissed, "I could take your life, but that won't satisfy -me. More than your life shall pay for what you have done." Other -phases of his fancies were, that Dan believed him to be false. "My -doing!" hissed the Lascar. That Ellen believed him to be wicked. "My -doing!" hissed the Lascar. That they all believed him to be bad. "My -doing!" hissed the Lascar. That they were all grouped together, and -were turning from him, and that the Lascar, holding him fast, -whispered that that was his revenge. At length the combinations became -so distressing, that Joshua, to shake off the fancies, rose in his bed -and opened his eyes. The moonlight was streaming in through the -window, and Joshua crept quietly to the water-jug and sprinkled some -water over his face. Then, his mind being calmer, he knelt down by the -side of the bed; and Dan, who had not slept, raised himself upon his -elbow, and, seeing his friend in prayerful attitude, smiled softly to -himself and was glad. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. -WHAT OCCURRED AFTER JOSHUA'S DEPARTURE. - - -The nicest mathematical calculations of the probability of events are -not uncommonly subjected to shocks which, to those dull and -unreflective persons who cannot distinguish between rule and -exceptions, seem to give the lie to science. Yesterday the world was -at peace, and rulers and politicians were eloquent in phrases of -friendship and goodwill to the inhabitants of every nation on the -face of the earth. To-day the world is at war, and rulers and -politicians, hot with wrath at a cunningly-provoked insult, are eager -to avenge traditional wrongs at any expense of blood and human -suffering, and to resent what they choose to call national -humiliation. Yesterday two nations clasped hands, and smiled upon one -another. Suddenly, as thus they stood, a fire--kindled by the worst of -secret passions and by the lust of self-aggrandizement--flashed into -their palms, and they threw each other off, and drew the sword. A more -serious shock was never given to the calculation of the probable -course of events. - -Yesterday peace was certain, and men were preparing to gather the -harvests; today war is raging, and the cornfields are steeped in -blood. - -So have I seen in a far-off country--now almost in its infancy, but -whose growth is swift, and whose manhood will be grand--a sluggish -river rolling lazily to the sea. Walking inland along its banks, now -broadened by fair plains, now narrowed by towering ranges, I have come -suddenly upon the confluence of it and another river, whose waters, -springing from cloud-tipped mountains of snow, rush laughingly down -the grand old rocks. Here, in the narrow pass where the rivers meet, -the gray sluggish stream of a sleeper opposes itself to the -marvellously blue waters of a passionate life. One, dull and inert, -rolls like a soulless sluggard sullenly to the sea; the other, with -its snow-fringed lines reflected in its restless depths of blue, leaps -and laughs as it flashes onwards, like a godlike hero, to the mightier -waters of the Pacific. But a few hundred yards away from the -confluence of the streams, no stranger, walking thitherward, could -imagine the singular and grand contest that is eternally waging in -that wonderful pass; and when he comes upon it suddenly, admiration -impels him to stand in silent worship. - -One of the commonest of common similes is the simile of life and a -river. But as it is not because a thing is rare that it must needs be -sweet, so it is not because a thing is common that it must needs be -true. Every river fulfils its mission: does every life? More like a -stream than a river is life. Trace the stream, from the inconsiderable -bubbling of a mountain spring, down the hillsides, over rocks, through -glades lighted by sunlight and moonlight, through tortuous defiles and -rocky chasms, into a sparkling current, which swells and swells and -grows into a lovely channel, or into a sullen rill, which drips and -drips and loses itself in a puddle. - -When Joshua's ship had sailed, gloom fell upon the house of the -Marvels: the sunshine that used to warm it no longer shone on it. -George Marvel showed his grief more plainly than did his good woman. -He was more gentle towards her, and sometimes his gentleness of manner -took the form of submission. Singularly enough she was seriously -distressed at the change. She wished him to be positive and -contradictory, as he used to be; to scold her and put her down, as he -used to do; to be more masterful and less gentle. She strove in all -sorts of ways to bring back his old humor; she tried his temper by -opposing him in trivial matters; she contradicted him when he spoke; -and she even ventured, on two or three occasions, to tell him that he -would have to wait for his meals--which waiting for one's meals, as is -well known, is one of the leading causes of domestic differences. But -all her well-meant efforts were thrown away; and when she saw him sit -down patiently on being told, with assumed snappishness, that tea -wouldn't be ready for half an hour, she gave it up as a bad job, and, -acting wisely, left time to cure him. It _did_ cure him, as it cures -greater griefs; but in the mean time he suffered greatly. - -The fact of it was, George Marvel was troubled in his mind at the -prominent part he had taken in influencing Joshua's choice of a -profession. Having driven his son to sea, he felt as if he had a hand -in every storm, and as if he were in some measure responsible for -every gust of wind, inasmuch as it expressed danger to Joshua. Then -the thought of Joshua's being shipwrecked haunted him. "Suppose Josh -is shipwrecked, father," his wife had said, "what would you say then? -You'd lie awake night after night, father--you know you would--and -wish he had been a wood-turner." - -"Maggie was right," he admitted to himself; "it would have been better -for Josh, and happier for all us, if he had remained at home and been -a wood-turner." - -Being in pursuit of misery, he showed the doggedness of his nature by -hunting for it assiduously. He read with remorseful eagerness every -scrap of print relating to shipwreck that he could lay hands upon. He -would go out of his way to borrow a paper which he had heard contained -an account of disasters at sea, and when he obtained it, he would shut -himself up, and read it and re-read it in secrecy, until he extracted -as much misery from it as it could possibly yield him. The second -Saturday night after Joshua's departure he saw a number of persons -assembled round a sailor who was begging. The sailor had a patch over -his eye and a wooden leg, and he was singing, in a voice of dismal -enjoyment, a woful narration of his sufferings on a raft. George -Marvel stopped until the song was finished, and then gave the man a -penny. The following Saturday night he went in search of the sailor, -and listened to his song, and gave him another penny. And so, for many -successive Saturday nights, he went and enjoyed his penny-worth of -misery, getting, it must be admitted, full value for his money. - -On other evenings he smoked his pipe in the kitchen as usual. If the -weather was boisterous, he would go restlessly to the street-door, and -come back more low-spirited than ever. - -"It's dreadfully windy to-night, Maggie," he would say. - -"Do you think so, George?" Mrs. Marvel would ask, making light of the -wind for his sake, although she too was thinking of Joshua. - -"Not a star to be seen," he would add despondently. - -Then would come a stronger gust, perhaps, and George Marvel would -shiver and ask his wife if she thought it was stormy out at sea. She, -becoming on the instant wonderfully weatherwise, would answer, No, she -was sure it wasn't stormy at sea, for the sea was such a long way off, -and it wasn't likely that a storm would be all over the world at once. - -One night when a great storm was raging through London, and when the -thunder was breaking loudly over the chimney-tops in Stepney, Mrs. -Marvel lay awake, with all a mother's fears tugging at her -heart-strings, praying silently for Joshua's safety, and clasping her -hands more tightly in agony of love at every lightning-flash that -darted past the window. She hoped that her husband was asleep, -oblivious of the storm; but he was as wide awake as she was, -and was following Joshua's ship through the fearful storm. At one -time, the house shook in the wild blustering of the wind, and they -heard a crash as of the blowing down of some chimneys. - -"Maggie," whispered Mr. Marvel, wondering if his wife were awake. - -"Yes, father," answered Mrs. Marvel, under her breath. - -"It is an awful storm." Then, after a pause, "Have you been awake -long, mother?" - -"I have been listening to it for ever so long, dear," said Mrs. -Marvel; adding, with a cunning attempt to comfort him, "And praying -that it might spend out all its force over our heads, and not travel -away to Joshua's ship. We ought to be thankful that Joshua is on the -open sea. Mr. Meddler says there's no danger for a ship in a storm -when it isn't near land." - -"And he knows better than us, mother." - -"Yes, dear. All we can do is to pray for Joshua. God will bring him -back to us, father." - -"I hope so; I pray so. Goodnight, Maggie. Go to sleep." - -"Yes, George. Goodnight." - -But they lay awake for a long time after that, until the storm, -sobbing like a child worn out with passion, sighed and moaned itself -away. - -As for Dan, for many days after Joshua was gone he felt as if a dear -friend had died; not Joshua, but some unknown friend almost as dear. -He had reason enough for feeling lonely and miserable. His dear -friend's companionship had been inestimably precious to him; Joshua's -very footfall had made his heart glad. The hours they had spent -together were the summer of his life, and now that he and Joshua were -parted he recognized that a great void had been made in his life, and -that it behoved him to fill it up. That void was want of occupation. -What was he to do now that Joshua was gone? When Joshua was at home, -there had been every day something to do, something to talk about. -something to argue upon. Then, time did not hang heavily upon his -hands; now, when there was no Joshua to look forward to, he found -himself falling into a state of listlessness which he knew was not -good for him. He wanted something for his hands to do. What? He -thought a great deal about it, and had not settled the difficulty when -a domestic calamity occurred. - -The drinking proclivities of Mr. Taylor have been incidentally -referred to. These proclivities had unfortunately grown upon him to -such an extent, that he was now an ardent and faithful slave of that -demon to so many English homes among the poor--Gin. It has been spoken -of often enough and truthfully enough, God knows! But it cannot, until -it lie vanquished in the dust, be too often struck at. If there is a -curse in this our mighty England which degrades it to a level so low -that it is shame to think of, that curse is Gin! If vice, domestic -misery, and prostitution have an English teacher, that teacher is Gin! -And in this England, which we so glorify, so sing about and mouth -about, no direct attempt has ever yet been made by statesmen who work -as Jobbers to root this teacher out of our wretched courts and alleys, -and replace it by something better. Perhaps one day, when a lull takes -place in the jangle of Politics--amid the din of which so many strange -sounds are heard; such as the wrangle of religious creeds, whose -various exponents split worthless straws in Church-and-State bills for -Heaven knows what purpose, unless it be for the triumph of their -particular creeds; such as the wrangle of private members whose hearts -and souls (literally) are wrapt up in private bills for the good of -the people--perhaps one day amid the lull, a wise and beneficent -statesman may turn his attention to the abominable curse, and earn for -himself a statue, the design of which shall be--after the manner of -St. George and the Dragon--Gin writhing on the ground in all its true -deformity, pierced through by the spear of a wise legislation, which -in this instance at least shall have legislated for the good of the -many. - -Mr. Taylor, one of the Gin Patriots, having enrolled himself as a -soldier in the cause, was necessitated by the magnanimity of his -nature to become a soldier leal and true. So he bowed himself down -before Gin, and worshipped it morning, noon, and night. Even in his -dreams he was faithful to the cause, mumbling out entreaties to his -god. His devotion causing him to neglect all lesser worldly matters, -he fell into a bad state of poverty, and his family fell with him. The -worst form of Mr. Taylor's devotion did not appear until Joshua left -home; hitherto he had been working up to his ambition's height. Having -reached it, he rested on his oars, which, being composed of the -frailest of timber, gave way and sent him rolling into the mud. As he -declined to provide for his family, that duty devolved upon Mrs. -Taylor, and she patiently and unmurmuringly performed her duty, and -worked her fingers to the bone, until her strength gave way. She was -one of those quiet souls who always do their best, and never complain; -and having done her best, she closed her eyes upon the world, and -passed without a murmur out of the hive of busy bees. - -There was much sadness in the house when the event occurred, and -there was much helpful sympathy among the neighbors. Not for Mr. -Taylor--although they remembered the time when he was a respectable -member of society, before he had fallen under the fatal influence of -Gin--but for the children. During Mrs. Taylor's illness, which lasted -but a very short time, Susan came to the house and helped Ellen in her -household work and in nursing their mother. It was an anxious time for -the poor little maid; but she did her work willingly, and with the -patient spirit her mother had exhibited. Susan was a great help to -her, and there was more sisterly love between them during that time -than had ever before shown itself. At the funeral, Mr. Taylor -presented himself in as decent a state of Gin as he could muster up -for the occasion; drivelled a little, trembled a great deal, and -proclaimed himself a most unfortunate man. Finding that he obtained no -sympathy for his miserable position from his children or from the -neighbors, he, when the funeral was over, pawned his waistcoat, and -dissolving the proceeds wept tears of Gin over the death of his wife. -While he was employed in that process of drowning his grief, the three -children were sitting together in Dan's room talking in hushed tones -over their loss and over their prospects. After the funeral, Mrs. -Marvel--who had helped to nurse Mrs. Taylor--quietly prepared tea in -Dan's room, and with her usual sympathetic instinct of what was best, -kept herself out of sight as much as possible. But at the last moment, -when tea was ready and she was about to leave the children -undisturbed, she placed her arm round Dan's neck, and whispered that -Joshua's home was Dan's and that he might come and occupy Joshua's -room whenever he pleased. "And be another son to us my dear," said -good Mrs. Marvel; "so that we shall have two." Dan thanked her, and -looked at Ellen thoughtfully, and then Mrs. Marvel left the children -to their meal. - -Said Dan, "Mrs. Marvel has asked me to live in her house, and sleep in -Joshua's room." - -"It would be a good thing," observed Susan. - -Dan stole his hand into Ellen's, who had been looking down sadly; she -felt the warm pressure, and her fingers tightened upon his. That -little action was as good as words; they understood each other -perfectly. - -"No," he said, "it would not be a good thing. It was a good thing for -Mrs. Marvel to offer, but then she is Jo's mother, and as kind and -good as Jo is; but it would not be a good thing for me to accept. For -there's Ellen here; she is half of me, Susey, and we mustn't be -parted. But indeed there will be no reason for it. I have a wonderful -scheme in my head, but it wants thinking over before I tell it." - -Dan spoke bravely, as if he were a strong man, with all the world to -choose from. - -"O Dan!" exclaimed Susan, tears coming to her eyes at his brave -confident manner, "if it hadn't been for me you wouldn't have been a -cripple, and your poor legs might have been of some use to you." - -"They will be of more use to me perhaps than if they were sound, -Susey," said Dan cheerfully, "if I can make something out of the -scheme I have got in my head--and I think I can. Let us talk sensibly. -Now that poor dear mother's gone, we must all do something. I intend -to commence doing something to-morrow." - -"What, dear Dan?" asked Susan. - -"You will see. What I should like is that we should all live together. -Perhaps not just now, Susey, but by and by. What do you say to that, -Susey?" - -Susan thought of Basil and Minnie Kindred, and felt that it would be -impossible for her to leave them. "It would be very good," she said, -"but we can talk of that by and by, as you say." - -"Very well. The first thing, then, we have to consider is -bread-and-butter. Bread-and-butter," he repeated, in reply to their -questioning looks. "We must have it, and we must earn it." - -Susan nodded gravely, and said, "Ellen had better learn to be a -dressmaker." - -Ellen looked up with joyful gratitude. - -"Oh, how good of you, Susey!" she exclaimed. "Then I could earn money. -I wouldn't mind how hard I should have to work." - -"It is a capital idea," said Dan, taking Susan's hand. "The best thing -you can do, Susey, is to bring some of your work here every day for a -couple of hours, and let Ellen help you--she will soon learn." - -"That I will," said Ellen in a voice of quiet gladness. - -These young people, you see, were not entirely unhappy. - -"I wonder where Joshua is," remarked Ellen during the evening. - -"Ah, where?" sighed Dan. "But wherever he is, he is doing his duty, -and we will do ours. How happy we all were that night at Mr. Meddler's -What a beautiful day that was! Like a dream! Hark! There is the -church-bell striking nine o'clock." They listened in silence. "That is -like a wedding-bell. Now the other church is striking--how solemn it -sounds--like a funeral-bell." - -The tears came to their eyes when Dan inadvertently made the last -remark. - -They did not speak for a long time after that, and then Dan said,-- - -"I feel now just as I felt the day after Jo went away." - -They sat up talking until eleven o'clock. They spoke in low tones, and -they sat in the dark. - -"Don't you miss mother's step, Dan?" asked Susan. - -"How strange it is to know that she is not in the house!" said Dan. -"Hush!" - -There was a step outside the door; it was the drunken step of their -father, who stumbled through the passage and up the stairs, shedding -tears of Gin as he staggered to bed, bemoaning the death of his wife. -They listened with feelings of grief and fear until they heard his -bedroom-door shut, and then turned to each other with deeper sighs. -Shame for the living was more grievous to bear than sorrow for the -dead. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. -DAN ENTERS INTO BUSINESS. - - -Their plans were commenced the very next day. Susan came round with -her work, and gave Ellen her first lesson in dressmaking. Ellen was as -skilful with the needle as Susan was, and made famous progress. A -cheerful worker is sure to turn out a skilful one. - -"I have been thinking in the night, Ellen," said Susan, "that we might -go into partnership." - -"Wait," said Dan the Just, looking up from the table, on which the -birds were going through their performances; "there is time enough to -talk of that. I don't intend that you shall sacrifice every thing for -us." - -"No sacrifice could be too great for me to make for you, Dan," replied -Susan. "But I think that I should have all the advantage, if we were -partners. Ellen has such a beautiful figure, that she would be sure to -get customers. Stand up, dear--look at her, Dan!" And Susan turned -Ellen about, and looked at her pretty sister's pretty figure without a -tittle of envy. "If you are a judge of any thing but birds, Dan, you -must confess that but is a model." - -Dan smiled and said, "If Ellen wasn't good, you would make her vain. -Let the partnership question rest for a little while. Go on with your -work, and don't talk. I've got something very particular to do." - -Dan, with his birds before him, appeared to be perplexed with some -more than usually difficult problem concerning them. There was a -curious indecision also in his treatment of them. Now he issued a -command, now he countermanded it; now he ordered a movement, and -before it was executed threw the birds into confusion by giving the -signal for something entirely different. Until at length the birds, -especially the old stagers, stood looking irresolutely at each other, -with the possible thought in their minds (if they have any) that their -master had taken a drop too much to drink; and one young recruit--none -but a young one and a tomtit, who is notoriously the sauciest of -birds, would have dared to do it--advanced, alone and unsupported, to -the edge of the table, and looking up in Dan's face, asked what he -meant by it. Recalled to himself by this act of insubordination, Dan -recovered his usual self-possession, and selected two bullfinches, -somewhat similar to those which he had given to the Old Sailor. They -were young untrained birds, and Dan at once commenced their education. -But Ellen remarked with surprise that he was less tender in his manner -towards them than towards the other birds. He spoke to them more -sternly, and as if the business in which they were engaged was a -serious business, with not a particle of nonsense in it. - -"See, Ellen," he said after some days had passed--"see how clever they -are They draw up their own food and their own water; and directly I -sound this whistle, they sing 'God save the King.'" - -He blew through the tin whistle, and the birds sang the air through. - -"Now you sound the whistle, Ellen." Ellen blew through the whistle, -and the birds repeated the air. - -"So you see, Ellen it doesn't matter who blows the whistle; the birds -begin to sing directly they hear it. Here is another whistle--a wooden -one, with a different note. Blow that softly." - -Ellen blew, and the bullfinches immediately set to work hauling up -water from the well. - -"That is good, isn't it?" said Dan. "They will obey anybody." - -"But tell me, Dan, why you don't speak to them as kindly as you do to -the others?" - -"Ah, you have noticed it, miss, have you? I thought you did. Well, -then in the first place, I wanted to teach them by a new system. I -wanted to teach them so that anybody can make them do what I do, if he -gives the proper signal; and I have succeeded, as you see. If I had -taught them by my voice as I have taught the others, they wouldn't -have been of use to any one but me. They are such cunning little -thing's, and they have such delicate little ears! In the second place, -Ellen, I did not want to grow fond of them." - -"Why, Dan dear?" - -"Because, if I had grown fond of them, it would almost break my heart -to part with them. Who could help loving them, I wonder? They have -been my world, you see, and they are such innocent little pets. I have -grown to love them so, you can't tell. And we know each other's -voices, and have made a language of our own, which no one else can -understand." - -He chirruped to them, and called to them in endearing tones; and all -the birds, with the exception of the pair of bullfinches, fluttered to -him, and perched about his shoulders and nestled in his breast. The -two little bullfinches, standing alone in the centre of the table, -looked more surprised than forlorn at the desertion. - -Then Dan said: "This is part of my scheme. I commence business to-day -as a bird-merchant. I have trained these two bullfinches to sell. You -are earning money already, Ellen dear, and you are a girl. I am not -quite a man in years, although I think I am here"--touching his -forehead--"and I am not going to let you beat me at moneymaking." - -He pulled out a paper, on which was written, in Roman letters, and -neat round hand, - - - THIS PAIR OF BULLFINCHES - FOR SALE. -_They draw up their own food and water; and they sing_ - "GOD SAVE THE KING," -_And other Tunes, to the Sound of a Whistle_. - - _Inquire within of_ DAN TAYLOR. - - -"What I propose to do, Ellen, is to put the cage with the bullfinches -in the parlor-window, with this announcement over the cage. Perhaps it -will attract the attention of some one or other, and he will be -curious about it, and will come in and make inquiries." - -So the birds were exhibited in the parlor-window, and above their cage -was hung the announcement that they were for sale. The neighbors saw -the birds, and there was not a woman for a quarter of a mile around -who did not make a pilgrimage to the parlor-window of the Taylors. -"Dan is selling his birds," they said, "because of his brute of a -father;" and they shook their heads sorrowfully, and admired Dan's -writing, and said he was quite a scholar. Ellen, working in the -parlor, would pause in the midst of her hemming, or stitching, or -basting, as the shadow of a passer-by darkened the window, and pray -that he would come in and buy the birds. - -The exhibition was a great boon to the dirty little boys and girls in -the neighborhood, who at first stood in open-mouthed admiration, and -would have stood so for hours, neglectful of the gutters, if an -occasional raid against their forces by anxious mothers had not -scattered them now and then. Those of the children who could get near -enough, would flatten their noses and mouths against the window-panes -in the fervor of their enthusiasm. The bullfinches, looking down from -their perch upon the queerly-distorted features, had the advantage of -studying human nature from an entirely novel point of view, and were -doubtless interested in the study. For the purpose of attracting the -passers-by, Dan, at certain intervals during the day, caused the birds -to draw up their water and food; and those exhibitions were the -admiration of the entire neighborhood. - -"I wish some one would come in and ask the price of them," sighed -Ellen, wishing that she had a fairy-wand to turn the sight-gazers into -customers. - -Dan only smiled, and bade Ellen have patience. - -In the mean time Mr. Taylor, becoming every day more devoted in his -worship to his god, fell every day into a worse and worse condition. -One evening, Ellen, being tired, went to bed soon after tea, and on -that evening Mr. Taylor happened to come home earlier than usual. -There was a reason for it: he had spent all his money, had quite -exhausted his credit, and had been turned out of the public-houses. -Being less drunk than usual, he was more ill-tempered than usual, and -he stumbled into the parlor with the intention of venting his -ill-humor upon Ellen. But Ellen was not there. Dan was the only -occupant of the room, and he was reading. He raised his eyes, and -seeing his father half-drunk, he lowered them to his book again. He -was ashamed and grieved. - -"Where is Ellen?" demanded Mr. Taylor. - -"Gone to bed," replied Dan shortly. - -"Why isn't she here to get my supper?" asked the gin-worshipper -irritably. Dan made no reply; but, although he appeared to be -continuing his reading, a quivering of his lips denoted that his -attention was not wholly given to his book. "Do you hear me?" -continued Mr. Taylor after a pause, thumping his fist upon the table. -"Why isn't she here to get my supper? What business has she to go to -bed without getting my supper?" - -"She was up at five this morning to do the washing, and has been -working all day." - -Dan spoke very quietly, and did not look at his father. - -"Her mother wouldn't have done it," whimpered Mr. Taylor. "Here am I -without two pence in my pocket, and my very children rebel against me. -Is there any thing in the house for supper?--tell me that." - -"I don't know. I don't think there is." - -"You don't know! You don't think there is!" sneered Mr. Taylor. -"You've had yours, I suppose?" - -"No, sir, I have not had any." - -"What do you mean by 'sir'?" cried Mr. Taylor furiously. "How dare you -call your father 'sir'? Is that what you learned from your friend -Joshua?" - -Dan clasped his hands nervously together; he was agitated and -indignant, and he did not dare to give expression to his thoughts. - -"Why don't you speak?" demanded Mr. Taylor with unreasoning anger. -"What do you mean by sitting there mocking your father?" - -"I am not mocking you," said Dan. "And as for speaking, I am too much -ashamed to say what I think; so I had better remain silent." - -"How dare you speak to me in that way? Haven't I kept you for years in -idleness and luxury? Haven't I provided for you? And now when I am in -bad luck, and haven't sixpence to get a quartern loaf"--he meant a -quatern of gin, but the loaf was the more dignified way of putting -it--"my children turn against me." - -"It isn't my fault that you have had to keep me," Dan said quietly. -"If I had been like other boys, I should have been glad to work and -earn money; but I am crippled, and never felt that I was unfortunate -until now. I don't think mother would have thrown my misfortune in my -teeth as you have done." - -Mr. Taylor was too much steeped in gin to feel the reproachful words. -He continued to bemoan his hard fate and the ingratitude of his -children. In the midst of his bemoaning he caught sight of an empty -cage. An inspiration fell upon him. That bird-cage could probably be -exchanged for a pint of gin. Present bliss was before him, and the -prospect of it made him cunning. - -He ordered Dan to bed, and Dan, who could crawl with the aid of his -crutches, went, thankful to escape from so painful an interview. When -Dan came down the next morning he discovered his loss. He was much -grieved; not so much at the loss of the bird-cage, but at the thought -that his other cages and the birds might be appropriated in like -manner. He said nothing of what had occurred, but that night when he -went to bed he had all his birds and cages removed to his bedroom, and -he locked his door. - -It was midnight when Mr. Taylor came home. Although he was drunk, he -crept like a thief into the house. The proceeds of the cage had -supplied him with drink for the day; and having conscientiously spent -every penny, he was in the same impoverished condition as he had been -the previous night. As he could not live without gin, he determined to -appropriate another bird cage. What right had Dan to them? They were -his, the father's, who had kept his son in idleness, and who had -clothed and sheltered him. Yet in the midst of his drunken muttering -he was oppressed with a shamefaced consciousness of the villainy of -his logic, and it was with difficulty he obtained a light from the -tinder-box. The poor little rush-light flickered when it was lighted, -as if it also were oppressed with shame. - -Unsteadily, and with much stumbling, Mr. Taylor groped his way to -Dan's room. Looking around on the walls he discovered, to his dismay -and astonishment, that the birds and the cages were gone. His first -surprise over, he gave way to passion. The boy had no doubt taken the -cages to his bedroom for fear his father should steal them. How dared -Dan suspect him? He would teach Dan a lesson--a lesson that he would -not forget. Working himself into a state of maudlin indignation he -stumbled up the stairs to Dan's bedroom, and tried the door. It was -locked. Here was another proof of his son's ingratitude and want of -confidence. What was he to do for gin the next day? He must have gin; -he could not live without it. Ellen's bedroom was next to Dan's. The -drunken father turned the handle of the door, and looked in. On the -floor were Ellen's boots. He saw gin marked on them, and catching them -up, he clutched them to his breast, and slunk guiltily to bed. - -Ellen, rising the next morning, looked about in vain for her boots. -She searched for them up stairs and down stairs, wondering what had -become of them. The door of her father's room was open, and she -entered it; but Mr. Taylor, knowing that Ellen was an early riser, had -taken care to get out of the house before she was about. When Ellen -saw the empty bed, some glimmering of the truth flashed upon her. At -first the poor girl sat down upon the bed and began to cry; the loss -of her boots was a grievous loss indeed to her. She had no money to -buy another pair with; they were such beautiful boots, too, and fitted -her so nicely! What was she to do? How it would grieve Dan to know? -That thought calmed her. Dan must not know--it would hurt him too -much. She might be able to get an old pair from somebody during the -day; perhaps Susan had an old pair to lend her. She dried her eyes and -washed them well with cold water, and altogether managed so -successfully, that breakfast was over, and she and Dan and the birds -were all together in the parlor, without Dan ever suspecting what had -occurred. - -Those two children sitting there were fully aware that a grave crisis -was approaching. Young as they were to bear the weight of serious -trouble, they bore it cheerfully, and strove in their humble way to -fight with the world and with the hard circumstances of their lives. -Dan cripple as he was had much hope; and often when he was thinking -over certain schemes which had been suggested by the stern necessity -of his condition, a quaint smile would play upon his lips, and a -humorous light would shine in his eyes. Ellen, looking up from her -work, would sometimes see that smile, which, for all its quaintness, -had a shade of thoughtfulness in it; and on her lips, too, a pleasant -smile would wreathe in sympathy. They were very tender towards each -other; and their love made them strong. - -Ellen busy with her needle, sat close to the table, so that Dan should -not catch a glimpse of her shoeless feet. Dan was industriously at -work training two birds, which were to replace those in the window -when they were sold. - -The education of this second pair of birds was almost completed, and -Dan said as much to Ellen. He had taught them different tricks, and -had fitted two ladders in the cage, up and down which they hopped, -keeping time, step for step. - -"But will they ever be sold?" exclaimed Ellen almost despairingly. - -"It _is_ a long time before we make a commencement," said Dan. -"There's Susan." - -When Susan entered, she examined the dress which Ellen was making, and -suddenly exclaimed,-- - -"Why, Ellen, where are your boots?" - -Dan looked up quickly, and then directed his eyes to Ellen's feet. -Poor Ellen stammered a good deal, and striving to hide the truth from -Dan, got into a sad bewilderment of words. - -"Nay, but, Ellen," interposed Dan in a grave voice, "you don't mean to -say that you have been sitting all the morning without your boots?" - -"Yes, I have," said Ellen, compelled to confess. - -"But why, my dear?" - -"When I got up this morning, I looked for them, and could not find -them. Perhaps I can find them now." And Ellen ran out of the room; but -she soon returned, shaking her head, and saying, "No, they're gone. -Never mind; it can't be helped." - -"You really don't know what has become of them?" - -"No, Dan." - -"Did you see father last night?" - -Ellen shook her head. - -"Nor this morning?" - -Ellen shook her head again. - -"I can't quite see what is to be the end of all this," said Dan sadly. -"It is almost too dreadful to think of. Father must have taken your -boots, Ellen dear. The night before last he took a bird-cage; that was -the reason I had all my birds in my bedroom last night. It is very, -very dreadful. Poor dear mother! Poor dear Joshua! I _do_ wish you -were here now to advise us what to do!" - -And the three children then drew closer together, and strove to -comfort each other. - -"Dry your eyes, Ellen," said Dan stoutly; "brighter days will come. -Susan, have you a pair of old boots that you can lend to Ellen?" - -Susan ran out of the house and returned with a pair of boots which she -had bought at a second-hand clothes-shop, and which Ellen was very -thankful for, although they were much too large for her. - -Mr. Taylor came home at midnight in a state of drunken delirium. He -had drunk deeply--so deeply, that when he slammed the street-door -behind him, he found himself in the midst of a thousand mocking eyes, -growing upon him and blasting him with hideous looks; and as he groped -his way in terror up the dark stairs, a thousand misshapen hands -strove to bar his progress. They fastened on him and clung to him; and -the faster his trembling hands beat them down and tore them away, the -more thickly they multiplied. So, fighting and suffering and groaning -in his agony, the drunkard staggered to his room, and Dan and Ellen -shuddered as they lay and listened. Well for them that they could not -see as well as hear; well for them that they could not see him pick -the crawling things (existing only in his imagination) off his -bed-clothes and throw them off with loathing; that they could not see -him, bathed in perspiration, writhing in his bed and fighting with his -punishment. He could not endure it. It was too horrible to bear. - -The room was full of creeping shapes, visible in the midst of the -darkness. He would go out into the streets, into the light, where they -could not follow him. Where was the door? He felt about the walls for -it. It was gone; he was closed in, imprisoned with his terrors. He -beat about with his hands deliriously. The window! ah, they had not -closed that! He dashed at the panes, and tearing open the casement -with his bleeding fingers, fell from a height of twenty feet, and met -a drunkard's death. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. -DAN DECLARES THAT IT IS LIKE A ROMANCE. - - -The old gentleman with the hour-glass who never sleeps does not look a -day older, and yet four seasons have played their parts and have -passed away. The white hairs in George Marvel's head are multiplying -fast, and he grumbles at them as usual, but has given up the task of -pulling them out. Great changes have taken place among Joshua's -friends; and Dan, looking up from his work, remarks sometimes that it -is almost like a romance. Judge if it is. - -When Mr. Taylor was buried--when the shame of his death was forgotten -and only sorrow for it remained--the children found themselves in one -of those social difficulties from which many wiser persons than they -are unable to extricate themselves. For the first three or four weeks -after their father's death, Mrs. Marvel and Susan had between them -managed to defray the small expenses of the house; but the tax was -heavy--too heavy for them to continue to bear. One day, however, -unexpected help came. George Marvel, in his quiet way, had conceived a -great idea, and in his quiet way had carried it out. Here were these -two children thrown upon the world. Not children exactly perhaps, for -they were nearly seventeen years of age; but one was a cripple, and -the other was a girl. They had been good children, and their character -stood high in the neighborhood. Who ought to assist them? The -neighbors. Some one must take it in hand, and why not he as well as -any other person? No sooner had he made up his mind than he set to -work. He went round to the neighbors personally, and told them what -his errand was. Poor as they were, they gave their mites cheerfully, -with scarcely an exception. When he had made the round of the -neighbors, he went to the workshops, and the men there gave their -penny each, and the boys their halfpence; and so swelled the total. -His own employers and fellow-workmen were more liberal than any. He -did not forget his tradesmen, his butcher and baker and grocer. They -all gave; and the result was that, at the end of the three weeks -during which he had been employed in his self-imposed task, he had a -sum of not less than twelve pounds four shillings in his possession, -to hand over to Dan and Ellen to assist them through their trouble. -The night he made up his accounts, he told his wife what he had done, -and she blessed him for it, and was silently and devoutly grateful -that Providence had given her a husband with such a heart. - -The following evening George Marvel visited the children, with his bag -of money in his coat-tail pocket. Ellen was at work, and although she -looked pale in her black dress, she looked very pretty. The goodness -of the heart always shows itself in the face. - -Now Dan had been thinking all day, and indeed for many previous days, -that he ought to consult some mature person as to what he was to do. -You must understand that Dan, notwithstanding that he was so much -younger than Susan, considered himself the head of the family. He had -his plans, but he wanted advice concerning them. Up to the present -time, his business in trained birds had not flourished. It could not -be said to have commenced, for he had not sold a bird. He had decided -Mr. Marvel would be a proper person to ask advice of, and by good luck -here Mr. Marvel was. - -"Have you a few minutes to spare, sir?" - -"Yes, surely, Dan," replied Mr. Marvel. - -"I want to take your advice, sir," commenced Dan after a slight -hesitation. "You know how we are situated, and how suddenly our -misfortunes have come upon us. Well, sir, we must live; we must have -bread-and-butter. Now the only scapegrace out of the lot of us is -me--don't interrupt me, Ellen, nor you, sir, please. Susan is earning -her bread-and-butter and something more. Ellen is earning enough to -keep her; and I am the only idle one of all of us, and I am the only -one who is eating bread-and-butter and is not earning it." - -"But, Dan," interposed George Marvel. - -"No, sir, please; let me go on. I have been eating the bread of -idleness all my life, and I am eating it now. It isn't right that I -should do so. I ought to earn my own living. But how? I am not like -other boys, and cannot do what other boys can do. One thing is -certain: I can't let Ellen work for me, and it would break my heart to -part from her; and she would feel it quite as much as I should.--Yes, -Ellen, keep your arm round my neck, but don't speak.--I tried to earn -money, you know that. I trained some birds, and put them in the -window, thinking that some one would buy them. But no one has. I -haven't earned a penny-piece, and every bit of bread I put into my -mouth has been paid for by Susan and Ellen." - -Notwithstanding his eagerness, his tears choked him here, and he was -compelled to pause before he resumed. In the mean time, obedient to -his wish, neither Ellen nor Mr. Marvel spoke. - -"Now, sir, this is my idea. I have got now twenty-two birds; they can -do all sorts of tricks: they can whistle tunes; they can climb up -ladders; some of them can march like soldiers and can let off guns; -some of them can draw carts. Would it be considered begging, if I, a -lame boy, who have no other way of getting bread-and-butter, made an -exhibition of these birds, and got some one to wheel me about the -streets, and stop now and then so that I might put the birds through -their tricks? I shouldn't be ashamed to accept what kind persons might -give me, or might drop into a little box which I would take care to -have handy. I wouldn't do it in this neighborhood. I would go a long -way off--three or four miles perhaps--into the rich parts of London, -where people could better afford to give. But would it be considered -begging? That is what I want to ask your advice upon, sir." - -George Marvel's breath was completely taken away. The enthusiastic -manner in which Dan had spoken, no less than his admiration of the -proposed scheme, had caused him to forget his errand for the time. -"Wait a minute," he said somewhat excitedly, "I must think; I must -walk about a bit." But no sooner had he risen than the weight of the -money in his coat-tail pocket brought him to his sober senses, and he -sat down again. - -"Dan," he said, taking the lad's hand affectionately in his, "you are -a good boy, and I am glad that you are Joshua's friend. I will answer -your question and give you my advice, as you ask it. In any other case -than yours I think it would be begging; but I don't think it _would_ -be in yours." - -"Thank you, sir," said Dan gratefully. - -"Mind, I think even in your case it would not be exactly what I should -approve of, if you had any other way of getting a living." - -"You think as I do, sir; but I have tried, as you see, and I have not -succeeded." - -"Try a little longer, Dan." - -"How about next week's rent, sir?" - -"You can pay it," replied George Marvel, "and many more weeks' -besides. I have a present for you in my pocket;" and he pulled out the -bag of money and put it on the table. "In this bag is twelve pounds -four shillings, which your friends--yours and your sisters'--have -clubbed together for you, and that is what brought me here to-night." - -"O sir!" cried Dan, covering his face with his hands. - -"This money has been got together because all of us round about here -love you. I sha'n't give it to you all at once. You shall have it so -much every week; and I should advise you--as you ask for my advice--to -continue training birds for sale and putting them in your window. Try -a little while longer. A customer may come at any minute. And one -customer is sure to bring another." - -"How can I thank you and all the good people, sir?" said Dan, with a -full heart. - -"Never mind that now," said George Marvel. - -If he had known that it would have been so difficult and painful a -task, it is not unlikely he would have remitted it to his wife to -accomplish. Pretending to be in a great hurry, he rose to go, and, -pressing Dan's hand and kissing Ellen, went home to his wife and told -her of Dan's wonderful idea. - -Ellen and Dan were very happy the next morning, and set about their -work cheerfully and hopefully. Dan wrote a new announcement concerning -the birds, and the windows were cleaned, and presented a regular -holiday appearance. In the midst of his work, Dan, looking up, saw a -face at the window that he recognized. It was that of a young man who -had been in the habit of looking in at the window nearly every day for -the last week, and of whom Dan had observed more than once, that he -looked like a customer. - -"There he is again, Ellen," said Dan; "the same man. Why doesn't he -come in and ask the price of them?" - -He had no sooner spoken the words than the man's face disappeared from -the window, and a knock came at the street-door. - -"Run and open the door, Ellen. I shouldn't wonder if he has made up -his mind at last." Dan's heart beat loud with excitement. "How much -shall I ask for them?" he thought. "Oh, if he buys a couple of them, -how happy I shall be!" - -The parlor-door opened, and the man entered; decidedly good-looking, -dark, with a fresh color in his face, and with black hair curling -naturally. The first impression was favorable, and Dan nodded -approvingly to himself. The man had curiously flat feet, which, when -he walked, seemed to do all the work without any assistance from -his legs; and although his eyes were keen and bright, they did not -look long at one object, but shifted restlessly, as if seeking a -hiding-place where they could retire from public gaze. - -"I have been attracted by the birds in the window," he said, coming at -once to to the point, much to Dan's satisfaction. "Can they really -perform what the paper says? Can they really sing 'God save the King,' -and draw up their own food and water?" - -"They can do all that sir; but you shall see for yourself.--Ellen! -Where is Ellen?" Dan called; for he wanted her to assist him, and she -had not followed the stranger into the room. - -"Ah, Ellen," said the stranger, dwelling on the name. "Is that the -young lady who opened the door for me?" - -"Yes, sir.--Ellen!" Dan called again. - -"Allow me," said the stranger; and he went to the door, and called in -tones which slipped from his throat as if it was oiled, "Ellen! -Ellen!" Then he turned to Dan, and questioned: "Your sister?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Ah," said the man greasily, "she is extremely like you. Allow me. I -will bring the cage to the table." - -He brought the cage from the window, and placed it before Dan. At that -moment Ellen entered the room. The man's eyes wandered all over her as -she took her seat at the table. She did not return his gaze, but bent -her head modestly to her work. - -"Your sister's name is Ellen," he said, "and yours?" - -"Daniel," said Dan; "Daniel Taylor." - -"Daniel; a scriptural name. Mine is also a Scriptural name: Solomon, -Solomon Fewster. Solomon was a wise man; I hope I take after him." - -"I hope so, I am sure, sir," said Dan somewhat impatiently; for he was -anxious to get to business. "Now, sir, if you will please to look and -listen." - -He blew through the tin whistle; and the bullfinches piped "God save -the King." - -"Very pretty, very pretty," said Solomon Fewster, nodding his head to -the music. "And you taught them yourself?" - -"Yes, sir. But it isn't as if they will only sing for me; they will -sing for you, or for Ellen, or for any one who blows the whistle." - -"And they will sing for Ellen if she breathes into the whistle?" said -Solomon Fewster. "Will Ellen breathe into the whistle with her pretty -red lips? Allow me." - -He took the whistle from Dan and handed it to Ellen; and she -reluctantly gave the signal to the birds, who willingly obeyed it. -Fewster took the whistle from her and blew; and the birds for the -third time piped the air. Then Dan directed his attention to the -wooden whistle, and to the wonders performed by the birds at its -dictation. Nothing would please Mr. Fewster but that Ellen should -place the wooden whistle between her "pretty red lips," as he called -them again, and "breathe into it." He said that "breathe" was more -appropriate to Ellen's pretty lips than "blow." He, using the whistle -after her, cast upon her such admiring looks, that he really made her -uncomfortable. The performance being over, Dan gazed at Mr. Fewster -with undisguised anxiety. He had intended to be very cunning, and to -appear as if he did not care whether he sold the birds or not; but the -effort was unsuccessful. - -"Well, well," said Mr. Fewster; "and they are really for sale? Poor -little things! I asked the price of bullfinches yesterday at a -bird-fancier's, and the man offered to sell them for four pence each. -Not that these are not worth a little more. There is the trouble of -training them; of course that is worth a trifle. Still bullfinches are -bullfinches all the world over; and bullfinches, I believe, are very -plentiful just now--quite a glut of them in the market." He paused, to -allow this information to settle in Dan's mind, before he asked, "Now -what do you want a pair for these?" - -"What do you think they are worth, sir?" asked Dan, much depressed by -Mr. Fewster's mode of bargaining. - -"No, no, Daniel Taylor," said Mr. Fewster, in a bantering tone, "I am -too old a bird for that; not to be caught. Remember my namesake. You -couldn't have caught him, you know; even the Queen of Sheba couldn't -catch _him_. I can't be buyer and seller too. Put your price upon the -birds; and I will tell you if they suit me." - -"You see, sir," said Dan frankly, "you puzzle me. The training of -these birds has taken me a long time. You would be surprised if you -knew how patient I have to be with them. And you puzzle me when you -make so light a thing of my teaching, and when you tell me that -bullfinches are a glut in the market. If the bullfinches you can get -in the market will suit you, sir, why do you not buy them?" - -"Well put, Daniel, well put," said Mr. Fewster good-humoredly. "Still, -you _must_ fix a price on them, you know. How much shall we say?" - -"Fifteen shillings the pair," said Dan boldly. - -Mr. Fewster gave a long whistle, and threw himself into an attitude of -surprise. Dan shifted in his seat uneasily. - -"A long price," said Mr. Fewster, when he had recovered himself; "a -very long price." - -"I couldn't take less, sir," said Dan. - -"Not ten shillings? Couldn't you take ten shillings?" suggested Mr. -Fewster, throwing his head on one side insinuatingly. - -There was something almost imploring in the expression on Dan's face -as he said,-- - -"No, sir, I don't think I could. You haven't any idea what a time they -have taken me to train. I hoped to get more for them." - -"I tell you what," said Mr. Fewster, with sudden animation. "Ellen -shall decide with her pretty red lips. What do you say, Ellen? Shall I -give fifteen shillings for them?" - -"They are worth it, I am sure, sir," said Ellen timidly. - -"That settles it," said Mr. Fewster gallantly. "Here is the money." - -And laying the money on the table, Mr. Fewster took the cage, and -shaking hands with Dan, and pressing Ellen's fingers tenderly, bade -them good-morning. - -Dan's delight may be imagined. It was intensified a few day's -afterwards, when Mr. Fewster called again, and bought another pair of -birds; Mr. Fewster at the same time informed Dan that it was likely he -might become a constant customer; and so he proved to be. - -In the course of a short time, Dan found himself in receipt of a -regular income. Other customers came, but Dan could not supply them -all, as Mr. Fewster bought the birds almost as soon as they were -trained. Very soon Dan thought himself justified in making a proposal -to Susan. The proposal was that they should all live together in the -house where Dan carried on his business. The only obstacle to the -carrying out of the arrangement was Susan's determination not to leave -Basil and Minnie Kindred. But why should not Basil Kindred and his -daughter come as well? asked Dan; there was plenty of room for them, -and it would be such company. And after the lapse of a little time, -the result that Dan wished for was accomplished, and Basil and Minnie -and Susan were living with them. They were a very happy family. The -parlor-window had been altered to allow more space for the bird-cages; -and Dan, looking around sometimes upon the group of happy faces, would -remark that it was almost like a romance. - -And so indeed it was, notwithstanding that the scene was laid in the -humblest of humble localities. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. -THE STRANGE COURSES OF LOVE. - - -Perhaps one of the most absurd questions that could be put to a person -would be to ask him how old he was when he was born. Yet the little -old-men's faces possessed by some babies might furnish an excuse for -such a question. The shrewd look, the cunning twinkle, the pinched -nose, the peaked chin, the very wrinkles--you see them all, though the -child be but a few weeks old. All the signs of worldly cunning and -worldly wisdom are there, ready made, unbought by worldly experience; -and as you look at them and wonder how old the little child-man really -is, the object of your curiosity returns your look with scarcely less -speculation in his eye than you have in yours. You are conscious that -you are no match, except in physical strength, for the little fellow -lying in his mother's lap or sprawling in his cradle; and a curious -compound of pity and humiliation afflicts you in consequence. - -Some such a child as this was Solomon Fewster before he attained to -the dignity of boyhood; his parents and their friends agreed in -declaring that he was a cunning little fellow, a knowing little -fellow; they would poke their fingers in the fat creases of his neck, -and would sportively say, "Oh, you cunning little rogue!" "You knowing -little rogue!" and he would crow and laugh, and endeavor to utter the -words after them. He was so accustomed to the phrase, and grew to be -so fond of it, that when he was old enough to understand its meaning, -his chief desire seemed to be to prove himself worthy of it. It falls -to the lot of but very few of us to compass our desires. Solomon -Fewster was one of the fortunate exceptions. He was dubbed a cunning -little rogue, before he knew what such praise meant; and (could it be -that he was unwilling to trade under false pretences?) when he did -know, he educated himself to deserve it, and succeeded. A small -percentage of the old-men babies retain their old-men's looks as they -grow to boyhood; specimens of these can be seen any day in our courts -and alleys. This was not the case with Solomon Fewster; as he grew, -the old-man's look faded from his face, and the spirit of "a cunning -little rogue" took root in his heart, and flourished there. His -parents dying when he was a child, he was left to the charge of a -bachelor uncle, an undertaker by trade, who adopted and educated him. -When he was taken from school--where he was the cunningest boy of them -all--he was initiated into the mysteries of the undertaking business, -and when he was of age he was intrusted with a responsible position, -and his uncle made a will leaving every thing to him. He proved -himself an invaluable ally; was grieved to the heart at the losses -sustained by his uncle's customers; wept when he assisted at -measurements; was broken-hearted when the clay was taken from the -house; and sobbed with an almost utter prostration of spirit when he -receipted the account, and signed Payment in Full. He entered heart -and soul into the business, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Whether it was -because he looked upon himself as the future master of the -establishment, or because it was congenial to his nature, he strove by -every means in his power to extend the connection; and being as acute -and sensible as a man of double his age, his efforts were successful -and the business flourished. Death was most obliging to him, and -waited and fawned upon him at every step he took. If his spirits -became depressed because trade was slack, a fortunate epidemic -restored him to his usual cheerfulness, and orders poured in; and it -is no disparagement of him, as an undertaker, to state that he buried -his friends and acquaintances with melancholy satisfaction. When he -was twenty-three years of age his uncle died. He paid the old -gentleman every possible mark of respect: had the coffin lined with -white satin; wept till his face was puffed; entered the expense of the -funeral in the ledger to the debit of the deceased, and wiped off the -amount at once as a bad debt. Then he set to work vigorously upon his -own account. He had his name painted over the door, and issued -circulars to every house for miles round. In those circulars he -announced that he undertook and conducted funerals cheaper than any -other undertaker in London; said that one trial would prove the fact; -and respectfully solicited the patronage of his friends and the -public. His appeal was successful; his trade increased; and Solomon -Fewster was generally spoken of as a man on the high-road to -prosperity. - -When Solomon Fewster first saw Ellen, she was seventeen years of age, -and he was seized with a sudden admiration for her pretty face and -graceful figure. He had never seen a girl so winsome; and when they -met again, he followed her admiringly to her home, and saw the -exhibition of the bullfinches in Dan's window. Here was an opportunity -to stare at her; and he enjoyed the cheap pleasure again and again -until Dan noticed his face at the window. Then a happy thought entered -Mr. Fewster's mind. The birds certainly were wonderfully intelligent, -and their clever tricks would most likely render them easy of -disposal. He entered into communication with a West-end fashionable -bird-fancier--the farther away from Dan the better, he thought--and -the bird-fancier (who had a connection among fine ladies) informed him -that if the birds could really do all that he stated, a profitable -trade might be established between them. "What a fine opportunity," -thought Solomon Fewster, "of introducing myself to the pretty girl in -the light of a benefactor!" Then came the first interview and the -first purchase. The pair of bullfinches he bought for fifteen -shillings he sold for thirty; and the following week the fashionable -bird-fancier asked for more. Thus it was that Solomon Fewster made his -growing passion for Ellen a means of putting money in his purse; and -thus it was that he came to be looked upon as a privileged visitor to -the house. - -The Old Sailor also found his way to the house. He was not as frequent -a visitor as Mr. Fewster, but he was a more welcome one. The Old -Sailor might have been a child, his heart was so green; and he had -such a fund of stories to tell, and he told them with such simplicity -and enthusiasm, believing in them thoroughly, however wild they were, -that his hearers would hang upon his words, and laugh with him, and -sorrow with him according to the nature of his narrative. They spent -the pleasantest of pleasant evenings together, and when Praiseworthy -Meddler told his sea-stories, Minnie would sit very quiet on the -floor--a favorite fashion of hers--listening eagerly to every word -that dropped from his lips. Then Basil Kindred would read Shakspeare -when he could be coaxed into the humor, and would keep them -spell-bound by his eloquence. He had ceased wandering in the streets -and begging for his living. Necessity was his master there. He was -stricken down with rheumatic fever, which so prostrated him that he -was unable to pursue his vagrant career. They had a very hard task in -inducing him to remain with them. - -"Live upon you, my dear lad!" he exclaimed loftily. "No; I will perish -first!" - -"There is enough for all, sir," replied Dan. "Do not go. I would take -from you--indeed, indeed I would!--could we change places. And there -is Minnie, sir,"--with such a wistful tender glance towards Minnie, -who was growing very beautiful,--"what would she do? But not for her -nor for you do I ask this, sir. It is for me; for Ellen and Susan and -Joshua. How happy he will be to find you here when he returns! You and -Minnie, that he talked of so often, and with such affection! Then -think, sir. You would not like to be the means of breaking up our -little happy circle; and it is happy, isn't it, Minnie?" - -"Ah, yes, Dan!" replied Minnie, with an anxious look at her father. -"Only one is wanting to make it perfect." - -"And that one is Joshua," said Dan, divining whom she meant, and -grateful to her for the thought. - -"And that one is Joshua," she repeated softly, placing her shell to -his ear. "Do you hear it? Is it not sweet, the singing of the sea?" - -But all argument and entreaty would have been thrown away upon Basil -if it had not been for Minnie. It was she who, when they were alone, -prevailed upon him to stay. - -"Your mother suffered for me and died for me," he said to her, as he -lay upon his bed of pain. "How like her you are growing, Minnie! Well, -well, one is enough. I will stay, child, for your sake." - -And she kissed him and thanked him, and whispered that he had made her -happy. - -The next day she told Dan in a whisper that father was not going away; -and Dan clapped his hands, and quietly said, "Bravo!" - -"And Joshua used to speak about us?" she remarked, with assumed -carelessness. - -"Often and often, Minnie," answered Dan. - -"And really speak of us affectionately?" - -"Ah if you had only heard him! You know what a voice he has--like -music." - -A sudden flush in her face, a rapid beating at her heart, a rush of -tears to her eyes. None of which did Dan notice, for her eyes were -towards the ground. A little while afterwards she was singing about -the house as blithe as a bird. Dan, stopping in the midst of his work, -listened to the soft rustle of her dress in the passage, and to her -soft singing as she went up the stairs; and a grateful look stole into -his eyes. - -"Not to hear that!" he said. "Ah, it would be worse than death! But -she is going to stay, birdie," nodding gayly to one of his pets; "she -is going to stay!" - -Dan told Minnie of the pretty fancies he had in connection with his -friend; of the manner in which his love had grown, until it was welded -in his heart for ever and ever; of Joshua's care and self-devotion -towards him, the poor useless cripple. He told her of his fancy about -the dream-theory, and how he had believed in it, and of the -experiments he had made. And Minnie listened with delight, and -sympathized with Dan--ay, and shed tears with him--and showed in every -word she uttered how thoroughly she understood his feelings. - -"I have dreamed of him over and over again," said Dan; "but of course -I don't know, and indeed I can't believe, that I have dreamed of him -as he is. He is a man by this time, Minnie; and--let me see!--he is -standing on his ship, with his bright eyes and handsome face"-- - -"Yes!" interrupted Minnie eagerly. "Made brighter and handsomer by -living on the open sea and away from narrow streets. I can see the -spray dashing up into his eyes, and he shaking it off laughing the -while." - -"Yes, yes!" said Minnie enthusiastically. "You can see him too, -Minnie. I feel that you can. Is he not handsome and brave? I can hear -him say, as he looks round upon the grand sea and up at the beautiful -clouds,--I can hear him say, 'Dan is here with me, although I cannot -see him.' He has me in his heart, as I have him. It was a compact. We -were to be always together, and we are. Dear Jo!" He paused a while, -and Minnie, her hands clasped in her lap, gazed before her, and saw -the picture painted by Dan's words. Many such conversations they had, -and the theme was always the same. - -Shortly after the death of Mr. Taylor the Old Sailor came to see the -children. He did not know of the loss they had sustained; and when he -heard that both father and mother were dead, he was much grieved. The -news so disconcerted him that he rose to go three or four times, and -each time sat down again, as if he had something on his mind he wished -to get rid of first. As a proof that he was mentally disturbed, he -dabbed his face more frequently than usual with his blue-cotton -pocket-handkerchief, folding it up carefully before he put it in the -breast of his shirt, as if he were folding up his secret in it, and -afterwards taking it out and unfolding it, as if he had made up his -mind at last to disclose what that secret was. When he found courage -to speak, Dan learned that the bullfinches which Joshua and he had -presented to the Old Sailor were dead. - -"Died yesterday morning, my lad," said the Old Sailor; "died just as -we were beginning to understand each other. Sailor birds they were, -and they could climb ropes as well as any bird in the service." - -"I am sorry they are dead, sir," said Dan; "but I can give you another -pair." - -"No, Dan, no. I'll not have any more; they wouldn't be safe." - -"Not safe?" - -"There was a mutineer in the crew, my lad," said the Old Sailor, -dropping his voice. "It comes awkward for me to tell you; but you -ought to know--and duty before every thing. The pretty birds were -poisoned." - -"Who could have been so cruel as to poison the innocent creatures?" -asked Dan sorrowfully. - -"That damned copper-colored eon of a thief who cooked for me!" replied -the Old Sailor excitedly. "You saw him when you were on my ship. He -had rings in his ears." - -"I remember. He was a Lascar, you told us." - -"The treacherous dog!" exclaimed the Old Sailor wrathfully, dabbing -his face. "But I did what was right to him. I flogged him with a -rope's end till he couldn't stand." - -"He knew that Joshua gave you the birds, sir?" - -"Ay, he knew it. To tell you the truth, my lad, I christened the birds -Josh and Dan, and used to call them by their names. They were as -sensible as human beings, and I gave them decent burial. I sewed them -in canvas, and weighted it with shot, and slipped it off a plank. I'll -not have any more of them, Dan. That lubberly thief would crawl on -board one night and murder them too. No, no, my lad; no more birds for -me." - -"Well, then, I'll tell you what we'll do," said Dan. "I will give you -another pair of birds, and I will keep them for you, and you will come -here sometimes and see how they are getting along. That's a good idea, -isn't it, sir?" - -The Old Sailor admitted that it was, and thus it fell out that he -became a visitor to the house. Dan bought a toy ship, with sails and -masts and slender ropes all complete, and taught the birds to climb -the ropes and masts, which they did deftly, although not in sailor -fashion, hand-over-hand; and his thoughtful conceit filled the Old -Sailor with infinite delight. - -It was Susan's good fortune not to meet the Lascar for many months -after the eventful occurrence in which Joshua had played so prominent -a part. But one evening, when she and Ellen were returning home, she -met him face to face. - -"Stop!" cried the Lascar, noticing Susan's agitation with secret -pleasure. "You don't forget me, do you?" - -Ellen, raising her eyes, saw and recognized the Lascar, and was -recognized by him at the same moment. - -"Ah!" he said, "I remember you. You came one day with a lame boy and -that young thief Joshua Marvel--curse him!--to see Mr. Meddler's -boat." - -Ellen tried to hurry Susan along, but the Lascar stood directly in -their path. - -"Not yet, my beauty. You are about the prettiest girl I've ever seen. -What's your name?" - -Ellen was not so overcome with fear as to entirely lose her -self-possession. Had she been alone, she would have run away. But -Susan was clinging to her, almost fainting with terror. On the -opposite side of the road she saw a man walking towards them. - -"Help!" she cried; but she could have bitten her lip with vexation -when she found that it was Solomon Fewster who responded to her -appeal. However, there Solomon Fewster was, ready to grapple with the -enemy and to die in Ellen's defence. The occasion for a display of -heroism was as good as he could have desired. - -"Where is he?" he cried valiantly; "where's the villain who has dared -to frighten my pretty Ellen?" - -He said this with such a presumptuous air of being her defender by -natural right, that Ellen was annoyed and displeased. But she could -not be uncivil to him. She thanked him for coming to their help, and -he asked to be allowed to see them home. But Ellen refused, and -although he pleaded hard, she was firm. - -She was especially angry because of his calling her his pretty Ellen. -Glad as she would have been of a protector, she rightly thought that -it would be giving Mr. Fewster encouragement if she allowed him to -assume that office. So, with many distressingly-tender protestations, -he took his departure, congratulating himself upon the adventure, and -Susan and Ellen walked homewards. - -Ellen was very anxious to know all about the Lascar, and why Susan was -frightened at him. Susan told her all, and Ellen's face glowed with -delight at Joshua's courage. - -"Brave Joshua!" she exclaimed. "Isn't he a hero, Susan?" - -Notwithstanding that she had not recovered from her fright at meeting -the Lascar, Susan could not help smiling at Ellen's enthusiasm. - -"He was to be away a year," said Ellen, "and it is now two years and -four months." - -"And how many weeks, and how many days, and how many hours?" -interrupted Susan, half gayly. "You could tell, I dare say. Ellen, -couldn't you, if you were put to it?" Ellen looked shyly at Susan. -"What a change he will find in you, my dear!" Susan continued -tenderly. "In the place of a plain little girl he will find a very -pretty woman." - -"O Susey! calling me a woman!" - -"Well, you are, dear, or you will be when he comes back. I wonder"-- - -But Susan did not say what it was she wondered at, but stopped, most -unaccountably, in the middle of the street and kissed Ellen in a -motherly kind of way. The caress set Ellen a-blushing, and she fell -into a state of happy musing. They were very near home when a voice at -their side said,-- - -"You thought you had escaped me, eh?" - -It was the voice of the Lascar, who had dogged them until he found an -opportunity of speaking to them without attracting attention. Their -hearts beat fast, but they did not turn their heads. - -"Don't say a word," whispered Ellen, "don't speak, don't stop, don't -look! We shall be home directly." - -"So Joshua Marvel hasn't come back yet," he said with bitter emphasis. -"He is a long time gone; but wait till he comes. I go every day to see -the cross I put against him, and it grows brighter and brighter. I -curse him every night. Perhaps he thinks that I forget. He shall see -if I do." He gasped this at intervals, for the girls were now almost -running in their terror. "Tell him," hissed the Lascar, "when he comes -that that I poisoned at old thief's birds because Joshua gave them to -him, and because the old thief used to call one of them by his name. -Curse him! And you!" he exclaimed savagely, touching Susan's arm. "See -you--remember! My shadow follows you from this day, you damned witch! -for it was because of you that he came across me. Oh, you live there, -do you? Dream of my shadow, you cat, to-night. It shall stand at your -bedside. Blot it out if you can." - -He had worked himself into a horrible rage; his passion made a madman -of him; yet he did not attempt to stop them as they darted in at the -door, but stood aside and looked at the house, and marked it and -lingered about it for half an hour afterwards. In the mean time Ellen -and Susan had run into their bedroom and locked the door. It was a -long time before they recovered from their agitation. Susan was in an -agony of terror; all her old fears came with stronger force upon her. -She pressed her fingers upon her eyes and threw herself upon the -ground, shuddering and moaning. - -"Do you see his shadow, Ellen?" she moaned. "Do you see it?" - -"There is nothing in the room but you and me, dear Susey," said Ellen, -smoothing Susan's hair, and striving by every means to soothe her. -"Why, I am braver than you, and I am ever so much younger. What have -we to be afraid of? A drunken man! You stupid Susey! And as for -shadows, who believes in them?" - -"I do. I have seen them and felt them. I have heard them creeping -after me in the dark, and I have been frightened to turn. I have felt -their breath upon my face--and it is like death--like death!" - -All Ellen's efforts to tranquillize her were unavailing. Susan did not -leave her room again that evening, and during the night that followed -she awoke a dozen times, and her fevered imagination conjured up the -shadow of the Lascar standing at her bedside, pointing to a cross of -blood which shone with cruel distinctness in the midst of the -darkness. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. -SOLOMON FEWSTER GIVES THE LASCAR A FLOWER. - - -Early in the new year letters from Joshua reached home. With what joy -they were read! In one of them he wrote: "I remember saying that I -should be home in twelve months; but that time has passed, and another -twelve months, and nearly another, and still there is no talk of -returning. If I stay away much longer you won't know me when you see -me. Upon my word, I think if I were to open the door now and walk in -suddenly, you would be puzzled to know whether I was really myself or -somebody else." - -When they read this they all raised their heads and looked towards the -door, wishing that Joshua would turn the handle and walk into the -room. - -The evening of the day on which the letters arrived was spent in grand -state in Dan's house. Every member of the Marvel family was there, and -the Old Sailor, and Solomon Fewster as well; so that the little parlor -was quite full, and all the chairs had to be brought from the bedroom -and the kitchen to provide seats for the company. The letters were -read aloud, and commented upon and rejoiced over. - -"It isn't as good as Joshua's being here," said Dan, looking round -with a happy face; "but it is next door to it. I tell you what pleases -me almost as much as any thing in the letters--it is that Jo's a -favorite with the men. Hear what he says: 'I play to them on my -accordion two or three times a week, and according to them I am a -splendid musician--which I am not, you know, for I only play simple -tunes. Last week the captain sent for me and told me that some -passengers who were on board wanted to dance, and wished me to play -for them. Of course I fetched the accordion at once. You should have -seen us! I played for them twice after that night; and yesterday when -we arrived at Sydney--Oh, Dan such a lovely place, with such a -bay!--they gave me a sovereign, which I put into Ellen's purse. Tell -Ellen that!'" - -A blush came into Ellen's face, and her heart beat more quickly, when -she heard that Joshua was so careful of the purse she had worked for -him. - -Filled with such like matter, the letters could not fail to be a -source of delight. Dan was commissioned to give Joshua's love to -Ellen, and Ellen was asked to pay a visit to the Old Sailor, and to -tell him that Joshua was doing hie duty. Susan received messages for -Basil and Minnie, and was to tell Minnie that Joshua would bring her -some beautiful shells--"shells in which Minnie can hear the waves -singing to each other in whispers," Joshua wrote, almost poetically. - -Minnie, sitting in her corner, scarcely spoke a word; she was thinking -of the sailor-lad who had been so kind to her, and she was looking -with the eyes of her mind upon the picture which Dan had painted of -Joshua, with his handsome face and free waving hair, standing on the -deck, and laughingly shaking the spray from his eyes. - -The Old Sailor nodded approval as the letters were read, and then -traced Joshua's course on a map which he had brought with him, -stopping many times to tell the eager on-lookers of the wonders and -the glories of the beautiful South Pacific. The map was spread on the -table, and it was not an unattractive picture to see them all -clustered round the Old Sailor, peeping over his shoulders and under -his arms, as with his great forefinger he followed the ship from port -to port. Mrs. Marvel, who had taken to spectacles, found them of but -little use to her on this occasion, for the obstinate tears came into -her eyes and dropped into the ocean which the Old Sailor's forefinger -was ploughing. Minnie leaned over Dan's shoulder, and the table was so -small that she had to put her arm round Dan's neck and to put her face -close to his, so that she might see. A strange feeling of happiness -came upon Dan as her cheek nestled close to his; a feeling of -happiness so exquisite that all his senses were merged in it. The -common parlor, the eager faces peering at the map, the pleasant voice -of the Old Sailor explaining the route, all faded from before him, and -he was conscious of nothing but Minnie's presence. He felt the warm -contact of a soft hand; it was Minnie's hand, which in her eager -abstraction she had placed on his. He folded it in his, and she -allowed it to rest there. It was like a dream. He feared to move -and held his breath lest he should awake. A sudden murmur of -voices--voices that sounded for a moment as if they came from afar -off--aroused him; he looked into Minnie's face, and saw it lighted up -with a happiness that seemed to be a reflex of his own; and as she -turned her eyes to his, so luminous a beauty dwelt in them that he -could have fallen at her feet and worshipped her. But the dream was at -an end--the blissful silence which had encompassed him was invaded. -Minnie had returned to her corner, and his friends were speaking -together, and laughing and appealing to him upon some point which he -had not heard. Dan still felt the warm pressure of Minnie's hand and -the soft contact of her cheek; and unobserved he rested his lips upon -the palm which had clasped hers, and kissed it softly and wonderingly. - -There was only one person in the party who did not feel happy. That -one was Solomon Fewster. Directly he entered the room he had been -greeted with the joyful tidings; and understanding that he was -expected to share in the general excitement of pleasure, he professed -a delight which he did not experience. That afternoon he had purchased -a rare flower, which it was his intention to present to Ellen. He had -brooded over the idea for several days, and had decided that it would -be a good thing to do. As he entered the room with the flower in the -button-hole of his coat, he was already primed with a few -complimentary words which he had learned by heart to say to Ellen, -when he presented his gift. Ellen had never before looked so pretty, -he thought. Her eyes were brighter, and there was a more joyous -animation than usual in her manner. She greeted him with a smile so -much more gracious than he was accustomed to receive from her, that he -congratulated himself upon the purchase of the flower. She gave him -her hand with more than her usual warmth, and when he ventured gently -to press it, she did not resent the liberty. The fact was, she did not -notice it. She was full of joy, and, as is the case with all amiable -natures, she dispensed gleams of her happiness to all with whom -she came in contact. Unless we are too much engrossed in our own -special cares, we sometimes meet with such like happy faces in -the streets--faces which seem to say, "We are happy; be happy with -us"--faces which, although quite strange to us, which we have never -seen before and may never see again, will kindle with a smile of -welcome upon the smallest encouragement. - -But Solomon Fewster was terribly discomfited when he learned the -reason of her cheerfulness and animation; it was because letters had -been received from Joshua. He determined not to present his flower -just then, for he read something in Ellen's blushes that sorely galled -him. He could not help thinking that the fuss they were making about a -common sailor-boy, and the laughing and the crying they indulged in -over Joshua's stupid letters, were utterly ridiculous, and in a sort -of way derogatory to himself, Dan's best patron. - -As the night wore on, his anger and uneasiness increased; and yet he -lingered until the last moment, torturing himself with all kinds of -speculations as to what was the nature of the feeling that Ellen -entertained for Joshua. Every expression of gladness that fell from -her lips concerning Joshua and Joshua's career was painful to him, and -it was with a bitter heart that he left the house, with the flower -still in his coat. He was hot and feverish as he closed the -street-door behind him, and he was not sorry to find that a heavy rain -was falling. He took off his hat and bared his head to the rain. -Within the house he had been compelled to repress expression of his -feelings; it was a relief to him now to feel that no one was by, and -that he could speak out at last. And the first words he uttered, as he -smoothed his wet hair and put on his hat, were, "Damn Joshua Marvel! I -would give money to drown him!" As he spoke the words aloud, he was -conscious of a slouching figure at his side. Although it was raining, -the night was not quite dark there was enough light for him to notice -that the man who had approached him was in rags--most probably a -beggar. Muttering that he had nothing to give, Solomon Fewster walked -on. But the man was not to be so easily shaken off, and Mr. Fewster -being in an eminently quarrelsome mood turned upon him, and repeated -in no civil tone that he had nothing to give. - -"I have not asked you for any thing," said the man, surlily, "though -if I had, you might speak to me more civilly, Mr. Fewster." - -They were passing a lamp-post, and, attracted by the utterance of his -name, Mr. Fewster stopped and said,-- - -"How do you know my name?" - -"I know it; that is enough," was the answer. - -"Ah!" said Mr. Fewster, regarding the Lascar with curiosity and -recognizing him, "I have seen you before, my man." - -"That is not saying much against me, master," said the Lascar, rather -sneeringly. "I have seen _you_ before; so we're equal. - -"And whenever I have seen you, it has been in this street," continued -Mr. Fewster. - -"And pretty well whenever I have seen you, it has been in this -street," retorted the Lascar; "you seem to be as fond of it as I am." - -"And generally of a night." - -"The same to you master; and what then? The street is free to me as it -is to you. Look you. I know more than you are aware of. If it comes to -that, why do you go so often to that house?" The sudden look of -discomposure that flashed into Mr. Fewster's face was not lost upon -the Lascar, who had seen him walking by Ellen's side more than once, -and who had stealthily followed them on every occasion. "Look you, -master. What one man does for love, another man does for hate." - -"Hate of whom? What do you mean?" - -"The people in that house have received letters from Joshua Marvel -to-day." - -"Well, what of that?" - -"What of that!" cried the Lascar, in a voice of suppressed passion, -and yet with a cunning watchfulness of Mr. Fewster's face, as if he -were watching for a cue to speak more plainly. "Well, nothing much, -master; except that I should like to know when the cub is coming -home." - -Mr. Fewster could not help an expression of satisfaction passing into -his eyes as he heard Joshua spoken of as a cub, and the Lascar saw it -and took his cue from it. - -"What do you want to know for? What is Joshua Marvel to you?" - -"He is this to me," cried the Lascar, the dark blood rushing into his -face and making it darker; "that if I had him here, I would stamp upon -him with my feet, and spoil his beauty for him! He is this to me, that -if I could twist his heart-strings I would do it, and laugh in his -face the while! See me now, master; look at me well. I did not ask you -for money, for I know you, and I know you don't give nothing for -nothing. But I might have asked you, and with reason, for I want it. -Look at my feet" (Mr. Fewster noticed, for the first time, that the -Lascar's feet were bare); "Look at my clothes--rags. That old thief, -Praiseworthy Meddler, kicked me off his barge where I've lived and -slept this many a year. And every blow he struck at me went down to -Joshua Marvel's account, and makes it heavier against him. See you; -the Lascar dog never forgets. I've sworn an oath, and I'll keep it. -I've put a cross against him, and he shall see it when he is dying." - -Solomon Fewster looked at the wretch before him, quivering with -passion and shivering with cold, and deliberately cracked his fingers -one after another. When the operation was concluded, he said, lightly, -as taking no interest in what the Lascar had said,-- - -"That is your business, my friend; not mine. I will tell you as far as -I know about this young gentleman who has served you so well. He is -not coming home yet a while, I believe--not before the end of the -year, perhaps. I dare say you'll manage to see him when he does come -home." - -"Yes, I'll manage to see him then," said the Lascar, with a sudden -quietude of manner and with a furtive rook at Mr. Fewster's face--a -look which said, "You are trying to deceive me, master; let us see who -is the more cunning--you or I." Then aloud, "Thank you for answering -my question. You say it is not your business, this hate of mine for -Joshua Marvel. Yet there may be something in common between us for -I've seen you walking with the girl who worships Joshua Marvel." - -"How do you know that she worships him?" demanded Mr. Fewster, thrown -off his guard, his heart beating loud and fast. - -"Because I am not blind. I know that as well as I know that you have -as much cause to hate him as I have. I am like a cat; I watch and -watch. You are too young, my master, to mask your face; and I have -seen that in it that you wouldn't like to speak." - -"Mind what you are saying," said Mr. Fewster, with his knuckles at his -teeth; "you are on dangerous ground." - -"Why should I mind?" questioned the Lascar, with a curious mixture of -fierceness and humility in his voice. "My tongue's my own. I have -nothing to lose: judge you if you have any thing to gain. Mind you, I -stop at nothing. I am not squeamish. You are a gentleman; I am a -vagabond. I can do what you daren't. I can help you to what you want, -perhaps; and you can help me." - -The cunning of the Lascar was too deep for Mr. Fewster. The Lascar saw -as clearly as if he had been told that Solomon Fewster loved Ellen -Taylor, and he seized instinctively upon Ellen's love for Joshua as -the lever by which he was to gain power over Mr. Fewster. In the -present conversation the men were not evenly matched; the Lascar had -all the advantage on his side. Subtle as Mr. Fewster was, his love -blinded his judgment, and his hate led him to consider that this man -might be useful to him. - -"I can help you, you tell me," he said. "How?" - -"I am cold to the bone," said the shivering wretch. "Treat me to some -rum." - -They walked until they reached a public-house; then Mr. Fewster gave -the Lascar money. - -"Go in and drink, but don't get drunk." - -"Ain't you coming in, master?" - -"No," said Mr. Fewster, with a look of contempt at the Lascar's -tatters. "You can buy a bottle of rum, and bring it out with you. And -mind, when you come out, don't walk by my side; follow me." - -Five minutes afterwards they were walking in single file towards Mr. -Fewster's place of business, where he lived. When they arrived at the -door, Mr. Fewster hesitated. He wanted to talk to the Lascar, to get -out of him all he knew about Ellen and Joshua; yet, looking at the -Lascar, he hesitated. The man divined what was in his mind, and -said,-- - -"There is a policeman coming along on the other side of the way. Go to -him and say, 'Look at this man; I have occasion to speak to him on a -matter of business; but he is a disreputable dog, and I want you to -watch the house. Knock in an hour, and if I don't answer, or if you -hear any noise, force open the door.' Say that to him, or something -like it, and give him a pint of beer, and you will be all right." - -"Come along," said Mr. Fewster, stung by the Lascar's quiet sneer; "I -am not frightened of you." - -"You have no need to be, master. You can use me like a dog, if you -give me to eat and drink." - -"Like a dog!" echoed Mr. Fewster, with a laugh. "Well, suppose I -regard you in that light; it may be useful." - -Mr. Fewster struck a light in the shop, in which there were at least a -score of coffins--respectable coffins, solemnly black as coffins -should be, with respectable nails to match. - -"Waiting for tenants," he remarked, pleasantly, to the Lascar. "The -cheap ones--common deal--are in the workshop at the back." Mr. Fewster -put the candle down upon a coffin, and looked complacently upon his -wares. "Handsome, are they not? This one, now, with lacquered handles -and silvered plate for name, age, and virtues, what should you say to -that?" - -"Shouldn't care much for it," said the Lascar, with evident -repugnance. "It would be more suitable for such as you, master. A -cheap one--of common deal--will be good enough for me, when my turn -comes." - -"Quite good enough, I should say." - -"You are not going to stop here talking, are you?" inquired the -Lascar, seeing that Mr. Fewster evinced no disposition to move. - -"Why, don't you like it, you dog?" retorted Mr. Fewster, with a spice -of his native humor. - -"No, I don't; it smells of worms." - -With a pleasant laugh Mr. Fewster led the way into his sitting-room, -and set light to the fire and lit a second candle. - -"This is better," said the Lascar, huddling before the fire. "Ah, this -is good, this warmth; it is life! Have you ever slept out in the cold, -master?" - -"No, you dog," answered Mr. Fewster. - -He had recovered his self-possession and much of his usual equanimity. - -"I have; in the cold and wet, for two or three nights together." - -"There was the Union," suggested Mr. Fewster. - -"I have been there often enough. Sometimes I was too late; sometimes -there were too many of us; sometimes I didn't care even for that -shelter." - -"Would you like to sleep in my shop? I think I could trust you there." - -"I think you might. I shouldn't be likely to steal a coffin. I -shouldn't care to sleep there, master, and that's flat. If I woke up -in the dark, I should see dead men lying in the coffins. I wouldn't -mind it so much if the coffins were plain deal ones; but black--ugh!" - -Mr. Fewster laughed loud and long. Coffins were playthings to -him--toys symbolical of the joys of life. He laughed merrily as he set -food on the table, the Lascar watching him with greedy eyes the while. -"Fall to, you dog!" said Mr. Fewster; and like a dog, devoid though of -a dog's generous nature, the Lascar fell to, and devoured the bread -and cheese. Meanwhile Mr. Fewster helped himself to a large glass of -rum. He was one of the soberest of undertakers, who, as a rule, are -not the soberest of men. He drank but very rarely; but when he did, -all the worst part of his nature disported itself, in revenge for -being generally kept so much under control. Now as he drank his -rum--and he drank it neat--he became savage, vengeful, desperate. He -had never felt till now how deeply he loved Ellen Taylor. He had loved -her in a light way from the first, and his love had grown quietly, and -had been fed by her avoidance of his attentions. Her behavior towards -him had deepened his love and intensified it. Yet all along, -notwithstanding that he felt he was not as agreeable in her eyes as he -would wish to be, he thought that to have he had only to ask. "They, -poor working people," he thought, "earning just enough to keep them, -living as it were from hand to mouth, _must_ feel flattered and -honored by my attention--by the attention of a man who has a -prosperous business and an account at the bank." As for marriage, he -had not thought of that till lately. But Ellen had so firmly and so -steadily repulsed him in any advances he had plucked up courage to -make, that he had resolved to lower himself and ask her to be his -wife. Having determined to make the sacrifice, he considered that the -road was clear to him. He reasoned with himself thus: "She thought -perhaps that I did not mean honorably by her, and that is the cause of -her treating me so coldly; but when she learns my real intentions she -cannot but feel flattered, and must accept me." - -He thought over these things as he sat before the fire entirely -engrossed by love for Ellen and hate for Joshua. The Lascar had helped -himself to the spirits, and as Mr. Fewster sat studying the fire, he -sat studying his host. That it was a study that interested him and -pleased him was evident from the satisfied expression in his face, and -from the satisfied manner in which he rubbed his hands gently over one -another. - -"Well, you dog!" exclaimed Mr. Fewster insolently. - -"Well, master?" replied the Lascar meekly. - -"Have you had enough, you dog?" - -"Plenty, thank you, master." - -The Master took another drink of rum, and the Dog followed suit. The -Master regarded the Dog with a contemptuous assumption of superiority. -The Dog regarded the Master with becoming humbleness. But the Dog had -the best of it, although he did cast down his eyes. - -"Look up, you dog," said Mr. Fewster. - -The Dog looked up. - -"What would you do to Joshua Marvel if you had him here, with no one -by?" - -The Lascar, who had been playing idly with the knife with which he had -cut his supper, raised it, and with a fierce action struck at the air. -Then, springing to his feet, he threw aside his chair, and kneeling on -the ground, made motions with his fingers as if he were strangling an -enemy. - -"H-m!" exclaimed Mr. Fewster, looking at the upturned face, blazing -with vindictiveness, that fronted his. "Dangerous." - -"That's my business. I'll risk the danger of it. See you--shall I -speak plainly?" - -"Yes." - -"This girl that you love worships the man that you and I hate"-- - -"Say that _you_ hate, you dog," interrupted Mr. Fewster. "I'll have no -partnership. I am master." - -"I ask your pardon, master. The girl that you love worships the man -that I hate. She is waiting for him to come home; so am I. I have -sworn death to him. When he comes home, the girl that you love will -have no eyes for any one but him. What chance will you have with her -then?" - -"Stop. You are too fast. Speak of yourself and of them without -reference to me. Don't iterate with your damnable tongue about the -girl that _I_ love. The girl that I love, I'll have"-- - -"So you shall, master, if I can help you." - -"When I want your help, I'll ask for it. Now go on with your story, -and heed my caution." - -With ready wit the Lascar fell into Mr. Fewster's humor. - -"This girl that I speak of--as pretty a picture of flesh and blood as -eyes ever saw--is loved by a gentleman who in a sort of way has -lowered himself to think of her. But the gentleman has made up his -mind to have her, and when a gentleman makes up his mind, who shall -stop him? He goes one night to the house where this pretty girl -lives--I shouldn't wonder if the very flower that the gentleman wore -in his button-hole wasn't intended for her"-- - -"You are a clever dog, you!" said Mr. Fewster, half in anger, half in -admiration. - -"Thank you, master. With the flower in his button-hole the gentleman -goes to the house where his pretty girl lives, and there he spends the -evening, and hears read, I dare say, some letters, which she has -received from his rival, who is a sailor--I only speak from fancy, -master; set me right if you can." - -"How can I set you right when I know nothing about it, you dog, except -by saying that I shouldn't think it likely _she_ received any -letters?" - -"Thank you, master. My fancy was wrong, I've no doubt. The gentleman, -then, is obliged to listen to some letters which have been received -from abroad, and is obliged to listen to affectionate words uttered by -the girl he loves for his rival far away--mind, master, I don't know -this, I only suspect it--and he sees, too, in her face, that when her -sailor-boy comes home, she will open her arms to his rival, to his -enemy, whom he hates, and would like to see put out of the way." - -"How do you know that last?" - -"I have seen it in his face; I have heard it in his voice. I happened -to see the gentleman come out of his sweetheart's house one rainy -night, not long ago; and I happened to hear the gentleman mutter that -he would give money if that sailor-lover was drowned." - -"If were the gentleman, and you told me this to my face, I should say -that you lied." - -"Of course you would; but what should you know of it? Still, master, -confess that the story is a likely one as far as it has gone." - -"There is more of it to come, then?" asked Mr. Fewster, who had turned -his back so that the Lascar should not see his face. - -"There is more of it to come. But say, first, it is a likely story as -far as I have told it," said the Lascar a little doggedly. - -"It is likely enough. I have heard stories more strange." - -"Where did I leave off? Oh! about my hearing this gentleman say, as he -stood bareheaded in the rain, that he wished his rival were dead. Now -that was a fortunate hearing for me. Not that I should take advantage -of what I heard; not that I should go to the pretty girl's brother, -and then tell him what I had heard the gentleman say about his -sailor-friend; not that I should go to the pretty girl herself and -say, 'Beware of the gentleman; he means mischief; if he can ruin your -lover he will.' That would be a mean thing to do; for it would upset -the gentleman's chances with the girl that he loves. No; I should go -to the gentleman and say, 'I hate this absent lover, and any thing -that I could do to make him suffer, I would do cheerfully. You would -do the same. But you are a gentleman, and I am a dog. You mustn't be -seen in the matter. What you want done do through me. Never mind how -mean it is, how dirty it is; do it through me. And all the return I -want for it is enough to buy food and shelter, and perhaps a drop of -grog and a bit of tobacco.' That wouldn't be much to ask in return for -what I may be able to do for him." - -"But no gentleman would compromise himself by entering into a bargain -with a--a"-- - -"A dog, master--say a dog; it is good enough for me," interposed the -Lascar with a careless laugh. - -"With a dog like you. I don't see how the affair could be arranged -with a proper understanding as to what was expected to be done." - -"It could be arranged easily enough, master. I might ask the -gentleman, supposing he had a flower in his button-bole, to give me -that flower, and not say another word. That would be a proper -understanding for both of us." - -Mr. Fewster rose, and put aside the curtain of the window. The rain -was coming down hard and fast, and the wind was tearing furiously -through the streets. - -"A fine storm for a ship to be in near rocks, master," said the -Lascar, who had risen, and was standing by his side. - -"It is time for you to be going," said Mr. Fewster, turning abruptly -away from the window. - -"In such a night as this!" exclaimed the Lascar. "And I with no place -to put my head in?" - -"You are homeless, then?" The Lascar nodded. "Well, I take you into my -service. It would be hard if no one could be found to do a good turn -for a poor devil like you." - -"That it would, master," said the Lascar, standing in an attitude of -expectation; "and thank you. Could you spare that flower out of your -coat?" - -Blinded by passion, inflamed by jealousy, Mr. Fewster detached the -flower, and threw it to the Lascar, whose eyes gleamed with -satisfaction as he put it in his pocket. - -"You can sleep in the out-house," said Mr. Fewster; "and as every dog -should have a kennel, I dare say you can find a coffin to lie in." - -"No, thank you, master; I will lie on the ground." He poured what -remained of the rum into his glass, and raised it to his lips. "Here's -luck, and my faithful service to you. You may depend upon me, for my -heart is in my work." - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. -CHRISTMAS-EVE AT HOME. - - -A happier party was never assembled within four walls than is now -gathered together within the four walls of Mr. Marvel's kitchen. That -it is Christmas-eve is proclaimed by the two little hoops which hang -from the ceiling, circled by colored Christmas candles; and that the -kindly influence of the time has fallen in full measure upon the -wood-turner's house may be read in the faces of George Marvel and his -family and guests. Sarah Marvel, whose place in this history is but a -small one, has grown into a comely young woman; and, indeed, the four -years which have elapsed since Joshua's departure have changed all his -friends for the better. Those of them who were young when he left are -no longer boys and girls, except in their hearts, which are as young -as ever, and which are pulsing with love for the absent hero. Not to -be absent for long now; for Joshua is coming home. They cannot tell -the exact day of his arrival; it may be a week yet, or a month; but -the sails of his ship are spread for dear home. So, as they sit round -the fire, there is a happy light in their eyes, and they look at each -other and smile, and laugh musical little laughs. - -"It is more than four years ago," said George Marvel, "that one night -as we were sitting round the fire, as it might be now, Josh said all -of a sudden, 'I should like to go to sea.' Those were the very words -he said 'I should like to go to sea.' And it came so sudden-like, that -mother there began to cry. So you want to be a sailor, Josh? I -asked. 'Yes,' he answered; 'a sailor first, and then a captain.' Do -you remember, mother? And now my boy is coming home a man; and here we -are this happy Christmas-eve, talking of him, and thinking of him, and -hoping to see him soon after the New Year. Said mother that night, -'Suppose Josh is shipwrecked, what would you say then?' What would I -say then? What _did_ I say then? I said that Josh wasn't going to get -shipwrecked, and that there's more danger on the land than on the sea. -And I was right, I was; and mother wasn't." - -Mrs. Marvel smiled contentedly at the reproof, and nodded in -confirmation of her husband's words. - -"And when Mr. Praiseworthy Meddler came to see us for the first time," -continued Mr. Marvel, "he said the very same thing that I said about -the dangers of the sea. And talking of Mr. Meddler, here he is, I do -believe; and that makes our party complete." - -The last words had been suggested by a great stamping and puffing -outside in the passage; and presently the door opened, and -Praiseworthy Meddler, covered with snow, stood in the entrance. - -"A merry Christmas to you all!" he said, peeling off his glazed coat. -"No, no my lasses, don't come near me; you'll spoil your pretty -ribbons." - -But the girls would not be denied, and clustered round him, assisting -him to take off his coat, and to shake the snow from his cap and hair. -A pleasant figure he was to look at as he stood there, his honest face -beaming with health and pleasure, encircling the waists of Ellen and -Minnie, who nestled to him as confidingly and lovingly as if they were -his daughters. A sprig of mistletoe hanging over the door caught his -sight, and he stooped and gallantly kissed the girls, who pretended -resistance, and sprang laughing from his arms. Then he shook hands all -round, and taking the seat that was waiting for him near the warmest -part of the fire, remarked that the snow was two inches thick on the -pavement, and that it was coming down heavily still. It reminded him -of a great snow-storm by which he was overtaken in a cruise in the -north. That, of course, led to entreaties for a snow-story, and the -Old Sailor, in his homely way, told them a story Of icebergs and -polar-bears, which kept them entranced for nearly an hour, and which -was all the more delightful because it ended happily. - -The story being concluded, they talked noisily and merrily as to what -they should do next in honor of Christmas. In the midst of the -conversation, Ellen, who was sitting next to Dan, felt her hand -tightly clasped. Looking up, she saw upon his face a listening -expression of such painful intensity that she asked him, in a whisper, -what he was listening to. He put his finger to his lips and told -her--with a strange abstractedness in his manner--that he was going -out of the room, and that he wished her to come with him without -attracting attention. - -"We shall be back presently," said Ellen to Mrs. Marvel, as she -assisted Dan with his crutches. - -When they were in the passage, she felt that he was trembling, and she -anxiously asked if he was unwell. - -"Not bodily," he answered; "I want to look in the street." - -They went to the street-door, and, opening it softly, looked out. The -snow was falling fast, and the unpretentious houses, covered with -their white mantle, looked surprisingly quaint and beautiful. A man, -who passed on the opposite side of the way as they opened the door, -was the only sign of life beside themselves in the street. The man -slouched onwards, and dragged his feet along the pavement in a brutish -kind of way, tearing a black gash in the pure white snow, out of sheer -wantonness as it seemed. It looked like a desecration. - -"Ellen," said Dan, when the man was out of sight, "I would not tell my -fancies to any one but you. I am not happy. All last night I was -dreaming of Joshua." - -"That was good, dear," said Ellen. - -"It was not good, Ellen. My dreams were bad ones. They were too -confused and indistinct for me to remember them clearly. But the -impression they left upon me was that Joshua was in danger; I cannot -tell in what way or from whom. I did not hear a word of the story Mr. -Meddler just told us. I was thinking of I don't know what--and all of -a sudden, Ellen, I fancied that I heard Joshua's voice." - -"That is because he is so near us." - -"Near us? Yes. He is very near us; nearer than you imagine." - -"How do you know, dear?" - -"I feel that he is; and strange to say, Ellen, the feeling does not -seem to bring me pleasure." - -"O Dan!" - -"It is so, Ellen; I cannot help it. That Joshua is near us, I am -certain. See: is there anybody in the street?" - -Ellen looked up and down. No; there was no person to be seen, and she -said so. - -"How beautiful the night is, Dan!" - -"Yes, like fairyland, almost," said Dan. "It hurts me to see that -black track on the other side, where the man was walking. Did you -notice how he slouched along? Look at that shadow at the end of the -street. Is it the same man, I wonder?" - -The shadow lingered for a few moments, as if undecided which road to -take, and then disappeared again. - -"Dan, dear," whispered Ellen, "you said that you would not tell your -fancies to any one but me." - -"Well, Ellen?" - -"May I whisper something, my dear?" she asked very tenderly. - -"Yes." - -"Would you not tell them to Minnie?" - -She was supporting Dan, and his hand was round her neck; a nervous -twitching of his fingers told her that her question was a momentous -one. - -"Dear Ellen," he answered in an agitated voice, "I do not think I -would--at least just yet--because--because"-- - -"Because what, dear?" - -"Because I am not sure, Ellen," he said, with a sob which he strove in -vain to suppress. "Do not say any thing more, dear. My heart is very -sad." - -She obeyed him, and kissed him, and then, with a lingering look at the -wondrous white outlines of eaves and roofs and at the wondrous white -carpet with which the earth was clad, they closed the street-door and -re-entered the kitchen. There they were greeted with the news that -Basil Kindred was going to describe and read a play to them. The play -which Basil had selected was Shakspeare's "Tempest," with which none -of them was acquainted but Minnie and Dan. Minnie clapped her hands in -delight. - -"We will all have characters," she said. "You," to her father, "shall -be Prospero. You," to the Old Sailor, "shall be Stephano. You," to -Ellen, "shall be Miranda; and I will be Ariel. What a pity it is that -Mr. Fewster is not here!--he should be Caliban. If Joshua were here, -he should be Ferdinand." - -"Who is Ferdinand?" asked Ellen. - -"Ferdinand is a prince, and is in love with Miran--no!" Minnie -exclaimed suddenly and impetuously, the blood rising into her face, -"he should not play Ferdinand; he should not play at all. Look at me. -I am Ariel." - -With a swift motion, she unloosed her hair and let it fall around her -shoulders. Bewitchingly graceful and bewitchingly beautiful, she bent -in obeisance to Prospero and said with a happy inspiration,-- - -"Do you love me, master?" - -And he, partly in accordance with her pretty conceit and partly from -fatherly affection, placed his hand upon her head and answered,-- - -"Dearly, my delicate Ariel." - -Then, motioning her to be silent, Basil Kindred, book in hand, -commenced to tell the story, reading passages now and again in -illustration of the beautiful fancy, and giving appropriate vocal -distinctness to each character; so that his hearers could understand -without difficulty who it was that was supposed to be speaking. He was -in his happiest humor, and he lingered lovingly upon the theme. The -fooling of Trinculo, the brutishness of Caliban, the tenderness of -Miranda, the majesty of Prospero, the daintiness of Ariel, were all -faithfully portrayed; and his audience followed the course of the -story with eager delight. When he had given utterance to that grandest -of poetical images, - - - "We are such stuff - As dreams are made of, and our little life - Is rounded with a sleep." - - -he paused, and a deep silence fell upon the room, a silence that was -broken by Dan exclaiming,-- - -"Hark! a knock at the door!" - -Was it the magnetism of love that caused their hearts to flutter with -joy--that caused Mrs. Marvel to rise tremblingly and say that she -would go and open the door? But her limbs failed her, and Minnie, -crying, "I will go!" ran out of the room. They below, listening in a -state of strangely-anxious expectancy, heard Minnie ask "Who is -there?" and heard her open the door. Almost at the same moment they -heard a cry of joy, followed immediately by a sharp cry of pain. They -ran up stairs and saw Minnie kneeling in the snow, supporting on her -bosom the head of a man dressed in sailor-fashion, and pressing her -lips to his neck, from which the blood was flowing. The pure snow was -crimson-stained; and Mrs. Marvel, in an agony of fear falling on her -knees by Minnie's side, looked into the face of the wounded man, and -recognized the features of her sailor-boy just returned from sea. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. -THE DOG AND HIS MASTER. - - -Upon that same Christmas-eve Solomon Fewster sat in his room a moody -unhappy man. He was alone; but if angry thought could have found -palpable shape, the room would have been thronged with ugly forms. He -had refused the invitation which Mrs. Marvel had given him to join the -Christmas party, simply because, when she invited him, she happened to -say something in joyful tones of Joshua's expected return. The mere -mention of Joshua's name was sufficient to inflame him; and he had at -once refused her in a lofty manner, saying that he had another -engagement for the evening. The Lascar had done his work well. There -is no death for jealousy: it sleeps, but it never dies. And the Lascar -had been careful that even the temporary bliss of forgetfulness should -be denied to his master. Less force of cunning than he was endowed -with would have served his purpose with such a man as Solomon Fewster. - -The good influence of the time did not touch Solomon Fewster's heart. -He was completely engrossed by two sentiments--love for Ellen, hate -for Joshua. The very circumstance that upon this Christmas-eve he had -wilfully deprived himself of the painful pleasure of being in Ellen's -company he laid to Joshua's door. Every happy face he saw that day -deepened the hate he bore to Joshua; for if it had not been for that -absent enemy, he would have been as happy as the best of them. Once -during the evening he went into the open space at the rear of his -house, and saw his neighbors' windows lighted up, and heard sounds of -merriment issue from the rooms. "Who is it that prevents me from being -as happy as they are?" he muttered. "Who is the cause of my remaining -here to-night, fretting my heart out, instead of sitting next to the -girl that I love more than my life?" He unlocked the gate in the rear -of his premises, and strolled along the narrow lane into which it -opened. The houses in the lane were mere hovels, yet there was not one -of them that was not brilliantly lighted, and the echoes of laughter -and singing floating from their walls denoted that care had been sent -to the right-about for that evening, at least. The sounds were so -displeasing to him that he returned to his room and resting his face -in his hands; raised up the picture of Ellen, fair and bright and -beautiful. He was a calculating, unfeeling man; and if it had so -happened that there had been no obstacle to the smooth course of his -love, he might have remained so to the end of his days, and might -never have suspected that there were points in his character which -would not bear to close a scrutiny. But the means by which we are -brought to a knowledge of ourselves are oftentimes very strange. The -majority of us go down to our graves without suspecting that there are -powerful forces hidden within us, which, had opportunity for display -been allowed them, would have materially altered the tenor of our -lives, whether for good or for evil. Solomon Fewster's love for Ellen -was the most ennobling feeling he had ever experienced. His hatred for -Joshua, and the thoughts and desires prompted by that hate were the -most villainous. It is strange that the hate which disgraced him, not -the love which ennobled him, should have made him conscious of his -defects. It was that very hatred that brought to him the knowledge -that he was not a good man; and that caused him to reflect that, if -his love were returned, it would be the means of making him better. -His thoughts were taking this direction now, and he was still sitting -with his face resting in his hands, when he was startled by the sound -of the gate being violently dashed aside. He remembered that he had -forgotten to fasten it. Before he had time to rise, the latch of the -door was lifted, and the Lascar glided in like a white spectre. With a -strange feverishness of manner, the Lascar turned the key in the door, -and at the same moment stooped and listened, holding up a warning -finger as a caution for Solomon Fewster to be silent. He remained in -that position for two or three minutes; then rose upright, and drew a -long breath. - -"What now?" demanded Mr. Fewster angrily, and yet with a consciousness -that the Lascar had sufficient cause for his abrupt entrance. "What -thieves' trick have you been up to to-night, you dog! that you run in -here as if the police were at your heels?" - -"They are not," said the Lascar, shaking the snow from his clothes, -dog-like; "and that's a good thing, master, for you and for me." - -"For me, you dog! You dare to say that!" - -"I forgot to close the gate," said the Lascar, taking no notice of Mr. -Fewster's exclamation. He went out, and having locked the gate, -re-entered; and, seeing a bottle on the table, said, "What's this? -Rum?" He did not wait to be invited, but helped himself freely, and -spread his cold hands before the fire. "I am numbed to the bone. It's -precious cold being out in the snow all day. I didn't hope to find you -at home, master. I thought you would be enjoying yourself like a -gentleman. I ran in here, finding the gate open, not knowing where to -run. It is snowing fast--that's one comfort--and my footsteps will -soon be filled up." - -All the while he spoke he was busily occupied warming his fingers and -blowing on his knuckles. - -"Now, explain the meaning of all this," said Mr. Fewster. - -"Give me something to eat first, master. I haven't tasted food since -the morning." - -Mr. Fewster pointed to the cupboard; and the Lascar took bread and -meat, and ate swiftly and ravenously. - -"My service to you, master," he said, glass in hand, "and a merry -Christmas." - -When he had emptied the glass, he threw a knife on the table. It was a -clasp-knife, and the blade was open. There was a triumphant -demonstrativeness in the action that instantly attracted Mr. Fewster's -attention. He saw blood upon the blade--blood scarcely dried. Whose -blood was it? A mist floated before his eyes. It was there but a -moment; but in that moment a picture presented itself to him in the -midst of a lurid cloud--a picture of a handsome sailor, smitten by an -assassin's hand, falling to the ground. Then the figures were lost in -a glare of bright blood and bright snow; and they, in their turn, were -lost in black shade. Although the vision lasted but a moment, it -produced the curious effect upon him of having been enveloped in -darkness for a long time; and the sudden awakening to consciousness -caused him to shade his eyes with his hand, as if the light in the -room were too strong for him. Awake again, the Lascar's familiar -action and bearing smote him with a sense of danger. The instinct of -self-preservation whispered to him that his good name might be -imperilled by further association with the man. It was clear that the -Lascar had done a desperate deed--a deed which, although he shuddered -to think of it, had perhaps removed his enemy from the scene. But if -so, it was murder. The merest whisper, the faintest breath of -suspicion, would be his ruin, not only with the world, but with Ellen. -He would pay for services--yes; but he would take no risk. It behoved -him to be wary. - -"They've had a merry party down yonder," said the Lascar, with a -motion of his head in the direction of Mr. Marvel's house. "I made -certain you were there, master. I've been hanging about the street all -night in the cold. I've been on the watch; shall I tell you for whom?" - -"No; I want to know nothing," replied Mr. Fewster, measuring his words -carefully. "Understand me once and for all. Whatever you do you do on -your own responsibility; and I will in no way be associated with it or -with you. If you presume to associate me with any acts of violence on -your part, I wash my hands of you. Nay, more: I will set those upon -you who will not let you escape easily." - -"I understand you, master," said the Lascar, without the least show of -resentment. "But go on; you have more to say. I'll wait till you've -done." - -"You dog, you! You break into my house as if you had a right here! You -tell me, as if I were interested in knowing, that the police are at -your heels, and that you are afraid of your very footsteps being -tracked! You have the presumption to say that it is a good job for me -that it is not so! You throw down this knife before me with blood upon -it! What is it to me whose blood it is, or what crime you have -committed? What if it were to be discovered that you had rendered -yourself liable to the law, and then had been seen to come here? If I -did my duty, I should go for a policeman, and hand you into his -charge, and so be rid of you." - -The Lascar listened without the slightest sign of discomposure. He -even nodded approvingly as he said,-- - -"There's only you and me, master. You wouldn't speak so if anybody -else was by. Don't fear; I know what you mean well enough. There's no -chance of our misunderstanding each other, though you're a better -actor than I am, and that's a fact. Rest you easy. No one saw me come -here; and no one shall see me go out. As for the police, I know as -well as you that it would suit your game as little to set them on me -as it would suit my game for them to be set on. But you're right in -threatening me with them. It belongs to your part; for you are master. -And it belongs to my part to take what you say kindly; for I am a dog. -I am satisfied so long as I get enough to keep me; and I'm not greedy, -as you know." - -Solomon Fewster was extremely disconcerted by the Lascar's coolness. -It proved to him that he was in the Lascar's power, and that the -Lascar knew it. He was disconcerted also by the conviction that forced -itself upon him, that the Lascar measured his indignation at its -proper worth. But he could not belie his nature. It was impossible for -him to be straightforward; even in his villainy he was compelled to be -cunning. He would take care that he committed himself as little as -possible by word of mouth. He was burning to hear what the Lascar had -to tell, but he would not ask. He drew his breath hard, and it was -with difficulty that he restrained his impatience during the long -pause that followed; for the Lascar was as determined as he not to be -the first to break the silence. At length, feeling that he was being -mastered, he turned wrathfully upon the Lascar, and questioned, -"Well?" - -"Well!" was the quiet answer. - -"If you have nothing more to say, you can go." - -"I have something more to say, but I am waiting for permission to -speak." - -There was an assumption of insolent humility in the Lascar's tone; and -Mr. Fewster bit his lip as he said, "Your tongue's your own; I can't -stop you." - -"Thank you, master;" with a cringing expression of satisfaction for -the concession. "Since I was employed in my present service--I mean, -since a certain night when a kind-hearted gentleman gave me a flower, -the leaves of which I have kept carefully in paper, so that I -shouldn't forget what I had to do--I have been more watchful than ever -in the task I had set myself to perform. I have been better able to do -that than I used to be, because the same kind-hearted gentleman has -generously supplied me with money, so that I have had all my time at -my own disposal. He also supplied me with information. The task I had -to perform was to revenge myself upon Joshua Marvel for stepping -between me and my affairs, and for doing me injury. A little while ago -the gentleman told me that Joshua Marvel was expected home soon; and -then I determined that not a night should pass and find me lagging. -Not only my hate, but my faithful duty to my master, made me -determined in this. I set myself to watch for the return of the sailor -Joshua; and during my watch I discovered a curious thing. I discovered -that the gentleman in whose service I am appeared very often in the -street I was watching, and that he was in the habit of lingering -there late at night. He never did any thing else but look up at the -bedroom-window of a certain pretty girl, whose shadow I have often -seen on the blind; and he never went away until the light in her room -was extinguished. I was careful that he should not see me, for it was -no business of mine; and I know when I ought to keep in the -background. Besides, I admired him for it; for I knew that he loved -this girl, and that Joshua Marvel stood in his way. Regularly every -day I went to the docks to see if the Merry Andrew--Joshua Marvel's -ship--had arrived; and as good luck would have it, the ship came in -this very morning. When I learned that, I went back to my watch in the -street the gentleman is so mightily fond of. I knew that Joshua Marvel -wouldn't be able to get away from his ship directly it got into port; -and I guessed that it was more likely than not that he wouldn't let -his people at home know of his unexpected arrival. No; he would -surprise them. It would be so pleasant on Christmas-eve to break in -upon them suddenly, and be petted and kissed, especially by one"-- - -"The devil take you!" cried Solomon Fewster fiercely, grasping the -table with such force that it trembled with the trembling of his hand. -"Tell your story without preaching, can't you?" - -"I'll try, master. I hung about the street the whole day, eating -nothing, and drinking very little. I might have been frozen, if my -purpose hadn't kept me warm. I didn't grumble because I had to wait. I -wanted him to come at night, and he came when I wanted. It isn't much -more than an hour ago"--here he dropped his voice to a whisper--"that -I saw a sailor turn the corner of the street where pretty Ellen Taylor -lives. He had an accordion under his arm, and a cage in his hand -covered with a blue pocket-handkerchief; and he stopped two or three -times to look at the houses, and nodded to them as if he was wishing -them a merry Christmas. I followed him, like a cat, and opened my -knife. He was singing--I couldn't catch the words--and to judge from -that and from the way he walked, I should say he was as happy a man as -any in London. He never once looked behind him; if he had, I would -have struck him down. He stopped before the house where his father and -mother lived, and stooped to the keyhole and listened. I was close -upon him--waiting! If he hadn't been so much occupied, he might have -smelt me at his back. But it wouldn't have saved him if he had seen -me; he would only have been struck down the sooner. While he was -listening at the keyhole, he laughed quietly, enjoying the surprise he -was going to give his people. When he had his laugh out, he knocked at -the door. Presently I heard a woman's voice inside the house ask, -'Who's there?' 'It's Josh,' said my man. I heard a cry of pleasure; -and as the door was being unfastened, I raised my knife, and stabbed -him in the back." - -"And killed him?" cried Solomon Fewster involuntarily. - -"I don't know. He fell; and as I ran off, I caught a glimpse of a -woman kneeling by him in the snow, and raising his head to her bosom." - -Solomon Fewster groaned. Without another word he opened the door by -which the Lascar had entered, and walked into the open air. The -snow-fall had ceased, and the stars were shining. The moon, too, had -risen, and clouds of light and deep shade were gliding swiftly across -it, while everchanging shadows were playing on the snow. In the -distance he heard the waits; they were a long way off, and the strains -of music fell upon his ears chastened and mellowed. He was in danger; -he had allied himself with this man, who made so light of the shedding -of blood; and he had been made a confederate in perhaps a murder. Not -that he had any compunction; not that he had any pity. Nothing would -have rejoiced him more than to have heard that Joshua had been killed -in a mutiny, had been wrecked, or had lost his life on sea or on land -by any means, so that he was not implicated in it. The feelings that -disturbed him now were purely selfish; he had to save himself from -suspicion, supposing any discovery were made. Perhaps it would be -best, after all, to speak plainly to the Lascar. There were no -witnesses, and it did not matter much what he said. If Joshua were -dead, the Lascar must be got rid of at any sacrifice of money. Thus -resolving, he returned to the room. The Lascar was sitting patiently -before the fire, and did not even raise his eyes as Mr. Fewster -entered. "He did not know what I went out for," thought Mr. Fewster. -"I might have gone for a policeman, and if I had brought one in, he -would have declared I was his accomplice." - -"Has it left off snowing, master?" asked the Lascar. - -"Yes." - -"Then it wouldn't be quite safe for me to go away to-night--safe for -you, I mean." - -"You can stop here to-night." - -"Thank you, master. Have I done well?" - -"It doesn't matter whether I say you have done well or ill; so, to -save argument, suppose I say you have done well. Now, attend. If what -you have done to-night should turn out to be"-- - -"Say murder, master," said the Lascar, seeing that Mr. Fewster -hesitated to speak plainly. "I don't mind." - -"If it should turn out to be that, have you considered that you are in -danger?" - -"I haven't thought of it, master, and that's a fact. But if I am in -danger, so are you." - -"That may or may not be. The only danger I am in is from what you -might say; and, supposing I had spoken to you only once in my life, -you would be free to say any thing of me, or of any one else, for that -matter. What you might say wouldn't be evidence, you know." - -"True, master: but, at all events, I could ruin your chances with -pretty Ellen Taylor." - -"What satisfaction would that be to you?" - -"Every satisfaction," said the Lascar with a kindling eye. "If any one -hurts me, I hurt him." - -"As you have hurt Joshua Marvel, because he hurt you." - -"And because I am in your service," said the Lascar doggedly. "Don't -forget that, please; I don't intend to forget it. If this is to be a -fair argument, let it be fair. If it is to be acting, let it be -acting. What I have done to-night is half for me and half for you: -equal shares." - -"I told you once that I would have no partnerships," said Mr. Fewster -in a steady voice, "and I will have none; but I don't mind coming to a -distinct understanding. If what you have done to-night should turn out -at its worst"-- - -"Or its best," interrupted the Lascar sneeringly. - -"It will not be safe for you to remain in the country. To please you, -I will say it will not be safe for you or for me." - -"Ah!" exclaimed the Lascar thoughtfully. "I think I understand you. -Well, in that case there are plenty of countries I shouldn't mind -going to; or I might go aboard ship again. How much will you give me?" - -"A hundred pounds." - -"Agreed, master,--if it should turn out at its worst, as you say. But -if it does not, I stay, mind you." - -"That is your affair." - -"As much yours as mine, master," said the Lascar with determination. - -"What makes you harp upon that, you dog?" exclaimed Mr. Fewster, -firing up. - -"Necessity," replied the Lascar coolly. He liked the life of indolence -he had been leading, and he did not intend to relinquish his hold of -Solomon Fewster. "I have no money, and no means of living. You have -acted fairly to me up to now, and you must continue to do so. You can -afford it, that's certain. I know what it is you fear. You fear that -it should be known that I am in your service. Well, no one shall know -it from me; and I will never come here again. You know where I stay. -What you have to give me, leave there for me; and when you want me, -send for me. I am your dog, ready to do your bidding. I can't speak -fairer. There's no occasion for any more palaver. I'm tired and -sleepy; I can sleep here, before the fire." He stretched himself on -the ground by the side of the fire. "Silence gives consent, they say. -If you don't speak, I shall understand that the affair is settled. You -wanted a distinct understanding, you know." - -He closed his eyes, and listened for the answer. The answer came--in -silence; for Solomon Fewster spoke not another word that night. The -Lascar, made drowsy by the glare from the fire, courted sleep; and it -came to him, as it comes to better men. And Solomon Fewster sat, -looking down upon the form of the man who could blast his good name by -a word, and thought--What? Once during the night the Lascar awoke with -a shiver. The fire had gone out; but Solomon Fewster was still sitting -at the table with a haggard look upon his face, as if he had suddenly -grown old. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. -THE RIVALRY OF LOVE. - - -A silence almost like the silence of the grave reigned in the house of -the Marvels. If, by some chance, a blind man had found his way there, -he might reasonably have wondered whether it was tenanted by ghosts or -human beings. The persons in the house walked about it with such a -ghostly motion that scarcely a footfall could be heard. The doors were -opened and shut as tenderly as if wounds were being handled, and as if -rough treatment would cause them to cry out with pain. The very voices -were hushed and low, and what was said was said in whispers. The blow -by which Joshua had been struck down was a severe one, and wounded -many besides himself. Notwithstanding Minnie's efforts, Joshua had -lost a great deal of blood, and was laid on a sick-bed for many weeks. -For a long time the doctor feared for his life; but good nursing and a -strong constitution were in his favor. - -"But mind you, Mrs. Marvel," the doctor had said, half-a-dozen times, -"nothing _would_ have saved him--not even his constitution, and -it's a good one; not even the nursing he has had, and no man ever had -better--nothing _would_ have saved him if Miss Kindred had not behaved -like a heroine. You may thank that young lady for saving your son's -life. If she hadn't stopped the flow of blood with her lips, all the -doctors in London couldn't have kept him in the world for twenty-four -hours." - -When Minnie was told of this, she went to her room and locked herself -in. - -"I have saved him!" she said to herself, weeping tears of delicious -joy. "I have saved his life! Oh, what happiness! I could die now, I am -so happy!" - -It might have been better for her if she had died then with those -words upon her lips. - -During the time that Joshua was in the greatest danger, Mrs. Marvel -would allow no one but herself to sit up with him at night. She had a -bed made up on the floor, and rested there, taking, indeed, but little -sleep, until Joshua was out of danger. Minnie, especially, had pleaded -hard to be allowed to sit up with her; but Mrs. Marvel was firm. -Although she would not have confessed it even to herself, she was -jealous of the girl's solicitude; and once expressed herself angrily -because Minnie had offered to give Joshua his medicine. Afterwards, -seeing Minnie in tears, Mrs. Marvel kissed her and begged her pardon -in a gentle, motherly way, which made Minnie cry the more. Mrs. Marvel -found Minnie more difficult to manage than Ellen. Ellen was -wonderfully undemonstrative and wonderfully obedient. And besides, -Ellen was never in the way when she was not wanted, and was always at -hand the instant she was required. There was an instinctive sympathy -between Mrs. Marvel and Ellen which did not exist between Mrs. Marvel -and Minnie. The good mother loved both the girls, but she loved Ellen -like a daughter. In the second week of Joshua's illness a circumstance -occurred which, for a short time, occasioned Mrs. Marvel much anxious -thought. Joshua being more feverish than usual--for three weeks he was -delirious, and did not know where he was, or who were tending him--the -girls hovered about the room (in their anxiety to be of some -assistance) rather later than Mrs. Marvel generally allowed them. - -"Go to bed, girls," said Mrs. Marvel. - -Ellen rose obediently, and kissing Mrs. Marvel, and asking to be -called if Mrs. Marvel wanted assistance in the night, went softly out -of the room. But Minnie lingered behind, and with a yearning, wistful -look at Mrs. Marvel, begged, in the softest of whispers, to be allowed -to sit up with her. - -"No, child," said Mrs. Marvel, "I can't think of it. You would be of -no use to me to-morrow if you were to sit up to-night." - -"Oh, yes, I should!" said Minnie, still pleading; "you don't know what -a strong girl I am. Do let me stop with you! Do let me think that I -can do something to help you!" - -"You can do a great deal if you obey me, Minnie; and you do assist me -very much, my dear; but I will not let you sit up to-night. Hush!" For -here Joshua said something aloud, and murmured feverishly in his -sleep. When he was quiet, Mrs. Marvel said, "Don't distress me, dear -Minnie; go to bed, like a good girl." - -Minnie, with deep sighs, went to the bedside to look at Joshua and to -bid him a silent goodnight--Mrs. Marvel regarding her jealously the -while--and then crept out of the room in tears. The girls being gone, -Mrs. Marvel felt more contented. She sat down by her son's bedside, -and, with that lightness of touch which nothing but a mother's pure -love or that of a wife can impart, smoothed the bed-coverings, and -brushed the hair from Joshua's eyes. At about eleven o'clock the -handle of the door was gently turned, and Mr. Marvel entered. He had -no boots on, and she had not heard him come up from the kitchen. -Clasping his wife's hand, he leaned over the bed to catch a glimpse of -Joshua's face. - -"He is better to-night, George," she said; "he is getting along -nicely. The doctor said to-day that he will soon be sensible." - -George Marvel nodded, and put his lips to his wife's cheek. - -"You must be very tired, Maggie." - -She replied by a bright smile. - -"Shall I sit up for an hour while you lie down?" - -"Yes, father," knowing it would please him. "Have you had supper?" - -A nod. - -"And your beer?" - -Another nod. - -"And your pipe?" - -"Yes; Ellen got every thing ready nicely. She is like you were when -you were a girl, Maggie." - -"Better than me, father." - -"That's not possible, wife." Ah! how her heart fluttered as he said -the word! She trembled in his arms like a girl. "Now lie down; I'll -wake you in an hour." - -She had but to close her eyes--being satisfied that her darling son -was in good hands--and she was asleep. George Marvel watched for an -hour, and perhaps a little longer, and then touched his wife, who was -instantly awake. Alone again, Mrs. Marvel resumed her loving vigil. -Not a sound was to be heard except the occasional prattle of Joshua, -now of Dan and the birds, now of "father" and "mother," now of Ellen, -now of Minnie and her shell. Mrs. Marvel had already learned, through -those unconscious confessions, that her son's heart was as tender and -as good as it had been before he had started in life for himself. A -few minutes after the church-clock had struck two, Mrs. Marvel fancied -she heard a soft breathing, outside the bedroom-door. She listened -intently, thinking she must have been deceived; but no--the soft -breathing, as of some one asleep, came distinctly to her ears. She -went to the door and opened it, and, lying at the foot of the stairs -in the narrow passage, she discovered Minnie, in her night-dress, fast -asleep. The girl had evidently kept awake until Ellen and Sarah were -asleep, and had then stolen down stairs, and had sat outside the door -of the sick-room until she had been overpowered by fatigue. Mrs. -Marvel stooped over the sleeping girl and whispered,-- - -"Minnie!" - -The sound of her name, chiming in with some dreaming fancy, brought a -happy smile to the girl's lips, and she answered,-- - -"Yes, Joshua!" - -A look of pain passed into Mrs. Marvel's face; she knelt by Minnie's -side, and gently raising the girl's head, she whispered again,-- - -"Minnie! You'll catch your death of cold lying here." - -Minnie, still sleeping, encircled Mrs. Marvel's neck with her arms, -and murmured, as she nestled close to the anxious mother's breast,-- - -"Joshua! Love me! Love me, Joshua!" - -Mrs. Marvel trembled as she looked upon the girl's fair face, made -fairer by the happy smile playing about the lips, and she felt a -sudden chill at her heart. - -"Oh, my poor Minnie!" she said beneath her breath. "Oh, my poor, poor -Minnie!" - -Then by a strong effort, she raised the girl, and so awoke her. - -Before Minnie had time to recover full consciousness, her name, -uttered by Joshua in his fevered sleep, fell upon her ears. With a -glad cry she sprang from Mrs. Marvel's arms into the sick-room; but -Mrs. Marvel stepped swiftly before her, and taking her two hands -prisoner, said, in a voice which, although very low, was stern and -decided, "I am seriously angry with you, Minnie." - -The sudden movements, the light in the room, and, above all, Mrs. -Marvel's stern voice, restored Minnie to her senses. She dropped her -head, and a hot blush of shame stole over her neck and face, while the -hands which Mrs. Marvel held turned cold as ice. All Mrs. Marvel's -sternness was gone, and pity only remained. - -"Forgive me," Minnie pleaded. - -"I do, child," said Mrs. Marvel, more agitated than Minnie was. "I was -obliged to speak sternly, or I should not have been able to wake you. -Go to bed now, and be more obedient for the future." - -Minnie walked humbly into the passage, whither Mrs. Marvel followed -her. - -"Ah, not like that!" sighed Minnie, as Mrs. Marvel turned to enter the -room. "Not like that! Kiss me, and say again that you forgive me." - -And Mrs. Marvel, distressed and pitiful, kissed Minnie, who clung to -her for a few moments, sobbing quietly, and then crept to bed. - - -But who had struck the blow? Who was it that, waiting with malicious -cunning until Joshua's foot was on the threshold of the home where so -many loving hearts were eager to welcome him, had foully struck him -down? Susan was the only one who had any suspicion; but she did not -mention it, for she had not seen the Lascar for many months. When -Minnie was questioned, she declared that she saw no one in the street. -A neighbor asked why one of the men in the house did not look for -footsteps in the snow and follow up the track. They could not tell why -they had not done so; it would have been the right thing to do, -undoubtedly, but it had not occurred to them. When Joshua was -sufficiently recovered, he could not assist them. He was examined and -cross-examined closely. Did he suspect any of the sailors? No; he was -good friends with every person on board; was even a favorite with the -captain and officers. Ah! perhaps it sprang from that, they said; one -of his mates might have been jealous of him. No; he was certain not -one of them was. His own opinion was that he had been stabbed by a -thief who wanted to rob him. But there! what was the use of bothering -about it? Here he was, getting well and strong again, when it might -have been so much worse. Thank God, in a few weeks he would be as well -as ever! The day that Joshua was out of danger, the doctor told him -that his life had been saved by Minnie. - -"In what way, sir?" asked Joshua. - -"Don't you remember that, when you were struck"--commenced the doctor. -But Joshua interrupted him by saying that he remembered nothing from -that moment. - -"I was walking along, too much occupied with the happiness of coming -home to think of any thing else. I remember looking at the houses in -the street, and stopping before our house. I heard voices inside, or I -thought I did. Indeed, it might have been fancy. I stooped to listen, -and then knocked. Some one asked--ah, now I remember! It was Minnie's -voice asking who was there. Just as I answered, a dizziness came over -me; I did not even know that I was struck." - -"As you answered," said the doctor, taking up the narrative where -Joshua dropped it, "Minnie opened the door. She saw you falling, and -saw blood flowing from your neck. She threw herself by your side, and -put her lips to the wound, and pressed so as to cause the blood to -flow less freely. I honestly believe that if she had not done that, -your life would not have been saved." - -Joshua did not pursue the conversation, and the doctor did not recur -to the subject again. The following afternoon Joshua said to his -mother,-- - -"Mother, I want to speak to Minnie." - -Mrs. Marvel, a little uneasily, went for Minnie, who came and sat by -Joshua's bed. - -"Are you better, Joshua?" asked the girl. - -"Yes, dear Minnie," answered Joshua. - -They spoke in whispers. Joshua put out his big hand, and Minnie -clasped it. - -"Your hand is quite cold, Minnie." Minnie, indeed, was very agitated. -"I owe you my life, dear Minnie, and I want to thank you for it. It -almost seems to me, after what I have been told, as if my life -belonged to you. Thank you, dear little Minnie--you used to like me to -call you that!--thank you a thousand thousand times. I shall never be -able to repay you!" - -"I don't want payment, Joshua," said Minnie, when the wild beating of -her heart was subdued. "It brought its own payment with it. It is, and -ever will be, my sweetest remembrance. O Joshua! as the greatest -unhappiness that ever could occur to me would be"--(to lose you, she -was about to say, but she checked the words in time)--"to know that -you would not recover, so the greatest happiness that I have ever -experienced is to think that I have done you some little service." - -"Little service! The greatest service, the most devoted action that -woman could do to man! Perhaps--who knows?--one day I may be able to -repay you in my own way." As if those words were not sufficient for -her, who would have given her life for his. "Stoop down Minnie!" She -inclined her head to the pillow. "Little Minnie, little Minnie!" he -whispered tenderly, and he placed his lips to her cheek. "Thank you -for your devotion." - -It was fortunate for Minnie that it was dusk, and that her back was -towards Mrs. Marvel, or the good mother would have had further cause -for anxiety and uneasiness in Minnie's trembling form and flushed -face. As it was, there was a long silence in the room; and Mrs. -Marvel, approaching softly to the bed to see if Joshua was asleep, -broke the happy reverie into which Minnie had fallen. - -Solomon Fewster came to the house every day to inquire after Joshua, -and went away every day with content in his face and despair in his -heart. If ever a man played a double part, he played it during that -time. "If he would but die!" he thought many and many a time. "If -mortification would set in, or erysipelas, or something that would -kill him!" And "I am truly happy to hear it," he said, many and many a -time, to Mrs. Marvel, as in answer to his inquiries she told him that -Joshua was improving rapidly. "I have brought a little jelly for him," -which Mrs. Marvel received thankfully. At other times he would bring a -chicken or some other delicacy to tempt Joshua's appetite, and would -walk from the house with earnest wishes that what he left would choke -the invalid. "I shall never forget Mr. Fewster's kindness," said Mrs. -Marvel. "I feel quite angry with myself; for I did not give him credit -for so much good feeling. But it is just in such times as these that a -man shows the real goodness of his heart." And Mr. Fewster met with -his reward immediately; for they were all grateful to him for his -attention to Joshua. Mr. Marvel always had a hearty word for him, -Minnie always a bright look, Ellen always a kind welcome now. But it -was both sweet and bitter to him. "Ellen looks kindly upon me," he -thought, and thought truly, "because I profess myself kind to Joshua. -Will it ever be otherwise? Yes; if money can make it so, it shall be. -And money can do much." - -Yes, money can do much; but it cannot buy love, although it is often -paid for it. - -The most delicious three months of Joshua's life dated from the day on -which the doctor declared him to be out of danger. He lived in an -atmosphere of love. Loving hearts, loving hands, loving looks, loving -thoughts, surrounded him. Is it better to have those than to be great -and rich and powerful? Too modest for ambition are such blessings. Yet -are they the sweetest, the holiest attributes of life. Of life, which -is nothing without pleasures which cost money. Of life, which is not -worth the living without fine linen and rich food. Of life, which is -useless without the restless striving, the absorbing ambition, which -make up the sum of human progress. Of Life, the Paradox! - -Something which has fallen out of its proper place may be motioned -here. When Joshua was carried into the house on that memorable -Christmas night, two things that had fallen from his hands were picked -up from the snow and carried in after him. On of these was his -accordion, the other was a white cockatoo in a cage, which Joshua had -brought home from the South Seas. Whether it was that the cockatoo was -overwhelmed at finding itself in a strange land, or that it deemed it -necessary to be silent in the distressing circumstances of the case, -it certainly behaved itself in a most exemplary manner, and gave no -indication that it possessed a tongue. The cockatoo was taken to Dan's -house, which was but a very few doors from Joshua's, and two or three -days afterwards Dan was startled by hearing his name called in a -strange loud voice. He looked up at Ellen, and asked if she had -spoken. She had just time to say "No" when _her_ name was called in -the same strange loud voice. - -"Why, it's the cockatoo!" exclaimed Dan. - -Sure enough, it was the cockatoo, which, now that its tongue was -loosened, made as much use of it as a woman could have done. Its stock -of language was not large, consisting only of a shrill "Dan!" a shrill -"Dan and Jo!" a shrill "Ellen!" a shrill "Minnie!" and a softer -articulation of "Bread-and-cheese and kisses! and kisses! and kisses!" -winding up with a volley of kisses, which it continued until it was -completely out of breath. No stronger proof of Joshua's attachment -could have been received by Dan and Ellen. Dan was much affected by -it. - -"You see how he was thinking of us all the time he was away," he said -to Ellen, with tears in his eyes. "What shall I do if he dies!" - -But Joshua did not die, and it was not very long afterwards that Dan -was sitting in his friend's bedroom, surrounded by his birds as usual. -It was like the old time come over again. Here they were, man and man, -talking often as if they were boys. So much had to be told! The loss -of Dan's parents, Dan entering into business, and how they all came to -be living together. "Wonderful, wonderful!" said Joshua, again and -again. "Like a story in a book." - -"Just what I said," said Dan; "like a romance." - -Who should come to the house one day but the captain of Joshua's ship. -the "Merry Andrew"? The part he plays in this story is a small one, -but eventful enough in all conscience. He was a shrewd man of business -and a good officer. It was to his interest to have good men about him; -for he was the principal owner of the ship, and he was remarkably -sensible in any matter affecting his interests. He had heard of what -had occurred to Joshua, and he was very sorry for it, because he had -been so satisfied with Joshua's conduct on board his ship, that he had -determined to make the young sailor his third mate on the next voyage. -Therein he showed his eccentricity; most other captains would have -chosen a man who had already filled that position satisfactorily. But -Captain Liddle liked to judge for himself, and Joshua had found favor -in his eyes. The young sailor was steady and attentive, and had made -some progress in the study of navigation. There was one especial -reason why Captain Liddle wanted steady men with him on his next -voyage. He was about to get married, and he was going to take his -young wife with him. There was great excitement in the house when -Captain Liddle announced himself. Joshua, who was in bed, wanted to -rise, but Captain Liddle would not allow him. - -"Lie easy, lie easy, Marvel," he said: "you'll get better all the -sooner." - -"I hoped to come with you, sir, on your next voyage," said Joshua. - -"Well, I had some thought of that myself," said Captain Liddle. - -"Do you go out soon, sir?" - -"Not for three months, Marvel; perhaps not for four. The ship's -undergoing a thorough overhauling. She'll have a precious freight in -her next trip." - -"What loading, sir?" - -Captain Liddle's eyes twinkled. "Female. Lie easy, lie easy, Marvel;" -for Joshua had given another start. "Mrs. Captain Liddle. I shall be -married soon, and my wife goes out with me." - -Joshua murmured respectful congratulations. - -"Thank you, thank you, Marvel. Now, I'll tell you what I have come -especially for. First, though, how long before you are well?" - -"I am well now, sir." - -"Strong, I mean; able to get about and do your work like a man." - -"Not for two months, I am afraid, sir." - -"That will do. Now, then. You get strong in two months, and you shall -go out with me in my next trip as third mate of the 'Merry Andrew.' -Lie easy, lie easy, Marvel. What do you say to it, eh?" - -"Say to it, sir! O"-- - -"Lie easy, lie easy, my lad. When you get strong come to the ship, and -write a few lines soon telling me how strong you are getting. Mrs. -Marvel, your son is a good sailor, and will make a good officer. And -this is Dan, that you told me of once? A good head; but not so strong -in the legs as Marvel, eh?" - -"No, sir," said Dan with a bright smile, for he was overjoyed at -Joshua's good fortune; "but it wouldn't do for all of us to be strong -sir; consider the doctors." - -"Why, here is a ship, ropes and sails and all! And birds!" - -Obedient to Dan's signal, the sailor-birds flew up the ropes, and -stood on the slender cross-trees, as proud as if they had passed their -lives in the service. - -"Good--good!" said Captain Liddle. "For sale, eh?" - -"No; they are not mine sir; they belong to an old sailor." - -"Very proper. Ah, young lady," to Minnie, who had been in the room, -but in the background, during the captain's visit; "and what do you -think of the sea?" - -"If I had been a man, sir," said Minnie modestly and quietly, "I -should like to have been a sailor." - -"Very proper--very proper. Good-day, Marvel. Get strong as quickly as -you can. You'll have to superintend cargo." - -Mr. Marvel, coming home at night, was told the good news before he had -time to take the comforter from his neck. He ran up stairs at once to -his son's room. "A sailor first, and then a captain," he exclaimed, -recalling Joshua's words when he first announced his wish. "Do you -remember, Josh? - -"Yes, father, yes," said Joshua eagerly. - -"It's better than being a wood-turner, Josh," said George Marvel -triumphantly. - -"I should think so, indeed. You'll see!" - -"There, Maggie!" observed Mr. Marvel to his wife later on in the -evening. "What did I tell you? And you was against it all the while, -and wanted him to be a wood-turner. He'll be a captain before he's -thirty." - -"He is spared, I hope, for great things." said Mrs. Marvel meekly; -"and to be a blessing to us all." - -That same night, Dan and Joshua and Ellen spent some very happy hours -together. Minnie was with Susan attending her father, so that the -three were undisturbed. Mrs. Marvel opened the door once; but seeing -the group, and observing how engrossed they were, she shut it softly, -and went down again into the kitchen. Once, also, George Marvel was -going out of the kitchen when his wife called to to him,-- - -"Where are you going, father?" - -"To Joshua's room." - -"Don't go, George. Come and sit down; I want to speak to you." - -Mr. Marvel resumed his seat, and Mrs. Marvel refilled his pipe and -handed it to him, with a light, "There! smoke your pipe and don't be -so restless." - -He took a few whiffs, and asked who was with Joshua. - -"Ellen and Dan; and they are very happy and comfortable. I peeped in -once, and I wouldn't disturb them." - -"Oh!" said Mr. Marvel reflectively dwelling lengthily upon that -smallest of words. - -"I have reasons, George," said Mrs. Marvel quietly. "I never saw Ellen -look so happy and pretty as she looks tonight." - -Mr. Marvel nodded two or three times with an expression of -satisfaction. "Do you think, mother," he commenced; and then he -paused, and repeated, "Do you think, mother, that"--and then he paused -again, as if he had said enough to make his meaning clear. - -"Yes, I do, George," said Mrs. Marvel. "I had my doubts, but now I -really think it will be so." - -"That will be a real good thing;" rubbing his hands. "Here's hoping -so!" and he drank a full glass of beer to his mysterious toast. - -What was going on up stairs that the wood-turner and his wife were -loath to interrupt? Merely a recalling of old reminiscences and a -closer drawing together of three hearts, which might have been one, -for the undivided affection for each other with which they were -filled. - -"Thinking of then, when every thing before us was so uncertain, and of -now, when every thing before us is so bright and clear," said Joshua, -"makes me almost believe that our ways are shaped for us, and that, if -we strive to do our duty, our reward is certain." - -"It is too deep a question for us, Jo," said Dan; "so many -considerations spring out of it. As to whether every good man is -happy. As to whether every man who strives to do right is spared pain -and misery. At all events, it is certain that the very best thing to -do is to do what is right, and to be straightforward and honest. It is -not too often done, I am afraid. I haven't seen any thing of the -world, but it strikes me that that is not the way of it." - -"If ever I am captain of a ship--and I may be, Dan--it looks -promising"-- - -"That it does, Jo." - -"You shall come with me a voyage. I will have every thing snug for -you; hammock on deck the same as that day we spent with the Old -Sailor--ah, what a day was that!" - -"I can recall every moment of it; from the night before, when Ellen -stood at the window watching the rain, and my waking up in the morning -waiting for you to come--oh, so anxiously! And the flowers, and the -birds--the poor birds!--and the breakfast, and the ride! I tell you -what, Jo, stories could be made out of these things. But the day -wouldn't have been the day it was if Ellen had not been with us." - -Ellen smiled, and her eyes sparkled. - -"Every thing connected with it is so vivid to my mind just now," said -Joshua, "that it only wants one thing to make it complete; and that is -for Ellen to sing 'Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses,' as she sang it in the -Old Sailor's cabin." - -Ellen, in a low voice, sang the song; and they were silent for a long -while, musing happily. Then Joshua made a remark that his pillow was -not nicely arranged, and Ellen smoothed it for him. Her arm -necessarily was round his neck for a moment--only for a moment by her -own will; for when she would have withdrawn it, Joshua held it there, -and she, with impulse as pure as pure heart and mind could make it, -allowed it to remain. What wonder that a silence of longer duration -followed? - -Ah! if a magic spell had fallen upon them then, a spell that would -have transfixed them and made their happiness eternal! - -Not one of them knew how long that blissful trance lasted. It was -broken by the slightest sound--it might have been the opening of a -door, or even the light tread of our old friend the tortoise-shell -cat--but whatever the sound was, the trance was at an end, and they -were all awake again. Ellen withdrew her arm, and, with downcast eyes, -hurriedly left the room. Joshua turned to Dan, and holding out his -hand, said, "Dan, take my hand, and say, Brother Jo." - -"I do. Brother Jo!" - -"That's good; isn't it, Dan?" - -"Yes, Jo." - -"Brothers more than in heart, Dan, as we have always been. But -Brothers really and truly, if Ellen says yes." - -"Ellen loves you, Jo. You have but to ask." He paused for a little -while before he spoke again. "There is something in my mind that it is -right you should know. It is the only thing I have ever kept from you; -but now, since you have told me about yourself and Ellen"-- - -"Did you ever doubt it, Dan?" - -"I wasn't certain, Jo. You have removed a great weight from my heart. -It seems strange that now, when I see the almost certain prospect of -your future being as bright as we used to hope it would be--it seems -strange that I cannot say I am happy. Yet one thing would make me so -perfectly." - -"There is no cloud between you and me, Dan?" - -"None--nor ever will be, brother of my heart. But a great hope, -shadowed by a great fear, has entered into my soul--a hope which -fulfilled, would make earth heaven for me. Is it too precious a thing -to pray for? It seems so to me. I tremble as I think of it. But if it -is not to be, I hope I shall soon die." - -"Dan!" cried Joshua in alarm, for Dan's last words were like a cry of -agony. - -"Haven't you seen it, Jo? Haven't you suspected it? I love her so -that, if I knew she were lost to me, I scarcely think I could live. I -love her so that, if she were lost to me, some stronger motive, some -stronger feeling than any I can now think of; would have to animate me -to make my future less black than the blackest night." - -"You mean Minnie, Dan?" - -"Yes; she is my light. Ah, Jo! How I love her! I have never spoken of -it till now; I have never dared to breathe it. And now that I speak of -it for the first time, it frightens me." - -"Nay, Dan, take courage. You are frightened by shadows." - -"If I could think so!" mused Dan in a less agitated voice. "What can -I, a cripple, offer her? Love? Yes, I can offer her that, pure and -undefiled. Nothing more--nothing more! Keep my secret, Jo." - -"Yes, Dan," said Joshua sadly. - -"If all should come right in the end, Jo! You and Ellen, and me and -Minnie!" - -He trembled, and burying his face in his hands, thought of the happy -night when the Old Sailor traced Joshua's course on the map, and when -Minnie's arm was round his neck and her cheek had touched his. How -many times had he thought of those few blissful moments, and what balm -and comfort had the memory brought him! - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. -SUNSHINE AND CLOUD. - - -"George," said Mrs. Marvel to her husband one night, when they were -alone in their room, "what has come over Mr. Kindred? He is quite -changed." - -"I've noticed it too, mother," said Mr. Marvel, "but I haven't thought -of it much, because, to tell you the truth, I don't believe he is -quite right here"--touching his forehead. - -Mrs. Marvel had not mentioned to any one--not even to her husband--how -Minnie had distressed her during Joshua's illness. The girl had not -asked her to keep silence upon the subject; indeed, no word had passed -between them about it; but Mrs. Marvel judged that it would be best -for Minnie's sake, and for Joshua's also, to let the matter rest. -Since the night when Mrs. Marvel had discovered Minnie lying asleep at -Joshua's door, the girl had given her no further cause for -displeasure. Mrs. Marvel's fears were dispelled; for Minnie showed -nothing more than a friendly interest in Joshua's recovery. But if the -good mother had been less openly observant of Minnie's every look and -action, her fears would have grown stronger. For after the interview -between Joshua and Minnie, when Joshua had thanked her and kissed her -her, Mrs. Marvel set herself the task of closely observing Minnie's -conduct towards Joshua. And Minnie discovered it, and so behaved -herself that Mrs. Marvel was thrown completely off her guard. Minnie -displayed a carelessness and an indifference concerning Joshua's -health, at which Mrs. Marvel at any other time would have been hurt; -but now she was silently grateful, in the belief that her fears were -groundless. - -Joshua was better. With the exception of a scar upon his neck, where -the Lascar had stabbed him, he was as well and strong as ever he had -been. He had grown into a fine handsome man; and the affectionate -disposition which had characterized him as a boy seemed to have become -stronger with his strength. The affection that existed between him and -Dan was unchanged and unchangeable. He took as much delight in the -birds as ever he had done; and, notwithstanding that he and Dan were -men now, with deepened passions and stronger aspirations, their hearts -were as tender to each other as in the younger days of their -friendship, when they mingled their tears together over the death of -Golden Cloud. - -Every thing was bright before them. Dan had not spoken to Minnie of -his love for her; but he was made happy by a gradual change in her -behavior towards him. She grew more and more affectionate, spoke -softly to him, looked kindly at him, and did not repulse the little -tender advances he dared to make to her now and then. - -"When you are gone to sea, Jo," he said to Joshua in the course of a -conversation in which, in the fulness of his joy at Minnie's kindness, -he had unbosomed himself to his friend, "I shall speak to her, and -tell her I love her." He spoke very slowly, and his eyes were toward -the ground; it was so sacred a subject with him, that his voice -trembled when he spoke of it. "Once on a time, before I knew her, Jo, -you, and you alone, filled my heart; but I had no idea then of a man's -passions and a man's fears. I think I should have disbelieved any -person then who told me that you would have a rival in my heart. But -you have, Jo; although you are not less loved for all that." - -"I understand you, Dan, and am content. I am proud of your love. If I -were to lose it, the sweetness would go out of life." - -"So it would be with me, Jo; but you can never lose it--never, never. -I think you and I know what love is. In the midst of all our trouble -when you first went away--trouble that came upon us so suddenly that I -began to be frightened of it--I found consolation in thinking of our -love for each other. Misfortunes came. Never mind, I thought; Joshua -loves me. Mother died, father died; we were left penniless; and I -thought of you and was comforted. You had grown so in my heart--like -the roots of a tree, Jo--that if I had ceased to love you, my heart -would have ceased to beat. It is the same now; but Minnie is in my -heart side by side with you. I shall tell her, you know, by and by. By -and by," he repeated softly. "The thought of it is like heaven to me; -for I have begun to hope." - -It was on that same afternoon that Ellen was sitting in her bedroom -looking at her face in the looking-glass. She was fair; and she knew -it, and was proud of it. But it was not vanity that caused her to sit, -with her chin upon her hands, looking into the glass. Of a very modest -type a womanhood was Ellen; not a heroine of the Joan-of-Arc order, -who, with all her false glitter about her, would have been a woman -after very few men's hearts. Ellen was of the quiet order of women, of -whom there are thousands growing up in happy English homes, thank -Heaven! and who are blessed and contented and happy, notwithstanding -their sisters' unwomanly cries about woman's rights. May English women -like Ellen, modest and constant and loving, increase and multiply with -every succeeding year! Ellen was thinking of herself a little, as she -looked into the glass, and of Joshua a great deal. He had not spoken -to her yet; but he would soon, she knew. And as she sat and saw her -pretty face looking at her, whose step but Joshua's should she hear -coming, up the stairs? He went into the adjoining room--Dan's room; -and she heard him moving about, and--yes; singing! Singing what? Why, -"Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses." The heroine's name in the song is Kate; -but Joshua sang,-- - - - "I said to Nell, my darling wife, - In whom my whole life's bliss is, - 'What have you got for dinner, Nell?' - 'Why, bread-and-cheese and kisses!'" - - -He said to _Nell_, his darling wife! The happy tears ran down Ellen's -face; but they were soon dried; and Ellen kept very quiet, fearing -that Joshua might hear her move. But Joshua went down stairs singing; -and then Ellen smiled at herself in the glass, and peeped at herself -through her fingers; and it wasn't an ugly picture to look at, if any -one had been there to see. - -It was all settled without a word passing between them. I don't -believe there ever was such another courtship. They were sitting in -Mrs. Marvel's kitchen only four of them--father, mother, Ellen, and -Joshua. It really looked like a conspiracy that no other person came -into the kitchen that night; but there they were, conspiracy or no -conspiracy. There was Mrs. Marvel, knitting a pair of stockings for -Joshua; not getting along very fast with them, it must be confessed: -for her spectacles required a great deal of rubbing. And there was Mr. -Marvel, smoking his pipe, throwing many a furtive look in the -direction of Joshua and Ellen, who were sitting next to each other, -happy and silent. There is no record of how long they sat thus without -speaking; but suddenly, although not abruptly, Joshua put his arm -round Ellen's waist, and drew her closer to him. It was only a look -that passed between them; and then Joshua kissed Ellen's lips, and she -laid her head upon his breast. - -"Mother! father! look here!" - -Mrs. Marvel rose, all of a tremble, and laid her hand upon Ellen's -head, and kissed the young lovers. But Mr. Marvel behaved quite -differently. He cast one quick satisfied look at the two youngsters; -and then turned from them, and continued smoking as if nothing unusual -had occurred. - -"Well, father?" exclaimed Joshua, rather surprised at his father's -silence. - -"Well, Josh!" replied Mr. Marvel. - -"Do you see this?" asked Joshua, with his arm round Ellen's waist. - -Ellen, blushing rosy red, looked shyly at Mr. Marvel; but he looked -stolidly at her in return. - -"Yes; I see it, Josh," said Mr. Marvel, without any show of emotion. - -"And what do you say to it?" - -"What do I say to it, Josh?" replied Mr. Marvel with dignity. "Well, I -believe I'm your father; and, as such, I think you should ask me if I -was agreeable. I thought it proper to ask _my_ father, Josh. It isn't -because I'm a wood-turner"-- - -"No, no, father," interrupted Joshua; "I made a mistake. Ellen and I -thought"-- - -"Ellen and you thought," repeated Mr. Marvel. - -"That if you were agreeable"--continued Joshua. - -"That if I was agreeable," repeated Mr. Marvel. - -"And if you would please to give your consent"--said Joshua, purposely -prolonging his preamble. - -"And if I would be pleased to give my consent," repeated Mr. Marvel -with a slight chuckle of satisfaction. - -"That as we love each other very much, we would like to get married." - -"That's dutiful," said Mr. Marvel, laying down his pipe, oracularly. -"I'm only agreeable, Josh, because I am old, and because I am married. -As I said to mother the other night, when we was talking the matter -over--ah! you may stare; but we knew all about it long ago. Didn't we, -mother? Well, as I was saying to mother the other night, if I was a -young man, and mother wasn't in the way, I'd marry her myself and you -might go a-whistling. Shiver my timbers, my lass!" he cried, breaking -through the trammels of wood-turning, and becoming suddenly nautical, -"come and give me a kiss." - -Which Ellen did; and so the little comedy ended happily. Joshua, -having a right now to sit with his arm round Ellen's waist, availed -himself of it, you may be sure. If Ellen went out of the room, he had -also a right to go and inquire where she was going; and this, -curiously enough, happened four or five times during the night. If any -thing could have added to the happiness of Mr. Marvel--except being -any thing but a wood-turner, which, at his age, was out of the -question--it was this proceeding of Joshua's. Every time Joshua -followed Ellen out of the room; Mr. Marvel looked at his wife with -pleasure beaming from his eyes. - -"It puts me in mind of the time when I came a-courting you, mother," -he said. "How the world spins round! It might have been last night -when you and me were saying good-by at the street-door." - - -Mrs. Marvel had not spoken to her husband without cause of the change -that had taken place in Basil Kindred. A very remarkable change had -indeed taken place in him. A mistrustful expression had settled itself -upon his face, accompanied by a keen hungry watchfulness of all that -occurred around him. He gave short answers, and was snappish and -morose. Yet not a look, not a word, not a gesture escape his notice. -He did not avoid his friends; he rather courted their society. He -repelled their advances, but he sat among them, watching. Every sense -was employed in that all-absorbing task. What was it that he was -trying to discover? - -The change was so sudden. A few days ago he was as he had ever been -hitherto, frank and cheerful,--even gay sometimes. Now, all that was -gone. In place of frankness, mistrust; in place of cheerfulness, -gloom. Susan was the only one, with the exception of his daughter, to -whom he did not speak with a certain bitterness. His manner to all the -others was as though some sensitive chord in his nature had been -sorely wounded--as though all men were his foes--as though his faith -in what was good and noble in human nature had been violently -disturbed. - -See him now. He and Minnie have been sitting together for hours. He -has been strangely stern and strangely tender to her in turns, but she -is used to his wayward moods. He has detained her by his side all the -morning, upon one and another idle pretext; and she, as if wishful to -please him, has humored him, and been wonderfully submissive and -obedient. But once she had fallen into a reverie--not a happy one--and -he had broken it by asking her in a harsh voice what she was dreaming -about. She replied only by a startled look, and resumed her work, -which had been lying idly in her lap. Repentant of his harshness, he -turned his head from her to hide the sudden spasm which passed into -his face. - -"Are you ill?" she asked. - -"No, dear child." - -"In pain?" - -"No, dear child." - -Presently she put aside her work, and rose to leave the room. - -"Where are you going?" he asked in a strangely anxious voice. - -"To see Mrs. Marvel," was her answer. - -"Sit you down," he cried sternly. - -She hesitated and lingered by the door, beating the ground with her -foot irresolutely. Seeing that, he grasped her wrist firmly, and hurt -her without intending to do so. The muscles of her face quivered, but -not from the pain. - -"O Minnie, my child!" he cried; then, releasing her, "have I hurt -you?" - -"No," she answered in a hard voice. "Why do you not wish me to go to -Mrs. Marvel's house? You have forbidden me before." - -"You trouble them too much." - -"That is not your reason, father," she said in the same hard voice. -"You are hiding something from me." - -"Are you not hiding something from me, Minnie?" he asked, looking -anxiously into her face. - -"What should I hide from you?" she asked, in reply, coldly and -evasively. "I am not well, father. I can't stop in this room. I will -not go where you do not wish me." - -He did not detain her, and she glided swiftly out of the room. He was -about to follow her, when a dizziness came upon him, and he sank into -a chair. It was only by a strong effort of will that he kept himself -from fainting. - -"My strength is deserting me," he muttered, his breath coming thick -and fast; "scarcely a day passes but this weakness comes upon me." He -held up his hand; it trembled like a leaf. "Have I failed in my duty -to her? Is it my fault that she does not confide in me? Or is this a -wicked lie?" He took a letter from his pocket and read it, not once, -but many times. "No," he groaned; "it is true. I feel that it is -true." He rose to his feet and felt like one just risen from a sick -bed. He was as weak as a child; so weak, indeed, that the -consciousness of his weakness brought tears into his eyes; and he said -in a voice of anguish, "Now, when my child's happiness--her honor, -perhaps--depends upon my watchful care, I am helpless. If I had some -one that I could trust some one to help me!" He heard a step upon the -stairs. It was like an answer to his wish. "It is Susan," he muttered; -"the one being that I know in the world who would serve me faithfully, -Susan, Susan!" - -She heard him, although his voice was faint and low, and entered the -room. Alarmed by the traces of illness in his face, she hastened to -his side. - -"You are ill," she said, assisting him to a seat. "Can I do any thing -for you?" - -"Yes," he answered. "You can do much. You can be my friend." - -"Your friend!" she exclaimed. Had she not always been his friend? But -there was a deeper meaning in his voice than she had ever heard -before, and his appeal sent thrills of pleasure to her heart. - -"I am ill," he continued; "but it is more from weakness than any thing -else. I am not in pain. A dizziness seizes me, as it seized me just -now, and I feel as if my senses were leaving me. I can scarcely stand; -and I have no one to trust to." - -"Not Minnie?" she said softly and wonderingly. - -"Hush! Minnie, of all others, must not be told of this. Can I trust -you?" - -"I would work till I dropped to serve you." - -A flush came into his face. - -"To serve me and Minnie?" he said. - -"Yes; to serve you and Minnie." - -"Give me your sacred promise that what passes between us now will -never be divulged, will never be spoken of, by you, unless my tongue -is sealed, and the time comes when it may be necessary to speak." - -"Does it concern you?" she asked with a natural hesitation; for there -was a feverishness in his manner that alarmed her. - -"It concerns me and Minnie." - -"I promise." - -"Faithfully and sacredly?" - -"Faithfully and sacredly." - -He took her hand and pressed it, and then gave her the letter, and -asked her to read it. It contained but a few words, but they were -sufficient to cause a look of horror to start into her eyes. - -"Can it be true?" she asked, more of herself than of him and her -trembling lips turned white and parched in an instant. - -"Susan," said Basil Kindred, "I have lived long enough in the world to -know its falseness. In years gone by, men have smiled in my face and -shaken me by the hand, and I have learned afterwards, that while their -manner spoke me fair, there was treachery in their hearts. My life has -been a hard one, what with false friends and bitter poverty; but I -bore it all patiently, and lived--lived, when a hundred times voices -have whispered in my ear, 'Die, and be at peace!' I had an object to -live for--Minnie, my darling child! So I lived and suffered, rather -than die and leave her unprotected. It was a bitter, bitter life. You -can guess how hard a thing it was for me to find food for her, and how -often she had to go without it, before the day when you and that -boy--I cannot utter his name--came to our rescue. From that time until -this dark cloud"--he placed his hand on the letter--"fell upon me, I -have been happy. And now, when I need all my strength to fulfil my -duty as a father--when it seems to me a crime that I should allow her -to go from my side--this weakness strikes me down." - -"Does she know?" - -"She knows and must know, nothing. But she must be watched. If there -be no truth in this letter--and there may not be"-- - -"I pray not! Oh, I pray not!" cried Susan. "For others' sakes as well -as yours." - -"I understand you; if there be no truth in it, no one need know of it -but you and I." - -"What shall I do?" - -"Watch her and him, without seeming to do so," said Basil Kindred. "If -she goes out, follow her if you can without letting her see you and -let me know all you see and hear. Mind, I say _all_; keep nothing from -me. You have promised sacredly." - -"I will do what you bid me." - -He raised her hand to his lips, and in the midst of her great sorrow -his action brought a happy feeling to her heart. When she was gone, -Basil Kindred unlocked a desk and took out a clasped book, in which he -wrote a few lines. "It is necessary," he sighed, "for my memory is -lost to me sometimes, and I cannot recall events; and it may save me -from doing an injustice." Then he replaced the book and locked the -desk. - - -That night, in her room, Susan sat upon her bed and bowed her head to -her knees, sobbing, "O my poor Dan! O my poor, poor Ellen! if; after -all these years, you should find him false!" - - - - -CHAPTER XX. -THE ONLY DUTY THAT MINNIE CAN UNDERSTAND. - - -The "Merry Andrew" was nearly ready for sea again, and Joshua, having -been duly installed as third mate, was busily employed superintending -cargo. The Old Sailor was immensely delighted, and took an active -interest in Joshua's doings. When he was told of the engagement -between Joshua and Ellen, he smacked Joshua on the back and shook his -hand again and again, and kissed Ellen a dozen times, the old rogue! -as if he were the lucky man, and Joshua had nothing to do with it. He -took a private opportunity of entering into a confidential -conversation with the young lovers, and told them he had made over his -barge and all his little property to Ellen and Joshua jointly, "for -better or worse," he added, with a vague idea that those words were -necessary in the circumstances of the case. And he took many other -opportunities of instructing Joshua in the duties of mate and master, -and also in navigation and astronomy. He was more exacting than any -Marine Board would have been, and his instructions and examinations -were of a very severe and precise character. But he had a willing and -apt pupil in Joshua; and he delighted Ellen by whispering to her -confidentially that Joshua would make as fine a mariner as could be -found in the service. The examinations generally took place when only -the Old Sailor, Joshua, and Ellen were together; and then Joshua -propounded, to the satisfaction of his teacher, such problems as, -how he would send a top-gallant yard down in a gale of wind; what he -would do if he wanted to shiver his main-topsail yard when the leeches -were taut and the main yard could not be touched: how to turn in a -dead-eye; what he would do if he wanted to tack on a lee shore, and -the ship wouldn't come round, and there was not room to wear; and so -on, and so on. The Old Sailor was not satisfied with simple answers, -but insisted upon the why and the wherefore; so that what with working -and studying and sweethearting, Joshua's time was well taken up. Ellen -herself became quite learned in certain matters concerning Joshua's -profession, and made him laugh heartily by the wise air she assumed -when she repeated the twelve signs of the Zodiac, which she had -learned by heart perfectly, from Aries to Pisces. Joshua, repeating -after her, would purposely leave out Gemini or Aquarius, or another -sign, and would instantly be taken to account. In this simple way many -happy hours were passed. The Old Sailor had a great liking for Captain -Liddle, because he was a thorough sailor, and Captain Liddle admired -the Old Sailor for the simplicity of his character. - -"You are in luck's way," said the Old Sailor to Joshua: "you are -sailing under a good master--not a land saint and sea devil--but a -good officer and a kind man; and you have the dearest and the -truest-hearted lass in the world to stand by you through life. Do your -duty, Josh, to her and to your ship." - -"I will do my duty to both, sir, you may depend." - -The Old Sailor took out his pocket-handkerchief, and thoughtfully -dabbed his face. "I don't doubt that you will, my lad," he said, "and -to Dan as well." Now the Old Sailor uttered these last words with a -significance that seemed intended to convey a deep meaning. His action -was appropriately mysterious. He looked round cautiously, after the -best manner of stage robbers, and hooked Joshua nearer to him by a -motion of his forefinger. "Hark ye, my lad," he whispered, guiding the -words to Joshua's ear by placing his open palm on one side of his -mouth; "Hark ye. Do you suspect any thing?" - -Joshua opened his eyes very wide at this; he had not the slightest -consciousness of the Old Sailor's meaning. - -"You don't?" continued the Old Sailor in the same mysterious manner. -"So much the better. I didn't suppose you did. Now, supposing--mind, I -only say supposing, my lad--supposing you were asked to do a very -out-of-the-way thing for Dan's sake, but a thing notwithstanding that -you would be very glad to do"--this with a chuckle expressive of -intense enjoyment--"would you do it?" - -"Would I do it, sir!" exclaimed Joshua warmly. "I don't think you or -any one could ask me to do a thing for Dan's sake, that I shouldn't be -glad to do." - -"Just my opinion," said the Old Sailor, still in the same -charnel-house whisper; "and if Dan's happiness depended upon your -doing this out-of-the-way thing"-- - -"Why, then, sir, more eagerly and willingly than ever." - -"That's plain sailing; it might come to pass, or it mightn't," said -the Old Sailor, returning his handkerchief to its abiding-place in the -bosom of his shirt, to denote that the conversation was at an end. - -But this did not satisfy Joshua. "What might come to pass, sir?" he -asked. - -The Old Sailor winked craftily at Joshua, and said, "All I've got to -say is, that it might come to pass or it mightn't." - -And try as he would, that was all the satisfaction Joshua could obtain -from the Old Sailor. - -In the mean time Basil Kindred's condition had become so serious, that -he was unable to leave his room, and he was unreasonably obstinate in -his refusal to see a doctor. He knew well enough what was the matter -with him, he said, and doctors could not relieve him. But one day, -urged by Dan, Minnie brought a doctor to his bedside without -consulting him. - -"Your daughter brought me," said the doctor, seeing that Basil was -displeased, and wisely judging that mention of his daughter would calm -him. - -Basil called Minnie to him and kissed her. "Go out of the room, -child," he said; "what passes between me and the doctor must be -private." - -Minnie obeyed, and went down stairs to sit with Dan, and the doctor -remained with his patient for half an hour. As the doctor came down, -Minnie opened the door of Dan's room, and the doctor entered. - -"Well, sir?" asked Dan. - -"Your father is suffering from rheumatism and low fever," said the -doctor, addressing Minnie. "I have left a prescription in his room; -run and get it." - -Minnie went up stairs, and the doctor said to Dan, "You are very -anxious about Mr. Kindred." - -"Yes, sir, very anxious, both for his sake and for Minnie's." - -"Minnie--ah! yes, his daughter. Well, I may tell you in confidence -what I must not tell her. He is suffering from something more than -rheumatic fever. He has a disease which may prove fatal at any moment. -A strong mental shock would very likely prove fatal to him. His mind -is far from tranquil at the present time, and it is absolutely -necessary that he should have quiet and repose. Good-morning." - -Grieved as Dan was to hear this, it relieved him, for it enabled him -to account for the sudden change in Basil Kindred's manner which had -so perplexed him. It also served to account for a change he had -observed in Minnie. It was not that she was less friendly towards him; -on the contrary, she had on many occasions been more tender to him -than usual. But the frank cordiality of her manner was gone; she was -more reserved, and an engrossed expression, evidently born of painful -thought, had settled upon her face. Dan had watched it with the -sensitive eye of love, wondering what had brought it into her face. -Now he knew the cause: her father's illness brought gloomy forebodings -to her heart and made her anxious. "Does she ever think that I love -her?" thought Dan, "and that I am only waiting for the proper time to -tell her that my life is devoted to her?" He would have spoken that -very day, but a sentiment of true delicacy restrained him. The feeling -that closed his lips upon the subject for the present could not have -existed in any but a chivalrous nature. - -When Joshua came home in the evening, Dan told him what the doctor had -said. Joshua was silent for a little while before he spoke. "It is -very singular," he then said, "that what you have told me should make -me easier in my mind. Both Minnie's and Mr. Kindred's manner lately -have given me great pain, filling me with uneasiness, which I have -vainly struggled against. It is made clear to me now." - -"Why, that was also my feeling, Jo," exclaimed Dan almost gayly. -"Another proof of the sympathy between us." - -"I shall go and see Mr. Kindred. I am ashamed of myself to have -allowed such small feelings to exist. I ought to have made more -allowance for his sufferings." His hand was resting upon Dan's -shoulder. He inclined himself so that he could see the face of his -friend. "And Minnie?" he asked in that attitude. "How is it with you -and her?" - -"I am more hopeful than ever, Jo; but it would not be right for me to -speak to her in her trouble." - -"That is like you, Dan," said Joshua approvingly. "Ever tender--ever -considerate--ever just. No; you must not speak until Mr. Kindred is -better. You must wait." - -Dan nodded assent, and Joshua went up stairs to Basil Kindred's room. -He paused at the door and listened. No sound came from within, and he -received no answer to his knock. He opened the door softly. The room -was in darkness. - -"Who is there?" was asked in the abstracted voice of one just aroused -from sleep. - -"It is I--Joshua. Shall I get a light?" - -"No;" with a sudden fierceness. "What brings you here?" - -The want of friendliness in Basil Kindred's voice was very painful to -Joshua, and it was only by a great effort that he was enabled to -maintain his composure. "What is the meaning of this, sir?" he asked, -very gently. - -"Of what?" - -"Of your changed manner towards me, sir. And not to me only, but to -all of us. Have we done any thing wrong--have _I_ done any thing -wrong? If I have, it has been done unconsciously, and it is but just -that you should not leave me in ignorance of my fault. I came up to -you now, sir, to ask that we should be to each other as we once -were--as we were before I went to sea--as we were on the first day of -our meeting, when you said, 'God bless you, Joshua Marvel.' I have -never forgotten that, sir. I do not speak to you for myself alone; I -speak for all of us, who hold you, I am sure, in the tenderest -respect and regard." Joshua spoke feelingly, and his words had the -effect of softening Mr. Kindred's manner. - -"You are right," he said softly and very "it is not just. Sit here by -my side." Joshua sat where he was bidden, and waited for Mr. Kindred -to resume. "Distemper of the mind accompanies distemper of the body," -continued the sick man "and you must lay some part of my -unfriendliness to that cause. I am sick in body, and therefore -peevish, and therefore, perhaps, unjust. Sick men have sick fancies. -They magnify straws, even as, lying here in the dark, I can by the -power of my will, magnify the shadows that rest within this room and -make them 'palpable to feeling as to sight.' Joshua Marvel, I owe you -much; you saved me and mine from starvation. I am glad that you are -here now, and that you met my fretfulness with patience; for there is -that within my mind, not newly born, but newly risen that I would -gladly not forget again. All the happiness of the last few years I owe -to you, for it was for your sake we were welcomed here." - -"The pleasure your society has given to all those dearest to my heart, -sir, is recompense a thousand-fold." - -"Those dearest to your heart!" repeated Basil Kindred musingly. "Who -are they?" - -"You ought to know, sir," replied Joshua, surprised at the question. - -"It is but a whim--a sick man's whim--but tell me: of all those -dearest to your heart, whom would you place first? Do not hesitate to -answer me. We are in the dark, and I cannot see your face." - -"In the dark or in the light, before all the world, if it were -necessary, I could name but one, whom you know well." - -"Still, to satisfy me name her." - -"Ellen, sir. You know that she is to be my wife." - -"I have heard so. Take my hand. I wish you the happiness that faithful -love deserves. No worldly happiness can be greater. It makes a heaven -of earth, in whatever sphere of life it comes. And if, as it was with -me, the partner of your faithful love is called away before you, the -remembrance of her goodness and purity will dwell forever in your -heart, like a divine star." His voice had grown so solemn, that Joshua -could only press his hand in reply. Presently Basil Kindred spoke -again. "Your past life should be a guarantee for the future. You have -been faithful in your friendship; you should be faithful in your -love." - -"You do not doubt it, sir?" - -"I cannot doubt it; your conduct gives doubt the lie. The shadows seem -to be clearing away. I have much to say yet, if you will sit with me a -little while." - -"I am glad to do so, and happy to hear you speaking to me again in -your old kind manner." - -"It is so hard to reconcile," mused Basil speaking as much to himself -as to Joshua. "From whom can the accusation have come? And the -motive--what can be the motive? Joshua, answer me--have you an enemy?" - -"No, sir, not one that I know of." - -"Reflect a little. Can you bring to mind any circumstance that -occurred during the years that you have been away to induce you to -suppose that some one is conspiring to do you injury?" - -"I am more than surprised at your question, sir; I am grieved that you -should ask it, and apparently with reason. To my knowledge I have not -a bad friend in the world." - -"Your surprise is natural," said Basil; "but though you may think my -remarks strange, do not think they are prompted by unkindness. I have -good reasons for what I say. I hold this conversation sacred, Joshua. -As it may be the last we shall ever have, let what is said between us -be said in perfect confidence." - -"Agreed as to that, sir; but you must not say that this is the last -conversation we shall ever have." - -"When do you go to sea again?" asked Basil Kindred, taking no heed of -Joshua's remonstrance. - -"In less than a fortnight. We set sail first for Sydney, New South -Wales, then for China, then for home. A short trip. We shall not be -away long this time." - -"Before you return, I shall have gone on a longer voyage than -you are about to take. Nay, do not interrupt me. I have received -warning--bodily, not spiritual, and therefore not open to doubt. It is -impossible that I can live much longer. And with this conviction -strong within me, I am tortured by an anxiety that racks me with a -mightier pain than that which even as I speak pierces me to the -marrow." - -Joshua was profoundly shocked at the disclosure; he had not thought it -was so bad as that. Instinctively he knew what the anxiety was by -which Basil was tortured, and Basil answered his thought. - -"You guess what my anxiety springs from. What will become of Minnie -when I am gone?" - -If he had seen! If in that darkened room a vision had appeared to -answer him, could he have believed that it would come to pass? But -silence was his only answer for a time; for Joshua was revolving in -his mind whether it would be wise and merciful--whether he had any -right to speak to Basil Kindred about Dan's love for Minnie. The -conversation between them was sacred and confidential, and the sick -man's tone when he spoke of the bodily warnings he had received was so -impressive, that it carried conviction with it. It would be like -speaking to a dying man, and it would be serving his friend. - -"That is my great anxiety," continued Basil; "were my mind relieved -upon that point, I should fear nothing, for death is my smallest -terror. I suffer deserved misery when I say that even I, her father, -do not know her nature thoroughly, and that I fear to think to what -extent her impulse might carry her. But I know that she needs -guidance, and that she cannot control herself. I have taught her ill, -or rather have not taught her at all. I have been remiss in my -fatherly duty--not intentionally, God knows! But I see it now--I see -it now." Even in the dark he turned his face from Joshua, the more -completely to hide his tribulation. "There is but one duty she can -understand--the duty of love. She knows no higher. She comprehends -that, because it is instinctive. She has her mother's devoted nature, -and would sacrifice herself for the only duty she can comprehend, as -her mother sacrificed herself for me. But she could not be made to -understand that under certain circumstances love may be sinful." - -Joshua, following his train of thought, heard Basil's words, but -scarcely understood their sense. Still he said,-- - -"She loves you, sir." - -"Yes, she loves me as a father, and by that love I have unconsciously -controlled her. But that power has gone from me. Our minds are -strangers; they used not to be so. Once she hid nothing from me; now -as I watch her I see in her eyes the attempt to hide her thoughts, and -I cannot express to you my agony in knowing that her heart and mind -are not open to me, as they have hitherto been. If I knew--if I only -knew, I should be satisfied; for then I might protect her. Sometimes I -think that another kind of love has come to her, and has shadowed the -love she bore for me. But for whom? Do you know?" - -He asked the question in a singular tone of fierceness and entreaty; -but Joshua was thinking of Dan, and did not reply. Have I the right to -speak? he thought; and an affirmative answer did not come clearly to -his mind. - -"You are silent," continued Basil in a quieter tone. "Are you -concealing any thing from me?" - -"What should I conceal from you, sir?" asked Joshua in reply, after a -pause. - -Basil Kindred sighed, as the words so hesitatingly spoken came from -Joshua's lips. - -"Young men are often thoughtless in their actions," he said mildly, as -if wishful to rob the remark of direct significance; "they do not know -the depth and earnestness of some womanly natures. Listen, I will tell -you my story; it may be a lesson and a warning to you." - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. -LOVES SACRIFICE. - - -When I was a young man, I was an enthusiast. My mother had died when I -was a child. My father was a clergyman, and wished to educate me for -the church. But my heart was not in my studies, and I did not satisfy -his expectations. I was too fond of poetry and plays, my tutors told -him; sterner studies were distasteful to me, and they met with nothing -but disappointment from so unwilling a pupil. I was also difficult to -control; would indeed submit to no control. On several occasions when -a company of players came to the place in which I was being educated, -I had stolen away to the theatre, remaining there until nearly -midnight. My tutors spoke the truth. From the first night that I -stepped inside the walls of a theatre and saw a tragedy, my fate was -fixed. I was fascinated, entranced. I had never conceived any thing so -grand, so noble, so heroic. Mine was a pure passion; glitter possibly -had its effect upon my mind, but no base ingredient was mixed with my -determination to become an actor. What nobler calling could there be -than that which clothed the noblest of all the arts with living fire, -which made dead heroes speak and move and live again? My father -received the report with displeasure. He looked upon a theatre as the -abode of all the vices. He spoke to me and expostulated with me, and I -argued with him until I angered him. Then he took me from school, and -kept me at home, so that he might wean me from my wicked notions. I -had not been home a month before a company of players paid our town a -visit. I was aglow with excitement. My father warned me not to go; I -told him frankly that I would. He locked me in my bedroom; and I made -a rope of the sheets, and let myself out of the window. I came home -late, and my father opened the door for me. He was so strict a -disciplinarian, that my disobedience was a crime in his eyes. He told -me so sternly, and told me also that unless I complied with the rules -of his house, and with his commands as a father, I must find a home -elsewhere. He had other children, and he declared that I should not -contaminate them by my example. When I ventured to expostulate with -him, he stopped me peremptorily. There was no sign of tenderness in -his manner. He was harsh and hard. He forgot that I inherited some -share of his own determination, and that I was as likely to be -immovable in my ideas as he was in his. I felt that I could have -answered him by arguments as forcible as his, and, with the not -uncommon egotism of youth, I believed that I could have convinced him. -But he would not listen to me, and I was compelled to sit silent and -inwardly rebellious while he laid down the hard rules by which my life -was to be guided. The glittering splendor of the play I had witnessed -that night was vivid to my mind while his cold words fell upon my -ears. The tragedian upon whose musical impassioned utterances I had -hung entranced, was one of the greatest that ever trod the stage; the -play I had seen was one of the grandest of England's grandest poet. -What! was it a crime to come within the influence of such a teacher? I -could not believe it; I would not believe it. My father said my -inclinations were sinful, impious, misbegotten, and preached to me -sternly, uncompromisingly, until my heart--beating with indignation at -his injustice--was as hard to him as his was to me. Then he left the -room with a cold goodnight, and I went to bed. But before I went to -sleep, I took from my box the volume of Shakspeare containing the play -that I had seen, and as I read the noble verse, the men and women who -took part therein came and inspired me with the nobility of their -speech. - -On the ensuing Sabbath my father preached against play-houses and -players. It is not necessary for me here to dilate upon his arguments; -they were the common arguments generally used against actors and their -abominations. Players were creatures of the devil, working in his -service for the damnation of souls. There was no heaven for them; by -their lives they earned damnation, and they received their wages in -another life. It was a strong sermon--"a beautiful sermon," as I heard -many men and women say to each other as they walked from the place of -worship; but it filled me with indignation. It was a challenge thrown -out to me, and I accepted it. I do not attempt to justify what I did; -but it seemed to me as if I should be false to myself if I did not do -it. On the following evening I went to the theatre early, and secured -a seat in the most conspicuous position, and sitting there the whole -night through, I applauded with more than my usual enthusiasm, and -even--perhaps I should be ashamed to say it--with purposed -demonstrativeness. It was like giving the lie to my father's teaching; -but I did not think of it then in that light. I was bound in honor to -a certain course of action, and I pursued it. When the play was over, -I walked about the town for an hour, filled with fervent passionate -admiration for what I had witnessed. It was past midnight when I -knocked at my father's door. No answer came. I knocked again. Still no -answer. I was standing in perplexity as to what I should do, when a -piece of paper fluttered on to the pavement from a window above. I -picked it up, and saw that it was addressed to me. It was in my -father's handwriting, and it told me in a few simple words that, as I -had chosen to commit a sinful outrage upon his cloth, and upon his -sermon of the previous day, he disowned me as a son and cast me off. A -postscript was added, to the effect that, upon my calling at or -sending to a certain place every week, I could receive a small sum of -money sufficient to keep me from want, but that if I adopted the stage -as a calling, the money would be withheld. In the event of my adopting -the stage, my father asked me as a favor to change my name. I never -received a farthing of the money; I would have died rather than have -taken it. I started that night from my native town, and I have never -seen one of my family since. - -I need not dwell upon the details of the next few years. The -recollection is too painful to me. When I walked away from my father's -house, I solemnly resolved never to set foot in it again; I renounced -all claims of kindred, and said to myself proudly and confidently, "I -am alone in the world, without friends, without family. I am free to -adopt what course in life I think best. I will show my father, by my -career, that I am right, and he is wrong." I changed my name to the -name by which you know me. Speaking to you as I am speaking now, with -the solemn darkness around us, with something like a sense of death -upon me, I cannot hide from you any thing that comes to my -recollection. The simple reason for my changing my name was, that it -laid my father under an obligation to me. The motive was unworthy; but -it is hard to reconcile the lofty aspirations and the despicable -sentiment that in the same moment may animate a single mind. Well, I -marched into the world friendless and unknown, filled with an arrogant -courage, almost with defiance. I had a watch and a little money; I -sold my watch to increase my wealth, and before I had spent my last -shilling, I gained admission to a company of players, and commenced -life as an actor. I had seen these actors on the stage, and had been -inspired by them; but my amazement was great when their private lives -were open to me. The men and women who had inspired me were poor -struggling creatures, living almost begging lives, and suffering -almost incredible hardships. The salaries they were supposed to -receive were barely sufficient to pay for food and lodging; but the -money that was taken at the doors of the theatre was often of such -trifling amount, that at the end of the week the players were -compelled to be content with half, ay, with a fourth the sum due to -them. They all shared alike; there was none among them who took the -lion's share while the others starved. The leading tragedian received -a guinea a week, and was thankful when he got it. I have seen him play -Macbeth, knowing that he had not tasted food since breakfast; and have -seen him come off the stage at the end of the play and faint, not from -enthusiasm and excitement, but from sheer hunger. From this you can -form some idea of my sufferings; but I never wavered. I was -indomitable in my resolve. Disenchanted as I was to some extent, I saw -fame and glory before me, and I followed the beckoning shadows that -lured me on. And then I saw so much to admire in the lives of my -poor companions--so much self-sacrifice, so much devotion, so much -virtue--that I was proud to suffer with them. "Children of the devil," -I had heard my father call them. A strong resentment against him -possessed me when I became a witness of their privations patiently -borne, of their self-sacrifices cheerfully made. All this -while--though I endured hunger and every species of worldly misery; -though I had to walk, many and many a time, forty, fifty, and sixty -miles, through wet and mud, in boots and shoes that scarcely held -together; though I often slept in the open air, by the side of -hay-stacks and under hedges--all this while I was advancing in my -profession, and enthusiastically believed that the day would come when -I should be famous and prosperous. So I grew to be a man, more firmly -hoping, more firmly believing. I was what is called leading man; I was -at the head of my profession, and was only waiting for the tide--being -prepared for it--that was to lead me to fame and fortune. But young as -I was, the life I had led had already destroyed my constitution. -Rheumatism had planted itself firmly in my bones, and want of -nourishing food had so weakened me, that I felt like an old man. It -was only the fire of enthusiasm that sustained me. I believed myself -to be what I represented at night; I lost all consciousness of my poor -self while I was acting; and would often come from the theatre with -the dream strong upon me, and in my sleep weave fancies sufficiently -bright and beautiful to recompense me for the material hardships of my -working life. - -I was at the height of my powers, when it was both my happiness and my -misery to come to a town where we had arranged to stop for a -fortnight, and where I gained such honors in the shape of applause as -had never before fallen to my lot. It was a prosperous town, and our -two weeks' stay was so remunerative, that we thought it advisable to -lengthen our visit. We staid for six weeks--for six happy weeks. The -place rang with my praises. I was a wonder, a genius; such acting had -never been seen. Throughout the whole of my career I had preserved my -self-respect; what I suffered, I suffered in silence. I complained to -no one, and I never forgot my determination to prove, what perhaps my -father might one day be forced to own, that an actor may be as good a -man as a clergyman. Being therefore, in my habits of life, somewhat -above my companions, and having been so successful in the town, I was -courted by some of the towns-people, and received invitations to their -houses. I was what is termed, I believe, a social success; and I was -proud of it. Here was I, an actor, moving in as good society as was my -father, a clergyman. Who was right now, he or I. During the second -week of our stay, I was invited to an evening party; and as my part in -the performance for that night would be finished by nine o'clock, I -was enabled to accept the invitation. Fatal night--happy night! That -night was the real commencement of my life; it shaped my career in -this world, and it makes me look forward with joy unspeakable to the -world beyond, where I shall rejoin the mother of my darling child. Her -family were well born, ad occupied a high position in the town. They -were looked upon as leaders of fashion; and I learned that night that -they were among the principal patrons of the theatre, and that her -father had passed the highest encomiums upon me. They were not present -at the party, and their daughter was accompanied by her aunt, an -eccentric wealthy lady, with whom she resided during the greater part -of the year. I had the good fortune to find favor in the eyes of this -lady, who had a passion for celebrities, and she invited me to her -house. The invitation arose in this way; she had been to the theatre -on the previous evening, and a gentleman in her company had taken -exception to one of my readings. She mentioned it to me, telling me -that she had insisted that I was right, and at the same time confessed -to me, that she had not the slightest idea upon the subject, and had -been prompted to side with me only for the reason that the gentleman -was the most insufferably-conceited person on the face of the earth. - -"He is not satisfied unless he is master in every thing," said the old -lady with wonderful warmth; "he is dictatorial, self-willed, -ungenerous, and supercilious--so much so, that he will scarcely -condescend to argue a point upon which he has expressed an opinion. -Nothing would please me more than to be able to bring evidence against -him respecting your reading." - -It so happened that my reading was the correct one, and that the -emendation made by the gentleman was unsupported by authority. I told -her so, and she was delighted. - -"But it will be of no use my telling him what you say," she said; -"and it would not be proper to bring you together for the purpose of -quarrelling about it." - -Then I suggested a way. I would consult two or three old editions of -Shakspeare we had in the company, and have fair copies of the passage -made from them, with any notes or annotations that might be attached -to it. There was no occasion, I said, to let the gentleman know that I -supplied the evidence; it would be sufficient for him to see the -quotations and the authorities, and he would be able to test their -correctness for himself. She thanked me warmly, and I frankly owned to -her that I was almost as much interested in the matter as she was -herself. - -"Ah! you are a student," she said, tapping me with her fan, "and are -not actuated by such small motives as I am." - -I told her that it had been my nature, ever since I remembered myself, -to be in earnest in what I did. Success could not be attained without -earnestness, I said; and such a spirit was not thrown away even when -exhibited in the smallest matters. The old lady was pleased with my -conversation, and asked me to bring the written quotations to her -house the following day. She then introduced me to her niece. - -Bear with me for a little while. When I commenced, I intended to be -more brief but I have been carried away by a tide of memories. These -things that I have spoken of have dwelt in my mind, but mention of -them has not passed my tongue; not even my daughter has ever heard -from me the story of my life. All the memories that are dearest to me -are stirred into life by my speech; and in the midst of the darkness -in this room, where nothing human exists but ourselves, I see my wife -as I saw her that night for the first time--as I shall see her soon in -a better land. - -Good and evil, consciously wrought, are not of this world alone; mind -you that, Joshua Marvel. They bear their fruit hereafter. In what way -or in what shape we do not know--but they bear their fruit. I never -loved but one woman in my life, and never was false to her, even in -thought. I never harbored an unworthy sentiment towards her. I loved -her truly, purely, solely, as she loved me. If I had done her wrong, -and, loving her, had played false with another by a single act, by a -single word of encouragement, even if it were weakly given in a moment -of weakness, I could not look into this darkness as I do now without -fear and shuddering. - - -(What was it that passed into the room? The deep darkness that -prevailed, no less than the intense interest with which Joshua -followed the course of Basil's story, prevented him from seeing. Yet -it was no less certain that the door was gently opened, and that a -person with noiseless footfall entered the room, and, wrapped in -shade, stood silent in listening attitude.) - - -She loved me, and sacrificed herself for me. Loving me, she conceived -it to be her duty to follow me; she forsook friends and family, and -imperilled her good name for me; and in this solemn moment, when all -the dearest memories of my life give life to my words, life to my -thoughts, I bless her for it! Her devotion, unworldly as it was, was -sanctified by love. There is no earthly sacrifice that love will not -sanctify! - - -(A sound, half sigh, half sob, floated on the air, but so light that -Joshua doubted if he had heard it. It reached Basil's ears. Rising in -bed, he clutched Joshua by the shoulder, and whispered in trembling -tones, "Can spirits speak, and make themselves heard? Did you hear any -thing?" - -"Something like a sigh, I thought," said Joshua; "and yet it is not -possible." - -Rising, he walked to the door; but whoever it was that had entered so -noiselessly had so departed. - -"There is no one here; it must have been fancy." - -Basil sank down in the bed, exhausted by emotion, and it was long -before he resumed his story. During the silence, Joshua thought of -Ellen, and was happy. Such love as Basil Kindred had spoken of, Ellen -had given to him. "But she will not have to sacrifice herself for me," -he thought; "hers and mine will be a happier lot, I hope." Yet Basil's -life was grand and noble. "Like a great storm at sea," thought Joshua, -"and two small boats, lashed together, contending against it vainly." -His thoughts were interrupted by Basil's voice.) - - -I need not describe her. Minnie is like her; but she was more -beautiful even than Minnie. I went to the aunt's house, and was a -frequent visitor there. Alice and I loved each other from the first. -How I won her pure heart, I do not know. I will not say I was unworthy -of her; for I was animated by a true ambition, and I was earnest and -conscientious in all I did. I did not deceive her; I told her exactly -what I was, what I had suffered, and what I hoped to gain. She paid no -heed to worldly matters; she loved me, and that was enough. She -sympathized with me in my ambition, and said it was a noble one. Her -words were like wine to me; they strengthened and encouraged me. -During the last week of our contemplated stay in the town I was -stricken down by rheumatic fever, and was confined to my bed for -nearly two months. The other members of the dramatic company waited -for me for a few days, hoping I would get well; but I grew worse, and -they were too poor to remain idle; so they left without me, and I was -alone in the place. - -I was delirious for a long time, and knew no one about me. How well I -remember the day when consciousness returned! I opened my eyes, -wondering where I was, and what had occurred yesterday to cause me to -feel so deliciously weak; but I could not understand it, and I lay -contented and happy, as if newly born into a world of peace and -blissful repose. But as I lay--it might have been for a few moments or -a few hours--a soft murmur of voices fell on my ear. I did not turn -immediately in the direction of the sound; I was content to lie and -listen to the murmur, and had no desire to analyze it--it so -harmonized with my condition--there was such a sense of luxurious ease -in it: it was like the soft lapping of the sea upon a shore of velvet -sand! But with returning consciousness, my mind was gradually aroused -into activity; and in the whispering of voices, a familiar note, -sweeter and more musical than the rest, came to me. Lazily I turned my -head, and saw my darling Alice. Our eyes met, and it was like a flash -of light. I understood in that instant that she had been my -ministering angel during my sickness. A look of pity and love was in -her eyes as I turned to her, and she glided to my side and took my -hand in hers. - -"Alice darling!" I whispered. My voice was tremulous as a blade of -grass in the summer air. - -"Dear Basil!" she said in reply. - -No heavenly happiness can be greater than that which entered my -grateful heart at that moment. All sense of sight and touch and -hearing--all heart and soul and mind--were merged in the exquisite -belief that inwrapped me then--in the faith that constituted itself a -part of me, inseparable, indissoluble, that is mine through all -time--that she and I were one for ever and ever! - -She sat with me until my landlady warned her that it was time to go. -When she was gone, I learned that not a day had passed since my -sickness that she had not come to see me. - -"Alone?" I asked. - -"Yes, alone," my landlady said, adding that she had not spoken to any -one of the young lady's visits, as they might have been misconstrued. - -The significant tone in which she said this caused me to reflect that -Alice's visits, if discovered, would expose her to the world's -censure, and I begged my landlady to preserve silence upon the -subject. - -I will not linger upon this part of my story. Alice's visits were -discovered; and one day, when I was nearly well, and when I was -sitting by the window waiting for her beloved presence, I received a -visit from her aunt. - -I saw the unpleasant news in her face directly she entered the room. -She commenced by saying she was glad to see I was nearly well, and -that she trusted I would not take advantage of a young girl's -indiscretion. - -"It was by the merest accident I discovered that my niece has been in -the habit of coming to see you every day," said the old lady; "and she -has been very rash and indiscreet; you must see that, I'm sure." - -I did not see it, and I told her so. - -"Nonsense!" exclaimed the old lady; "you are a man, and you know the -ways of the world and its judgment. As a man of honor, you must not -encourage my niece in her folly." - -"Is it a folly to love?" I asked. - -But the old lady would not listen to argument, and she demanded my -promise that I would not see my darling again. - -Firmly I refused to give it, unless Alice asked me to do so. We were -pledged to each other, I said, and it was out of my power to break the -engagement, unless; Alice wished it broken. - -The old lady was terrified by my firmness; and when she asked me what -I meant to do, and I told her that I meant to marry her niece, she -exclaimed aghast,-- - -"Marry her! and you an actor!" - -"Yes; and I an actor," I answered proudly. - -She kept with me for more than an hour, begging and entreating; but -she could not move me. I was contending for what was dearer to me than -life, and an old woman's worldly arguments could not make me false to -myself and to my love. She tempted me too--offered me money to leave -the town. After that, I was silent; I would speak to her no more upon -the subject. When she had exhausted herself, and rose to go, I opened -the door for her; and before she went out, I thanked her for her -hospitality to me, and expressed my regret that I should have been the -means of causing her pain. She made no reply; but I fancied I saw a -pitying expression on her face as she passed out. - -I was overwhelmed by despair, and might have been guilty of I don't -know what extravagance, had not my darling foreseen my misery, and -provided against it. Within an hour of the departure of Alice's aunt, -a note was given to me by my landlady. It was from my darling herself. -She knew her aunt's errand; she knew that I was true to her; and she -told me not to lose heart, for she was mine, and mine only, and would -be true to me till death. Truly, those words were like oil upon the -troubled waters; my mind was instantly composed, and a deep peace and -joy fell upon me. The last words of her little note were to the effect -that she would find means to write to me again soon; and she begged me -not to go away until she saw me. - -So I waited, and grew strong; and time passed, until there came an -evening when we met--met never to part again. It was a solemn meeting; -there was no hesitation on one side, or entreaty on the other. We -walked up and down in the rear of a wood-side inn; and my landlady, -whom I had asked to accompany me, stood a little distance from us. My -darling told me that her family were about to take her to the -Continent, and that she saw no way of resisting. "There is one," I -said. And as I said this, I stood by the side of an old elm, and she -stood with drooping head before me. "There is one. We are pledged to -each other till death. If I parted from you now in the belief that we -should not meet again, I would pray to God to end my life here where I -stand." - -"Tell me what I shall do," she answered, "and I will do it." - -"Follow me," I said. "Share my life, hard though it may be. Be mine, -as I am yours. Let us walk together till death, and after it." - -She placed her hand in mine, and answered me in the words of Ruth, and -I folded her to my breast, and kissed her. - -So, accompanied by my landlady, we turned our backs to the town where -we first met, and the next day we were married. - -Ali, how happy we were, and how our lives seemed spread before us like -a bright holiday, which was to be spent in a land where the air was -always sweet--where the flowers were always blooming! No thought of -winter; but it came, with its frost and snow, and racked me with a -renewal of the old pains. I could have borne them cheerfully, if they -had not sometimes prevented me from working. We fell into poverty; and -through all its bitterness she never complained, and never gave me one -word of reproach. Nay, often and often, when she saw that my -sufferings were increased by the thought that I had asked her to share -my poor life, she comforted me and cheered me with tender speech, that -fell like balm upon my soul. I struggled on in my profession, gaining -applause always, but never seeming to mount a step nearer to the goal -where fame and fortune stood beckoning me. My wife had written to her -family without my knowledge; but not one of them replied except her -good aunt, who sent her a small sum of money. When Minnie was born she -wrote again, but the old lady was dead. Still, somehow we managed: our -wants were small, and our happiness was perfect. We had to travel -about a great deal; and when we had not sufficient money to pay our -coach-fares, we walked, and made the way light for each other by -cheering words. Many scores of miles have I--the great tragedian, as -they called me in the bills--carried our little Minnie in my arms, -lulling her to sleep, or pointing out to her the beauties of nature, -as they peeped at us out of hedgerows, or as they sprang up in the -gardens of great mansions, where they were not hidden by grim walls, -as if their owners were jealous lest the poor toilers on the road -should enjoy their lovely forms and colors. Now and then we got a lift -on a wagon, and the music of the bells on the horses' necks often -lulled Minnie to sleep. We seldom staid in one place longer than a -fortnight; but once we stopped in a town for nearly four months, -playing three nights a week. That was a happy time. I used to come -home from the theatre when my work was done, and Alice and I would sit -in our humble lodgings until late in the night, talking of such -matters as were nearest to our hearts; painting the future in bright -colors, and weaving fancies about our Minnie, who would sometimes be -lying awake on her mother's lap, and whose little fingers would clasp -one of mine as the ivy clasps the oak. We made many friends--false -friends most of them, attracted by my wife's beauty--friends whose -speech was fair, but whose thoughts were treacherous. But rocks on -which many a woman's good name and happiness have been wrecked melted -like snow before my wife's purity. And still we struggled on, hoping -against hope, until there came a time which cast a shadow on me never -to be removed except by death. It was in the autumn of the year. My -wife had been ill, and I had to nurse her and carry her about, and -study and work, while my heart was almost breaking; for the doctors -had told me she required wine and nourishing food, and I was earning -barely sufficient to pay for the commonest necessaries. One night when -I left the theatre, the rain was pouring down like a second deluge. I -had been playing the principal parts in tragedy and comedy, and I came -into the street hot and flushed with my exertions. It was the last -night I ever played. The rain soaked me to the skin; but I took no -heed of that; I was too anxious to reach home. I crept into our one -room, and found my wife asleep. I sat by her side and looked at her -pale face, and recalled the past. I saw her as she had been five years -before, a bright and beautiful girl; and as she was now, pale and wan -as a ghost. I heard her whisper, "Until death, Basil--until death!" I -threw myself on my knees by the bedside, and hid my face on the bed in -utter prostration; and while I knelt, my body turned cold as ice, then -hot as fire, and a feeling like the feeling of death came upon me. -"_Is_ it death?" I asked myself; and I almost rejoiced at the thought -that we might pass away together. When I raised my head, the room -seemed to be thronged with visible fancies. The light and brilliancy -of the theatre; the dark night with its down-pour of rain; Alice as -she was when I first met her; my father's study, and he and I looking -defiantly at each other; all these pictures, and many others, were -before me, and for a moment seemed to be in harmony with each other. -Unutterable confusion among them followed; and then a darkness fell -upon me. - -Weeks passed before the darkness cleared away. When I recovered my -senses, I found my patient angel nursing me, although she was scarcely -stronger than I was. But what will not a woman's love accomplish? We -were not in the same town in which I had fallen sick. She had removed -me to a village some twenty miles distant from my native place. I did -not discover this until I was able to rise and move about. I was but a -shadow of myself; all my strength had left me, and I was like a child. -I was to discover something worse than that. I was to discover that my -memory was gone, and that, although I could repeat snatches of parts I -had played, I could not, study as hard as I would--and I tried -diligently during my convalescence--get the complete parts into my -head. My wife helped me--looked at the book while I stumbled -on--prompted me, encouraged me, bade me rest for a day and try again. -All in vain. If I was rehearsing the scenes in "Hamlet," speeches and -lines uttered by Macbeth and Lear, interpolated themselves, and I grew -hopelessly confused. - -So, then--my occupation was gone; my ambition was at an end. The -knowledge would have been bitter enough to bear had I been by myself; -but there were my wife and daughter, my darling Minnie, my patient -suffering Alice, to provide for, and I in debt, without a penny in the -world, and without any means of driving white-faced hunger from my -dear ones. The despairing conviction almost brought on a relapse, and -it was only by the strongest effort of will that I kept my senses. But -I could not get strong; rheumatism had fastened itself too firmly in -my bones, and would not be driven away; and I was afflicted with -distressful shudderings and with feverish attacks, during which I knew -no one about me. Winter was coming on fast. Every atom of clothing -that could be spared had been sold by my wife; what she must have -suffered, dear angel! can never be told. Was it my selfishness or -blindness that prevented me from seeing death written in her face? I -did not see it--I did not suspect it--until the time when her cold -body lay before me. She suffered--yes; she could not disguise that -from me; but the pleasant smile and the cheerful look of content and -hope with which she always answered my wistful gaze, blinded me to her -condition and to the extent of her sufferings. I did not ask her why -she had brought me to the village--I guessed that it was because I had -known it in my happier days, and because it might induce me to think -of my father, and of the advisability of asking help from him. She did -not say a word upon the subject. She knew the story of my boyish life, -and was content that I should do as I thought best. But she was a -mother as well as a wife, and she deemed it to be her duty to bring me -where, if I so pleased, I might possibly obtain assistance. I thought -over it, and, bitter as it was, I saw that my duty lay clear before -me. I would sacrifice my pride and humble myself to my father. And yet -I hesitated--hesitated until one morning my wife came into the room -looking so strange that I passed my hand before my eyes, wondering if -I were awake. - -"Alice!" I cried. - -She came to my side with a cheerful look. Her beautiful hair, that had -hung down to her waist was gone. I took her upon my knee, and folded -her in my arms, and sobbed like a little child. She soothed and -comforted me. - -"It will grow again," she said, knowing but too well that before that -time came she would be beneath the daisies. "The landlady wanted -money, and every thing was sold but that. See, I can pay her." - -"All?" I asked. - -"No, not all," she said cheerfully; "but perhaps some good fortune -will come to us." - -That morning I wrote to my father. I told him that I was married to a -gentlewoman, noble, good, and pure, that we had a child, and that I -was ill and in want. But no answer came. I wrote again, begging him to -reply and to assist us. Still no answer. And meanwhile my wife was -fading before my eyes, and our landlady clamored for what was due to -her. Oh, if I could have sold my blood for money, I would have done -it, when I heard her coarse tongue revile my wife! I tottered into the -passage. - -"Woman!" I cried, "you shall be paid. I will go and get money." - -"Where?" asked my wife in a faint voice. - -"At my father's," I answered. "Come, we will go and lay our sorrows at -his feet." - -I took Minnie in my arms, and we started in the direction of my native -town. It was not until we had walked four or five miles that we -discovered how weak we were. We were penniless and hungry, and Minnie -was crying for food. I went into a public-house, and begged for some. -I was turned out without ceremony; but a common woman, who was -drinking with a tinker, ran after me--God bless her for it!--and put a -biscuit into Minnie's hand. We struggled on. A mile nearer. My wife -grew white in the face, and her lips were black. And as I looked at -her, there came by her side the image of what she was, ruddy, -bright-eyed, rosy-lipped. I saw it, I tell you. The impalpable shape -of the beautiful girl, radiant with health, walked with light step by -the side of the careworn haggard-faced woman. I must have been crazed. -She saw in my face the disturbed condition of my mind. - -"Courage!" she whispered, taking my arm. - -I laughed, and looked around. Fortunately, no one was near us, or I -should have robbed him--weak as I was, despair would have given me -strength. I have asked myself since, if it would have been a crime, -and have not found the answer. Ten miles were compassed when a storm -came on--a dreadful pitiless storm, in which the slanting wall of rain -before us seemed to shut out hope. We toiled through it, fainting from -weariness and hunger; we toiled through it, until I fell prone to the -earth. My wife knelt by me in the wet grass, and implored me to make -another effort for her sake, for our child's. I tried to rise, but -could not. All that I could do was to drag myself to a clump of trees, -where I lay exhausted. Every word that passed between us from that -time is too deeply engraven on my mind ever to be forgotten. - -"Wife," I said, "the struggle is over. Kiss me and forgive me." - -In the midst of her agony, a sweet smile irradiated her face. I could -not see it, but I knew it was there by her voice. - -"Forgive you, husband!" she exclaimed, as she kissed me. "We have -nothing to forgive each other. Pity and love are all that I feel now. -Love for you and our darling Minnie,"--and she placed our little -darling's hand on my aching eyes--"and pity for your great -sufferings." - -Not a word of herself! Her pure unselfish nature was triumphant over -all. As surely as we have hands to feel and eyes to see such love as -hers is heaven-born, and dies not with the flesh! - -"Rest here," she said, placing our child in my arms. "I will go and -seek help. Keep up your heart while I am gone." - -I had no power to stop her, and she left me and was lost in the gloom. -Hours must have passed, though it was night when I awoke. I had fallen -into sleep, and in my dreams all the circumstances of my life played -their miserable parts; from the dawn of my ambition down to the words -of my wife, "I will go and seek help. Keep up your heart while I am -gone." When those words were uttered, I followed my wife, in my dream, -as she stumbled on through the darkness. Suddenly I lost her; then a -whisper of pain stole upon me, and I heard her murmur, "Come to me, -Basil; I am dying." A strength born of fear enabled me to rise -shuddering to my feet. "Alice!" I cried. No voice answered me, but I -still seemed to hear the echo of the words, "Come to me, Basil; I am -dying." With Minnie in my arms, I followed the sound. Some wonderful -chance directed my steps aright. How far I walked, I do not know. The -rain was still falling, but there was a glimmering light in the sky to -guide me. The trees, past which I crept painfully and wearily, were -bare of leaves; their naked branches were emblematical of the -desolation of my heart. I crept onward until I came to a spot where I -saw a form lying on the ground. No need to tell me whose form it was -that I saw before me. No sound came from the lips, no sign of life was -observable in the limbs. The ghostly echo of the cry, "Come to me, -Basil; I am dying!" died away upon the wind as I fell by the side of -my darling, who had sacrificed her life for me. I raised her head on -my lap, and looked into her white face. The eyelids quivered, opened; -a look of joy leaped into her eyes. - -"Oh, my darling, my darling!" I wailed; "wait for me." - -I inclined my head to her lips, for they were moving. - -"I will wait for you, Basil. There!" And she looked up to heaven, -while the cruel rain poured down upon her face. - -I placed Minnie's lips to hers, and the child clasped her little arms -round her mother's neck. - -"Live, Basil," she said slowly and painfully, "live for her. No, no!" -fearing that I was going from her, "do not leave me yet!" - -Her fingers tightened on mine, and she closed her eyes. I leaned over -her to protect her from the rain. In that supreme moment of sacrifice -a smile rested on her lips. - -"Till death, and after it, Basil, my love!" she whispered. - -And her soul passed away into the wintry night. - - -"You are crying," said Basil Kindred, after a long pause. "My story -has touched your heart. I have told it to you for the purpose of -opening your eyes to Minnie's nature. She is like her mother, without -her mother's teaching. She is a wildflower; the impulse of her mind is -under the control of the impulse of her heart. She is oblivious of all -else, defiant of all else. Those of her friends who have the -consciousness of a higher wisdom than she possesses--those of them who -can recognize that the promptings of such a heart as hers may possibly -lead her into dangerous paths--must guide her gently, tenderly. If any -betray her, he will have to answer for it at the Judgment-seat. -Joshua, you said to me, when you entered this room, that you had not -forgotten the blessing I gave you on the first day of our meeting. I -repeat that blessing. In all your actions that deserve blessings and -prosperity, I say, God bless and prosper you, Joshua Marvel! Now leave -me." - - -Joshua's face was wet with tears, and his heart was throbbing with -sympathy for Basil as he walked down stairs. In the passage he heard a -footfall that he knew to be Minnie's. It was too dark to see her face. - -"Is that you, Minnie?" - -"Yes, Joshua," she answered, in a low voice. "You have been sitting -with father." - -"Yes." - -"I have been wishing to speak to you, and I was afraid I might not get -the opportunity, for father is very strange to me. When does your ship -sail, Joshua?" - -"In a very few days Minnie." - -"I should so much like to see it, if there was no harm in my coming." - -"What harm can there be, Minnie?" exclaimed Joshua. "Come to-morrow to -the docks at twelve o'clock when the men are at their dinner. Bring -Ellen or Susan with you, and ask for the 'Merry Andrew,' and I will -show you over it." - -"Thank you, Joshua. Goodnight." - -"Goodnight, Minnie." - -As their hands met, Susan, carrying a light, came from the kitchen. -Joshua did not wish Susan to see the tears on his face, and he turned -hastily away as she approached. But she did not appear to notice -either him or Minnie, as she passed to the upper part of the house; -and the next moment Minnie glided away, and Joshua entered the room -where Dan and Ellen were sitting. - -The following day Joshua, looking over the bulwarks of the "Merry -Andrew," saw Minnie standing in bewilderment amidst the busy life and -the confusion of bales and cases on the wharf. He was surprised to -find that she was alone. He hastened to her side, and asked her why -Ellen or Susan had not come with her, and received for reply that she -had thought they were both too busy, and had not liked to ask them. - -"But you don't mind my coming by myself, Joshua, do you?" she said, -looking into his face. - -"No," he said, returning her gaze. Her eyes were sparkling with youth -and health, and her cheeks had a bright color in them from the brisk -walk she had taken in the crisp air. "But I would have preferred your -not coming alone." - -"I will go back rather than offend you." - -"Offend me!" he exclaimed. "You are a stupid to talk of offending me. -And as for going back, that would be sheer nonsense now you have taken -the trouble to come." - -It was impossible to look at her without pleasure; she was as -beautiful as the spring. A good many of the sailors turned to take -another peep at her, and thought what a lucky fellow the third mate of -the "Merry Andrew" was to have such a lass as that to come and see -him. But he was in luck's way right round, they said to each other as -they walked along. Joshua, not wishing to submit Minnie to their -prying looks--although, being human, he was proud of them a little -bit, it must be confessed--took her hand to lead her up the gangway. -It was not easy for Minnie to get aboard, and Joshua had almost to -carry her. - -"How strong you are," she said, "to be able to carry a big girl like -me! And this is your ship." - -"It is lumbered up at present, Minnie," he said; "but when we are at -sea, and the decks are cleared, and the sails are set, and we are -flying along before a fair wind, it is a little better than this, I -can tell you. I can smell the sweet spray now, as it comes dashing -up." His nostrils dilated at the mere thought of the ocean, and -involuntarily he passed his hand before his eyes, clearing away -imaginary spray. - -"How beautiful it must be!" exclaimed Minnie. - -Joshua abated a little of his enthusiasm. "It's all very well in fine -weather, when the wind and sea are kind; but you would be frightened -at storms." - -"Not if you were on the ship, Joshua," she said dreamingly, but in so -soft and low a voice that he did not catch the words; yet he looked at -her keenly; but she did not notice his gaze, for she was wrapped in -thought, and her eyes were turned from him. So still did she stand, -that Joshua touched her sleeve to attract her attention. She started, -as if he had aroused her from sleep, and then they went over the ship -together. She was very anxious to see every thing, and they had a busy -half-hour. The last part of the ship they went into was the saloon. - -"Captain Liddle has been very particular about the saloon," Joshua -said, "for his wife is coming with us this voyage. Here are their -cabins--one for the captain and his wife, and this little one -adjoining for her maid." - -Minnie peeped into the cabins, and wondered how ladies could live in -such a dark place. Joshua had to explain that the cabins were dark -because the ship was in dock, and that when they got out at sea there -was light enough for any thing. Then they ascended to the deck again, -and Minnie thanked Joshua and prepared to go. Just at that moment -Joshua saw--or fancied he saw--Susan standing on the wharf. She was -standing quite still, and her eyes were fixed on the poop of the -"Merry Andrew." - -"Why, there's Susan!" he exclaimed; and, leaving Minnie on deck, he -hurried down the gangway. But the woman was gone, and he could find no -trace of her. He returned to Minnie in a state of perplexity. - -"I thought I saw Susan on the wharf," he said. - -"You must have been mistaken, Joshua," said Minnie; "she was hard at -work at home when I left. If it had been Susan, she would not have -gone away when you went towards her." - -"I suppose I _must_ have been mistaken. Good-morning, Minnie; take -care of yourself going home." - -He led her down the gangway, and Minnie made her way, like a gleam of -sunshine among the throng of rough workingmen, who stood aside to let -her pass, and sent admiring looks after her. During his work that -afternoon Joshua thought much of her, and of her father's anxiety -concerning her. "Mr. Kindred is right," he thought. "Minnie requires -gentle tender guidance; such guidance as Dan can give her, and will -have the right to do soon, I hope. She can have no better teacher, -wiser counsellor, than Dan!" - -So he mused and worked, and saw no signs of the dark clouds that were -gathering about him. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. -NEVER TO RETURN. - - -Could a map be made of the mental life of a man whose career has been -marked by the commonest of commonplace incidents, and from that map a -tale were woven, it would transcend in interest the most eventful -story that can be found in the wonder-world of fiction. Space matter, -and all the abstract relations of the Great System, affect the meanest -order of mind, and produce the strangest of contrasts between the -outer and inner life of men. Not more strange perhaps, but certainly -more beautiful, are the contrasts presented in men of a high order of -intelligence. As in the case of Dan. Quiet as were the grooves in -which his material life moved, compassed as it was by a few narrow -streets, his ideal life was a romance. It glowed with poetic beauty, -and was filled with graceful images, like a peaceful lake in whose -waters are reflected the glories of grand sunsets and the delicate -lines and colors of night clouds and overhanging trees. Had it been -Dan's fate to mix with the world, his sensitive nature would have -rendered him the most unhappy of beings. The selfishness with which -the world abounds, and with which he would have been brought in -contact, would have made his life a misery. Wishful to see good in -every thing, he would have seen its reverse in so many things, that -his enduring faith in the purity and goodness of those upon whom he -fixed his affections might have been weakened. His friends were few, -but all his heart was theirs, and no doubt of their truth found place -in his mind. Not to suspect belonged to the nobility of his nature. - -Otherwise, he might have found cause for suspicion in what was -occurring around him. Three days before Joshua's final departure from -home, Basil Kindred locked himself in his room, and denied himself and -Minnie to every person but Susan. She, and she only, attended to his -wants, and faithfully obeyed his wishes. To all inquiries the one -answer received, through Susan's lips, was, that he was too ill to be -seen, and that he required the constant attendance of his daughter, -who could not leave his room. Even Mrs. Marvel could not shake his -resolution, and was surprised to find that Susan encouraged him, and -would not assist her in her kind endeavors. - -"It is not good for Minnie," remonstrated Mrs. Marvel, "to be -cooped-up in that room all day. She can nurse her father--it is only -right she should--but her health will suffer if she does not have -fresh air." - -"Mr. Kindred knows what is best for himself and Minnie," returned -Susan in a voice that trembled, despite her efforts to be firm. "He -has asked me to nurse him, and to keep everybody out of his room until -he is better; and I mean to do it. If I can't do it here, I shall take -him away where he won't be disturbed." - -"Let me go up and see him," persisted Mrs. Marvel. "I may be able to -do him some good." - -"You can't do him a bit of good," replied Susan uncompromisingly, "and -he won't let anybody but me go into his room." - -"Sick people don't always know what is best for them, my dear. We are -all of us very much distressed and anxious about Minnie and her -father. They are more than friends to us, and perhaps you do not guess -what Minnie is to"--But Mrs. Marvel was stopped in her speech by a -fierce exclamation from Susan. The good mother was not sorry for the -interruption; she had been about to refer to Dan's love for Minnie, -which her delicate and keen instinct had discovered, and the thought -came to her that perhaps it would not be wise to speak of it. She was -not the less surprised at Susan's agitation, and at the frightened -look which immediately afterwards flashed into Susan's eyes--a look -which asked, "What have I said? Have I betrayed my trust?" But the -next moment Susan resumed her determined manner, and no entreaties of -Mrs. Marvel could move her. When Mrs. Marvel told her husband of the -interview, he said he was sure that Basil Kindred was not right in -his head, and that the best thing to do would be to let the sick man -have his own way. As for Susan, Mr. Marvel said, she was always -strange--they were a pair, she and Basil Kindred. - -So no further attempt was made by any of them to see Basil Kindred and -Minnie until the day when Joshua was going to sea. On that day Joshua -went to Basil's room, and knocked. Susan came out of the room into the -passage, and stood with her back to the door. - -"I have come to say good-by," said Joshua; "and I should like much to -speak to Minnie and Mr. Kindred before I leave. Go in Susey, and ask -him to see me." - -Susan returned the usual answer, but Joshua's entreaties caused her to -waver. She re-entered the room, and Joshua heard Basil's voice -speaking to her. Then Susan came out again, and said,-- - -"Mr. Kindred is too ill to see you--he told me to say so." - -"And Minnie?" - -"Minnie!" echoed Susan; and then in a low troubled voice, "Minnie is -asleep." - -Joshua was inexpressibly pained. - -"I must be content, I suppose," he said, sighing; "but I am deeply -grieved. Something seems to have come between us lately, and shall go -away leaving a mystery behind. I wonder sometimes if am the cause of -this estrangement. If I am, I hope all will be set right when I am out -of the way." - -"I hope so," said Susan, with a singularly earnest look. - -"You hope so! Then I am the cause, and you believe it. Take care, -Susan that you are not assisting in bringing unhappiness among us." - -"It is for you to take care," said Susan, with bitter emphasis, "that -you do not do so." - -"What do you mean?" asked Joshua, in amazement. "Tell me. I have a -right to ask, Susan, for you will one day be my sister." - -Joshua had taken her hand as he spoke, but she snatched it from him -angrily. - -"I can tell you nothing that you do not know," she said hurriedly. "If -I am to be your sister, I have only one thing to say to you." - -"Well?" he inquired, in an offended tone, for he was angered by -Susan's manner. - -"Be true to Ellen," she said, with quivering lips and in a softer -voice. - -"Is that your fear?" he exclaimed almost gayly. "Be true to Ellen! -Why, Susey, I love her with all my heart and soul. But there! words go -for nothing. Time will show. Bid Minnie and Mr. Kindred good-by for -me, and say I was sorry I could not see them before I went away." - -He put out his hand, and mechanically she took it in hers; but she -unloosed it immediately with a shudder, and left him abruptly. He was -compelled to be content with that good-by, unsatisfactory as it was, -and he walked to his home, where Dan had been staying for the last few -days, eating there, and sleeping, in Joshua's room. Sitting in their -bedroom alone on those last few nights, when all but themselves in the -house were sleeping the friends renewed their vows of faithful love, -and spoke of many things in the future which both of them desired. In -one of these conversations Joshua put into Dan's hands a written -paper, which made Dan and Joshua's father masters of his small savings -and of wages that would be due to him from the London owners of the -"Merry Andrew." - -"In case any thing happens to me," said Joshua, in explanation. - -"Not for any other reason, Jo," said Dan, "for I shall never want the -money." - -"Father may want a little. It is all his and yours. As to your never -wanting money, I wish I could feel sure of it." - -"You may, Jo; I am earning quite enough with my birds. Mr. Fewster -gave me an order yesterday for four canaries thoroughly trained to do -all the best and newest tricks." - -Joshua uttered a dissatisfied "Hm!" at the mention of Mr. Fewster's -name. Dan understood it, for Joshua had contracted what Dan said was -an unreasonable dislike for Solomon Fewster. Now, in reply to a -remonstrance from Dan, Joshua said,-- - -"But you don't like him, Dan." - -"I don't know that," said Dan, considering. "When you put it to me so -plainly, I am rather inclined to say I do like him; for I cannot give -a reason for not doing so. I _can_ give a reason for liking him; he -buys my birds"-- - -"And sells them at a profit, I'll be bound." - -"Perhaps; he has a right to do so, if he pleases. I did think at first -that he bought them for himself, but of course I was mistaken. -However, whatever he does with them, he buys them and pays for them: -that's enough for me. You could give as good a reason for liking him. -He was kind to you when you were ill." - -"Oh, yes! brought me jellies and things"-- - -"And you ate them and relished them," said Dan, laughing. - -"I didn't know that he had brought them, or I wouldn't have touched -them. I remember in one of our coasting-trips we had a passenger on -board who wrote for newspapers, and who was said to be a very clever -man. Certainly he talked like one. He used to talk to me, as much -perhaps because I was a good listener, as for any other reason. Well, -a favorite subject with him was what he called magnetic sympathy. He -would just have suited you, Dan! He said that the natural magnetism -which makes persons like or dislike one another, without apparent -reason, is never wrongly directed." - -"A kind of instinct," remarked Dan reflectively. - -"He said, too, that as there are certain things in chemicals that -won't mix, being opposed in their natures, so there are persons who -have natural antipathies"-- - -"And won't mix--like you and Mr. Fewster," interpolated Dan. - -"Just so. Besides that, I have a good many little reasons for not -liking Mr. Fewster. - -"Firstly," prompted Dan. - -"He never looks me in the face." - -"Secondly." - -"He has a horribly smooth voice." - -"Thirdly." - -"He has flat feet--ugly flat feet. I shall always hate men with flat -feet. Then every thing about him shifts and shuffles. But don't let us -talk about him any more. I can't keep my temper when he is in my -thoughts." - -The conversation drifted into other subjects, and Solomon Fewster was -dismissed. - -It was Dan's whim to have all his birds on a table for Joshua's -inspection on the morning of his friend's departure. - -"Although we are men now, Jo," he said, "I should wish us to keep our -boyish fancies fresh and green always in our hearts. There is plenty -of room for them, notwithstanding that life is a more serious thing to -us than it was." - -There they were, the modest linnets, the saucy tomtits, the defiant -blackbirds, the handsome canaries. Among the latter were four which -Dan pronounced to be "real beauties;" they were of a beautiful orange -color, and the feathers in their tails and wings were of a deep black. -These were the canaries which Dan had spoken of as having been -"ordered" for Solomon Fewster. As they were admiring them, Solomon -Fewster's step was heard in the passage, and the man himself entered -to wish Joshua good-by. He was profuse in his good wishes, to which -Joshua listened in silence, uttering no word but "good-by" as Fewster -quitted the room. It so happened that, during the pauses in his -expressions of good will to Joshua, Solomon Fewster looked at the -canaries which Dan had purchased for him, and handled them with words -of approval. When he was gone, Joshua who had thrown his handkerchief -carelessly upon the table, said,-- - -"That man hates me, Dan, more than I hate him." - -"My dear Jo," said Dan, "how can you be so fanciful? - -"Forewarned is fore-armed, Dan. I beg of you not to trust him; I beg -of you not to believe he is any thing but a cruel false man. He wishes -me ill--else why do I instinctively shrink from the touch of his hand? -He wishes me ill--else why is this?" Joshua removed his handkerchief, -and Dan saw one of his beautiful canaries dead upon the table. "As he -talked to me with his smooth tongue," continued Joshua, "wishing me -well in his hateful voice, he crushed the life out of this poor bird. -Is that no sign of a false bad heart? Had his thoughts been as gentle -as his words, would this have happened?" Dan was silent; he could not -defend Solomon Fewster by another word. "Let us say good-by here, dear -Dan. Mother and father are waiting for me, and many of the neighbors -also, to give me God-speed in a better fashion and with kinder hearts -than that cruel man. Good-by, dearest friend. God send you all that -your heart desires!" - -"Thank you, dear friend. You know the one thing I desire to render me -perfectly happy--Minnie's love. Say, 'God speed you in that venture!' -Jo." - -"God speed you! Dan, it comes upon me now to ask you one question. You -do not doubt me, do you?" - -"Doubt you, Jo! No, nor never can." - -"The answer is from your heart. I should not have asked but that some -things have distressed me lately, and I should indeed be unhappy if I -thought you had the shadow of a doubt of me. It may be that our voyage -will not be prosperous; it may be that I may never live to return. If -I do not--nay, Dan, I am impelled to speak thus--if I do not, believe -me to have been always the same to you. Believe that I never wavered -in my love or my truth, and that to the last I held you in my heart, -as I hold you now, gentlest, dearest, best of friends." - -Dan drew Joshua's face to his and kissed it. - -"We are one, Jo," he said softly; "nothing can divide our hearts. God -bless and protect you, and bring you safely back." - -The leave-taking between Joshua and his parents was of a very -different nature from the last, when he was leaving home for the first -time in his life. Then Mr. and Mrs. Marvel were beset with doubts as -to whether the step Joshua was about to take was for the best. Now, -these doubts were dissolved. He had gone on his venture a bright happy -boy, and had returned a bright happy man. He had started on the lowest -round of the ladder, and had already mounted many steps. Third mate -already! What might he not attain to? They were proud of him, and with -just cause. All the neighbors were proud of him, too; he was a prince -among them. The family were quite a distinguished family in the -neighborhood, as having for their representative a young man who had -been all over the world--a man who had not only seen the sea, but who -had been on it. A little crowd of neighbors had gathered about the -house to give Joshua a parting handshake. The information of their -having gathered for that purpose was imparted to Joshua by his father -with an air of pride. - -"I've lived in this neighborhood for nearly fifty years, Josh," said -George Marvel, "and I've never but once seen so many of the neighbors -on the lookout at one time." - -"When was that, father?" asked Joshua, humoring his father's vanity. - -"That was when a carriage with two white horses came through the -street, and stopped in it for full five minutes. It was the first -carriage that ever was seen here, and the last, for that matter. You -remember, mother! - -"Yes, George." - -"I wish you could have stopped with us until the last minute, Josh," -continued George Marvel; "but Mr. Meddler was so mightily anxious that -you should spend tonight and to-morrow with him at Gravesend, that he -couldn't well be refused, being so good a friend. Do you think your -ship will sail to-morrow?" - -"To-morrow or next day, daddy." And Joshua put his arm round his -mother's neck, and she looked up at her big son with affectionate -pride. - -"In three or four months you'll be among the savages again," observed -George Marvel contemplatively and admiringly. - -"I shall see plenty of them, I dare say, father. They come down to -Sydney from what the people call the interior." - -"And they are black all over, eh, Josh?" asked George Marvel, who was -never tired of a repetition of Joshua's adventures. - -"A kind of brown-black rather," answered Joshua, "with eyes like -pieces of lighted coal." - -"And not a bit of clothing?" - -"An old blanket, some of them; nothing at all, a good many. A sailor -gave one a pair of trousers, and the fellow tied them round his neck -by the legs." - -"D'ye see what strange things there are in the world, mother, that we -never knew of?" observed George Marvel to his wife. "That comes of -being a wood-turner all one's life.--Josh, if you have children, don't -make wood-turners of 'em." - -"I won't, father," said Joshua, laughing; "but I'm not certain either -that I'd make sailors of them." - -"There, father!" Mrs. Marvel could not help saying triumphantly, "what -do you say to that? Joshua is coming round to my old way of thinking." - -"Now, one would think," said George Marvel, appealing to an invisible -audience, "that Joshua's done a bad thing by being a sailor." - -"Well, no," said Joshua; "I've nothing to grumble at; I've been very -lucky, and I'm thankful for it. But it is a hard life for a common -sailor. He's bullied here and buffeted there, and is obliged to be up -at all times of the night and day sometimes, and he gets soaked and -soaked until he hasn't a dry thing to put on. Then, when he's -dead-beat and turns in, he hasn't been asleep an hour perhaps when all -the watches are called on deck, and there he is again, half dead with -sleep, wondering whether he is dreaming or not, till he is woke up -with a vengeance by the water trickling down his back, and the wind -blowing as if it would blow his eyes clean out of his head." - -Mrs. Marvel shivered with apprehension at Joshua's description; and he -with ready tact continued,-- - -"But that's not often; and even when an inexperienced man would -suppose there was great danger, there really is none at all. For the -most part, it is fair and beautiful; and when you are bowling along -under a steady breeze, with all sails set, surrounded by a bright -cloud and bright water, there isn't a more glorious life in the world. -If you were to see the ship, mother dear, on a calm day, with the -sails like birds' white wings, with a deck as clean as this kitchen -and the sailors sitting about mending sails and splicing ropes, while -the grand albatrosses are flying over us, and shoals of beautiful fish -are leaping like deer in the sea--if you were to see it then, you -would almost wish you had been a man, so that you might be a sailor. -And through all 'there's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, to -keep watch for the life of poor Jack.'" - -"Indeed, my dear," exclaimed Mrs. Marvel, satisfied with the sentiment -of the quotation, though its meaning was not quite clear to her; "I'm -glad to hear that." - -"Dear old mother!" said Joshua, in secret delight at her simplicity, -kissing her. - -"But the best of it all is," said George Marvel, "it makes a man of -you; your muscle's like a bit of iron. Feel mine, Josh--like a bit of -soft putty. That comes of being a wood-turner." - -"Ellen and Mr. Meddler went down to Gravesend two hours ago," -said Mrs. Marvel to Joshua, who was tying his accordion in his -pocket-handkerchief. - -Joshua nodded. Brave as he had intended to be, spasms were rising in -his throat. - -"You have all your things, dear?" - -"Yes, every thing." - -He turned to take a last look at the homely kitchen, noting in that -momentary glance the position of every piece of furniture and of the -crockery on the dresser. The yellow-haired cat was too old now to do -any thing but lie on the hearth before the fire; and Joshua stooped -and patted its head. When he rose and put his hand on the back of a -chair, it seemed to him as if that common piece of wood and every -other inanimate thing in the room were familiar friends. The very -shape of the room was dear to him. The dear old kitchen! how many -happy hours had he passed in it! He could have knelt and kissed the -floor, his heart was so tender. As it was, he touched the table and -the mantle-shelf; over which the bright saucepan-lids were hanging, -lovingly with his fingers, and with dim eyes walked slowly away. His -arm was round his mother's waist as they went up stairs to the -street-door, and he put his face to her neck and kissed it--a favorite -trick of his when he was a child. It brought to her suddenly the fancy -that her son was a baby-boy still; and she caressed his curly head as -a young mother might have done. Mr. Marvel of course was too manly to -give way to such weakness; but nevertheless he clasped Joshua's hand -with a clinging fondness, and the tune he was humming in proof of his -manliness came rather huskily from his throat. It was a triumphant -moment for him when he opened the street-door, and stood on the step -with his wife and Joshua; for there in the street were many of his -neighbors, who pushed forward to shake Joshua's hand, and to wish him -God-speed; while some of the women slyly gave him "a lucky touch." - -"One word, dear mother," said Joshua, drawing mother and father into -the passage, whereat all the neighbors fell away, and turned their -backs to the door, there being nothing there really worth noticing. -"Take care of my darling Ellen for me. And Dan too; he may need it." - -"They are our children, Joshua, next to you," said Mrs. Marvel. - -"You think to yourself, when you are away, Josh," said Mr. Marvel, -with his finger in a button-hole in Joshua's jacket. "'There is Ellen, -my wife that is to be; and there is Dan, my dearest friend; and there -is father and mother with them every day, loving them almost as much -as they love me and almost as proud of them.' You think that, Josh, and -you'll think right." - -"I am sure of it. Once more, good-by; God bless you all!" - -And so, with tender embraces, hearty neighborly farewells, and waving -of hands, Joshua, with his accordion under his arm, bade farewell to -his dear old humble home. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. -THE OLD SAILOR SETS MATTERS STRAIGHT. - - -Having made over the whole of his worldly property to Joshua and Ellen -"for better or worse," it was reasonable that Praiseworthy Meddler -should have considerable weight in the family council of the Marvels. -The arrangement whereby Joshua left his home a day before his ship was -to sail was entirely of the Old Sailor's making; he and he alone was -responsible for it. Naturally enough, when he had at first proposed -it, he had met with opposition--especially from Mrs. Marvel, who -wished Joshua to remain with them until the last moment. But, after a -private conversation with the Old Sailor, she had yielded to his wish, -and had even used arguments to induce Joshua's readier compliance. -That being obtained, the Old Sailor informed them that he had a -lady-friend at Gravesend, name Mrs. Eliza Friswell, who was a married -woman herself with a family, and who kept a respectable boarding-house, -with whom he had arranged that Ellen should stay until the anchor of the -"Merry Andrew" was weighed; substantiating his statement by a letter -from Mrs. Eliza Friswell to Mrs. Marvel, in which Mrs. Eliza--as the -Old Sailor called her--undertook to look after Ellen as "one of her -own." On the morning of Joshua's departure from Stepney, the Old -Sailor, dressed in his best, and decorated with a bunch of flowers in -honor of Ellen, had called for his pretty lass and had taken her away, -leaving a message that if Joshua did not arrive at Gravesend exactly -at the appointed time, Ellen had consented to run away with him--to -wit, Praiseworthy Meddler--and get married. Very proud was the Old -Sailor of his charge, and very tender and confidential was the nature -of his communications to her as they made their way to Gravesend. What -it was that made her blush and laugh and cry in turns--what it was -that made her serious one moment and glad the next--was known only to -themselves. Certainly no one was taken into their confidence until -they arrived at Mrs. Eliza's, when, with a fatherly kiss, he delivered -Ellen into the charge of that estimable matron. Mrs. Eliza's husband -was a boatman, rough and strong as a boatman should be: with a great -red face and great red hands, and with a voice that rumbled from his -great deep chest with such thunderous power as to render such a thing -as a whisper physically impossible. He was the owner of a fleet of -four boats, which had been bought and paid for in shrimps and -watercresses, or, at all events, with the profits made by Mrs. Eliza -out of those delicacies, which she purveyed to the easily-satisfied -amorous British public, with stale bread-and-butter and an imitation -of tea, at nine pence per head. - -Praiseworthy Meddler was fraternizing with Mrs. Eliza's husband when -Joshua made his appearance. Mrs. Eliza's husband immediately sheered -off, and the Old Sailor took Joshua in tow. In response to the Old -Sailor's remark that he was late, Joshua, who felt very despondent, -said that parting from those at home took a longer time than he had -expected. - -"Ay, my lad," said the Old Sailor gravely, "'tis a hard word, good-by, -when said to those we love. A long time with Dan, I dare say now?" - -"Yes, sir; but it didn't seem long. Time flies faster at some times -than others." - -"Ay; flies fastest when we most want it to hold out. Mother and father -all right?" - -"As right as may be, sir. Crying more now, I know by my own feelings, -than when I was with them. Kept up for my sake, sir, to give me -courage." And Joshua turned aside. - -"No need to be ashamed of your tears, my lad. Gentle thoughts and a -gentle heart go together. Some people say 'tis unmanly to cry, but I -wouldn't give much for the man who never cried, or who wasn't -sometimes so near it as to feel a gulping in the throat. 'Tis as much -crying, that is, as if the tears were rolling down his face. I've felt -like it myself, I'm glad to say." - -"You are very kind to me, sir." - -"You deserve it, Josh, you deserve it, though I've a doubt that you're -a bit blind to some things." - -"To what things, sir?" - -"Gently my lad, gently. Plenty of time to talk." - -The gravity of the Old Sailor was contagious, and Joshua felt that the -good old fellow was about to say something which he deemed of -importance. - -"Where is Ellen, sir?" - -"In the house with Mrs. Eliza. She is happy and comfortable, my lad; -and when you and me have had our bit of talk, we will go in to her. -She knows that we're together, and that we've got something to speak -about. As you turned the street, she put her pretty head out of window -there--you didn't know the house or you'd have seen her do it, like a -true sailor as you are--and when she saw us together, she put her -pretty head in again, satisfied. And you left everybody at home all -right, eh? Grieving naturally to be sure, but otherways all right?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Let us walk as we talk," said the Old Sailor, hooking his arm in -Joshua's, and walking in the direction of the river. "Or we shall talk -better in a boat, perhaps; Mrs. Eliza's husband shall paddle us about -the while." - -"But I should like to see Ellen just for one minute first. - -"To begin your kissing, eh, my lad?" said the Old Sailor, with a -roguish, laugh. "No, no; you'll have plenty of time for that. I'm in -command now, and I'll have no mutineering, or I'll put you in irons. -You'll not like them as well as Ellen's pretty arms." Notwithstanding -the light nature of the Old Sailor's word's, Joshua detected a -serious mood beneath them, and with a good grace he walked to the -landing-place and stepped into the boat which Mrs. Eliza's husband -held ready. - -"So you were a long time with Dan, my lad," remarked the Old Sailor, -when they were launched. "What did you talk about mostly?" - -"The old things, sir,--ourselves mostly?" - -"You have no secrets from Dan, my lad?" - -"No, sir, none." - -"And he has none from you?" - -"None, sir." - -"And yet I'll be bound," said the Old Sailor, looking steadily at -Joshua, and compelling Joshua to return his gaze, "that there was -something which you might have spoken of had you not been restrained -by a feeling, say, of kindness to Dan. What, now?" - -"There was something, sir," replied Joshua, wondering what this -conversation, so singularly commenced, would lead to. - -"Ah!" ejaculated the Old Sailor, rubbing his knees in a satisfied -manner; "let us hear what that something was." - -"You speak so earnestly, sir," said Joshua, inwardly questioning -himself, "that I must be careful not to conceal any thing from -you--not that I have any reason nor that I wish to do so, but -something might escape me. I must first say, though that you must not -expect me to break any confidence--that supposing Dan had a secret, -and had imparted it to me, I should not be justified in telling that -secret to any one else." - -"Fair and honest, my lad; what I expected from you." - -"Well, then, I have been sorry to find that Mr. Kindred"-- - -"Minnie's father--yes," interrupted the Old Sailor, with a sharp look -at Joshua. - -"Has been changed to all of us lately, and especially to me; and I -have been sorry to think that it is because of something which I have -done that he is so changed." - -"You know of nothing, Josh?" - -"Nothing--absolutely nothing; and that's what grieves me. If I did -know, I should be able to justify myself. Why, sir, this morning he -refused to see me when I went to wish him good-by, and refused to let -me see Minnie. I did not speak of this thing to Dan because of my love -for him." - -"And because," said the Old Sailor, "supposing that Dan had a secret -and had imparted it to you, you thought that Dan would be easier in -his mind--in consequence of his secret--if he did not know of Mr. -Kindred's strange refusal to see you." - -"Just so, sir." - -"Could I guess this secret of Dan's?" questioned the Old Sailor. -"Could an old tar like me, who wouldn't be supposed to know much of -boys and girls and their whims and whams, venture to guess that this -secret of our dear friend Dan's was all about a woman?" - -Joshua did not reply. - -"And such a woman!" continued the Old Sailor. "With eyes as bright as -the stars, and with hair like a mermaid's. As cunning as a mermaid -too; not wickedly cunning--no, no; but 'tis in her to be so; and she -needs weaning from it, like a babe." - -Very gentle was the Old Sailor's voice; and greatly did Joshua wonder, -not at its gentleness, for that was natural to the old man, but at the -wisdom of the words that came from his lips. All his roughness was -gone; all his pleasantry was gone; all his simplicity was laid aside -for the time; and the Old Sailor spoke as if all his life he had been -studying woman's nature until he was master of its complexities. But -such deep wisdom often comes from very simplicity. - -"Lord love you, my lad!" he said, "how blind you have been! Here has -been a woman's heart laid bare to you, and you have not suspected it." - -Joshua trembled with apprehension. "For Heaven's sake, sir," he -implored, "speak more plainly!" - -"I intend to do so, Joshua; for this is the solemnest time of your -life. I have considered the matter deeply, and I can see but one right -thing to do; but I am running ahead too fast. Steady there, steady. As -I said a time ago, here has been a woman's heart laid bare to you, and -you have not suspected it. What woman, now? But 'tis not right to ask, -mayhap." - -"Ask me any thing, sir; I will answer truly." - -"What woman do you love?" - -"Ellen." - -"Ellen? And Ellen only?" - -"And Ellen only. None other; nor ever shall, if it is given to man to -know his heart." - -"Good! Answered like yourself; answered like the lad I used to see -looking out on the river that runs to the sea; like the lad my old -heart warmed to because there was honesty in his face; like the lad -who has grown to be a man, and who sits afore me now with truth in his -eyes." - -"Thank you for that, sir." - -"What woman does this lad, now grown to be a man, love? Ellen--the -pretty Ellen, the truest-hearted, gentlest-hearted, kindest-hearted, -dearest lass on all the high seas. What woman does Joshua's friend -Dan love? That's a question I ask myself. 'Tis easily answered. -Minnie--Minnie with the mermaid's hair, and with eyes bright as the -stars. Does Minnie love Dan? Yes; but not as Dan wants her to love -him. Why? Because there is some one in the way." - -"Who, sir?" Joshua was constrained to ask, but dreading the answer. - -"She loves Dan's friend Joshua better than she loves Dan. Let that -friend, who sits afore me now, search his heart and his mind, and let -him say what he thinks. He knows her nature; has been her friend since -she was a girl; and, cunning as a woman may be, no woman can be -cunning enough to hide her love always from the man she loves, though -she may hide it from all the rest of the world. It happens sometimes -in a man's life that he may be unconscious of a thing for years -perhaps, it being present to him all the time, until, sometimes in one -way, sometimes in another, a sudden light is thrown upon it, and he -sees in a flash what he has been blind to all his life before." - -"You are right, sir," said Joshua sadly. "It has happened to me now. I -have been blind." - -As he sat, sadly looking at the evening shadows reflected in the -river, every circumstance connected with his intimacy with Minnie came -to his mind with an interpretation different from that it had borne -before. Her pretty fancy of the shell, which he had thought of often -as a childish conceit bore a different meaning now. Tender looks and -simple acts, which had pleased him at the time, gathered strength, and -became more than tokens of mere friendship. Child as she was when he -first went to sea, he recognized now that she had more than the -strength of a child; that even then, indeed, she was almost a woman. -When he came back, a man, she had saved his life; and when he thanked -her for it--surely he could do no less!--she told him that she did not -want thanks, for the having saved his life would ever be her sweetest -remembrance. "Little Minnie, little Minnie," he had said, kissing her, -"thank you for your devotion." He remembered that she trembled, and -that something like a sob escaped her when he had kissed her. Had he -done wrong? Was he to blame? All he had done had been innocently done, -as from a brother to a sister. And her feelings were known to others -when they had been hidden from him. Minnie's secret was known to her -father and to Susan. That was the reason why Basil Kindred had -questioned him so strangely, and had told him the story of his life. -Words uttered by Basil, which had borne no direct signification when -they were spoken, came to him now with startling vividness. "Young men -are often thoughtless in their actions," Basil had said; "they do not -know the depth and earnestness of some womanly natures." The -revelation that had come to him served also to account for Susan's -singular conduct that very morning. - -"So," he thought; "they believe I have been playing with Minnie's -feelings; and both of them have condemned me. And I at the same time -engaged to Ellen! It is too dreadful to think of. What can I do? Oh, -what can I do?" - -The unspoken words rended him to the soul; he was enveloped in a -despairing darkness. But a greater terror than all fell upon him when -he thought of Dan. In such a momentous crisis as that through which -Joshua's mind was passing, nothing of the past is unremembered. Words -which otherwise are borne in mind only by their sense come back as if -they were just being, uttered. When Dan had imparted to Joshua the -secret of his love for Minnie, he had said, "A great hope, shadowed by -a great fear, has entered my soul; a hope which, fulfilled, would make -earth heaven for me. Is it too precious a thing to pray for? It seems -so to me. I tremble as I think of it. But if it is not to be, I hope I -shall soon die." And Joshua heard again that cry from Dan's soul, -almost word for word. The sacred nature of the love existing between -Dan and Joshua needs to be understood to realize the terrible fear -that smote Joshua at the present time. If Dan should ever come to -believe him false, he would not wish to live: for the salt would have -gone out of his life forever. - -For full a quarter of an hour Joshua was wrapped in painful thought; -and the Old Sailor had not disturbed him. But now, as he raised his -tearful eyes to the Old Sailor's face, the Old Sailor laid his hand -gently upon Joshua's knee, and said,-- - -"Well, Joshua, and how do you make it out?" - -"As bad as it well can be, sir. This is the hardest stroke I have ever -had. I do not think that even you can understand how hard it is for -me." - -"Because of Dan?" - -"Because of Dan, sir. I have no need to hide Dan's secret from you -now--you know it; but if Dan should be disappointed in his love for -Minnie, I don't know what effect it would have upon him. All this is -very terrible. I don't need to assure you, sir, that I have been -entirely blameless, and that I have never treated Minnie in any way -but that of an honored sister." - -"You do not, my lad," said the Old Sailor, with an evident brightening -up in his manner; "I am satisfied of that. But what do we do when a -storm comes? Do we run and bury our heads in our hammocks, or do we -stand up like men to meet it and battle with it?--as we are going to -meet this storm, which has come upon us unaware, and from no fault of -our'n. Like men, Josh; we're going to meet it like men. I am looking -it straight in the face. No wonder it made you stagger when it come -upon you sudden. It set my old head a-thinking when I found it -out--though it only come upon me by degrees, and after a deal of -watching. Just you think a bit now, Josh, and tell me if you don't see -any way of getting the ship off the rocks." - -"I can see no way, sir," said Joshua, after a little anxious -pondering; "all is dark around me." - -The Old Sailor laughed a quiet little laugh. - -"Lord, Lord how blind these youngsters are! Here's a sailor that's -lost his reckoning, and running the danger of seeing his ship break up -before his eyes; and all the while there's a smooth-water bay close -alongside him, and a friendly craft waiting to give him a hand." - -"Where is that bay, sir?" - -"Steady, my lad, steady. Let's see what we've got to do. Firstly, our -duty to every body, right round. Next, to make two persons, who ought -to know better, ashamed of themselves for misjudging of us. Next, to -make every thing so snug that our friend Dan sha'n't suffer from any -fault of our'n. Next, to teach a gentle lesson to a mermaid of a girl -who's got a notion in her head that's no business to be there, but who -otherways is as good as gold. It's a riddle, my lad, and I've got the -key to it in my pocket." - -"May I see it, sir?" - -"You may, and shall, Josh," said the Old Sailor, with a sly chuckle. -"It was to give you the key, that I brought you out here to talk." - -And the Old Sailor took from his breast his blue-cotton -pocket-handkerchief, upon which was imprinted the twelve-hundred-ton -ship, with all its sails set to a favorable breeze. There was a knot -in the handkerchief; which the Old Sailor undid with his teeth, -keeping his eyes fixed upon Joshua's face all the while. The knot -being untied, the Old Sailor took from the handkerchief a very small -parcel in silver paper, and handed it to Joshua in perfect silence. - -Joshua opened the silver paper, and found in it a wedding-ring. - -He looked at the tiny symbol with a beating heart, and a glimmering of -the Old Sailor's meaning dawned upon his mind. - -"That's the key, my lad," said the Old Sailor, with a triumphant -expression on his honest, weather-beaten face; "that's the key to it -all. You put that ring upon pretty Ellen's finger to-morrow morning -early, and what happens? Why, you spend your honeymoon here in -Gravesend with your little wife; and when the 'Merry Andrew' sets -sail,--which won't be to-morrow, Josh; I've found that out,--Ellen -goes back to Stepney with that pretty bit of gold on her finger. Says -she, 'I'm married--married to Joshua.' 'Married' says they, all but -one of 'em; 'married!' And surprised they are, all but one of 'em. -'Who made you do it?' says they, all but one of 'em. 'Mr. Meddler,' -says she; 'Mr. Meddler made me do it. He's a hard-hearted old shark, -and he made me do it. But I'm not sorry for it,' says she; 'I'm glad -of it. And I'd do it over again to-morrow; for I've got a true-hearted -man for a husband, and all I've got to do is to pray that he may come -back safe to me and to all of us.' With that they all fall a-kissing -one another, which is but right under the circumstances. What happens -then? Says Susan, 'I was mistaken; Joshua is as he always was.' Says -Mr. Kindred, 'Minnie is safe. God bless Joshua for doing what he has -done.' Says Minnie to herself, 'It's no use my loving a married man. -I've been a foolish girl, and what I've got to do is to love Joshua -like a brother, as he has always loved me--like brother and sister; -that's all we can ever be to one another.' Then she turns to Dan, and -loves that tender-hearted friend,--who ought to have been a man six -foot high, with his limbs as sound as our'n,--and loves him as he -ought to be loved. And I shouldn't wonder, my lad, that when you come -home from this trip, Dan will say to you, 'Here is my wife, Jo, my own -dear Minnie; and we're as happy as the day is long.' The consequence -of all of which is, that every thing turns out as it ought to turn -out, and as we all want it to turn out." - -The Old Sailor drew a long breath after this peroration, and dabbed -his face in a manner expressive of a high state of exultation and -excitement. Joshua was no less moved. He toyed with the wedding-ring -as gently and affectionately as if it were already on Ellen's finger. -Truly, to him it was more than a piece of plain gold; it was a symbol -of love. If it had been a precious life, he could not have handled it -more tenderly. Tears came into his eyes as he looked at it, and his -heart beat more strongly with love for Ellen as he pressed the ring to -his lips. At which action the Old Sailor gave his knee a great slap; -and falling back, in the excitement of his triumph, upon Mrs. Eliza's -husband, nearly upset a boat for the first and only time in his life. - -"And that is the reason, sir," said Joshua, "that you wished me to -spend my last day at Gravesend with Ellen?" - -"That is the reason, my lad, and no other." - -"But how did you find all this out?" - -"The fact of it is, my lad," replied the most unsuspicious and -guileless old tar that ever crossed salt water, "I put this and that -together. I put this and that together," he repeated with an air of -amazing cunning. "It came first in a simple way. When you were ill, I -went one day to see Minnie's father; and when I went into his room, I -found that he was out. Minnie was there, though: but she didn't see -me. She was sitting on the ground by her father's bed, with a shell at -her ear, and was singing some words softly to herself; and I heard her -repeat your name, Joshua, over and over again. It might have been a -babe singing, her voice was so low and sweet. But I didn't like to -hear it, for all that; and from that time, my lad, I began to watch, -and to put this and that together. Lord love you if you hadn't been so -wrapped up with Ellen, you would have found it out yourself soon -enough. You see, if Minnie had been a little girl, that shell and her -singing wouldn't have mattered; but being a woman, it did." - -"And Ellen, sir. Have you told her what you have told me?" - -"Just as much as wouldn't wound her sensitive heart, the dear lass. -Not a word about Minnie. I've put it more as if it was your doing and -my wish, being an unreasonable old shark, you know, and because I had -a right to have my own unreasonable way. I told her I'd set my heart -on it, and so had you." - -"And her answer?" - -"That pretty little lass says, 'If Joshua, that I love dearer -than all the world'--them's her very words, 'dearer than all the -world'--'wishes me to marry him down here at Gravesend, it will be my -pride and my joy to do as he wishes, now and always.' Something else -she says too. But before I tell you what that something else was, let -me know what you think about it, Josh." - -"What can I think, sir, after what you have told me, but that I -believe it is the best and only way to set all matters straight? It is -a task both of love and duty--love to Ellen, duty to Dan and Minnie. -Yet I have one regret. I have often pictured in my mind what a -proud day our wedding-day would be to mother,"--his voice faltered -here,--"and how her dear face would have brightened when our hands -were joined!" - -"That's the very something else that Ellen says to me, Josh," said the -Old Sailor, beaming with satisfaction. "Says she, 'I should like to -have Josh's mother at the wedding.' Says I, 'My dear, Josh's mother -_will_ be at the wedding.'" - -"No!" exclaimed Joshua with a sudden start of surprise. - -"Yes," cried the Old Sailor dabbing his face gleefully. "Says I, 'My -dear Josh's mother _will_ be at the wedding. She will come down to -Gravesend to-morrow morning early, and will go back quietly in the -afternoon.' And when Ellen tells 'em at home all about it, mother will -be the only one among 'em who won't be surprised." - -"Enough said, sir," said Joshua, his heart filled with wondering -happiness. "I don't know what I have done to deserve such friends as -I've got. Let us get back to Ellen." - -With that, Mrs. Eliza's husband, who had behaved more like a machine -than a man during the long interview, pulled briskly to shore. - -It was dusk when they walked along the street where Mrs. Eliza lived; -but Joshua saw Ellen standing at the door waiting for them. He -hastened to her eagerly, and with his arm around her waist, drew her -away from the little light that was left. She was trembling; but his -strong arm supported her. - -"So you are to be my little wife to-morrow?" he said in a voice of -exceeding tenderness. - -She clung closer to him, and hiding her face, although it was dark, -answered him in the softest of soft whispers, "Yes, if you are -satisfied that it shall be so." - -"It will be for the best, darling," he whispered, embracing her. - -How proud he was of her! and what a memorable night they passed with -the Old Sailor! The best room in the house had been brightened up for -them to have tea in; and after tea, Joshua and Ellen strolled by the -waterside for an hour, which seemed about five minutes long, talking -as lovers have talked since the Creation. Meanwhile, the Old Sailor -stood at the door, smoking his pipe with infinite satisfaction at the -thought of having set all matters straight. While he thus stood, a man -approached with the evident intention of making an inquiry of him; but -catching sight of the Old Sailor's face, the man uttered a hasty -exclamation and abruptly crossed the road, making a pretence of being -intoxicated. It was but a pretence, but it deceived the Old Sailor, -who set it down in his mind that the man was a sailor on the spree. -"Going to join the 'Merry Andrew' to-morrow, perhaps," he thought; -"and fuddling himself, as most of 'em do the first and last nights -ashore. A rare old swiller is Jack! Never knows when he has had -enough. Must always take another drop." - -The man's thoughts were of a different kind. When he had turned the -corner of the street, he walked more leisurely, and drew such a breath -as one draws when he has escaped a danger. His first muttered words -were "He didn't see me;" his next, "What the devil brings him here?" -That his mind was disturbed by the sight of the Old Sailor was evident -from his manner; and it was evident also, by the wary looks he cast -about him, that he was bent already on no idle mission and needed -nothing fresh to occupy him. "A good job it was dark," he muttered, -directing his steps to the waterside; "if he had seen me, he would -have been sure to tell Marvel, and it might have given rise to -suspicion. Where is that dog of a Lascar, and what the devil does he -mean by keeping me waiting?" The words were scarcely uttered when his -face grew deadly white, and an ugly twitching came about the corners -of his lips at what he saw before him. It was merely a man and -woman--evidently lovers--who were walking slowly along, in earnest -conversation. He was about to follow them, when his arm was touched by -a new-comer, in a sailor's dress. - -"Here I am, master," said the new-comer. - -"See there, you dog!" exclaimed Solomon Fewster, pointing to the -lovers. "See there! What brings her here?" - -The Lascar looked after them, shading his eyes with his hand, and -shrugged his shoulders. "Joshua Marvel and Ellen Taylor!" he said, -with a careless laugh. "Doing a little sweethearting on the sly. If -you had the chance, you'd do the same yourself. See, they're turning -back this way; let us get out of sight." - -They stood aside, and as the lovers passed, heedful of nothing, -conscious of nothing, but their own great happiness, their faces met, -and a kiss passed between them. In his torment of jealousy, Solomon -Fewster grasped the Lascar's shoulder so tightly as to make the man -wince. The dog shook himself free from his master, and said, "Well, -he'll be away soon, and you'll have the pretty Ellen all to yourself. -Come, now; I don't want to stop here all night. Let us say what we've -got to say, and be done with it." - -Solomon Fewster walked away a few steps to recover his composure, and -when he had mastered his agitation, returned to the Lascar. - -"I shipped this morning, through an agent," said the Lascar; "here are -my papers." - -"It is too dark for me to see them; I must take your word that you -have done what you say." - -"You have taken my word before, master, and you have found me -faithful. You keep your part of the bargain; I shall keep mine. It is -my interest to do so." - -"Yes, your interest," said Solomon Fewster, with somewhat of a bitter -emphasis. "You have cost me enough, you dog." - -Notwithstanding that their positions of master and dog might have been -appropriately reversed, the old fiction was kept up between them, with -insolent arrogance on one side, and with mock humility on the other. -Neither of them deceived the other. - -"I might have cost you more, master," replied the Lascar; "but go on." - -"Let us see then, if we are agreed upon the position Of matters, and -if we understand one another. When a certain thing happened last -Christmas, which nearly cost a whelp his life, you thought it -necessary for your safety"-- - -"We thought it necessary for our safety," corrected the Lascar. - -"To take yourself off somewhere, so as not to be seen, and therefore -not suspected. Out of sight out of mind. In accordance with that -understanding you went to a certain watering-place, and lived at my -expense until you got into a drunken quarrel with your drunken -mates, in which one of them received a cut across the face. The same -night--being within a week of the present time--you thought it -advisable to leave that district, and you accordingly did so, coming -down here to Gravesend, and apprising me that you were in danger of -arrest and in want of money." - -"You talk like a book," said the admiring Lascar, with a laugh. - -"I came down to see you, and to advise you"-- - -"Taking such an interest in me, master!" interrupted the Lascar, with -another and a louder laugh. - -"And I told you that as in England a man who is too free with his -knife is likely to be deprived of his liberty for a longer time than -he would probably consider pleasant, the best thing you could do--the -police being on the lookout for you--would be to join a ship bound for -a distant port, and so get clear of danger. Is that fairly stated?" - -"Pretty fairly for you, master. It is for me to say, that so long as I -am out of danger your safety is secured. But that's a matter, of -course, that you don't think much of." - -"It happening, as it does not often happen with such dogs as you," -continued Solomon Fewster, taking no other notice of the Lascar's -taunt than was indicated by a contemptuous emphasis on the word -"dogs," "that you were for once open to reason, you agreed with me -that it would be best for you to get out of the country. As luck would -have it, Joshua Marvel's ship, the 'Merry Andrew,' was shortly to -start for New South Wales, and as part of the crew was to be engaged -at Gravesend, where you were skulking about, you set your mind very -strangely upon going in the same ship with the whelp, and according to -your own statement, have accomplished your desire to-day." - -"I didn't find it a very difficult thing, master. Sailors are none so -plentiful. Go on." - -"When I found that you were determined to go in Joshua Marvel's ship, -I bearing in mind that you have been as faithful as it is in the -nature of such a dog as you to be, told you that the night before the -ship sails, I would come down and give you a few necessaries which you -said you required." - -"Such as twenty-five pounds in gold," said the Lascar. - -"Such as twenty-five pounds in gold," repeated Solomon Fewster, taking -some packets from his pocket. - -"Such as a six-bladed knife." - -"Such as a six-bladed knife." - -"Such as another knife with one blade." - -"Such as another knife with one blade." - -"Such as a silver watch and a silver chain." - -"Such as a silver watch and a silver chain." - -"Bah!" exclaimed the Lascar, in a voice of intense scorn, as he -received the articles, one after another. "Look at the sky, master." - -It was intensely dark; the clouds were black, there was no moon, and -not a star was discernible. Solomon Fewster looked up, and said, -"Well?" - -"What can you see, master?" - -"Nothing." - -"Look at me"--he had walked away a few paces. "Can you see me?" - -"I can see your form." - -"Not my face, nor my eyes?" - -"No, you dog!" answered Solomon Fewster hotly, for the Lascar's voice -was contemptuously insolent. - -"Bah! you are worse than I am. Too free with my knife, am I? I wonder -whether you would be too free with your knife--in the dark? In the -light I know you wouldn't be. You wouldn't have the pluck to use it. -Look you, master: the first part of what you said was pretty well as -things happened; but the last part--Well, you and me know all about -that. And yet, although we're in the dark, and can't see each other's -face, nor each other's eyes, you haven't pluck enough to tell the -truth; you haven't pluck enough to say even to me, here in the dark, -with no one by, that when I found that the 'Merry Andrew' was -going to sea. I said to you, What a fine thing it would be for me to -go in the same ship as Joshua Marvel, and to take advantage of any -thing that might happen to do him a good turn and that then you -mentioned--quite accidentally, of course--that if any thing should -happen to him through me, you would give me fifty pounds if the 'Merry -Andrew' came home without Joshua Marvel. You haven't pluck enough to -say that then I said, 'Done!' and done it was; but that I--knowing -you, master--made a point of having something in earnest of the -bargain--such as twenty-five pounds in gold; such as a six-bladed -knife; such as another knife with one blade; such as a silver watch -and chain. Bah! If it wasn't that I was such a cursed fool when my -blood is up, that I don't know what I do, and that, because of that, -it is safer for me to leave the country than to remain in it, I would -stop and feed upon you--I would, by God!--and worry the heart out of -such a coward." - -"You've been drinking," said Solomon Fewster, with difficulty -suppressing his anger. - -"What if I have? I know what I am saying well enough. I have had too -much of your airs of superiority, and of your lies and your acting. -Why, do you think that I would ever have done your dirty work, if it -hadn't served my purpose? Do you think that if I hadn't sworn an oath, -and marked it with my blood, to be revenged upon that damned upstart, -Joshua Marvel, for what he did to me, I would go in his ship? Look -you! I will do my share of the work, never fear, master; but I would -have done it for next to nothing, if you were a man instead of a -sneak!" - -"You dog!" cried Solomon Fewster, in an uncontrollable burst of -passion. "You have my money, my knives, and my watch upon you at this -moment. I have half a mind to give you into custody for robbing me." - -An exclamation of anger escaped the Lascar, and Solomon Fewster cursed -himself inwardly for his injudiciousness the moment the words had -passed his lips. A long silence followed, a silence lengthened by -Solomon Fewster's fears; for he knew that he was in the Lascar's -power, and could not consider himself safe while his dog was in the -country. - -"I didn't mean that," he said, with an awkward effort at conciliation; -"but you were wrong to provoke me." - -The Lascar did not reply, and Solomon Fewster's alarm increased every -moment. "Why don't you speak?" he asked. - -"I've been thinking, master," then said the Lascar with a quiet -laugh--"I've been thinking that a man isn't safe with such a sneak as -you, and I've made up my mind." - -"To what?" - -"To this; and if you don't do it, I'll go straight to Joshua Marvel -and his pretty Ellen, and open their eyes to what you are." - -"And ruin yourself," said Solomon Fewster, trembling in every limb -like the coward he was. - -"And ruin myself," said the Lascar composedly, "and you along with -me." - -"You do not know what you are saying." - -"You shall see," said the Lascar, moving slowly away. - -"Stop! What is it you want me to do?" - -"If the 'Merry Andrew' returns without Joshua Marvel, and I, having -done my work, come to you for my wages, it isn't unlikely that you'll -hatch some charge against me which I sha'n't be able to face, for you -are rich and I am poor. I will prevent this. You shall come with me -now to my lodging-house, and you shall scratch upon the inside of my -watch, 'From Solomon Fewster to his Lascar friend,' and you shall give -me a paper saying as how you made me a present of the knives and the -money because I have earned them. This is what I have made up my mind -to, and what I intend to have done, as sure as there is a sky above -us. What's more, I'm not going to have any palaver about it. If you -don't follow me to my lodgings, where I am going this very minute, -I'll peach upon you, by God!" - -Without another word, he walked towards the town; and Salomon Fewster, -in a tumult of fear and vain passion, followed him to his lodging, and -unwillingly gave him his bond. That being done, the Lascar repeated -that he might be depended upon for fulfilling his task; and Solomon -Fewster took his leave with the consciousness that the basest of dogs -considered himself superior to the master who used him. - - -Early the following morning Mrs. Marvel came down to Gravesend, and -all preparations having been made by the Old Sailor, Joshua and Ellen -were married. It was the quietest and happiest of weddings. There were -but two guests--Mrs. Eliza, in a blaze of red ribbons, and Mrs. -Eliza's husband, whose futile efforts to speak in whispers were the -only evidences to Joshua and Ellen that the events of the morning were -real. Every thing but that irrepressible voice was so hushed and -subdued, that it seemed to belong more to a dream than any thing else. -But it was a happy dream, marred by no cloud, made bright by perfect -love. There was no happier person in the party than Mrs. Marvel. - -"Now you are truly my daughter," she whispered to Ellen, "and really -belong to me." - -"I can't believe that I am awake, mother," said Joshua to Mrs. Marvel, -as they two stood a little apart from the others; "yesterday I had no -thought of this. I wonder if Dan is thinking of me! When will you tell -him?" - -"None of them will know, dear, until Ellen comes back, and that won't -be until your ship is gone. Mr. Meddler says it will not sail for two -days, so your honeymoon will be longer than you expected." - -"And father! how surprised he will be!" - -"He will approve, my dear, when I tell him all." - -When she told him all! That means, thought Joshua, when she tells him -about Minnie. But he said nothing aloud in answer. Minnie was in both -his and his mother's thoughts, but neither of them mentioned her name. - -"Look at her, Josh," said Mrs. Marvel, turning with affectionate pride -to where Ellen stood, hanging tearfully upon the Old Sailor's arm; "no -man ever had a greater treasure." - -Joshua, gazing at the modest figure of his dear little woman, thought -of the comparison he had once drawn between Ellen and Minnie. "Minnie -is like the sea; Ellen like a peaceful lake." Every thing about -her--her dress, her trustful face, the calm light in her eyes--was -suggestive of peaceful love, a haven of refuge from the storms of -life. She turned to him, and he hurried to her side, and took her arm -on his. - -"Darling," he whispered, "it seems too wonderful to be real. I am -afraid that I shall wake up presently, and find that it is all a -dream." - -Thank God, that while this world of ours is pulsing with mean -ambitions and unworthy strivings, with heartless pleasures and vicious -desires, flowers of circumstance such as this bloom sometimes in the -lives of the poorest among us. - -Dinner was taken in Mrs. Eliza's private parlor which, abounded in -family relics of great price, among which were especially conspicuous -two brown-stone mandarins, who wagged their heads upon the -mantle-shelf; two large pieces of white coral under glass shades; some -stuffed parrots similarly protected from the ravages of time; and an -impossible castle made with small shells. It was April weather with -all the company, and smiles and tears alternately chased one another. -Mrs. Eliza's husband proposed the toast of "The new-married couple," -but, attempting to make a speech, could only get out the words, "And -may they ever," which he repeated four or five times, without being -able to explain himself. However, the toast was drunk not the less -cordially, Mrs. Eliza's husband and the Old Sailor giving three times -three in hearty sailor fashion. Then, it being nearly time for Mrs. -Marvel to go back to Stepney, the Old Sailor rose, glass in hand, and -said,-- - -"Mrs. Marvel, lady, if you was my own mother, my dear, which you -couldn't be, seeing that I am old enough to be your father, but if you -was my own mother, I couldn't honor you more. Some women are sent into -the world expressly to be mothers; you're one of 'em, and a noble one -you are, and a credit to Britannia. Here's may Josh and his lass ever -be a pride to your heart, lady, as they have ever been, and may Josh -be a skipper before he's thirty! And if a rusty old sailor like me, -lady, can ever serve you, my dear, I shall be proud to be commanded by -such a commander." - -With that he drained his glass, and turning it upside down, took Mrs. -Marvel's hand and kissed it, like the gallant knight he was. Amid -tears and embraces and blessings, Mrs. Marvel took her departure, -escorted by the Old Sailor; and the lovers were left to their quiet -honeymoon. The "Merry Andrew" did not sail until two days afterwards, -as the Old Sailor had said. All too swiftly flew by the hours in that -brief time; and Joshua and Ellen found it harder to part than they had -ever done before. - -"I am pledged to you forever, darling," said Joshua, as they stood -together during the last few minutes. - -"And I to you, dear." - -"I want a curl, Ellen; not to remind me of you, but to have something -of you always near me." - -She cut off one of her brown curls, and he kissed her and it, and -placed it in the Bible Dan had given him. - -"How shall I count the days, darling! But I shall see you through all -my work. It is time for me to go. My undying faithful love for you. My -undying faithful love for Dan. And now, put your arms about my neck, -and say 'God bless you, and bring you safely back!'" - -"God bless you, and bring you safely back, my dear, my heart's -treasure!" - -Her strength failed her here, and she was sinking to the ground. - -"Take her, sir," said Joshua to the Old Sailor, who was standing a -little apart. "May Heaven reward you for all your kindness!" He -stooped and kissed her once more, and whispering, "I leave my heart -behind me," hurried with uneven steps to the boat in waiting for him. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. -FALSE FRIEND OR TRUE? - - -"I wish Ellen was at home," said Dan to himself, as he sat alone in -the parlor which served as his training-room; "the house is quite -lonely without her." Joshua had been gone from Stepney for four days, -and, knowing how Dan would miss Ellen, Mrs. Marvel had insisted that -he should stop at her house during that time. "There will be no one to -attend to you, my dear," Mrs. Marvel had said to him; "Mr. Kindred is -ill, and Minnie and Susan are fully employed waiting upon him." Dan -acknowledged the superior claims of Mr. Kindred on Minnie's and -Susan's attention, and consented to stop at Mrs. Marvel's house until -Ellen returned. Now that Joshua was gone, however, he could not help -thinking it strange that Minnie had not found time to run in and see -him, if only for two or three minutes. He expressed this to Mrs. -Marvel, who replied that Mr. Kindred was suffering much, she believed, -and did not like Minnie to be away from him, loving her so dearly. -"But it will be all right, my dear, when Ellen comes back," she said, -"she will be able to assist the girls in their nursing." The -uneasiness which Dan would have otherwise experienced at not seeing -Minnie was allayed by the knowledge that she was doing her duty. Still -he was glad when the morning came upon which Ellen was to return; for -patient as he was, he was hungering to see Minnie. And now at last he -was at home in his own little parlor, waiting almost impatiently for -Ellen. He heard a sound in the passage, and he raised his hand in a -listening attitude. "Ellen? No; Susan." The door opened, and Susan -entered. Accustomed as he was to Susan's strange manner and to the -alterations in it--morose one day and remorsefully affectionate the -next--he had never seen her as as he saw her now. Her face was pinched -as with some great agony, her hands wandered restlessly about her -dress and over one another, her eyes dilated as he remembered them in -the old days when she was tormented by the fear that terrible shapes -were stealing upon her unaware. Yet, notwithstanding these distressing -symptoms of a mind disturbed to its very uttermost, there was -something still more painful in her appearance. This was the effort to -appear calm and self-possessed, evidenced in the attempts she made to -keep her hands still and her eyes from wandering around. But she could -not bring color to her white face, nor composure to her quivering -lips. No nerves are more difficult to master than those which directly -affect the mouth, and many a hard-grained strong-minded man has -betrayed himself by a twitching of his lips, which he has found it -impossible to control. Dan had not seen Susan for more than a week, -and he was appalled at the change in her. His first thought was of -Minnie. - -"What has happened, Susan?" he cried. "Minnie is not ill?" - -He betrayed himself in the tone of anguish in which he made the -inquiry. Susan twisted her fingers so tightly together that the blood -left them, but she felt no pain. - -"Why should Minnie be ill?" she asked. "You have not seen her, then?" - -"Thank God!" Dan thought to himself; "it is not anxiety for Minnie -that has changed her so." - -"And her father, Susan?" he said aloud, more softly. - -"Her father!" exclaimed Susan, approaching Dan so that he could take -her hand; it was like ice. "Basil! He is stricken almost to death. I -don't know what to do; and I am pledged, miserable woman that I am--I -am pledged not to speak; not to divulge what I know!" - -"Poor Susey!" said Dan soothingly, and in a tone of earnest sympathy, -thinking that Susan's last words referred to what the doctor had told -him of Basil's heart-disease. "Poor Mr. Kindred! I am grieved to the -soul to hear it." - -She strove to free her hand from his grasp; but he retained it. - -"Tell me about Minnie, Susey," he implored. "Ah, if you knew how I am -yearning to see her--how I am yearning to console her!" - -At this appeal, so strong a trembling took possession of her, that her -words, to any but the acutest sense, would not have been -distinguishable. - -"You, Dan!" she said, tightening her grasp upon his hand. "You -yearning to see her! You yearning to console her! Why?" - -"Susey, you will help me when I tell you. You will let me see her when -I tell you. I love her!" - -"My God!" - -A deathlike silence followed, and Dan was almost frightened to break -it, but he was constrained by his fears to speak. - -"There is a hidden meaning in your words, Susan," he said in hushed -tones, "that I cannot fathom. Give me some clew, if you have any love -for me." - -"I can give you none," she answered hurriedly, "until I am released -from my pledge. Do not ask me any thing else--I don't think I am -conscious of what I am saying. I will go up to Basil--to Mr. -Kindred--and beg of him to see you. What is that?" - -It was merely a knock at the street-door; but in Susan's nervous -condition the sound was sufficient to cause her to start in alarm from -Dan's side. - -"Only a knock at the door, Susey. You have overtasked yourself, my -dear, with nursing." - -Susan hastened to the street-door, and Dan heard a voice ask if Mr. -Basil Kindred lived there. "Yes," answered Susan. "Here is a letter -for him; is it right?" "Quite right." And taking the letter from the -messenger, Susan went up stairs to Basil Kindred's room. She had left -the street-door open, and before another minute had passed, sunshine -entered the house--sunshine, in the person of Ellen, who, radiant with -joy, ran into the house and into the parlor, and clasping Dan round -the neck, called him by the dearest of names, and kissed him again and -again. What a bright flower she was! What a lovely flower she was! -What nameless beauty had passed into her face, that caused Dan to -thrill with pride that she was his sister, and caused him to wonder at -the same time what change it was that had come over her and added to -her loveliness? The sombre aspect of the room was gone; the chill, the -fear, the dread of Susan's meaning was gone; the terror that had no -reason in it, as far as he could see, was gone. For sunshine had -entered the house. - -"O my dear, dear Dan!" she cried, shedding tears in the fulness of her -joy. "O my darling, darling brother! I am so happy to be with you -again!" - -She kissed his face a dozen times again, and hid hers on his neck, and -kissed that too, until from Dan's heart, infected by her happiness, -every particle of fear planted there by Susan's manner had fled. -Truly, she was sunshine--the best, the dearest, the warmest. - -"My dear, dear Ellen!" said Dan, returning her affectionate embrace, -"how happy I am that you are back! I have been thinking how lonely the -house is without you. But"--holding her face between his hands and -looking at it, bright and blushing and beautiful--"you have grown -positively lovely. What have you been doing with yourself these last -four days?" - -What had she been doing with herself? She laughed softly at the -question, then ran and shut the door, and came back and sat on the -floor at his feet, tucking up her dress to save it from the dust. -She was in such a flutter even then--taking Dan's hand and fondling -it--that he waited to speak until she was more composed. Presently she -grew quieter, and resting her head on his knees, said,-- - -"Now, Dan, I am quiet. Ask me questions." - -"To commence, then, when did you come back?" - -"This very minute." - -"Who brought you back?" - -"Mr. Meddler." - -"The dear old friend! Why didn't he come in to see me?" - -"For reasons. He said that we had best be left alone, so that we might -chat. He is coming to see you to-night." - -"When did Joshua's ship go away?" - -"The day before yesterday." - -"Why, you little puss, you've been playing truant!" - -"Mr. Meddler persuaded me; and yesterday Mr. Meddler and Mrs. Eliza -and me went for a ride in the country." - -"What a grand young lady you've got to be! And Jo! What about Jo?" - -She nestled to him more caressingly; and he, passing his hand over her -face, drew it away, with tears upon it. - -"Crying, Nell? - -"For happiness, Dan--for very happiness, my dear! What about Jo, you -ask. I will speak his exact words--almost his last, dear--'My undying -faithful love for Dan.'" - -"Dear Jo! my dear, dearest brother!" - -"That was not all he said, Dan; we were speaking of you all the -day--you were never out of our thoughts, never out of his, I am sure. -He is the dearest friend, the truest friend, the most faithful, the -most constant, that happy man or woman ever had!" - -"He is all that you say, dear Ellen, and I thank Heaven for giving him -to us." - -"Any more questions, Dan?" - -"No; I can't think of any." - -"Then I must tell you something without being asked," said Ellen: "I -am the happiest woman in the world." - -She arose, and standing at the back of his chair, clasped him round -the neck, folding her hands one in the other, so that he should not -see her wedding-ring. Then she inclined her lips to his ear, and was -about to whisper the precious secret which made her the happiest woman -in the world, when an agonized scream rang through the house. With -affrighted looks they turned to each other for an explanation. - -"It is Susan," said Dan, all his fears returning. "I have not had time -to tell you, Ellen, but her manner just now frightened me. For -Heaven's sake assist me up stairs!" - -With his crutch under one arm, and his other round Ellen's neck, he -went to Basil Kindred's room, and, pushing open the door, entered. -Basil Kindred was sitting motionless in his chair, before a table on -which were writing-materials; his head was thrown back as if he were -asleep; one hand was on his heart, and the other, from which a letter -had fallen was hanging listlessly down. And kneeling by his side was -Susan, with a look of horror on her white face. But Minnie where was -Minnie? No one had gone out of the house; if she had come down stairs, -Dan must have heard her. He sank into a chair and gazed about him -vacantly. It was not that the power of thought had left him, but that -he was afraid to think. Susan, rocking herself to and fro, her face -turned away, had taken no notice of their entrance. - -"Ask her where Minnie is," said Dan to Ellen. He had tried to utter -the words two or three times, but his throat was parched; and now his -voice sounded so strange to him, that he wondered if he or some one -else had spoken. - -"Susan!" said Ellen, placing her hand on Susan's shoulder. "Susan, -where is Minnie?" - -But Susan did not heed her; and Ellen raising her eyes from Susan's -face to that of Basil Kindred, retreated appalled to Dan's side. It -looked like the face of one to whom death had come suddenly; perfectly -peaceful, but terrible to see. Still she found strength to whisper to -Dan, "Be strong, my dear, be strong. Shall I run and fetch mother?" - -"Mother!" echoed Dan, with the same doubt upon him as to whether he or -some one else were speaking. "Mother! Oh! Mrs. Marvel you, mean Jo's -mother." - -"Yes, dear, Jo's mother and ours. Shall I run and fetch her?" - -"No, not yet. What is that paper by his side? Pick it up; give it to -me." - -Averting her eyes from Basil's face, Ellen picked up the letter and -gave it to Dan. "It is Minnie's writing," she whispered. - -"Hark!" said Dan. - -It was the cockatoo that Joshua had brought home that startled him. It -was screeching down stairs, "Dan, Ellen, Minnie! Bread-and-cheese and -kisses! and kisses, and kisses!" ending with the usual running fire of -kisses, until it lost its breath. When the bird was quiet, Dan looked -at the letter in his hand. - -"Minnie's writing," he said, trying to read it; but the words swam in -his fading sight. "Read it, Ellen; I cannot make it out." - -Ellen took the letter from his trembling hand, and read:-- - - -"Father,--I have not gone from you because I do not love you, but -because it was my fate to do what I have done. I could not resist it. -I have nothing to say in justification of my conduct, except the words -I heard you use to Joshua when you were telling him of my mother. I -came into the room while you were speaking; it was dark, and neither -you nor Joshua saw me. What you said of my mother then sank into my -mind, and I can never forget it. Do you remember 'She loved me and -sacrificed herself for me. Loving me, she conceived it to be her duty -to follow me; she forsook friends and family for me, and I bless her -for it. Her devotion, unworldly as it was, was sanctified by love. -There is no earthly sacrifice that love will not sanctify.' As my -mother did, so I have done. It will be useless searching for me; for -when you read this, I shall be hundreds of miles away on the sea. If -you guess my secret, keep it for the sake of my good name; and for the -sake of my good name do not let any other eyes but yours see this -letter. If it were possible for me to have a wish fulfilled, I would -pray that I might die before this reaches you. On my knees I ask you -to forgive your unhappy - - "Minnie." - - -No one but Ellen noticed the entrance of Solomon Fewster while the -letter was being read; and she, with a warning finger to her lips, -restrained him by that gesture from coming forward. So he stood silent -and attentive within the doorway. As the words came slowly and -painfully from Ellen's lips, each of them cut into Dan's heart like a -knife. Ellen had seen his sufferings, and would have ceased reading, -but that he motioned her to proceed. - -"So, then," said Dan, after a long and painful pause, "Minnie is gone. -What have I to live for now? I would have been content if she had only -been near me; if I could have heard her voice or the rustle of her -dress to assure me of her beloved presence. Without that, my life is -dark indeed. But where has she gone?" - -He asked the question of himself; but Susan starting to her feet, -answered him. - -"Where has she gone? Where else but to sea in the 'Merry Andrew,' with -your false friend Joshua Marvel? And the knowledge of it has killed -her father!" - -"It is false!" cried Dan in a clear ringing voice. "It is false, you -bad sister!" - -"It is true, Daniel Taylor," said Solomon Fewster in his smooth oily -voice. "I have here a letter from a sailor on board the 'Merry Andrew,' -informing me that Minnie and Joshua are on the same ship." - -At this corroborative testimony, Susan fell upon her knees, and raised -her arms. - -"Curse that false friend!" she cried. - -But Ellen fell at her side, exclaiming, "O Susan, Susan, restrain your -tongue! For all our sakes--for my sake! He is my husband!" - -Whereat Solomon Fewster, upon whose face there had hitherto been an -ill-concealed expression of triumph, crushed the letter he held in his -hand, and muttered a bitter curse. - -And Dan, folding Ellen in his arms, said,-- - -"Hush, my sister, hush! Blessings on your wedding-ring! Blessings on -your husband and my true friend! We shall live to see him give the lie -to slanderous tongues. I have something to live for now--to defend the -honor of my brother!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. -THE DEAD WITNESS. - - -When Ellen felt the comforting protection of Dan's arms, and heard the -words to which he gave utterance in the nobility of his soul, the -despair by which she had been overwhelmed vanished like snow before -the sun, and left her an unhappy, but not a hopeless woman. - -"This, then, was your secret," said Dan to her, as she lay in his -arms; "your marriage with Jo. It is the proof of his faithfulness, my -dear. For me, I needed none. No heart but mine can judge my friend; no -tongue shall malign him unanswered while I am by." - -"Good, noble brother," she sobbed, "to comfort me thus in the midst of -your own great grief! I do not doubt him; I love him--love him--love -him! My faithful darling!" - -The reproachful looks she cast at Solomon Fewster, no less than the -passionate tenderness of her words, stung him to the soul. In truth he -had received a severe blow. When the Lascar's letter was delivered to -him, and he read the amazing news that Minnie was on board the "Merry -Andrew," he exulted in the triumph that awaited him. "Ellen is mine," -he thought. "That fool of a whelp has played straight into my hand!" -As such mean souls as Fewster's delight in detecting the meanness of -others, he was rejoiced at the thought that Joshua had been playing -false with Minnie, although, before reading the Lascar's scrawl, he -had no suspicion of it. He walked to Dan's house exultant, and deemed -himself fortunate in being in time to witness the tragic scene in -Basil Kindred's chamber. But when he heard Ellen's declaration that -Joshua was her husband, a groan of despair escaped him, and he became -almost desperate in the sudden and unexpected dashing down of all his -hopes. This feeling lasted but a very little while. His scheming mind -was busy at work calculating the chances for and against him, and rays -of light soon illumined the darkness. "If the Lascar keeps his word, -and Joshua does not return," he thought, "all may yet be well." Even -when Ellen flung at him the words, "I love him--love him--love him!" -he said to himself, "Believing that he will come back to vindicate -himself. We shall see." - -Notwithstanding this conflict of thought, his professional instinct -led him to the side of the inanimate form of Basil Kindred. He placed -his ear and hand to the dead man's heart; and then, with heartless -solemnity he lifted the gaunt form in his arms, and laid it on the -bed. Susan's eyes asked him, "Dead?" - -"Dead," he answered aloud. "It looks like a sudden stroke." - -Dan covered his face; and Ellen shudderingly turned her eyes from -Solomon Fewster. - -"It is not my fault," he said, as if Ellen's looks conveyed an -accusation. "Neither this, nor the letter I have received. It would -not have been the act of a friend to keep such a thing to himself: -What would you have thought of me, if you had discovered that I had -received such a letter, and had concealed it?" - -"No one accuses you, sir," said Dan sadly. "Indeed how could you be to -blame? These things have come of themselves, and from no fault of -ours. But," and his eyes kindled, and he laid his hand soothingly on -Ellen's head, "we will have no word spoken against Jo. He is dearer to -us absent than present; he is dearer to us now, when Susan's voice -accuses him, and when you come to add your testimony to hers than he -has ever been before." - -"I have not come to add my testimony to hers," said Solomon Fewster, -with a well-assumed warmth of manner. "It is no testimony of mine; it -is no accusation of mine. This letter surprised and grieved me almost -as much as it has you." - -"May I see the letter, sir?" - -"Certainly." He had almost said "with pleasure," but checked himself -in time. - -Dan took the letter, which was written an an uneven and dirty piece of -paper, and read aloud:-- - - -"Master,--Joshua Marvel has run away with a young woman that lives in -Daniel Taylor's house--him as trains the birds. They are both of 'em -on board the 'Merry Andrew.' I send this by the pilot, and told him -that you would pay him for putting it into your hands. My faithful -service to you. When I come back, I hope to get what you promised me. - -"Aboard the 'Merry Andrew.'" - - -"There is no name to it," said Dan. "Who sent it?" - -"A sailor on the ship," replied Solomon Fewster; "a man who has done -odd jobs for me, and whom I have assisted." - -"But how does he know me?" - -"Through the birds, and through my telling him of you, I suppose. He -has been in the street often, and knows who live in the house. He is a -faithful honest fellow, and I dare say thought it his duty to tell me -about Miss Kindred, so that I might acquaint her friends." - -"'When I come back, I hope to get what you promised me,'" said Dan, -reading from the letter. - -"I promised him money if he brought home some foreign birds," answered -Solomon Fewster readily, "such as parrots and cockatoos, and other -likely birds, for you to train for me." - -Meanwhile Susan had covered the dead man's face, and sat moaning on -the floor. To her Dan addressed himself, calling her by name; but it -was not until he had repeated it two or three times that her attention -was aroused. She took her hands from before her eyes, and looked at -him vacantly. There was no sign of intelligence in her face as she -spoke; it seemed as if the light of reason had fled, and as if the -words she uttered belonged to a lesson she had learned and was forced -to repeat. - -"I promised him faithfully and sacredly--yes; they are the very words; -he made me say them after him, 'Faithfully and sacredly,'--that I -would never tell unless his tongue was sealed, and the time came when -it was necessary to speak. Is the time come?" - -"It is, Susan," said Dan, a new fear at his heart; "it is come." - -"Is the time come?" she repeated, turning to the motionless form on -the bed, and waiting for the answer in the awful silence that -followed. "I was the only one he trusted. Not a soul but me was to -come into the room; and they didn't--no I kept my promise faithfully -and sacredly. He said to me, 'If I die, and Joshua Marvel has betrayed -my daughter, give this book to Dan, and tell him it contains the words -of a dying man.'" She rose to her feet, and taking a book which was -lying on the desk, gave it to Dan. "Now you can tell him, when he asks -you, that I obeyed him to the last, faithfully and sacredly." - -A listening expression flashed into her face, and she inclined her -body to the door. With feverish haste she ran down stairs and into the -street; but returned presently, muttering, "She is not come; there's -no sign of her;" and resumed her station by the side of the bed. - - -It is night, and Dan is sitting alone in his bedroom. An unopened book -is before him: it is the book that Susan gave him by Basil Kindred's -desire. He has not read a line in it. Between him and Ellen it has -been tacitly agreed that whatever is written in it shall be read, by -them, and by them alone, at night. Another book is also before him: it -is a Bible, and it is open. - -Dan is waiting for Ellen. The grief that reigns in the house, and in -that of Mrs. Marvel, cannot be written here. It is too deep, too -overwhelming for expression. Mrs. Marvel is in the house now. All that -she knows is that Basil Kindred is dead, and that Minnie is gone: she -has no knowledge of the terrible suspicion that hangs like a deadly -cloud over the good name of her beloved son. But the news of the death -and the flight: they could not be concealed, although no one is aware -how they became known: has gone forth into the neighborhood; and -little knots of the neighbors have hung about the house all the -evening and night, discussing the strange events. Even now, -notwithstanding that it is near midnight, a dozen street-doors are -open, each with its assemblage of gossippers, chiefly feminine, -prattling, not at all sorrowfully, about the wonderful news. There is -much head-shaking and raising of hands; but whatever may be the -meaning of this play of heads and hands, it certainly does not express -grief. The neighborhood is rather bare of historical events; and those -that have just occurred are godsends. Given to the neighbors round -about the merit of all the kindliness of heart they deserve, they -really enjoy their gossip, and show their enjoyment of it. A stranger -walking through the street might have reasonably supposed that the -dwellers therein had been making general holiday. - -Dan's face is very pale as he sits, with no sign of impatience upon -him, expectant of Ellen's coming. The door opens and Mrs. Marvel -enters. She draws down the blind--the moonlight has been streaming in -upon his face, giving it a more painful pallor than that which rests -on it when the moon is shut out--and sits down by his side in silence -for a while. She draws his head upon her breast, and kisses him; his -arm steals round her neck, and he sheds tears, and kisses her in -return; but few words pass between them. - -"Susan?" he asks. - -"She is in bed, my dear," she answers. - -"Has she said any thing?" he asks anxiously. - -"She has not spoken, my dear." - -He gives a soft sigh of relief. She knows that he is waiting for -Ellen, and she will not linger. She kisses him again in her motherly -way, and bids him goodnight; and soon after Ellen enters the room. - -A great change has taken place in Ellen. All the girlishness has gone -out of her face, and in its stead is an expression of quiet -trustfulness in which there is much sadness, but no doubt. It is as -though she is prepared to defend and believe in her husband's honor, -though all the world condemn him. She closes the door gently, and -draws a chair next to Dan. Then those two faithful souls, to each of -whom the bitterest of trials has come, look into each other's eyes, -and are comforted by what they see. They exchange no words of -sympathy; none are needed from one to the other. They make no effort -to conceal their sorrow; it must be borne, and they must suffer. But -for Joshua's sake, and for Minnie's, they must be brave and hopeful. - -Does Ellen acknowledge this, and in her heart of hearts is she -disposed to be generous to the unhappy girl who has brought this great -misery upon them? Yes--she feels nothing but pity for Minnie. The -influences which actuate mental feeling are so delicate and various, -that it is difficult even to the most profound of pathognomists to -dissect the commonest of motives, and rightly account for it. We all -pride ourselves, in a greater or less degree, upon our knowledge of -character, and believe that we know full well what prompted So-and-so -to do such-and-such a thing. But in truth, in nothing do we show more -ignorance than in arrogating to ourselves the power of divining -character and motive. Strive as we may be just and calm and -reasonable--strive as we may to banish for the time the small feelings -of uncharitableness which we are conscious of harboring, and which -necessarily warp our judgment--we must from very necessity argue in a -certain measure from our own point of view. Otherwise we should be -infallible, and juries would never return a wrong verdict, and judges -would never commit an error of judgment. Otherwise rogues would have -their due; and some of them would not, as they do now, live in fine -houses, and eat and drink of the best. It is impossible to put -yourself in another man's place. - -Most women in Ellen's situation would have thought of Minnie with -inexorable animosity. Not so Ellen. The knowledge that Dan loves -Minnie would alone have been sufficient to disarm harsh or bitter -feeling. But that influence is not necessary. She has the firmest -faith in Joshua's honesty and virtue, and firmly believes that when he -returns home, please God, all will be explained. In the mean time, her -duty is clear. Joshua's good name is at stake. In face of all adverse -circumstance and sentiment, she must uphold it, and defend it if -necessary. - -Thus it is that as she and Dan sit looking sadly at each other, Dan is -comforted by what he sees, and she is no less so. Their mutual faith -in the purity of the absent dear ones is inexpressibly consoling to -them. Unconsciously each gives to the other strength to bear the -bitterness of the shock. But when their eyes turn to the book which -they are to read to-night, they hesitate and tremble, What may not -those dumb pages reveal! The place, the time, and all its surrounding -circumstances are solemn and mournful. The presence of Death; the -silence that strikes greater terror than brazen tongue of accusation; -the gloom of the mean apartment, in the corners of which lurk fears -made awful by the black shadow which inwraps them--these things and -their influence impress with a deeper sadness those two young hearts. -What wonder that they hesitate and tremble as they look upon the book -in which the words of their dead friend are recorded? Joshua is on the -sea, and each moment adds to the distance that separates him from his -friends; Minnie is gone also; Basil, alas, is dead; and all that -remains to light the mystery is the dumb witness that lies before -them. But hesitation soon yields to indomitable faith. - -"Ellen," says Dan, laying his hand upon the book, "perhaps the worst -of this day's trials is here. Are you prepared for it?" - -"Yes, Dan," answers Ellen with a steady light in her eyes. - -"Susan's words were very dreadful," continues Dan; "but she does not -know Jo as we know him. Come, we will read what is here written. And -if it accuses your dear husband and my dear friend, our hearts will -defend him. His memory will be dearer to us because he is unjustly -accused; and we will wait hopefully and patiently for his return, -please God, and never, never waver." - -And drawing Ellen closer to him, Dan opened the book, and in a subdued -voice read what follows. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. -BASIL KINDRED'S DIARY. - - -I make this record for various reasons, the strongest of which is the -conviction that I have not long to live. Although my mind is in a -state of sad confusion, what I write shall be no phantasy of the -brain. I pledge myself to this. And I pledge myself also to throw down -my pen when the suspicion comes upon me that, because of my fears and -my agony, I am writing what is not strictly the fact. If I do not thus -pledge myself, and death comes upon me unaware, this mute witness -might be the cause of bringing undeserved unhappiness to persons whose -conduct towards me has been wonderfully good and noble. - -Let me read what I have written. Yes, it is clear, and it gives me the -assurance that, to-day at least, I shall be able to express myself -clearly. I pause over every word. I am careful of the construction of -every sentence. For I must be just. I could not rest in my grave if my -fear spoke instead of my reason. - -What is it that immediately prompts me to commence this record? A -letter--signed by no name, delivered by I know not whom. The writing -is strange to me; I have never before seen its like. It lies before me -now, upon my desk. - -It is night. I am alone, and Minnie is at Mrs. Marvel's house. Let me -carry back my thoughts to the time when I first made the acquaintance -of the good people with whom I have lived for years--for many happy -years--during which Minnie has grown from a child to a woman. - -I had left her at home, poor child! hungry and unhappy. She had asked -me in the morning for food, and I had none to give her, nor any money -to buy it for her. The previous night we had eaten our last piece of -bread. I went out of our little room, telling her I was going to get -food for her. I toiled in the streets all the day, and was not -fortunate enough to receive a penny. My sufferings were great, almost -too great for human endurance, but I was compelled to bear them for -the sake of Minnie. Nothing but the consciousness that, if I went home -without food, my child might die from want, supported me. Late in the -afternoon I was in the streets declaiming, when some boys among the -crowd which surrounded me threw stones at me. One of the stones -wounded me in the forehead, and I think I must have fainted. Two -persons came to my assistance--a woman and a boy. The woman was Susan -Taylor, the boy was Joshua Marvel. They assisted me home, and the next -thing I remember was Susan bathing my wound and making tea for me. The -boy Joshua had brought in some food for us. My gratitude was great, -for his charity had saved my child. I blessed him that night before he -left us. - -From that time he was a constant visitor to our wretched lodging, and -from that time I never knew want. I grew to love him. He was to be a -sailor, and it was a pleasure to me to listen to the enthusiastic -outpourings of his mind. He had a friend, Dan, whom I had not then -seen; and the loving manner in which he spoke of that friend, seemed -to me to be an assurance of the goodness of his own heart. He was the -principal subject of conversation between me and my daughter, and she, -dear child! grew to love him too. Before he went to sea, the woman -Susan Taylor--the sister of Joshua's friend Dan--came to live in the -house in which I lodged, and was very kind to us. Joshua went to sea, -and I felt a void in my heart as if I had lost a son. Minnie grieved -as much as I did--perhaps more--for she had never had a companion, and -Joshua's visits were looked upon as a kind of holiday. We consoled -ourselves for our loss by speaking of him often and by looking forward -to his return home. Minnie derived much pleasure from a childish -conceit in which she indulged. She had a shell, and she used to place -it to her ear and listen to the soft singing, to remind her of the sea -and of Joshua, she said. I thought it was a pretty fancy; but had I -feared then what I fear now, I would have crushed the shell to powder -beneath my heel. - -Some time after Joshua left, circumstances occurred which caused me to -remove to the house of Joshua's friend Dan. I was loath to do so when -it was first proposed by Susan; but the argument used by Susan, who -was devoted to us, that Minnie would have a companion of a suitable -age in her sister Ellen, prevailed upon me. That was the sole cause of -my removal to the house in which I am now living. I had reason to be -grateful for the change. Minnie, who used to have many unhappy moods, -was happy and cheerful in the society of her new friends. And I was no -less so. I found that Joshua's parents were good simple people whom to -know was to love. A girl could have had no better companion than -Ellen, who is one of the pearls of womanhood. But before them all, I -learned to love Dan. I had never met with so pure a mind, with so -constant a nature. A cripple almost from his birth, it seemed as if -the good God had endued him with the purest thought and the sweetest -disposition to compensate for the misfortune he had met with. He might -truly say, with our great poet, "Sweet are the uses of adversity." - -Some happy years passed, during the whole of which Joshua was at sea. -At rare intervals letters from him were received, and the perusal of -these letters gave us all--for we were like one family--the greatest -pleasure. At length he returned. It is not long since--but a few short -weeks--that he arrived home. He was expected, but not so soon. His -coming was eagerly looked for--he was the hero of the two houses. The -night of his return was memorable. It was Christmas-eve, and we were -all assembled in Mrs. Marvel's kitchen, celebrating the blessed time -with joyful, grateful hearts. Minnie persuaded me to read a play. I -chose the "Tempest," that loveliest creation of the poet's mind. She -is not present, but I can see her as she unloosed her hair and stood -before me, bright and bewitching as Ariel could have been. "Do you -love me, master?" she asked. I answered in the words of Prospero, -"Dearly, my delicate Ariel." . . . I resume my pen, which I had laid -aside, thinking that I was being betrayed by my feelings, and that I -was indulging in an exaggeration of sentiment. But no. I have read -over what I have written, and I am satisfied. - -I was in the midst of the lovely story when a knock came at the -street-door. Minnie went out of the room to open the door. A silence -followed. Presently a scream struck fear to all our hearts. We ran up -stairs, and found that Joshua, having returned sooner than he was -expected, had been stabbed by a coward's hand when his foot was on the -threshold of his home. The house of joy was turned into a house of -mourning. I have no need to set down here the events of the next few -weeks, that bring me to the present day. Sufficient to say that Joshua -lingered for some time between life and death, and to the joy of all -of us, was declared out of danger three weeks ago. I have been -confined to my chamber with my old complaint nearly the whole of that -time. Susan has attended to me chiefly; for seeing Minnie's anxiety to -assist Mrs. Marvel in her trouble, I have allowed her to be much away -from me. Although Minnie has not spoken of it, I have learned that -she, according to the doctor's statement, saved Joshua's life by -pressing her lips to the wound in his neck and stopping in some -measure the effusion of blood, which might have been fatal to him. It -gave me pleasure to hear this; for no service, purposed or accidental, -could pay for the kindness we have received from the good people with -whom we have lived so happily. - -So! I have temperately set down all that has occurred up to the -present, or rather up to four days ago, when I received the letter -which lies before me now. I will not attempt to describe the effect it -had upon me. It seemed to change the current of my blood. If there be -truth in it, is there, can there be, truth in man? Before pinning it -in the book, I copy it word for word:-- - -"A well-wisher warns Mr. Basil Kindred that Joshua Marvel is playing -false with his daughter. The writer has no purpose to serve in writing -this, and does not wish to be known. The information he gives is given -in kindness. Minnie Kindred loves Joshua Marvel, who takes every -secret opportunity that presents itself to prosecute his bad designs -upon a simple girl. It is right that Mr. Basil Kindred should be made -acquainted with the real character of the hypocrite, who is fair to a -man's face and false behind his back." - -With some girls and with some people, the best way to do with such a -letter would be to show it to those concerned. But I dare not do this. -It would bring unhappiness and mistrust among these confiding good -people. - -And I fear for Minnie. I fear that the writer, whoever he may be, is -right when he says that my darling child loves Joshua. And I, knowing -her nature, feel that if unhappily she has contracted a love for -Joshua, the discovery of it in this manner would bring misery upon her -for life. No; she must not see the letter--must not have a suspicion -of it. - -All Joshua's previous life contradicts the accusation. It was the -simplicity and kindliness of his nature that attracted me to him. If -he is fair to a man's face and false behind his back, he is false to -his friend Dan; and I, knowing Dan's heart, know that there could be -no blacker treachery than that; for I have at times suspected that Dan -loves my Minnie. Yes; I may tell that secret to this mute friend, -although I have never otherwise whispered it. On one particular night -when we were all assembled together, reading a letter from Joshua, and -when Mr. Praiseworthy Meddler was tracing the course of Joshua's ship -upon the map, I detected in Dan's manner something more than a feeling -of friendship for Minnie. Since then, other small evidences have -forced themselves upon me, and I have not been unprepared for the -disclosure of Dan's love. Would it be a good thing for Minnie? Yes; if -she returned his love. Although he is a cripple, she could have no -better mate: he is all that is noble and good, and he would make her -happy, if she could learn to love him. - -If she could learn to love him! These words have caused me to think if -Minnie could ever _learn_ to love--have caused me to ask myself if -love is not intuitive to her, as it was to her mother. My anxiety is -deepened by the thought. I am afraid to think further. - -Every thing depends upon Joshua. If she loves him, and he encourages -her, he is false to his friend, false to honor. My duty is plain. I -must watch first, and discover if or there be any foundation for the -accusation, if it emanates from spite and vindictiveness. - -I close the book and lock it in my desk, for fear other eyes than mine -should see what I have written. - -Notwithstanding the bodily pain I have suffered, I have so far -controlled it as to visit Mrs. Marvel's house during the last three -days, and to sit with the young people as if nothing ailed me. I am -beset with doubt. I know not what to think. I have watched every look, -every movement; and I am afraid that my anxiety has caused me to be -uncivil and abrupt. I do not think that any one but Mrs. Marvel has -noticed my anxiety or any change in me; but I have observed her -sometimes look at me questioningly, as if wondering at my changed -manner. - -That Minnie has an affection for Joshua is certain: she strives to -prevent it being observed, and I think no one suspects her. If there -is any secret understanding between her and Joshua, I have not -discovered it. He treats her kindly and affectionately, but he is -chiefly attentive to Ellen. But still the letter says that he avails -himself of "every secret opportunity" to see her. If that be true, it -is not likely that he would betray himself in the presence of his -friends. I must act upon the results of my observation. I must -endeavor to keep Minnie from visiting Mrs. Marvel's house so -frequently; it may prevent her feelings from ripening into love. In a -few weeks Joshua will be away, and then all danger will be over for a -time. I am, indeed, loath to believe any wrong of him; he seems to -have preserved the simplicity of character and the goodness of heart -for which I used to admire him. - -I am glad I commenced this record; for my thoughts are often very -confused, and my memory is impaired. - -Although my uneasiness increases with respect to Minnie, I have heard -good news: Joshua is engaged to be married to Ellen. Do I need any -other proof of Joshua's honesty? It would be monstrous if I did; and -yet I cannot regard him with the old feelings of affection, for Minnie -is unhappy, and he is the cause. One day I accuse myself of injustice -towards him; another day I almost hate him, and curse the circumstance -that made me and Minnie acquainted with him. Would to God that he were -gone! Every hour that he stops is an additional agony to me. - -Minnie has been sullen and rebellious because I have sometimes -prevented her from going to Mrs. Marvel's house. She has not always -obeyed me. I must speak more firmly to her; "I must be cruel only to -be kind." - - -A day of agony. I have not been able to leave my room. Minnie was with -me all the morning: but before she came to me, I had received another -communication, in the same handwriting as the last. It contained but a -few words,-- - -"The friend who warned Mr. Basil Kindred before, warns him again. -Joshua Marvel is a smooth-tongued villain. In his character of a hero -he is playing false with two simple girls at on time." - -Who can this friend be? I have no friends out of these two houses. But -whoever he is, he is right, I fear, as to Minnie, and may be right as -to Joshua--the mere writing of the name gives me pain. The receipt of -the few words I have just copied opened my wounds, and they bled -afresh. I detained Minnie with me all the morning; and when she wanted -to quit the room, I invented pretexts to induce her to remain. She was -not at her ease; I saw that plainly. Once or twice I am afraid that I -spoke harshly to her; but she was painfully submissive--almost humble. -At length she rose, with the intention of leaving the room. I asked -her where she was going. She answered, to see Mrs. Marvel. I grasped -her hand, and bade her resume her seat. She asked me why I did not -wish her to go to Mrs. Marvel's house; and when I said it was because -I thought she troubled the Marvels too much, all the hardness and -obstinacy in her nature came into play, and she answered in a voice -that might have come from lips of stone, that that was not my reason, -and that I was hiding something from her. For the first time I -betrayed myself. I asked her if she was not hiding a secret from me; -and she returned me an evasive reply. She left the room, and I was -about to follow her, when I was seized with a terrible dizziness. My -strength deserted me, and I was afraid I was about to die. The attack -passed away, and left me as weak as a child. - -I pause in my recital of the day's events to make two declarations. -The first is, that I am certain, from my sensations this day, that a -sudden shock would be fatal to me; I am afraid that my heart is -diseased. The second is, that if I die suddenly, and Joshua has -betrayed my child, he is my murderer in the sight of God and man--as -much my murderer as if he were to come into the room this moment and -plunge a dagger in my heart! - -How awful are these words! As I look at them, they seem to rise in -judgment against me. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy -neighbor." Am I bearing false witness against Joshua? Am I to be the -cause of bringing unhappiness to friends but for whom Minnie and I -might have perished from hunger? Still do I cling to the hope that -lives in uncertainty. Still do I strive to believe that my fears have -grown without reason, and that they are like the monstrous shadows -that mock us on the walls and ceiling of a room whose only light is a -flickering fire. Above every other consideration, I must be just. If -no eye but mine reads these lines, I shall have done no harm in -writing them. If it should happily result that Minnie's love is not -deeply rooted--if it should happily result that Joshua has not been -tampering with her affections, and that he goes away spotless, as I -would fain believe him to be--let me determine to destroy this record. -It must be done. Determining to do this--willing it with the whole -strength of my mind--I shall be able to do it even before I am -stricken down, if it be fated that I am to die suddenly. Should it be -otherwise--should he prove to be false--this record shall remain as an -evidence of his treacherous heart. - -When Minnie left me, and I discovered that I was too feeble to follow -her, I thought, Oh, if I had some one I could trust--some one to help -me! And as I thought, Susan entered the room. In her I confided; to -her I told my fears; and after pledging her sacredly to secrecy, I -showed her the letter I have received. She has promised to watch -Joshua, and she will be faithful. Now I shall know whether I have -cause for fear; now I shall know whether Joshua Marvel is false or -true. - - -I do not think I shall ever be able to leave my room. It is more than -a week since I wrote in this book: True, I have had nothing to say -until now. Minnie has been tender and affectionate to me; she has been -absent at various times during the day; but when she is with me she is -all that a child should be. I have left her free to come and go, -knowing that Susan was watching that she should come to no harm. I -sometimes think that she is fighting with her soul; for a new-born -sadness has settled upon her face. Yesterday I saw her sitting by the -window, with her hands clasped in her lap, and a deep-seated sorrow in -her eyes. I have seen her mother sit so in the old days long, long -ago--in the old days that seem to belong to another life. I had been -asleep; and when I awoke, I saw Minnie wrestling with her sorrow. I -called to her twice before she heard me; and when she came to my side, -she had the air of one who has been suddenly aroused from a dream. -Darling child, I pray to God to give you strength to bear affliction, -if it comes to you! If any sacrifice that I could make would lessen -your pain, how gladly would I make it! - -Last night Susan slept with her, and in her sleep heard her murmur -Joshua's name. It proves that he is in her thoughts; but it proves -nothing more. I hear a step upon the stairs. Goodnight, dumb witness -of my grief! - - -How shall I commence? All my pulses are throbbing with rage and -apprehension. Proof has come. Joshua Marvel is a damned false-hearted -villain! - -I write with pain and difficulty. My heart is beating so violently, -that I am obliged to stop to calm myself, for fear of consequences. -Calm myself! Can I do it? I must. I will lay down my pen, and wait -until I have subdued the tumult of passion which rages within me. - -So! I am calmer. It is well that I stopped, or what the doctor warned -me of might have occurred. And I want to live--Oh, how I want to live! - -Susan is sitting in the room with me; for I am afraid a being alone, -to-night of all nights. I am glad that I have kept this record; I am -glad that, if I die suddenly, the guilt of an infamous recreant will -be brought to light by means of this evidence. - -About noon to-day--I am writing this at night--Minnie brought a doctor -to my bedside. I had steadily refused to see one before; for I knew -what I was suffering from, and I knew that the doctor's art was -powerless to cure me. But I was not displeased that Minnie brought -him; it was her anxiety and love--for she does love me--that caused -her to disobey my wishes. I sent Minnie out of the room, so that I -might speak to the doctor in private. He told me nothing new; as well -as suffering from rheumatism and low fever, I have heart-disease. He -told me what I already knew--that I might die suddenly, without any -other forewarnings than those I have already received. He went away -after uttering the usual platitudes. Late in the afternoon I fell -asleep; and when it was dark, I heard a step in the room; asking who -was there, Joshua's voice answered me. I spoke to him bitterly out of -the bitterness of my heart, and he answered me quietly and feelingly. -He said he had noticed with sorrow that I was changed; that he was not -conscious of having done any wrong. He begged that I would be to him -as I was before he first went to sea, and when I had blessed him. I -could not see his face; but his voice was tremulous with emotion; and -when he appealed to my sense of justice, I softened to him, for I had -no evidence against him but the suspicion which had been created by -the warning letters I had received. I had it first in my mind to tell -him all; but my pride and my consideration for Minnie's feelings -restrained me. Instead of doing that, I resolved to probe him; and, -that my agitation might not betray me, I refused to have a light. We -spoke in the dark. I elicited from him that he was engaged to Ellen, -whom he declared he loved before all the world. Upon that, his hand in -mine, I wished him the happiness that faithful love deserves. When, -after that, Minnie became the subject of conversation, there was a -hesitancy in his manner that aroused my slumbering suspicions. Then I -spoke so plainly to him--though telling him nothing about the -letters--that he could not have misunderstood me. I told him that my -heart was diseased, and that I could not live much longer. I told him -that I was tortured by anxiety for Minnie's future; that she needed -guidance and control; that she knew only one duty--the duty of love; -and that she could scarcely understand that, under certain -circumstances, love may be sinful. I told him that she was changed, -that she was hiding something from me, and that I was afraid some such -love as I had spoken of had come to her. And when I asked him if he -knew or suspected to whom that love was given, he was silent, and did -not answer me. Was not that silence sufficiently damning? I asked him -if he were concealing any thing from me, and he equivocated. What -should he conceal from me? he asked. At that answer I almost gave up -hope; but my child's happiness was at stake, and I persevered. I -resolved to tell him the story of my life, that he might learn how -Minnie's mother sacrificed herself for love; that he might learn what -Minnie's nature, being like her mother's, really was; and to what -extent she would go where her heart was engaged. It was an appeal to -him for mercy. How has he treated that appeal? - -I told him the story of my life; I laid bare my heart to him. I lived -over again the agony of my wife's death. I told him that Minnie was -like her mother, without her mother's teaching; that the impulse of -her mind was under the control of the impulse of her heart; that those -who knew it must guide her gently, tenderly; and that if any man -betrayed her, he would have to answer for it at the Judgment-seat. -Could tongue speak more plainly than mine did? Could any man who was -not totally devoid of honor and humanity have listened to my trembling -words unheedingly? I appreciate at its proper worth the code of -morality by which many heartless men are guided; but I never believed -it possible that man could be so base as Joshua has proved himself to -be. Here is a proof of his villainy. Within a few minutes after my -story was ended--within a few minutes after he left my room, crying in -sympathy with me--he was fondling Minnie in the passage below. Susan -can prove it. They were in the dark, and Susan came up from the -kitchen with a lighted candle, and discovered them. Their hands were -in each other's clasp; and when Joshua Marvel saw the light and Susan, -he turned away his head, so that she should not see his face. They -parted on the moment; and Susan, not appearing to notice them, passed -them by, and, faithful woman as she is, came straight to me, and told -me what she had seen. - -"Fair to a man's face, and false behind his back"--ay, that he is! But -not for him, for whom my indignation can find no fitting name, do I -care. For Minnie are all my thoughts. How can I act towards her? How -can I warn her? Tell her that he is false! that he is lying to her! -that to listen to him is shame! She would smile at my words; and if -she dared not scorn, would pity the tongue that uttered the calumny. I -must think; must think. In the mean time, she must not be allowed to -go about without being closely watched. Susan will do that for me. It -will not be for long. He will be away soon, thank God; and when he is -gone, I can resolve what to do. Perhaps he may never come back. With -all my heart I pray--No, I dare not pen the words. The thought of -Ellen and Dan, and his gentle mother, stops me. I give them here my -heartfelt thanks, for all their noble kindness to me and Minnie. But -for him--the treacherous son, the false friend, the perjured lover--I -vow never willingly to look upon his face again. - -My passion has exhausted me. I turn to the first page of this record, -and I see there the pledge that I would throw down my pen when the -suspicion came upon me that because of my fear and my agony I am -writing what is not strictly the fact. I read over what I have written -this night; and I solemnly declare that every word is true, as I hope -to meet my wife in heaven! - -But a few words more. When I return this book to my desk, I shall tell -Susan to place it in Dan's hands, if I die before Minnie is safe. A -step upon the stairs! It is my darling child's!-- - - -Another day of misery has passed, and I have received farther damning -proof that Joshua Marvel is tampering with Minnie's affections. In my -present state of mind, it will be best for me to write down Susan's -statement, word for word. I cannot trust myself. I call her to me, and -bid her relate, without passion, and without prejudice, what she saw -to-day. What follows is from her own lips. - - -SUSAN'S STATEMENT. - - -"I noticed this morning that Minnie was more restless than usual. -Whenever I looked at her, she looked at me back again; as much as to -say, what do you mean by staring at me in that way? I couldn't help -thinking that she knew I was watching her and I felt uncomfortable. -But I watched her for all that, as I promised you I would. When she -went out of the room, I made believe that I wanted to go out too. Now -I think of it, she must have gone out of the room on purpose to try -me; because the second time I followed her, she turned upon me in the -passage, and looked at me in such a manner that I was frightened. -Between eleven and twelve o'clock I was in the kitchen, helping to -cook the dinner; and when I came up stairs, Minnie was gone from the -house. I ran round to Mrs. Marvel's, and she wasn't there. Scarcely -knowing what to do, I slipped on my bonnet and shawl, and went into -the streets to look for her. All at once it came into my mind, that if -I should find her anywhere it would be at the docks, where Joshua's -ship was, and where Joshua was working. I ran there as hard as ever I -could, and just at the entrance of the docks I caught sight of Minnie. -I was regularly out of breath, and my only fear now was that she might -see me. So I kept out of the way as much as I could, and followed her -quietly. When she got near the ships she stopped short; and presently -Joshua, who was looking over the side of his ship, as if he was -expecting some one, came down to where she was standing, and began -talking to her. He seemed a little bit uneasy--perhaps, because there -were so many people about, and because, I thought, he didn't want -Minnie to be noticed, for all the workmen and sailors were staring at -her. They went up a plank on to Joshua's ship; and Joshua had his arm -round her waist. They stood by the side of the ship, looking towards -the river, talking together. I never took my eyes off them, and I am -certain--though, of course, I couldn't hear them--that they were -talking of something very particular. All at once I lost sight of -them; they had gone to a part of the ship where I couldn't see them. I -think they must have been out of my sight for nearly a quarter of an -hour; and when they returned, Joshua looked to the place where I was -standing by the side of some large cases, and came off the ship -towards me. I was frightened that he would catch me, and I ran away. -When I was safe, I turned, and saw Joshua and Minnie together coming -from the ship. Minnie walked out of the docks by herself; and I -followed her home, and waited in the street a little before I went -into the house after her. But I no sooner got inside the door, than -Minnie met me in the passage; she hadn't taken her bonnet off. I -didn't seem to notice her; but she came into the kitchen after me. -'Where have you been, Susan?' she asked me, so sudden-like that I was -almost taken off my guard. 'Out for a walk,' I said. 'Have you been to -the docks?' she asked me. 'No,' I said; but I felt my face turning red -as I told the story. I thought she was done with her questions; but -she soon commenced again. 'Are you going out again?' she asked. I -said, No, I wasn't. '_I_ am,' she said; 'I am going out for a walk.' -And she ran up stairs and out of the house. I didn't know what to do; -and I came to you, and you told me not to watch her any more to-day." - - -It is evident that Minnie is suspicious of Susan, and I know that -Susan is no match for her. Ill as I am, I can see but one thing to -do--I must wait and hope. That the innate goodness and purity of -Minnie's heart will keep her from harm, is my earnest prayer. I will -be, if possible, more tender and loving to her than I have hitherto -been. I dare not speak plainly to her; I believe, if I did, that she -would go away from us, and we should never see her again. If I were -well, it would be different. I should take her from here until Joshua -Marvel had sailed. - -What can I say of him? It is clear that Minnie went to the docks by -appointment, and that he expected her. I have appealed to him vainly. -After what passed between us--after the knowledge he has gained that I -am aware of his treachery--he has shown himself, in this clandestine -meeting with Minnie, to be totally devoid of honor. I leave him to his -conscience and to the judgment of his friends. May occasion never come -for them to learn how they are deceived in him! - - -Two days more have passed. In a week Joshua Marvel's ship sails. I -believe from that moment I shall begin to grow better. Then I shall -make new plans for the future. The future! Alas, my future on earth -will soon come to an end! See how I contradict myself. One moment -saying that I shall begin to get better when Joshua is gone; the next, -that my end must soon come. But 'tis in the nature of such a state of -feeling as mine to be hopeful one minute, and despondent the next. The -best thing for Minnie would be, that she should be impressed and -touched by Dan's love for her--of the existence of which I am sure, -having thought much of Dan's manner towards her--and that she should -consent to marry him. It is not certain that she loves Joshua; after -all, nearly the whole--nay, the whole--of the evidence is -circumstantial. It is but natural that she should have an affection -for him; the nature of the intimacy, his kindness to her and me, the -very circumstances attendant upon his return home, make that a -necessity. Indeed, indeed, it would be most unnatural if an affection -did not exist between them. The mere writing of these words is -comforting to me. I know that they are at variance with much that I -have previously written; but at one time I am writing out of my -despair, at another time out of my hope. I write now out of my hope. -Joshua Marvel will soon be gone, and I am assured that no farther -meeting has taken place between him and Minnie. Minnie's behavior to -me has been most kind. She is growing more and more like her mother -every day. There appears to have arisen in her some consciousness that -my claims to her love are more binding upon her than those of any -other person. I have passed some very happy hours with her. - -She said a strange thing to me this morning. "Father, do you think I -should make a good actress?" The question startled me, for it brought -back to me some memories of my past life. Minnie, when a little child, -was often in her mother's arms in the theatre where I happened to be -playing; her mother would be waiting for me perhaps, and would not -leave our little darling alone in the room. Minnie has no definite -remembrance of those times and circumstances, I think; but shadowy -impressions of the scenes she then almost unconsciously witnessed are -stamped upon her mind. Upon this theme I questioned her somewhat -curiously this morning, and found that these experiences had had their -effect upon her, and that she has vague remembrances of beautiful -creatures beautifully dressed, walking in gardens in the midst of -light. Ah, if she were aware of the reality! If she knew what poor -struggling men and women these beautiful creatures were, and what a -mockery were the beautiful dresses and the lovely gardens in which -they lived their artificial lives! But I did not disenchant her. Life -is bitter enough; if a gleam of brightness can be thrown upon it by -the indulgence of a harmless fancy, it is good. In the midst of our -conversation, Minnie suddenly left the room, and in about half an hour -returned completely metamorphosed. She went out of the room a fair -lovely girl, she returned a dark tawny woman, looking at least half a -dozen years older; but still beautiful, very beautiful. I gazed at her -in wonder. By what means had she effected such a marvellous change in -herself? She explained, first asking me if I knew her again. Knew her -again? Could she by any disguise hide herself from my knowledge? But -suppose I had only seen her once in my life, she asked, then did I -think I should have known her again? I did not exactly know how to -answer that, and although she pressed me to give her an answer, I -could not. I was delighted to see her in the new light in which she -presented herself to me; it was almost an assurance that some portion -of my fears was groundless. She explained to me that in the box -containing her clothes were some remnants of the wherewithals I once -used in my profession, such as colors and a few wigs. I had forgotten -them, not having had occasion for them for so long a time. And she -confessed that she had often amused herself with these things. Indeed, -in the middle of her explanation she stooped and hid herself from my -sight, and rose in the wig I used to wear when I played "Hamlet." She -had tucked up her beautiful hair with the skill of an actress, so that -it was completely hidden by the wig; and as she stood before me, I saw -in her some shadowy resemblance of myself as I was in days gone by. I -could not but be delighted with her light humor; it almost entirely -dispelled my fears. Then she took off the wig, and washed the color -out of her face, and sat by my bedside quietly. I am used to her -variable moods, and therefore, although I was sorry to see that her -sportiveness had fled, and that a more serious mood took its place, I -was not surprised. Never in all her life has she shown me such -tenderness as she exhibited towards me this day. "I shall always love -you, father," she said to me, more than once. Dear child! Darling -treasure of my heart! All good angels guard you. - - -The cup of happiness is dashed from my lips. Something so strange, so -unexpected, has happened, that, simple as it is, I scarcely know how -to set it down, or what to augur from it. - -Minnie has gone! - -Where--for how long for what purpose--I do not know. She has gone from -her home, from me. - -Early this morning, while I was waiting to see her dear face, I was -thinking of something strange that occurred in the night, wondering -whether it formed part of my dreaming fancies or had actually -occurred. It was this:-- - -The house was very quiet. It was the most solemn part of the night, -when troubled life is most like peaceful death. The healthfulness of -dreamless sleep is denied me, as it is denied to all men whose minds -are harassed. For many weeks I have not enjoyed an hour's repose, and -so confused are the images that pass through my mind when I am alone, -that I am often in doubt whether the scenes in which I am taking part -are real or fanciful. I was in this condition last night at the time -of which I am writing. While I was thinking or dreaming of Minnie and -her mother, I heard a soft footfall in the room. The impression that -some one was in the room was strong upon me, and when I felt a kiss -upon my face, and my pillow being smoothed by a gentle hand, I was -almost convinced that it was Minnie. The presence remained with me for -I know not what length of time; I do not know when I lost it, or when -it departed, but when I called "Minnie!" no voice answered me. When -daylight came, I determined to ask Minnie if it was she who had -entered my room in the night. I waited impatiently for her appearance, -but she did not come. Susan came, and I asked her if Minnie was down -yet; Susan had not seen her. I bade her go and tell Minnie to come to -me; she returned and said that Minnie was not in bed, nor in any part -of the house. As Susan told me this, she came to my bedside, and, -stooping, picked up a paper which must have fallen from beneath my -pillow. There was writing on it--Minnie's writing. It was addressed to -me, and it told me that Minnie had left me, not from any want of love, -but because she was miserable and unhappy. She said said she knew that -she had been watched; that a feeling she could not control had -compelled her to leave for a time; that she would write again or see -me in a few days; and she begged me to believe that no one but herself -was to blame for what she had done. She asked me, too, not to be -anxious as to how she would live, for she had provided for that. - -The first thing I did was to desire Susan to lock the door, and on no -account to allow a person to enter the room. For the thought flashed -upon me, that if it were known that Minnie had left her home -clandestinely, her good name would suffer. She had done a foolish -thing--ay, it was a cruel thing to leave me thus; but it was done in -all innocence, I am sure, and in ignorance of the world's judgment -upon such an act. I, her father, must protect her good name; no breath -of slander must be allowed to touch her. Therefore I judged it -imperative that the secret of her departure should be known only to -Susan and me. I gave Susan the letter to read, and when her tears were -dried, my plan was formed. It is well for me that I have such an -attached and faithful friend as Susan. Without her, I should be -helpless indeed. I explained my wishes to her, and she promised to -obey them implicitly--and she will. The Marvels and Dan and Ellen are -to be told that Minnie cannot leave me; that my illness has increased, -and I require her constant attendance. And on no pretence whatever is -any one of them to be allowed to come into the room. The door is to be -always locked, and when Susan goes out of the room, she is to lock the -door and take the key with her. I am afraid that Susan judges Joshua -even more harshly than I do; for she suggested that she should watch -his movements, in the expectation that some clew might be gained. Her -evidence of to-day is all in his favor. She ascertained that he went -this morning direct from home to his ship; that he worked there for -six hours, and that he came home direct to Ellen. No, I cannot -associate him with Minnie's disappearance. I have been thinking as -coherently as I could as to what is most likely the cause of her -leaving home, and the most hopeful conclusion I can arrive at is this: -That Minnie has an attachment for Joshua, which, in the face of his -engagement with Ellen, she feels it is her duty to subdue; that it is -painful to her to be a witness of Ellen's happiness; and that, fearful -lest she should betray her attachment, she has left the neighborhood -until Joshua has gone upon his voyage. - -I am re-assured. This conclusion is reasonable as well as hopeful. I -must bear with the misery of her absence--ah, how I miss her beloved -face!--in the hope that my darling will return to me when he is gone, -and that she will regain her peace of mind, and be to me as she has -hitherto been; chastened perhaps, but not entirely unhappy. - -Are you thinking of me, Minnie? Can you realize the depth of my love -for you, my dearest? If such a thing exists in the flesh as spiritual -communion with those we love, you will know, darling treasure of my -heart! that my thoughts, my blessings, my prayers are with you now. - - -In two days Joshua's ship will sail, and then my darling will come -home. The secret of her departure has been well kept. No one knows or -suspects. There is a rare faithfulness in Susan's nature. If she -possessed all the graces of womanhood, she could not be nobler than -she is. - -I need all my strength to enable me to bear with Minnie's absence; so -constantly do my thoughts dwell upon her, that at certain times I lose -consciousness of what has taken place, and detect myself listening for -her footstep. At other times I am engrossed by the idea that many -years have passed since I last saw Minnie. When this impression is -upon me, Minnie appears to me not as a woman, but as a child. - - -Joshua Marvel has gone. Thank God! Now I may expect Minnie to return. -Any moment may bring her to my loving arms again. I am haunted by the -ghosts of footsteps on the stairs. I know afterwards that my fancy has -conjured them up; but if they were real, I could not hear them more -plainly. They are Minnie's footsteps always. I hear them first in the -passage leading from the street--I stop and listen. Softly yet swiftly -they come nearer and nearer to me, till they are outside my door. Then -I say to myself, "She is lingering for a while, thinking of the -happiness I shall feel when she opens the door and runs to my side." -But the long silence that follows tells me that the steps I heard were -created by my fancy, and that I have still to wait for the -accomplishment of my dearest hope. - -Before Joshua left, he came to the door, and asked to see me and -Minnie to bid us good-by. His desire to see Minnie was assuring, for -it convinced me that the reasons I assigned for her leaving are -correct, But I would not see him--I could not; for if he came into the -room, he would discover Minnie's absence. - -I am thankful to think that may forced seclusion will soon be at an -end. How the minutes lag! Come, Minnie! Come, my darling child! - - -How shall I be able to endure this agony? It is night; yesterday -morning Joshua Marvel left to go on his voyage, and there is no sign -of Minnie. What can I think? Has any calamity befallen her? Is she -lying sick, helpless anywhere, and must I remain here, gnawing my -heart away with the knowledge that I am powerless to help her? O God, -who only witnesseth my sufferings, send my darling home to me -to-night! If in my life I have erred, and deserve punishment--if the -injunction I laid upon the woman who loved me, and whom I loved with -all my strength, was a crime, and if I am to suffer for the misery of -her wedded life, being the cause of it--deal with me as thou wilt; but -let me look once more upon the face of my darling! - - -The third day. My life is being tortured away. I believe that I shall -die before seeing Minnie. The prescience of death is upon me. Every -few minutes Susan runs into the street to see if Minnie is coming; but -there is no sign of her. The slightest sound in the house causes my -heart to beat so violently that I am afraid. I try to think, but I -cannot; I can only fear. These few words have taken me long to write. -I cannot read what I have previously written. I have tried to do so, -but the words swim before my eyes. I can write no more to-day. - - -With a despairing mind I trace these words slowly and painfully. They -are powerless to express my feelings. - -Death is near. I know it. Not by physical pain am I warned, but I know -it. I saw my wife last night. She stood by my side for full an hour. -It is a sign that my hour is come. - -Susan is below, looking for Minnie, perhaps--looking for Minnie, who -will never, never come. . . . - -I take up my pen again. What lies before me? A letter. Susan brought -it up a while ago, and gave it to me. But when I saw the writing on -the cover, I had not courage to open it, so I placed it in the desk. -It is addressed to me in Minnie's writing. And on the cover are these -words: "The 'Merry Andrew;' John Steele, pilot." The letter, then, -comes from the "Merry Andrew," and is in Minnie's writing. What -follows? That Minnie is on board the "Merry Andrew" with Joshua -Marvel! I must read it--I _must_, if it strike me dead! - - -That was all that was written. Dan read every word of the manuscript -aloud, but was compelled by emotion to pause many times. During the -silence that followed, one thought rose uppermost in their minds. -Ellen thought, "How will Dan bear this?" And Dan had the same thought -with respect to Ellen. Is such noble unselfishness rare? Let us hope -not. For the first and only time in the course of this narrative, the -writer pauses to speak of a personal experience of devotion and -unselfishness. It was before him during his boyhood in the person of -his mother; and it is to her, and to the patient, unmurmuring -gentleness with which she bore the trials of her life, that her -children owe whatever little of good there may be in their nature. It -is from his experience of his mother's life of goodness and -self-sacrifice that he knows that the noble unselfishness of Dan and -Ellen is not, thank God, a creation of his fancy. And as he writes -these words in the midst of a great city, with all the whirl of its -busy life around him, he is glad to think that in it--in great -mansions and mean houses, in sight of gardens where Nature makes -holiday, and of dirty streets and courts where bright leaf never -grows--flowers of human life which the world shall never see are -blossoming tenderly and holily, and living gentle lives for others' -good. - -For a long time no word was spoken by Ellen and Dan. Then Dan turned -and looked in Ellen's face. She met his gaze pityingly, almost -appealingly. He answered her with a sad smile, in which there was much -sweetness. - -"You were the first to guess my love for Minnie," he said; "and only -to Jo did I ever confess it. But do not fret for me, my dear; she can -never be to me what I was daring enough to hope she would be one day. -My love for her is not less strong, but my hope is buried now." - -She could say nothing but "Oh, my poor Dan! Oh, my poor Dan!" - -"Nay, why?" he answered in his gentle voice; "what could I have -offered her? What right had I, a cripple, to entertain the hope? I -dared to hope that she, bright, strong, and full of healthful life, -would tie herself to a weak, sickly thing like me. I dared to hope -that she would love me. I fed my heart upon delusions; I can see it -now, But I can love her still--can believe in her still--shall have -faith in her purity as long as my heart shall beat, and after -that--ay, who knows?" He paused for a little while before he resumed: -"What you and I have in our thoughts, my dear, we must speak of; in -that lies our only consolation. And we must not shrink from it; for -our duty, no less than our love, demands it." - -And yet she did shrink, fearing what was coming. - -"What wonder that she should love Joshua?" continued Dan, -unflinchingly determined to look the truth in the face, and not to -spare himself; although as he spoke his quivering lips and tremulous -voice betrayed his agitation. "We who know how good and brave he is -are able to understand that she could not help loving him. But he--no, -he played no false part by her." He placed his hand upon the Bible, -and the action gave a deeper solemnity to the declaration. "Some -suspicion he may have entertained that her feelings towards him were -warmer than they ought to have been; and I well know the grief such -suspicion brought to him. But he could not mention it--he dared not -speak of it for Minnie's sake--for mine. I can trace a meaning now in -the last words he said to me. 'You do not doubt me, Dan?' he asked. I -answered, 'No, nor never could.' And then he said he should not have -asked, but that certain things had distressed him lately. Poor Jo! -Yes, he must have guessed Minnie's secret, and, knowing my love for -her, trembled lest I should turn against him. Turn against him! my -best, my dearest friend! When I do, it will be time for me to die. -Believe that I never wavered in my love or my truth, and that to the -last I held you in my heart as I hold you now, gentlest, dearest, best -of friends!" - -Unconsciously he had uttered the very words which Joshua addressed to -him, and he spoke them as if Joshua were standing before him. - -"As for what we have read to-night, we, and we alone, can rightly -understand it. He who wrote it in his agony knows now that Joshua's -heart is as pure as Minnie's honor." - -"Those strange letters poor Minnie's father received," whispered -Ellen; "who wrote them?" - -"Who stabbed Jo when he came home?" asked Dan in reply. "Whoever did -that wrote the letters. Jo has an enemy." Then, with a sudden -remembrance of Joshua's warning against Solomon Fewster, he cried in a -louder tone than he had hitherto used, "Mr. Fewster!" With eager -impatience he turned over the pages of Basil Kindred's diary, and -lighted upon the original letters. They were pinned on blank pages at -the end of the diary, and were written on soiled sheets of blue -letter-paper. "No," said Dan, examining them; "the writing is strange -to me. We must wait until Jo comes back; all will be explained then." - -The candle had burnt low in the socket by this time, and Dan had just -said, "I think we had better try to sleep for a little while, Ellen," -when they heard sounds of some one walking softly about the house. - -"There is no one here but Susan," said Ellen in a tone of quiet -surprise. - -"No one but"--said Dan, and then paused, awestruck by the thought of -that only other one in the house, who lay stark and dead in the room -above. - -They listened to Susan's footsteps, and a new fear entered their -hearts. There was a soft stealthiness in the footfall, as if Susan -were hunting for some one who was hiding from her. - -"Shall I go and see?" asked Ellen. - -"Hush!" whispered Dan. - -Susan's footsteps, soft and stealthy as those of a cat, were in the -passage. Presently the door was opened cautiously, and Susan entered, -and softly closed the door behind her. She did not notice either Dan -or Ellen, but looked about the room inquiringly, then went to the -window and pulled up the blind. The moon was high in the heavens, and -the light streamed down upon her face, making it ghastly. - -"Susan!" cried Dan. - -But she did not heed him; she peered anxiously through the window into -the street, shading her eyes with her hand. - -"Is she asleep?" whispered Ellen. - -"I don't know," said Dan in a troubled voice; "it is dreadful to see -her with that expression on her face." - -It was an expression of suppressed watchfulness; that her -firmly-compressed lips and wandering eyes were at variance might have -been due to the peculiar circumstances of her life; but in the cunning -and revengeful determination in her face there was no sign of -indecision. It was as though she had staked her life on the -accomplishment of a task. - -As she turned from the window and approached Dan, he seized her hand. -"Susan," he said, gently, "speak to me, my dear. What is the meaning -of this?" - -She laid her hand upon his head, and said, "Poor Dan! And you loved -her, and she is lost to you." - -"Not lost, Susey," he said, detaining her hand and humoring her, for -he was afraid that her reason was gone; "not lost. She will come -back." - -"She will never come back--never, never! When she hears that _he_ is -dead--he is lying dead up stairs, Dan--she will never come back; she -will drown herself first; for she loved him, and me too; and would -have loved you, Dan, but for that false-hearted friend. - -"You must not say that, Susey," said Dan, pointing to Ellen, who had -turned aside weeping. "Look at Ellen. He is her husband, and he is not -false-hearted. For her sake you must have kinder, juster thoughts -towards Jo." - -But Susan did not catch the sense of his words. All that she -understood was, that he was speaking in defence of Joshua. - -"All in his favor," she muttered. "If any one is to blame, it is -Minnie--that's what all of you will say. But I know better; I know -better. Didn't I watch them? Didn't I see him making love to her on -the ship? Didn't I see the poor dear that's lying dead up stairs -tortured slowly to death? And don't I know who killed him?" - -"Who, Susan, who?" asked Dan, holding his breath. - -"Joshua Marvel," said Susan, between her set teeth, with no change -upon her face. "And as God's my judge, I will bring him to justice! -You are his friends--I know that: you'll try to hide him from me; but -I'll do what I've made up my mind to, if I drop down dead the minute -after." - -She twisted her hand from Dan's grasp, and crept slowly into the -passage, and thence into the street. And there she stood for many -minutes, with the same expression of implacable animosity on her face, -waiting for the return of Basil Kindred's murderer. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. -WHAT THE NEIGHBORS THINK OF IT. - - -The events that have been described, proved to be something more than -a nine-days' wonder. The neighborhood was remarkably bare of exciting -incidents, and nothing so stirring as the sudden death of Basil -Kindred and the flight of Minnie had happened within the memory of the -oldest inhabitant. Besides that, there was one element in the -occurrences which, above all others, added zest and flavor to -them--this was the element of mystery. Here was a family, which might -be looked upon as the most respected family in the neighborhood; for -there was no question about the position held by the Marvels. Every -one of the neighbors liked them, and every one of the neighbors had a -good word for them. They had lived in the neighborhood--they and their -fathers and grandfathers before them--for many scores of years, and no -shadow of reproach had ever rested upon a single member of the family. -They had always been steady, industrious, and sober, and had been held -up as examples, time out of mind, by wives to their husbands, and -parents to their children. They were homely, hospitable, and sociable, -and, although they might very well have done it, had never held their -heads above their fellows. If any male acquaintance wanted a word of -advice, he went to Mr. Marvel for it; and the advice received was -generally found to be sound, and was always admitted to be good. If -any one was sick, Mrs. Marvel always came forward to help and assist, -in her small way, and was always ready to sit up of a night if it were -necessary, and to do some portion of the household work if it were -needed. And what she did was done so unostentatiously and quietly -that it never left a sting behind it, and never--strange as it may -sound--elicited any thing but gratitude. Joshua was a model of a son, -and the neighbors had been proud of him. Take them for all in all, the -Marvels were a credit to the locality. And yet, as you shall presently -see, notwithstanding their irreproachable character, notwithstanding -the credit in which they were held, notwithstanding that they were -famous for all the virtues under the sun, a very remarkable change was -to take place in the estimation in which they were held. - -Then as to the Taylors. There had been many transitions of feeling -regarding them when the parents were alive. They had not been a credit -to the neighborhood. The meek uncomplaining life which Mrs. Taylor had -led had been entirely lost sight of in the drunken dissolute habits of -the head of the family. Perhaps it was because of this bad conduct on -the part of Mr. Taylor that the virtues of the good wife had not been -taken into account; and the fact remained, that it was not until after -Mr. Taylor's death--the manner of which was disgraceful, and left a -blot upon the family name--that any strong affection was mingled with -the pity with which Dan and Ellen were regarded. There were so many -singular circumstances connected with the family history. First, there -was Susan letting Dan fall out of the window when he was a baby and -breaking his legs. Many of the neighbors, with young families of their -own, remembered the time when they were boys and girls, and when Susan -was twitted and jeered at for being Dan's murderer. Then Susan's -strange manner and slovenly dress--not it must be admitted, that her -slovenliness had very much to do with the feeling,--had not rendered -her a favorite; and she was often spoken of as being soft and not -quite right in her mind. - -Then came that part of Mr. Taylor's career when (it having been -whispered about that he had been the death of his wife) he fell into -deeper and deeper dissipation, and when he was to be seen regularly -every night tumbling out of the public-house, and reeling home in a -state of intoxication. It is surprising how hard many wives, whose -husbands were not quite free from the reproach of over-indulgence, -were upon the failings of Mr. Taylor. He was a "drunken beast," a -"disgrace to the street," and so forth. And yet, as you have seen, -they were proud of the beautiful friendship that existed between Dan -and Joshua, and appreciated the good conduct of Ellen from the time -that she was big enough--she was young enough, Heaven knows, when her -duties commenced--to assist in the cleaning and washing. But the -father's drunken habits stained the family reputation, and not all the -washing and wringing could wash it clean at that time. Then came the -shameful death of the drunkard. From the date of that occurrence, the -position of the family began to improve, and the engagement of Ellen -and Joshua lifted them up still further in the estimation of their -neighbors. - -Lastly, there were Basil Kindred and Minnie. Neither of them had ever -been favorites out of their own small circle. Basil Kindred had held -his head above them, and Minnie was too much of a lady for "such poor -folks as us." All the grown-up girls disliked her because she was -superior to them, and because she did not associate with them. -Therefore neither father nor daughter obtained sympathy, and there was -very little pity expressed for Basil's death. As for Minnie, she was -generally condemned. The neighbors in speaking of her and her flight -said, "she was always a forward thing;" and some even went so far as -to call her a "stuck-up slut." They never expected any thing better of -her, not they. - -The mystery was, how it all became known; for it was known, every -detail of it, the day following that on which Basil Kindred had died. -Every person, for about a dozen streets round about, knew all the -particulars almost as soon as Mr. and Mrs. Marvel were made acquainted -with them--knew that Minnie had run away, knew that she was in Joshua -Marvel's ship, knew that the intelligence of the flight had caused her -father's death. Then they began to be wise in their generation, after -the usual manner of human herds, and before nightfall of the second -day it was recognized as an established fact, that it had been a -cunningly-planned plot from first to last, and that Joshua and Minnie -had run away together. - -There is no accounting for these revulsions of feeling, and it is -perhaps best not to attempt to analyze them. So much small malice and -miserable uncharitableness would be brought to light, that we should -be ashamed of the exposure--being liable to such influences ourselves. -Joshua's character had hitherto been irreproachable; he had been -almost loved by many, and liked and admired by all. Suddenly he is -tainted by suspicion, and by suspicion only. There is not a tittle of -direct evidence against him. But the suspicion is enough; directly it -is whispered, it swells and grows, like the cloud which is at first -"no bigger than a man's hand," and Joshua's good name is wrecked in -the storm that follows. - -The additional grief that this general verdict inflicted upon Joshua's -parents may easily be imagined. They had to learn that "slander's edge -is sharper than the sword," and that though their dear son were -"chaste as ice and pure as snow, he should not escape calumny." But -they did not receive these lessons meekly. They fought and protested -against them with all the strength of their loving souls. They might -as well have tried to stop a fierce wind with the palms of their -hands. - -One of their bitterest experiences was the knowledge that there was a -difference of sentiment between them. They did not all believe alike. -All of them, except Susan, believed alike in the innocence and purity -of Joshua; but not so with respect to Minnie. The mercy that Dan and -Ellen accorded to her was denied to her by Mr. and Mrs. Marvel. -Neither of them thought well of her; and although Mrs. Marvel's -verdict was less harsh than that of her husband, she too, gentle and -forgiving as was her nature, could not forgive and hold dear the -unhappy girl who had brought this great misery upon them. What Minnie -had done was nothing less than a crime in the eyes of the good mother -and good woman. - -But Minnie had one champion--Susan. It was generally reported, a few -days after the tragic occurrence, that Susan had gone mad because of -Basil Kindred's death; and a whisper went about, that, mad as she was, -she was fixed to the one idea of bringing Joshua to justice. Susan's -madness, if madness it was, took a very mild form. She did not speak -upon the subject, but she believed thoroughly in Minnie's innocence -and Joshua's guilt; and she was ever on the watch to bring that false -friend to justice. She was always peering about her and hunting for -Joshua. She contracted a strange habit of suspecting that he was -biding in the place she last left, and when she went out of the house, -returned, after going a few paces, to see if the man she was waiting -for was in the passage. If she opened a gate and shut it behind her, -she walked back to it and looked about her, expectant. Never a night -passed but she rose from her bed and went into the street, waiting for -Joshua; in the dead of night, when all others were asleep, she would -sit at her window and look into the street, waiting patiently. When -they discovered this habit at home, they tried to break her of it; but -their efforts were unavailing. By and by, this proceeding began to be -exceedingly popular in the neighborhood, and popular opinion veered -round to Susan's view; Minnie was not so thoroughly condemned, and the -blame was entirely laid on Joshua's shoulders. And when the neighbors -openly expressed their sympathy to Mr. Marvel because Joshua had -"turned out bad," he resented it angrily in his dogmatic obstinate -way, until he began to quarrel with them. He was so indignant, so -hurt, so unhappy, that he refused to speak to his old acquaintances, -and gradually they fell off from him, and a coldness sprang up which -made his life a misery. Still, he and all that were bound to him -cherished the hope that when Joshua came home all would be cleared up. -But Mr. Marvel made up his mind that he would never forgive his -neighbors for their suspicions. Months passed, and the estrangement -between him and his acquaintances grew stronger; his home, too, was -not a happy one. He grew morose and ill-tempered, and would not speak -to his wife upon the subject of Joshua and Minnie; and when she found -that he was determined upon this point, she wisely forbore to press -him, knowing his nature. - -Before the advent of another spring, Ellen became a mother. Her -situation had been concealed from all but Dan and Mrs. Marvel; even -Mr. Marvel did not know it until the child was born. It was a girl; -and when the news was buzzed about the neighborhood, Joshua and Minnie -started again into a notoriety which had been on the wane. Again the -busybodies were at work, and again the busy tongues wagged more -volubly than before. It was a matter for resentment with the neighbors -that they had not been made acquainted with Ellen's situation; it was -depriving them of a legitimate privilege. But Ellen and her two -confidants had kept the secret well; and now the young mother nursed -her child in privacy, and seemed only anxious to keep it from prying -and unsympathizing eyes. No news had been received of Joshua or of his -ship; and although Mr. Marvel went every other day to the London -agents of the "Merry Andrew," they had nothing to tell him. Now that -the child was born, their anxiety for news of Joshua increased. But -still they received none. Weeks passed, months passed, until the -suspense became almost maddening. Ellen nursed the baby, and rejoiced -that the pretty little thing had Joshua's eyes, and yearned for Joshua -to see them. Mr. Marvel looked more angrily upon his old -acquaintances, who were ready to quarrel with him afresh for his sour -looks. Mrs. Marvel suffered in patience, and strove by assumed -cheerfulness to lighten the loads the others had to bear. Susan waited -and watched. And Dan waited and hoped--When there came a time!-- - -Ellen was in Mrs. Marvel's kitchen; her baby was in her lap, and she -was gazing at and worshipping, for the thousandth thousandth time, the -baby's beautiful eyes, and beautiful fingers and nails, and the round -cheeks, and the pretty mouth and chin, so like Joshua's. It was -evening, and Mr. Marvel was expected home every minute, with news -from the agents about Joshua's ship. Ellen began singing this to -baby--singing in a low soft voice how father would soon come from over -the seas to see his own little darling--his dear darling precious; and -she was in the midst of this, enriching the theme with twenty -different forms of endearing expression, when Mr. Marvel staggered -into the kitchen. There was a wild look in his face, and his hands -were trembling. He was drunk. - -"O father!" cried Ellen. - -"Where's mother?" he asked in a husky voice. "Where's mother?" he -repeated in a louder tone. - -His wife answered the question by coming into the kitchen. She had -seen him reel into the house, and had followed him at once. She knew -he had been drinking, but she did not reproach him. He saw in her face -the knowledge and the forbearance, and he said,-- - -"Yes, I've been drinking; I was bound to. O mother, mother! how shall -I tell you?" - -Her lips framed some words, but she could not utter them. She sank -into a chair and gazed at him with blanched cheek, with quivering -lips, with blurred eyes. - -Hush, baby, hush! you have never seen your father's face, and you do -not understand now what one day will be told you--what George Marvel -has had to drink brandy to give him courage to tell his faithful -wife-- - -That the good ship, the "Merry Andrew," has foundered, and that every -soul on board, Joshua and Minnie included, has gone down to the bottom -of the sea. Not one saved--not one. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. -ON BOARD THE "MERRY ANDREW." - - -While the "Merry Andrew" was lying at Blackwell taking in cargo, Capt. -Liddle, like the shrewd captain he was, had caused it to be notified -that he would be happy to take a certain number of passengers to the -New World at fifty pounds per head. It happened, as it usually happens -in such like cases, that just at that time the exact number of persons -that the ship could accommodate found either that Great Britain was -too crowded for them to move freely in, or that at length the hour had -arrived for them to make a fresh start in life. The captain of the -"Merry Andrew" offered them the necessary opportunity. His ship would -take them to a country where they would be able to turn without being -elbowed. And there was no doubt that the start they contemplated would -be a fresh one, inasmuch as in the new land their heads would be where -their feet were now, and night was day and day night, and cherries -grew with their stones outside, and many other wonders were -commonplaces of every-day life. Accordingly, these enterprising souls, -much to Capt. Liddle's satisfaction, paid their fifty pounds per head -for four months of quiet misery on the sea. By that stroke of business -Capt. Liddle served two purposes. He put money in his pocket as chief -owner of the vessel, and he provided society for his wife, who was to -accompany him on the voyage. Mrs. Liddle was a cheerful little body, -who, although she was thirty years of age, had as much sentiment as a -tender-hearted miss of eighteen. Her engagement with Capt. Liddle had -been a long one. It was now more than twelve years since she first saw -him and fell in love with him, as he did with her; but she happened to -be blessed in a father who entertained not uncommon ideas as to the -value of money, and as to the difference it made in a man, especially -in a man who presumed to fall in love with his daughter. At that time -Capt. Liddle was only second mate, and his matrimonial overtures were -pooh-poohed by Capt. Prue, which was the name and title of his wife's -father; Bessie Prue was hers. Capt. Prue (retired from the service) -declared that he loved sailors and loved the sea, and that nothing -would please him better than that his Bessie should marry a sailor. -But then, that sailor must be a captain, he declared, and that captain -must be absolute owner of the ship he commanded. Having passed the -principal part of his life on sea, in a position where his word was -law, he was, as most old sea-captains are, intolerant of opposition. -Having given the word, he would not depart from it. Consequently, -second-mate Liddle found that all his arguments and rhapsodies were as -wind--a fluid which is much more useful at sea than on land, however -it is produced. Bessie, as it proved, possessed a goodly share of her -old father's determination of character. Having fallen in love with -second-mate Liddle, and having determined to marry him or die an old -maid, she informed her lover that if he would be faithful to her, she -would be faithful to him--a form of declaration which has been very -popular from time immemorial. The pledge being sealed by the -infatuated ones in the usual manner--that is, with much protestation, -with much unnecessary solemnity, (as if they were doomed to execution, -and were to be beheaded within a few hours), with many kisses and -tender embracings--Bessie went to her father and apprised him, -melodramatically, of her determination. - -"You wouldn't marry without my consent?" was the obstinate old -captain's question, after a little consideration. They were absurdly -happy, these two determined persons. Bessie was the apple of his eye, -the pride of his heart; she had not a wish, except the wish -matrimonial, that he would not have made any sacrifice to satisfy. -"You wouldn't marry without my consent, my pretty?" he repeated -anxiously, for she did not answer his question immediately. - -"I won't, on one condition," replied Bessie categorically; "and that -is, that you won't ask me or wish me, or try to persuade me to marry -anybody but John Liddle; for I love him with all my heart, and I -wouldn't give him up--no, not to be made Lord High Admiral." - -"I give you my promise, my pretty," said Capt. Prue, secretly admiring -his daughter's determination, and loving her the more for it; "I'll -never ask you, nor wish you, nor try to persuade you to marry anybody -but John Liddle." - -It may be guessed how willingly the old sea-captain gave the pledge, -when it is known that he looked forward with absolute dread to the -time when Bessie might be taken from him to another home. He would -give her any thing, help her to anything but a husband. What right had -any body else to her? Why, the ship would go on the rocks without her -"And when John Liddle is skipper and owns a ship," he added, "I'll -give my consent free and willing." In which last words Capt. Prue was -not quite ingenuous. But the compact was made and adhered to. -Second-mate Liddle was informed of it, and was compelled to abide by it. -He trusted to chance, as many other men, not lovers, have done before -him; and he derived consolation from the thought, that when Capt. Prue -and Bessie pledged their word, it would need something very -extraordinary and unlooked-for to induce them to break it. He rose -from second mate to first mate, from first mate to skipper; and when -he returned from his voyages, he found Bessie faithful and true, and -received a hearty welcome from her father. And during these long and -many years of probation, he learned to love his true-hearted little -woman more deeply than he had done at first; she taught him to -understand what love really was; she taught him the true beauty of it, -the holiness of it--that it was something more than a sentiment, -something higher than a passion; she taught him to understand that it -was a sacrament. - -It seems fated for this story, that its narration should necessitate, -for the most part, the depicting of the higher virtues, and what is -most noble and self-sacrificing in our natures. But it should be none -the less acceptable because of that. - -A short time after Bessie's lover became skipper, a relative of his -died, and left him some money. Directly he came into possession of it, -he bought a share in the "Merry Andrew." Bessie was then twenty-six -years of age, as pretty as ever, and as fresh at heart as ever. One -would have thought that her father would have spoken to her of his own -accord, there and then, and that he would have given her the reward of -her faithfulness and devotion. But the truth must be told; he was a -selfish old curmudgeon, and he trembled at the thought of losing her. -So once more Capt. Liddle sailed away from his lady-love on the voyage -in which our Joshua commenced his apprenticeship at sea. The "Merry -Andrew" was away, as you know, for more than four years; and when it -returned, and Capt. Liddle went to see his Bessie, he found her in -mourning. Her father was dead. Before he died he had made her the only -reparation in his power. The last codicil to his will, written a few -weeks before his death, contained expressions of his love for her, his -admiration of her lover, his consent to their marriage, and his regret -that he had not consented to it years ago. But it is so easy to regret -_after_ a thing has occurred which we might have prevented or -remedied. I have not yet made up my mind as to the value of deathbed -repentance. Neither am I satisfied that we may sin properly for six -days in the week, in a comfortable knowledge that we can evade the -penalty by crying, "I have sinned!" on the sabbath. - -However, the departed Captain Prue had been in all other respects a -kind and tender father, and no word of reproach passed the lips of -Bessie and John Liddle. They were not too old for the enjoyment of -life's blessings. Two months before the present sailing of the "Merry -Andrew" they were married; and it is not to be doubted that the -circumstances of their engagement promised them a lasting happiness. - -Mrs. Liddle had a maid, a beautiful brown-complexioned girl, whose -appearance might have suggested some suspicion of a gypsy breed, had -it not been for her manners, which showed a refinement no gypsy-girl -could have acquired in her vagrant life, and for her eyes, which were -gray despite their brightness. The circumstances of her becoming Mrs. -Liddle's maid were somewhat peculiar. She had presented herself to -that lady a few days before the "Merry Andrew" sailed, and stating -that she had heard by accident that Mrs. Liddle wanted a maid to -accompany her on the voyage, asked to be engaged in that capacity. -There was something so winsome about the girl, that Mrs. Liddle--who -had not succeeded in engaging a maid willing to brave the terrors of a -sea-voyage--was at once attracted to her, and lent a sympathizing ear -to her story of being alone in the world and without friends. Perhaps -it was Mrs. Liddle's romantic happiness that caused her to be less -prudent than usual; but certain it is that the girl was engaged, and, -setting about her duties at once, proved so apt and attentive, that -Mrs. Liddle congratulated herself upon her decision. Captain Liddle -did not interfere in the matter; but when he first saw the girl her -face seemed familiar to him, and he glanced at her more than once, -wondering where he had met her. But he could not settle the doubt, and -the matter was not of sufficient importance to permanently engage his -attention. Thus it was that Minnie succeeded in obtaining a passage in -the "Merry Andrew," and in being near to the man who was dearer to her -than all other earthly considerations. She was not influenced by any -dishonoring passion; she simply desired not to be parted from the man -she loved. She did not want him to see her or speak to her--at least, -so she thought at that time; it was sufficient for her to know that -she was in the same ship with him, and that she would perhaps now and -again catch a glimpse of her hero, without his knowing that she was -by. When she first made up her mind to leave her home, she did not -pause to consider what would be the consequences of her rash act. She -was unhappy there and utterly miserable; everybody was against her; -and when she discovered, as she did discover, that Susan was playing -the spy upon her, she became defiant and more resolved. She loved her -father and honored him; but she loved Joshua with all the passion of -her passionate nature, and in her mistaken sense of right and wrong, -the stronger love usurped the place of duty, and made her oblivious of -all else. She was blinded by love, and by love in which there was not -a shade of impure passion. - -She had had at first a wild idea of dressing herself in sailor's -clothes, and had saved a few shillings towards the purchasing of them; -but her success with Mrs. Liddle set that aside. When she went on to -the ship with her mistress, she was careful that Joshua should not see -her; but indeed, if they had met face to face at that time, it is not -likely that he would have recognized her in her disguise; for his -thoughts were with Ellen, and his heart was too full as yet to be -curious about the passengers. But the Lascar saw her, and was puzzled -about her directly he set eyes upon her face. He watched her like a -cat, and yet he could not make up his mind about her. He had seen her -often in Stepney, but he could scarcely believe that the fair girl -with the beautiful hair and this dark gypsy with the short curls were -one and the same. He knew her name and all about her from Solomon -Fewster, and he was quite ready to believe in the villainy of Joshua. -Resolved to make sure of the value of his suspicions, he contrived to -pass close by her as she was taking some bandboxes down stairs to the -saloon, and as he passed her, he muttered the name of "Minnie -Kindred." A start, a frightened look over her shoulders, and the -dropping of the bandboxes down the stairs, were sufficient -confirmation of his doubts; and before the pilot left the ship he gave -him a scrawl for Solomon Fewster to the effect that Joshua and Minnie -had run away together. He was cautious enough also to send upon -another piece of paper a private scrawl to Solomon Fewster, saying he -was not quite sure, but that Fewster would know how to act if Minnie -were missing from home. - -But when the Lascar next saw Minnie's face, which was not until the -"Merry Andrew" was a thousand miles the other side of the Bay of -Biscay, his doubts returned, and he thought that, after all, he must -have been mistaken. He did not know the cunning of Minnie. In the -startled glance she had thrown over her shoulder when her name was -pronounced, she had marked the Lascar's face, so that she was sure she -would know it again; and when, after the lapse of weeks, she detected -him gazing at at her, she looked at him so boldly and contemptuously -that he drooped his eyes before her. What added to his perplexity was, -that he never saw Joshua speak to her, never saw him look at her. When -she came on deck, which she did very rarely, and never unless her duty -to her mistress called her there, she was careful not to give Joshua -an opportunity of speaking to her or of looking closely at her; and -he, detecting in her manner a wish to avoid any little attention he -might have it in his mind to offer her, did not trouble himself even -by giving her a thought. She was as distant and reserved to all the -officers; and in a little while it began to be understood, that the -handsome gypsy-maid did not wish to be spoken to by any one on board -but her mistress; and her wish was scrupulously respected. - -To readers who are not well acquainted with ship-life, it may seem -strange that Minnie should have been able to keep herself so free from -observation; but there really can be--and there often is--as much -exclusiveness on board a passenger-ship as there is in society on -land. You may live in a ship for months, and travel for thousands upon -thousands of miles over the seemingly interminable waste of waters, -without having any more personal knowledge of those who sleep within a -few yards of you than you would have of them if you and they were -living at the extreme ends of a great city. When the long, long voyage -is at an end, and the ship is being piloted into the bay that skirts -the land of Pisgah, men and women whom you do not remember ever to -have seen before appear magically on deck; and you wonder where they -come from, and how it is you have not set eyes on them during all the -time that you and they have been living in the wonderful house of wood -and iron that has brought you safely over the raging seas. - -Joshua knew the Lascar directly he saw him on board, and was not -pleased to find that he was one of the crew. But the man did his duty, -and worked as well and apparently as willingly as the other sailors; -and as he was uniformly respectful, Joshua could not, even if he had -been so inclined, treat him harshly with any sense of justice. - -And so the "Merry Andrew," containing within its wooden walls its load -of human love and hate, cleaves through the ocean onward to its goal -steadily and patiently, while before it, with every new rising of the -sun, a monotonous hill of waters, never varying, never changing, lies -in the gray distance mocking its progress. Through cold weather, -through hot weather, burnt up in the torrid zone, and chilled by winds -which rush from ice-bound waters; through days when scarce a ripple -can be seen on the grand ocean's breast, and others when the waves -leap at its throat furiously, as an enemy might do; through nights -when the moon rises threateningly in the heavens, like a blazing ball -of lurid fire, suggesting thoughts of a dreadful to-morrow; and -through dark nights, solemnly beautiful, when the track of the vessel -is marked by the brilliant Medusæ (the sailor's girdle of Venus) which -gleam and shine--a line of living light--in the wondrous sea: through -all these, with unerring faith, the ship pursues its way steadily and -patiently to the garden of the world. Now the captain smells the -breeze, and hoarse cries, unintelligible to all but the initiated, -travel about the ship to clap on sail and make good use of the breath -of Boreas. Then the ship dashes on like a god drunk with joy, dives -into awful depths, and climbs water-mountains that a moment ago -threatened to fall in upon it and dash it to pieces. The curling seas -break over the deck, and the toilers that are battling with wind and -wave cling fast for dear life to ropes and spars; while ever and anon -a water-titan, more angry than his fellows, breaks against the side -with such tremendous force that the vessel reels and quivers beneath -the mighty shock. So! the breeze slackens and dies away; the anger of -the sea subsides, and after many days the ship is becalmed. Then the -passengers lie about the white deck in happy indolence, and muse and -dream of the great whale they saw a while ago, hung round with -sea-weed and barnacles; of the cloudless night, star-gemmed above and -below; of the beautiful Southern Cross and the strange Magellan -clouds; and while they muse and dream, the white sky stares down -lazily into blue peaceful waters. Every one on board is contented with -the change, excepting the skipper, who paces the deck restlessly and -prays for the breeze to spring up--taking advantage of the calm, -however, like the good skipper he is, to splice ropes, and make new -sails and mend old ones. Soon wind and water wake into life again, and -the waves sparkle, and the fresh breeze blows merrily, when a sudden -cry rings through the ship that a man is overboard. The next moment -every soul on board is bending over the bulwarks, watching the -retreating form of the sailor who is floating on his back, gazing with -agonizing dread at the cruel beaks of the swan-white albatrosses, -which are already hovering above him. Quickly the ship is put about; a -boat, with rowers in it, is lowered into the sea; and after the lapse -of many anxious moments a wild cheer rings through the air, as the man -saved from death, is dragged into the boat. He tells afterwards to -eager listeners--he is a notable man on board from that day forth--how -it seemed to him that he was floating on his back for full a day, and -how the only fear he felt was that the albatrosses would pick out his -eyes. Then the following week a young man died who was in a -consumption when he was first brought on to the ship, and who had -hoped that the warm breezes of the South would give him a new lease of -life; but he was never to breathe the balmy southern air. The little -colony of human beings is very sad when the funeral service is read -over the body, and the canvas coffin slips with a dull thud into the -sea; and a fear arises that some calamity is near. And surely that -night there is a fearful storm. The wind howls and roars; heavy seas -dash down the two men at the wheel; the sails split into a thousand -shreds; masts and spars crack like reeds. The sobs and lamentations of -the passengers are dreadful to bear. Minnie, creeping from her cabin -into the saloon, sees a dozen men and women, half-dressed, on their -knees, praying for mercy and forgiveness, making vows of reformation, -and indulging in all the fear-impelled evidences of a suddenly -awakened contrition. Pursued by the conviction that in a few minutes -she and all in the ship will meet their doom, she yearns with all her -soul to see Joshua, to touch him, to whisper in his ear that Minnie is -by his side. Then, if he will but take her hand, she will be content -to go down with him into the solemn depths of the awful sea. She -creeps to the wet stairs leading to the deck, only to find that the -hatches are fastened down, and that she is a prisoner. She tears at -the cruel door that separates her from Joshua, until her fingers bleed -and her strength gives way. She calls aloud to him, but she cannot -hear her own voice, so weak is it and so overwhelming is the roar of -the storm. She sinks, despairing, at the foot of the stairs, and in -the agony of her mind and the terror of the time so entirely loses -consciousness, that the cold waters which steal down the hatchway are -powerless to arouse her. But with the next rising of the sun the storm -has passed away, and the captain looks joyful, and the sailors sing -blithely at their work, and the passengers forget their vows of -reformation. So the ship sails on and on, until land is sighted, and -the passengers begin to prepare their best clothes to go on shore in. -Then comes a quiet evening when the "Merry Andrew" drops quietly down -the beautiful bay, and as evening deepens into night, a thousand -twinkling lights from distant hills welcome the wanderers and gladden -their hearts. How peaceful, how lovely, is the night! The balmy air, -the restful sound of dipping oars, the floating strains of music that -come from a neighboring ship, the beautiful star-lit waters--all these -bring grateful feelings to weary travellers, and silent prayers of -thankfulness arise to Heaven for the mercy that has brought them -safely through the perils of the mighty sea. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. -THE WRECK OF THE "MERRY ANDREW." - - -Built in the bed of a beautiful valley and on gardened slopes rising -from the waters which run to the sea, lies Sydney, the fair city of -the South. It is spring although the month is October. The heavens are -bright with bright clouds, the air is sweet with perfume from tree and -flower, the bay is gemmed with gardened isles and promontories. -Outside the heads which protect the bay and make it a safe refuge for -mighty fleets, the sea dashes against hoary rocks which stand defiant -of its wrath; but to-day, swayed by the influence of smiling sun and -cloud, the grim old walls sport with the huge waves, splinter them -into silver spray, and send them, laughing, back into the sea. -In the fair land girt by the blue waters of the South Pacific are -orange-groves, the fragrance of whose snow-white blossoms is in -harmony with the time and place, and coral-trees with bright scarlet -flower, and trees of peach, loquat, and bread, and hill-slopes where -the vines grow, and myriad other evidences of Nature's beneficence. -All things that see the light contribute to the beauty of spring. - -"'Tis the garden of the world," said Captain Liddle to his wife, as -they stood apart from the others on board the "Merry Andrew;" "'tis -the garden of the world," he repeated, gazing at the lovely hills and -gloriously-tinted sky with that sense of gratitude which it is so good -for a man to experience. - -Her thoughts were in harmony with his, but she did not answer him -immediately. She, too, was sensible of the beautiful scene around -them, and stood by his side in silent thankfulness. To-morrow, the -"Merry Andrew," having discharged her cargo, and taken in another -(chiefly hard wood), was to set sail for China, where she had a -charter for London. It was of London--of home--that the captain's wife -was thinking, and presently her thoughts found simple expression. - -"Yes, John," she said; "it is indeed a garden--a beautiful garden; but -it is not home." - -"Why now, Bessie," said the captain, looking down smilingly upon the -wife he had waited and worked for as anxiously as Jacob did for -Rachel, "could you not content yourself here?" - -"All my life, John?" - -"All your life, my dear." - -"No," she said without hesitation; "I should always be pining for -home. Even if we were poor, and it were a necessity that we should -live here, I don't think I could manage to quite content myself. But -as it is"-- - -"As it is, Bessie"--repeated her husband, in secret delight at his -wife's enthusiasm. - -"As it is, John," she responded softly, "'there's no place like -home.'" - -Captain Liddle hummed a few bars of the Englishman's household hymn; -and then, looking to that part of the ship where Joshua was busy, -said: "There is some one on board, Bessie, who is even more anxious to -get home than you are." - -"Who can that be, John?" - -"My handsome mate, as you call him, Joshua Marvel. He was expressing -his delight to me yesterday that we should be not away longer than we -thought we should when we started. And when I asked him what made him -so impatient to get home, he told me that he was married three days -before we left Gravesend. How would _you_ have liked that?" - -"I wouldn't have allowed you to go," said Mrs. Liddle, with a very -positive shake of the head. - -"Easily said, little woman; not so easily managed, though, if I had -been third mate instead of captain. Thank your stars that you married -a captain." - -"So I do, John," said Mrs. Liddle tenderly--so tenderly, that her -husband would have stooped and kissed her, if they had been alone. -"Was it a love-match?" - -"Marvel's? Certainly, I should say. When I went to his house in London -to see him, I saw a very beautiful girl in his room. Perhaps it is to -her that he is married." - -"Very beautiful, sir?" exclaimed Mrs. Liddle, with a toss of her head. -"I am almost inclined to take you to task for that; but I'll ask you, -instead, to describe her." - -"I can't, Bess; 'tis not in my line. I tell you what, though: your -maid would be like her, if she was fair instead of brown, and if she -had long hair." - -"Making eyes at my maid, sir!" cried Mrs. Liddle, with a pretty -wilfulness. "When I get you home, I shall lock you up." - -Captain Liddle laughed, and pinched his wife's cheek. - -"I am glad it was a love-match," she said; "I like Mr. Marvel all the -better for that. You ought to do something for him." - -"I shouldn't be surprised, Bessie, if Marvel was second mate on our -next voyage," was the captain's reply. "Now go and see to the stowing -away of your curiosities." - -During the time that the "Merry Andrew" had been lying in Sydney -Harbor, Mrs. Liddle and her gypsy maid had been living on shore, and -had only come on board today. Her husband's last remark referred to a -number of parcels which were scattered about the poop, containing -curiosities she had collected in that strange new world--such as -feathers and skins, and curious weapons and plants--designed to -astonish her friends at home. - -Captain Liddle's intention to promote Joshua had been quietly -whispered by the sailors to one another for some weeks past, although -the captain, from motives of prudence and a proper regard for -discipline, had made no mention of his intention, even to his wife, -until now. Captain Liddle respected Joshua, and often engaged him in -familiar conversation. He saw much to admire in the young sailor, and -recognized in him qualities, both intellectual and professional, of a -far higher standard than those exhibited by his other officers. A -sailor more deeply impressed than Joshua was with the highest -qualification a sailor can possess, duty, never walked the deck of a -ship; and this merit, added to a quick natural intelligence, made him -a great favorite with Captain Liddle. He was much liked, also, by the -sailors; for while his sense of duty made him firm, his kindliness of -heart made him gentle. Sailors resemble women in one particular: the -more they respect a man, the better they like him. Joshua, however, -had two bitter enemies on board: one was the Lascar, who was compelled -to conceal his hate; other was the second mate, Scadbolt by name, who -made no secret of his animosity. Scadbolt, being both an inefficient -officer and one who liked to shirk his work, had been sharply spoken -to by Captain Liddle on several occasions. From this may have sprung -the rumor of his intended deposition; and when it reached his ears, it -made him venomous. Between Scadbolt and the Lascar about this time -there sprang up a kind of intelligence with regard to Joshua, which -boded him no good if he should chance to get into their power. No -conversation passed between them on the subject; but each knew -instinctively that the other hated the upstart third mate of the -"Merry Andrew." - -With his usual foresight and shrewdness, Captain Liddle had announced -his readiness to take a small number of passengers to China, or to -London by way of China--rather a roundabout route home, it must be -confessed, but one which recommended itself to certain colonists from -its novelty, and from the opportunity it afforded them of seeing -something of the wonderful land where so many Sons of the Moon lived -and had their being. Captain Liddle knew what he was about by stating -that he could provide accommodation for only a few passengers, for -only a few took passage. Here is the way-bill:-- - -Mr. and Mrs. Pigeon and daughter, the latter five years of age. - -Mr. Bracegirdle. - -Stephen and Rachel Homebush, brother and sister. - -James Heartsease. -Harry Wall. - -Rough-and-Ready. - -So that there were nine passengers in all, including little Emma -Pigeon. - -The crew numbered twenty-eight persons, all told; and these, with the -passengers and the captain's wife and her maid, made the total number -of souls on board thirty-nine. - -Mr. Pigeon was the son of a wealthy squatter, who had lately died. -Desirous of giving his wife and child better advantages than could be -obtained in the colony, he had sold out his property, and was now on -his way home, for the purpose of settling in the "old country." He was -a rough kind of a gentleman at the best, as might be expected of one -who had been brought up in the bush; but he had a tender heart, and -was passionately devoted to his wife and child. Mrs. Pigeon was a -sparkling little creature, full of life and bustle, never still, and -with a laugh so merry and contagious, that every soul on board felt -glad when it was first heard on the ship. Little Emma, as the child -was called, was a small edition of her mother, with precisely the same -natural gayety of disposition. The family were in high glee at the -prospect of going "home" (even Little Emma, born in the bush, had been -taught so to call it), and found in the pleasures of imagination some -compensation for the natural sorrow they felt in leaving the bright -and beautiful land of the South. - -Mr. Bracegirdle was a mystery. No one knew any thing about him; and as -no one inquired, and he was not communicative, his antecedents could -only be guessed at. - -Stephen and Rachel Homebush were a hard-featured morose-looking -couple, whose piety was generally recognized as unimpeachable, but -whose good-nature was certainly open to question. And this induces the -reflection, that it is singular how often piety and sourness go hand -in hand. It almost seems as if, with the majority of so-called pious -people, religious contemplation chills the generous impulse, and -hardens the heart instead of softening it. The light of truth falls on -them not like dew, but like a miasma. - -James Heartsease and Harry Wall are bracketed in the way-bill, as they -were bracketed in heart. They were friends who had travelled together -all over the world. They were enthusiastic sketchers; and it was -whispered that they were writing a book, which caused them to be -looked up to with a kind of veneration. - -Rough-and-Ready was as great a mystery as Mr. Bracegirdle, but whereas -nothing was known of Mr. Bracegirdle's antecedents, so many stories -were current concerning Rough-and-Ready, that the difficulty was to -hit upon the right one. None of them were at all creditable to him. -One story was, that he was a bushranger; another, that he was a -stockman, who had shot down any number of blacks; another, that he was -a runaway convict. The name he chose to go by fitted any one or all of -these stories. He engaged his passage in the name of Mr. Rough; but -before he had been on board half an hour, every sailor knew him as -Rough-and-Ready. The lady passengers cast cold looks upon him; but the -sailors adored him; and he, taking the aversion of the women and the -admiration of the men very philosophically, was as much at home on -board the "Merry Andrew" as the captain himself. Captain Liddle saw -nothing objectionable in Rough-and-Ready. He was prone, as you know, -to form his own judgments of people, and was one of the small minority -of men in the world who decline to be led by the nose. There was -nothing very smooth or polished about Rough-and-Ready, as was implied -by his name; but he had a bright eye, a free manner, and a civil -tongue--sufficient recommendations to Captain Liddle's good favor. - -At the appointed time the "Merry Andrew" weighed anchor, and started -for China. Joshua rubbed his hands, and thought with a light heart of -his pretty Ellen and his friend Dan, and his old mother and father, -and that good friend the Old Sailor. He saw himself walking along the -familiar street in Stepney, and saw all the neighbors running out to -greet him, and saw Ellen, his own dear little wife, fluttering into -his arms, and nestling there as prettily as could be. What wonder that -his face grew bright, and that he went about his work with a -cheerfulness that brought a darker scowl into the face of the Lascar! -This worthy had not advanced a single step towards the furtherance of -the scheme to which he had in a sort of measure pledged himself to -Solomon Fewster before he left Gravesend. True, he had gone on board -the "Merry Andrew" with the vaguest of ideas as to the manner in which -he should be able to carry out his intentions regarding Joshua. The -fact was, that he had been only anxious to get away from England for a -time; the brawl in which he had been engaged and had used his knife -was a serious one, and he was frightened for his own safety. But he -had played his cards cunningly with Solomon Fewster, and had succeeded -in extracting money and valuables from his cowardly master; thus -providing for his safety, and putting money in his purse at the same -time. Joshua had kept a sharp eye upon him during the whole of the -voyage, and he was compelled to be careful and wary for he knew that -Joshua was a favorite with the captain, and that he would be clapped -in irons upon the first sign of insubordination. Then he was -disappointed in finding that not another sailor on board but himself -owed Joshua a grudge, or was envious of him; so that he was alone in -his hate until that instinctive understanding took place between him -and the second mate Scadbolt, which made Joshua a mark for their -mutual animosity. The Lascar would have dearly liked to do Joshua an -ill turn; but he could not see his way to the accomplishment of his -wish. But even from this thwarting of his desire he derived a kind of -malicious satisfaction; for he could not help thinking with pleasure -of the dismay and disappointment Solomon Fewster would experience when -Joshua came home safe and sound. He could not help chuckling to -himself as he thought, "What a way he'll be in when the 'Merry Andrew' -gets into Blackwall, and how he'll storm and swear! But he'd better -mind what he's about with me. I owe him one for that threat of giving -me into custody for stealing the things he gave me." Certainly no such -sentiment as "Honor among thieves" found place in the breast of the -Lascar. - -And Minnie? She had not calculated the effect of living within -herself, as she had been compelled to do. Loving Joshua as she did -with all her heart and soul, she had deceived herself by believing -that she would be happy if she were only in the ship with him. Happy -she would have been, had he known her and spoken kindly to her; but -the gulf that divided them seemed to her to be wider than it would -have been had thousands of miles of ocean been between them. She had -time for reflection on board ship; and reflection, although it did not -turn the current of her love, nor lessen it, added to her misery. At -one time during the voyage she had been so unhappy that she was almost -on the point of throwing herself overboard; and indeed had she known -of the marriage between Joshua and Ellen she might really have done -so. Happily for her she was not aware of the marriage, and was spared -the contemplated sin. But she was on a rack of love and doubt, and was -truly unhappy in the present, and despairing in the future. She went -about her work in a dull mechanical way, keeping aloof from every one, -and never going on deck unless her duties called her there. Mrs. -Liddle saw that the poor girl was miserable, and questioned her. But -here Minnie's rebellious nature came into play; she shut her heart -against the proffered sympathy, and returned cold answers to her -mistress's kind questions. Mrs. Liddle was sorry, but not offended; -she saw that the girl was struggling with a great grief. "A love -affair, depend upon it John," she said to her husband; and she -respected Minnie's desire not to have her confidence openly intruded -upon. Minnie's behavior on board inspired Mrs. Liddle with the -conviction that her maid was a thoroughly good girl, and she could -overlook a great deal in a girl who behaved so well. And -notwithstanding Minnie's retired behavior, she was an object of -interest to all. The officers and sailors called her "the shy beauty," -"the pretty gypsy-maid," "the brown-faced little beauty;" and, when -she came towards them with her eyes downcast, made way for her with -almost as much deference as they did for the captain's wife. But she -spoke no word to any one of them, and lived her life of self-imposed -isolation in grief and silence. - -The wind was fair, and a favorable voyage was anticipated. Sail after -sail was clapped on, and Captain Liddle walked up and down the deck -with a beaming face and in a state of high satisfaction. Five of the -passengers were below in the first agonies of sea-sickness. Four were -on deck--the two friends, James Heartsease and Harry Wall, Stephen -Homebush, and Rough-and-Ready. The friends had travelled too many -thousands of miles upon the ocean to be troubled by sea-sickness now; -they had struggled with and vanquished that fell enemy years ago. -Rough-and-Ready was not the sort of man to give in; he treated -sea-sickness as he treated every thing else that came to him in a -threatening shape--he laughed in its face. Perhaps previous experience -enabled him to do so with impunity. Stephen Homebush was not so -fortunate. He had a large stock of bile, and (speaking after the -manner of a well-known great man) when he had got rid of a great deal, -he would have a great deal left. He certainly got rid of a great deal -upon this occasion; and accustomed as he was to wrestle against -yearnings of the flesh and terrible foes, this foe was too powerful -for him, and this yearning of the flesh sent him into a deep pit of -tribulation from which he saw no chance of escape. Some kind friend -had advised him not to go below when he was attacked; and in -accordance with that advice he remained on deck, possessed by a spirit -so fiendish as not only to set at naught the pious exhortations of the -worthy Stephen, but even to change words of piety into utterances that -sounded very like anathemas. Even in the midst of his agony, he looked -round for some one, as was his wont in his happier moods, upon whom to -pour the vials of his spleen; for Stephen Homebush had this peculiar -conviction with respect to himself. His invariable verdict when -tribulation visited other persons was, that it was a just -punishment--it was a visitation of the Lord. But there was no such -acknowledgment regarding any vexation by which he was afflicted. In -that case his opinion was, that he was suffering for the sins of -others, and the conviction was to him a sufficient proof of his own -worthiness and of the wickedness and unworthiness of every other -person. He looked round for some one on whom to vent his spleen; but -no person met his eye but Rough-and-Ready, whose merry face and -cheerful manner were an additional sting to the miserable Stephen. -Rough-and-Ready nodded encouragingly to the pale-faced Stephen, who -was leaning against the bulwarks, and said cheerfully, and really from -no ill-natured motive-- - -"You will be better by and by, Mr. Homebush. Besides, it will do you -good." - -These last words were unfortunately chosen; for the afflicted -Stephen--who had heard the discreditable stories attached to -Rough-and-Ready, and who had already judged him as a sinner of the -first magnitude--glared at the speaker, and said with difficulty, -"Scoffer, sinner!" - -He intended to add, "Repent!" but a sudden paroxysm compelled him to -confide that exhortation to the waves. - -Rough-and-Ready laughed gayly, and turning on his heel, met the -captain, and fell into step with him. - -"Some of the sailors are grumbling," observed Rough-and-Ready, -"because we have set sail on a Friday." - -"Grumble!" exclaimed Captain Liddle, pettishly. "Ay, and they'll -grumble till the end of the voyage. I have had that sort of thing -occur to me before. This is the fifth time I have started on a Friday, -and nothing more unusual ever occurred than occurred at any other -time. But the men wouldn't believe it, and won't believe it now. If a -head-wind comes, it is because we set sail on a Friday; if we're -becalmed, because we set sail on a Friday; if there's a squall, -because we set sail on a Friday; if a man tumbles overboard, -because we set sail on a Friday; if we lose a spar, if a sail is -split, because we set sail on a Friday. I do believe, if one of -them cuts his finger, he thinks, 'Curse the skipper! What the -something unmentionable did he set sail on a Friday for?'" - -"I have no doubt, skipper," said Rough-and-Ready, smiling and pointing -to Stephen Homebush, whose head was hanging over the bulwarks, as if -its owner were curiously interested in the swelling of the waves, -"that Mr. Homebush is quite ready to side with the men, and to declare -that he is sea-sick because you set sail on a Friday." - -Captain Liddle smiled at the pious sufferer, and shrugged his -shoulders. It was evident, although he said nothing upon the subject, -that he had already formed a not too favorable opinion of Stephen -Homebush. - -For the first three days the prognostications of the sailors, that -"something" was sure to happen because the voyage was commenced upon a -Friday, did not seem likely to be realized. The weather was fine, the -wind was fair, and every stitch of canvas was set. But the grumbling -did not cease, and for a very good reason. Scadbolt and the Lascar did -their best to keep the subject warm, and between them managed to -foment and increase the dissatisfaction. Captain Liddle, cognizant of -this, became stern and strict, and took but little rest. He did not -know who it was that was encouraging the men; he suspected Scadbolt, -and, estimating his second mate at his proper worth, he wanted but the -slightest confirmation of his suspicions to take prompt action against -the offender. By this time the passengers had recovered from their -sea-sickness, and begun to assemble on the deck. Stephen and Rachel -Homebush set to work vigorously in their task of reclaiming the -sinners, in which category every person but themselves on board was -included; but though they prayed (for others), and groaned (for -others), and "wrestled" (for others), their efforts were not crowned -with success. Indeed, the only person who tolerated them at all was -the man who had the worst character, and whom nearly everybody -avoided. Rough-and-Ready was a treasure to the pious couple. To him, -as the most illustrious sinner within their reach, they imparted the -knowledge of their own goodness and of everybody else's wickedness; -him they informed that their special mission (out of heaven) was to -lead him to the waters of grace, and that his special mission was to -be led thereto by them. They prayed for him wrathfully, in stony -voices, and would have wept over him, had he allowed them to do so. -And when they found that they made no impression upon him (for it was -only his good-nature that induced him to listen to them), they groaned -the louder, and prayed the longer, and wrestled the more, because of -the hardness of man's heart. It was a curious thing, seeing how good -they were and how bad he was, to observe the conduct of Little Emma, -Mrs. Pigeon's five-year-old daughter, towards the saints and the -sinner. The little child ran away from the saints, and cried and -struggled when Rachel Homebush took her hand; but when she saw the -sinner, she ran into his arms with perfect confidence, and submitted -to be tossed in the air and to be kissed by him very much as if she -liked it. But then children have no judgment. - -Towards the close of the third day the weather became threatening, and -the sails were taken in. This set the grumblers at work more busily -than ever. Some time before midnight, the watch being in charge of the -second mate, Captain Liddle came unaware upon two of the men who were -grumbling, and sternly asked them what they were grumbling at. The -Lascar was one of the twain, and of course he did not reply; but the -other man, being pressed by the captain, pulled at his forelock, and -said that the sailors weren't pleased because the voyage had been -commenced on their unlucky day. - -"And that's the cause of this rough weather, eh?" questioned Captain -Liddle sarcastically. - -"Yes, your honor," was the reply. "Why, even the second mate says so." - -"Does he?" cried Captain Liddle, turning wrathfully upon Scadbolt, who -at that moment approached them. "What do you mean, Mr. Scadbolt, by -spreading dissatisfaction among the crew?" - -Brought face to face with the man to whom he had spoken, Scadbolt, who -was no coward, gave him a threatening look, and said,-- - -"Well, sir, I've an objection to setting sail on Friday; and, as you -see, the men have the same objection." - -"I see quite enough to warn you to be careful," said Captain Liddle in -a determined tone; "I have warned you before, and I warn you now for -the last time. Keep your objections to yourself, sir, and trouble -yourself only with your duty.--And you, men, attend to yours, and let -me hear no more of this nonsense. You know me well enough to know that -I will not be trifled with." - -The men slouched away, and Scadbolt was obliged to suppress his -passion for the time: but it burned the fiercer for that. - -The next day the weather became worse, and circumstances thus gave a -color to the dissatisfaction, which grew stronger every hour. But the -captain was equal to both emergencies; like a good sailor and a stout -captain he grappled with the storm that raged without, and with that -scarcely less dangerous one that raged within. He was seldom off the -deck, and when he did go down to snatch an hour's rest, he left Joshua -on board to watch in his place. For Captain Liddle was not slow to -discover that Joshua was the man of all the other men on the ship upon -whose faithfulness he could best depend. He said this many times to -his wife, and often spoke to her in praise of Joshua. Minnie heard -this, and heard also of the dissatisfaction among the sailors, and how -Scadbolt, the second mate, had fomented the dissatisfaction. About -this time a whisper spread among the passengers that there were three -or four sailors in the crew who only wanted a favorable opportunity to -break into open mutiny. Confirmation of this was given by the captain, -on the third day of the bad weather, when the ship was scudding along -under bare poles. He, coming down hastily into the saloon, went into -his cabin, and made his appearance in a few minutes with a belt -buckled round his waist and two pistols in it. The passengers, -looking at each other in astonishment, received another shock -presently by the surprising appearance of Rough-and-Ready. His dress -hitherto had been of a respectable character black coat and waistcoat -and tweed trousers; but now he had on a red-serge shirt, and a rough -billycock-hat, and buckskin riding-trousers, and boots that reached -half-way up his thighs, and a red-silk sash round his waist, with -knife and pistol stuck therein. You may guess the alarm he caused -among the ladies; the only passenger who seemed pleased at the change -in his appearance was little Emma Pigeon, who skipped round him -delightedly, and clapped her hands in approval of his bright-colored -shirt and sash. Rough-and-Ready caught the child in his arms and gave -her a hearty kiss, and nodded cordially to the fellow-passengers who -had so studiously avoided him. They were so frightened at his -desperate appearance, that they forgot to frown upon him as they were -wont to do. Rough-and-Ready then going on deck, walked up to Captain -Liddle, and said,-- - -"You can depend upon me, skipper. I've seen this sort of thing -before." - -Captain Liddle gave him a look of grateful acknowledgment, and they -made their way into the midst of a knot of sailors who were standing -irresolutely about Scadbolt and Joshua. Joshua was cool but perplexed, -and Scadbolt was in a furious rage. - -"Whose watch is this?" asked Captain Liddle. He knew well enough, but -he had a motive for asking. - -"Mine, sir," answered Joshua. - -"What are the men hanging about for?" - -"I gave an order, sir, and Mr. Scadbolt countermanded it." - -"Give your order again, Mr. Marvel." - -Joshua did so; and as Scadbolt, in a voice thick with passion, was -desiring the men not to obey it, Captain Liddle very promptly knocked -him down. Calling two of the sailors by name, Captain Liddle ordered -them to put the second mate in irons. After the confusion which -followed the execution of this order had partially subsided, Captain -Liddle cried out,-- - -"Now, then, what have you to complain of? Speak out like men." - -At this one of the sailors stepped forward, and said respectfully,-- - -"Well, your honor, some of us think it would have been better if we -had stopped in port another day." - -"That's a matter of opinion," said the captain. "You have a right to -yours, but I have a right to mine also; and I am master of this ship. -Now I ask you as sensible men and good sailors, is it right that you -should forget your duty because we don't agree upon a certain point? -Do you know what this means my men?" pointing to Scadbolt. "It means -mutiny. What would any one of you do if you were skipper in my place -You would put a stop to it at once, as I have done, and as I intend to -do. I'll do it by reason, if you'll let me, and I'll say nothing of -any other means, for I don't want to use them. I speak you fair, men, -and I mean you fair. What do you say, now, to treating me as I treat -you?" - -Acquiescent murmurs ran round the crew, most of whom had gathered -together during the scene. "And at such a time as this too," continued -Captain Liddle, "though it would be all the same in fair weather or -foul. I'll tell you something that many of you, as good mariners, -suspect already. We are near a dangerous coast--how near I do not -know, for I have not been able to take a sight for two days. And it's -at such a time as this that this bad sailor--I found out before we got -into the Bay of Biscay that he wasn't as good as he ought to be--it's -at such a time as this that he tries to get you into trouble. Come, -now, have I spoke you fair?" - -"Yes, you have; spoke like a man!" a dozen voices said. - -"That's well said. Whoever is on my side step over to me." - -Every man--even the Lascar, too much of a coward to stand -aloof--stepped to the captain's side and saluted him. - -"I'm proud of my crew," was the captain's simple remark after this. -"Now go to your duty." - -As the captain walked on to the poop, Rough-and-Ready said, - -"That was well done, skipper; but there are two or three black sheep -among 'em, for all that." - -"I know it," replied Captain Liddle, with a significant look. "I shall -keep a sharp look-out on them. I've got a man on board that's a match -for a dozen black sheep, or I'm very much mistaken." - -Rough-and-Ready laughed and turned on his heel, and Captain Liddle -went down to say an encouraging word to his wife. - -On the eighth day the captain, suspecting that they were in the -vicinity of the Minerva Shoal, near which there were some dangerous -rocks, ordered a sharp lookout to be kept for broken water. All the -passengers were by this time in a state of great alarm, and although -Captain Liddle tried to cheer them by encouraging words, his anxious -face belied his speech. Perhaps the one who suffered the most from -terror was Stephen Homebush. His terror was so great that he forgot -his mission, and flew to others for consolation, instead of imparting -it. Such men as he are most true to their calling when the weather is -fine. It was a miserably dark night. The captain, completely tired -out, had gone down to his cabin for a little rest. All the passengers, -with the exception of Rough-and-Ready, who never seemed to sleep, and -yet was the freshest man of them all, had retired to their beds with -hearts filled by gloomy forebodings of what the morrow might bring; -and there they lay, tossing about, listening to the raging wind that -was driving them perhaps to certain death. In the captain's cabin were -Mrs. Liddle and her maid. There was something in the present danger -that was to Minnie almost a relief from the horrible monotony of her -life. Her self-imposed silence had become unbearable, and she fretted -under it until her health was in danger of giving way. So that this -change, with all its terrors and uncertainties, was an absolute relief -to her. She was too sad and unhappy to be frightened at the prospect -of death. Had the future held out to her any hope of happiness, she -would have prayed to live; but as it was--"Better to die," she -thought, "and so end all." There is no doubt that this miserable state -of her mind was due to the want of proper moral training in her -childhood. Thrown completely upon herself; with no mother's love to -teach her what is often taught by love's instinct alone, that such and -such impulses and thoughts are weeds that destroy, and such and such -are flowers that beautify: doomed to the almost sole companionship of -a father whose misfortunes had rendered him an unfit teacher, it is -scarcely to be wondered at that she should have been oblivious of the -true duty of life. - -"Bessie," said Captain Liddle to his wife, "I have come down for an -hour's sleep. I can rest with confidence, for Marvel is keeping the -watch." - -Mrs. Liddle nodded, and gave him a sweet little smile that was like -wine to him; and Minnie heard him say, in answer to a whisper from his -wife, "We are in God's hands, Bessie, and must trust to His mercy." -"We are in God's hands, and must trust to His mercy," thought Minnie -as she left the cabin; "and Joshua is keeping the watch. Death may be -very near. Will it be wrong to speak to him?" Mechanically she made -her way to the deck, stumbling two or three times and bruising -herself. But she felt no pain. "I should like to die near him," she -thought; "if he would take my hand in his, I should be content and -happy." - -Nothing but darkness surrounded her on deck. She clung to a rope, -appalled by the mournfulness of the scene. Not a star was to be seen -in the heavens, and the sky and water were as black as the night. So -solemn, so mournful was every thing around, that the ship seemed to be -rushing into a pit of death, where no light was. She could not see her -hand before her, but all at once her heart beat wildly at the sound of -Joshua's voice. He was speaking to Rough-and-Ready, and they were -quite near her, although she had not seen them. Even now she could but -barely discern their forms in the gloom. Joshua had just made a remark -that Rough-and-Ready must have been a great traveller. - -"Yes," answered Rough-and-Ready, "I've been about a pretty great deal. -I've led a wild life; but then, you see, I never had any one to care -for but myself." - -"Never?" questioned Joshua, in a tone that had a dash of pity in it. - -"Never but once, and that was only for a little while. But what -matters? It will be all one by and by." - -"I should be sorry to think you meant that," continued Joshua; "it -would be a sad belief that, at such a time as this." - -"You speak as if you didn't believe it, at all events," said -Rough-and-Ready, in tones as soft as a girl's; "but then your -circumstances are different to mine. You are young; I am"-- - -"Not old." - -"Old enough for twice your years. Then you have friends at home, -mayhap?" - -"Ay, dear ones." - -"Mother and father?" - -"Ay; God bless them!" - -"Wife perhaps?" - -Joshua gave a gasp that sounded almost like a cry of pain. - -"Ah, well," continued Rough-and-Ready, "if we were to go down this -minute, I don't know the man or woman who would say 'Poor fellow!' -when my fate was known. I leave no one behind me, and my death would -bring no grief to a single soul. Perhaps my condition is the happier -of the two." - -"Not so," said Joshua sadly; "and I hope--indeed I believe--that you -don't mean what you say. I have a friend at home--Dan, his name--to -whom the news of my death would be the bitterest grief. I have dear -ones at home, whose lives would be lives of mourning if I were not to -return. I know this, and feel the pain that they would experience -should it be God's will that we are not to escape this peril. But, -strange as it may sound, I would not spare them the pain if it were in -my power. Could I, by a wish, destroy the memories that make my life -dear to me and them--dearer than you imagine--and so pluck from their -hearts and minds the sting that my death would bring to them, I would -not do so. For after death, there is life!" - -"You believe in the immortality of the soul, mate?" - -"Surely; and you?" - -Rough-and-Ready made no reply. - -"'Tis often difficult to believe in what we don't understand. On such -a night as this--bleak, dreary, awfully solemn--with death waiting for -us within a few yards perhaps--it is difficult to believe that there -are spots on the earth where the sun is shining and where the flowers -are blooming." - -"That's true, mate; you speak more like a scholar than a sailor. Shake -hands." - -"I learned a great deal from the friend of whom I have spoken," said -Joshua, grasping Rough-and-Ready's hand. "What is that ahead of us?" - -A dark cloud. Impossible to see whether it belonged to earth, or air, -or water. A moment after he uttered the words, the man who was keeping -the look-out cried that there was land ahead. Joshua hastily gave some -orders, and was making his way to the saloon to arouse the captain, -when he was almost thrown off his legs by a terrible shock. -Involuntarily he threw his arms around Minnie, who was clinging to the -rope. She held him fast for a moment, and he cried,-- - -"Who is this?" - -"It is me," she said; "cling to me." - -"Don't stir," he whispered rapidly, filled with a wild amazement at -the familiar tones of Minnie's voice; "if it were not that I know I am -not dreaming, I could believe a spirit spoke, and not a woman. But -keep you here; do not move for your life." - -The next instant all was confusion, and cries and lamentations filled -the air. Captain Liddle was on deck barefooted, and all the passengers -were there in their nightdresses, clinging to ropes and spars, praying -and crying and wringing their hands. Great seas washed over the ship, -drowning the cries for a brief time; the night was so dark that their -true situation could not be discovered, and imagination added to their -terrors and magnified them. The captain could do literally nothing; -for the ship appeared to have been lifted on to the rocks, and kept -bumping against them in its endeavors to get free. And yet there was -sea all around them. Some of the passengers had sought shelter under -the lee of the cuddy, among them the captain's wife, Mr. and Mrs. -Pigeon and Little Emma, and Steven and Rachel Homebush. Many times -during the night was the voice of Stephen Homebush heard, calling upon -the Lord to save _him_; while his sister Rachel, braver than he, stood -by his side, with a stern set face, in silence. The cheery laugh of -Mrs. Pigeon was stilled, but she was not so overcome by terror as not -to be a comfort to her husband and child; during the dark night those -three clung together and comforted each other as well as they were -able; while the captain, making his way from one group to another, -bade them not lose heart; for the ship seemed to be keeping together, -and when daylight came their condition might be found to be less -desperate than it appeared. - -"Besides," he whispered to the male passengers, "we have three or four -rascals among the sailors, and for the sake of the women we must keep -ourselves cool and self-possessed." - -To his wife he said simply,-- - -"Well, Bessie, this is a bad job. I ought not to have allowed you to -come with me." - -"I would sooner be here with you, John," she said, kissing him, "than -I would be at home in safety." - -"Brave little heart," he whispered to himself as he walked away from -her. "Yet I could bear it better if I were alone." - -James Heartsease and Harry Wall kept together, as friends should, all -through the night. They felt not a particle of fear; they thought it -was very grand and very awful, and spoke in calm tones of what the -morrow might bring. - -"Don't think we shall see China, Jim," said Harry. - -"Perhaps not. Hope no body will be hurt," was the reply. "What a grand -painting this would make!" - -A few minutes after Joshua had left Minnie, he came to the cuddy, -where Mrs. Liddle had sought protection. - -"Mr. Marvel," she called to him, "have you seen my maid?" - -Then it came upon him that the woman to whom he had clung when the -ship struck was the gypsy-maid who had kept herself so reserved, and -he said, "Yes my lady; do you want her?" - -All the officers called the captain's wife "my lady," and she was -proud of the title. - -"Yes," she answered; "I wish you could bring her to me, poor girl; she -is friendless and unhappy, poor child!" - -"Has she no friends at home, my lady?" Joshua could not help asking. - -"None, I believe." - -The word "home" reached little Emma Pigeon's ears, and as she nestled -in her mother's arms, the child cried, "Mother, are we going home?" - -"Yes, yes, my dear," sobbed Mrs. Pigeon; "try to go to sleep, there's -a darling." And she rocked the child, and sang a little song about -birds and angels. - -Joshua, steadying himself as he walked cautiously to where Minnie was -standing, wondered to himself whether it was fancy that had made the -gypsy-maid's voice sound so familiar to him; a sea washing over the -deck, drenched him to the skin, and as he stood upright and shook the -water from his clothes, the memories that were stirred within him -brought to him a picture of the dear old kitchen at Stepney, with -himself half-naked, barefooted, and with the water streaming from him, -standing at the door. The vision may have occupied but a moment, but -the picture was complete; father, mother, Ellen, Dan and the birds, -the Old Sailor, all were there. But where was Minnie? Why, by his -side, with short curly hair and brown gypsy-face. "Am I mad?" he -exclaimed, as he dashed the waters from his eyes. But when he reached -the spot where Minnie stood, and she clasped his hand and said, "Thank -God, you are safe!" his amazement grew. - -"I cannot see your face," he whispered, with his arm round her, for -the better protection of both; "but your voice is strangely familiar -to me. Do I know you?" - -"Yes. But do not press me farther. Wait till the light comes. Shall we -live till then?" - -"I hope so." - -"Will you promise me to keep near me till daylight comes? It is my -dearest wish--my only one." - -"I promise," he said, strangely agitated, "until my duty calls me -away." - -"And even then, you will come back when you have done your task, and -stand by my side?" - -"I will, my poor girl. I have come now to bring you to the captain's -lady." - -"She sent you for me?" - -"Yes." - -"She is a good lady. But wait a little; I have something to say -first." Many moments passed before she spoke again, and in the pause a -grateful prayer went up from the girl's heart even for the small -blessing of gentle speech from her hero's lips. "You have made me -very, very happy. Until tonight--for many, many months past--I have -been most unhappy." She bent her lips to his hand and kissed it. "Now -answer me. We are in great peril?" - -"The greatest, I fear." - -"But a danger threatens you of which you are not aware. Listen. The -second mate, he who was put in irons the other day"-- - -"Scadbolt--go on." - -"Is loosed." - -"By whom?" - -"I don't know. But he is loosed, and but five minutes since was near -me with a sailor whom I think I know, although I could not see him. -Listen. I must whisper, for he may be near us now. They were talking -of you, and they swore--O my God!--they swore to have your life." - -"They spoke of me by name?" - -"By name--Joshua Marvel." - -"You think you know the sailor who was talking to Scadbolt. Is he a -dark man?" - -"Yes; a Lascar I think." - -"You are right. He owes me an old grudge." - -"Scadbolt said that this coast is one of the most dangerous upon which -a ship could strike. He believes he knows pretty well where we are, -and that it will be a fight for the boats"-- - -"We have only two, the jolly-boat and the longboat; he may be right." - -"Be on your guard; tell the captain; be prepared." - -"We will; and you"-- - -"I can protect myself. Feel this." - -"A knife!" - -"I picked it up. Let them beware." - -Another lurch of the vessel made them cling closer to each other. -During all the horror of the scene, Joshua had not dared to ask -whether it really was Minnie to whom he was speaking; he feared to -know the truth. Minnie on the ship with him! and Ellen at home--and -Dan--he dared not think of it. - -"Come," he said; "I will take you to the captain's lady. Cling fast to -me." - -"Say a few words to me." - -"What are they?" - -"God bless and forgive you." - -"God bless and forgive you! From my heart." - -"He will, I think," said the girl, as if communing with herself. "I -have not felt so happy for a long time past. Death has no terror for -me if you are kind!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. -JOSHUA IS PROMOTED. - - -When daylight came--and oh, how they watched for it, and prayed for -it!--they saw clearly their great peril. The ship was rolling amongst -a mass of sharp rocks jutting upwards from the sea. They saw the -points of these rocks on all sides of them; but no friendly land was -in view. - -"The ship is lost," said Captain Liddle to Joshua whom he looked upon -as his right-hand; "she is breaking up fast. Our next chance is the -boats." - -It was a wonder indeed how the "Merry Andrew" had kept together during -the night, with the tremendous beating she had received from the -rocks; if she had been in deep water, she must inevitably have sunk. - -Joshua had told Captain Liddle of the understanding between Scadbolt -and the Lascar, as overhead by Minnie; and now the captain walked to -where the two conspirators were standing in conversation with other -sailors. Scadbolt was endeavoring to persuade them to seize the jolly -boat, and leave the passengers to shift for themselves. - -"What is that you are saying?" cried the captain breaking in amongst -them, and grasping Scadbolt by the shoulder with a grasp of iron. -"More incitings to mutiny! Take heed, sir! Give me but a little -stronger cause--nay, dare to lay a finger upon boats or provisions -without leave--and, by God, I'll throw you into the sea!" - -"Will you stand this, men?" shouted Scadbolt, writhing in the -captain's grasp. - -The Lascar made a movement towards the captain, and the glitter of a -knife flashed in the light; but a blow from Joshua sent him reeling, -and in an instant the knife was torn from his hand. - -"Remember!" said Joshua in a low voice. "You had a lesson from me -years ago. What the captain does to Scadbolt, I do to you, you -treacherous cur." - -"I remember," muttered the Lascar, presenting the singular aspect of a -man cowed by fear and raging with furious passion at the same time, "I -swore to have your heart's blood, and I'll have it! Look you! the end -has not yet come. Give me my knife." - -Joshua looked at the knife; it was one-bladed, with a clasp--one of -the articles, indeed, which the Lascar had wrested from Solomon -Fewster's fears. - -"You asked me once before for a knife I took from you," he said; "then -I broke it before I gave it back. But this--this I mean to keep." - -"Now then my men," cried the captain, in a cheery voice, "this is the -second time that this damned rascal has tried to step between you and -me. What I feared then has happened now. The ship is breaking up, and -can't hold together for many days, and if the weather gets worse, may -break up in a day. There are certain chances in our favor, every one -of which will be destroyed unless we act in friendly concert and like -men. This scoundrel has tried to make you believe that your interests -and the interests of the passengers are in opposition. He lies! I -declare to you, as a captain and a man" (if he had said a gentleman, -all would have been ruined), "that your lives and your safety are as -dear to me, as those of anybody else on board--except my wife," he -said softly yet stoutly, and murmurs of "Bravo, skipper! Bravo you're -a man!" broke even from the lips of those sailors who were most -disposed to be won over by Scadbolt. "Well then, you hear me declare -now, as I have declared before, that I mean you fair. And I declare -moreover, that our only chance of safety is in union. Once again--With -me,--or Against me?" - -"With you I with you, skipper!" - -During this scene, Joshua did not know that Minnie was standing near -him. Now, releasing the Lascar with warning words, he turned and saw -her. She met his gaze unflinchingly, and a hot blush mantled over her -neck and face. He gazed at her for so long a time, that she drooped -her head before him, and stood in an attitude of pleading. But he -could not doubt the evidence of his senses. Her manner, no less than -her appearance, convinced him. It was Minnie, indeed, who stood before -him. - -He covered his eyes with his hand, and staggered to the saloon. If a -thousand despairing and undeserved deaths had stared him in the face, -he could not have been more shocked and bewildered. He sat down and -tried to think. What was the meaning of it? What did they know at -home? What did they, know? What might they suspect? He saw himself and -the Old Sailor together in the boat at Gravesend, and heard that -faithful old friend tell him of Minnie's love for him, and what it was -his duty to do. He had seen his duty clearly then: love for Ellen no -less than duty--affection for his friend and brother, no less than -love and duty--impelled him to the right and honorable course of -making Ellen his wife. And then! Why, within three days of that -consummation of his dearest hope, he and Minnie were together on board -the "Merry Andrew." If they at home knew it, suspected it even, must -they not believe that his whole life was a monstrous lie? that he had -planned, plotted, deceived, schemed, to prove how utterly false he was -to the woman who adored him, to the man who believed in him, to the -kind mother and father who loved him better than Benjamin was loved? -For a few moments he lost all consciousness of present peril. The ship -beat amongst the rocks; the seas dashed over the deck: he heard them -not, felt them not. He took from his breast Ellen's picture and the -lock of hair she had given him at their parting, and kissed them -again and again while his tears ran on them. Strangely enough, there -came to his ears then, in the midst of his agony, his father's hearty -exultant voice, saying, "This is better than being a wood-turner all -one's life, isn't it, Josh?" He shivered and sobbed and cried, "O Dan, -Dan, do not forsake me!" and stretched forth his hands as if his -friend were near. A hand upon his shoulder aroused him, He looked up, -and saw the captain's wife. She was a brave woman, and had done much -during the night to sustain the courage of the others. - -"There is a man's work to do on deck," she said to him gravely and -sweetly. "You are not growing faint-hearted?" - -"No, my lady," he answered, "not faint-hearted at the prospect of -death; but I have received a shock worse than death." - -She did not stop to ask for an explanation of his meaning--time was -too precious; but she took the picture of Ellen and looked at it. - -"My wife, my lady," he said, with a sob. - -A troubled expression crossed her features, and she said -encouragingly,-- - -"Nay, all hope is not gone; we may succeed in reaching land, or some -ship may see us and pick us up. But all private grief must give way -now for the general good. There are not too many faithful men on -board; the lives of others depend on them. If they lose heart, and -yield to the selfishness of their grief, we are lost." - -Joshua jumped to his feet and wiped his tears. - -"They are not unmanly tears, my lady," he said bravely; "I can justify -them to you when there is no pressing work to do. Thank you for -calling me to my duty." - -She smiled brightly on him and shook hands with him. When he got on -deck, the captain was giving orders to lower the jolly-boat; but as -the boat was being lowered, the broken water caught her and splintered -her to pieces. The sailors and passengers looked with dismay at the -fragments of the boat drifting away and dashing against the jagged -rocks. "What next?" they all thought. - -"Try the long-boat, men," cried the captain. And in accordance with -his instructions, the long-boat--the only one left--was launched over -the vessel's side; but as she hung in the tackle a huge wave dashed up -and filled her. It was imperative that the water should be bailed out -of her. - -"Who will do it?" asked the captain, loath to give an order in which -there was almost certain death. Joshua was about to start forward, -when Minnie's hand upon his arm restrained him. Before he could shake -off the grasp, the first mate, crying, "I'm a single man; I've no wife -and children waiting for me at home!" jumped into the boat up to his -waist in water, and began to bail it out. But he had not bailed out a -dozen gallons when the stern-post was jerked out of the boat, which -was left hanging in the tackle. The shouts of the men and the screams -of the women apprised him of his danger; and as he looked about to see -how he could remedy the disaster, the fore-tackle got adrift, and the -boat was battling with cruel rocks and water. The force of the current -was too powerful for her. The captain threw out lines to the -unfortunate man, but he could not catch them. But if he had, he would -have been bruised to death by the sharp rocks. The moment before he -went down, he waved a good-by to those on board. A long silence -followed. The women looked anxiously at the captain, but saw no hope -in his face. Then with a gesture to all to follow him, he went down to -the saloon, and there read prayers, and commended them to God. He was -not what is understood as a religious man; but knowing the danger in -which they stood, he conceived this to be a duty. That done, he said, -"Men and passengers, we have one chance left, and only one. Out of -our masts and spars we can make a raft sufficiently large to hold all -of us. Then we may be able to reach some friendly land. To stay on -board and wait, and not work, is certain death. Even as it is, a raft -will take us some days to make, and the ship may break to pieces -before it is done. But we must trust to God for that. What we've got -to do is to work like men, for our own sakes, for the sake of the -women, and for the sake of wives and children at home. Some of you -have these, I know. It is not for me, now that we are in such a -strait, to say, do this, or do that; although under any circumstances -I shall insist upon discipline and order. I can't make you work, and -therefore I submit for your approval the plan I think best for general -safety. Have any of you a better one to propose?" - -"No, no!" was the unanimous cry. - -"Very well; then we'll determine upon this. And for the better -carrying out of our design, I appoint Mr. Marvel second in command. He -is first mate now. If any thing happens to me, you will look to him. -When the raft is made, and safely launched--if it please God that it -shall be so--we will set down necessary rules for all on board. Until -that time there is but one rule--to work. Every man on board must -work--passengers and all; and every man must aid me in preserving -order." - -The captain's manly speech infused hope into every heart; and -exclamations of "Good!" "Bravo skipper!" "Well said, sir!" followed -his last words. - -"One other thing," he said, in a more determined voice: "to my certain -knowledge, we have unfortunately among us two men who have endeavored -to spread dissatisfaction and add to our confusion. I will not point -out these men; they are known to me and all of you. They are men, -though, as we are, so far as the value of life to each of us goes; and -it is only fair that they should have equal chances with us. But this -I declare, by my dear wife's life! If these men do not work, and if -they attempt any thing that is not for the general good, I will shoot -them with my own hand! Now then, to the deck!" - -Not a man among them who did not take off his coat and set to work -with a will. There were a great many loose spars on board, which, with -the mizenmast, were found to be sufficient for their purpose. They -tried to cut down the mainmast; but there was so much danger in the -attempt that it was relinquished. For three days they worked like -slaves. The rocks served as a resting-place for the ends of the -largest spars, which were firmly lashed together and nailed; the light -and short spars were used for the centre of the raft, upon which a -kind of platform was raised on which many of the shipwrecked persons -could lie out of the water; a mast, to carry sails was also rigged up. -The raft was not finished too soon; they could not have stopped -another day on the ship. While the work was going on, three of the -sailors lost their lives, so that already their number was lessened by -four. The raft being ready, it was launched with great difficulty. The -next anxious question was provisions; and the result of their inquiry -blanched many a cheek. All the bread was spoiled by the salt water, -and most of the preserved meat had been lost, in consequence of having -been brought on deck when they tried to launch the boats. They also -made another disheartening discovery. They could only find two small -kegs to hold water. Still, when the first shock of these discoveries -was over, they were borne bravely, almost cheerfully. The women, -excepting Rachel Homebush, were the cause of this; they smiled upon -the workers, encouraged them, and made them hopeful in spite of -themselves. Even Mrs. Pigeon recovered some of her good spirits; and -knowing that her merry laugh was a comfort to the men, she laughed -often when she was not inclined for mirth. The little child, Emma, was -the only truly happy one of the party, and her presence drove away -many a hard thought. Rough-and-Ready had his anxious intervals, but he -worked with a will. Between him and Joshua a strong attachment sprung -up; each admired the manliness of the other. He was also particularly -kind to Minnie, and she grew accustomed to look upon him with -confidence, and to trust in him. The night before the raft was -launched, Joshua persuaded Captain Liddle to take a night's rest. - -"It will be all the better for you and all of us, sir," said Joshua. - -"But you too, Marvel," said Captain Liddle, "you want rest as much as -I. I don't believe you have had two hours' sleep since we struck." -This was really true; both Joshua and the captain had been in -defatigable. - -"Never mind me, sir," said Joshua, with a sad sweet smile. "You have -your wife to attend to. Besides, I promise that I will rest to-morrow -night, if you will give me leave." - -"You are a noble fellow, Marvel;" and Captain Liddle gazed admiringly -at the young sailor. "I have often wondered how you acquired certain -qualities that are not common to the ordinary sailor." - -"I don't know, sir; I doubt if they were ever in me. They must have -been put there by my friend Dan, who is nobleness itself." - -"Dan? Ah! the lame boy with the wonderful birds; that I saw at your -house. I liked his face." - -"He is the dearest fellow"--Joshua turned away his head. - -The next day the provisions and the charts and instruments, and many -things that would be useful, such as blankets, tools, and writing -materials, were stowed safely on the raft. Of the provisions there was -a very small store: twenty tins of preserved meat, a small quantity of -sugar, about a gallon of rum, and two kegs of water. By the time every -thing useful was stowed away and secured, and the passengers were -safely on the raft, it was evening, and within three hours the "Merry -Andrew" broke completely up. The raft, having parted its moorings, -forced by the strong current, was carried to sea, and the passengers -watched the last of the ship with unmixed feelings of sadness. The -women shed tears, and all of them, men and women, felt as if they had -lost a friend. When the vessel was out of sight a stronger feeling of -desolation stole upon the unhappy group, and Rough-and-Ready had many -looks of astonishment cast upon him as he rubbed his hands and said in -a cheerful voice, "This is splendid. Now we can be comfortable." But -it was well for them that they had some stout hearts on board. - -The direct allusion made by Captain Liddle to Scadbolt and the Lascar -had had its effect upon those worthies; they knew that their lives -depended upon their conduct. But they found means to exchange -confidences, and they resolved to revenge themselves on both Joshua -and the captain when opportunity served. "Wait till we make land," -said Scadbolt; "they shall smart then the pair of them. I'll teach -both of them the meaning of 'general good!'" The Lascar's old feeling -of hate for Joshua had been revived in all its intensity by the late -scene between them. - -"I'll have my knife back," he muttered to himself as he lay on the -raft the first night, at a little distance from Joshua, watching him -with venomous looks, "and his heart's blood with it." - -Not a movement, not a glance, escaped Minnie's notice. Aware of the -feelings of hate entertained by the Lascar for Joshua, she set herself -the task of watching over Joshua's safety. He, overpowered by fatigue, -had been persuaded by the captain to take some sleep, and when he lay -down Minnie crept to his side and remained there during the night. He -slept long and peacefully through the solemn night and after the gray -morning had dawned, dreaming of home, of Dan and Ellen, and murmuring -their names with a smile upon his lips. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. -ON THE RAFT. - - -Joshua, opening his eyes, saw Minnie sitting by his side. She, seeing -that he was awake, moved quietly away without a word, and went to -where the other women were lying. He had been so fatigued when he lay -down to rest, that his sleep had been very profound; and when he -awoke, the full sense of his situation did not come upon him. Minnie, -sitting by his side with her brown face and short curls, was the first -thing he saw; and it seemed to him for a brief space that he was -dreaming. But when she moved away and joined the other women, he -remembered the perils they had encountered, and the terrible position -in which they were placed. He would have called to her, but that some -feeling restrained him; and although he thought much of her during the -day, he was glad that he had not spoken to her. Besides, his attention -was diverted for a time to another circumstance. Some of the men were -clamoring for breakfast. Neither Scadbolt nor the Lascar was among the -murmurers; these last consisted of the weakest of the party, who were -less able than the others to bear hunger, and to whom the fear of -starvation made it appear as if they had been already fasting a day. - -"Breakfast! breakfast!" they cried. - -"Wait till ten o'clock," said the captain, in a stern determined -voice; "you can't be hungry already. If you don't cease murmuring, I -will put off breakfast until twelve." - -This threat silenced them. - -In the mean time the captain called his council together, and -consulted with them. There were four in the council: himself, Joshua, -Rough-and-Ready, and an old sailor named Standish, who had been -wrecked twice before, and who consequently was looked upon as a -distinguished personage. At eight o'clock the captain read prayers. -Then the men, with the exception of the council, sat idly watching the -water, and looking out for a fish. The morning was fine; one of the -sailors noted for quaint sayings remarked that the weather had no -business to be fine; it was a mockery. At ten o'clock the captain -piped all hands; the call was answered readily, but there were no -signs of breakfast. - -"Be seated," said the captain. - -They all sat down, with the exception of the captain and his three -counsellors. The captain stood in front, his supporters behind. - -"We who stand," said the captain, "have been constituted by me, -commander of this ship, into a council for the discussion and -deliberation of all matters relating to the general welfare. The -fairness of the selection will recommend itself to the crew, for the -council is composed of three sailors and one passenger. Are you -content?" - -"Yes, yes!" cried a large number. - -Up rose Scadbolt. - -"Let us hear first what you have to say about the provisions," he -said. "I am not one who says yes without consideration." - -"That's fair too," broke from half a dozen throats. - -Captain Liddle eyed Scadbolt steadily. Scadbolt returned his gaze. He -knew that in the position he had assumed, he could command the -sympathies of a certain number, and the knowledge gave him confidence. - -"Well, it is fair," said the captain; "and a reasonable suggestion is -always reasonable, never mind who makes it. The council have drawn out -a set of rules this morning, which I have here writ down on paper. If -you approve of them you will approve of the council; do I understand -that?" - -"Yes, yes!" - -The captain produced his paper and commenced. - -"Rule 1. All questions in dispute, with the exception of such as are -properly within the province of the duties of Captain Liddle--whose -orders as Captain of the 'Merry Andrew,' we promise to obey and uphold -to the death--shall be decided by the majority." - -"Agreed!" some cried. - -"Stop!" exclaimed Scadbolt; "how about the women? We are not going to -let them vote." - -Thought Captain Liddle, "This is no common scoundrel; he puts in -speech what many a malcontent would only dare to think." Said Captain -Liddle aloud, "That was not mentioned by the council. I don't suppose -the women would wish to vote; a proper man would not have mentioned -it. Decided, however, that the women do not vote." - -In arguing with Scadbolt, Captain Liddle committed a grave mistake; it -put them upon a kind of equality, and from that moment Scadbolt could -boast of being the leader of a party, small as it might be. - -"Rule 2," continued Captain Liddle. "The small stock of provisions -shall be equally divided between every soul on board"-- - -A little faint cheering here broke out. - -"But, in consequence of the smallness of the supply, the quantity to -be measured out to each person shall be regulated, as occasion -demands, by the Captain and his council." - -No demur was made to this. - -"Rule 3. That all fish, birds, or food of any kind which may be found -in air or water shall be added to the general stock, and shall be -fairly and equally divided." - -"Unfair!" exclaimed Scadbolt; "each man is entitled to what he can -catch in air or water." - -"Not so," replied the captain; "for what then would become of the -women?--Men, I appeal to you: does this man, who speaks while you are -silent, represent your views?" - -Two or three voices answered, "Yes;" a score answered, "No." - -"Good," said the captain; "he represents but one in a dozen; and even -the two or three of you who seem to side with him may be brought to -see the selfishness of what he advocates. If he had his way, the weak -would be left to die; the strong alone should live, and have a chance -of being saved. Is this fair? is it manly? is it honest?" - -"Every man for himself, and God for us all," muttered Scadbolt trying -to fan the flame. - -"Then the strongest man would crush the rest, and might would take the -place of right," continued the captain, beginning to see that he had -made a mistake in listening so patiently to Scadbolt. "We were never -nearer to death than we are this day; but shall that make us forget -that we are men? Shall that turn us into brutes? We have helpless -women depending upon us, and upon our manliness. They shall be shown -no favor in the way of provisions; they shall divide equally with us, -share and share alike. But, by God, the one who seeks to deny them -their fair chance of life, dies by my hand!" - -"I am with you, captain," cried Rough-and-Ready. - -"And I," said Joshua. - -"And I," said the sailor who had been twice wrecked. - -"And I," "And I," from most of the rest. - -"Decided, then, that all food that may be found in air or water shall -be added to the general stock, and shall be fairly and equally -divided." - -Scadbolt did not dare demur. - -"Rule 4. That, recognizing the full extent of our dread peril, and -knowing that death stares us in the face, we resolve to die like men, -if it be God's will; and thus resolving, we solemnly declare that, -supposing all our food to be gone, we will not eat human flesh"-- - -A shudder ran round the attentive group, and Mrs. Pigeon fainted; but -Captain Liddle proceeded firmly,-- - -"Nor draw lots as to who shall be killed to feed the rest. This we -solemnly resolve, in fear of the Lord, out of common humanity, and out -of respect for ourselves as Christian men." - -Assented to in silence; not one of them could realize the horrible -craving, born of raging thirst and hunger, that had come upon men in -such a strait as theirs. - -"That is all," concluded the captain after a long pause. "You approve, -then, of the council and these rules?" - -"Yes." - -"Now to breakfast. Water, for the first week, will be served out -twice a day--a quarter of a pint in the morning, and a quarter of a -pint in the evening--half a pint a day to each person. Of food we -have only preserved meat and sugar, and very little of either. One -tablespoonful of preserved meat will be served out to each person at -eleven o'clock every morning, and at five o'clock one ounce of sugar. -Of rum we have about a gallon: a teaspoonful will be served out to -each person once in every other day, in the morning or in the evening, -as he may choose. The general stock of previsions will not be touched -by any one on board, except in presence of all, and it will be guarded -by two of the council; the penalty of tampering with the stock, or of -attempting to steal any portion of it, will be death. And God give us -strength, and send us happy deliverance!" - -When breakfast was served, the men lay about the raft idly, watching -the water for fish, which they were not successful in catching, and -rising every now and then to scan the horizon for a sail. Some slept -or tried to sleep; some talked over the chances of deliverance; some -spoke in whispers of what they had heard from men who had been -wrecked. While the provisions were being measured by the captain, the -other three of the council stood by with cocked pistols, ready to fire -should a rush be made. Most of the men took their spoonful of -preserved meat, and ate it quickly and greedily, some of them at one -gulp; but a few, wiser than their fellows, retired with their portion, -and sitting down, ate it very slowly. These last were the best -satisfied. The council were busy enough all the day; assisted by Mr. -Pigeon and the two friends, Wall and Heartsease, they were employed in -re-arranging every thing on the raft, and in making things more -comfortable for the women. A kind of low tent was built, under cover -of which the women could lie down and rest, screened from the men; but -it was only used at night; for at first the women mixed with the men -during the day, and made themselves useful. Mrs. Pigeon, of her own -accord, crept to where the sailors were lying about, and asked if they -wanted any thing mended. At first they were too surprised to reply; -but presently a dozen voices answered her. One wanted a pair of socks -darned; another had half a dozen rents in his shirt; and in a very -little while Mrs. Pigeon's hands were full. She made her way back to -her female companions, and throwing a heap of clothes in the midst of -them, proposed that they should set to work at once. Soon all of them, -with the exception of Rachel Homebush, were busily and cheerfully at -work; and while their fingers were plying, Mrs. Pigeon sang snatches -of songs. It was as little like a picture of shipwrecked persons as -one could imagine. But it was a picture that did an immense amount of -good. The men looked at the women admiringly, and Rough-and-Ready's -eyes glistened every time they wandered that way. - -"A pretty bunch!" he observed to Joshua. - -Joshua nodded hopefully, for the sight cheered him. - -"That's a good little woman of yours," said Rough-and-Ready, turning -to Mr. Pigeon. Rough-and-Ready held a very different position now from -what he did when he first stepped aboard the "Merry Andrew;" he was a -general favorite with men and women. Even Rachel Homebush cast glances -of approval at him. - -"I tell you what," answered Mr. Pigeon in a confidential tone; "I've -not seen much of women--you know out there in the bush they're rather -scarce--and we had some hope of getting home"-- - -"_Had_ some hope!" interrupted Rough-and-Ready. "Say _have_ some hope. -If there's one thing in the world that makes me certain of it, it is -that picture there," pointing to the women. - -"I am heartily glad to hear you say so. _Have_ some hope, then, of -getting home, where the streets are crowded with women they say. But -there isn't one among 'em to come up to her. Although there were not -half a dozen lasses to choose from when I first made up to her, I'd -choose her now out of a million." - -Having delivered himself of these, his articles of faith in his wife, -he sat down by her side, and held her cotton for her as she stitched -and sewed. - -Meantime the current and their one sail carried them along at the rate -of about two miles an hour. No land was in sight, and there was no -sign of a ship, although during the day many a false alarm was given. -The weather remained fine. The light wind died away in the evening, -when the thin crescent of a new moon came out in the sky. It was -welcomed as a good omen; and the women looked at it, and smiled at one -another, the foolish things! as if the silver crescent were a -messenger of good tidings. Then the stars came out brightly--another -good omen. Many a one on the raft thought, "This is better than being -jammed on the rocks, in the 'Merry Andrew;' we are moving towards -safety. If we do not see a ship, we may see land, and may manage to -get ashore." References were made to Robinson Crusoe and the Swiss -Family Robinson; not in a gloomy, but in a cheerful spirit. It was the -admirable bearing of the men in command, no less than the virtues of -the women, that contributed to this state of hopeful feeling. The -sailors were also comparatively contented; most of them had a little -stock of tobacco--some more, some less--the chewing of which gave them -comfort. Each man hoarded his store more jealously than a miser hoards -his gold; but some were greedier than others, or craved for it more, -and could not withstand the temptation of chewing it almost -wastefully, certainly not prudently. But then sailors are not a -prudent class of men. - -To Joshua, who was sitting musing of home, came Rough-and-Ready, and -sat beside him. - -"You don't smoke?" asked Rough-and-Ready. - -"That's not sailor-like." - -Joshua shrugged his shoulders, and smiled. - -"Nor chew?" - -"No." - -"Here is a little piece of tobacco. Chew it." - -Joshua put it in his mouth and chewed it, because he thought it was, -after all a certain kind of food, and might make him less hungry. But -it made him sick. - -Rough-and-Ready laughed a little when he saw the effect of it, and -presently said, so that no one else should hear, "You must learn to -chew." - -"Why?" - -"It will help to keep you alive when the provisions run out. I have a -dozen pounds of tobacco strapped round me; it was my own, so I thought -I had a right to it. By and by it will come in handy. I wish I could -teach the women to chew." - -"If the men knew you had so much," said Joshua, "your life would not -be safe." - -"I know that. I had an idea at first of handing it to the skipper for -general use; but I thought better of it. There are a few on board to -whom I don't think I'd give an ounce to save their lives. What is that -in your handkerchief?" - -"My accordion." - -"Do you play? Of course, though, or you wouldn't have it. I should -like to hear some music." - -Joshua untied his handkerchief and took out his accordion. The night -was very still, and the soft tones floated in the air, and seemed to -linger about the raft as it glided through the sea. The quiet bubbling -of the water as it stole through the openings between the spars, as if -in sport, was in consonance with the melody and the still night and -the beautiful peaceful heavens. Men who were lying at full length sat -up when the music commenced, and were the better for it. The women -crept from out their shelter, and listened and shed tears, not -entirely unhappy. Surely it was a night of good omens. As Joshua -played, his thoughts wandered back to his boyish life, and to the -tender conversations that had taken place between him and Dan. Often -he stopped as he mused and thought; but presently his fingers would be -on the keys again, playing a few bars of "Poor Tom Bowling," and other -more cheerful songs of Dibdin, which the Old Sailor loved so well. -They came back to him, the memories of that happy time. Their anxiety -about their birds, when they first commenced to train them; the death -of Golden Cloud, and the after conversation which he had never -forgotten, in the course of which they had read together of the wreck -of Robinson Crusoe. Why, it seemed all to have come true! Here he was, -wrecked, certainly not alone, and therefore better off than Crusoe -was, but wrecked for all that. But under what circumstances, and with -what a dreadful web of suspicion surrounding him! Oh, if he could see -the end of it! It was horrible to think that he might die--he and all -of them on the raft; and that Dan might believe him false because of -Minnie. It would not bear thinking of. He ceased playing, and bathed -his fevered head and face. Often and often had he said to himself, in -former storms and former scenes, the words that Dan had impressed upon -him; and now he tried to fancy that Dan could see him, and knew that -he was true. - -Rough-and-Ready, seeing that Joshua was engrossed in thought, did not -disturb him, and presently dozed off. How long he had been asleep he -did not know; but he woke up with a curious impression upon him. He -must have slept long, for the night was far advanced, and no sound was -heard but the plashing of the water against and through the spars. The -impression was this: that he and Joshua were lying side by side (as, -in fact they were) asleep, and that a woman suddenly came between -them. Her back was to him, her face turned to Joshua; that she sat -down so, and so remained, for an hour and more, making no movement, -uttering no sound; but he could tell that all the while she was -watching Joshua's sleeping form. That then she inclined herself gently -to Joshua, and pressed her lips to his hand: and that rising to go, -she turned her face to Rough-and-Ready, and he saw that it was Mrs. -Liddle's gypsy-maid. So far his fancies went. Starting into a sitting -position, he saw Minnie a few paces from him, making her way to where -the women were lying. - -Now this set Rough-and-Ready thinking--for more reasons than one. Had -he been dreaming, or had it really occurred? If it had occurred, it -must have been love that prompted her. He had observed her the -previous night sitting near Joshua; but then it had not been so -noticeable, for there was no kind of order on the raft. How long had -she known Joshua? He was the more perplexed because he had never seen -the two in conversation, and because of the mystery surrounding the -acquaintance. He was troubled, too; for, rough as he was, and old -enough to be Minnie's father, he had taken a tender interest in her, -and the discovery he had just made came upon him like a shock. - -Every person on the raft was asleep with the exception of the men in -the watch and himself. He did not feel inclined to lie down again, so -he sat and thought of things. In such a solemn scene, and at such -solemn moments the spirit of nature works wonders in the minds of the -roughest men--quickens the sympathies, and stirs into life the -tenderest memories. It was so with Rough-and-Ready at the present -time. Incidents in his life which had been so long unremembered that -he wondered how he thought of them now, came vividly before him. His -home--his mother--small domestic joys and griefs--a brother who died -when they were both children, with whom he used to play and pelt with -daisies--Good God! what kind of a bridge was that in his life that -spanned that time and this? By what strange step had he walked from -then to now? The stars grew less bright and paled out of the skies; -the water grew grayer in the brief space before the morning's dawn. -Soon in the east a thin line of water at the edge of the horizon -quickened into life, and Nature's grandest wonder began to work in the -dawning of a new day. The waterline, a mere thread at first, but -broadening with every second that marked the flight of gray shadows, -was rosy with blushing light. Purple clouds, fringed with wondrous -colors, surrounded the clear space, in which presently the glorious -sun rose grandly from the golden bed of waters; and as it rose, sky -and sea rejoiced. At one time, for a few moments, the sea was like a -field of golden corn waving in the sun's eye; but soon it deepened, -till it and the heavens, that looked down into its mighty depths, were -filled with flaming restless light, which in their turn gave way to -softer shadows. Many a sunrise had Rough-and-Ready seen, but never one -that he had watched so steadily as this; but it seemed as if his -thoughts were in harmony with it. - -Late in the day, Rough-and-Ready asked Joshua how long he had known -Mrs. Liddle's maid. Joshua looked at him curiously, but did not reply. -He had not spoken to Minnie since they had been on the raft, and had, -indeed, taken pains to avoid her. She did not intrude herself upon -him; she submitted in patience to the silence he imposed upon her by -his manner. But a strange phenomenon took place in her. While the -others grew weaker and paler and more unhappy, she seemed to gather -fresh strength, and actually grew rosier and more hardy. The dark -color, too, was dying out of her face. - -"I have a reason for asking," said Rough-and-Ready, as an excuse for -his question. - -Joshua nodded, not unkindly, but with a troubled face. - -"There is a strange story connected with your question," he said; "so -strange and so gainful, that I cannot give you an answer." - -"I thought there was some mystery in the affair," observed -Rough-and-Ready; "but I will not press upon your confidence. Do you -know that the night before last she watched by you the whole time you -were asleep?" - -"Watched by me?" - -"Ay. And last night, too, for some time--I don't know for how long." - -Joshua gave Rough-and-Ready an amazed look, and turned away to where -Minnie was sitting. She saw him coming towards her, and her heart beat -fast. - -"Why have you watched near me for two nights?" he asked, without -looking at her. - -"You have enemies on the raft," was the answer, very quietly given. - -"I know; Scadbolt and the Lascar. But I can take care of myself." - -"Not when you are asleep," she said, almost in a whisper. - -What could he do? What could he say? Together on the raft in the -presence of Death, from which only something very like a miracle could -save them, could he be stern and harsh to her? And his great misery -was, that he knew and felt his power. He knew that an unkind word from -him to this young girl was as bitter as death could be. - -"You are like the rest of us, I suppose," he said, gently; "growing -very weak." - -"I do not think so," she answered, trembling at the gentleness of his -voice; "I feel strong as yet. Shall we be saved?" - -"We are in God's hands," he said. "I think there is but little chance -of being picked up, or even of making friendly land." - -Neither addressed the other by name. - -"If the end comes, and you know it, and I am not near you, will you -try and find me, and say a kind word to me before I die?" - -He gave her the promise, and hurried suddenly from her, for his heart -was fit to break, and he dared not trust himself to say more. - -The third day passed, and the fourth. No sign of succor near. Hope -began to die. - -On the sixth morning, when the roll was called, one of the passengers -did not answer to his name. It was Mr. Bracegirdle. - -"He is asleep," said one. - -They shook him, but he did not move. He was dead. This was the first -death, and it affected them deeply. Before he was sewn in the canvas, -he was searched, in the anticipation of finding something useful. A -surprising discovery was then made. He had in his pocket-book and -round his waist bank-notes and bills for more than ten thousand -pounds. But nobody knew any thing about him; he died, as he had lived -among them a mystery. After his body was slipped into the sea, a -whisper went about that the money found on him had not been honestly -come by. - -That same night two sailors were washed into the sea. When it became -known, there were some among them who secretly rejoiced in the thought -that there would not be so many mouths to feed. Nearly a third of the -provisions was eaten, and the women were very weak. Little Emma Pigeon -held out the best; but that was because her mother, from even her -small portion, gave some to her child between the times of serving out -the provisions; the child also was petted and nourished by the other -women. Rough-and-Ready as especially considerate to the females. -Joshua saw him chewing something, and wondered what it was. Noticing -the look of inquiry on Joshua's face, Rough-and-Ready enlightened him. - -"I am eating leather," he said. - -Joshua stared at him. Then Rough-and-Ready took from his pocket a -dozen very thin strips of leather which he had cut out of his boot, -and told Joshua that he had found a new food. He gave Joshua a couple -of strips--very thin they were, almost like a wafer--and Joshua set to -work on them, and after some difficulty, chewed them to a pulp and -swallowed them. - -"There's nothing like leather," said Rough-and-Ready with a quiet -laugh. "It wants strong teeth, but it fills up an empty place in the -stomach." - -The next day Joshua noticed that Rough-and-Ready received his -tablespoonful of preserved meat in his handkerchief, and later on he -saw Rough-and-Ready slyly feeding little Emma with a portion of the -meat, and then go to her mother and slip what remained into her hand. - -Now and then a few small fish were caught. There being no means of -cooking them, the women refused their share with horror, but the men -ate them raw. They also snared some birds, and ate them in the same -manner. - -On the twelfth night Scadbolt and the Lascar lay side by side awake. -Nearer than they to the edge of the raft lay a shipmate, chewing -tobacco. - -"All mine is gone," said Scadbolt enviously. - -"And mine," said the Lascar, with a horrible look at the man who was -chewing. - -"I think he must have a good lot left. I heard him boast of it last -week." - -"Two men are better than one." - -"Wait till that black cloud touches the moon; then stop his mouth; -I'll do the rest!" - -The black cloud travelled on and on, crept before the moon, and soon -shut out its light. When the moon shone again upon the waters there -was one man less on the raft, and Scadbolt and the Lascar were chewing -tobacco greedily! - -These two men had a line out in the water, with a small hook at the -end of it. The Lascar felt it jerk. He pulled in the line; there was a -fish at the end of it, weighing more than a pound. He took from his -pocket a six-bladed knife, opened the largest blade, and cut the fish -in two equal parts. He gave one to Scadbolt, and ate the other -himself. So that they should not be observed, they lay down on their -faces while they ate. - -"That was a good bit of luck," said Scadbolt; "I feel stronger." - -"If the skipper caught us, he would throw us overboard, whispered the -Lascar. - -"He'd try to; but one man is as good as another now. Let us do this -and take care of ourselves; we shall outlast the others. I wish they -were all dead--all but two." - -"Ay, Joshua's Marvel's one. I know what you mean. You'd like to have -the doing of him. So would I. Who's the other?" - -"The gypsy-maid. She's a rare beauty." - -The Lascar did not say any thing to this. He had seen enough since -they had been on the raft to convince him that his first suspicions -were right, and that the gypsy-looking girl really was Minnie. -Notwithstanding their desperate condition, he had cast many admiring -glances at her. - -"How fine," he thought, "to strike at Joshua Marvel through her!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. -SAVED FROM THE SEA. - - -The first among the passengers to completely give way was Stephen -Homebush. He had observed no manner of discretion in eating his food, -and had always swallowed it hastily, so that it did him but little -good. Contrary to what might have been expected of him as a man of -pious parts, he was the most selfish of all the passengers. Instead of -praying for mercy, he rebelled in thought and speech against the -misfortune which had overtaken him. He did not think of the others. It -was _his_ fate that was so hard. The prayers that he had so liberally -offered up for other lost men were not for him now that he was lost. -All other men were sinners, so he had preached. There was no grace in -any of them. He came to impart it to them. Let them open their -rebellious hearts, and receive it, while there was yet time. To all -kinds of men had he preached this, striking at them hard, trying to -frighten them with threatened penalties if they refused to believe as -he believed. He came to give them grace; did he himself require none? - -What kind of faith is that which believes all other faiths wrong and -sinful? What is the test of faith? Sincerity? Ay, for me; but not for -you. _I_ am sincere; _I_ am born in the grace of God. But you! Fall -down and repent! - -Such had been the preaching of Stephen Homebush. But now that the -earth was crumbling from beneath his feet, and the New Life was before -him, he prayed neither for others nor for himself. He maintained a -sullen rebellious silence, faithful to his nature for the first time -in his life. His mood, no less than the scanty supply of food and his -manner of eating it, drove him mad; and within a fortnight of his -sojourn on the raft, he was crawling and staggering about, uttering a -dreadful jumble of prayers and blasphemies. His sister Rachel attended -to him as well as her strength allowed her; but he struck at her -often, and often cursed her and himself. It was terrible to see and -hear. He did not suffer long. One day he ran from one part of the raft -to another, raving that a sail was in sight. At first they thought -that he might be right, but they soon discovered that he was raving. -But he saw the ship coming nearer and nearer. His sister was the only -one who had patience to bear with him. He described the ship to her, -and described the men and women that were on the deck; and she -shuddered as she recognized in his descriptions acquaintances and -relatives every one of whom was dead. - -"Here it comes," he said, standing up in his eagerness, -"nearer--nearer! I shall be able to jump on board presently." - -She strove to restrain him; but he broke from her wildly, and gave a -leap on to the imaginary ship. He sank at once, and was seen no more. - -The forlorn woman sat stupefied, and never moved. Hours afterwards, -Rough-and-Ready, taking pity upon her condition, spoke to her, and -bade her take comfort, The sense of what he said was lost to her, but -she understood the sympathy that was expressed in his voice, and she -looked at him gratefully while the tears rolled down her face. He -placed his hand upon her shoulder, and said gently; "Poor woman! poor -woman!" She took his hand in hers, and clung to it, as if her only -hope of life was there. He could not disengage his hand except by -force; so he sat by her for an hour and more, until she released him. -Then he crept to where the women were lying; there was comfort in -being close to them. - -One of their most frightful experiences was the sight of the sharks -snapping at the bodies as they were thrown into the sea. A great -number of these creatures followed the raft day and night, scenting -their prey. Each of the unfortunates thought, as he saw the sharks -tearing at the body of his fellow creature, "Perhaps it is my turn -next." About the twentieth day they caught at least a dozen rock cod, -but after that they caught no fish for many days. Soon their fresh -water was nearly gone; for some time past they had only half a pint a -day; now the quantity was reduced to a quarter of a pint. Some tins of -the preserved meat were also found to be putrid: the women could not -touch it; but a few of the sailors Scadbolt and the Lascar among them, -devoured it greedily. When another new moon rose, the courage of -nearly every one of them was gone; hope had fled too. They looked upon -themselves as doomed. - -A curious conversation took place between the two friends, Harry Wall -and James Heartsease. In the morning they had refused their portion of -food. - -"Save it for the women, sir," they said to the captain. - -He expostulated with them, and tried to prevail upon them to take it, -but he did not succeed. - -"Sir," said James Heartsease, "we are going to lie down to die. We -both of us feel that our time has come. To rob the poor women of any -more food would be simple barbarity. I should like to shake hands with -you." - -Captain Liddle shook hands with them; and after that they crawled to -the women, and shook hands with them, and kissed little Emma Pigeon. -Then they crawled away, and lay down side by side. - -"The end has come, Jim," said Harry. - -"All right, Hal," said James; "it is only a matter of a few -years--perhaps not so long as that. If we had had plenty to eat, it -might have come just the same. After all, what is time? Draw a breath, -and it is gone. It isn't so hard to give up a few years when you think -of that. Besides"--But here he paused. - -"Besides what, Jim?" - -"We are alone; we have no women-ties--no wives, no sweethearts. If we -had, I think we should both try to live as long as we could." - -"I think so too. 'Tis a good job we are alone in the world." - -"Did you notice the women, Hal? I don't think they'll last long." - -"One of them won't," said Harry. "Mrs. Pigeon will soon go. Well, you -know the reason of that." - -"Yes; she gives all her food to her little girl. Women are good -creatures, Hal." - -"Such as she are. Jim, old boy, a sudden weakness has come over me. -Put your face closer to mine--I want to kiss you. Good old boy--good -old boy!" - -They did not speak for some time after that. Heartsease was the first -to break silence. - -"Hal, old fellow," he said, "we shall meet somewhere by and by." - -"Sure to," said Harry; "somewhere, somehow. It is awfully grand to -think of--it is good to believe. I am glad I never did any great wrong -to sting me now. Jim, depend upon it, there is only one true religion; -that is, the religion of being kind and tender and unselfish--the -religion of doing unto others as you would others should do unto you, -and of living a good life. Give me the man who does that, and who -believes in the goodness and greatness of God. All the rest is -mummery. We have agreed upon that, haven't we old boy?" - -"Ay, times out of mind." - -"Now, I tell you what I am going to do. I don't want to quite starve -to death--it would be too painful; it's frightful to bear even now. I -don't want to commit suicide, although to throw one's self into the -water just now would be, in a certain measure, justifiable. I am going -to draw myself close to the edge of the raft; then I am going to -sleep. If the waves should chance to wash me over in the night--good! -Let them; then I shall know something." - -"All right, Hal; I'll lie by your side. Goodnight, old fellow." - -"Goodnight." - -When the sun rose again, those two good friends had gone to their -rest, to meet again. Somewhere--Somehow! - -So day after day passed, and their numbers continued to grow fewer, -until there were no more than eighteen on the raft. In the first -quarter of the second new moon--that is, when they had been on the -raft for more than thirty days--Mrs. Pigeon died. When the news went -round, there were few dry eyes among the poor creatures. Every one -loved her, even to Scadbolt and the Lascar, whose clothes she had -mended. It was a wonder how she had lasted so long, for it was with -the greatest difficulty she could be prevailed upon to take food; she -gave it all to her little daughter. When, almost by force, a small -portion had been put into her mouth, Joshua had seen her take it out -to feed Little Emma. That is why the child lived while the mother -starved to death. Between Mrs. Pigeon and Minnie a strong affection -had sprung up. Minnie scarcely ever left the side of the dying woman, -and what little she could do to ease her last hours--it was but -little, God knows!--she did tenderly and cheerfully. Minnie knew that -Mrs. Pigeon was starving herself, so that her little girl might live. -The beauty of that sacrifice Minnie was well able to comprehend. She -would have done the same. But she was terribly unhappy. She knew by -Joshua's manner, and by the few words that he spoke to her--kind one -day, constrained the next--that her conduct had added to his -unhappiness. She had seen him look at her with such a look of fear and -wild amazement in his eyes, as to convey to her the impression that -she had done him a great wrong. But so blinded was she by her love, -that she could not quite understand the meaning of this; indeed, she -did not pause to consider. The night before Mrs. Pigeon died, Minnie -lay by her side, talking in whispers. But few words were spoken at a -time; Mrs. Pigeon was too weak. The mother lay with her child in her -arms, and her husband sitting close to her, his hands clasping his -knees, and with an expression of stony despair in his face. So he had -sat for three or four days, answering his wife vacantly, and with the -air of one whose mind was a blank. Little by little, Minnie had told -Mrs. Pigeon her story; and the dying woman, notwithstanding her own -great trouble, had wept with Minnie, and sympathized with her. But -Mrs. Pigeon, as well as expressing her sympathy, had striven to make -Minnie aware of the fault she had committed. - -"You see, my dear," she gasped in her weak voice, "he has left a -sweetheart at home, and he fears that if it were known that you were -in the ship with him, she and his other friends might believe that he -had played false with them." - -"I never thought of that before," sobbed Minnie. "I only thought of -one thing: I loved him, and I wanted to be near him. I didn't want him -even to know; and those at home bad no idea of what I was going to -do--they can't even suspect." - -"But Mr. Marvel _fears_ they may. Then think, my dear, was it not -wrong to leave your father?" - -"It was--I see it now; but I did not think of it then. But O Mrs. -Pigeon if he would only forgive me! If I ask him, he will; but the -answer would come out of the goodness of his heart, and while he -forgave he would still condemn me. I know it, I know it, for he has -never once called me by my name." - -Soon after that, Mrs. Pigeon fell into a doze; and waking when it was -near midnight, whispered, "Minnie!" - -"Yes," answered Minnie. She had been sleeping too, but so lightly that -a whisper was sufficient to awake her. - -"I have not long to live, my dear," said Mrs. Pigeon; "and I should -like to pass my last minutes alone with my husband and child, and to -speak to no one but them--to think of no one but them. But before I -go, I should be glad to say good-by to Joshua Marvel. Can you bring -him to me? Say that I am dying." - -Repressing her sobs, Minnie crept to where Joshua was standing on the -lookout. He had grown thin and gaunt like the others; his feet were -bare, the only pair of shoes he had possessed having been rotted by -the salt water; his clothes hung about him in tatters; and his face -was covered with hair, which, having not yet grown to a decent length, -added to the wretchedness of his appearance. The moon had gone down, -and Joshua, shading his eyes with his hand, was looking out to sea, -possessed with the fancy that he saw a sail many miles away. This had -now become a very common illusion; scarcely a man on board who did not -see imaginary sails and ships a dozen times a day. With a weary sigh -Joshua dropped his hand. - -"It is folly," he muttered; "there's no hope." - -Minnie timidly touched his sleeve, but did not succeed in attracting -his attention. Then she called softly, "Joshua!" And he gave a gasp, -and turned and saw her; but there was not light enough for him to see -the tears upon her face. - -"Mrs. Pigeon has sent me for you," said Minnie. "She is dying, and -wants to wish you good-by." - -He followed her in silence to where Mrs. Pigeon was lying. - -"Is it so bad?" he asked gently, as he leaned over her close enough to -see her poor thin face. - -"Yes," she murmured. "Sit by me for a few minutes." - -He sat down, and took her wasted hand in his: it was like the hand of -a skeleton, thin and cold--a hand already dead, though it closed on -Joshua's fingers. - -"Every one speaks well of you," said Mrs. Pigeon in broken tones: "I -have heard the captain speak many times of your courage and goodness -and constancy." - -"I have been glad to hear it, and am glad to hear it again," replied -Joshua; "it is my best reward as a sailor." - -"You have a kind heart, I am sure," continued the dying woman. "If it -were in your power to lessen the bitter grief that even a mere -acquaintance might suffer, you would do so." - -"I think I would." - -"I am sure you would; if only for the sake of those you love at home, -and to whom you would wish that others might be kind when grief comes -to them. You will forgive me for speaking thus; but I am dying, and I -am a woman. I cannot say much more; I am too weak. If I could see you -do one little thing, I should be glad." - -"I will do any thing you ask." - -"Because a dying woman asks you; but do it from your own kind impulse -as well. That is what I wish. You know who it is that is sitting by us -now." - -"Yes," he answered with a troubled glance at Minnie. - -"She has been very good to me, very kind, very, very patient. And she -is so young! Soon you and she may follow me. Think of that." - -"What is it you would have me to do?" - -"I would have you be kind to this poor child; I would have you, at -this awful time, show to her the love that a brother might show to a -sister. She has committed a fault; forgive her for it; let her atone -for it. Be not you the one to cast the stone at her. And when you -speak to her, speak from your heart; for she can read and understand, -as all loving women can, the music of the voice." - -"Minnie," said Joshua, turning to her. Mrs. Pigeon had loosed his -hand; and now be held out his two hands to Minnie. It was the first -time he had called her by her name. - -"Joshua," she said, with deep sobs, her hands in his, and bowing her -head upon his shoulder until her lips almost touched his face. - -Was it treasonable to Ellen that he should permit it? Surely not, -surely not, at such a time. - -"You have made me glad," said Mrs. Pigeon. "Now go. Good-by. Heaven -send you peace!" - -"And you!" they both said. - -Mrs. Pigeon nestled her face close to that of her little daughter, and -soon afterwards died peacefully. - -Then, for the first time, Mr. Pigeon seemed to awake to the reality of -things. Kneeling by the side of his wife, he called softly, "Emma! -Emma!" And receiving no answer, shook her gently, and smoothed the -hair from her white face. - -"Be comforted," said Joshua to him. - -"Comforted!" he repeated with a pondering look, as if he were -considering what meaning there was in the word. He kissed her -passionately, and whispered something in her ear, and waited for the -answer that could not come. "My God!" he cried suddenly, "she is -dead!" - -Minnie placed Little Emma before him, thinking that the sight of his -little girl might lessen his grief; but he took no notice of the -child, and sat the whole day nursing, the dead body of his wife in his -lap. One tin of preserved meat was all that remained now of their -stock of provisions. They brought his small share to him; but he -motioned them away impatiently and fretfully. They went to him, and -endeavored to make him understand that, for the sake of the others, he -should allow the remains of his wife to be placed in their poor shroud -of sacking; but he met them savagely, and threatened to bite at them -and strangle them if they did not let him alone. - -"For the sharks to eat," he whispered to the inanimate form; "they -want to throw you into the sea for the sharks to eat, my darling. But -I'll tear their hearts out before they part us." - -When the silver crescent looked down again upon the despairing group, -Joshua tried once more to comfort the man, and said, with a heavy -heart, that perhaps at the last moment a ship might pick them up. But -though he uttered the words, he did not believe in them. - -"And if it does," muttered Mr. Pigeon hoarsely, "what do I care now? -You don't know what it is to lose the woman you love." He staggered to -his feet with the beloved form in his arm. "You want to take her from -me; that is why you speak the lying words. But nothing shall part -us--nothing." - -Her face was lying upon his shoulder, and her fair hair was hanging -loosely down over his breast. He took some of the hair in his mouth; -and as Joshua saw him standing thus in the moon's light, he thought he -had never seen a picture so utterly despairing. Thus the man stood, -motionless, for a time, until the captain's lady crept to his side, -and tried to console him. Poor thing! she was terribly weak, and the -words came from her lips slowly and wearily. He gazed at her vacantly -while she spoke, then turned his eyes to his dead wife. - -"Emma," he said, "don't fear; nothing that they say shall make me give -you up. We will go together--we will go together." - -He cast one last look at the peaceful heavens, and whispering, "Lord, -receive us!" clasped his wife more closely to him, and jumped into the -sea. Two or three heads turned at the plash; but no other notice was -taken of the event. They were all too weak and despairing. The -captain's wife gasped, with heart-broken sobs,-- - -"Poor dears! poor dears! Their troubles are over; they are happier -than we are." - -"Yes, my lady," said Joshua; "but I would not end my life like that. -We are in the hands of the Lord; our lives belong to Him." - -He stretched himself at full length upon the raft, and took Ellen's -picture and the lock of hair from his breast, and kissed them again -and again. They, and the Bible that Dan had given him, were his most -precious possessions. When he looked up, Minnie and Little Emma were -close to him. He took the child's hand; and they remained together -during the long, long night. - -A dreadful announcement was made the next day. The water that was -served out was the last--one tablespoonful each exhausted the store; -all the provisions were used up also. It seemed, indeed, as if the -best thing they could do would be to die at once by their own hands. -The rules made by the council were no longer thought of. Something to -eat, something to drink: these were the only laws now. When the next -man died, the sailors looked longingly at the body. The Lascar had his -knife open, and was about to use it, when Captain Liddle called to him -to stop. - -"Why?" asked the Lascar, with a savage flourish of his knife. - -"Why?" echoed the other men: there were only six of them left -altogether. - -"Because fish is better to eat than human flesh," said the captain. - -"So it is," said one; "but we haven't any more fishing-line." - -"Come now," said the captain, "even without that we can manage to -catch a shark perhaps. Wait a few minutes. I'll think of a way." - -And sure enough, very soon he devised a snare. First a running-bowling -knot was made; then they cut a leg off the man that WAS dead (terrible -to write, but true), and lashed it to the end of an oar; while on the -end of another oar they hung the snare in such a way that the fish, to -get at the bait, was compelled to come through it. There were plenty -of sharks; and it was not long before one fell into the trap. It was -dragged on to the raft; and a few blows from an axe soon killed it. -After that, the man was sewed in sacking, and the funeral-service was -read over him as it had been over all the others who had been buried -in the sea. - -During all this time it was evident that they were near the coast, and -yet they never saw it. The captain said that they were in the vicinity -of the north-east coast of Australia--a part of the continent which -had been very little explored. Here came in Rough-and-Ready's -experience. He knew something of the country, he said. It was -inhabited by the most savage of the Australian natives, and no white -man had as yet had the courage to penetrate far into the country. - -"Yet we might make the coast," said Rough-and-Ready, "and not see a -native for a long time, if we could manage to live; for I don't -believe there are a great many of them. Cannibals they are; but, for -all that, I should be glad to get among them. We might succeed in -working our way down to a cattle-station." - -"Would there be really a chance of that?" asked one or two. - -"About a hundred to one against us," replied Rough-and-Ready -carelessly; "but that would be better than nothing." - -Rough-and-Ready gave them a description of some natives that he had -seen, and told of their manner of living, their treachery and -wildness. It was not very comforting to hear; the prospect of reaching -land, and finding themselves in the midst of such savages, was very -dismal. - -The suffering that they had now to bear--that of thirst--was the most -awful experience of all. Some of them grew delirious, and saw gardens -and pools of fresh water. "My lady" was one of these. She whispered to -her husband that a beautiful garden was within a few yards of them, -and that they should reach it presently. She described the flowers and -trees, and the cool fruit waiting to be plucked. And as the vision -faded, she clutched him by the hand, and cried, "John, John! What are -they doing? We are going the wrong way. O my God we have passed it--it -is gone!" and lay exhausted. The words came from her parched throat -with difficulty; and Joshua shuddered as he touched her face: it -seemed to be on fire. Soon, however, the gardens dotted with -clear-water fountains, and with trees laden with refreshing fruit, -grew again for the delirious woman. She saw them in the water, in the -air, in the heavens--so bright, so deliciously cool, that her heart -almost burst in the vain attempt she made to reach them with her hand. -A little rain fell mercifully, and yet mockingly; for nearly every -thing on board was so impregnated with salt as to render the pieces of -rags and canvas that were held out to catch heaven's tears no better -when they were soaked than if they had been dipped into the sea. -Rough-and-Ready took the lining out of his wide-awake hat; and he and -Joshua held it out until it was soaked with the blessed drops. The -first use they made of the piece of wet rag was to moisten the women's -lips with it, and then the little girl's and their own. Little Emma -lived still; and Minnie had taken charge of her. As Joshua moistened -Mrs. Liddle's lips, the captain, who was lying beside her, motioned -him. - -"It is all over with me, Marvel," he gasped; "I haven't long to live. -If by God's mercy you are rescued, report me at home and say I did all -in my power to save the ship." Joshua pressed the dying captain's hand. -"Mind, you are first in command now. In a few hours you will be -captain. You have risen quickly," he said with a faint smile. "Beware -of Scadbolt and that Lascar dog. When I am dead, take my boots--you -have none--and what of my clothes may be useful to you; take the -log-book too, and keep it safe. There is a record in it of Scadbolt's -conduct, and your promotion. It will be necessary in case a ship picks -you up. Scadbolt was your superior officer when we left the port of -Sydney; and he might bring a charge against you, which, without the -log-book, you would not be able to refute." - -Joshua thanked the captain for his thoughtfulness, and expressed a -hope that it was not so bad with him as he feared. Then the captain -told Joshua how, a few days before, he had struck his head against a -piece of iron, and how he had lost a quantity of blood. Joshua put his -hand to the back of the captain's head, round which a piece of canvas -was tied, and felt a great gash there. - -"I did not tell any one; but it so weakened me, that I thought I was -about to die then. This is a piteous sight!" pointing to his wife. She -lay, pale as death, with her eyes wide open, gazing at the gardens in -the air. The tears rolled down Joshua's face. "Bury us together," -continued the captain. "There are two or three pieces of iron you -might put into the canvas with us, so we may sink at once. You will do -this?'" - -"Yes." - -Captain Liddle pressed Joshua's hand, and creeping close to his wife -clasped her in his arms. In the mean time Rough-and-Ready was busy -squeezing drops of fresh water into a bottle. He saved nearly a pint. - -Shortly after that, Joshua was the first to see land. He went to tell -the Captain, but could not arouse him; his heart still beat, but very -faintly. Night came on soon; and when day dawned again the land was -gone. Rough-and-Ready came to Joshua with a grave face. He said -nothing; but Joshua understood him. They went to where the lifeless -bodies of the captain and his wife lay, and sewed them in canvas, and -placed inside the pieces of iron, as Joshua had promised. Joshua read -the burial-service as the bodies were thrown into the sea. They sank -at once. - -"Not many of us left," observed Rough-and-Ready. "I should like to see -land again. If we don't sight it soon, we may find that the worst has -not yet come. It is as Scadbolt said when the rules were being read, -'Every man for himself now, and God for us all.' But come what may -we'll stick to each other and to the women." - -"It does my heart good to hear you speak so," said Joshua. "I know -what you mean: the worst men are left against us; but we are a match -for them, I think. See, here's the log-book, with the poor skipper's -last words: 'I appoint Joshua Marvel captain of this raft, made out of -the spars of the "Merry Andrew," and intrust to him the charge of the -surviving passengers and crew.--John Liddle, Master of the "Merry -Andrew."'" - -Rough-and-Ready touched his hat in sailor fashion. - -"While we are at sea, captain," he said, "I will obey your orders." - -A thrill ran through Joshua as he heard himself called captain. -Captain! But of what a crew! The promotion had come all too soon. - -Before long he had to exercise his authority. They were being, driven -on to a reef by a strong current. It was necessary to get the raft -into deep water before dark. He gave his orders; and although both -Scadbolt and the Lascar saw the wisdom of them, they refused to obey. - -"I am captain," said Scadbolt. "You will obey my orders now." - -Then Rough-and-Ready took a double-barrelled pistol from his belt, and -gave its fellow to Joshua. They covered Scadbolt and the Lascar with -them. - -"Obey orders!" cried Rough-and-Ready in as loud a voice as he could -command. "Obey orders! Speak another word of disobedience, and you are -dead men!" - -The rebellious men were cowed. With scowling faces they worked as -Joshua directed: and with some trouble they got the raft clear over -the reef, and floated it into deeper water. The night that followed -was a night of great anxiety. Joshua knew that they were near land; -and he and Rough-and-Ready kept watches of two hours' duration in -turn. The reason of this was, that they did not deem it safe to sleep -both at the same time; for they suspected that Scadbolt and the Lascar -were only waiting for the opportunity to fall upon them and kill them. - -"We have all the fire-arms, thank goodness," said Rough-and-Ready, -"and all the powder and shot. We are masters while we can keep these." - -He had kept a sharp guard over the firearms, and had indeed secretly -dropped three guns into the sea. "Better there than in those rascals' -hands," he wisely thought; "we mustn't cumber ourselves with too much -lumber." - -In the night Joshua whispered to Rachel Homebush and Minnie that -to-morrow probably would decide their fate. They revived somewhat at -the news, and Minnie directed Joshua's attention to little Emma -Pigeon. - -"She has not spoken all day," said Minnie anxiously. - -Joshua placed his hand on the little girl's heart; it beat, but very -faintly. - -"She will live, Minnie," said Joshua, "if we can reach land; we are -certain to find food then." - -While they spoke, Minnie kept Joshua's hand in hers; it was her only -comfort, poor child. He was kneeling by her side, and she saw in his -face that he had no harsh thoughts for her. They had not exchanged a -word about their friends at home, but Minnie said to-night,-- - -"Joshua, when you first came to our little room--do you -remember?--what should we have thought if a wizard had told us this?" - -"What, indeed!" replied Joshua; and then, after a pause, "Do you -suffer much, Minnie?" - -"Not now. Ah, Joshua, if I can only live to repay you!" - -"Keep up your courage, Minnie, and pray that we may reach friendly -land--any land--to-morrow," was his answer. - -She did pray fervently, and when daylight came they saw land. It did -not look very friendly. A long line of dark savage-looking rocks was -what they saw; towering gloomily and threateningly for the most part, -but with many a little inlet, which offered them a favorable chance of -landing, as Joshua's seaman's eye discerned. There were only eight -living persons now on the raft out of the thirty-five who first took -shelter there. Five men--to wit, Joshua, Rough-and-Ready, Scadbolt, -the Lascar, and the sailmaker; two women--Rachel Homebush and Minnie, -and the little girl Emma. The men worked and watched with a will. -Private animosities were for the time forgotten; but for all that, -Rough-and-Ready was never off his guard. Every thing looked fair, when -suddenly up sprang a land breeze, and they were driven to sea again; -the hope that had been kindled died away. They caught a cod, but the -women turned from it with loathing. Then Joshua thought of a fine -thing. The sun was high in the heavens. He took a piece of rag and -washed it and dried it; then he took a magnifying glass out of a -telescope, and caught the sun's fire on to the rag. He had wood ready, -and they made a fire on the raft. The sailors ate their portion of the -fish raw; but Joshua put his and the women's and Rough-and-Ready's on -the wood, and roasted it. Before they gave this delicious food to the -women, they moistened their lips with a little of the water that was -still left in Rough-and-Ready's bottle; the moistening and the food -were new life to them all Minnie chewed a little of the fish and -placed it in the child's mouth; the child swallowed it, with -difficulty at first, and seemed to grow stronger soon afterwards; she -had been better nourished than the others. As if in reward for this -good thought of Joshua's, the wind shifted to a sea breeze, and a -couple of hours before mid-night they were driven on to land. It -required the greatest care and the most delicate handling to steer the -raft safely through the rocks; but it was done. Scadbolt and the -Lascar were about to scramble on to the rocks, when Rough-and-Ready, -in a voice of thunder--he seemed suddenly to have recovered his full -strength--commanded them to stand. Not his voice, but his pistol, -enforced obedience. - -"Why?" demanded Scadbolt. - -"Because you are treacherous dogs," roared Rough-and-Ready; "because -you are not men, but savages; because I know how such scum are to be -treated. Ah! scowl as you will I but I have shot better men than you -down before to-night, and I'll shoot _you_ down if you dare to stir, -as I would a brace of treacherous dingos or Blacks--they're much the -same. The women and child are to be saved first. Why, if we allowed -you to get ashore, you'd strike us from the rocks before we got a -footing! I know you, you see, you skunks. Marvel, take the women and -little girl ashore first, one by one. I'll keep guard here the while. -Sailmaker, assist Mr. Marvel." - -By this last masterly stroke Rough-and-Ready enlisted the sailmaker on -his side, for a time at least. For the sailmaker and Joshua were man -to man, and Joshua had fire-arms. So, with difficulty, the women and -child were conveyed on to the rocks in safety; then Rough-and-Ready -bade Joshua take ashore what things would be useful from the raft. -Among other things, Joshua took ashore two axes, all the nails he -could find, and some iron pots. The women also had some things they -were anxious to preserve--needles and thread and such like. All this -occupied nearly two hours, and was not accomplished without -difficulty. Scadbolt and the Lascar stood sullenly by, the while. -Rough-and-Ready was in his element; he absolutely revelled in the task -he had set himself. It was as good as meat and drink to him to watch -those two rascals and beat them through their fears. When Joshua and -the sailmaker had completed their task, Rough-and-Ready joined them on -the rocks. After him Scadbolt and the Lascar scrambled on to land, and -began to look hungrily about them. It was a fine night; the moon was -nearly at its full. The first thing Rough-and-Ready did was to cast a -glance at the women lying helpless on the rocks; the next thing he did -was to smooth his mustache with his hand in a thoughtful manner; the -next, to send a dark look at Scadbolt and the Lascar, who were -prowling about on the rocks in search of shell-fish; the next, to lay -his hand in a familiar manner upon the sailmaker's shoulder. - -"I say, mate," said Rough-and-Ready, "have you a wife at home?" - -"Two." - -Rough-and-Ready whistled loud and long, and followed up the whistle -with a laugh. - -"It's no joke," said the sailmaker. - -"One isn't, much less two," replied Rough-and-Ready, with a wink; "but -never mind them now." - -"I'm content." - -"You seem a good-hearted fellow, sailmaker, and as you have two -wives, you must think a great deal of womankind." - -"I love 'em,"--looking at the two poor creatures lying near them. - -"I'm a bushman myself," said Rough-and-Ready, with assumed -carelessness; "I'd as soon be where I am as in any part of the world. -I am at home here. What do you say, mate? Shall we be friends?" - -"Glad to be." And the two men shook hands, Rough-and-Ready hugging -himself for his successful diplomacy. - -"You're a man after my own heart," said Rough-and-Ready, really -appreciating the crisp utterances of the sailmaker, who evidently was -not a word-waster. "Seems to me that the first thing we've got to do -is to bring the women round; mustn't let them die, eh?" - -"Certainly not." - -"There's a split in the camp," continued Rough-and-Ready. "Those two -rascals prowling about in search of something to eat, would be glad of -an opportunity to get rid of us; and then God help the women. At all -events let us three stick together--you and me and Captain Marvel. -Agreed?" - -"Agreed." - -"Good. What I want to do is to get fresh water for us and the women; I -know how to look for it. Will you keep guard over the women with -Captain Marvel till I return?" - -"Yes." - -Rough-and-Ready placed a loaded pistol in the sailmaker's hand--he did -it without hesitation--and that act completed the conquest. Joshua, -standing by, had heard the conversation and now shook hands with the -sailmaker. Scadbolt and the Lascar had also seen the conference. - -"They've bought him over," said the Lascar. - -"Never mind," replied Scadbolt, "there will be plenty of -opportunities." - -In less than an hour Rough-and-Ready returned. He had taken two -bottles with him, and brought them back filled with bright, clear, -fresh water. He had his wide-awake hat in his hand; it evidently -contained something good, he was so careful in carrying it. Joshua put -his hand in, and started back with a cry; he had grasped a nettle. - -"Careful, careful," said Rough-and-Ready, laughing at Joshua's -grimaces; "don't be too eager to take hold of things. A great deal of -the wood-growth round about-here is covered with thorns, and some of -them are poisonous to the blood. This isn't, though; 'tis an old -friend." - -He took out of his hat two small branches with long spines upon them; -the branches were covered with fruit resembling a small apple. - -"Good to eat?" asked the sailmaker. - -"Shouldn't have brought them otherwise," answered Rough-and-Ready, in -unconscious imitation of the sailmaker's manner of speaking. - -The sailmaker took some of the fruit and ate it, and would have taken -more, but that Rough-and-Ready's hand restrained him. - -"That's not the way for a man to eat who has been nearly starved for -six weeks," he said, "unless he wants to kill himself right out. Here, -make yourself useful; but take a little water to drink first." - -Rough-and-Ready measured a small quantity of water, and gave the -sailmaker and Joshua to drink. He had thrown down a couple of pieces -of wood when he said "Make yourself useful," and the sailmaker, after -drinking, asked him what the wood was for. - -"A good job for you two that you have me for your mate," said -Rough-and-Ready good-humoredly; "you might stand a chance of starving -else. The enemy"--with a nod of his head in the direction of Scadbolt -and the Lascar--"won't be half as well off as we shall be. Just watch -me." He took his knife and cut from the wood two pieces, in one of -which he made a kind of groove, which he placed upon the ground. "This -is off the black fig-tree, and is the best wood there is for making -fire. Now rub away into the groove, steadily, like this, and keep -rubbing. It's hard work; but never mind; it's worth the labor." - -He disappeared again, leaving the sailmaker at work, and returned -with an armful of dry sticks and leaves. Soon fire came into the wood, -the sparks dropped on to the dry leaves, and a blaze was kindled, that -brought astonishment into the eyes of Scadbolt and the Lascar. Before -the fire was made, the indefatigable bushman had gone _down_ the rocks -this time, and had returned with a hat full of mussels. These he put -on the fire to cook; and then sat down and rubbed his hands in a high -state of satisfaction. Joshua had not been idle; he had attended to -the women and child, and had given them a little water, which was like -nectar to them. They were too weak to exert themselves; so the men sat -by them and ate supper, and gave them to eat, sparingly, under the -direction of Rough-and-Ready, who was regarded by the others with -unbounded admiration. The warmth of the fire was very comforting to -them, for although summer was coming, their long sojourn on the raft -had chilled their blood. - -"Well now," said Rough-and-Ready, when supper was over, "I think we -ought to be very grateful for our escape. It was touch-and-go with us. -We sha'n't be very strong for a few days; and that's what we've got to -do first: to get strong. Then we can look about us." - -"Where are we?" whispered Minnie. - -"As well as I can make out, my dear, we are somewhere on the -north-east coast of the continent of Australia; where I don't believe -a white man ever trod foot before. That's something, isn't it? We're -the first bits of civilization that these rocks have ever seen." - -"Is there any chance of a ship seeing us?" - -"I doubt it; but for my part I don't want a ship to see me; I've had -enough of ships. I feel at home here, or I shall feel so in a little -while. I don't doubt but what we shall be able to get plenty to eat -and drink, and that's our first great need. Try and sleep for an hour -now. Strength is what we want, remember." - -Rachel Homebush turned to him and held out her hand. She was grateful -for being saved, but she did not speak. The three men arranged to get -a little rest also, watch and watch in turn. It was Rough-and-Ready's -watch first. Before Joshua lay down, he went to see if Minnie was -asleep. Her eyes were closed, but she was aware of his approach. - -"That is you, Joshua?" - -"Yes, Minnie. Do you think you can sleep?" - -"I don't know; I am strangely excited. I thank God that you are saved. -Joshua," rising to a sitting posture and taking his hand, "you will -not be unkind to me now that we are out of danger?" - -"Surely not, Minnie. What makes you ask?" - -"I was afraid, that was all." - -Here the little child murmured something. Minnie placed her ear to the -girl's lips. - -"She asked who was talking to me, and I told her you," said Minnie, -taking Little Emma upon her lap. "She wants you to kiss her." - -Joshua stooped and kissed the little girl, and she put her arms round -his neck, and asked where papa had gone to. Joshua turned away, and -pressing Minnie's hand, was soon afterwards in the land of dreams. So, -during the night, they slept and watched, and in their troubled dreams -felt the rocks moving and swaying beneath them. Every now and then -they started in terror, and clutched what was nearest to them, as if -life was slipping away; they suffered over again the agonies of -thirst, and moved their parched lips entreatingly. When it was -Joshua's watch, he observed the sufferings of his sleeping companions; -he guessed the cause, for he had suffered himself in like manner. With -merciful thoughtfulness he moistened their lips with fresh water; the -women smiled and grew more composed; perhaps at that moment they -dreamed that an angel was bringing them life and health. Minnie's head -was lying on her hand, and her face was exposed to the light. It was -sun-burnt, but the gypsy stain was dying out of it. Her hair too was -growing lighter and longer. Joshua looked up at the sky and round -about him at the strange scene. Over his head the light of day was -just breaking, but the dusky shadows still lay upon the waters. Behind -him a faint light, heralding the sun, was quivering on distant wood -and upland. - -"Dan made me promise," he said softly to himself, as the wonderful -strangeness of his position came upon him, "when I was seeing strange -sights in strange places, to think, 'Dan is here with me, although I -cannot see him.' _Is_ Dan here with me now? Is it possible that he can -have the vaguest idea of me as I stand, heart-wrecked, in this wild -country? I will try to believe so; I will try to believe that he and -Ellen see me as I am, know me as I am, and pity me. I could die here -now contentedly, if that were a conviction. Ellen, dear wife! Dan, -dear friend! dear mother and father! stand fast to me, and believe -that I never wavered in my love and my truth!" - -This was his theme that he thought of and mused upon, while all the -others were asleep. The rocks were burnished with golden light before -they awoke. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. -ON THE ROCKS. - - -As the sailmaker was stretching himself, Rough-and-Ready, who was -already stirring, said,-- - -"I say, mate what name shall we call you by?" - -"Isn't Sailmaker good enough?" was the Irish answer. - -"It's good enough; but it's no name." - -"Tom, for short, then." - -"That'll do, Tom; it's like your talk, short, and to the point." - -From that time they talked of him as Tom the Sailmaker. - -"We're going to look for something for breakfast, Marvel," said -Rough-and-Ready. "Don't wake the women--let them have their sleep out. -And keep your eye on those two rascals yonder. If they come to close -quarters, have no mercy. They'd have none on you. Come along, Tom." - -They returned some two hours afterwards, with smiling faces. The women -gathered hope from their cheerful countenances. The sailmaker was -loaded with wood to replenish the fire, which had not been allowed to -go out during the night. - -"We're going to have a fine breakfast," said Rough-and-Ready, -flourishing half a dozen plump pigeons. He chuckled as he exhibited -them; but he had no time for trifling. There was more serious business -to attend to--the cooking of the pigeons. - -With those and a few mussels they made a breakfast fit for kings and -queens. The two malcontents in the distance had no fire and no -pigeons; they made their breakfast off cold shell-fish, and looked -with envious eyes at the cooking going on among the other party. - -"Ah, ah, my fine fellows!" cried Rough-and-Ready, waving half a -roasted pigeon in the air; "what d'ye think of mutineering now?" - -They could not hear him, but they understood his taunting action. - -Said Rough-and-Ready to the women, when breakfast was finished,-- - -"Can you handle a pistol? Could you pull the trigger of one straight -in the face of man or beast, if danger threatened?" - -They looked at him inquiringly. - -"You might have to do it," continued Rough-and-Ready; "so you had -better learn, and be prepared." - -"But why?" they asked. - -"You see, my dears, there are two parties of us. Here we are, one -party. Yonder are two rascals, another party. We are not the best of -friends, we two parties. If they could get rid of us, they would. By -fair means they can't; but they might try foul. Now I take it that we -men have to look after you and protect you--and you may depend upon us -for doing our best, my dears. We must see to every thing--food, -lodging, protection from storms and from savage Blacks. That may take -us away from you sometimes, and those rascals might steal upon you -unaware. Or another thing might happen: we might fall sick. Then who -will protect you? Or another thing--But, pshaw! there are a dozen -other reasons why you should learn to use fire-arms." - -Without more ado he showed them how to load a pistol and fire it, -and indeed was not content until they did it to his satisfaction. -Minnie was the more expert of the two; she soon learned. Then said -Rough-and-Ready,-- - -"Now, we are going to take a walk. A mile, I dare say. We shall be -followed, you'll see; the enemy will want to know where we are going." - -Rough-and-Ready took Little Emma in his arms, the sailmaker assisted -Rachel Homebush, and Joshua attended to Minnie. As Rough-and-Ready -expected, Scadbolt and the Lascar followed them at a distance. -Rough-and-Ready led the way over the rocks, on to sand, into forest. -They were nearly an hour before they came to the end of their journey, -for the women were very weak and could walk but slowly. Without any -forewarning, Rough-and-Ready stopped. - -"Here is another thing I have to teach you. A native call." - -And to their astonishment, he put his hands to his mouth and emitted a -shrill cry, that rang through the woods and seemed to linger there. -The word he uttered was "Coo-[=e][=e]!" and the sound was composed of -two notes, the second an octave higher than the first. He made them -all repeat the cry after him many times, and made them dwell on the -notes as long as their breath lasted. - -"If we miss each other, and lose our way, that cry will be a signal. -You have no idea how far it will travel, if you dwell long enough on -the notes. Now, you" (to the men) "stop here for a little while. You," -(to the women) "follow me." - -They obeyed him unhesitatingly. He led the women over a rise in the -woodland, where the trees were thickly grouped; and when they were on -the declivity on the other side, they saw at the base of the rise a -lovely creek of fresh water sparkling in the sun. - -"You will not be disturbed for an hour," he said, and darted away. - -They divined the meaning of this delicate thoughtfulness, and with -full confidence in him and his party they made their way to the creek, -and bathed and combed their hair. (I vouch for the comb, but am not -prepared to say where it came from, for the cunning of woman is beyond -me.) The men looked at them with astonishment when they came back, -sleek and trim. They appeared to have grown a dozen years younger. -They blushed and smiled as the men gazed at them, and Little Emma -lisped, "It was so nice!" Even Rachel looked brighter and more -womanly. - -After them, the men went in turns and bathed, and by that time they -were hungry enough for their dinner. Rough-and-Ready had already -provided it, having shot a sufficient number of birds for three or -four meals. Nothing could satisfy them after dinner but to go to the -rocks, and look seaward for the sight of a ship. Rough-and-Ready -declared it was useless. "Time thrown away," he said. "If we see a -ship, we have no means of signalling it; and even if we had, 'tis a -thousand to one that they would not see the signal." But all-potent as -his authority and advice were in every other matter, he could not -prevail upon them to cast away the hope of being rescued by that -means. Before night came they made their way back to the woods, and -constructed some rough tents with branches of trees, to sleep in. As -they were collecting suitable timber, Rough-and-Ready, who never -omitted an opportunity to instruct his companions in the resources of -the country, called their attention to a group of curiously-twisted -trees, which he said were apple-trees, although there was no fruit on -them. On nearly every one of them, three or four feet from the ground, -was a large knob, bulging out like a tumor. - -"See how bountiful Nature is," said Rough-and-Ready. "You need seldom -be in want of water or food, if you know the secrets of the bush." - -He dug his knife into one of the knobs, and fresh water ran out of the -wood. They tasted it, and found it very sweet. - -It was a beautiful night, and they sat talking for some time before -they retired to rest. Their strength was recruited by the nourishing -food they had eaten, and by the bath they had had. They had not seen -the Lascar or Scadbolt since the morning, and they deemed it prudent -to keep watch during the night. Now that the first excitement of being -saved was over, their thoughts turned to their unfortunate companions -who had found a grave in the cruel sea, and they shed pitiful tears -over the memory of the dead. - -Rough-and-Ready's experience of the Australian natives was largely -drawn upon during the night. Although he said nothing of his past -career, it was evident that he was well acquainted with every thing -appertaining to Australian bush-life. His descriptions of the natives -were not comforting; he described them as treacherous, mean, and -cruel. As to their chances of escape, he declared that there was no -hope from the sea. Their best plan would be to try and work their way -southward, but not for some time, until they were quite strong. - -"We will camp here," he said, "for two or three weeks at least, and -try and learn something about the country." - -But he told Joshua, when they two were alone, that he only said that -to console the women. - -"We can manage to live here; but to get south we should have to cross -country, where we should almost certainly be starved to death or -butchered by the Blacks." - -The prospect was dismal indeed; they seemed to be cut off from the -world. - -Notwithstanding that the women shuddered and trembled as they listened -to Rough-and-Ready's account of the natives, with whom they were -almost certain to come in contact soon, the subject was too -fascinating to be avoided. So, being compelled to talk about them, he -spoke of many strange things concerning them. The conversation turning -upon their superstitions, he told his hearers of the savage beliefs in -water-spirits and land-spirits, who are all females, and walk about -without heads; of the Oorundoo, who comes out of the water to drown -bad wives; of the Balumbal, a gentle race of spirits who live upon the -sweet leaves of flowers; of the Bunyip, a monster who lives in the -large lakes, and who issues therefrom to seize women and children; -Potoyan, a spirit of darkness, whose Whisper strikes terror; and of -many other singular beliefs. - -Said Rough-and-Ready, "There is no surer way to frighten the blacks -than through their superstitious fears. Their 'doctors' can work upon -them as they please." - -Joshua had taken care of his accordion, and had preserved it almost -uninjured. He played, and they all listened wonderingly to the soft -notes of "Home, sweet home," floating through the woods. It was like a -dream; they could scarcely believe they were awake. When he ceased -playing, a melancholy cuckoo-note came from the distant woods. - -"'Tis the more-pork, a night-bird," said Rough-and-Ready. "I never -heard it sing in the day." - -They retired to their beds of dry leaves soon after that, and dreamed -of the strange things they had heard. But Joshua could not sleep. Some -time before midnight--it might have been an hour--he rose and wandered -away from the camp, through the solemn woods. He took no notice of the -groups of majestic trees through which he walked--here masses of the -silver-leaved iron-bark; there thick clusters of the gigantic palm, -woven together, as it were, by luxuriant vines trailing through their -topmost branches. Strange effects of light and shade were produced by -this natural network; but Joshua took no heed of them, nor of the -other wonders of the woods by which he was encompassed. A sense of -awful desolation was upon him; tremblingly he retraced his steps till -he came to the camp, where he sank upon the ground exhausted by -emotion. The full moon rose and shed its light upon him. He took from -his breast the Bible which Dan had given him, and read upon its first -page, "From Dan, with undying love and confidence." Those words did -much to calm him; he kissed them, and pressed the book to his heart, -and gradually fell into a deep sleep. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. -BITTER REVELATIONS. - - -Here in the grand Australian woods are two tents--gunyahs, -Rough-and-Ready calls them--built of tea-tree bark, bound round by -vine creepers. They are in the form of a hive, and are wonderfully -picturesque and comfortable. Up to this time, the castaway dwellers in -these gunyahs have been undisturbed by savages, and this has been a -matter of surprise to all but Rough-and-Ready. "Wait till after the -rainy season," he has said a dozen times; "we shall have plenty of -them then." Rough-and-Ready has made this "rainy season" a pretext for -lingering near the spot where they first camped after their rescue. It -would be suicide, he told them, to attempt to move at present; they -would not be able to make their way through the country. But indeed -all of them, with the exception of Joshua, were content to remain -where they were; they dreaded to encounter the horrors of the wild -country through which they would have to pass. Joshua was the only one -who fretted at their life of inaction. It seemed to him the cruellest -thing to remain passive while Ellen and Dan and his parents were -waiting for him at home. But what could he do? Without the assistance -of Rough-and-Ready he was powerless; and that wise man of the woods -declared emphatically that it would be madness to start upon such an -expedition. So Joshua was compelled to wait for events to shape his -destiny, and fretted and worried because he could take no hand in the -direction of them. It was a good thing for him that he had plenty to -do; he might else have lost his reason. Rough-and-Ready was the best -of physicians; he would not allow any of his companions to be idle, -and he took care to supply them with more work than they could -conveniently accomplish. He derived a huge pleasure from this cunning -proceeding, and had many a sly laugh to himself because of it. The -building of the gunyahs was a matter in which he took especial -delight, and he and his mates labored at them for many days; when they -were finished, Rough-and-Ready declared that they were better than the -finest stone houses that ever were built. The women took delight in -them also, and decorated them with the prettiest creepers they could -find. During all this time they were not molested by Scadbolt and the -Lascar. In their rambles through the woods they occasionally came upon -traces of the two rascals and caught distant glimpses of them, but -they never came to close quarters. Once Scadbolt had attempted to -make overtures; but he was warned off with small ceremony by -Rough-and-Ready, who declined to parley with him. - -On a certain moonlight night, not many nights ago, Rough-and-Ready -invited Joshua to accompany him on an expedition. Coming to a place -where the moon was shining over the tops of the gum-trees -Rough-and-Ready motioned Joshua to be still, and in a few minutes they -heard a call, half scream, half chatter. Presently Rough-and-Ready -raised his gun, pulled the trigger, and down came two animals shaped -like cats, with long brushy tails, sharp claws and something like -thumbs on their hind feet. - -"'Possums," said Rough-and-Ready in explanation. - -He had found out a haunt of these animals, and that night they brought -back more than a dozen, some ring-tailed, some silver. They could -only be shot on moonlight nights, said Rough-and-Ready, and are -chiefly found where the gum or peppermint-tree abounds. They had a -splendid harvest, and in a week they collected nearly a hundred, -Rough-and-Ready was mighty particular about the skinning of them, and -about rubbing the fleshy parts of the skins with fine wood-ashes -before fixing them on the trees to dry. They also caught a score or so -of the sugar-squirrel, whose fur is real chinchilla. Upon these skins -Minnie and Rachel are busy now with needle and thread, making caps for -the men. It is a strange sight to see such evidences of civilization -in the wild woods. The women had begged Rough-and-Ready to spare the -lives of two young opossums which were found alive in their mothers' -pouches, and he, knowing that they could be easily tamed, had readily -consented. They were the most docile and harmless little things, and -soon became domesticated, if such a word may properly be used in the -life I am describing. At the present time, one of them is hanging head -downwards, with its tail curled round the branch of a tree, in a state -of serene happiness and content. The other is with Little Emma, who is -sitting not far from the women, playing with it in the midst of a -great heap of wild flowers she has collected. - -The females are not alone. Two of the men are away, but Joshua is in -sight, busy with his axe cutting up a tree for slabs. To tell truth, -Rough-and-Ready is not desirous of moving from the woods where they -are now camped, unless they are compelled to do so by the savages or -by unforeseen circumstances. They are camped upon high land, where -they are comparatively safe from floods; the country round about is -fairly stocked with game; and there is water in abundance--somewhat of -a rare circumstance, and, rarer still, the water is sweet. As for the -life itself, none could be more attractive to him. The slabs that -Joshua is cutting now are designed for a fence round their homestead. -"Even if Blacks come," thought Rough-and-Ready "and they are not -inclined to be friendly, we may frighten them away with our guns." He -is very sparing of their powder and shot, of which they have not too -large a store, and has taught his companions to make and lay many -kinds of cunning snares for game. He is a thorough bushman, and in his -present circumstances is certainly the right man in the right place. - -The character of Rachel Homebush appears to have completely changed. -The trials she has gone through have softened her hitherto hard -nature. No stony-voiced exhortations to repent drop from her lips; she -is humanized and humbled. But a short time since she was intolerant, -arrogant, harsh, and proudly-insolent in her armor of sanctity; but -now she has doffed that armor, and has inward doubts of herself: She -believes in the goodness of others. She is less sanctified and more -godly. - -Said Rough-and-Ready to Joshua, when they were talking of the women-- - -"Rachel Homebush is a different creature to what she was. She is not -so good as she was, and I think she's all the better for it." - -Joshua smiled at this paradox, and said,-- - -"At all events she has a different opinion of you." - -"Think so, mate?" asked Rough-and-Ready, a little anxiously. "I'm -sorry for it, in one way. There's only one woman"-- - -But he paused unaccountably in the middle of his speech, looked at -Minnie, who was a few yards away, looked at Joshua, and walked off -whistling. - -Here is the picture. Two hives, bright with flowering creepers; Rachel -and Minnie sitting in the shadow of the hives, on stumps of trees, -making fur caps; a 'possum hanging by its tail, studying gravitation; -the little child, not far away, lying on the ground, surrounded by -wild flowers, playing with her pet; in the distance, Joshua busy with -his axe; surrounding and encompassing all, bright sky and lovely -forest. Rachel, raising her eyes from her work, looks at the child in -the midst of her garden, and a soft expression rests upon her face. -The child sees the look, and thrusting the 'possum in the bosom of her -frock, runs towards Rachel with a handful of flowers. Rachel kisses -the child, strokes the silky coat of the 'possum, and selecting a -piece of wild jasmine, places it in her breast. Then Little Emma goes -to the back of Minnie, and twines some of the brightest flowers in -Minnie's beautiful hair; and after falling back and admiring the -effect of her handiwork, whispers to Minnie to get up, for she wants -to show her something. Minnie smiles and rises, and they walk hand in -hand to where Emma's wild flowers are, but the child leads her farther -on, in the direction of Joshua. Made aware of the child's intention, -Minnie falters, and tries to release her hand gently; but Little Emma -clings to her, and laughingly strives to pull her along. Joshua's -attention is attracted to the gentle struggle, and, coming forward, he -asks the meaning of it. The child explains that she wanted Joshua to -see how pretty the flowers looked in Minnie's hair, and that Minnie -tried to run away. Joshua looks at Minnie, who stands trembling before -him, as if she were guilty of some deep offence. Her bosom is heaving, -her eyes are luminous with tears, her face is bright with blushes, and -the tell-tale blood dyes her fair neck. Surely he has never looked -upon a more beautiful picture! He says some kind words to her, and she -goes back to her place near Rachel, and he to his work. But, within a -few minutes afterwards, he swings his axe over his shoulder, and walks -away in deep thought. The bees are humming about him, many-colored -locusts and golden-green grasshoppers flit among the tangled -brushwood, gorgeous butterflies skim through the air; the gaudy beetle -creeps lazily along; the praying mantis, with its leaf-like wings, -darts before him; the tree-frog utters its strange cry; a great -lizard, with a frill round its neck, disappears at the sound of his -step. He walks past these and myriad other wonders of the woods, until -the character of the country changes, and he finds himself among rocky -gullies, with many a fissure in the stony ranges that lead down to -them. - -The buzz of woodland life has ceased; unfathomable silence seems to -dwell in these rocky hills and valleys. But suddenly a sharp -shrill note sounds upon the air. It is a bird's note, but no mate's -voice replies. It is like himself; solitary in the midst of this -ungracious scene, which frowningly proclaims, "Love finds here no -dwelling-place." Again the note sounds, and as he makes his way toward -it, curious to see what kind of bird haunts so desolate a place, he -hears a faint echo answer--a voice with no soul in it, he thinks in -his then melancholy mood. He comes to the opening of a small cave, the -walls of which assume fantastic shapes in the dim light. And there, -uttering its wail, to which only mocking echoes make response, he sees -the Solitary Warbler standing alone in the centre of the cave, like -the Cain of its race. He sighs and walks on--over the rocky range, -into woodland again, where the ground dips, and where the rich soil is -teeming with new wonders; and coming to a great pool, he sits down by -its side. He has been to this spot before. Chancing upon it by -accident in one of his rambles, he was attracted by its beauty, and by -the singular effect of the shifting shadows upon the bosom of the -pool, whose surface is almost covered by lovely pink-and-white -water-lilies. He looks now into the water, and sees his haggard face -reflected between the beautifully-colored lilies. And singularly -enough he sees at the same time, with the eyes of his mind, the -picture of Minnie as she stood before him, with eyes downcast and the -flowers in her hair. It is because he was disturbed by thought of her -that he left his work. He knows her secret but too well. She loves him -with all her soul. She tells it in every look, in every word; every -little act of hers towards him is imbued with dangerous tenderness, -and yet she is unconscious of wrong. Every day she grows more -devoted--every day grows more beautiful. And it is a part of his great -misery to feel that her society gives him pleasure as well as pain. He -is storm-tossed by a conflict of feeling. In this conflict no -miserable vanity finds place, although it might be well excused in -most men in such a position; nor is he by a thought false to Ellen. -But Minnie is dependent upon him, lives upon his kindness, asks -nothing from him but gentle speech. Shall he deny her this? Shall he -be false to his nature, and be harsh where harshness would be -brutality? He is strong; she is weak. Her power is in her weakness; -his weakness is in his strength. She leans upon him for support, and -rules by submission. - -Something stirs behind him. A sound so light that it might have been -produced by the fall of a leaf or by the swaying of a bough from which -a bird has flown. Joshua, whose senses have been quickened by his late -experience, turns rapidly, and meets the Lascar face to face. In the -woods thought and action are twin-like. Quick as lightning Joshua's -pistol is in his hand, and the muzzle is pointed straight at the -Lascar's breast. - -"Stand!" cries Joshua, "if you value your life." - -The Lascar stands motionless, his hands behind him. - -"Show your hands and what is in them, or I fire." - -The Lascar shows his hands--a large piece of rock in one. He had seen -Joshua sitting by the pool, and had intended to brain him with the -stone. At Joshua's command, he drops the stone. A bitter smile -wreathes Joshua's lips, and something like a savage instinct whispers -to him to shoot his enemy dead upon the spot. But the thought that it -would be nothing less than murder restrains him. The Lascar sees the -struggle in Joshua's face, and trembles; miserable wretch as he is he -has not conquered the fear of death. He is re-assured when Joshua -drops his hand and moves away, still facing him. At this, fear being -subdued, the venom in his nature begins to work. Shall he let his -enemy depart without a sting? He commences with a piece of bravado. - -"Ah," he exclaimed, "you have robbed me, but you can't make up your -mind to murder me." - -"Robbed you!" exclaims Joshua, forgetting for a moment. "Of what?" - -"Of my knife. Give it me back. I can't hurt you with it. You are more -than a match for me with your pistols. How do you think I can live -without a knife?" - -Joshua makes no reply to this appeal to his humanity, and moves off a -few steps, warily. - -"I suppose you think yourself a manly sort of fellow," continues the -Lascar, moving step for step with Joshua, but keeping at a safe -distance nevertheless, "robbing people of their knives, threatening to -murder them, and running away with an innocent girl, and ruining her!" - -"You villain!" exclaims Joshua, quivering at this reference to Minnie, -"do not make me forget myself!" - -"So far as to shoot a man in cold blood!" sneers the Lascar. "But -don't forget that the first time you struck me it was for running -after a woman. What better are you than me? I ran after a woman, not -an innocent girl. Perhaps you'll say you didn't trick her from her -father's house, and make love to another girl, her friend, all the -while, and that girl the sister of the man you pretended such fondness -for! Going to be married to her too, I heard. But I can tell you -something you don't know. You were precious sly with your sweetheart, -Ellen Taylor, in Gravesend; she wouldn't suspect you, I dare say you -thought, if you had her down at Gravesend until the ship sailed--she -wouldn't have an idea then that your other sweetheart, Minnie Kindred, -with her face stained brown, was waiting for you on board the 'Merry -Andrew.' Ah! you played a cunning game, you pink of perfection, you -sailor-hero; but I outwitted you, I think, in a way you're not aware -of." - -"How?" asks Joshua, constrained to listen. - -"How? I watched you, and was paid for it. You little thought that, did -you? I'll tell you something more. The man who paid me for watching -had a fancy for your sweetheart Ellen: you've no need to ask me who he -is, for you'll not find out through me. I did my duty to him, and he -paid me for it. Why, directly I set eyes on that brown-faced -gypsy-maid aboard the 'Merry Andrew,' I says, 'Minnie Kindred, by -God!' and I set a trap for her, and she fell into it. Then what did I -do? I sent a letter to my master by the pilot, and told him to go to -Minnie Kindred's father, and to Dan, and to your mother and father, -and to your other sweetheart, Ellen, and let them know that you had -run away with the girl, that you parted from Ellen Taylor one minute, -and was courting Minnie Kindred aboard ship the next. Was that a good -game to play? Was I as cunning as you? Was that paying you for what -you first did to me? Do you remember what I said, when you called me a -dog of a Lascar? I told you that the Lascar dog never forgets--never, -never! Why, now I look into your face, I could hug myself to think -that we're wrecked, and that we shall die and rot here, every one of -us, and that your sweetheart (who's my master's sweetheart now, I'll -be sworn) and your friends know you for what you are--a mean false -hound! I put a cross against you once, and I swore to have your -heart's blood. Have I had as good? Think of it, and tell me if I have -had my revenge." - -But he does not wait to be told. There is so dangerous a look in -Joshua's face, that he darts away and disappears in the bush. It is -well for him that he has escaped, for Joshua is maddened by what he -has heard. Truly the Lascar has struck at him with a cunning hand. The -agony of his soul is shown in the convulsive twitching of his -features, in his white lips, and in the veins of his strong hand, -which swell almost to bursting as he grasps a stout branch for -support. So he remains fighting with his agony with a bleeding heart, -for full half an hour. This knowledge that he has gained is more -bitter than all the rest. He knows the worst now. The evidence against -him is awful in its completeness. "Even the Old Sailor will believe me -guilty," he thinks, and groans aloud at the thought. But there is one -duty before him to do. He must tell Minnie. This last resolve comes -upon him when the force of his first passion is somewhat spent. -Between him and Minnie no word has ever passed of those at home; their -very names have been avoided. But Joshua now makes up his mind that -silence on this subject must be broken. It _must_; both for Minnie's -sake and his own. - -It is past sundown. The day has been very hot, and the shadows of -night bring cooler breezes, grateful to the senses of the castaways. -Joshua has drawn Minnie a little apart from the others; she, yielding -to his slightest wish, accompanies him to a part of the forest where -they can talk unobserved. His first impulse is to ask her why she came -on board the "Merry Andrew" unknown to him, and why she had disguised -herself from him; but he spares her this pain, and takes from his -breast Ellen's portrait and her lock of hair, and Dan's Bible. He -hands Minnie the Bible. - -"Do you know what this is?" he asks. "Yes," she answers; "it is the -Bible that Dan gave you." - -"Read what is on the first page." - -She reads the inscription: "From Dan to his dearest friend and -brother, Joshua. With undying love and confidence." - -"You know the love that existed between Dan and me, Minnie?" - -"I know. It is perfect. Why do you say existed? Surely it exists!" - -"I don't know; I'm afraid to think. Your words are in some sort -comforting to me; for they prove you have acted in ignorance, and that -you have not wilfully wronged me." - -She looks at him imploringly. - -"You will understand presently," he says. - -He takes Ellen's lock of hair, and presses it to his lips, and kisses -Ellen's portrait also. The hot blood flushes into Minnie's face, then -suddenly deserts it, and she clasps her hands convulsively. She is but -woman, after all. Yet she controls her agitation sufficiently to ask -in an unsteady voice,-- - -"Is it necessary to speak further of this, Joshua?" - -"It is more than necessary," he replies; "it is imperative. My duty -and my honor demand it." - -She bows her head; he pauses a while, and when he speaks again, it is -in a softer tone. - -"Minnie, do you know that Dan loved you?" - -"Loved me!" - -"Ay, with all the strength of his constant heart." - -"I did not know it. I thought he liked me, but I had no idea it was as -you say." - -"He told me in confidence some time before I left. My heart bleeds as -I recall that conversation. No girl could hope to be more fondly, more -faithfully loved. When the 'Merry Andrew' left Gravesend, I said to -myself, 'When I return, Minnie will be Dan's wife,' for I could not -but believe that you would have learned to appreciate the worth of -such a love as his. But it was not to be." - -"No, it was not to be," says Minnie sadly. "If I had known, it could -not have been; if I had remained at home, it could not have been. You, -who knew Dan so well, do you not know something of me also? I -understand the motive that impels you to speak to me of these things, -and I honor you the more for it. It is another proof of your goodness -and generosity"-- - -"Minnie, Minnie!" he cries, "do not speak to me like that!" - -"I must; I cannot help myself. Have you so poor an opinion of me--do -you know so little of me--as to think I would marry a man I did not -love? Rather than that, I would choose for him I loved the bitterest -lot that life can offer--misery, shame, humiliation--and be content. -Dan is all that you say; but I did not love him, did not deceive him. -If he told you so, he told you what is false." - -"He did not tell me so, but said that from your manner to him -sometimes, he hoped to win your love." - -"Must I shame myself to justify myself?" she cries recklessly. "I -was happy in his company because he was your friend, and because he -loved you. I was happy in his company because he spoke of you, and -because--Joshua, have pity on me and forgive me! O my heart, my -heart!" - -He catches her fainting form, for she is falling. Weeping, she turns -her face from him and hides it in her hair. Soft breezes play among -the branches of the trees, stirring them into worshipping motion, and -the more-pork, with its sad-colored plumage, flits by on noiseless -wings, uttering his melancholy note. Joshua waits until Minnie is more -composed; presently her sobs grow fainter and she leaves the shelter -of his arm, and stands a little apart from him, with her face still -averted. - -"I do pity you," he then says, "and forgive you. What I have said and -what I have done springs from no feeling of unkindness to you, Minnie. -God knows, in such a strait as ours, such a feeling would be worse -than cruel. But there are certain things of which I am afraid you are -ignorant, that I must speak of and that you must hear. Do you know -that, before I left home, I was suspected of playing with your -feelings--of making love to you clandestinely, and so betraying the -friend whom I would have laid down my life to serve?" - -"No, no Joshua, do not tell me that!" - -"It is the truth; but I did not know it until after I had bidden -good-by to mother and father and Dan, in Stepney. Where were you on -that day?" - -"I--I was not at home," she falters. - -"You had left, then. I went to your father's room to wish you and him -good-by. He refused to see me. I asked to see you, and Susan told me -you were asleep. I was deeply grieved; and I can understand now what -caused Susan to beg me imploringly to be true to Ellen. What a -cowardly villain they must believe me to be! Your father suspected me; -Susan suspected me. If I had died that Christmas night at mother's -door, it would have been happier for me! Minnie I thanked you once for -saving my life; but I cannot thank you now, for you have made me the -unhappiest of men." - -She does not answer him, but stands before him trembling and -suffering, as before a judge, enduring her punishment and admitting -the justice of it. - -"It is part of my unhappiness," he continues, "that I have to speak -thus to you; it is part of my unhappiness that I have to show you the -consequences of your rash conduct. Listen: To-day I saw the Lascar; he -came behind me stealthily, to kill me, I believe; but I turned and saw -him in time. I could have shot him dead where he stood; indeed, some -savage prompting urged me to do so, but I held my hand and was spared -the crime. This man hates me, Minnie. In an encounter I had with him -before I first went to sea, I struck him and hurt him. He has had a -bitter revenge upon me. He saw you on board the 'Merry Andrew' before -the pilot left the ship, and recognized you, despite your disguise." - -Minnie holds her breath. She remembers how the Lascar whispered her -name in her ear the first day she went aboard. - -"He did a devilish thing then. He wrote a letter home, saying that I -had run away with you, and that we were together on board the 'Merry -Andrew.'" - -She falls on her knees before him, and raises her bands -supplicatingly, and begs him again to forgive her, and to believe that -she knew nothing of this, and that if she had known-- - -"If you had known, Minnie," he says, gently raising her, "you would -not have done what you have. But you did not stop to consider, poor -child! You see the consequences of that letter, do you not? Suspecting -me, your father told me the story of his life, to warn me not to -betray you. Suspecting me, Susan implored me to be true to Ellen. Dan -confided to me his love for you, and I listened to and sympathized -with him. Well, what must he and all of them think, when they have -learned that you and I are together on board the 'Merry Andrew'? And I -have something to tell you more painful than all the rest." - -He puts Ellen's portrait into her hand. "Do you know who this is?" - -Her eyes are blurred by tears, and she sees Ellen's sweet face through -the sorrowful mist. - -"It is Ellen's," she says. - -"It is my wife!" - -As Joshua utters these words, earth and heaven fade in Minnie's sight; -nothing is visible, nothing is palpable to her senses, but the -knowledge that flashes upon her, that her love, instead of being her -glory, is now her shame. "There is no earthly sacrifice that love will -not sanctify," her father had said. Could love sanctify such a -sacrifice as she had made--a sacrifice that had brought disgrace and -dishonor upon the man she loved? For the first time some slight -consciousness of her error breaks upon her, and she looks upon herself -as a shameful thing. As Joshua, witnessing her agony, moves a step -nearer to her, she cries, "No, no, do not touch me!" and with a wild -shudder sinks upon the ground. He, animated by sincerest compassion, -throws himself by her side, lays his hand upon her head, and raises -her face to his. She bows her head upon his shoulder, and sobs her -grief out there. By every means in his power--by gentle speech, by -tender act--he strives to soothe her, and succeeds. And then, true to -his purpose, he finishes his story--tells her what occurred between -him and the Old Sailor at Gravesend; how surprised he was to find -that the good old man, and even his own mother, had seen Minnie's -fancy for him, and had devised the cure for it; and how, prompted by -duty and by his love for Ellen (he dwelt much on that), he had married -her quietly at Gravesend, and had spent there the three happiest days -of his life. And when his story is finished, and she has learned all, -they sit hand in hand, very quiet and sore-smitten, until Minnie, in a -singularly-subdued voice, asks what she shall do: as if, having -committed this fault, and brought such terrible suspicion upon him, he -has only to tell her how to atone for it, and she will straightway do -it. Sadly he replies, "What can you do, Minnie? Nothing--nothing but -wait. There is, to my mind, not the barest chance of escape. We shall -make our graves in this wild forest; but we must live so--you and I, -my dear--that upon my deathbed I shall be able to think that I have -been true to my wife, true to my friend. Life is not the end of all -things." - -Meekly she assents. He calls her "Sister," and kisses her; and then -they rejoin their companions, who are seated by the gunyahs, cooking -turtles' eggs found by Rough-and-Ready, the discoverer. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. -SURPRISED BY SAVAGES. - - -The wisdom of Rough-and-Ready's plan of action was soon proved. One -night, thunder awoke them from sleep. The thunder that breaks over the -housetops, and the lightning that flashes in at the window-panes of a -populous city, are very different from what are heard and seen in -mountain ranges and great wastes of forests. Nature seems to be toned -down in the city; in the forests and mountains she is grandly -beautiful in repose, terrifically beautiful in travail. The -thunder-peals were so loud and awful, that the women and child lay -clasping each other in speechless fear. Like savage Titans the sound -swept down upon them, and rushed through the forests and over the -mountains and into them in search of echoes. The lightning darted upon -the trees, and ran along the branches, and leaped through the woods -into the bowels of the earth. Every thing that lived in stream and -woodland, in rocky range and dark lagoon, sought shelter from the -storm, of which Sound was but the herald. Presently it came, the swift -rush of waters, like a second deluge, filling the creeks and rivers, -and flooding all the land. Great torrents rushed down the mountainside -into the low land, sweeping all before them. The storm raged the whole -night through, abating slightly when morning dawned. It was well for -the castaways that they had a little food stored by, for they could -not go out in search of any. The second night the women begged the men -to stay with them; so they all occupied the women's gunyah, lying side -by side in the dark, and whispering to each other little words of -comfort. All but Rachel Homebush, who was struck dumb by fear. The -second night's storm was more terrific than the first, and about -midnight so tremendous a peal of thunder broke over them, that they -started up in dread. - -"Who screamed?" asked Rough-and Ready. But his voice was not heard; -and swift upon the heels of the thunder another vivid lightning-flash, -instantly followed by a terrific burst of thunder, darted through the -gunyah, and struck them blind for many moments. Then, during a slight -lull, Rough-and-Ready asked again,-- - -"Who screamed?" - -"Not I," said Joshua. - -"Nor I," said the sailmaker. - -The women did not speak. Joshua's heart beat with a new fear as he -whispered,-- - -"Minnie! Minnie! speak to me. You are not hurt?" - -And tears of thankfulness came into his eyes as Minnie answered in a -trembling voice,-- - -"No Joshua; I am only frightened. Let me hold your hand." - -"Where's the child?" he asked. - -"Rachel has her. Rachel! Rachel!" - -No voice replied. Thoroughly alarmed, they called to her again and -again, and to the child, but could not rouse them. They were in the -deepest darkness. - -Presently Rough-and-Ready said, "Hush! we must wait for the light." - -They waited for the light, and by the first faint glimmer they saw -Rachel and the child lying down peacefully, the woman with the child -folded in her arms. Light had come to them before the others! - -Rough-and-Ready, who was the first to discover it, turned to his -companions, with the tears streaming down his face and beard. - -"Comfort _her_," he said to Joshua, pointing to Minnie. - -Joshua put his arm round Minnie and turned her face from where the -woman and child lay. - -"Poor Rachel! Poor Little Emma!" he said. "Be brave, Minnie, my dear. -Do not give way, for my sake." - -He knew what words to utter to give her strength to bear the shock, -and he made use of his power with a wise compassion. - -Her poor white lips trembled as she said to him,-- - -"Pray for one thing for me, Joshua. Pray that I may not die before I -have made atonement." - -"Hush, hush, my dear!" he replied; "there is none to make. It is I who -rather should have to make it, for my hardness to you. Be comforted, -my dear." - -The words came from his heart. He would have been unfeeling indeed if -he had not learned to appreciate the beautiful unselfishness of -Minnie's love; her meekness, her faithfulness, her devotion, her -unmurmuring submission, could not fail to have a powerful effect upon -such a nature as his. - -The men went into their gunyah, and before night came again had made a -rough coffin of bark. The next morning they dug a grave and stood -round it bareheaded while the rain was falling. They kissed the -child's face and poor Rachel's also before the cover was put on the -rude coffin. Amid deep sobs--the men were not ashamed of their -tears--Joshua read prayers; some vine-creepers were thrown into the -grave; the earth was piled up into a mound: and they went back sadly -to their tent. The loss of some one very near and dear to them could -not have been more severely felt. From that time forth it became a -practice for Joshua to read a chapter out of the Bible every morning -and evening. - -The rainy season lasted for three weeks, and during this time they -lived very miserably. Minnie thrived, however--perhaps because Joshua -was tender to her. The hot weather came and they were able to go in -search of food. But Minnie was never left alone. Joshua and she were -waiting one evening for the return of Rough-and-Ready and the -sailmaker, but Rough-and-Ready came back without his companion. He -looked round in some anxiety. - -"Hasn't the sailmaker returned?" - -"No," said Joshua; "you went out together." - -"I know; but I missed him a couple of hours ago, and although I have -searched for him and coo-[=e][=e]d for him everywhere, I haven't been -able to find him." - -The sailmaker did not make his appearance. To the surprise of his -companions, Rough-and-Ready, after dark, fired half a dozen shots from -his pistol into the air. - -"You look surprised," he said; "well, now" (to Minnie), "can you bear -a shock? Will you promise to be brave if I tell you something?" - -She nodded. - -"It is only something that I have been expecting. I think that the -sailmaker is with the natives." - -"Why do you think so?" asked Joshua. - -"For good reasons. I saw some tracks of them when I was hunting for -Tom. Perhaps they have captured him." - -"He had his pistols." - -"Frightened to use them, perhaps; or perhaps there were a lot of the -Blacks, and he thought it would be foolish and useless. Besides he is -new to them. He's all right, though; they won't hurt him for he's a -plucky fellow. Now, mind. When you first see the natives, and indeed -always after that, show no fear of them. What I am going to say is to -my mind a most foolish thing; but there's the faintest chance in the -world that, making friends with them, you might make your way down -south, from one tribe to another, in a few months, and come upon some -cattle station. But, lord! there's one chance for you, and a hundred -against you." - -"Why do you say 'you'?" asked Minnie. "'We,' rather." - -"No, my dear," said Rough-and-Ready with a blush. "I have two reasons -for saying you and not we. The first reason is not a reason--it is a -presentiment. I shall die in the bush. The second reason is a plainer -one. It wouldn't be pleasant for me to get into civilized company in -New South Wales." - -"Why?" - -Rough-and-Ready looked at her with admiration, and said, very -inappropriately, as she thought,-- - -"Do you know that you have made me a better man?" - -"A better man!" she exclaimed. "Why, you are a good man, and a brave -man, too." - -"You think so. So let it be," he said, half seriously, half gayly. -"I'm not going to spoil your delusion just yet." - -They saw no signs of the savages that night. They did not retire until -late, and Rough-and-Ready went many times short distances in different -directions to look for the natives, but they did not appear. Joshua -took out his accordion and played. Rough-and-Ready listened -thoughtfully, and when Joshua had finished an air, he said,-- - -"I told you, when we first came ashore here, that there is no surer -way to frighten the blacks than through their superstitious fears. -Your playing to-night, connected with the near presence of the -savages, brings that remark back to me; and I'll tell you why. That -music of yours may possibly be a great power with them. They have -never heard any thing like it. If you don't lose your self-possession -when you get among them--and you must take care not to, for Minnie's -sake; her life may depend upon your courage--you may obtain an -influence over them by means of your accordion. Sound for which they -cannot account has a wonderful effect upon them. Here you have it. -Don't forget what I say. Come, now, I can hear no sign of the black -devils. You take some rest. I'll wake you in a couple of hours." - -So they watched in turns during the night. - -"What is the best thing to do," asked Joshua the following evening, -"when the savages come?--to make friends with them, or try to frighten -them?" - -"There are too few of us to fight," answered Rough-and-Ready. "We -might frighten them for a time, but they would be sure to come back in -larger numbers. Then we haven't too much powder and shot left. No; the -best and wisest course will be to be friendly with them, if possible. -I _have_ heard of white men living with them for many years. I saw an -Englishman myself once who had been with them for five years. He was -glad enough to get away from them; but they treated him kindly, he -said. One man, whom I never saw, lived with them for thirty years. His -name is Buckley, and he is living now." - -"Do you know any thing of his story?" - -"I'll tell you what little I know. He was a bricklayer in -Cheshire--came from Macclesfield, I've heard. A great big hulking -lazy fellow he was--brick-making was too hard work for him, so he -enlisted as a grenadier. A fine grenadier he must have looked--he was -six feet six inches in his stockings. But grenadiering didn't satisfy -his wants. He was a natural vagabond like myself, and he got into -trouble, and was sentenced to transportation. So he and three or four -hundred other natural and unnatural vagabonds, being deemed fine -material for the purpose, were sent out to form a colony. Buckley and -his mates were put ashore at Port Phillip; but the governor, whose -name was Collins, liked the place as little as the convicts, and he -moved them off to Van Dieman's Land. Then they began to talk of -escaping. They didn't know any thing of the interior of the country; -but they thought, perhaps, that any thing was better than the devil's -life they led as convicts. Buckley got away with two mates, of whom -nothing more was ever heard. About twelve months after he escaped, he -fell in with the natives, and lived with them for more than thirty -years. During the whole of that time he never saw a white man. At -length he heard from the tribe he was living with, that some men with -skins the same color as his had been seen within a few miles of the -native camp. They belonged to a band of explorers headed by a man -named Batman. Buckley went in search of them, and presented himself to -them. You can imagine what a sensation he created; a white giant, who -had forgotten how to speak English, with native weapons hung round his -body, and a kangaroo-skin rug his only clothing. He soon picked up a -bit of English, and was taken to a white settlement, where he was made -a pet and a wonder of. He might have done good service for the white -people with the natives, for they say he has great influence with -them. But my opinion of him is, that he is a lazy, skulking thief, and -that living with the savages, where he hadn't to work for his food, -just suited him. I expect that some part of his influence over them -was produced by his tremendous height and big limbs. However, he is -among the whites again, with a free pardon granted him, I've heard, -and earning his living as he has earned it all his life--by doing -nothing." - -During the recital of this story, which Rough-and-Ready declared was -veracious, every word of it, he was busy baking a fresh-water turtle, -which he had caught that day while he was fishing in a lagoon. The -turtle was baked in its shell, and they made a delicious supper off -it. They had arranged to fish for eels that night, and Rough-and-Ready -said,-- - -"Come along; it's of no use being frightened by thinking of the -natives; we must get accustomed to them. We shall soon see them, and -Tom with them." - -They took all their fire-arms. Minnie had two pistols in her belt, and -Joshua and Rough-and-Ready, besides pistols, had guns slung across -their shoulders. Each of them wore a cap made of the beautiful fur of -the sugar-squirrel. They walked through the quiet wood, looking -sharply about them as they went along, but neither heard nor saw any -signs of the natives. When they came to the lagoon, Rough-and-Ready -told them he was going to show them a fine way of catching eels -without trouble. He had his fire-sticks with him, and in half an hour -he had a great fire blazing by the side of the lagoon. Attracted by -the light, the eels came swarming towards them; and in a very short -time they caught as many as they desired. Loaded with their spoil, -they made their way back to their gunyahs; and as they got near them, -they saw a dark figure glide swiftly away from the spot into the bush. - -"A native," said Rough-and-Ready. "We must look out to-night." - -"Or Scadbolt, or the Lascar, do you think?" suggested Joshua, -supporting Minnie, who was clinging to him in alarm. - -"No; a white man couldn't move away with such a cat-like motion. I -fancy I saw his dark skin." - -Thereupon Rough-and-Ready, for the purpose of familiarizing Minnie -with the idea of living with the savages, and so lessening her fears, -commenced talking of them, and continued talking for a couple of -hours. By which time Minnie's fears really _were_ lessened. - -"What a number of stars have fallen the last few nights remarked -Joshua. - -"Ah, you have noticed that!" said Rough-and-Ready. "And if you -observe, they have fallen immediately over this spot, in the direction -of the sea. Well, those shooting-stars may have brought the natives -here; for although some tribes believe that danger lies where stars -fall, or that they indicate the direction of hostile tribes, others -have a kind of belief that a great and good spirit may be seen where -they fall. They believe that there is a new sun every day and a new -moon every night, One tribe throws up the sun at daybreak, and another -tribe catches it at sunset." - -Here they were interrupted by cries of fear, and by the running -towards them of some person who fell at their feet trembling and -grovelling. It was the Lascar, who was evidently in a state of -horrible fright. He looked more like a wild beast than a man. What few -clothes he had on were torn and tattered, his nails were long, and his -disordered hair and grovelling fears deprived his features of any -likeness to humanity. - -"The savages, the savages," he cried. - -He had chosen what he considered the lesser of two evils; his white -foes were preferable to black cannibals. Rough-and-Ready looked down -upon him contemptuously and touched him with his foot. - -"The cowardly ruffian!" he said. "I'd sooner trust the Blacks than -such as he. Where's his rascally mate, I wonder--Get up!" he cried, -and administered so smart a kick to the prostrate wretch that he -jumped up on the instant, imploring mercy. - -"Be silent, you chattering imp of darkness!" roared Rough-and-Ready; -"be silent, and answer me. You've seen the Blacks, I suppose?" - -The Lascar muttered an affirmative. - -"Well, what are you frightened at? Why don't you go and make friends -with them? They haven't much the advantage of you in color, and you -are more of a wild beast than they are. Frightened of being eaten, eh? -Faugh! they'd spear you and throw you away; you're not good enough -even for them." The Lascar trembled the more at this; he was a true -coward. "What d'ye think of mutineering now, eh? Answer me, you -copper-colored devil, or I'll make an end of you--where's your mate, -Scadbolt?" - -"I don't know; I haven't seen him for days. - -"Ah, two of a trade never agree. I thought you'd be cutting each -other's throats. Captain Marvel, here's one of your crew who tried to -raise a mutiny. As if that was not enough, he has murdered his mate." -(It is a fact that Scadbolt was never heard of again, nor was any -thing ever known of his fate.) "Now then, you, as captain of the -'Merry Andrew,' pronounce judgment--death, nothing less--and I'll take -him away and execute it, as truly as I'm a living man!" - -There was something so determined in Rough-and-Ready's speech, and -something so threatening in his action, that the Lascar leaped away in -mortal fear. Whereat Rough-and-Ready laughed loud and long, and fired -a shot in the air to frighten the Lascar the more. - -In the morning, while they were at breakfast, two savages suddenly -made their appearance, about twenty yards from where they were -sitting. They appeared so suddenly, that they seemed to have started -out of the ground. - -"Now, Minnie," said Rough-and-Ready quietly, "don't scream out, and -don't show any alarm. By the look of those fellows they are friendly, -and do not mean to harm us." - -Minnie conquered her fears bravely, although her heart was beating -fast, and by the direction of Rough-and-Ready they went on with their -breakfast, to all appearance quite unconcerned, and as if the presence -of the savages was the most natural thing in the world. The two men -who stood gazing at them were naked, with the exception of a girdle of -emeu-feathers round their waists; their color was pale black; they -were tall, with thin limbs and fine chests, and their hair was thick -and curly. They had spears in their hands, about seven feet long, made -from the stem of the tea-tree. - -Seeing that they stood quite quiet, Rough-and-Ready held up part of an -eel towards them, and smiled, and nodded his head gently. Whereupon -the two savages looked at each other, said a few words, and -disappeared. Both Joshua and Minnie drew a long breath of relief, for -which Rough-and-Ready was inclined to be cross with them. - -"They will be back presently," he said, "in company." - -They had not long to wait. In less than half an hour the two who had -first presented themselves returned with nearly a score of others. To -the joy of the castaways, they saw Tom the sailmaker in the rear, and -they nodded and smiled at him. Seeing that the savages, who had been -jabbering among themselves, made signs to the sailmaker; and after the -display of much pantomime, he came towards his mates. They shook hands -with him, and Rough-and-Ready asked him how he was. - -"Jolly," he replied. He told them in crisp sentences, all of them in -answer to Rough-and-Ready's questions, that the natives seemed -disposed to be friendly, and that they were not half so bad as they -looked. - -Rough-and-Ready, accompanied by Tom, then walked half a dozen yards in -the direction of the savages, and held out his hands to them. Tom -looked at the savages, touched Rough-and-Ready on the breast, and then -himself, with sufficiently expressive pantomime, to denote, "We two -are one." Minnie and Joshua stood in the background, side by side, -with linked arms. The savages, coming a little nearer, pointed to -them, and jabbered unintelligibly, as much as to say, "What do you do -here? Who are you?" Joshua, observing the success of Rough-and-Ready's -pantomime, touched Minnie on the breast, and then himself, conveying -the same meaning, "We two are one." - -Here it must be told that Minnie had regained her naturally fair -complexion, and that her hair, also fair, had grown to a great length. -Tall and well-formed, with bare arms beautifully shaped, with pure -complexion; with dreamy eyes, with long hair hanging loosely down, and -with the charm and grace of youth upon her, she stood before them in -her strange dress of civilized cotton and woodland fur; and her -singularly-beautiful appearance had a powerful effect on the savages. -They approached Rough-and-Ready, and felt his clothes, and made -friends with him in their primitive fashion; but they kept some -distance from Joshua and Minnie, regarding, her with looks of -reverence and astonishment. Presently, after much grimacing and -flashing of hands and fingers, Rough-and-Ready came towards Minnie, -and, to her surprise, bowed low before her, and stood in an attitude -of respectful worship. The savages, who were watching him attentively, -saw only his back; but if they had seen the merry twinkle in his eyes, -they would have been as puzzled as Minnie was. - -"I've heard say that every woman is an actress," he said, smiling. -"Prove yourself one now, for all our sakes, by not moving, and by -listening to me attentively. Your conduct may decide our fate. I have -told you what significance the natives attach to shooting-stars, and -how they either avoid the direction in which they fall or are impelled -there by some powerful superstition. Fortune has favored us. I don't -understand a single word these savages utter; but I understand from -their actions that they are so amazed at your appearance as to -entertain a belief that you are not quite mortal--that, in fact, you -are a superior spirit. If they can be kept in this belief (supposing -they entertain it), it will be of immense service to us. If you are -brave enough not to show fear, they will almost be certain not to -attempt to harm us." - -No better speech could have been spoken to Minnie to inspire her with -confidence and courage. But she turned to Joshua first, and asked, -"Shall I do this?" - -"Yes," he answered; "I think it will be well, if you can nerve -yourself to it." - -Smiling at the "if" she said softly, "For your sake, Joshua," and -then, with queenly motion, walked towards the savages, conquering her -disgust at their appearance. They awaited her approach; and when she -was within a few steps of them, an old graybeard came forward, and -held out his hands, saying some words expressive of respectful -welcome. Minnie understood as much by his expressive action. She -touched his hands, and waved hers, bidding them welcome, and beckoning -to Joshua, touched him on the breast, and placed her hand upon his -shoulder. Then, smiling placidly upon the dusky group, she walked away -with Joshua, and sat down in the shade of the gunyah. Whatever meaning -her pantomime had conveyed, it evidently excited great interest among -the savages. They conversed earnestly and excitedly, and pointed to -the sky and to the earth, describing, by their motions the action of a -star falling gently to the ground. - -"Bravely done," said Rough-and-Ready to Minnie. "Whatever notion they -have in their heads, it is one that will do us no harm. See, they are -moving off, taking the sailmaker with them." - -And, indeed, the natives went away in a body, leaving behind them four -of their party, however, who squatted upon the ground, with their eyes -fixed upon the castaways. - -"They are left to watch us," said Rough-and-Ready; "but I think we may -make ourselves easy about their being disposed to be friendly." - -He and Joshua went about their pursuits as usual; but to keep up the -fiction concerning Minnie with the natives who were watching them, -they would not allow her to work, and treated her with such marks of -deference as could not fail to impress the savages. During the day, -Rough-and-Ready offered food to the savages, who accepted it. To show -their gratitude, two of them went away into the forest, and returned -with a quantity of honey in a reed basket, which they placed at -Minnie's feet, and which she partook of to their evident satisfaction. - -"There isn't the slightest mistake," said Rough-and-Ready merrily, -"that the devil isn't half so black as he is painted." - -They were left apparently undisturbed for two days, when the natives -returned, with different descriptions of food--sweet roots many of -them, pleasant and good to eat. "They have some plan in their heads," -said Rough-and-Ready. He was right. Early the next morning the natives -gave them to understand that they were going farther inland, and that -the white people were to accompany them. "Now we shall see something," -observed Rough-and-Ready as they plunged into the forest. They walked -for three days before they came to the native camp. They made short -stages to accommodate Minnie. During this time, Minnie kept close to -Joshua, as if to protect him; but Rough-and-Ready mixed freely with -the natives, and made some snares for game, which he gave to them, and -with which they were much pleased. When they were within a few miles -of the camp a number of the tribe, chiefly women and children, came -out to meet them. Soon they arrived at the camp, and were surprised at -its picturesqueness. It consisted of about a dozen roomy huts, roofed -and thatched with bark and reeds. At a short distance from the huts -was a large pool, the vegetation around which was singularly -beautiful. Among the strange trees which attracted the notice of the -castaways, the umbrella-tree, with its dark loaves and crimson -flowers, seemed to them the most remarkable. There were also a large -number of great fig-trees, and magnificent palms with feathery leaves. -The air was sweet with the perfume of lily and jasmine and the -golden-flowered thorn. There was one hut which appeared but newly -built; it was prettier than the others, and its sides were decorated -with wild flowers and flowering vines. Towards this the natives led -Minnie, upon whom the women and children looked in awe and wonder. -She, clasping Joshua's hand, entered this hut, and sank upon the bed -of dry leaves, wondering what was next to come. She begged Joshua to -stop with her, for she was frightened of being left alone. So, after -partaking of the food which the natives brought to them, he lay down -near the mouth of the hut, and she at the farther end on her bed of -leaves. Joshua could see the glories of the sunset from where he lay; -and he saw the fire die out of the sky, and saw the stars come out. -But he was tired with his day's walk, and sleep overpowered him, -although he tried to keep awake. Early in the morning they rose, and -walked towards the banks of the pool,-- - - - "To where the weed of green and red - Its floating carpet gayly spread, - Whereon the emerald frog reclined, - Fanned by the fragrance of the wind; - And all was darkened by the shade - The water-weeping branches made-- - Save where a paler, tenderer green - Made bright the beauty of the scene. - The birds flashed down, to drink or lave, - With varied note and joyous stave, - And plunging sidelong from the reeds, - That wavered mid the water-weeds. - Plashed in the stream so cool and calm, - O'erhung by many a fern-tree palm; - And bell-bird peels, whose silvery chimes - Found in the rippled water rhymes, - Throughout the perfumed thicket rang, - Whence the tall-headed bulrush sprang." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. -THE POWER OF MUSIC. - - -The natives were busy preparing for a grand Correboree, which, being -interpreted, means a grand gathering and celebration in honor of some -imposing event. Scouts were sent out in every direction, and every -hour brought fresh comers, who evinced the greatest possible curiosity -in the white people. At one time nearly sixty members of a different -tribe arrived in a body, and a fierce jabbering took place between the -old men of the tribes. Rough-and-Ready, who had by this time picked up -a few native words, came to Minnie and Joshua with a look of concern -on his face. - -"They are quarrelling about us," he said. "As far as I can understand, -this new tribe lay claim to us for having been found in a country -which they say is theirs. I think I know how they will settle it, if -they settle it at all peaceably." - -"How?" asked Joshua anxiously. - -"They will separate us--two for each of the two strongest tribes." -Minnie caught Joshua's hand convulsively. "I know what you mean, my -dear," said Rough-and-Ready, a little sadly; "you and Joshua must not -be parted. And indeed, it would not be right; you belong to one -another. Well, the sailmaker and I will go our way and you will go -yours. Only you must be cunning and keep together. Joshua, tonight, -before the natives go to sleep, play a few soft airs upon your -accordion. You and Minnie must be in your hut together while you play. -And don't let them see the accordion. The music will fill them with -wonder, and it will be a strong reason with them why you should not be -parted. But indeed, my dear, if you continue to act your part well -there will be no fear of that." - -"You are a good man," said Minnie gratefully, holding out her hand to -Rough-and-Ready. - -He took it and pressed it to his lips, and held it in his with -infinite tenderness. - -"No, my dear," he said, "I am not a good man. You have seen me at my -best. I am a convict, and when I came on board the 'Merry Andrew,' I -was trying to escape from the colony. There's many a black mark -against me which I doubt will never be wiped out in this world. I was -a little sinned against at first, it is true, but I had my revenge -afterwards; I couldn't be meek and humble under undeserved punishment. -There! that's all I shall tell you about myself. Your imagination must -fill in the outlines. And, mind you! you can't make me out worse than -I am. I am glad I have made this confession, lame and bald as it is; -it has relieved my mind." He turned his back to them, with a motion -which said, "You see what a vagabond I am; I am not fit company for -such as you." - -But Minnie laid one hand upon his shoulder, and with the other turned -his face towards hers. - -"You are a good man," she repeated earnestly, looking into his eyes, -which were filled with tears, "and I honor and respect you." - -"And I, too," said Joshua, grasping his hand heartily. "If it should -be our good fortune to meet under happier circumstances than these, I -will show my gratitude to you." - -"There, there, there!" exclaimed Rough-and-Ready, half roughly, half -tenderly; "enough said about the past. We sha'n't be together much -longer, as I've told you, and as you'll soon find. We must take things -as they come, and make the best of them. Do you know the natives have -a curious fancy about you?" he said to Minnie. "There was once in -their tribe a young woman of rare beauty and virtues, who was idolized -by all I don't know how long ago this was, and it is only by piecing -stray words and actions together that I have been able to understand -it. Well, this young woman, by some means or other, was transformed -into a star. They believe you to be her, having taken mortal form -again to visit them. 'Tis a pretty fancy, isn't it?" - -"But I am white, and"-- - -"She was black," interrupted Rough-and-Ready gayly. "That is easily -accounted for; they believe that when they die they jump up white. If -you were of their color, they would not have the fancy about you." - -By the evening there were not less than a hundred and fifty savages -collected together. Although the weather was warm, they were lying -down before their campfires, with the exception of one group of about -twenty old men and doctors of the principal tribes, who were earnestly -engaged in discussing matters relating to the white people. An old -chief of the tribe who had first discovered the castaways was on his -feet, declaiming violently, with extravagant action, in which, -nevertheless, there was much dignity. Opara was his name. His hair and -beard were white, and his face and body were scored with ugly seams -gained in battle, or in the exercise of the strange rites and -ceremonies of his tribe. On his neck and breast, and from his -shoulders to his hips, were still to be seen, old as he was, the -gashes made in his youth to entitle him to the dignity of manhood. A -great chief was Opara--wise in council, fearless in battle and had -been the most skilful of all his tribe with boomerang and spear, and -middla, and in throwing the wirra. - -"The strangers are ours," he said; "the sacred crow, Karakorok, -witnesseth that they are ours by right. The heavens were filled with -light, and great voices thundered. We listened in awe. Fire rent the -mountains, and made new caverns sacred. Light dived into raging -waterfalls, cutting the earth. We waited full a moon. The storm -ceased; the spirits spoke no more. We waited another moon. The stars -fell near the sea--into it. We went there, wanting to know. We brought -the strangers back. They are ours." - -Up rose Wealberrin, chief of the other tribe. No less famous he than -Opara. White-bearded, too, and tattooed from top to toe, and no less -cunning with war and hunting weapons. Around his waist was a belt made -of the hair of the enemies he had slain in battle. - -"Not so," he said. "The _land_ is ours. There, in Pandarri Kurto -(heaven's cavern), lie our mintapas--our doctors. There are our -hunting-grounds--our fishing-lands. There we make men of our sons. -Shall I take Opara's food, and call it mine by right? He would reply -as becomes a warrior. If I ask, he would give. But I ask not now. The -land is ours. What is found on the land is ours." - -"Once lived Mirgabeen," said Opara. "Bright-eyed, fleet-footed, -hollow-backed. Her tongue spoke the music of the birds. Her dark hair -hung down to her arched feet. She could shroud her glory in it--as -night the day. She was beloved by all. Too bright for earth, she lives -in the heavens now, a star. She looks down on me. She hears me speak. -So dwelt with us a maid, whose supple limbs cleaved the water, who -sang the music of the woods. The trees bent to her as she walked. The -branches bowed before her, and whispered to her, and she replied. She -left us for the grand vault where moons are made. What was ours is -ours. She has come back to us. She is ours." - -"So be it," said Wealberrin. "The others then are ours. Opara has -spoken." - -"She has with her a mate," said Opara, "whom she has touched upon the -breast. Let Wealberrin take two--we two. Then we shall have peace." - -Wealberrin would have replied, but as he rose to his feet a wondering -expression stole into his face, and into the faces of all assembled -there. For from Minnie's gunyah issued sounds so soft and sweet that -the night-birds hushed their voices to listen. The breeze was so light -that the melodious notes hung upon the air, and lingered long before -they died away. The savages clutched each other, and stood transfixed -with fear and wonder. What voices were these that were speaking? In -their dreams they had never heard any thing so sweet. Opara had said -it. Minnie had come from the vault where the moons are made, and was -speaking to the spirits of another world. Motionless, with bended -heads or with forms inclined towards the sound, they stood like -figures of stone, in reverential attitude. And did not move a limb -when the music ceased; for a shadow fell upon the moonlit space, and -Minnie came to the opening of the gunyah and looked in dumb amazement -at the strange scene before her. - -And now the day has come upon which the grand ceremony of the -Corroboree is to be celebrated. The rival tribes have settled their -dispute. Rough-and-Ready, who is the Chorus of the party, tells his -friends that Joshua and Minnie are to remain with Opara's tribe, and -that he and the sailmaker are to be attached to Wealberrin's. Joshua -hints at resistance, but Rough-and-Ready declares it would be madness. - -"If there was no woman in the case," he says, "I might counsel -differently; but for Minnie's sake we must have no fighting. We might -kill a score or two of the natives, but you must bear in mind there -are half a thousand of them here now. Then their spears are poisoned. -Suppose one should strike Minnie. No, no; submission is our best -course." So, with much grief, they are compelled to make up their -minds to submit. - -All day long, there is great feasting. An emeu has been hunted down, -and the fat carefully distributed among the natives; honey and sweet -roots have been brought in in abundance, and the bushes have been -stripped of their fruit. Rude seats of vines, decorated with flowers, -have been placed for Minnie and Joshua in front of their gunyah, and -in front of the seats a kind of arched screen of leaves and branches -has been erected, through the network of which they can see and be -seen. When night comes, fires are lighted, the flickering flames of -which give birth to monstrous shadows that flit about the trees, and -fill the woods with grotesque shapes. Minnie and Joshua watch with a -kind of wonder the shadows created by the fire nearest to them. Now -the light goes down, and the black shapes dart through the woods, or -run swiftly along the branches, ravenously, and with cruel intent, as -it appears; anon, the flame leaps up, and the shadows fly and shift -restlessly about, with lightning speed, as if suddenly surprised by an -enemy. Their attention, however, is soon diverted from these inanimate -creations. The natives are assembling. Men, women, and children troop -in from all quarters, and seat themselves round and about the fires in -somewhat orderly fashion. There cannot be less than five or six -hundred of them. All being seated, a long silence ensues, broken at -length by a circle of singers, who chant a monotonous song, narrating -how they had journeyed towards the sea into which stars were falling, -and how they had found the strangers, and brought them to their camp. -As they sing this song over and over again, they beat time with their -clubs. A brave then chants a tradition of one of their ancient chiefs, -who was compelled to fly before a hostile tribe; all his young -warriors were slain, and he alone escaped; but his enemies determined -to put an end to him, set fire to the bush around him, and he was -encircled by a net of flame. Suddenly the earth opened, and water -stole up from the caverns and extinguished the fire, and so the chief -was saved, and a great river was made, in which fish was plentiful. In -the midst of the silence which follows this song, a man springs from -out the shadows. His face is crossed with lines of red and yellow, and -his body is painted white. In his hand is a branch of green leaves, -and a great tuft of emeu-feathers is on his head. He stands perfectly -still for full a quarter of an hour, looking into the sky for the -spirits of dead men. What inspiration falls upon him at the end of -that time it would probably be difficult to explain; but he waves his -branch of green leaves to and fro, and the singers strike up another -song, and the musicians beat time as before with their war-clubs, -while the chief actor in the scene rushes about, and flourishes his -arms in a gradually-worked-up state of the wildest excitement. He -vanishes in the shade as suddenly as he had appeared, and in his place -leap a dozen men, presenting so startling an appearance that Minnie -clasps Joshua's hand in sudden alarm. Flowers are twined round their -ankles and above their knees. Some have tails or dingoes wound about -their heads, others wreaths of down from the white cockatoo; some have -tails of wallabies attached to their peaked beards, and all have -feathers in their hair. White rings are round their eyes, their noses -are striped, and lines of red, yellow, and black are painted from -their shoulders and breasts down to their waists, where a white ring -encircles them. The singers burst into song again, and the -hideously-decorated figures begin to dance, advancing towards the -singers and retreating from them; their motions at first are slow and -tremulous, but soon they are leaping and jumping frantically from side -to side, each trying to out-tire the others, with such violent exertion -as to cause them presently to fall upon the ground in a state of -exhaustion. As soon as each recovers, he rises, and dances by himself, -and the women utter cries of commendation, and beat the ground in -ecstasy. These performers are followed by others, who dance in a -serpentine line, until they present the appearance of a serpent coiling -and uncoiling itself; as they dance, they make a hissing sound with -their tongues, to imitate the hissing of a serpent. And so through the -night the Corroboree continues, until, thoroughly worn out, the savages -retire to their rest, and the woods that a while ago were filled with -such strange life and sound, are lying quiet and solemn in the -peaceful light of the stars. - - -Wealberrin and his tribe are ready to start, and Rough-and-Ready and -the sailmaker have come to wish Minnie and Joshua good-by. They go -into the woods, out of sight of the natives, and sit sadly upon trunks -of trees that have been blown down by storms. - -"I have heard say, or have read somewhere," says Rough-and-Ready, -striving to speak gayly, "that life is made up of meetings and -partings, so that this is quite a natural thing, and not to be repined -at. What we've got to do is to make the best of things." - -"It might be worse," says Tom the sailmaker, good-naturedly assisting -Rough-and-Ready to cheer Minnie's spirits. - -"Bravo, Tom!" exclaims Rough-and-Ready. "It might be a good deal -worse. We have escaped greater dangers than the present one, and if we -act wisely and bravely we shall escape this. But it all depends upon -ourselves, and if we lose courage, we lose all. You must bear that in -mind, my dear. Why, this day twelve months we may be talking together, -and smiling at these experiences which now seem so hard to bear!" - -But Minnie only smiles sadly in reply, and Joshua asks Rough-and-Ready -if there is any thing they can give him to enable him to bear them in -remembrance. - -"Nothing is needed," replies Rough-and-Ready. "We have not been -together for a very long time, but our acquaintanceship has been -sufficiently eventful to cause us never to be able to forget each -other. Yet I should like one thing," with a tender glance at Minnie. - -"What?" she asks, learning by his look that it is something in her -power to give. - -"A piece of your hair, Minnie," he says. - -Minnie desires Joshua to cut off a lock with his knife, and he cuts a -thick tress and gives it to Rough-and-Ready, who winds it round his -finger and puts it into his pocket. - -"Now," says he, "for a little sensible talk. Your sole aim must be to -endeavor to work your way near to the settled districts, where you may -have the chance of falling in with white people. Southward lies your -chance of being rescued. Every day the squatters are coming farther -inland in search of new ground for cattle-stations, and every day this -fresh opening up of the country adds to the chances of escape. -Whosesoever lot it is to first fall in with our countrymen must tell -them that there are two white people living with one of the native -tribes who are desirous of getting into civilized company again. That -will make them look out for us perhaps. You will find that stockmen -and bushmen are as fine and manly a set of fellows as you would desire -to meet. I think you have the best chance of first hearing the crack -of a stockman's whip, for your tribe is more of a southern one than -ours." Then Rough-and-Ready told them, as much for the purpose of -diverting Minnie's attention from the sad parting near at hand as for -any other, of the wonderful enterprise of the Australian pioneers of -progress, of the dangers they cheerfully encounter, of the unknown -country they bravely plunge into, of the hardships they bear and make -light of, and of the grand future that awaits the beautiful Australian -continent. - -"To my thinking," he says with enthusiasm, "there is no life that -contains so much pure enjoyment as the life of a backwoodsman. I would -not change it for any other--only I would prefer, for occasional mates -and companions, white people instead of savages. I don't believe man -was intended to live in close cities." - -"But even such a life as you describe," says Joshua, "leads to the -making of great cities. The pioneers go first, and the masses follow." - -"That's the worst of it," says Rough-and-Ready; "they follow, and are -not content to live naturally. They make streets and cramp them up -with just room enough for a score of men to walk abreast in. Down in -Sydney there are streets, as you know, where not a half a dozen men -could walk abreast through; but that's the way of all cities, large or -small. Directly new land is opened up, in troop the masses, as you -call them, who make their streets and build their houses as if there -wasn't an inch of ground to spare; while all around them are thousands -and thousands of miles of lovely country, with trees and flowers, and -fruit, and fish, and game, inviting them to come and enjoy life as it -ought to be enjoyed!" - -"Well," says Joshua, "'tis the way of the world. _You_ were never -intended to live in cities, that's clear." - -"I don't know. I dare say, once upon a time, I should have thought I -was mad if such ideas as I have now had entered my head. I wasn't -always so rough as I am now. But cities are necessary, I suppose; and -it's folly to talk as I do. Why, I don't doubt that in less than fifty -years a city will be built even here in these wild woods; and perhaps -on this very spot where we now sit they'll build a prison." He speaks -these last words with a dash of bitterness: but he soon shakes off his -cynical humor, and proceeds to speak of more important matters -concerning the present. "Be especially careful of one thing," he -concludes, "never by any chance let them see your accordion." (Joshua -had it slung round his shoulders, wrapped in a bag of fur which Minnie -had made for it.) "When you play, let the natives hear the music, not -see where it comes from. By that means you will best preserve your -influence and Minnie's over them. And bear in mind--work southward." - -Here two natives make their appearance, and after looking attentively -at the white people, glide away quietly. - -"'Tis time to go," says Rough-and-Ready, jumping to his feet; "that is -their delicate way of telling us that they are waiting." Minnie, with -streaming eyes, raises her face to his. He stoops and kisses her, and -says tenderly, "God bless and protect you, my dear!" The four of them -shake hands sorrowfully, and part--never again to meet on earth. So -Rough-and-Ready and Tom the sailmaker disappear from the yearning gaze -of their friends, and from this story; and Joshua and Minnie are left -thus strangely alone. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. -HARSH JUDGMENTS. - - -The foundering of the "Merry Andrew" and the loss of every soul on -board were duly recorded in the newspapers, and utterly shattered the -happiness of that humble home in Stepney wherein love and content had -dwelt for so many years. If Mrs. Marvel's daughter Sarah, who has -played an insignificant part in this history, had been at home, -unmarried, her parents might have derived relief and consolation in -watching the progress of her fortunes; but Sarah had had the rare good -fortune to be quickly wooed and quickly won by a country mechanic, and -her subsequent career has nothing in common with these pages. So that -Mr. and Mrs. Marvel were left alone in their unhappy position. They -could not bear to live longer in the house in which Joshua had been -born and reared, and they agreed to Dan's proposition, that they -should move, and live with him and his sisters. What added to their -unhappiness was, that they were at war with every one of their -neighbors. When the news of the loss of the "Merry Andrew" reached -Stepney, the neighbors one and all decided that Joshua was guilty, and -many of them declared that the punishment which had overtaken him was -a just visitation. To listen to this in silence seemed to Joshua's -family to be nothing less than flat treason; they fought stoutly and -earnestly against the calumny, and defended the character of their -lost son with all the strength of their loving hearts. But vainly. The -neighbors persisted in their belief until George Marvel gave out that -if he caught any man speaking against the dead, he would thrash him. -He had not long to wait to give effect to his words. He came home one -day with a black eye and a bruised face. "I've been fighting Bob -Turner," he said in explanation, "for taking away our Josh's good -name." Now Bob Turner was a favorite in the neighborhood, and the -cause in which he received a drubbing was not his alone, but all -his neighbors' as well. Was free and fair speech to be burked by -such an obstinate and opinionated old fellow as George Marvel? Were -they to be deprived of their legitimate privilege of gossiping and -tittle-tattling? Things had come to a pretty pass, when a man was to -be allowed to bully all his neighbors because they wouldn't agree with -him. The fight between Bob Turner and George Marvel was an exciting -topic of conversation in every house for a dozen streets round; and a -unanimous verdict was given in favor of Bob Turner, who was looked -upon in some sort of way as the general champion of the important -privilege of Tittle-tattle. Much sympathy was expressed for him, -inasmuch as he had been taken home after the fight with a battered -nose and bunged-up eyes, and could not go to his work for a week -afterwards. During that week George Marvel thrashed another man, and -called a woman unpleasant names; and when the woman's husband demanded -an explanation, he received one of such a nature as to convert him -instantly into an active enemy. Then Bob Turner, convalescent, made -his appearance in the streets again, with traces of disfigurement in -his face; and burning with animosity and shame, armed himself with a -stone tied in the corner of his pocket-handkerchief, and, swinging his -sling defiantly, expressed his regret that Joshua had been drowned, -for thereby the gallows had been cheated. George Marvel, hearing this, -went in search of his enemy Bob, and came away again with his hand so -disabled by a blow from the sling, that he also could not work for a -week. At which Bob Turner rejoiced, and all the neighbors rejoiced -with him. After that George Marvel refused to speak to any of his -work-mates, and they, in retaliation, passed a resolution sending him -to "Coventry" for six months; which sending to "Coventry" may, to the -uninitiated, be described as the very refinement of cruelty, inasmuch -as it ignores the offender's existence, and condemns him not to be -spoken to by any of his fellow-workmen. This enforced silence was a -dreadful punishment to George Marvel. He bore it patiently enough for -two or three weeks; but then it became a horrible torture. To sit at -his work day after day, and week after week, uttering no word, and -with his work-mates avoiding his very look, was almost maddening. It -drove him to something which I am sorry to have to record; it drove -him to drink. And the habit that began to grow upon him was of the -worst kind. Having no one to drink with him, he drank by himself, and -soon began to carry a flat bottle in his pocket, liberally supplied -with that national curse--Gin. - -Although it may be objected of George Marvel that in his behavior -towards his neighbors he carried things with too high a hand, he acted -only in strict accordance with his nature; and indeed, if he had been -less dictatorial and more conciliatory it is likely that the same -result mould have been produced. It was not to be expected of him to -be gentle and self-suffering under the dreadful accusation that was -brought against his son, when Mrs. Marvel's conduct was taken into -consideration. She could not listen patiently to the revilings of the -neighbors; to remonstrate with them, to speak gently to them, to beg -of them to be more merciful in their speech, would have been an -injustice to the memory of her son. Every tender remembrance -connected with him--and ah, how many there were, and how she cherished -them!--urged her to defend him. And she did defend him, with all her -mother's love, and with flaming eyes and agitated breast; told the -revilers that they ought to be ashamed of themselves, and that they -must be bad and wicked themselves, else they could not set their -tongues to such bad and wicked accusations of the best son that ever -blessed a mother's eyes. Poor thing! it was a sad sight to see her -make her indignant defence in public, and then to see her in her -room--pale, powerless, trembling--sink into a chair, overcome by the -agony of her grief. It was not long before white hairs began to -multiply, and before the cheerful look quite died out of her face. And -Dan and Ellen worked on, and never lost their faith in the dear one -who was lost to them; and Susan, notwithstanding what had befallen, -still watched and rose in the night, and went into the street, -awaiting the return of Basil Kindred's murderer. But no word of him -passed her lips; she worked at her dressmaking in silence, and never -uttered a cheerful word. A blight had fallen upon those once happy -homes. - -They had, however, two friends and constant visitors, Praiseworthy -Meddler and Solomon Fewster. Through good and evil report, these two -friends remained faithful to Them, although from widely-different -motives. Considering all the circumstances, every thing had turned out -very fortunate for Solomon Fewster. He confessed as much to himself -exultantly, and curiously enough, gave himself some credit for having -brought it about. Every tittle of evidence against him had been -destroyed; no suspicion rested against him. Joshua was drowned; and -Ellen remained, looking prettier in her black dress than he had ever -seen her. He was sure of her now. He had only to wait. She had an -encumbrance, certainly, which he would gladly have dispensed with--her -baby-girl, born in sorrow. But he made up his mind that he would be -kind to her, if she lived; and this resolve, to his own thinking, -atoned for any hand he may have had in Joshua's misfortunes. When he -saw Ellen with her baby in her lap, he thought, and thought rightly, -that he had never seen a more beautiful sight. "One day," he said to -himself, "I shall see her with a child of mine upon her breast;" and -he dreamed with tender pleasure, and with no pangs of conscience, of -the happy time to come. - -So time passed on, and no ray of sunshine illumined the darkness of -that unhappy home. Things were going from bad to worse. George Marvel -was not a confirmed drunkard, but he drank more than was good for him; -and his reputation as a cunning workman was on the wane. He did not -work regularly either; he was often absent, and earned less money. His -wife expostulated with him many times, and begged him not to drink. He -listened without impatience, and said, "It's of no use, Maggie; if I -didn't drink I should go mad. I'm an altered man to what I was, and -I've brought it all on myself." - -"Nay, George," she said, "you cannot say that and mean it." - -(It is to be noticed as a singular thing that now she never called her -husband "father," and indeed had not done so since the news of -Joshua's death had reached them. The delicacy and thoughtfulness of a -faithful wife's love are not to be excelled.) - -"I _can_ say that and mean it, Maggie," he replied; "I have been the -cause of all this. I wasn't content that my son should be a -wood-turner; no, I drove him to sea and away from all of us. We might -have been as happy as the day is long if he had remained at home. And -he would have remained but for me. I remember what you said, Maggie, -as well as if you'd said it last night: 'If Joshua is shipwrecked, -don't forget that I warned you beforehand.'" - -"O George!" cried Mrs. Marvel, in an agony of remorse, "how can you -bring my wicked words up against me now?" - -"I do not bring them up against you, wife; I bring them up against -myself. And they were wise and good words--not wicked ones. I ought to -have listened to them; but I was obstinate and pig-headed, and -thought, like a fool, that I knew better than you. Ah! but it's too -late to alter what is past; and I've brought death to our son and -misery to you, and shame on all of us." - -Then he refused to listen to her longer, and walked away to chew the -cud of his remorse, and to drink more gin. To her and to the others in -the house he was gentle: but to everybody else he was a bear. One -night he came home in a condition which may be described as neither -drunk nor sober. Dan and Ellen were sitting together, and the baby--to -whom they had given Mrs. Marvel's name of Maggie--was lying in the -cradle, when he came into the house. It belonged to his humor not to -show himself ashamed of his new bad habit: when he was drunk he did -not slink away and hide himself; but exhibited a kind of reckless -defiance, for which it would have been as hard for him as for others -to account. So upon this occasion he came into the room, quickly -followed by his wife, who never watched him out of doors, but who -attended to him in the house as if he were a child. He took his seat -in the chair which Ellen placed for him, and sat moody and silent -while Mrs. Marvel quickly set his supper before him. But he could not -eat it. He pushed the food from him fretfully, and took his wife's -hand and patted it, and then said suddenly,-- - -"Maggie, we must go away from here." - -"Go away, George!" she exclaimed. "Where to?" - -"I don't know; but I can't stop here much longer. If I do, I shall -bring fresh disgrace upon you. I can't live this life any longer; it -is killing me. We have already lost our good name and our good -character in the neighborhood, and where I used to get respect I now -get contempt. And, Maggie, I am afraid of myself! A new workman came -into the shop to-day, and I heard Bob Turner tell him about us and -about our poor lost boy, and speaking of him in such a way--Dan! -Ellen!" he cried, appealing to them in justification of himself -"_could_ you stand by quietly and listen to shameful words spoken of -our Joshua? Could you restrain yourself if you heard him spoken of as -a--Oh, but I cannot say it!" - -Ellen rose, with flashing eyes and cheeks burning with honest -indignation. - -"No," she exclaimed; "I could not, father. I should tell the wretch he -was a coward and a villain." - -"I told him so--your very words: I called him a coward and a villain; -and I almost had my hand on his throat, when the other men interfered. -But there was a row in the place for an hour: for I was almost mad. -And then the master called me into his room, and told me--what do you -think? Why, that he was very sorry to see the change that had taken -place in me lately; that he was very sorry to see that I had taken to -drink; that I was a good workman, and that I had worked well for him -for a many years; but that if I couldn't behave myself as I used to -do, I must find another shop. That was a pretty thing to say to -me!--the best workman he ever had, and the steadiest too--no, I can't -say that now; but I could up to a little time ago. I had a mind to -take off my apron, and fling it in his face, but thought of all of you -stopped me. Instead of that, I asked him what he would have done in my -place supposing he had had a son; but he stopped me there, and said -that he was talking business, and not sentiment. With that I flung -myself out of the room, and swore I'd join the Chartists, and teach -the masters one day that workmen have hearts"--But Mr. Marvel broke -down here and glared about him in violent agitation. - -They let him be, and waited till he was calmer; they had studied how -best to humor him. Then Mrs. Marvel said:-- - -"What do you think we had best do, George?" - -"I don't know," he answered somewhat roughly; "I'm not fit to give -advice. I was dead against you when you didn't want our poor boy to go -to sea, and I'm rightly served for it; but I'll never advise again. -I'll be led now, not lead." - -At this point, Dan, purposely, but without attracting observation, -pushed the cradle so as to awake baby, and thus caused a diversion. -After that, he quietly gave Ellen and Mrs. Marvel to understand that -he wanted to speak to Mr. Marvel alone, and the women presently glided -out of the room. George Marvel took no notice of their departure, and -indeed did not notice it until Dan aroused his attention. Then he -said,-- - -"Where's Ellen and the wife?" - -"Gone to bed, sir," replied Dan; "and I'm glad of it, because I wanted -to speak to you." - -George Marvel gave Dan a disturbed look, and said,-- - -"Won't another time do, Dan?" - -"No, sir; I want to say what I have to say now, particularly." - -George Marvel nodded, and somehow or other, the flat bottle in which -he carried his gin obtruded itself unpleasantly upon his notice. It -made a bulge in his pocket, and he tried to hide it from Dan, but did -not succeed. - -"Will you give me leave to speak of certain things in the past, sir, -and not consider it a liberty?" asked Dan. - -"Say what you like, Dan; I can't consider any thing you say a -liberty." - -"Ah--then I may speak of another thing presently, which makes us all -very unhappy." (George Marvel shifted uneasily upon his chair, and -wished he could get rid of the flat bottle which made itself so -conspicuous in his breast-pocket.) "We have gone through many changes -in our humble life; but for the most part we have been very happy. Do -you remember, sir, when father died, how perplexed I was as to how we -should live, and how, when every thing seemed to be a failure, and -there didn't seem to be a ray of hope, you came to me with twelve -pounds four shillings, in a bag, which you had collected for us among -the neighbors?" (George Marvel groaned, and thought, "What would the -neighbors say to me now if I went to them on such an errand? But I was -respected then.") "Well, sir, from that time fortune smiled upon us, -and we got on, until the unhappy day came. You know, sir, what father -died of; it causes me shame and sorrow to think of, although it is a -long time ago. I remember how Ellen and I used to sit here, in this -very room, and tremble when we heard his step in the passage--she was -frightened, but I was more ashamed than frightened. There was the day -poor mother was buried--I shall never forget that night when we sat -here in the dark; Mrs. Marvel was very kind to us that day, but indeed -she was always that. Jo's mother couldn't be otherwise." (George -Marvel gave a gasp, and lowered his head.) "It cuts, sir, to speak of -Jo in this way; I feel it as well as you. But it may do good. Now I'll -tell you what I thought that night of poor mother's funeral, when I -heard father stumbling in the passage. I thought it was cruel and -unkind to mother; I thought that even if he had the right to bring -shame on himself (which I am certain he hadn't, for no man has), he -had no right to bring it on us; I thought that perhaps poor mother -died sooner than she might have done if father had been a steady and -sober man. For father earned very little money, and mother had to work -very hard to make both ends meet. I have known her get up in the -winter mornings at five o'clock, and work and slave till near -midnight, and all because of father's idleness. Now tell me, sir, you -whom I have always looked up to because you are a just man, could any -thing justify father in leading the life he did?" - -"Nothing, Dan," replied George Marvel, in a low voice. - -"He did not even have the excuse of a great grief," said Dan -courageously and tenderly. "Why, when he died that dreadful death, -shamed and shocked as I was, I looked upon it as a mercy to him and to -us that he was taken away. Yet, going a long way back, to the time -when I was very young, I remember that father was not so very bad; he -used to drink a little, but was not always drunk. It grew upon him, I -suppose, until it mastered him, and made him what he became." -Certainly, Dan proved himself the cunningest of physicians; he had -brought home to George Marvel a consciousness of the abyss towards -which he was walking, and had executed his task tenderly, wisely, and -without giving offence. "Now, come, sir," continued Dan boldly; "let -us look things straight in the face. You said you must go away from -here--you mean all of us, of course. Have you any idea where we should -move to?" - -"None, Dan. Only one thing is plain to me--ay, much plainer to me -after what you have said--and that is that I must go from this -neighborhood, where once I held up my head and was respected, but -where now every man and woman is my enemy. I never will be friends -with them again--never! If they held out their hands to me now, I -should refuse them after what they have said of our poor dead boy." - -"Dead boy!" mused Dan. "Are you certain, sir, that Jo is dead?" So -startled was Mr. Marvel by the question, that he gazed at Dan in -speechless astonishment. "I haven't spoken of it to anybody else, but -something tells me that our Joe is alive. Yes, sir, you may well stare -at me, for every other person but you and Ellen and Mrs. Marvel would -call me mad for saying such a thing. I can give you no reason for the -belief--for it is a belief, not a fancy. Haven't you heard, sir, of -men being wrecked on strange lands, and living there for many years -after they were supposed to be dead? Haven't you heard of men living -amongst savages, and suddenly appearing among their friends years and -years after they were lost? Some such thing, happily, may have -occurred to Jo." - -"But it's two years now since Josh went away," gasped Mr. Marvel; and -then added, "Don't tell mother, Dan; it would drive her out of her -senses." - -"I shall wait before I tell her, but I shall tell Ellen when the -proper time comes. Hope isn't a bad thing, sir. - -"But hope without reason," suggested Mr. Marvel. - -"Except the reason that exists and the comfort that exists in thinking -of the cases that we have read of in stories of shipwrecked men who -have been preserved from death. But hope is a good thing always, -whether it comes from reason or fancy. And if you can believe as I -believe, it will be the better and not the worse for you. Indeed, -indeed, sir, you don't know how earnest I am in this. Think of the -friendship that exists between me and Jo; I believe it to be something -better and higher than ordinary friendships among boys and men. It has -grown up with us, until it has become almost a part of our very being. -We are never out of each other's thoughts; when he was away on his -first voyage he was always thinking of me, and I of him. And that -Christmas night that he came home--do you know what happened then, -sir? Ellen can tell you that during the whole of that day I was uneasy -about Jo; I had dreamed of him the night before, and my dream made me -unhappy, for I was convinced that he was in danger. I had no reason -for that, nor had I any reason for telling Ellen that Jo was very near -us an hour before he came to the door. But unhappily, it all came true -as I feared. Now, sir, I have thought often that if Jo was dead, I -should feel it and know it--and I don't feel it and don't know it. -Something keeps whispering to me, 'You will see him again, be with him -again.' And I believe that I shall. For last night, sir, I dreamed of -Jo, and Jo was alive; and as sure as we're sitting here talking, we -shall see Jo one day, and all the dreadful mystery that looks so black -against him will be cleared up." - -Mr. Marvel jumped to his feet, and walked excitedly about the room. -There was something contagious in Dan's enthusiasm. So earnest, so -thrilling was Dan's voice, that Mr. Marvel's heart beat high with the -hope in which there was no reason. - -"I have not done yet, sir. When you said to-night that you must go -away from here, I was amazed, for it seemed to belong to part of my -dream. Jo seemed to say to me, 'I can't come to you Dan; come to me.' -And I want to go to him"-- - -Mr. Marvel stopped suddenly in his walk, and stood before Dan with a -startled look on his face. - -"I want to go to him, or as near to him as I can. The last place Jo -was heard of was at Sydney, and the ship is supposed to have foundered -somewhere near the Australian coast. Well, sir, if by any means it can -be managed, we ought to go to Australia." - -"All of us!" exclaimed Mr. Marvel. - -"All of us," repeated Dan. "Why not? We are miserable here--unhappy -here. We haven't, as you say, a friend in the place. Everybody is -against Jo, and believe him to be bad, while we know him to good. I -agree with you, sir, that if those we thought were our friends and who -have spoken against Jo were to hold out their hands to me, I would not -take them. It would be treasonable to Jo. To live on here in this way -would only be adding to our unhappiness. I dare say we could manage to -get along out there. Mr. Meddler says it is a rising place, and a -splendid country for a poor man to get along in. You could take your -tools, and could get work. I could take my birds, and should be able -to get plenty there that I could train. Why, sir, it would be a -splendid thing, and the best for all of us." - -"I believe it would--I believe it would," said Mr. Marvel, his voice -trembled with eagerness; "but where is the money to come from?" - -"We have forty pounds of Jo's, sir, that he left for you and me; I -wouldn't mind it being spent that way. That wouldn't be any thing like -enough, I know; but I think I have a friend. However, sir, let us -think over it for a little while. I am glad that we've had this talk. -You'll forgive me, sir, won't you, for what I said in the first part -of it?" - -George Marvel made no reply, but, standing by Dan, put his arm -affectionately round the neck of his son's friend; then left the room, -and comforted his wife by a very simple act. He took the flat bottle -out of his pocket, and said, "Maggie, I have done with this; I shall -never fill it again." And, happily for him and all of them, he kept -his word. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. -MR. MARVEL SHAKES THE DUST FROM HIS FEET. - - -Dan took the Old Sailor in to his confidence, and the impracticable -old fellow excitedly proposed that they should leave Stepney and come -and live with him in his barge. But as Dan declared that that was -impossible, the Old Sailor's hopes fell down to zero. - -"We can't live in this neighborhood much longer," said Dan; "it -wouldn't so much matter to me, for I'm always indoors, but it does to -Jo's father. I know what he must suffer. You see, what we want is a -friend." - -"Ah!" said the Old Sailor, "what you want is a friend. Well, we'll -talk of this again by and by." - -"He went down stairs to see Ellen, and found her crying over her baby. - -"Come, come, my dear," he said; "this won't do; you'll be making an -old woman of yourself in no time." And he dried her eyes with his -handkerchief. - -"You're the only friend we've got now," said Ellen sadly. - -The Old Sailor thought: "Says Dan, 'What we want is a friend.' Says -Ellen, 'You're the only friend we've got.'" And he put this and that -together, as he had done once before in the memorable conversation he -had had with Joshua at Gravesend, when he set all matters straight. - -"What were you crying for, my lass?" he said aloud. - -"Ah, sir!" replied Ellen, "I don't mind telling you. I was looking -down at baby, and thinking that when she is old enough to understand -things--and baby is very quick, and almost understands already, don't -you, my pet?--she will hear such stories from ill-natured people about -father, as will make her as unhappy as her poor mother is. When I -thought that, sir, I began to cry, and was almost wicked enough to -believe that it would be better for both of us to die than to live -amongst such bad-hearted people." - -The Old Sailor did not stop long, but walked away in profound thought. - -Soon after that, another misfortune occurred. George Marvel told them -that he had left his situation. "I gave it up of my own accord, -Maggie," he said to his wife, to whom he first spoke upon the subject; -"If I hadn't, I should have done something that would have made the -master give me warning, and I should have been disgraced. I can't make -sure of myself now; my blood boils up so when I hear a word dropped -about Josh, that every thing swims before my eyes. I can't help it, my -dear. Don't blame me." - -She did not blame him, but said she was sure he had done what he -thought was for the best. - -"I've worked in the shop, man and boy, for more than thirty years," he -said huskily, "and I doubt if I shall get another. Trade's overdone. A -good many men are out, and I'm not as young as I was. I don't quite -see the end of it, Maggie." - -She cheered him and comforted him, and he went out the next morning in -search of work, feeling very much ashamed of himself. It was like -begging. He came home disheartened and footsore, and hadn't a cheerful -word or look for any one. "A nice ending this is!" he said bitterly. -"But I brought it all on myself. I shouldn't have driven our boy to -sea." He seemed to think it was nothing but strict justice that he -should take all the blame upon himself. He earned so little money, -that presently he had to break into Joshua's legacy to him and Dan, -and it began to melt like magic. Things were getting very bad. The -dressmaking work, too, was slackening, and Susan and Ellen had many -idle days. - -Solomon Fewster observed all this with inward satisfaction, although -outwardly he sympathized with them, and was profuse in his offers of -assistance. But they would not accept any thing from him; and very -soon the proceeds of the birds he continued to purchase from Dan -became their most dependable source of revenue. Notwithstanding that -he was careful never to say a word of the past that would be -distasteful to them, he did not make much way in their good graces. -They did not show this, however; he was consistent in his offers of -assistance and in his friendly behavior, and they could not show -ingratitude; but their instincts were against him. He allowed a year -to pass before he spoke to Ellen of his love for her, and even then he -thought it best first to make sure of the co-operation of her friends. -He addressed himself in the first place to George Marvel, who opened -his eyes very wide, and was indeed very much astonished at Mr. -Fewster's declaration. He had never suspected that Mr. Fewster had an -attachment for Ellen. - -"I loved her before she was married," said Mr. Fewster to him; "but -then I saw that she loved your poor son, and I was too honorable to -interpose. So I did not distress her by telling her of my love." - -Mr. Marvel thought that that was manly and straightforward, but asked -Mr. Fewster why he spoke to him upon the subject. - -"You are in a sort of way Ellen's father," replied Mr. Fewster, "and -it is due to you that I should speak to you first. I should not be -justified otherwise in offering myself to Ellen. I have something to -say also, if you will excuse me for taking the liberty"-- - -Seeing that Mr. Fewster hesitated, Mr. Marvel bade him proceed, and -then the wooer cunningly placed before Mr. Marvel certain advantages -that would accrue to him if Ellen consented. - -"I should feel it my duty," said Mr. Fewster, "to see that the man I -look upon as Ellen's father is properly cared for." - -"Never mind that," said Mr. Marvel; he had recovered from his -astonishment, and felt a sort of displeasure at Mr. Fewster's -proposal. "Never mind that," he repeated dryly, "but tell me what it -is you want me to do." - -"I want you to give your consent, Mr. Marvel, and to assist me." - -"Assist you in making a woman love you, Mr. Fewster!" exclaimed Mr. -Marvel. "No, no; the matter rests with you and Ellen. It is none of -mine, and any feeling I may have in the matter it is but right I -should keep to myself." - -"But you won't say any thing in my disfavor," urged Mr. Fewster, -alarmed at Mr. Marvel's coldness of manner, and thinking to himself -that when Ellen was his wife, he would have as little as possible to -do with the Marvels. - -"I shall say nothing to Ellen one way or the other," replied Mr. -Marvel moodily. "I have no doubt Ellen knows what is due to herself. -And to Joshua," he was about to add, but he only thought the words; -they did not pass his lips. When Mr. Fewster went away, Mr. Marvel was -very despondent, and thought with some bitterness that he would have -spoken to Ellen's lover very differently, if he hadn't been so low -down in the world. So discouraged was Mr. Fewster by his interview -with Mr. Marvel, that he did not speak to any other members of the -family, not even to Dan, but came straight to the point at once with -Ellen. After all, whom else did it concern but Ellen and himself? She -was sitting in the kitchen, working; baby was in the cradle, and upon -Ellen's face were traces of tears. When she and baby were alone, her -tears flowed too readily now. Solomon Fewster had prepared himself -carefully for the occasion. He was attired in his best, and presented -quite a holiday appearance. He bought a bunch of flowers for Ellen, of -which he begged her acceptance. With a little hesitancy of manner, she -took them from his hand and placed them on the table. There is -something in the air of a wooer that betrays his purpose to the woman -he loves, and when Ellen looked into Mr. Fewster's face and saw this, -she rose hurriedly, and stooped to take baby out of the cradle, -intending to leave the room. But Mr. Fewster's hand upon her arm -restrained her. - -"Nay, Ellen," he said awkwardly, "let baby alone for a little; don't -disturb her--she looks so pretty in her sleep." And calling up a look -of admiration in his face, he contemplated baby with an appearance of -affectionate interest, which would have won its way to the heart of -most mothers at once. But not to Ellen's. Mr. Fewster's tender manner -brought back to her the memory of all his disagreeable attentions when -they were first acquainted, and she waited in silent apprehension for -what she dreaded was to come. But round about the bush went Mr. -Fewster. - -"Things are very much changed, Ellen," he observed. She would have -resented his calling her by her Christian name on the present -occasion, although he had often done so before; but he was Dan's -patron and their chief dependence, and she did not dare to object. -"Very much changed," he repeated. "Mr. Marvel, poor fellow, looks -quite shabby. He has a difficulty in getting work, I believe. Very -sad--very sad. But it's the way of the world. One man up, another man -down, Lucky, man that who can always keep up." - -"He is indeed, Mr. Fewster," said Ellen, constrained to say something -in reply. "But we can't help misfortunes coming." - -"No; but we can often turn bad fortune into good. Now, looking lately -at Mr. and Mrs. Marvel, who are far from happy, poor things! far from -happy, I have been thinking what a beautiful thing it would be to make -them easier in their mind as regards their worldly circumstances, for -there is no doubt that that constitutes the greatest part of their -unhappiness. As for the other part of their unhappiness--family -grief--time will soften that. But time doesn't soften poverty if it is -always with you. It is a sad thing, a very sad thing, but it is so -unfortunately. There is no harder misfortune in the world than -poverty." - -"Yes, there is, Mr. Fewster," said Ellen, who had taken baby on her -lap as a kind of protection. "There are griefs of the heart which are -bitterer to bear than poverty." - -"I stand corrected. But then that will be the case with the few, not -with the many--with the few who are superior to most people, and who -are the more to be admired for the possession of such excellent -virtues. I know one woman who is far above all others in this respect, -and whom I therefore love and admire far above all other women." Ellen -trembled and turned very pale, but Mr. Fewster proceeded rapidly, -fearful lest he had been too precipitate, "Coming back to Mrs. -Marvel--would it not be a good thing to make her comfortable in her -mind about her worldly circumstances?" - -"It would be--a very good thing," answered Ellen, in a low tone. - -"And it can be done. There is one person who has it in her power to do -this for Mrs. Marvel." Again Mr. Fewster paused until Ellen asked, -"Who is that person, Mr. Fewster?" - -"You," he said eagerly. "You can do this, and at the same time you can -make a man who has loved you from the first day he saw you the -happiest man in the world." - -"Stop, sir!" cried Ellen, in a firm voice. "You must not say what you -were about to say. It would be folly--worse than folly--it would be -wicked for me to pretend not to understand you. It would be merciful -to me, and best for both of us, that you should not say any thing more -now. I have no heart for any thing but my grief and my child." - -So earnestly did she speak, that Fewster was fain to desist. The only -words he said were, "You shall see how I respect and love you: your -word is my law;" and straightway left her. But he did not leave her -despairingly. One little word that Ellen had unconsciously uttered -filled him with hopeful anticipation. She had said, "It will be -merciful to me, and best for both of us, that you should not say any -thing more _now_." She had put no impression upon the word; but the -wish that "keeps the word of promise to the ear" imbued it with a -distinct utterance to Solomon Fewster's sense. "I must not say any -thing more _now_," he thought; "that opens the way for the future. I -must be content for a little while." He thought he had made a good -move, and that he was sure to win the game. - -When he was gone, Ellen caught her baby to her bosom, and ran to Dan's -room for consolation--almost, as it seemed to her, for protection. -There she found George Marvel sitting in an attitude of sadness. He -had not had an hour's work for the last fortnight, and half of -Joshua's savings was spent: but barely twenty pounds remained. When -that was gone! Well, that was what was fermenting in George Marvel's -mind now. When that was gone, what was he to do? Sit down and starve? -Without doubt, they could not all live upon Dan's earnings; for Dan -and his sisters earned barely enough to keep themselves. He groaned in -bitterness of spirit to think that he, the only man in the house who -could work, was doomed to idleness. He had striven hard, and still -strove, to obtain employment--with what success has been narrated. He -felt at times as if he would be justified in demanding work, instead -of begging for it. Indeed, on one occasion he had asked for work in -some what defiant tones, and, being refused, had spoken out of the -bitterness of his heart, of the injustice and hardship that stood in -his way of earning food, being willing to work for it honestly. The -only answer he received was an order to quit the shop immediately, if -he did not wish to be given in custody. The sentiments to which he had -given utterance were soon made known to many masters in the trade, -some of whom afterwards, in reply to his applications, said they did -not want any Chartists in their workrooms. His case was a desperate -one indeed. The problem which he was trying to solve as Ellen entered -the room after her interview with Solomon Fewster was a common one -enough, more's the pity. He would have expressed it in very simple -words: "I must work to live. I am able to work, and willing. I cannot -get work. How am I to live?" Ellen saw the trouble in his face, and -sat down by his side. He gave her just one glance, and learned what -had occurred; for he had seen Solomon Fewster go out of the house. - -"I know what has occurred, my dear," he said anxiously. "Mr. Fewster -has been speaking to you. And your answer?" - -"I have no need to tell you, father," said Ellen, raising her eyes to -his. She said nothing of the bribe Fewster had offered for her love. - -George Marvel saw that Ellen had refused Mr. Fewster, and he nodded -grave approval; yet, from a sense of justice, was compelled to ask,-- - -"Have you considered all the circumstances, Ellen? Have you considered -the future?" - -"I don't know," she answered; "I only know that I have done what is -right, and what is due to my dear Joshua's memory." - -All this was Greek to Dan, and it had to be explained to him. He -listened in silence, and was very thoughtful afterwards. He let the -matter drop, however, until he and Ellen were alone; and then he told -her, gently and by degrees, of his belief that Joshua was not lost, -and of his earnest desire to go over the seas and commence a new life. -She, listening eagerly, almost breathlessly, pressed his hand to her -lips and kissed him again and again, and was absolutely so simple as -to share his belief. Hope revived within her; and when Dan said, "You -are not widowed yet, dear; of that I feel assured," she blessed him -for the words in which there was no reason. - -Other troubles came. Solomon Fewster, strong in cunning, made a new -move in the game. His orders began to fall off, and in a short time he -bought one bird where formerly he had bought three. Perhaps he -thought, "If love won't drive Ellen into my arms, necessity may." It -was a cruel device, mean and merciless, and it struck fresh terror to -their hearts. They could do nothing; but wait and watch the tide come -up. And things grew so bad for them that they had to content -themselves with two meals a day, and those but poor and scanty ones. -Their condition was a strange parallel to that of the unfortunate -passengers of the "Merry Andrew" on the raft. There are wrecks on land -as sad as any in the records of the sea. - -Solomon Fewster, of course, was profuse in his regrets at the -falling-off of the business, and offered to lend Dan and Ellen money, -which they refused. He renewed his offer many times, not offended at -the refusal. "He wants to buy Ellen," thought Dan; "but he doesn't -know her. Jo said once that Ellen was not the kind of a girl for a -heroine. Would he say so now, if he could see her, I wonder?" - -It was in this way that he often thought of Joshua as of one who would -be restored to them some day. He had fixed the belief firmly in his -mind, and nothing could shake it. He had no hope of ever seeing Minnie -again. She was as one who had passed out of his life forever. But she -lived in his mind and in his heart, and came to him in his dreams. And -in the light, often and often, he would muse upon her tenderly and -lovingly. - -So they lived on, and the tide of adversity rose higher and higher, -until they were compelled to begin to pawn things. But a better time -was coming. The Old Sailor passing a pawn-shop one day in Dan's -neighborhood--he was on his way to Dan's house--saw Ellen hurry out of -the shamefaced door. He was so staggered that he allowed her to escape -his sight. He had had no idea that things were so hard with them as -that. When he recovered himself, he gave his chest a great thump, -called himself "a blind old swab," and made his way to Dan's house. He -went straight down to the kitchen, prying old interloper as he was, -and caught Ellen, in the act of counting a few--very few--small pieces -of silver and copper in Mrs. Marvel's hand. He was so distressed, that -the blood rushed into his face. He only desired to see Ellen alone and -speak to her, and here he was shaming them in their poverty. The -tender-hearted old fellow was fit to sink into the ground, he was so -remorseful. He stammered out a few words of apology, said he thought -Ellen was alone, but that Dan would do as well. He went up to Dan, and -to Dan's astonishment locked the door. Then he inclined his head -melodramatically, to be sure that no one was listening, and, being -satisfied, drew a chair close to Dan's. - -"Hark ye, my lad," he said: "can you and I speak to the point, and -without beating about the bush?" - -"I think we can, sir," replied Dan, smiling; the Old Sailor's voice -always did him good. - -"Frankly, then," said the Old Sailor, "do you find it a hard matter to -live?" - -"Very hard, sir." - -"No money in the house, eh?" - -"None, sir." - -"And business falling off?" - -"Fallen off would be more correct, sir. My earnings for the last month -not more than ten shillings." - -"And Mr. Marvel?" - -"About a day's work in the week, sir." - -"And the money that poor Josh left?" - -"All gone, sir." - -"O Dan!" groaned the Old Sailor, "why wasn't I told of this?" - -Dan gave him a sad look, but made no other reply. - -"And the poor mother," continued the Old Sailor, "how must she have -suffered! And Ellen, poor lass! and the little one! Dan, Dan! if I -don't feel to you as if you were my son, I could find it in my heart -to be angry with you!" - -"Nay, sir," urged Dan gently, "you are not to blame. We are -unfortunate, that is all. We are not the only ones, I dare say." - -"Come, now, open your mind to me. Look things in the face. What do you -see before you this time twelve months?" - -The practical question was like a blow, and Dan trembled. The answer -came from his reason in which there was no hope. - -"What do I see before me this time twelve months? Worse poverty than -this--and this is hard enough, God knows! We are growing poorer every -day, and every day it is a puzzle where to-morrow's food will come -from. All our friends have fallen off from us; when Ellen and Jo's -mother go into the streets, not one pleasant face greets them. They -come back, sad and suffering. And they must bear it while they remain -in this neighborhood, if they are to be true to Jo. I can understand -now how some good people are made bad by the world's injustice. It -won't make them bad, I can answer for that; but I'm not so sure of Mr. -Marvel. I haven't seen a smile on his face for months; his nature -seems to be completely changed. I am almost afraid to think what -remorse might drive him to, for he is continually reproaching himself -with being the cause of all our misfortunes. He says he drove Jo to -sea, when his influence would have kept him at home; and this thought -stings him day and night. As for me, I earn very little money now. And -I am so stupid," he added, with an odd smile, yet thoughtful withal, -"as to repine sometimes that we can't live without silver and copper." - -The Old Sailor dabbed his face with his handkerchief in a state of -great excitement during this recital, and was compelled to wait until -he was cool before he said, "So, taking them altogether, things are -very bad." - -"Taking them altogether, sir," said Dan, "I don't see how they could -be worse. We have only one consolation." - -"What is that, Dan?" asked the Old Sailor eagerly, with a faint hope -that it was something tangible. - -"Our faith in Jo, and our knowledge that he is good and true, as we -have always known him to be. Poor Jo!" - -The Old Sailor groaned. - -"You can't live on that, Dan," he said. - -"No, sir," replied Dan with rare simplicity; "but it is a great -comfort, nevertheless." - -The Old Sailor pressed Dan's hand. - -"'Tisn't so bad a world," he murmured more to himself than to Dan, -"despite its injustice." Then aloud: "What would be the best thing for -all of you to do, Dan, under the circumstances? - -"There is but one thing, sir; and I might as well wish for cheese from -the moon as wish for that." - -"Perhaps not, Dan, perhaps not. Tell your wish." - -"I want some money." - -"Ah! how much?" - -"Enough to take us to Australia, where we could commence a new life." - -"You hinted at that some time ago, Dan." - -"Yes, sir." - -"That's what you meant when you said you wanted a friend?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"And I took no notice of it, like a hard-hearted old hunks as I am. Do -you know why I took no notice of it, Dan?" - -"No, sir." - -"Because I didn't want to part from you--because I didn't want to lose -the only friends I have in the world--because I thought only of -myself; and how lonely I should feel when you and my little Ellen and -the good mother were thousands of miles away. Well, well! Old as I am, -I'm not too old to learn from younger heads. Look you, my lad! But -stop--we'll have the women up." - -The Old Sailor went down into the kitchen where Ellen and Mrs. Marvel -were, and took a hand of each, and led them gravely up stairs into -Dan's room. - -"This is a family council, my dears," he said, kissing them, "where we -are to speak our minds without hesitation. Dan has been making things -clear to me, and I see a good deal to which I've been blind, selfishly -blind, more shame to me. When the storm came on, I had an idea that -you might be able to weather it; but you were not strong enough, and -human hearts have not been so kind to you as winds and waves are. The -winds howl to-day, but a calm comes to-morrow; the waves dash over you -for a time, but presently the sea grows smooth. That's at sea; 'tis -different on land sometimes. You have found it so, my dears, eh?" - -They sighed assent, and waited in a state of painful expectancy for -what was to come. - -"And here you are with every sail split, with every spar broken, with -bulwarks dashed in, and every thing adrift. And around you cruel -tongues and unjust hearts. What! with all this craft in view, won't -one come forward, and ask, What cheer? Not one? And yet you've held -out a helping hand many a time, my dear" (to Mrs. Marvel), "as I well -know, and spared a spar here and a bit of canvas there, with a willing -heart and a free hand. But you are pearls, you women, and teach us -goodness. The Lord love you, and send you happier days!" - -He almost broke down here; but he recovered himself by a great effort, -and continued, somewhat huskily at first:-- - -"Ah, my dears, I've been in storms, but never a worse than this has -been to you. Look up, my lass!" he cried to Ellen, and pointing -upwards to the dingy paper ceiling in so earnest a tone that he found -all of them followed the direction of his finger, while a new-born -hope entered their hearts. "Look up! D'ye see the clouds a-breaking? -D'ye see the sun tipping the edges with white light? If you don't, -take my word for it, the storm's over, and a friendly craft is bearing -down upon you." He paused awhile before he spoke again. "'You see,' -says Dan to me, 'what we want is a friend.' Says Ellen to me, the very -same day, 'You're the only friend we've got.' What did I do? Clap on -sail and bear down upon you? Not I!" - -"Nay, sir," interposed Dan. - -"Hold your tongue, Dan; I deserve to have the cat for my behavior. -Now, hark ye. Before my poor lass here was married to Josh--don't cry, -my dear--I made over my little bit of money to them jointly, for -better or worse. I dare say it will come to a matter of two hundred -pounds. Will that be enough, Dan?" - -Dan's sobs prevented a reply, and the women sat silently thankful. - -"So look upon that as settled," said the Old Sailor, rising; "and make -your arrangements. I'll see what ships are going out, and 'll let you -know to-morrow." - -He left the room abruptly, unable to bear the thankful looks and tears -of his friends. Besides which, he was almost unmanned at the thought -of parting from them. They were the only friends he had in the world, -as he had said; and when they were gone, he would be left lonely in -his old age. The thought flashed across him to go with them, but he -dismissed it at once. Not only was he too old to cross the seas, but -he felt he could not leave his barge near the old Tower Stairs. - -"I should be like a fish out of water," he thought; "and besides, I -should only be an encumbrance to the poor souls. I shall be in my -dotage soon, and they have troubles enough of their own. No; I'll stop -and lay my bones in Old England." - -So the faithful old soul set to work at once, and left himself with -the very barest pittance to live on, in order to get together -sufficient money for the necessities of his friends. - -The news soon spread. Some of the neighbors said it was a good job -they were going; some were envious; and a few repented of their -harshness. These last went so far as to make slight advances towards -Mr. and Mrs. Marvel. Mr. Marvel looked at them angrily, and responded -with hard words; but his wife, a true peacemaker, was more -conciliatory. When she remonstrated with him, and begged him to -consider that they were sorry because they had concurred in the -general verdict of condemnation of Joshua, he said,-- - -"Let be, Maggie; if they're sorry for what they've said about Josh, -the more shame for them for hurting us as they did. You can do as you -like; I sha'n't mind your shaking hands with them. But for me, I've -said I'll never forgive them, and I never will." When Susan was told -that they were going to Australia, her dull vacant face suddenly lit -up. - -"We shall be near _him_," she muttered; "near Minnie too. Poor Minnie! -where is she?" - -The next moment her old manner was upon her, and she relapsed into -vacancy again. - -But there was one by whom the news of their intended departure was -received with a chill of angry despair. Solomon Fewster could scarcely -believe it when he was told. He hurried to the house, blaming himself -for his stupidity in trying to starve Ellen into acquiescence. - -"This would never have come about," he thought, "if they had not been -driven to it by necessity. I ought to have shown myself a greater -friend than ever to Dan. Gratitude would have made Ellen love me." - -To obtain Ellen's love had become a mania with him. The farther she -was removed from him, the stronger grew his desire. "Perhaps it is not -yet too late," he thought. He broke into Dan's room in feverish haste, -and cried,-- - -"Good news, Dan! I've got a customer for four birds, and he wants them -at once." - -"Here are two bullfinches and two canaries," replied Dan with a queer -smile; "I thought you would have wanted them earlier. I have others -ready, if you want more." - -"I'll take them by and by," said Solomon Fewster; and then treated Dan -to a long account of the late dulness and the expected revival of -trade, and to the certain prospect of there being a great demand for -Dan's birds presently. Dan listened in silence, and discomfited -Solomon Fewster by charging a higher price than usual for the -bullfinches and canaries. Solomon Fewster thought it would be fatal to -hesitate, and he paid the money with apparent willingness; and Dan -gave another queer little smile as he put the money in his pocket. -Then Fewster referred to the rumor, and Dan said it was true. - -"We shall sail in about a month," said Dan. - -"But why go at all?" asked Fewster. - -"We are not able to get a living here, sir," said Dan. He did not -tell everybody of his fancy about Joshua. - -"If that's your only reason," urged Fewster, "stop, and let me be your -friend. I promise that you shall never want, especially if--if"-- - -But he could not get the intended reference to Ellen gracefully off -his tongue. - -"I understand you, sir," said Dan; "but nothing that you can say can -keep us here." - -At this point Mr. Marvel entered, and Fewster left. Between the two -men there had been an utter absence of cordiality since Fewster's -overtures respecting Ellen. Besides, Mr. Marvel had suspected why -Fewster's commissions for birds had fallen off, and had made Dan -acquainted with his suspicions; and this, indeed, was the reason why -Dan, whose eyes were open to Fewster's meanness, had taken a secret -pleasure in charging him a high price for his present purchase. - -Solomon Fewster tried by every means to induce them to stay, but his -efforts were unavailing. The passages were taken, the day was fixed. -The Old Sailor made special arrangements for the accommodation of -Dan's birds on board ship, and Dan bought a number of young songsters -to train on the voyage out, although the Old Sailor shook his head and -expressed grave doubts whether the birds would live. As the day of -departure approached, the excitement in the neighborhood grew -stronger, and public opinion veered steadily round in favor of the -Marvels. The band of the remorseful ones received fresh recruits -daily, until, when the day arrived, there were not a dozen of the -neighbors who were not sorry for the judgment that had been pronounced -against Joshua, and who did not, in one way or another, give -expression to their sorrow. Mr. Marvel would not listen to them; the -others did, and took pleasure in listening to apologies which were in -some sort a vindication of Joshua's character. But Mr. Marvel declared -bitterly that he would shake the dust from his shoes the day he left -Stepney, and that he was only too thankful to escape from the nest of -vipers. - -"You women," he said, "are too soft-hearted for justice: if a -scoundrel who has wronged you comes crying to you, you look kindly on -him, and cry with him, out of the tenderness of your hearts. But for -me, when I think of the many years we've lived here, with never a -black mark against us--when I think of the good turns we've done for -this one and that one, and of the manner in which they have returned -our good offices, I'm fit to choke with passion. They tried to -disgrace me, and would have seen us starve without offering us bit or -sup. But now that we're going, well off as they think, they come -whining round us, sorry for the mud they threw at us. The mud didn't -stick, that's one comfort. I could dash my fist in their faces when I -think of it!" - -So matters went on until the morning came when they were to go aboard -the ship at Blackwell. They had a few little odds and ends to take -with them, and a cart was at the door to convey them to the docks. All -the women and children in the neighborhood flocked round the cart to -see the last of the emigrants. First Ellen, with her child, got in; -the women kissed their hands to her, and murmured to each other that -she looked older than her years. Ellen's eyes were blinded with tears -as she looked up at the old house and at the familiar faces in the -crowd. Susan was the next: she looked vacantly at the throng, and -turned her eyes to her lap, taking no further heed of them. Dan -followed with his birds, and listened gravely, and not without -tenderness, to the farewells which greeted him. After him came Mr. -and Mrs. Marvel. - -"Good-by, my dear; God bless you! God take you safely over, my dear!" - -In twenty different ways were these farewells and good wishes -expressed, and Mrs. Marvel pressed her hand upon her heart, and sobbed -till she could not distinguish a face in the crowd that surrounded -her. - -"Get in Maggie," said George Marvel; and then, deliberately and -gravely, stooped and took off his shoes. He climbed into the cart in -his stockings, and bending over the wheel, shook the dust from his -shoes. "I'll take no dust from here with me," he said in a loud tone; -"I leave that and your lying words behind me. I loved you once, and -loved these streets; but I've hated you and them from the time you -turned upon us and made our lives bitterer than misfortune had already -made them. By and by, you can tell the men I've worked with and been -kind to, that I was glad to go from the place where I was born, and -that I shook the dust from my feet before I went away." - -Then, amid a dead silence, the cart lumbered away from Stepney on to -Blackwall. There they found the Old Sailor waiting for them. "I will -keep with you until you are fairly off," he said. They were thankful -enough for his company, and as he did what he could to cheer them, and -they had plenty of work to do in their cabins, they soon became more -cheerful and hopeful than they had been for many a day. Soon the ship -was at Gravesend, a place fraught with sad and sweet memories--for -Ellen especially. Mrs. Friswell, at whose house the wedding was -celebrated, came aboard to see them, and admired the baby, and -whispered to all of them in turns, that if there ever lived a man with -a heart tender enough for twenty men, that man was the Old Sailor, and -no other. No need to say with what heartiness they all indorsed this -sentiment. - -A surprise awaited them. On the morning of the ship's sailing, there -came climbing up the side Solomon Fewster. He accosted them gayly. - -"You were wondering, I dare say, why I hadn't been to wish you -good-by." - -"We thought you would be sure to come although at the last moment," -answered Dan. - -Solomon Fewster first rubbed his hands and then his chin. - -"No need to say good-by," he said, with a conscious look at Ellen; "I -am going with you." - -They were too much astonished to reply. - -"Yes," he continued; "when my best friends were going, I didn't like -the idea of stopping behind. So I've sold my business upon capital -terms--capital terms. A good sum down, and a share in the profits for -the next ten years. Shall be able to make plenty of money in -Australia, eh, Mr. Meddler?" - -"No doubt, no doubt," said the Old Sailor, with a disturbed look. - -Solomon Fewster, divining that his absence would be agreeable to them, -hurried away to look after his boxes. - -"I am sorry he's going," said Dan; "but it can't be helped. We must -make the best of every thing not the worst." - -In the tender conversation that ensued, consequent upon their parting -from the Old Sailor, Solomon Fewster was forgotten. - -"Write to me as often as you can," said the Old Sailor, "and I will -do the same to you, though my old joints are getting stiff. You'll -soon be settled down somewhere, and you can let me know. 'Tis a sad -word--good-by. But I shall soon be saying good-by to all the world, my -dears." - -He sat among them until the last moment, and first wished Susan -good-by. - -Then said George Marvel, as he and the Old Sailor stood hand in hand, -amidst the confusion of ropes and cases, "If there had been hearts -like yours among our neighbors, my poor Josh's name would not have -been blackened. Heaven will reward you. I couldn't honor my own father -more than I honor you." - -The Old Sailor quivered at the stroke; he could better have stood a -hard knock. He kissed Ellen tenderly, and she him; and he put a ribbon -round baby's neck with a little silver whistle at the end of it. "In -memory of me, my dear," he said. - -"I will teach her that it is the symbol of the heart of a good man, -dear sir," said Ellen, her eyes full of tears; "and when she is an old -woman--if she lives to be such--it may happen that she will show it to -her children, and tell them her mother's sad story, and how her life -was sweetened by the kindest, dearest, best"-- Sobs choked her voice. - -The Old Sailor waited a while until she recovered, and then said, with -exquisite tenderness,-- - -"If she will sound the whistle sometimes when she is a young woman, -and I am in my grave, I shall hear her perhaps." He smiled -thoughtfully at this conceit. And then folded Ellen in his arms, and -saying, "God bless you, my lass!" released her and turned to Dan and -Mrs. Marvel. She took his hand and kissed it; she could have knelt to -him, her heart was so full--too full to speak. - -"I know, I know, my dear," he said, and kissed her. "I asked you once -if you would like to be a sailor, Dan; do you remember?" His arm was -resting on Dan's shoulder, and Dan drew it round his neck and laid his -face upon it. The action conveyed such tender meaning, that the tears -rolled down the Old Sailor's cheeks. - -"When I see Joe," said Dan, "I may tell him that you never doubted -him?" - -"Ay, Dan," replied the Old Sailor aloud; but thought, "I shall see him -before you do, my lad." He would not disturb Dan's faith by uttering -the thought. - -"Do I remember your asking if I would like to be a sailor?" continued -Dan. "Ah, yes! what of that day can I ever forget? You taught me to -splice a rope, and I showed you Jo's heart and mine spliced, so that -nothing could sever them. And the poor birds shipwrecked, as Jo is. We -little thought then, did we, sir?" The Old Sailor grasped Dan's hand, -and the next minute was in his boat; and the ship was swinging round, -hiding him from the loving gaze of his friends. - -Through the river that runs to the sea the ship makes its way slowly -and grandly. In the ship's stern, looking with dimmed eyes over the -bulwarks, are Dan and Ellen and Mr. and Mrs. Marvel. Good-by, dear -friend! Good-by, dear heart! Smaller and smaller grows the ship in his -eyes. Can they see him still? he is lost in the whirl of boats. No; he -is standing up, cap in hand. Good-by, faithful simple heart, richer in -your honest goodness than if you were endowed with all the jewels that -lie concealed in earth's depths. He is lost to them now, and they -shall see him no more--here! - -Lost? No. He is with them every night in their prayers--he dwells in -their hearts. To their dying days they think of him tenderly. -Blessings on the dear Old Sailor! - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. -SO NEAR AND YET SO FAR. - - -"Minnie!" - -"Yes, Joshua." - -"That is all; I thought you were asleep." - -"You are very kind to me, Joshua. I feel a little better to-day, I -think." - -"That's a good hearing, Minnie. Get strong, my dear, for my sake." - -"Ah! If I could; but I fear--I fear." (This last to herself under her -breath.) "Sit nearer, Joshua." - -Many moons had passed, and with the exception that Minnie had grown -very weak, only one event of importance had occurred since the -departure of Rough-and-Ready and Tom the sailmaker. That event was the -death of the Lascar; and the discovery made a deep impression on -Joshua. It occurred within a few weeks of the parting of the tribes. -The tribe of which Opara was the chief, observing that Minnie was -drooping, resolved to return to the spot where they had found her. By -easy stages they travelled near to the rocks where the castaways had -landed, and rested there some days, in the belief that Minnie would -regain her health. The mysterious influence she had over them was -never weakened, and as she and Joshua were inseparable, he shared in -the favor which was shown to her. She saw this, and would not allow -him to quit her side, fearful lest harm should befall him. One evening -she and Joshua had wandered from the native camp to the pool where the -Lascar had stolen upon him, with the intention of killing him; and -they talked together of the villain, and wondered what had become of -him. They saw a wonderful sight as they sat and talked. From the -distant woods rose an immense army of flying foxes, not less than four -or five thousand in number, flying in a straight line to a distant -pool. When they arrived over the water, they dipped down to drink in -regular order, keeping their ranks, so that presently they presented -the shape of a perfect curve. Joshua and Minnie watched the singular -flight until the last of the animals had satisfied its thirst; shortly -afterwards the entire flock disappeared. As they retraced their steps -to the native camp, Joshua observed something unusual lying on the -ground. It looked like a crouching animal, and Joshua drew Minnie -aside fearing that it might be a dangerous creature; but it remained -perfectly still, and Joshua, drawn thereto by an irresistible impulse, -slowly approached the spot. To his horror he found that it was a human -creature--dead; and turning the face recognized the Lascar. So! his -enemy was dead, and this was the end of his animosity. The -circumstances of the eventful meeting when he had rescued Susan from -the Lascar's pursuit came to Joshua's mind as he looked upon the dead -form. "His hate of me would not have lived so long," thought Joshua, -"if it had not been fed by other means. Whom did he refer to when he -spoke of his master the day he stole upon me with the stone? But that -is past discovery now!" The dead man's face was distorted by agony, as -if he had died in torture, and Joshua looked around for the cause of -death. There were a variety of trees near the spot--among them some -stinging trees. Joshua knew the fatal effect of the deadly tree, and -divined that the Lascar had fallen from one of the higher trees, which -he must have climbed in search of food, into the poisonous nettles, -and so been stung to death. He could not have been dead above a few -hours. Joshua turned away, and told Minnie. - -"You will not leave him there unburied, Joshua?" said Minnie. - -"No, Minnie, it would not be right. He was our enemy, but there is an -end to all that now. Sit down on this trunk, my dear, and I will be -kinder to him in death than he was to me in life." With his knife and -a stout stick he removed sufficient soil to lay the dead man in; as he -moved the body, a silver watch fell from a pocket. Joshua picked it -up, and involuntarily opened it. There was an inscription on the case, -roughly scratched in, and Joshua read, "From Solomon Fewster to his -Lascar friend." Joshua's heart beat loudly as he read these words. He -felt that he was on the eve of a discovery. "They knew each other," he -thought in amazement; and then, like a flash, it came upon him that -Solomon Fewster was the master for whom the Lascar said he was -working. Eagerly he searched the Lascar's pockets for more evidence; -and found it in the shape of the following document: "To my Lascar -friend: I give you twenty-five pounds in gold, and a silver watch and -two knives for services you have rendered me in connection with J. M. -And I promise you twenty-five pounds more in gold, if; when you return -in the 'Merry Andrew,' you have accomplished what has been agreed upon -between us.--S. F." - -Joshua read this document twice, and then looked round, as if in -expectation of meeting Solomon Fewster face to face. - -"Let me fix the villain's features in my mind," he thought; "I will -raise him before me, so that when we meet, in this world or the next, -I may bring his treachery home to him." With the eyes of his mind he -saw Solomon Fewster's false face, and he dashed his fist into the air -with a loud cry. "Fool!" he muttered, recovering himself; "am I -growing as much a savage as those amongst whom I live? Was it Fewster -or this villain who stabbed me when I came home?" He looked down, and -seemed to find his answer. "It was your hand that struck the blow, and -he employed you. He was too much of a coward to do it himself, and he -paid you for your services as you have told me. And he wanted to get -me out of the way, so that he might win the love of my Ellen." A -bitter smile came to his lips, passed away, and a sweeter expression -took its place. "To win the love of my Ellen! No, he can never do -that; she is mine till death, and after it, and is as true to me as I -am to her. Ellen, dear wife! hear me, and be comforted." - -Concealed beneath his covering of fur, was a small bag, made of stout -skin, well dried, containing Ellen's portrait, her lock of hair, Dan's -Bible, and the page from Captain Liddle's log-book, appointing him -captain. Into this bag he put the silver watch and Fewster's document. - -"Rest there," he muttered. "When I am dead, chance may direct these -relics into the hands of my friends. I will write a statement myself -of certain things, and place it with these. Be merciful, O God! and -keep firm the faith of my friends." - -The appeal was like a prayer, and its utterance soothed him. He laid -the Lascar's body in the shallow grave, and covered it as well as he -could with earth and leaves and branches. Then he returned to Minnie, -and they walked to the camp. He did not tell her of his discovery. It -would have made her more unhappy. - -On another occasion they were sitting together in the woods, in -silence and resignation. They had sat so for full half an hour, and -not a word had passed between them; their thoughts were with their -friends, thousands of miles away. Suddenly there came to their ears -the tinkle of a bell. They started, and looked at each other in -wonder. A wild hope entered Joshua's heart. The sound was faint but -distinct. It was like an evidence of approaching civilization. -Presently it sounded again, and was followed by other bells of -different tones, but each note being clearly uttered. Tinkle, tinkle, -tinkle! till the woods were filled with music. Creeping slowly and -softly in the direction of the sounds, they discovered the cause. The -sounds were not produced, as they had hoped, by bells on the necks of -cattle, but by a congregation of small birds of a greenish-yellow -color, who, perched upon the branches of trees, in a spot where the -trees formed a circle, were singing to each other their sweetest -songs. Disturbed by the approach of footsteps, the birds hid -themselves among the leaves, and were silent; but Minnie and Joshua -remained perfectly still, and soon the sweet sounds were heard again, -and the concert was resumed, to the delight of the hearers. - -For many evenings after this Joshua and Minnie came to the spot to -listen to the melody of the bell-birds. It was on one of these -evenings that an idea in association with the birds presented itself -to Joshua. Why should he not employ a little of his idle time in -training some of the birds with which the beautiful woods abounded, as -Dan and he used to do in their boyish days? He trembled with delight -at the thought, and was eager to begin. It seemed to bring him nearer -to Dan and the beloved ones at home. He told Minnie of his fancy, and -she encouraged it. He would set about it at once; but first he must -make a cage. He made one of wickerwork, sufficiently large to hold a -score of birds; and in a very little while his cage was inhabited by -birds as beautiful and almost as docile as any he had taught at home. - -All this while they were allowed by the natives to do pretty well what -they pleased. Food was supplied to them regularly, and they were not -expected to work or hunt for it. Scarcely a night passed without -Joshua played his accordion in the shade of their hut, and the -singular fancy which the natives entertained respecting Minnie was -strengthened by these mysterious melodious sounds. From time to time -the natives shifted their camp, according to the seasons, and they -invariably regulated their day's walking by Minnie's strength. -Uncultured and savage as these ignorant creatures were, they were -tender and kind to Minnie and Joshua, and showed them a thousand -little attentions which could only have been prompted by the most -delicate consideration. Joshua's fancy about the birds was quite a -natural thing in their eyes. Minnie wanted the birds to talk to; she -understood the mysterious voices of birds and trees. Their reverence -for her was increased when they saw her one day with a golden-crowned -honey-sucker upon her finger. This was one of the first birds which -Joshua had tamed; he was careful to give it its favorite food,--the -blossoms of the blue gum-tree when it was in flower, and at all times -honey and sweet leaves, and had anticipated the effect it would -produce upon the natives, when they saw it perching contentedly upon -Minnie's finger. - -"See!" said Opara, "the birds know our Star; she talks to them the -language of the trees. From us they fly, and hide themselves in -clouds; but she bids them come, and they rest upon her bosom." - -Soon other birds were tamed and trained; and the wonder spread to -distant tribes, who made long journeys to see the Star of Opara's -tribe, who understood the voice of Nature, and talked with all the -children of the Great Mother; for so the simple savages interpreted -it. - -But Minnie grew weaker and weaker. She concealed her weakness as much -as possible from Joshua, who was very tender to her, very, very kind. -He had quite forgiven her; no cloud disturbed the harmony of their -strange lives. Bearing always in mind the advice which Rough-and-Ready -had given them to endeavor to make their way southward, and knowing -the one great wish of Joshua's heart, she had used all her influence -with the tribe to induce them every time they shifted their camp to -move in that direction, and had succeeded so far, that every season -found them nearer to the settled districts. But, although three years -had passed, they had not seen the slightest signs of civilization. - -Once Joshua was in a terrible state of agitation. He was gathering -sweet leaves for his birds, when "Crack!" went the sound of a whip. He -uttered a joyful cry, and threw himself upon the ground with all his -heart in his ears, for he had not caught the direction of the sound. -"Crack!" went the whip again. He ran swiftly towards it, and listened -again. Rough-and-Ready had told him many times to keep his ears sharp -open for the crack of a whip, and here it was, at last, after weary, -weary waiting. - -"You will find most likely," Rough-and-Ready had said, "that it is a -stockman looking after some stray cattle. Then you will be all right." - -The thoughts that crowded upon Joshua's mind in the few moments that -elapsed between the cracking of the whip would occupy an hour to -describe; they may be summarized thus: "That is a stockman's whip. -Thank God for it! I shall see him presently, and he will wait while I -fetch Minnie. Then we will go to where his companions are, and I will -get some presents for our kind friends the natives. Minnie will soon -grow strong; thank God! We will go down to Sydney, and get passage -home in the first ship. Then--then--O Ellen, Ellen! O Dan, dear -friend! dear mother and father! All will come right--all will be set -right. Thank God!" - -"Crack, crack!" Nearer--nearer. He was close to it, but saw nothing. -He looked round carefully, watchfully. "Crack!" Over his head. He -turned his eyes to the clouds, and saw a bird--the whip-bird--flying -over the trees, uttering its "crack!" as it flew, taking his hopes -with it, and bearing them away to where perhaps he would never meet -with them again. - - -And Dan is sitting in a wooden hut built near the banks of a beautiful -river. Seas do not divide him from his friend. They both live on the -same bit of land, ignorant of each other's whereabouts. The same -continent holds those two faithful hearts. What is Dan doing? who are -with him? what kind of a place is this where he and they reside? - -A village in which dwell not more than a few hundred inhabitants. Not -free from care, for care is human; but happier than inhabitants of -great cities are. There is plenty of work for hands to do; more than -there are hands to do it. What luxury there is, is the luxury of -nature--rich fruits, bright flowers, clear atmosphere, sweet air, -lovely skies, grand sunrises and sunsets, and sparkling watercourses -whose banks teem with graceful shapes and lovely color. Here a city is -to be formed, and they who live in it and are content shall see it -grow up to strength--ay, to manhood--and shall have a share in its -increasing wealth. First, tents of canvas to live in; now huts of -wood; by and by houses of stone. But these last, though they be -stronger, will not bring more enduring happiness. And here is Dan, -with his birds, as usual. He earns money enough now. Not a hundred -miles away, in the capital of the colony of which this little village -is a speck, lives a dealer who comes regularly to Dan's wooden house, -and buys such birds as he has trained, and pays handsomely for them. -Not Solomon Fewster. He also is in that rising capital, and Dan will -not sell him a bird. Not that Solomon Fewster needs them; for he -is making money fast, and the miserly passion of accumulation is -growing very strong in him. His business carries him often to Dan's -village,--twice a month, perhaps; and regularly every two or three -months he makes some kind of overture to Ellen, who shakes her head, -and sometimes answers him, and sometimes evades the subject. Dan has -remonstrated with him, and has begged him never to refer to the -subject again. But he answers,-- - -"I cannot help it, Dan. If you knew what love was, you would know that -a man can no more help loving than he can help feeling. It was love -that first brought me to your house in Stepney. I didn't want the -birds; but so that I might have the privilege of coming to the -house--and of doing you and Ellen a good turn at the same time, mind, -Dan--I took a deal of trouble to find dealers in birds who would buy -them of me at the same price I paid you for them; and I shouldn't be -telling an untruth if I said that I lost money by many of the birds I -paid you for. One man I sold to failed, and I had to take a -composition. Well, I didn't know then that Ellen loved Joshua; nothing -was said between them; and when he first went away he wasn't old -enough to know his own mind. He came back, and when he was ill I -didn't show a bad spirit to him. After Ellen and he were engaged, I -did not desert you; and I didn't annoy Ellen by forcing my attentions -upon her. You spoke to me once about that unfortunate canary that died -in my hand when I bade Joshua good-by. You can't think that I killed -it purposely. But you may be able to form some idea of my feelings -(which can't always be suppressed, Dan), and of the restraint I had to -put upon myself when in the presence of the man who had taken from me -the most precious thing in the world to me--Ellen's love--and you can -put down the poor canary's death to that cause. I've no need to say -any thing more. I've loved Ellen all along, and I've always treated -her with respect and consideration. You mustn't debar me from the -chance of being happy; Ellen may change her mind one day. It is many -years now since I first saw her, a girl; and that I am content now to -wait and hope ought to be sufficient proof of my disinterestedness and -sincerity." - -To such-like pleading Dan finds no reply, and so they go on as usual. - -To Dan, as he sits with his birds, comes Ellen with her peaceful sad -face. She has not found happiness, but she has found peace. Solomon -Fewster is not her only suitor. Every single man in the village is -enamoured of her, and would be glad to make her his wife. But she -tells her story to all with a womanly purpose. She is married, and her -husband went out as third mate of the "Merry Andrew," and the ship was -lost and all hands, as it is supposed. But she cannot believe that her -husband is dead; something tells her that he is alive--living upon -some uninhabited shore mayhap, and looking forward to the time when, -by the mercy of God, they shall be together again. Her story is -repeated from one to another; and some kind souls who have been in the -colony a few years come to her and Dan with little scraps of -information concerning the "Merry Andrew," such as the finding of a -piece of a figure-head which belonged to her husband's ship, and other -similar evidence, which convince them that the "Merry Andrew" was lost -off the Australian coast. "Is it not possible," asks Dan, "that some -of the crew may have been saved, and may be dwelling now on some part -of the uninhabited Australian coast?" "Quite possible," they answer: -and they relate such instances as they know of vessels being wrecked, -and of some of the sailors being saved and found years after they were -supposed to be lost. Dan and Ellen derive much comfort from these -narrations. - -Ellen's little child Maggie is the pet of the village. At the present -moment she is playing with her goat in the paddock at the back of the -house, breathing in health with fresh air. To-night, when she says her -prayers, she will pray that God will please send her father home--a -prayer joined in by all of them every night. - -Who is this? Susan. In no whit changed. With the same strange watchful -manner upon her as in the old days in Stepney, but never uttering a -word concerning Joshua. Sometimes she will go for days without -speaking to a soul, and a smile never crosses her lips. - -And this gentle woman, going about the house quietly, doing her work -cheerfully, with a sweet smile for every one she comes across, and by -whose side the little Maggie is content to sit in silence with her -hands folded in her lap? This is Mrs. Marvel. You would know her if -you had only seen her once, although her hair is nearly white now; for -hers is one of the peaceful faces that dwell in your memory and remind -you of your mother. As for her hair being nearly white--for the matter -of that, so is Mr. Marvel's. It would not do for him to pay for every -white hair that is pulled out of his head, as at the commencement of -this story. - -They sit together on this evening, as is their wont, and as they used -to do in the dear old kitchen in Stepney, and talk of Joshua. And -George Marvel smokes his pipe, and his wife darns--more slowly than in -the old days, for her sight is not so strong as it was--and Dan trains -his birds and reads to his friends. They have been sorely afflicted, -but faith and love have banished despair. - -On this very evening, hundreds of miles away, Joshua is sitting on the -ground in his gunyah, amusing himself and Minnie with his birds. She -is reclining on her 'possum-skin rug, looking affectionately and -gratefully at Joshua, who has grown very wise in the different habits -and natures of the strange birds he has before him. With what care he -has collected them! Here is the quaint kingfisher, flitting about as -contentedly as it used to flit among the dead trees that lie on the -banks of creeks. Joshua, watching it one day, saw it suddenly dart -into the water with such eagerness that it was completely submerged; -he thought it was drowned, but the next instant it appeared above the -surface with a small fish in its mouth, with which it hopped, -exultant, into the woodland again. It is a handsome bird, and a -singular-looking one too, with its beak about a quarter as long as its -body, and its light crimson breast and azure back and shrewd brown -eyes. Here is the mountain bee-eater, the wondrous blending of colors -in whose plumage suggests the fancy that its feathers must have been -dyed in the glorious sunsets of the South, and that it first saw the -light when rainbows were shining. Here are the honeysuckers, -yellow-eared, blue-cheeked, and golden-crowned; and the -crimson-throated manakin, with its pleasant song; and the spotted -finch, with red eyes; and the scarlet-backed warbler and the pretty -thrush, black-crowned and orange-breasted, whose piping in the early -morning was the cheerfullest of all the birds; and the yellow-rumped -fly-catcher, fussing about, and chattering like a magpie. All these -are here, and many others; and Joshua often thinks how delighted Dan -would be with them. Joshua and Minnie are clothed completely in fur -garments; all their civilized clothes are gone. Joshua's hair has -grown so, that his face is quite covered with it. - -"Would they know me at home, Minnie, if they could see me as I am?" he -asks. - -"I doubt it," she replies; "but they would know your voice." - -"Shall we ever see them again?" he asks, more of himself than of her. - -She sighs, and does not answer. He may; she prays that he will. But -she! The breeze sighs with her, as she thinks that she will never -again look upon the faces of her friends. Well! perhaps it is better -so. She desires no happier lot than to die in Joshua's arms, with his -eyes looking kindly upon her. She has been growing weaker and weaker -every day; she does not complain, but he often regards her with -apprehensive looks, and prays that she may not be taken from him. They -live together as brother and sister; the love he bears for her is as -pure as the love he bears for his mother. He speaks to her often of -Dan, and she listens with sweet patience. But he does not understand -that her love for him is part of her very nature, and that it cannot -be transferred--that it cannot change. He does not understand it, does -not know it; he deludes himself with the hope that, if it should -mercifully chance that they should reach home, the dear hope of Dan's -life may be realized, and that Minnie's love and Dan's belief in her -purity may brighten the days of his friend. She knows that Joshua -entertains this hope, and does not pain him by telling him how false -it is. - -So the days pass, and the seasons change. In accordance with Minnie's -wish, the tribe moves farther and farther southward, and is rewarded -by finding plenty of game in the woods, and fish in the rivers and -pools. Summer dies, and the beautiful autumn brings strength to -Minnie; but the succeeding winter strikes her down. Her savage friends -and worshippers are grieved to the heart at her weakness, and she, -true to her purpose and to Joshua, makes them understand that health -and strength for her lie southward, and urges them on towards the -settled districts. - -"If we are saved," says Joshua, "I shall owe all my happiness to you, -Minnie. Once you gave me life; now perhaps you will give me what is -better than life." - -A look of content rests in her eyes as he says this, and she muses -upon it for days afterwards, murmuring the words to herself before she -falls asleep. Speaking to her of her father at one time, he is -surprised to hear her say, "Father is dead, Joshua." - -"How do you know?" he asks, startled. - -"I feel it--here," pressing her hand to her heart; "I have dreamt that -I saw him and mother together. Some things come to us intuitively; we -do not need to be told." - -"Do you know any thing else about those at home?" he asks, half awed -by her solemn tone. - -"No; but one other thing I know that I ought not to keep from you." - -He waits in silence for what is to come, dreading to speak. She takes -his hand; hers is hot with fever. - -"Do not think me unkind," she says, "but for many weeks I have felt -impelled to tell you, and now that the time is drawing near, I must no -longer keep it from you. Can you guess what it is, my dear?" - -"O Minnie! Minnie!" he cries, falling on his knees at her feet; "do -not tell me that you are going to leave me!" - -"I cannot help it, dear," she says, tenderly. "Before the spring dies -I shall leave you. I shall spend my summer in another world." She -repeats the words, as though they conveyed to her some deeper meaning -than they implied. "Yes, I shall spend my summer in another world. My -heart has been wintered in this." - -He strives to reason her out of her belief,--tells her that it is -fancy; but she gently checks him, with "Nay, dear Joshua. 'Tis but a -little time to spring. Let us talk of other things." - -Soon the buds begin to come, and the leaves grow green. Minnie hides -her weakness, says that she feels stronger, and Joshua begins to hope. -But he does not know what motive she has in this; he does not know -that she puts on an appearance of strength, so that she may not retard -their course southward. In many of their marches she sustains her -fainting heart by strength, of love. "Nearer, nearer," she whispers to -herself; "he shall owe all his happiness to me." - -Come there to the camp one day some members of another tribe, who -speak of having seen men of the color of Joshua and Minnie a couple of -hundred miles to the south, mounted on strange animals. These -aboriginal wanderers, indeed, are at variance with one another: some -say that men and animals are one; others, that they are distinct -creatures. Opara tells Joshua and Minnie, who are able by this time to -understand the native tongue, and to make themselves understood. - -"What Opara says is good," says Minnie. "We will go towards these men. -They are our brothers. They will give me back my strength." - -Opara being gone, Minnie asks Joshua what he thinks. Joshua, with -eager voice and sparkling eyes, cries that they are stockmen on -horses, as Rough-and-Ready had told them. - -"All will yet be well," he says, his voice trembling with joyful -emotion; "in a few months perhaps we shall be among white people -again." - -She listens in silence: and presently, in accordance with their -nightly custom, he takes his accordion from its bag of fur, and plays -the sweetest airs he knows. "Poor Tom Bowling" and "Bread-and-cheese -and Kisses" are his principal themes; and as he plays, the -newly-inspired hope stirs into life his dearest memories, and brings -before him those pictures of his boyish days that he most loves to -dwell upon. - - - - -CHAPTER XL. -FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH. - - -The river runs onward like a sparkling stream, now rushing between -high banks of forest land, dotted here and there with miniature -islands of rocks covered with lichens and shrubs, now settling into a -still-looking reach, its surface covered with delicate mauve-colored -water-lilies. Near to a great grove of palms upon the river's bank the -native camp is fixed; and not far from the spot the channel forms a -descent, more steep than abrupt, where it is cut up into hundreds of -brawling streams by islands of beautiful shrubs. The natives have -pitched their camp here, in accordance with Minnie's wish; they have -been marching southward for more than a week, and Minnie has borne up -bravely; but her strength has failed her at last, and she is compelled -to succumb. It is understood among them that their Star is sick, and, -the mintapas (doctors) are anxious to practise their healing arts upon -her, but their efforts are firmly and gently repulsed by Joshua. For -this, they look upon him with no friendly eye, and but for Opara his -life among them would not be so pleasant as it has been. He pays no -heed to them; his anxiety concerning Minnie engrosses all his thoughts -now. - -She is sinking fast, and has grown so weak that he is obliged to carry -her about. The spot she most loves is where the river is still and -quiet; there she will lie for hours, with Joshua by her side, watching -the shifting shadows of the clouds in the water's depths. She says but -little; but every time her eyes turn to Joshua, they are filled with -gratitude and love. Once she expressed a desire to write something, -and Joshua makes a little ink with paint and gum-juice, and makes a -pen from a duck's quill; but paper he has none. - -"Your Bible," says Minnie. - -He gives it to her, and she writes a few lines on the blank page at -the end. Then she tears out the leaf, and folding it carefully says, -"This is for Dan, when you see him" (having a full faith that Joshua -and Dan will meet); "do not read it, but place it carefully by." - -He puts it with Ellen's lock of hair in the bag he wears round his -neck. - -That same night a change comes over Minnie. He has been away from the -hut for a few minutes, and when he returns he sees her sitting in a -listening attitude with her hand to her ear. - -"Minnie!" he exclaims; but she holds up a warning finger, and says,-- - -"Hush, Joshua! I am listening to the singing of the sea. Is it not -sweet?" - -His heart beats rapidly, and he takes her disengaged hand in his, and -asks her what she has in the hand she is holding to her ear. - -"It is a shell," she says. She shows it to him and her face assumes -the exact childlike expression of pleasure and simplicity it wore in -the farewell interview he had with her before he first went to sea. - -"You know me, Minnie?" he says, distressed. - -"Yes, dear Joshua! What a question! But you must not be angry with me. -I took the shell--but I took it for you." - -"Nay but, Minnie," he says, striving to arrest her wandering thoughts; -"listen to me"-- - -"Call me little Minnie," she pleads like a child, in the softest of -voices. - -"Little Minnie!" he sighs, with an almost broken heart. - -"Little Minnie! Little Minnie!" she repeats. "The shell is singing it. -Hush!" She remains silent for some time after this, and Joshua deems -it best not to disturb her. An hour may have passed when she calls to -him. - -"Say that again, Joshua," she says. Wondering, he asks her what it is -she wishes him to repeat. - -"Nay," she answers, "that is to tease me. But you must say it after -me, word for word: 'What you did, you did through love, and there -could not be much wrong in it.'" He recognizes his own words to her, -and in a troubled voice he repeats, "What you did, you did through -love, and there could not be much wrong in it." - -"I am satisfied," she says; "you have made me happy. I shall try to -sleep now." - -He covers her with a rug, and watches by her side during the night. - -He has no heart for his birds, and were it not that she takes a -childish delight in them, and is glad to have them around her, he -would have taken them to the woods and set them free. She does not -recover consciousness of her true position; she believes that she and -Joshua are children together, and--it may be happily--all the horrors -through which she has passed have faded from her mind. Her great -delight is to play with the birds and listen to her shell. Sometimes -the fancy that he is at sea possesses her, and she talks to him of -himself, as she used to talk to Dan, and coaxes him to tell her the -story of the death of Golden Cloud and other incidents of his boyish -life. In this condition she remains for many days, until the time -comes when she awakes from a deep sleep, and says, in her weak voice, -"I have been dreaming, Joshua. I thought we were children again." Then -opening her hand with the shell in it, looks at it, blushing, and -says, "It is the old shell, Joshua. You remember." - -"Do you feel stronger, Minnie?" - -"No, dear; I shall not grow stronger. It will be as I told you a -little while ago. Spring is not gone yet; but it will be soon. Have -they asked about me?" meaning the natives. - -"Yes, many times every day, Minnie; and have brought their choicest -food for you regularly." - -"They have been very kind to us. Rough-and-Ready was not quite right -about them. I used to tremble with fear when he spoke of them. Poor -Rough-and-Ready and poor Tom! What has become of them, I wonder!" - -They muse sadly over the memory of those two good friends. - -"Some lives are very hard, Joshua," she continues. "His was, I am -sure. I suppose it was as he said, and that he has done bad things. -Yet how kind and gentle he was to us! It is hard to reconcile; but it -seems to me, my dear, that our lots are shaped for us. We can't help -our feelings; we don't make them; they come, and we must act as they -prompt us to act. Opara and the savages now: they couldn't help being -born savages, and they have had no good teaching. Don't think me -wicked for what I am going to say, my dear." - -"No, Minnie; go on." - -"Well, I can't help believing that a good deal of what is called wrong -is not wrong, and that bad is not always bad. I can't explain exactly -what I mean, but I feel it." She appears to think that she has got out -of her depth, and suddenly changes the subject. "Take me out, and let -me see Opara. You must carry me; I am not as heavy as I was." - -He lifts her in his arms, and carries her, with her arm round his -neck, out of the hut towards the savages. They crowd round her, and -she speaks a few words to them, and smiles upon them. Then, by easy -stages, he carries her to her favorite spot by the river's side, and -there they rest. - -"All rivers have currents, Joshua?" - -"Yes, my dear." - -"Even this, that looks so still and quiet?" - -"Even this, my dear; the current is running, although you cannot see -it. But remember, the river is not so still everywhere. A very few -miles away it is full of life; it is rushing over the rocks, and is -never still for an instant day and night." - -"Strange! So restless there, so quiet here! It has been so with me: so -restless there, so quiet here! Look! we can see the fish in the clear -depths. How beautifully the wild jasmine smells!" - -He gathers a little for her, and a bunch of fringed violets, and she -puts them in her breast. Then she encourages him to talk of home, and -listens with sincere pleasure to his praises of Dan. - -"It is good to be loved by such a heart," she muses. - -"Ah, Minnie!" he ventures to say, "if it could have been with him as -he once hoped it would!" - -"About me?" she replies unhesitatingly. "Does not that seem to be a -proof that our lots are shaped for us? Tell him that I was very, very -sorry, and that I begged him to forgive me." - -But it is chiefly about Joshua's mother that she speaks, and wishes -that her mother had lived. In the midst of the conversation she falls -into a light slumber, and opening her eyes half an hour afterwards, -resumes from the point where they had left off, as if there had been -no interval of silence. - -On another occasion they are together on the same spot, and Joshua is -telling her of a beautiful part of the river's bank which she had not -seen. "The river is narrow there, and even more peaceful than this," -he says. "The trees on both sides bend over the water until the -topmost branches almost touch, so that the river is in shade. The sun -was peeping through the arch of branches, lighting up the water here -and there, and the golden light streaked the white leaves of the -lilies, over which the pretty lotus-bird was running with so light a -step as not to stir the flowers." - -"How beautiful!" she says softly. "At night, when the moon is shining -on the water and the lily-leaves through the arch of branches, how -grand and peaceful it must be! Joshua, bend your head, my dear. When I -am gone, let me be buried there. Nay, don't cry; but promise." - -In a broken voice he promises her, and she is content. Then she bids -him bring Opara to her; and the aged chief comes and sits by her side. - -"Opara," she says, taking Joshua's hand and kissing it, "this my -brother and I are one. You understand?" - -"I understand," he answers; and Joshua wonders what it is she is about -to say. - -"You see how weak I have grown, Opara. Look at my hand; you can see -the light through it." - -"Say, my daughter," asks Opara: "you who know the language of birds -and flowers,--you who know the mysteries of the Grand Vault,--can you -not make yourself strong?" - -"No, Opara; I am wanted." - -"Cannot our mintapas make you strong?" - -"No, Opara; their skill is not for me. Tell them so; and tell them I -thank them, and will not forget them. Listen. Many moons ago, I walked -in the woods, where the leaves were singing to each other, and where -the wind whispered strange things as it travelled through the trees. I -heard a voice; I listened; and I was told that when the next summer -came, I should be wanted--There!" - -Opara gravely followed the motion of her hand, as it pointed upwards. - -"The summer is coming, and I must go. Do not disturb me then; my -brother will see to me; and tell your young men and women to let me -rest." - -"I will tell them, and they will obey. Will our daughter return to -us?" - -Minnie catches at this question eagerly, and clasps Joshua's hand with -a firmer clasp. - -"I will return, if you will do one thing for me." - -"Opara will do it." - -"It will take many days to do." - -"If it takes many moons to do, it shall be done." - -"Opara's name shall be known in the Grand Vault," says Minnie in an -earnest tone. "Take heed of my words. Those men of the same color as -my brother, of which you were told some time ago, you have not seen -them?" - -"They are southward. My brother has a message for them from me. He has -promised to deliver it to them; but he does not know the country. If -he goes by himself, bad men of other tribes may meet him and take him -with them. If you and some of your young men will accompany him south -until he sees the strangers, or is near to them, I will return to you -by and by, and your tribe shall never want food. The strangers will be -kind to you, and will give you good things. Will Opara do this, and -protect my brother?" - -"Opara will do this, and will protect your brother." - -"Good." She gives the old chief her hand, and he places it on his -eyes, and departs gravely. - -Joshua for a time is too agitated to speak. This last proof of her -devotion is the crowning sacrifice of her life. She is the first to -break the silence. - -"Joshua, my dear, I have made atonement?" - -He can only say, "O my dear, my dear, how unworthy I am in my own -eyes!" - -"Nay, nay," she says soothingly, "you are all that is good and noble. -A better heart, a purer, never beat. I have committed a great fault, -and have done you a great wrong--unconsciously, my dear, and without -thought; and, by the mercy of our Father, I have been able to atone -for it. Think of me as a child, my dear, who has loved you with all -her heart, despite her wilfulness. Take me in your arms as you would a -child, and say that you forgive me." - -He takes her in his arms, and, to satisfy her, sobs out the words she -wishes to hear. Her face is close to his. - -"This kiss for Ellen," she whispers; "this for your dear, kind mother; -this for Dan. Tell all of them of my fancy, that I wish to live in -their minds, not as a woman, but as a child as a child who erred -through love, and who had not been taught to understand what duty was. -Who said this, 'There is no earthly sacrifice that love will not -sanctify.'" - -"Your father!" he whispers, amazed. - -"I heard him; I was in the room when he blessed my mother for devoting -her life to him." - -Presently she asks him to fetch his birds, and he runs and brings -them. He opens cage, and they hop about her contentedly. He gathers -some wild flowers, and places them by her side. Shortly afterwards she -directs his attention to the fringed violets, which do not live an -hour after they are gathered. "They are withering," she says. "Do not -pluck any more of the pretty things; let them live." He supports her -in his arms; and she watches the birds with glistening eyes, and -whispers that they remind her of dear Dan. Then she falls asleep, with -her face turned to Joshua. He does not disturb her. Every thing around -is very still and quiet. He thinks of the restless river a few miles -away, and of Minnie's words, "So restless there, so quiet here! It has -been so with me." The afternoon passes; the sun is going down, and the -heavens are filled with wondrous color. Minnie has been asleep for a -long while now. Shall he arouse her? Her fair face is perfectly still, -and a smile is on her lips. "Minnie!" he whispers. Her hand is on her -heart, and in her hand the shell. She does not speak; and a darkness -comes upon him, and his heart grows cold as he presses his lips to -hers. She has gone to spend the summer of her life in another world. - - -Opara holds the last words of Minnie sacred. To the expressed desire -of the doctors of the tribe to inter Minnie according to their rites, -he says, "Our daughter has spoken, and Opara has promised. Her brother -will see to her. Let her rest." So, on the following night, Joshua is -standing alone by Minnie's grave, which he has strewn with wild -flowers. In the rude coffin of bark, which he has cut and made with -his own hands, he places also the sweetest-smelling flowers he can -find. Her shell he leaves in her hand, and cuts a long tress from her -hair. "For Dan," he murmurs. - -He buries her in the place he had described to her, and where she had -expressed a wish to be laid. It is just such a night as she pictured. -The moon is streaming through the interlaced branches on the beautiful -lilies and the peaceful water. He reads prayers from Dan's Bible, and -falls upon his knees; and, as he sobs there, the words of her father -recur to inn, and he repeats their sense prayerfully: "She is a wild -flower; the impulse of her mind is under the control of the impulse of -her heart. She is oblivious of all else, defiant of all else. Those of -her friends who have the consciousness of a higher wisdom than she -possesses, those of them who can recognize that the promptings of such -a heart as hers may possibly lead her into dangerous paths, must guide -her gently, tenderly. If any betray her, he will have to answer for it -at the Judgment-seat!" - -"Judge me," he cries aloud, raising his arms to heaven, "and so deal -with me! This dear angel lies in her grave pure as at her birth. But -she will speak for me, dear, honored sister!" - -In the distance, standing in the shadow of the trees, are the natives, -their bodies streaked with white. They do not intrude upon Joshua's -sorrow. Slowly he piles the earth upon the faithful heart, and kisses -the earth with passionate grief. When he is calmer, he reads his Bible -by the moon's light; and, as he reads, peace comes to him. - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. -JOSHUA AND THE OLD WIZARD. - - -For two weeks the natives mourned for Minnie. Their grief was sincere, -notwithstanding that it was expressed in barbarous fashion--such as -painting their bodies white with pipeclay, and inflicting painful -gashes upon their breasts and arms with shells and stones. They -observed Joshua gathering wild flowers to place upon her grave, and -every day after that, the women and children collected the prettiest -and rarest flowers they could find, and decorated Minnie's grave with -them. During this time a terrible feeling of desolation came upon -Joshua. If Opara failed to keep the promise he had given Minnie, what -would become of him? He thought of some words Dan had spoken to him in -one of their boyish conversations, when they were talking of Robinson -Crusoe. Dan had said he thought it strange that Robinson did not -forget how to speak his native language, and had wondered that he -didn't go mad. This remembrance was terrible to Joshua. At night, when -he was alone in his hut, he would speak to himself, and would tremble -at his voice; and stopping sometimes with half-uttered words upon his -tongue, would be seized with sudden terror as at an unfamiliar sound. -But at the end of a fortnight, Opara came to Joshua, and said, "Our -days of mourning are over; but the image of our daughter will dwell -forever in our hearts. To-night we hold a council. Shall we tarry yet -a while, or shall we prepare to depart?" - -"I have a message for my brothers and hers," replied Joshua. "They -live southward. Is that the direction Opara will take?" - -"Opara will do as he has promised," said the old chief with dignity, -"and will accompany you to the south." - -"My sister will be glad if her message is delivered soon;" and -Joshua's heart beat quickly at the prospect of deliverance. - -Opara gravely bent his head; and that night it was decided that twenty -young men and doctors of the tribe, including Opara, should start in a -couple of days, with Joshua, for the south. When Joshua was informed -of this, he went to Minnie's grave, and shed tears of joy, and -gathered a little of the earth, and placed it in the bag round his -neck which contained his most precious possessions. On the appointed -morning they started early, accompanied by the entire tribe; but by -noon all the stragglers had departed. In a few days their road lay -through very rough country, where, although fruits and birds were -plentiful (it being summer), Opara said they would not be able to live -in the winter. Their great difficulty was to obtain water, for the -creeks and watercourses were drying up; and Joshua was filled with -admiration at the resources of the natives, who found water in -places--digging it out of trees, indeed, very often--were a stranger -would never have dreamed of searching for it. When Joshua saw them -strike their stone weapons into a tree whence cold bright water -flowed, he could not help thinking of Moses striking the rock. A -favorite food with them was a species of shrubby plant which they -called Karkalla, and which yielded a rich luscious fruit; and they -ate, with intense relish, many species of grubs which they cut out of -the bark of trees. - -Among the party was one famous wizard and doctor, who was not disposed -to look upon Joshua with the same friendly eye as the others did. When -Minnie was ill, he had been especially desirous of exercising his arts -upon her, and of restoring her to health, by which means his -reputation with the tribe would have been enormously increased; and -when Minnie died, he entertained the belief that he could have saved -her if he had been allowed. This doctor's name was Nullaboin, and he -had joined Joshua's escort because he thought that he might, by -watching Joshua's movements, obtain some kind of knowledge that might -be useful to him. - -During the latter days of Minnie's illness Joshua had not played his -accordion, which, it must be borne in mind, the natives had never -seen. Joshua had kept it jealously concealed in its covering of fur, -and had never played it in sight of the natives. It was at the end of -the second week of their journey, when Joshua was looking out -anxiously for traces of white settlers, that a circumstance occurred -which boded him great danger. He had wandered, as he had been in the -habit of doing every night, a long distance from where the natives -pitched their camp. From time to time Opara and his party had met -natives of different tribes, with whom they had conversed (though -sometimes with difficulty, for their dialects differed) concerning the -white men; and on this morning a strange native had given them such -information as led Opara to tell Joshua that he believed he would soon -be able to deliver Minnie's message to her brothers. Interpreting by -this that the stranger they had met had seen something of Englishmen, -Joshua, in the night, wandered farther from the camp than usual, in -the vague hope that he might come upon traces of his countrymen. He -saw none, and yet thought they might be near. An idea struck him. "Why -should I not play my accordion?" he thought. "I might be within a -short distance of my deliverers, and not know it. The sound of -civilized music might reach their ears, and they would come to me." He -acted upon the thought without delay. For the first time for many -weeks, he took his accordion from its covering (it was slung round his -shoulders by a strap of dried skin), and walked through the woods, -playing, and swinging the instrument in the air, so that the sound -should travel far. He little dreamed of the effect he produced. -Nullaboin was tracking him--had tracked him every night in his -wanderings. Hitherto Nullaboin had learned nothing; but now directly -the music struck upon his ears, he was so amazed as almost to betray -himself. The idea that flashed through that cunning savage mind was as -singular as it was original. It was neither more nor less than that -Joshua held Minnie's spirit imprisoned in the strange instrument from -which the melodious sounds proceeded. They were the same as used to -proceed from Minnie's hut, when it was imagined she was speaking with -invisible shapes. What wonders might he not perform, could he obtain -possession of that power! The mysterious spirits of air and heaven -would speak to him, and would tell him strange things. But how could -he obtain it--how? Joshua was strong--too strong for him. He was an -old man--ay, he was an old man, and these spirits, if he could speak -to them in their language, might teach him how to become young again. -The courses of his blood quickened through the old wizard's veins at -the wild hope, and he picked up a stone and cut at his breast in his -excitement. He could not hope to wrest the magic power from Joshua -singly. He must enlist his companions on his side. His influence was -great, but Opara's was greater. He dreaded that aged chief. "If Opara -knows," was his cunning thought, "Opara will claim it for himself. -No, no; it is mine Nullaboin's. Here me, Pulyalanna! Strike Opara with -your thunder to-night! Strike him dead! He has lived long enough." But -as he thought, he started away in terror. Among the trees some twenty -yards away, he saw a crouching figure, which he took to be one of the -fabulous Purkabidnies, that roam through the woods at night to slay -black men. It was but the charred stump of a tree, but it was -sufficient to cause Nullaboin, the wizard, to fly from the spot in -direst terror, towards the camp. He lay awake until Joshua returned, -and noted with his lynx eyes that Joshua wore the magic instrument -strapped round his shoulders. The following day he took occasion to -speak to Joshua in a subtle manner, as thus: "Nullaboin dreamt last -night of his daughter the Star." - -Joshua nodded. - -"She spoke to me. Her voice was like the voice of the birds. I shall -see her soon." - -Joshua gave him a startled look. - -"Has her brother seen her?" - -"No." - -"Has she not spoken to him?" - -"No." - -"Nullaboin is a great mintapa, and his daughter knows his power." - -All this was Greek to Joshua, and he did not encourage the old wizard -to continue his revelations. But during that day and the next, -Nullaboin was busy working upon the credulous minds of the younger -natives, and found but little difficulty in inflaming their curiosity. -Joshua's eagerness had become almost painful by this time; and when -they were travelling over plains, every speck on the horizon became a -horseman in his anxious eyes. Occasionally they had to make their way -through dense scrub, where there were but few trees; but for the most -part their road lay through the woods, where tall timber was abundant. -Under any other circumstances, Joshua would have found the life he was -leading wonderfully interesting, fatiguing as it was. Now they were -wending their way through a gully, the heights on each side of which -were so thickly wooded as almost to shut out the light of heaven; now -they were on a plain somewhat thinly dotted with trees when suddenly a -young savage would dart off in pursuit of a bee which his wonderful -sight had detected fifty feet high in the air. Away buzzed the bee -through the clear air, and, with his eyes fixed upon the tiny insect, -after it flew the savage joined by other young men of the party, the -older men following more leisurely. With unerring sight the hunters -ran until the bee settled upon a tree; and with wondrous speed the -bee-hunter, seeing the sugar-bags in the topmost branches, climbed the -trunk, cutting notches in the bark for his toes with his stone -hatchet, until he reached the sweet store, with which he loaded -himself, and then rejoined his companions. Now they caught an enormous -guana, more than five feet in length, upon which the natives feasted; -and saw strange specimens of the mantis, which looked like rotten -pieces of dead twigs until they were touched, when they crawled away -by the aid of their abundant misshapen limbs. Now they came to a place -where, surrounded by almost impenetrable scrub, in which patches of -wild bananas grew, were a number of fresh-water lagoons, filled with -reeds and weeds of every description, and abounding in screeching -cockatoos and beautifully-colored ducks. While Nullaboin was busy with -his scheme for obtaining the magic box in which he imagined Minnie's -spirit was imprisoned, some members of a strange tribe came to the -party, one of whom, to Joshua's amazement, was singing in imperfect -English a verse of the ballad, "He promised to buy me a bunch of blue -ribbons."[1] The singer knew no other words of English: but he -contrived to make Joshua understand that he had been among white men, -which, indeed, was sufficiently evident from his singing. - ----------- - -[Footnote 1: A fact.] - ----------- - - -"Opara," said Joshua, with sparkling eyes, "my brothers are near." - -"It is well," was Opara's simple reply. "Opara will have performed his -promise. When his daughter returns to her tribe, she will thank -Opara." - -But by this time Nullaboin's plans were matured; and that night, when -Joshua wandered into the woods, his heart filled with grateful -feelings towards the faithful savages, he was followed stealthily by -Nullaboin, and a half-a-dozen braves who had joined in his plot. - -"At last!" thought Joshua, visions of happiness to come floating -before his eyes--"at last! Perhaps to-morrow I shall see the faces of -my countrymen, and then, and then"-- But he could not think clearly; -for as the images of those dearest to him came before him, the false -face of Solomon Fewster seemed to cast a shadow upon his happiness. He -leaned against a silver-leaved gum-tree, and tried to calm himself, -and in a little while succeeded. Ellen was true to him, he was sure. -And Dan? "Is he training his birds still?" he thought "How has he -borne his great grief?" He saw before him the dear old kitchen in -Stepney, exactly as he had seen it last; every chair and every piece -of crockery was in its exact place. Every detail of those last few -minutes at home presented itself clearly to him: his yearning look at -the old familiar room; his walking up the stairs to the street-door -with his face hidden in his mother's neck, and she caressing him, as -she had done when he was a little child. Almost unconsciously he had -taken out his accordion, and his fingers were wandering over the keys, -playing softly those airs most in consonance with his thoughts. He -even murmured the words of "Tom Bowling:" - - - "Here, a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling, - The darling of our crew." - - -"Dear Old Sailor! How glad I shall be to see his honest face!" And he -saw the Old Sailor take a wedding-ring out of a piece of silver-paper, -with a triumphant expression upon his face, as he had done in that -memorable interview in Gravesend, when--whiz! Good God! what was -this? The sky seemed to come down upon the earth, and he sank through -it--down! down!-- - - -Nullaboin, snatching the accordion from the falling man, hugged it to -his naked breast, and glided swiftly away, followed by his -confederates. They must have traversed full four miles before they -paused, and then they looked cautiously around, to assure themselves -that they were alone. The old wizard had kept the instrument tightly -pressed to his bosom during the flight, so that no sound had proceeded -from it; but now, when they paused, his grasp relaxed. His hand was on -the keys: and and as the accordion gradually distended itself, a slow -wail issued from it, which so terrified him that he let it fall to the -ground, so that the weak and plaintive sound was followed by a harsh -and sudden jangle of all the notes. Appalled at this angry cry, which -was to them full of fearful meaning, the younger savages, with -palpitating hearts and dismayed faces, flew from the spot, and left -Nullaboin alone with the terrible prize. He stood like a statue for -many minutes, although the thick beads of perspiration were rolling -down his face and beard, and then cautiously approached the prostrate -mystery. Encouraged by its silence, he stooped over it, and, after his -savage fashion, entreated it to speak to him. No answer came. What -should he do? A sudden light came into his eyes. Minnie's spirit was -imprisoned there, and she was angry. He would release her. He lifted -the accordion gently from the ground, and timidly pressed his finger -upon one of the higher keys. The response was gentle, almost piteous; -it was an appeal to him. - -"O Star of the tribe!" he whispered, "Nullaboin will set you free. -Make him great!" - -He took a small green-stone mogo (hatchet) from his girdle, and -carefully cut a long hole in the cloth. He held his hand over it to -grasp the spirit; but he saw nothing, heard nothing. He waited; -nothing came. He took it in his hand, and waved it up and down; no -sound issued from it. The spirit had fled, and the old wizard was left -despairing. - - -Joshua felt no pain. A delicious sense of rest was upon him. Of all -the memories that came to him in his dreams, the happy holiday he had -spent with Dan and Ellen on the Old Sailor's barge was the most vivid. -He lived once more through the whole of that happy day--stood in Dan's -room in his holiday clothes, with food for the birds which were to be -presented to the Old Sailor--went down to breakfast, and saw Ellen's -yearning look as they talked of the coming pleasures of the day--saw -her run out of the room and run in again, almost mad with delight -because Susan had obtained permission for her to accompany the -lads--rode in the creaking cart through dingy Whitechapel--saw Dan -swinging in the hammock and gazing at him affectionately while he was -rowing--heard every word of the Old Sailor's sea-stories over -again--sat on the deck in the twilight in a state of delicious -happiness by Ellen's side, and went down into the saloon, and heard -the Old Sailor sing, and then Ellen, her favorite song of -"Bread-and-cheese and Kisses." After that a darkness came upon him, -and he opened his eyes, and saw the stars shining in the heavens; but -they were shut out immediately afterwards, and he was standing on the -deck of the "Merry Andrew" the night the ship struck on the rocks; -holding Minnie in his arms; the dead faces of his shipmates crowded -upon him, rising from the cruel sea with the exact expression upon -their features that they wore when he last saw them; then came his -encounter with the Lascar in the woods; and that memory brought to him -the face of Solomon Fewster, which lingered long; but it faded in its -turn, and gave way to other fancies, the most enduring of which was -the river near which Minnie was buried, and the refrain of her words, -"So restless there, so quiet here!" dwelt in his mind through the long -night. - -When he awoke it was daylight. He struggled to his feet, but could -scarcely stand for weakness. He had been struck by a boomerang on the -temple, and had lost a great deal of blood. He was so weak and -bewildered that, even now that he was awake the past incidents of his -life were strangely mingled in his mind. It was not until after long -mental pondering and sifting of incidents that the true knowledge of -his position and of what had occurred to him dawned upon his senses. -He looked round for his accordion; it was gone. Then he thought, -"Opara has betrayed me at the last moment. They have stolen my -accordion, and they have left me here for dead. But they may return at -any moment to strip me of what I have about me." Weak and faint as he -was he crawled cautiously towards the most thickly-wooded part of the -forest, and there concealed himself. "What now?" he thought. "Must I -wait for death?" For indeed he was too weak to walk. His heart almost -fainted within him. - -"Now, when I was so near to deliverance," he groaned aloud, shedding -bitter tears, "to be thus dashed back to misery!" But even as he -uttered the words, he heard the crack of a stockman's whip. Crack! It -rang through the woods and through his heart. Not the mockery of a -whip-bird this time! No, no; it was too near; and it was followed by -the sound of horses' hoofs and by the sound of English voices. Thank -God! thank God! - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. -FAITHFUL HEARTS. - - -On a pleasant summer evening Dan and Ellen and George Marvel were -sitting in the shade of the veranda which surrounded three sides of -their house. The house was built of wood, and was all on one floor, -and there was a garden in the front and in the rear. George Marvel was -smoking his pipe as usual, and having by this time got used to the -short clays, which were the only ones he could now obtain, had just -declared that he enjoyed a short pipe as well as a long one; "though I -couldn't stomach them at first, Dan, as you know." Dan nodded in -acquiescence; he had no time to reply; for at that moment a great -shouting was heard, and the mail-cart was seen driving round the -corner towards them. The arrival of the mail-cart in the village was -an event of the utmost importance, and was always greeted with cheers -by the excited population. There was a mail-service once a fortnight, -and sometimes it would be a day or two behind, which was most -serviceable to the inhabitants of the village, as giving them -something to be anxious about and to talk about. The driver (who was -contractor for the mail, owner of the mail-cart, and driver of it, all -in one) had one invariable excuse when he was late; he had been -waiting for the birds. Now, when Dan first heard this, he, without -knowing its meaning, felt instantly attracted to the driver of the -mail, whose name was Ramsay; and when he had an explanation from the -lips of a neighbor to whom Ramsay had given a lift (he was always -giving kindly "lifts" to one and another), Dan was disposed to be -affectionately familiar with him. This feeling being reciprocated by -Ramsay, an intimacy sprung up between them, the consequence of which -was, that Ramsay, after delivering his mails to the postmaster (a -rheumatic old woman, deaf, and almost blind), came as regularly as a -clock to have a smoke and a chat with Dan and the Marvels. A curious -character was Ramsay; a man who had seen better days--who had, indeed, -once been very wealthy--who had been plundered and deceived from his -youth upwards--and who yet retained a kindliness to every living thing -with which he came in contact. Thus, his waiting for the birds: it was -whimsical, pretty childish, some said; consisting in stopping -whichever of his two steady old mares he was driving, immediately he -saw a bird on the bush track before him. "Get out of my way, little -bird," he would say in a singularly gentle voice, and he would give -his whip a flick at the back of his cart, which had not the slightest -effect in disturbing the little creature that blocked the road. But -Ramsay could no more drive past it than he could drive through a wire -fence; and he often found it necessary to descend from his cart, and -walk softly towards the bird, which, having probably by that time -finished its pecking, would jerk up its cunning head towards the -intruder, and leisurely take flight to the nearest tree, where it -would watch the lazy old mare trotting along and would receive perhaps -a comical "Good-morning, little bird!" from the gentle-hearted -mail-contractor. - -When Ramsay had delivered his mail to the rheumatic old female -postmaster, he would look over the letters and newspapers (five -minutes was long enough to sort the lot of them) to see whether there -was any thing for Dan and Mr. Marvel. On this evening there was a -newspaper; and Ramsay, taking possession of it, walked leisurely to -the house of his friends. Ellen's child, Maggie, saw him, and ran to -him for a jump in the air, and he stopped to indulge her until he was -out of breath, when he was glad to deliver her into her mother's -charge, shaking his head laughingly in answer to her cries for "more!" - -"Hi, Mrs. Wattles!" he shouted to a woman who was passing. "There's a -letter for you at the post-office." Which sent Mrs. Wattles off, in -eager haste, to receive her missive. - -"You're a day late," said Dan, as Ramsay opened the gate. - -"Waiting for the birds, Dan; couldn't get along for the creatures. -Here's a newspaper for you." - -The newspaper had an English postage-stamp upon it, and there was -something marked inside. - -"It's from the Old Sailor!" cried Dan, and pressed it to his lips and -so did Ellen, and all those simple foolish people, in turns, one after -another. The paragraph that was marked related how a ship, with all -hands, was reported lost ten years ago, and there was nothing more -heard of her until a week before the newspaper was printed, when into -the London Docks came a vessel from China, which had been driven out -of her course, luckily, and had in consequence picked up six men off -an island, who had been living there for many years; and how that -these men belonged to the crew who were supposed to have gone to the -bottom ten years before. You may imagine that they read this paragraph -half a dozen times at the least, having Joshua in their minds all the -time, and that Ellen and Mrs. Marvel disappeared for a few minutes to -have a cry together. While they were away, the men sat silent and -grave, Dan reading the newspaper, and George Marvel and Ramsay smoking -their pipes. - -Now, once in every month--that is, by every other mail--Ramsay had to -deliver a mail-bag at a cattle-station known as Bull's Run. The -station was between forty and fifty miles distant from the village, -and Ramsay took two days for the journey, out of a merciful regard for -his old mare. As he had to start for Bull's Run early in the morning, -he did not stay late with his friends, but bade them goodnight at -about nine o'clock. When he was gone, the Old Sailor became the -subject of conversation, and every circumstance of their intimacy was -recalled and dwelt upon with loving affection. Every night they sat -together--Susan as well, although she never joined in the -conversation--talking of one thing and another. Time had softened -their grief, but it had not made them less constant; their hearts beat -as fondly and devotedly for Joshua as ever they had done. - -Susan and Mr. and Mrs. Marvel had gone to bed; Ellen and Dan were -alone. Between these two an undefinable sympathy existed; they could -almost read each other's thoughts; and this night Ellen lingered when -the others had retired to rest, because she had read in Dan's face the -signs of something more than usually important in his mind. For a long -time they were silent; the stillness of every thing around impressed -them deeply. The nature of their thoughts and the stillness of the -night, in which there was something solemn, brought to both of them -the memory of another night, years ago, when they had sat alone as -they were sitting now, with Basil Kindred's unopened diary before -them. - -"Ellen," said Dan, playing with her fingers thoughtfully, "I have -dreamed of Jo lately more often than usual, and to-night my thoughts -dwell upon him so strongly that I shall not go to bed for a while." - -"I will sit up with you, my dear." - -The windows in the room were folding windows, and reached to the -ground. Ellen opened them; and she and Dan were presently sitting -beneath the veranda, he upon a chair, she upon the ground, with her -head resting in his lap. - -"Do you remember that Christmas night, Ellen, when Jo came home?" - -"Yes, Dan." - -"And the strange impression I had upon me that Jo was near us, -although I had no actual knowledge of it?" - -"Yes." - -"I can see the street as we saw it then, Ellen, with its covering of -snow, and that cruel black gash in it which the only man who passed -tore with his feet. It was like an ill-omen. You see nothing to -disturb the beauty of the scene, Ellen?" - -"No; but why do you ask, my dear?" - -"Because I have upon me to-night the same feeling that I had then; -because notwithstanding that it is almost madness to say it and -believe it, I believe that Jo is near us." - -"Dan!" - -"To no one else but you would I say this, my dear. Long dwelling upon -one subject fills the mind with singular thought concerning it, and it -may be that this feeling that is upon me now is but the creation of -the wildest fancy. Yet there are strange influences within us and -around us for which we cannot account, and which affect us in -mysterious ways. When I first knew that it was Jo's wish to be a -sailor, and that we should be parted, I tried with all my mind and -soul--it may be that it was a foolish, childish fancy, Ellen, but I -had it--to create such a heart sympathy between us that we could never -be parted in spirit. I had some wild ideas then of being able to dream -of what he was doing and seeing when he was thousands of miles away -from our little room in Stepney. Of course they came to nothing; but -it would be strange indeed, if this earnest striving of mine had not -produced some feeling within me which time only can test. You remember -what poor Minnie's father used to say: 'There are more things in -heaven and earth than is dreamed of in our philosophy.'" - -So they sat together talking and musing, and it was past midnight -before they retired to rest. - -Early in the morning, the whimsical mail-contractor was jogging along -towards Bull's Run; he had to stop so many times for the little birds -in the road, that his progress was slow; but he had reckoned upon -these impediments, and he arrived at the station not more than a -couple of hours after the usual time. That was the end of his journey; -the following day he had to make his way back to Dan's village. The -residence of the owner of Bull's-Run station was built of slabs split -from the bloodwood-tree; the roof was of shingle; and the interior of -the house was lined with rich dark-red cedar, which gave it quite a -cosey, comfortable appearance. The workmen's huts were built of -palm-tree slabs, and the roofs were thatched with strong sword-grass, -which grew in great profusion on the banks of a river within a few -miles of the homestead. Ramsay was always welcomed at Bull's Run; the -men and women on the station--for, primitive as it was, there were -women and children living on it--used to cluster round him and ask him -for news from the villages through which he passed, and the smallest -items were received with thankfulness, and eagerly listened to. On -this occasion, Ramsay had but little news to tell, and his budget was -soon exhausted. In return, they told him theirs: one of the bulls had -torn a man's arm open; a child had been lost for a whole night, and -all the men were out searching for it miles away, and it was found the -next morning within half a mile of the hut; three bushrangers, -splendidly mounted, passed the station last week at full gallop; one -of the shepherds had come in with a cock-and-a-bull story of gold -being found somewhere or other; another shepherd had gone mad; -Yellow-hammer Jack and his wife had had a row; and--but Oh! this was -the best bit of the lot!--a man had been brought in by two stockmen -who were looking for lost cattle, and had found him instead; he was -almost dead, and had been living a long time with the Blacks. He -seemed a decent kind of fellow, had been a sailor, he said, but was -strangely silent about himself--for good reasons, some of the -ill-natured ones said. Any ways, the man was better, although still very -weak, and intended to start the next morning for Sydney; nothing would -stop him. - -"A long tramp for a weak man," said kind-hearted Ramsay; "if he's a -decent fellow, I'll give him a lift." - -As he said this, there came towards the group, walking very slowly, a -strange-looking man, with a beard down to his breast, dressed in skins -and furs; he had a stick in his hand, and seemed to require its -support. They pointed to him, and said that was the man. Ramsay looked -at him keenly, and the air of melancholy that rested in the man's eyes -impressed the mail-contractor with a feeling of pity. - -"A sailor, eh?" he thought; "and living with the savages. Wonder what -he lived with them for?" Then he thought of Dan's and Ellen's anxiety -concerning strange sailors and castaways, and that perhaps they would -be glad to see this man. He said nothing, however, but was up the next -morning early, and saw the man start on his road with slow and painful -steps. A few minutes afterwards the old mare was harnessed, and its -tail was turned to Bull's Run. Soon he came up to the man, and as he -did so, two purple-breasted robins pecking at a bit of honeysuckle -barred his progress. "Get out of my way, little birds," said the -mail-driver, pulling up his mare; and he gave a soft flick with his -whip in a direction where the robins were not. The words reached the -man's ears, and he turned his head in surprise, and saw the little -comedy. A gentle, sweet smile rested on his lips, and he looked at the -mail-driver almost gratefully. Ramsay smiled in return, and again bade -the little robins get out of his way; and presently they took flight, -each with a tiny piece of the sweet flower in its beak. Then the old -mare jogged lazily along, and the strange-looking man gazed wistfully -after the cart. Ramsay, looking back, saw the wistful expression, and -stopped at once. "Hi, mate!" - -Joshua came slowly forward. - -"Where you bound for?" - -"Sydney." - -"Going to walk all the way?" - -"If I can," sighed Joshua; and could not help adding, "and if I don't -die on the road!" - -"Jump up, mate; I can give you a lift for forty miles." - -"I have no money," and Joshua turned away, with a sob. - -"I don't want your money; I want your company. But how were you going -to live, if you've no money?" - -"I should trust to the Providence that has so wonderfully delivered -me," thought Joshua, but made no reply aloud; though it could be seen -in his eyes, which were filled with tears. - -"Jump in," said Ramsay, imperatively and kindly, "without another -word." - -And without another word Joshua climbed into the cart. - -"I dare say now," said Ramsay in the course of conversation, as the -old mare trotted steadily on the road, "that you wonder what made me -so anxious for your company. Well, I'll tell you. In the village where -I shall put up to-morrow afternoon, and which is forty odd miles on -the road to Sydney, live some people I'm very fond of, who had a -sailor friend that they've not heard of for a long while." - -"Ah!" sighed Joshua; "I know, what their feeling must be. Did they -love him?" - -"Love him! Well, you shall see for yourself; if, in return for the -lift I am giving you, you won't mind talking to them a bit." - -"I shall be glad to; it may remind me of my own friends." - -"Where are your friends?--Now, Dozy!" this to the old mare, who had -stopped suddenly short; "what d'ye stop for? The sense of the -creature!" he added proudly, pointing, to a bird some yards in front -of them. "Get out of my way, little bird!" - -"When I first heard you say that," said Joshua, "I was sure you had a -kind heart." - -"Fond of birds yourself, mate?" - -"Very, very fond. The tenderest remembrances of my life are connected -with them." - -Ramsay cast a sharp glance at the half-savage. - -"Been long among the Blacks, mate? or isn't the story true?" - -"It's true enough. Long among them? Ay--years, but I don't know how -long." - -Joshua, indeed, had lost count of time. - -"From choice?" - -"No; but I've told my story to no one yet. It would scarcely be -believed. But tell me about your friends and the sailor." - -"There's a mother there, that lost a son when she lost her -sailor"--Joshua pressed his fingers to his face, and sobbed -convulsively at the thought of his own dear mother, who had lost a son -when she lost her sailor; and the mail-driver felt a choking in his -throat, and had to wait a few moments before he could proceed. "And a -father that lost a son at the same time. And a wife that lost a -husband. And a friend that lost a friend. And a little child that can -hardly be said to have lost a father, for she never saw her father's -face." - -"Merciful God!" - -"What's the matter, mate?" - -For Joshua was trembling--like a child; and great sobs came from his -chest--like a man. - -"You remind me--you remind me," sobbed Joshua. "Don't think me -unmanly, don't think me mad. I have been sorely, sorely tried!" - -Whereat Ramsay stopped the mare, and got out of the cart, and went -into the bush to look for birds. He must have had a great difficulty -in finding them, he was away so long; and the old mare stood perfectly -still and contented the while, twitching her tail to knock off the -flies, which was the only spirited action she was ever known to be -guilty of. When they were jogging along again, they did not speak a -word for a full hour, and then it was Joshua who spoke first, taking -up the thread where it had been dropped. - -"The child who has never seen her father--a girl then?" - -"Yes, mate." - -"How was it that she had never seen him?" - -"Married her mother; went away to sea, and never heard of since." - -"How old is the child?" - -"Five years, I should say." - -"If you knew," said Joshua in a slow trembling voice, "what a chord -you have touched in my heart, you would pity me. Forgive me for my -strange manner, and answer me. The mother who has lost a son; describe -her." - -"An angel. I'm not good at picking faces to pieces; but when I look at -her, she reminds me of my own mother, dead and gone this many a year. -Never thinks of herself; always putting herself out for other -people--bless her old face! And yet she's not so old, although her -hair is nearly white--that's from grief." - -"The father who lost a son?" - -"A fine fellow; a little self-willed and obstinate; a wood-turner." - -A long, long silence. The mail-driver did not break it, nor did he -intrude upon his companion's thoughts. "Twit-twit-twit!" came from the -throats of some diamond sparrows, which were flitting among the -gum-tree branches and a flock of scarlet lowry parrots floated -through the bush that lined the road on either side, their -wonderfully-gorgeous plumage lighting up the dark trees with brilliant -light. - -"The wife that lost a husband, and the friend that lost a friend?" - -"Treasures both; brother and sister." - -"One other question--where do they come from?" - -"London. I don't know what part." - -A mist floated before Joshua's eyes, and he remained like one in a -dream during the afternoon--wondering, hoping, fearing. When they were -near to the village the following afternoon, Joshua said,-- - -"It may be that you have rendered me one of the greatest services that -a man can possibly render another. If it be as I scarcely dare to -hope, we shall know each other for long after this. Complete the -service by doing one little thing more. Drive past the house where -your friends live and point it out to me, so that I may descend and -walk to it alone when we are at the end of your journey." - -Ramsay nodded. It was about five o'clock when the mail-cart rattled -into the village. The contractor for the mails always made a great -clatter when he came in, as if he had been driving for his life--a -fiction which, although no one believed in, he thought it desirable to -keep up. "It looks government-like," he said. - - -Solomon Fewster is in the garden at the rear of the house, pleading -his suit to Ellen for the twentieth time. She stands silent until he -has finished a rhapsody, in which love and money are strangely -commingled. - -"Think of the time I have waited, Ellen," he says; "think of the -constancy of my affection, and of the position I can offer you. -I am making money fast, and only wait for you to say yes, to buy a -house for us, which in three years will be worth three times what -they ask for it. What is the use of your wasting your life in this -out-of-the-way village when all the attractions of a city-life are -open to you? Come now, give me your hand, and reward the man who has -been your constant friend and lover, and who can make you rich." - -But Ellen is insensible to the splendor of the offer; indeed, she is -weary of it and him, and she tells him so spiritedly, and yet cannot -repulse him. At length she says,-- - -"Mr. Fewster, there must be an end to this. I shall never, never marry -again; and even if I did," she adds, to put a stop to what has become -persecution, "I should not choose you;" and leaves him with this arrow -in his heart. - -He stands amazed. Not choose him! Why, a thousand girls would jump at -him. Not here perhaps, for womankind was a scarce commodity; but at -home, or anywhere where girls were more plentiful. Not choose him! He -follows her into the house, wounded and mortified, and into Dan's -room, where Mr. Marvel and Dan are at work. Mr. Marvel has all his -tools, and does a great deal of wood-turning--having, indeed, more -than he can do--and is putting by money. He scarcely looks up as -Solomon Fewster walks in, somewhat defiantly; and as no one speaks to -him, an awkward silence ensues upon his entrance; broken by Mr. -Marvel, who, noticing Ellen's flushed face, observes,-- - -"Been teasing Ellen again, Mr. Fewster?" - -"Teasing her, indeed!" exclaims Solomon Fewster loftily; "honoring -her, I should say." - -The flush upon Ellen's face deepens at this, and she casts such a look -of aversion at Mr. Fewster that all the blood rushes into _his_ face, -and he says some injudicious words about ingratitude, and about what -one might expect if one condescended to lower himself as he had done. - -Upon this George Marvel starts to his feet in a great heat, and -exclaims,-- - -"What do you mean by ingratitude, and by lowering yourself, Mr. -Fewster? What gratitude do we owe you?" - -"Ask Dan," says Mr. Fewster,--"ask Dan who it was bought his birds to -keep you when you were starving, and when no one else would look upon -you. But it serves me right for noticing you and helping you, instead -of treating you as all your neighbors did. I ought to have known what -return I might expect." - -"And I dare say you got your return," says George Marvel, "when you -sold Dan's birds at a good profit. As for Dan selling his birds to -keep us from starving, that was no business of yours, so long as you -got value for your money. That is a matter between Dan and me; and -Dan's satisfied with the way that account stands, or I'm mistaken in -him." Dan presses George Marvel's hand. "Thank you, Dan. Now, as to -lowering yourself, Mr. Fewster. Do you mean to tell me that you would -be lowering yourself if Ellen here was free to marry you, and would -accept you? You mean-spirited dog! I'm a good deal older than you are; -but if you were not in my house, I would thrash you for speaking as -you have done, as I've thrashed others in Stepney when they let loose -their lying tongues at us. Get out of the place, and never set foot in -it again!" Attracted by the loud voices, Susan and Mrs. Marvel, with -Ellen's child, have come into the room; and Mrs. Marvel now goes to -her husband's side and lays her hand upon his arm. "Nay, Maggie--let -be; I'm not going to hurt him; I wouldn't lay a finger upon him here; -and I don't want to anywhere else; only, don't let him cross me if he -says a word against us out of this house.--Dan!" he cries, "do you -want to see Mr. Fewster here again?" - -"No, sir; I think it will be best if Mr. Fewster will keep away from -us." - -"And you, Ellen? what do you say? - -"I never wish to see him again. For the sake of what is past, I would -have been content to see him, if he would have ceased from persecuting -me; but after what he has said to you, I hope he will leave us in -peace." - -"You hear," exclaims George Marvel; "we are happy enough without you. -Go, and never darken this door again!" - -Solomon Fewster looks round, almost savagely; his face is white with -passion, and all the vindictiveness of his bad nature comes into play. - -"You are happy enough without me!" he sneers, with his knuckles to his -mouth. - -"Don't make too sure of that. I have been your friend hitherto. What -if I now make myself your enemy? What if, when I go from this house, I -spread about _my_ version of your reason for leaving London? What if I -tell your neighbors here of the real character of your sailor-hero, -and how, because of his villainy, all your friends turned their backs -upon you"-- - -But he has no time to say more; for the door, which has been partly -open, swings on its hinges, and Joshua enters. - -Not one of them recognizes him. In his strange garb, with his fur-cap -pulled over his eyes, and with his face covered with hair, no trace of -Joshua is discernible; and yet they look at him spell-bound, waiting -for him to speak. He gazes at the forms of all the dear ones and -grasps the back of a chair to steady himself. He takes them all in at -a glance, and sees in one brief moment the changes in them that time -has made. His mother's white hair; the deepened wrinkles in his -father's face; Ellen more matronly than she was, but fair and pleasant -to look at as when she was a girl; Susan, like an old woman; Dan grown -a little stouter, and with the same dear boyish light in his eyes and -on his face--but the child, clinging to Ellen's apron and looking at -him wonderingly with Ellen's eyes and his!-- - -He had thought, before he entered, that he would be strong, but he has -no more control over himself for a few moments than a straw in a -fierce wind. Then muttering, "Justice first!" he turns upon Solomon -Fewster a glance of hate and scorn, and grasps him by the shoulder -with so powerful a grasp, that Fewster writhes with pain. - -"I heard your last words," he says. - -But directly he speaks, a thrill runs through them, and they are -running towards him with outstretched arms, when he cries,-- - -"Stand off! By what strange chance I find you, I can scarcely imagine. -But do not come nearer to me for a little while, or I shall fall dead -at your feet!" - -Awe-struck and trembling they obey him. - -"I would not touch one of your dear hands till you have heard me and -judged me, though death were the penalty for depriving myself of the -joy! I would not receive one kiss from your honored lips upon my cheek -till you have heard me and judged me, though I were sure that my -tongue would be paralyzed in the utterance of what I have to say! Some -part of your sufferings, some part of your pain, I know from my own -suffering and pain, and I will clear myself before your eyes, so help -me Thou! or go forever from my sight!" - -Susan is running to him with cries of "Justice! justice!" and is about -to throw herself upon him, when George Marvel's arm restrains and -keeps her back. "Be still, madwoman!" he mutters sternly, and stands -by her side, watchful of her, and no less watchful and attentive of -every word that falls from his son's lips. - -Joshua takes the cap from his head, and lets it fall to the ground, -still keeping his strong grasp upon Solomon Fewster, whose cowardly -blood grows thin as he writhes and listens. - -"Justice!" echoes Joshua. "You shall have it, and so shall this base -dog, whose presence pollutes the air I breathe. Listen well. Of -another matter that we must speak of presently, and which is near and -dear to all our hearts, I will say nothing before him. But in the -'Merry Andrew' in which I sailed from Gravesend, and which is now at -the bottom of the sea, with many dear brave souls that were aboard -her, was a villanous sailor--a Lascar, from whose hands I once rescued -the woman who calls for justice, and who struck me down on that -dreadful Christmas-eve when I first came home from sea. He shrinks and -trembles beneath my grasp, this false friend, of whose bad heart I -warned my brother Dan before the 'Merry Andrew' sailed. At one time -during the voyage, when we were in danger, there was an attempt at -mutiny, and this Lascar was one of the cowardly wretches who -endeavored to spread dissatisfaction. When we were in dread peril, -this Lascar sailor and a mutinous mate, whom we had to put in irons, -strove hard to injure me and the captain--Heaven rest his soul--and, -happily, failed. The ship was wrecked, and we had to abandon her, and -take to a raft which we had made; and on that raft we suffered more -than six weeks hunger and thirst, and every species of misery. Out of -the entire crew and passengers only seven were saved, among them being -myself and this Lascar sailor and his confederate, the mutinous mate. -Before the captain died, he appointed me to succeed in the command, -and I have the record from the log-book about me now. We got ashore. -How we lived, you shall hear from me by and by; but once the Lascar -(whom we suspected of having killed his confederate) stole upon me, -and but that I turned my head in time, I should not be here now to -expose the villainy of this cowardly wretch. Foiled in his devilish -design, he told me then that he had been set to trap me, and was paid -for it. Some time after that, I found the Lascar dead in the forest; -and before I buried him--not wishing to leave a human creature -however vile, to be eaten by birds and beasts--I obtained evidence -which proved to me that the wretch who writhes now within my grasp was -the master who paid him to ruin, and perhaps to murder me." - -"A clever lie," Solomon Fewster manages to say, though he is shaking -from terror. - -"A lie! have the proofs. Be thankful that I have met you here among -those who are all that the world holds dear for ma. If I had met you -in the forest, in the midst of such scenes as I have witnessed lately, -I would not have answered for your life." - -Joshua hurls Solomon Fewster from him with such force that he falls, -almost stunned, in the corner of the room. Then Joshua takes from his -neck the bag containing; his relics, and selects from them the silver -watch and the document which Fewster had given the Lascar, and after -reading aloud the document and the inscription on the watch, lays them -upon the table. - -"Here are the proofs of your crime and your villainy," he says to -Fewster. "Be thankful if you are allowed to escape punishment. Go and -go quickly, and without a word!" He stands aside to let the man pass; -and Solomon Fewster, without a word or a look to any one there, passes -out of the room, and out of the village. And is never seen in it -again. - -When they are alone, Joshua turns to Susan, and, in a softer voice, -says,-- - -"Susan, you cried for justice. Upon me!" - -"Yes, upon you. Where is Minnie? What have you done with Minnie?" - -The big tears roll down Joshua's beard at the mention of her name. - -"You think I took her away?" - -"You know you did." - -"Then truly, if all of you believe as Susan believes, my life is -darker than the darkest night." With upraised hand he checks them, -from speaking; but he sees in their faces what gives him precious -comfort. "When I went away from Gravesend," he says in a soft and -gentle voice, "I had no knowledge that Minnie was aboard. When we got -to Sydney I did not know it. My duties occupied all my time. We sailed -from Sydney, and I was still in ignorance. But on the night the 'Merry -Andrew' struck on the rocks I heard her voice for the first time. I -suppose she thought that we were lost, and in her agony she made -herself known to me; but I did not see her--the night was too dark. -When I saw her the next day, I saw to my amazement that she had -stained her face, and that her hair was not so long as she used to -wear it. We were together on the raft. We were together on the shore. -She was one of the seven who were saved. We lived together like -brother and sister. When the savages discovered us, they had a strange -fancy respecting her, and she obtained great influence over them. She -used all her influence to protect me, and but for her I should have -lived and died where the tribe we fell amongst chiefly wandered--in -the north, many hundreds of miles from here." He takes from his bag -Ellen's portrait, the lock of her hair he had cut before he left -Gravesend, and Dan's Bible. He places these on one side. "What is -left, Dan, is yours. This tress, cut not many weeks ago; this paper, -which she desired me to give you, and which I have never read; this -earth, which I gathered from her grave Before she died, she sent you -all her dearest love, and a kiss for mother, Dan, and Ellen. She died -pure as she had lived, dear, faithful, mistaken heart! As I hope for -redemption, I speak the truth. If you believe me, take me to your -hearts again, and let me live in them as I know I once lived!" - -As he once lived! as he had always lived! They cluster round him, and -kiss him, and sob over him. Had he not been saved from the deep--ay, -and from greater perils--to comfort them? And they put his little -daughter in his arms, who asks, hearing that he was her father, "Has -God sent my father back? God is very good." - -O good faithful mother! can this great bearded man be your son? Not -often can such a cluster of loving hearts be seen--faithful to each -other, believing in each other's goodness and purity, in face of -terrible adverse circumstance. Their faithfulness is a proof of their -own worth. To the pure all things are pure. But hush! for Minnie's -last words; Dan is reading them aloud. - - -"I have learned, too late, the consequences of my fault. But I, and I -alone, am to blame. No one knew it; no one suspected it; no one aided -me in it. I am writing this upon a page of Dan's Bible, and it seems -to me like an oath. I cannot live long. I am dying. But a long-life's -devotion could not repay Joshua's brotherly care. All good angels -guard him and you! If Joshua is preserved to give you this--and I -believe he will be--think, while you read it, that my spirit is near; -and forgive me, dear Dan and Ellen. My love to you both, and to good -Mrs. Marvel and Joshua's father; and to Susan, who must have no bad -thoughts of Joshua. God bless you, and send you happiness! - - "Minnie." - - -Dan and Joshua sit talking together until late in the night. Ellen and -Mr. and Mrs. Marvel are sitting up also, but in another part of the -house. They know that Dan wants to speak to Joshua of Minnie, and they -leave the friends undisturbed. - -What is said to each other by the two faithful friends cannot be -written here; but it may be easily understood by those who have read -these pages. Joshua tells Dan as much as time will allow of his and -Minnie's lives, and is tender and indignant in turns, as Dan relates -to him the history of the family in Stepney after the sailing of the -"Merry Andrew." Be sure that the Old Sailor is not forgotten. I650f -tender speech and loving thought are worth any thing, the Old Sailor -is rich indeed. - -Their eyes are wet with tears, and their hands are in each other's -clasp. Joshua has just finished his relation of Minnie's death, and of -her words about the river--"So restless there, so quiet here!"--when a -knock comes at the door and Ellen enters. He takes her in his arms, -and they sit, the three of them, and talk in a state of wondering -happiness. - -Another knock at the door.--Mr. and Mrs. Marvel. The magnetism of love -has drawn them all together. - -"It reminds me of the night before you first went to see, Jo," says -Dan. "Do you remember? The knocks at the door one after another." - - -"Josh," said George Marvel to his son, a fortnight afterwards, "what -are you going to do?" - -"What do you mean, daddy?" asked Joshua in return. - -"What do I mean? Well, you don't want to go to sea again?" - -"No, I shouldn't like to leave Ellen and Dan and all of you again." - -"Well, then, what are you going to do? You must do something." - -Mrs. Marvel sat silent, and smiled a little smile, but very slyly, so -that no one should see it. - -"You can get plenty of work as a wood-turner, daddy?" - -"Yes, Josh, a good deal more than I can do--and well paid for it too." - -"Well, daddy, I think"-- - -"Yes, Josh, you think"-- - -"I think I'll learn wood-turning, if you'll teach me." - -Whereupon George Marvel, after the slightest amount of hesitation, -rose and kissed his wife. - - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Joshua Marvel, by B. L. 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Farjeon"> - -<meta name="Publisher" content="Harper & Brothers"> -<meta name="Date" content="1872"> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> -<style type="text/css"> -body {margin-left:10%; - margin-right:10%; background-color:#FFFFFF;} - - -p.normal {text-indent:.25in; text-align: justify;} -.center {margin: auto; text-align:center; margin-top:24pt; margin-bottom:24pt} - - - -p.right {text-align:right; margin-right:20%;} - -p.continue {text-indent: 0in; margin-top:9pt;} - - -h1,h2,h3,h4,h5 {text-align: center;} - -span.sc {font-variant: small-caps; font-size:110%;} -span.sc2 {font-variant: small-caps; font-size:90%;} - -hr.W10 {width:10%; color:black; margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt} - -hr.W20 {width:20%; color:black; margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:12pt} - -hr.W50 {width:50%; color:black;} -hr.W90 {width:90%; color:black;} - -p.hang1 {margin-left:3em; text-indent:-3em;} -p.hang2 {margin-left:3em; text-indent:0em;} - - -</style> - -</head> - -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Joshua Marvel, by B. L. Farjeon - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Joshua Marvel - -Author: B. L. Farjeon - -Release Date: November 12, 2016 [EBook #53509] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOSHUA MARVEL *** - - - - -Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by -Google Books (the University of California) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Notes:<br> -1. Page scan source: Google Books<br> -https://books.google.com/books?id=yZ4pAQAAIAAJ<br> -(the University of California)<br> -2. [=e] indicates a macron over "e"</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h3>JOSHUA MARVEL.</h3> -<br> - -<h5>BY</h5> - -<h4>B. L. FARJEON,</h4> - -<h5>AUTHOR OF "GRIF."</h5> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>NEW YORK:<br> -<span style="font-size:smaller">HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,<br> -<span style="font-size:smaller">FRANKLIN SQUARE.</span></span><br> -1872.</h4> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h3>JOSHUA MARVEL.</h3> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER I.</h4> - -<h5>CONCERNING CERTAIN FAMILY CONVERSATIONS AND THEIR RESULT.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">In the parish of Stepney, in the county of Middlesex, there -lived, -amidst the hundreds of thousands of human bees who throng that -overcrowded locality, a family composed of four persons--mother, -father, and two children, boy and girl--who owned the surprising name -of Marvel. They had lived in their hive for goodness knows how many -years. The father's father had lived there and died there; the father -had been married from there; and the children had been born there. The -bees in the locality, who elbowed each other and trod upon each -other's toes, were poor and common bees, and did not make much honey. -Some of them made just enough to live upon; and a good many of them, -now and then, ran a little short. The consequence was, that they could -not store any honey for a rainy day, and were compelled to labor and -toil right through the year, in cold weather and in warm weather, in -sunshine and in rain. In which respect they were worse off than other -bees we know of that work in the summer and make themselves cosey in -the winter.</p> - -<p class="normal">The bees in the neighborhood being common and poor, it was natural -that the neighborhood itself should partake of the character of its -inhabitants. But, common and poor as it was, it was not too common nor -too poor for love to dwell in it. Love did reside there; not only in -the hive of the Marvels, but in hundreds of other hives, tenanted by -the humblest of humble bees.</p> - -<p class="normal">George Marvel had married for love; and, lest the reader should -suppose that the contract was one-sided, it may be as well to mention -that George Marvel's wife had also married for love. They fell in love -in the way, and they married in the usual way; and, happy and -satisfied with each other, they did not mar their enjoyment of the -then present by thinking of the sharp stones which, from the very -circumstances of their position, were pretty sure to dot the road of -their future lives. There are many such simple couples in the world -who believe that the future is carpeted with velvet grass, with the -sun always shining upon it, and who find themselves all too soon -stumbling over a dark and rocky thoroughfare.</p> - -<p class="normal">It was not long before the Marvels came to the end of <i>their</i> little -bit of carpet sunshine; yet, when they got upon the stones, they -contrived by industry and management to keep their feet. George Marvel -was a wood-turner by trade, and earned on an average about thirty-two -shillings a week. What with a little new furniture now and then, and a -little harmless enjoyment now and then, and a few articles of -necessary clothing now and then, and the usual breakfasts, dinners, -and teas, with a little bit of supper now and then, the thirty-two -shillings a week were pretty well and pretty fully employed. So well -and so fully were those weekly shillings employed, that it was often a -very puzzling matter to solve that problem which millions of human -atoms are studying at this present moment, and which consists in -endeavoring to make both ends meet. That they did contrive, however, -to make both ends meet (not, of course, without the tugging and -stretching always employed in the process), was satisfactorily -demonstrated by the fact that the family, were respected and esteemed -by their neighbors, and that they owed no man a shilling. Not even the -baker; for they sent for their loaves, and paid for them across the -counter. By that they almost always received an extra piece to make up -weight; and such extra pieces are of importance in a family. Not even -the butcher; for Mrs. Marvel did her own marketing, and found it far -cheaper to select her own joints, which you may be sure never had too -much bone in them. Not even the cat's-meat man; for the farthing a day -laid out with that tradesman was faithfully paid in presence of the -carroty-haired cat (who ever heard of a cat with auburn hair?) who sat -the while with eager appetite, looking with hungry eyes at the skewer -upon which hung her modicum of the flesh of horse.</p> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Marvel was a pale but not sad woman, who had no ambition in life -worthy of being called one, save the ambition of making both ends -meet, and of being able, although Stepney was not liable to floods, to -keep the heads of her family above water. But, because Mrs. Marvel had -no ambition, that was no reason why Mr. Marvel should not have any. -Not that he could have defined precisely what it was if he had been -asked; but that the constant difficulties which cropped up in the -constant attempt to solve the problem (which has something perpetual -in its nature) of making both ends meet, made him fretful. This -fretfulness had found vent in speech day after day for many years; so -that Joshua Marvel, the wood-turner's heir, had from his infancy -upwards been in the habit of hearing what a miserable thing it was to -be poor, and what a miserable thing it was to be cooped up, as George -Marvel expressed it, and what a miserable thing it was to live until -one's hair turned gray without ever having had a start in the world. -It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that Joshua Marvel had -gathered slowly in his mind the determination not to be a wood-turner -all his life, but to start in the world for himself, and try to be -something better; never for one moment thinking there was the most -remote possibility of his ever being any thing worse. When, in the -course of certain family discussions and conversations, this -determination became known, it did not receive discouragement from the -head of the family, although the tender-hearted mother cried by the -hour together, and could not for the life of her see why Joshua should -not be satisfied to do as his father had done before him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And what is that, mother?" Mr. Marvel would ask. "What have I done -before him? I've been wood-turning all my life before him--that's what -I've been doing; and I shall go on wood-turning, I suppose, till my -dying day, when I can't wood-turn any more. Why, it might be yesterday -that I started as a boy to learn wood-turning. The first day I used -the lathe I dreamed that I had cut my thumb off; and I woke up with a -curious sensation in my jaw which has haunted me ever since like a -ghost. That was before I knew you, mother. And now it is to-day, and -I'm wood-turning still; and--How many white hairs did you pull out of -my head last night, Sarah?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Fourteen," replied Sarah; "and you owe me a farthing."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Fourteen," said Mr. Marvel, quietly repudiating the liability, which -arose from an existing arrangement that Sarah should have a farthing -for every dozen white hairs she pulled out of his head; "and next week -it will be forty, perhaps; and the week after four hundred."</p> - -<p class="normal">"White hairs will come, father," said Mrs. Marvel; "we must all get -'em when we're old enough."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I'm not old enough," grumbled Mr. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And I don't see, father," continued Mrs. Marvel, "what the fourteen -white hairs Sarah pulled out of your head has to do with Joshua."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Of course <i>you</i> don't see, mother," said, Mr. Marvel, who had a -contempt for a woman's argument; "you're not supposed to see, being a -woman; but I <i>do</i> see; and what I say is, wood-turning brings on white -hairs quicker than any thing else."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Grandfather was a wood-turner," remarked Mrs. Marvel, "and he didn't -have white hairs until he was quite old."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, he was lucky--that's all I can say; but, for all that, Josh -isn't going to be a wood-turner, unless he's set his mind upon it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I won't be a wood-turner, father," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"All right, Josh," said Mr. Marvel; "you sha'n't."</p> - -<p class="normal">From this it will be seen that the voice maternal was weak and -impotent when opposed to the voice paternal. But Mrs. Marvel, although -by no means a strong-minded woman, had a will of her own, and a quiet -unobtrusive way of working which often achieved a victory without -inflicting humiliation. She did not like the idea of her boy leading -an idle life; she had an intuitive conviction that Joshua would come -to no good if he had nothing to do. She argued the matter with her -good man, and never introduced the subject at an improper time. The -consequence was, that her first moves were crowned with success.</p> - -<p class="normal">"If Joshua won't be a wood-turner, father "--she said.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Which he won't," asserted her husband.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Which he won't, as you say," Mrs. Marvel replied, like a sensible -woman. "If he won't be a wood-turner, he must be something. Now he -must be something, father--mustn't he?"</p> - -<p class="normal">This being spoken in the form of a question, left the decision with -Mr. Marvel; and he said, as if the remark originated with himself,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes; he must be something."</p> - -<p class="normal">And with that admission Mrs. Marvel rested content for a little while; -but not for long. She soon returned to the attack; and asked her -husband what Joshua should be. Now this puzzled Mr. Marvel; and he -could not see any way out of the difficulty, except by remarking that -the boy would make up his mind one of these fine days. But "these fine -days"--in which people, especially boys, make up their minds--are -remarkably like angels' visits; and the calendar of our lives often -comes to an end without one of them being marked upon the record. To -all outward appearance, this was likely to be the case with Joshua; -and the task of making up his mind seemed to be so tardy in its -accomplishment, that George Marvel himself began to grow perplexed as -to the future groove of his son and heir; for Joshua kept himself -mentally very much to himself. Vague wishes and desires he had; but -they had not yet shaped themselves in his mind--which was most likely -the reason why they had not found expression.</p> - -<p class="normal">Meanwhile Mrs. Marvel was not idle. She saw her husband's perplexity, -and rejoiced at it. Her great desire was to see Joshua settled down to -a trade, whether it were wood-turning or any other. Wood-turning she -would have preferred; but, failing that, some other trade which would -fix him at home; for with that keen perception which mothers only -possess with regard to their children--a perception which springs from -the maternal intellect alone, and which is born of a mother's watchful -anxious love--she felt that her son's desires, unknown even to -himself, might possibly lead him to be a wanderer from her world, the -parish of Stepney, in which she was content to live and die. In that -beehive she had been born; in that beehive she had experienced calm -happiness and wholesome trouble; and in that beehive she wished to -close her eyes; and to see her children's faces smiling upon her, when -her time came to say good-by to the world of which she knew so little. -With all a woman's cunning, with all a woman's love, she devoted -herself to the task of weaning the mind of her favorite child from the -restless aspirations which might drive him from her side.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Until Joshua makes up his mind what he is going to be, father," she -said one night at candle-time, "it's a pity he should remain idle. -Idleness isn't a good thing for a boy."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Idleness isn't a good thing for boy or man," said Mr. Marvel, -converting his wife's remark into an original expression of opinion by -the addition of the last two words. "But I don't see what we are to -do, mother."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Suppose I get him a situation--as an errand-boy, perhaps--until he -makes up his mind."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I'm agreeable," said Mr. Marvel, "if Josh is."</p> - -<p class="normal">But Josh was not agreeable. Many a fruitless journey did Mrs. Marvel -make, trudging here and trudging there; and many an application did -she answer in person to written announcements in shop-windows of -"Errand-boy wanted." Joshua would not accept any of the situations she -obtained for him. She got him one at a watchmaker's; no, he would not -go to a watchmaker's: at a saddler's; no, he would not go to a -saddler's; at a bootmaker's, at a tailor's; no, nor that, nor that. -Still she persevered, appearing to gain fresh courage from every -rebuff. As for Joshua, he was beginning to grow wearied of her -assiduity. He was resolved not to go to any trade, but being of a very -affectionate nature he desired to please his mother, and at the same -time to convince her that it was of no use for her to worry him any -longer. So he set her, what he considered to be an impossible task: he -told her that he was determined not to go anywhere except to a -printing office. He felt assured that she would never be able to get -him within the sacred precincts of such an establishment. And even if -she did, there was something more noble, something more distinguished -and grander, in printing than in bootmaking, or tailoring, or -watchmaking, or wood-turning. There was a fascinating mystery about -it; he had seen watchmakers and tailors, and cobblers working, but he -had never seen the inside of a printing-office. Neither had any of his -boy-friends. He had been told, too, that there was an act of -parliament which allowed printers to wear swords in the streets. That -was a fine thing. How all the neighbors would stare when they saw him -walking through the narrow streets of Stepney with sword at his side! -Joshua had some sense of humor; and he chuckled to himself at the -impossible task he had set his mother.</p> - -<p class="normal">He was therefore considerably astonished one day, when Mrs. Marvel -told him she had obtained a situation for him as errand-boy in a -newspaper-office. Did ever a woman fail, except from physical or -mental prostration, in the accomplishment of a certain thing upon -which she has set her mind? And if, in working for the accomplishment -of the desired result, she brings to her aid an unselfish, unwearying -love, <i>then</i> did ever a woman fail? At all events Mrs. Marvel did not. -After much labor, fortune befriended her; and she heard that an -errand-boy was wanted at a certain printing-office where a weekly -newspaper was printed. Thither she hurried, and soon found herself in -a small dark office, in which the master sat.</p> - -<p class="normal">He treated her in the most off-hand manner. Yes, he wanted an -errand-boy. Was he sharp, intelligent, willing? Oh, her son! Very -well. Let him come to-morrow. Wages, four shillings a week. Time, from -eight to eight. An hour to dinner, half an hour to tea. Good-morning.</p> - -<p class="normal">Thus the matter was settled, and Joshua engaged. Mrs. Marvel went home -rejoicing.</p> - -<p class="normal">With fear and trembling, a little pleased and a good deal dismayed, -Joshua made his way the next morning to the printing-office. Groping -along a dark passage he came to a door on which the word "Office" was -dimly discernible. The freshness of youthful paint had departed from -the word; the letters were faded, and they appeared to be waiting to -be quite rubbed out with a kind of jaded resignation. In response to -the sharply-uttered "Come in!" Joshua opened the door, and entered the -room. The person he saw before him had such a dissipated appearance, -that any stranger would have been warranted in coming to the -conclusion that he had not been in bed for a fortnight. The room was -full of papers, very dusty and very dirty; and looked as if, from the -day it was built, it had not found time to wash itself. Scarcely -raising his eyes from a long slip of paper, upon which he was making a -number of complicated marks, the occupant of the room said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"It's of no use bothering me. I sha'n't have any copy ready for half -an hour. Hallo! Who are you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"The new errand-boy, sir," said Joshua, humbly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Oh, very well! Take this proof up stairs and sweep the -composing-room; then come down and clean the street-door plate. Cut -along! Look sharp!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Looking as sharp as he could, Joshua walked up stairs, and found -himself in the composing-room of the establishment. A number of men -and boys, decorated with aprons with large bibs, were playing a -mysterious game with hundreds and thousands of small pieces of lead, -which they clicked with marvellous rapidity, but without any apparent -meaning, against an instrument they held in their hands. He looked in -vain for the swords which he had heard printers were allowed to wear, -and he was covered with confusion at finding himself in the midst of -so large an assemblage, who one and all appeared as if they were -playing on a number of pianos without any tune in them. Going up to a -youth whose head, covered with a profusion of red hair, looked as if -it were in a blaze, Joshua asked to whom he should give the proof. "To -Snooks," was the prompt reply. For which piece of information he -received a slap on the side of his head from some person in authority; -who taking the proof from Joshua, directed him to sweep up the room. -While performing this task he surveyed the scene before him. There -were sixteen men and four boys at work. All the men had the same -dissipated look that he had observed upon the countenance of the -master. Their faces, otherwise, were very clean; but the tips of the -right-hand fore-finger and thumb of each were black with dirt, caused -by the types which they picked up with those extremities from the -boxes before them. Not a word was spoken, except what appeared to have -reference to the business, and the conversation proceeded somewhat in -this wise. One of the workmen, walking to a slab of iron placed in the -middle of the room, took therefrom a sheet of manuscript, and looking -at it negligently, shouted,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Number three!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Another voice at the end of the room cried out,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Awful Collision!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua stopped in the midst of his sweeping, and waited for the shock. -But as none came, he proceeded with his work, and thought that the -second speaker was crazy. In the mean time the dialogue continued.</p> - -<p class="normal">Speaker number one: "End a break."</p> - -<p class="normal">Speaker number two: "All right," with a growl.</p> - -<p class="normal">Speaker number one: "What type?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Speaker number two, with another growl: "Minion."</p> - -<p class="normal">At the word "minion," which Joshua considered was a term expressive of -any thing but respect, he expected speaker number one would walk up to -speaker number two, and punch his head. Instead of which the insulted -individual went into his corner again, and re-commenced playing his -tuneless piano in the meekest possible manner. The overseer then going -to a part of the room where long rows of type were placed in detached -pieces, asked,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"How long will this Dreadful Suicide be before it's finished?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Done in five minutes, sir," was the reply, in a cheerful voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who's on the Inquest?" asked the overseer.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Be quick and get it finished; you've been long enough over it. Now, -then, how long is this Chancery Court to remain open?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Close it up in two minutes, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">And Joshua gazed with a kind of wonder at the individual who spoke, as -if it were as easy to close the Court of Chancery as to close his -hand.</p> - -<p class="normal">It was the day on which the paper was sent to press; the publishing -hour was three o'clock in the afternoon; and as the work was -behindhand, everybody was very busy. In the centre of the room was a -large iron slab, and at one time the hammering and beating on this -slab were terrific. Two, or three excited individuals, with mallets -and iron sticks in their hands, advanced towards the type, which was -laid upon the slab, with the apparent intention of smashing it to -pieces. They commenced to do this with such extraordinary earnestness, -that Joshua was on the point of rushing down stairs to the master to -inform him that his property was being wantonly destroyed; but as the -other workmen appeared to regard the proceeding as quite a matter of -course, Joshua checked himself and thought it would perhaps be as well -for him to say nothing about it. The overseer also continued to issue -his strange orders; and during a slight cessation in the hammering, he -peremptorily ordered the workman to "lock up that Escaped Lunatic, and -be quick about it." At another time he gave directions to lay the -Female in Disguise on the stone (meaning the iron slab), to unlock the -Old Bailey, and to correct the Chancellor's Budget. Joshua grew -perfectly bewildered. The information that there was an Escaped -Lunatic in the room did not so much astonish as alarm him; but as to -the Female in Disguise he could not identify her, and he waited in -amazement to see what disguise she wore and where she would be brought -from; at the same time entertaining the idea that to lay any female -upon a stone was a decidedly improper proceeding. While in this state -of mental perplexity, the overseer cried out,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, then, who has the Female in Disguise in hand?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have, sir," a voice replied.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Bring it here, then," ordered the overseer, "and finish the -corrections on the stone."</p> - -<p class="normal">"All right, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua started and looked round to catch a sight of the female; in his -agitation he stumbled against a workman who held a column of type in -his arms. The type fell to the ground, and was smashed into thousands -of pieces. In an instant the whole office was in confusion.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You've done it this time, youngster," the workman said in dismay, -looking at the scattered type on the floor.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua did not exactly know what it was he <i>had</i> done, but felt that -it must be something very bad. He soon received practical proof of the -extent of the mischief, for the master, rushing into the room, kicked -him down stairs and told him to go about his business. Which Joshua -did in a state of much bewilderment.</p> - -<p class="normal">Thus all the good intentions of Mrs. Marvel were frustrated. Joshua -declared he would not take another situation, and his father sided -with him and encouraged him. It must be confessed that Mr. Marvel -continued to have his perplexities about Joshua's career, but to have -openly admitted them would have been handing the victory to his wife. -So he kept them to himself, and thus maintained his supremacy as -master of the house. Many of his neighbors were henpecked, and he used -to laugh at them. It would not have done to have given them the chance -to laugh at him. Therefore, as time progressed, Mrs. Marvel's protests -were less and less frequently made, and Joshua's determination not to -be a wood-turner gathering strength month after month, it soon came to -be recognized as quite a settled thing that he was to start in life -for himself, and was not to do as his father had done before him. -Pending his decision, Joshua continued to lead an idle life. But he -was by no means viciously inclined; and much of his time was spent in -the cultivation of two innocent amusements, both of which served him -in good stead in the singular future which was in store for him. One -of these amusements was a passion for music. He knew nothing of -musical notation, and played entirely by ear; yet he managed to -extract sweet melody from a second-hand accordion, of which, after -long and patient saving of half pence and pence, he had become the -happy purchaser. The other of his tastes grew out of a boyish love. -How he acquired it will be recounted in the following chapters.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER II.</h4> - -<h5>SHOWING HOW A PASSION FOR PUNCH AND JUDY<br> -MAY LEAD TO DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">There are few boys in the world who are without their -boy-friends whom -they worship, or by whom they are worshipped, with a love far -surpassing in its unselfishness the love of maturer years. The memory -of times that are gone is too often blurred by waves of sorrowful -circumstance. Our lives are like old pictures; the canvas grows -wrinkled, and the accumulated dust of years lies heavy upon figures -that once were bright and fair. But neither dust nor wrinkles can -obliterate the memory of the love we bore to the boy-friend with whom -we used to wander in fields that were greener, beneath skies that were -bluer, than fields and skies are now.</p> - -<p class="normal">Cannot you and I remember the time when we used to stroll into the -country with our boy-friend, and, with arms thrown lovingly around -each other's neck, indulge in day-dreams not the less sweet because -they were never to be realized? And how, when we had built our -castles, and were looking at them in the clouds, with our hearts -filled with joyful fancies, we wandered in silence down the shady -lane, sweet with the scent of the flowering May that shut us out from -view on either side; and across the field with its luxuriant grass up -to our ankles with everywhere the daisy peeping out to watch us as we -passed; and over the heath where the golden gorse was blushing with -joy; and down the narrow path to the well which shrunk from public -observation at the bottom of a flight of cool stone steps, hewn out by -the monks of a cloister which should have been hard by, but wasn't, -having been destroyed in a bloody battle which took place once upon a -time?</p> - -<p class="normal">Not many such experiences as these did Joshua and his boy-friend -enjoy; for our Damon's Pythias, whose proper name was Daniel Taylor, -was lame, with both his legs so badly broken that, had he lived unto -the age of Methuselah and been fed upon the fat of the land, those -props of his body would have been as useless to him all through his -long life as if they had been blades of the tenderest grass.</p> - -<p class="normal">The Taylors had three children: Susan, Ellen, and Daniel Ellen and -Daniel were twins, and when they were born Susan was ten years old. -The worldly circumstances of the Taylors were no better than those of -their neighbors; indeed, if any thing, they were a little worse than -those of many around them. The parents, therefore, could not afford to -keep a nurse-girl, and it was fortunate for them that they had -provided one in the person of their elder daughter, and had allowed -her to grow to a suitable age before they ventured to bring other -children into the world. Fortunate as it was for the parents, it was -most unfortunate for Daniel; for before he and his other half were -born, Susan Taylor had contracted a passion almost insane in its -intensity, to which her only brother was doomed to be a victim. That -passion was a love for the British drama, as represented in Punch and -Judy. All Susan's ambitions and yearnings were centred in the show; -and it was not to be supposed that she would allow so small a matter -as twins to interfere with her absorbing passion. How the liking for -Punch and Judy had grown with her years and strengthened with her -strength, it is not necessary here to trace. The fact remains, and is -sufficient for the tragedy of poor Daniel's life. Squeezed to their -sister's breast, Daniel and Ellen were condemned to take long journeys -after Punch and Judy, and to be nursed at street-corners by a girl who -had eyes and mind for nothing but the <i>dramatis personæ</i> of that -time-honored play. In her scrambles after the show she often wandered -a long way from home, and tore her dress, and jammed her bonnet, and -mudded her stockings, and knocked her boots out at the toes, and got -herself generally into a disreputable condition. But in presence of -the glories of Punch and Judy, which were to her ever fresh and ever -bright, such discomforts sank into absolute insignificance. All paltry -considerations were forgotten in the absorbing interest with which she -watched the extraordinary career of the hero of the drama. She was -insensible to the cuffs and remarks of the acting-manager who went -round for contributions, which the on-lookers were solicited to drop -into a tin plate or a greasy cap. He naturally resented Susan's -presence at the exhibition, for she had never been known to contribute -the smallest piece of copper towards the expenses. But neither his -cuffs nor his resentful language had any effect upon Susan, who, in -her utter disregard of all adverse circumstances, proved herself to be -an ardent and conscientious admirer of the British drama. As a -consequence of her peregrinations, she often found herself in strange -neighborhoods, and did not know her way home. The anxiety she caused -her mother, who was naturally proud of her twins, almost maddened that -poor woman. She used to run about the neighborhood of Stepney, -wringing her hands and declaring that her twins were kidnapped. At -first the neighbors were in the habit of sympathizing with her, and of -making anxious inquiries of one another concerning the children; but -when, after some months of such uneventful excitement, they found that -Susan and her twins were always brought home in good condition as -regarded their limbs--although in a very disgraceful condition as -regarded their personal appearance: but dirt counted for nothing in -such a case of excited expectation--their ardor cooled, and they -withheld their sympathy from the distressed mother. Indeed, they -looked upon themselves in the light of injured individuals, because -something really calamitous had not happened to the children. At -length Susan became such a nuisance--not only at home, but at -many police-stations, where she was popularly known as "that dirty -girl again, with the twins"--that the mother was recommended to -lock her up. Despairing of being able to cure her daughter of her -Punch-and-Judy mania by any other means, the mother locked her up with -her infant charges in a room on the first floor.</p> - -<p class="normal">That was a sad thing for poor Daniel. Susan very naturally sulked at -being locked up, and at being deprived of her favorite amusement. Life -had no joy for her without Punch and Judy. With Punch and Judy, -existence was blissful; without Punch and Judy, existence was a blank. -Regarding the twins as the cause of her imprisonment, she vented her -spleen upon the unfortunate couple, and was spiteful enough to leave -traces of yellow soap in their eyes when she washed them; and when -they cried because of the smart, and rubbed their eyelids with their -little fists to get rid of the unwelcome particles, she smacked them -on the tenderest parts of their persons, and made them cry the more. -But they were not destined to endure this kind of torture for more -than a couple of days.</p> - -<p class="normal">On the third day of their imprisonment, Susan was sitting moodily on -the floor, sulking as usual, and biting her lips and fretting, when -suddenly the well-beloved "too-to-too-a-too" of the Punch-and-Judy -showman came floating through the window. Wild with delight, she -snatched up the twins, and, rushing to the window, bent her body -forward, and looked out. Yes; there it was--there was the show -Preparations were being made for the drama; the green curtain was -down, the crowd was collecting, and the acting manager was already -taking a critical survey of the persons who loitered, and was mentally -marking down those who would not be allowed to stroll or slink away -without being solicited for a fee. The front of the stage was not -turned towards the window out of which Susan was looking; and she -could only see part of the show. That was a terrible disappointment to -her; and her suffering was really very great when she found that the -gallows upon which Punch was to be hanged was erected just in that -corner of the stage of which she could not obtain a glimpse. She -stamped her foot upon the floor excitedly; and, bending her body still -more forward in her eagerness, poor Daniel slipped out of her arms on -to the pavement. For a moment Susan was so bewildered that she could -not realize what had occurred: but, when she heard the sharp cry of -agony to which Daniel gave utterance, and when she saw the crowd of -people rushing with frightened faces towards the spot where the little -fellow was lying, she ran into a corner of the room with the other -child in her arms, and throwing her frock over her head, cowered down -with her face to the wall, and began to cry. But little notice was -taken of her. Daniel was picked up and carried into the house. He was -not killed; but his two legs were badly broken, and were destined -never to be of any use to him. So, as he had to depend upon artificial -legs for support, Daniel began to learn the use of crutches almost -before he had begun to learn to toddle.</p> - -<p class="normal">The love that existed between Joshua and Daniel sprang out of an -innocent flirtation which was indulged in by Joshua Marvel and Ellen -Taylor. The amatory youngsters exchanged vows when they were quite -little things, and pledged themselves not to marry any one else: "no, -not for the wide, wide world!" Innocent kisses, broken pieces of -crockery with which they played at dinners and shops on back-window -sills, and the building of grottoes when the oyster-season came round, -were the material bonds which united the youthful loves of Joshua and -Ellen.</p> - -<p class="normal">In due time Joshua was introduced to the family; not exactly as the -accepted suitor of the little damsel, but in a surreptitious sneaking -manner, which older suitors would have considered undignified. Such a -mean position did he for sometime occupy in the house of his -affianced, that on several occasions when Mr. Taylor came home drunk, -Joshua was locked up in the coal-cellar, lest he should meet the eye -of the tipsy parent, who, when he was in his cups, did not possess the -most amiable disposition in the world. From that coal-cellar Joshua -would emerge low-spirited and grimy, and in a despondent mood; but -sundry marks of affection from Ellen, the effects of which were -afterwards visible in black patches on her nose and cheeks and cherry -lips, invariably restored him to cheerfulness. Such a courtship was -not dignified; but Joshua and Ellen were perfectly satisfied; and so -was Dan, who thoroughly approved of his twin-sister's choice of a -sweetheart.</p> - -<p class="normal">As the children grew in years, the ties that united Ellen and Joshua -were weakened; while those that united the boys were strengthened, -until a very perfect and unselfish love was established between them. -Both the lads were in the same condition as regarded their time. -Joshua had his on his hands because he had not made up his mind what -he was going to be; and Daniel had his on his hands because he had -broken his legs. Each had his particular fancy. Joshua's was music; -Dan's was birds.</p> - -<p class="normal">Condemned to a sedentary life from the nature of his affliction, and -not able to run about as other boys did--for when his sister had let -him fall from her arms out of the window the breaking of his legs was -not the only injury he had received--Dan turned his attention to a -couple of canaries which were part of his parents' household gods. In -course of time the birds grew to be very fond of him; and he trained -them to do such pretty tricks, and was himself of so gentle and -amiable a disposition, that good-natured neighbors made him occasional -presents of birds--such as a linnet, or a lark, or a pair of -bullfinches--until he had gathered around him a small collection of -feathered younglings. With these companions his life was as happy as -life could be. He did not mope or fret because his legs were useless, -and because he was compelled to use crutches; on the contrary, he -absolutely loved his wooden props, as if they were bone of his bone -and flesh of his flesh.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are right not to be a wood-turner Jo," said Dan, when his friend -related to him the substance of the family discussions. "If my legs -were like yours, I wouldn't be."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan called his friend "Jo." It was not quite right for Joshua, he -said, but it sounded pretty. And so it did, especially from his lips.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I wish your legs <i>were</i> like mine, Dan," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It's of no use wishing," replied Dan. "You know what mother says; it -takes all sorts to make a world."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Sound legs and broken legs--eh, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," answered Dan merrily; "and long ones and short ones, and thick -ones and thin ones. Besides, if I had the strongest and biggest legs -in the world, I don't think I should be happier than I am."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But wouldn't you like to be a hero--the same as I am going to be?" -asked Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We can't all be heroes. You go and fight with lions; I will stop and -play with birds. I couldn't tame lions; but I <i>can</i> tame birds." Which -he could, and did.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan was fond of speaking about lions because his name was Daniel; and -many and many a time had he and Joshua read the wonderful story of -Daniel in the lions' den. Joshua did not know much of the Bible until -Dan introduced it to him, and read to him in his thin sweet voice the -marvellous romances in that Book of books.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There was a hero for you!" exclaimed Joshua admiringly, referring to -the biblical "I wonder what made him so brave."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because he was doing what he knew to be right," replied Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I dare say," was the acquiescent rejoinder.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And because he was not afraid to speak the truth even to Belshazzar; -and because, above all, he believed in God. So God delivered him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"All because he was doing right," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"All because he was doing right," repeated Dan. "I'm not a bit brave; -that is because I am lame, perhaps. If I was thrown into a lions' den -I should die of fear--I am sure I should; but if I was thrown into a -birds' cage, full of strange birds, I would soon make friends with -them; they would come and eat out of my hand in no time."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan, indeed, was wonderfully learned about birds and their habits, and -possessed a singular power over them. He could train them to any thing -almost. And bear this in mind; he used no cruel means in his training -of them. What he taught them he taught them by kindness; and they were -subservient to him from love and not from fear. The nature of the -affliction which condemned him to a sedentary life, sharpened and -concentrated his mental faculties, and endued him with a surprising -patience. If it had been otherwise, he could never have trained the -birds so thoroughly. Never mind what they were--blackbirds, linnets, -larks, bullfinches, canaries--they were one and all his willing -slaves, and, in the course of time, performed the tasks he set them -with their best ability. Give Dan any one of these birds' and in a few -weeks it would hop upon his finger, dance at his whistle, come at his -call, fall dead upon the table, and jump up again at a given signal as -lively as a cricket. He made little carts for them to draw, little -swords for them to carry, little ladders for them to climb up, little -guns for them to fire off, little houses for them to go in at the -doors of and come out of the chimneys of. It was a sight worth seeing -to watch them go through their performances; to see the dead bird lie -on its back on the table, and watch cunningly out of a corner of its -left eye for the signal which allowed it to come to life again; to see -the family birds, after indulging in a little sensible conversation on -the doorstep, go into the house, the door of which closed with a -spring directly they got on the inside of it, and then presently to -see their heads pop out of the chimneys, as if their owners were -wondering what sort of weather it was; to see the first villain of the -company hop upon the cart in which the pop-gun was fixed, and hop upon -a slip of wood which in some mysterious manner acted upon the gun, and -caused it to go off--and then to see the desperado watch for dreadful -consequences which never followed; to see that cold-blooded and -desperate bird jump briskly down, as if it were not disappointed, and -place its neck in a ring in the shafts, and hop away to another -battle-field; to see the two military birds march up and down in front -of the house, holding little wooden swords in their beaks, as who -should say to an advancing foe, "Approach if you dare, and meet your -doom!" to see the climbing-bird hop up the steps of the ladder, and -then hop down again triumphantly, as if it had performed a feat of -which bird-kind might be proud; and to know that the birds enjoyed the -fun and delighted in it; were pleasant things to see and know, and -could do no one any harm. Of course there were hitches in the -performances; occasionally the birds were dull or obstinate; but, as a -rule, they were tractable and obedient; and if they did sometimes -bungle their tricks they might very well be excused, for they were but -feeble creatures after all.</p> - -<p class="normal">So Dan passed his time innocently, and loved his pets, and his pets -loved him. Joshua grew to love them too. He learned all their pretty -little vocal tricks, and could imitate the different languages of the -birds in such a wonderful manner that they would stop and listen -to his warbling, and would answer it with similar joyful notes of -their own. And when Dan and he were in a merry mood--which was not -seldom--they and the birds would join in a concert which was almost as -good, and quite as enjoyable, as the scraping of fiddles and the -playing of flutes. Sometimes, in the evening, Joshua would play soft -music upon his second-hand accordion; and directly he sounded the -first note the birds would hop upon the table and stand in a line, -with their heads inclined on one side, listening to Joshua's simple -melodies with the gravity of connoisseurs, and would not flutter a -feather of their little wings for fear they should disturb the harmony -of sound.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER III.</h4> - -<h5>LIFE AND DEATH OF GOLDEN CLOUD.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">There was one canary which they had christened Golden Cloud. -It was -one of the two canaries that Dan had first trained; and for this and -other reasons Golden Cloud was a special favorite with the lads. Dan -used to declare that Golden Cloud literally understood every word he -spoke to it. And it really appeared as if Dan were right in so -declaring and so believing; it was certainly a fact that Golden Cloud -was a bird of superior intelligence. The other birds were of that -opinion, or they would not have accepted its leadership. When they -marched, Golden Cloud was at the head of them--and very proud it -appeared to be of its position; when the performances took place, -Golden Cloud was the first to commence; if any thing very responsible -and very particular were to be done, Golden Cloud was intrusted with -it; and if any new bird was refractory, it devolved upon Golden Cloud -to assist Dan to bring that bird to its senses. The birds did not -entertain a particle of envy towards Golden Cloud because it had -attained an eminence more distinguished than their own; and this fact -was as apparent, as it must have been astonishing, to any reflective -human being who enjoyed the happy privilege of being present now and -then at the performances of Dan's clever troupe. Even when old age -crept upon it--it was in the prime of life when Dan first took it in -hand--the same respect was paid to the sagamore of the company. Its -sight grew filmed, its legs grew scaly, its feathers grew ragged. What -matter? Had it not been kind and gentle to them when in its prime? -Should they not be kind and gentle to it now that Time was striking it -down? And was it not, even in its decrepitude, the wise bird of them -all?</p> - -<p class="normal">Notwithstanding that it grew more and more shaky every hour almost, -the old sense of duty was strong in the heart of Golden Cloud; and it -strove to take part in the performances to the last. Golden Cloud had -evidently learned the lesson, that to try always to do one's duty is -the sweetest thing in life. In that respect it was wiser than many -human beings, who should have been wiser than it. It was a melancholy -sight, yet a comical one, withal, to see Golden Cloud lift a sword -with its beak, and try to hold it there, and hop with it at the head -of the company. It staggered here and there, and, being almost blind, -sometimes hit an inoffensive bird across the beak, which caused a -momentary confusion; but every thing was set right as quickly as could -be. The other birds bore with Golden Cloud's infirmities, and made its -labors light for it. Even the tomtit--that saucy, beautiful rascal, -with its crown of Cambridge blue, who had been the most refractory -bird that Golden Cloud ever had to deal with, who <i>would</i> turn heels -over head in the midst of a serious lesson, and who <i>would</i> hop and -twist about and agitate its staid companions with its restless -tricks--even the tomtit, whose greatest delight was to steal things -and break things, but whose spirit had been subdued and tamed by -Golden Cloud's firmness, assisted the veteran in its old age, and did -not make game of it.</p> - -<p class="normal">One evening Joshua came round to Dan's room rather later than usual, -and found Dan in tears.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What is the matter, Dan?" asked Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan did not reply.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do your legs hurt you, Dan?" asked Joshua tenderly.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan formed a "No" with his lips, but uttered no sound.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua thought it best not to tease his friend with any more -questions. He saw that Dan was suffering from a grief which he would -presently unbosom. He took his accordion on his knee and began to play -very softly. As he played, a canary in a mourning-cloak came out of -the toy-house; another canary in a mourning-cloak followed; then a -bullfinch, and another bullfinch; then the tomtit and the linnets; and -then the blackbirds; all in little black cloaks which Ellen Taylor's -nimble fingers had made for them that day out of a piece of the lining -of an old frock. At the sight of the first canary, with its black -cloak on, Joshua was filled with astonishment; but when bird after -bird followed, and ranged themselves solemnly in a line before him, -and when he missed the presence of one familiar friend, he solved the -riddle of their strange appearance; the birds were in mourning for the -death of Golden Cloud.</p> - -<p class="normal">They seemed to know it, too; they seemed to know that they had lost a -friend, and that they were about to pay the last tribute of respect to -their once guide and master. The bullfinches, their crimson breasts -hidden by their cloaks, looked, with their black masks of faces like -negro birds in mourning; the amiable linnets, unobtrusive and shy as -they generally were, were still more quiet and sad than usual; even -the daring blackbirds were subdued--with the exception of one who, in -the midst of a silent interval, struck up "Polly, put the kettle on," -in its shrill whistle, but, observing the eyes of the tomtit fixed -upon it with an air of reproach, stopped in sudden remorse, with the -"kettle" sticking in its throat.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan had made a white shroud for Golden Cloud; and it was both -quaint and mournful to see it as it lay in its coffin--Dan's -money-box--surrounded by the mourners in their black cloaks. They -stood quite still, with their cunning little heads all inclined one -way, as if they were waiting for news concerning their dead leader -from the world beyond the present.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua, with a glance of sorrow at the coffin, said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Your money-box, Dan!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I wish I could have buried it in a flower-pot, Jo," replied Dan, -suppressing a sob.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why didn't you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mother said father would be angry,"--</p> - -<p class="normal">Here the blackbird--perceiving that the tomtit was no longer observing -it, and inwardly fretting that it should have been pulled up short in -the midst of its favorite song; also feeling awkward, doubtless, with -a kettle in its throat--piped out, with amazing rapidity and -shrillness, "Polly, put the kettle on; we'll all have tea."</p> - -<p class="normal">The blue feathers in the tomtit's tail quivered with indignation, and -its white-tipped wings fluttered reprovingly. Moral force was -evidently quite thrown away upon such a blackbird as that; so the -tomtit bestowed upon the recreant a sharp dig with its iron beak, and -the blackbird bore the punishment with meekness; merely giving vent, -in response, to a wonderful imitation of the crowing of an extremely -weak cock, who led a discontented life in a neighboring back-yard. -After which it relapsed into silence.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan, who had stopped his speech to observe this passage between the -birds, repeated,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mother said father would be angry; he knows how many flower-pots we -have. So I used my money-box."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But you would rather have a flowerpot, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should have liked a flower-pot above all things; it seems more -natural for a bird. Something might grow out of it; something that -Golden Cloud would like to know is above it, if it was only a blade of -grass."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua ran out of Dan's room and returned in a very few minutes with a -flowerpot with mignonette growing in it. He was almost breathless with -excitement.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is mine, Dan," he said, "and it is yours. I bought it with my own -money; and it shall be Golden Cloud's coffin."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Kiss me, Jo," said Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua kissed him, and then carefully lifted the flower-roots from the -pot, and placed Golden Cloud in the soft mould beneath. A few tears -fell from Dan's eyes into the flowerpot coffin, as he looked for the -last time upon the form of his pet canary. Then Joshua replaced the -flower-roots, and arranged the earth, and Golden Cloud was ready for -burial.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Play something, Jo," said Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua took his accordion in his hands, and played a slow solemn -march; and the birds, directed by Dan, hopped gravely round the -flower-pot, the tomtit keeping its eye sternly fixed upon the -rebellious blackbird, expressing in the look an unmistakable -determination to put an instant stop to the slightest exhibition of -indecency.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know where to bury it," said Dan, when the ceremony was -completed. "Ellen has been trying to pick out a flagstone in the yard, -but she made her fingers bleed, and then couldn't move it. And if it -was buried there, the stone would have to be trodden down, and the -flowers in the coffin couldn't grow."</p> - -<p class="normal">"There's that little bit of garden in <i>our</i> yard," said Joshua. "I can -bury it there, if you don't mind. I can put the flowerpot in so that -the mignonette will grow out of it quite nicely. It isn't very far, -Dan," continued Joshua, divining Dan's wish that Golden Cloud should -be buried near him; "only five yards off; and it is the best place we -know of."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan assenting, Joshua took the flowerpot, and buried it in what he -called his garden; which was an estate of such magnificent proportions -that he could have covered it with his jacket. He was proud of it -notwithstanding, and considered it a grand property. A boundary of -oyster-shells defined the limits of the estate, and served as a -warning to trespassing feet. In the centre of this garden Golden Cloud -was buried. When Joshua returned to Dan's room, the mourning-cloaks -were taken off the birds--who seemed very glad to get rid of them--and -they were sent to bed.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan was allowed to sit up an hour longer than usual that night, and he -and Joshua occupied those precious minutes in confidential -conversation. First they spoke of Golden Cloud, and then of Joshua's -prospects.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You haven't made up your mind yet what you are going to be, Jo," said -Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I haven't made up my mind," replied Joshua, "but I have an idea. I -don't want you to ask me what it is. I will tell you soon--in a few -weeks perhaps."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where have you been to-day? You were late."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I went to the waterside."</p> - -<p class="normal">"To the river?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"To the river."</p> - -<p class="normal">"To the river that runs to the sea," said Dan musingly, with a dash of -regret in his voice. "What a wonderful sight it must be to see the -sea, as we read of it! Would you like to see it, Jo?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dearly, Dan!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"And to be on it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dearly, Dan!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan looked at Joshua sadly. There was an eager longing in Joshua's -eyes, and an eager longing in the parting of his lips, as he sat with -hands clasped upon his knee.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can see a great many things that I have never seen," said Dan; "see -them with my mind, I mean. I can see gardens and fields and trees, -almost as they are. I can fancy myself lying in fields with the grass -waving about me. I can fancy myself in a forest with the great trees -spreading out their great limbs, and I can see the branches bowing to -each other as the wind sweeps by them. I can see a little stream -running down a hill, and hiding itself in a valley. I can even see a -river--but all rivers must be muddy, I think; not bright, like the -streams. But I can't see the sea, Jo. It is too big--too wonderful!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Rapt in the contemplation of the subject, Dan and Joshua were silent -for a little while.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ships on the top of water-mountains," resumed Dan presently, "then -down in a valley like, with curling waves above them. That is what I -have read; but I can't see it. 'Robinson Crusoe' is behind you, Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua opened the book--it was a favorite one with the lads, as with -what lads is it not?--and skimmed down the pages as he turned them -over.</p> - -<p class="normal">"'A raging wave, mountain-like, came rolling astern of us,'" he said.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is the shipwreck," said Dan, looking over Joshua's shoulder. -"Then here, farther down: 'I saw the sea come after me as high as a -great hill, and as furious as an enemy.' Think of that! Here picture."</p> - -<p class="normal">The lads looked for the thousandth time at the rough wood-cut, in -which Robinson was depicted casting a look of terror over his shoulder -at the curling waves, ten times as tall as himself; his arms were -extended, and he was supposed to be running away from the waves; -although, according to the picture, nothing short of a miracle could -save him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Look!" said Joshua, turning a few pages back and reading, "'yonder lies -a dreadful monster on the side of that hillock, fast asleep.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"'I looked where he pointed,'" read Dan--it was a favorite custom with -them to read each a few lines at a time--"'and saw a dreadful monster -indeed, for it was a terrible great lion that lay on the side of the -shore, under the shade of a piece of the hill that hung as it were a -little over him. Xury, says I, you shall go on shore, and kill him.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Could you kill a lion, Jo?" asked Dan, breaking off in his reading.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know," said Joshua, considering and feeling very doubtful of -his capability.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan resumed the reading:--</p> - -<p class="normal">"I took our biggest gun, which was almost musket-bore, and loaded it -with a good charge of powder and with two slugs, and laid it down; -then I loaded another gun with two bullets; and the third (for we had -three pieces), I loaded with five smaller bullets.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, I couldn't kill a lion," said Joshua, in a tone of disappointed -conviction; "for I can't fire off a gun. But that occurred nearly two -hundred years ago, Dan. I don't suppose there are as many lions now as -there used to be."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And ships are different, too, to what they were then, Jo," said Dan, -closing the book. "Stronger and better built. I dare say if it had -been a very strong ship that Robinson Crusoe went out in, he wouldn't -have been wrecked."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am glad he was, though; if he hadn't been, we shouldn't have been -able to read about him. It is beautiful, isn't it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Beautiful to read," replied Dan. "But he was dreadfully miserable -sometimes; for twenty-four years and more he had no one to speak to. -It appears strange to me that he didn't forget how to speak the -English language, and that he didn't go mad. Now, Jo, supposing it was -you! Do you think, if you had no one to speak to for twenty years, -that you would be able to speak as well as you do now? Don't you think -you would stammer over a word sometimes, and lose the sense of it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan asked these questions so earnestly, that Joshua laughed, and -said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Upon my word, I don't know, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">But the time was to come when the memory of Dan's questions came to -Joshua's mind with a deep and solemn significance. "He had his parrot -certainly," continued Dan; "but what used he to say to it? 'Robin, -Robin, Robin Crusoe! Poor Robin Crusoe! How came you here? Where have -you been, Robin?' That wasn't much to say, and to be always saying; -and I am sure that if he kept on saying it for so many years, he must -have entirely forgotten what the meaning of it was. You try it,--say a -word, or two or three words, for a hundred times. You will begin to -wonder what it means before you come to the end."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But he had his Bible; and you know what a comfort that was to him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Perhaps that was the reason he didn't go mad. I dare say, too, that -some qualities in him were strengthened and came to his aid because he -was so strangely situated. What qualities now, Jo?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't understand you, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I <i>do</i> say things sometimes you don't understand at first, don't I, -Jo?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua nodded good-humoredly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am often puzzled myself to know what I mean. Leaving Robinson -Crusoe alone, and speaking of qualities, Jo, take me for an instance. -I am a cripple, and shall never be able to go about. And do you know, -Jo, that my mind is stronger than it would have been if I were not -helpless? I can see things."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Can you see any thing now, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can see something that will separate you and me, Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Forever, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, not forever; we shall be together sometimes and then you can tell -me all sorts of things that I shall never be able to see myself."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't you think your legs will ever get strong?" asked Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Never, Jo; they get worse and worse. And I feel, too, so weak, that I -am afraid I shall not have strength to use my crutches much longer. -Every thing about me--my limbs, and joints, and every thing--gets -weaker and weaker every day. If it wasn't for my body, I should be all -right. My mind is right. I can talk and think as well as if my body -were strong. Stupid bits of flesh and bone!" he exclaimed, looking at -his limbs, and good-humoredly scolding them. "Why don't you fly away -and leave me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">At this point of the conversation Mrs. Taylor called out that it was -time for Dan to go to bed, so the lads parted. That night Joshua -dreamed that he killed a lion; and Dan dreamed that Golden Cloud came -out of the flower-pot, and it wasn't dead, but only pretending.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan had good reason for speaking in the way he did of his body, for it -distressed him very much. Soon after the death of Golden Cloud, he -grew so weak and ill that he was confined to his bed. But his mind -scarcely seemed to be affected by his bodily ills, and his -cheerfulness never deserted him. He had his dear winged companions -brought to his bedroom, and they hopped about his bed as contentedly -as could be. And there he played with them and took delight in them; -and, as he hearkened to their chirrupings, and looked at their pretty -forms, a sweet pleasure was in his eyes, a sweet pleasure was in his -heart. And this pleasure was enhanced by the presence of Joshua, who -spent a great deal of time with his sick friend.</p> - -<p class="normal">The tender love that existed between the lads was undefiled by a -single selfish act or thought. They were one in sympathy and -sentiment. Joshua was Dan's almost only companion during his illness. -Dan's mother tended him and gave him his physic, which could not do -him any good, the doctor said; but Mrs. Taylor's household duties and -responsibilities occupied nearly the whole of her time; she could not -afford to keep a servant, and she had all the kitchen-work to do. -Ellen--Dan's twin-sister and Joshua's quondam sweetheart--was often in -the room; but, young as she was, she was already being employed about -the house assisting her mother. She scrubbed the floors and washed the -clothes; and, although she was so little that she had to stand on a -chair in the tiny yard to hang the clothes on the line, she was as -proud of her work, and took as much pleasure in it, as if she were a -grown woman, who had been properly brought up. Notwithstanding the -onerous nature of her duties, she managed to spend half an hour now -and again with Josh and Dan, and would sit quite still listening to -the conversation. Her presence in the room was pleasing to the -boy-friends, for Ellen was as modest and tidy a little girl as could -be met with in a day's walk.</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan, Dan's unfortunate nursemaid, was a young woman now. But she had -a horror of the sick-room. She entertained a secret conviction that -she was a murderess, and really had some sort of an idea that if -Daniel died she would be taken up and hanged. She was as fascinated as -ever with Punch and Judy; but the fascination had something horrible -in it. Often when she was standing looking at the show--and she was -more welcome to the showman than she used to be, for now she sometimes -gave him a penny--she would begin to tremble when the hangman came on -the scene with his gallows, and would then fairly run away in a -fright. Ever since she had let Daniel slip from her arms out of the -window, there had been growing in her mind a fear that something -dreadful was following her; and a dozen times a day she would throw a -startled look behind her, as if to assure herself that there was -nothing horrible there. She had been sufficiently punished for her -carelessness. For a good many weeks after it occurred, bad little boys -and girls in the neighborhood used to call after her, "Ah-h-h Who -killed her little brother? Ah-h-h!" If she ran, they ran after her, -and hooted her with the dreadful accusation. It took different forms. -Now it was, "Ah-h-h-h! Who killed her little brother? Ah-h-h!" And now -it was, "Ah-h-h! Who'll be hung for killing her little brother? -Ah-h-h-h!" Such an effect did this cruel punishment have upon her, -that she would wake up in terror in the middle of the night with all -her fevered pulses quivering to the cry, "Ah-h-h-h! Who'll be hung for -killing her little brother? Ah-h-h-h!" But time, which cures all -things, relieved her. The bad boys and girls grew tired of saying the -same thing over and over again. A new excitement claimed their -attention, and poor Susan was allowed to walk unmolested through the -streets. But the effect remained in the terror-flashes that would -spring in her eyes, and in the agonized looks of fear that she would -throw behind her every now and again, without any apparent cause. -These feelings had such a powerful effect upon her, that she never -entered Dan's room unless she were compelled to do so; and once, when -Dan sent for her and asked her to forgive him for being naughty when -he was a baby, she was so affected that she did nothing but shed -remorseful tears for a week afterwards.</p> - -<p class="normal">One day, when Dan was playing with the birds, and no other person but -he and Joshua was in the room, he said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you think the birds know that I am so weak and ill, Jo, dear?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Sometimes I think they do, Dan," answered Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dear little things! You haven't any idea how weak I really am. But I -am strong enough for something."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"If you don't ask any questions, I sha'n't tell you any stories," -replied Dan gayly. "Lend me your penknife."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua gave Dan his penknife, and when he came the next day Dan was -cutting strips of wood from one of his crutches.</p> - -<p class="normal">"O Dan!" exclaimed Joshua, bursting into tears.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan looked at Joshua, and smiled.</p> - -<p class="normal">"O you cry-baby!" he said. But he said it in a voice of exquisite -tenderness; and he drew Joshua's head on to the pillow, and he laid -his own beside it, and he kissed Joshua's lips.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I shall not want my crutches any more," he whispered in Joshua's ear -as thus they lay; "that is all. It isn't as bad as you think."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are not going to die, Dan?" asked Joshua in a trembling voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't think I am--yet. It is only because I am almost certain--I -feel it, Jo--that I shall be a helpless cripple all my life, and that -I shall not be able to move about, even with the help of crutches."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Poor dear Dan!" said Joshua, checking his sobs with difficulty.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Poor Dan! Not at all! I can read, I can think, and I can love you, -Jo, all the same. I have made up my mind what I am going to do. I -shall live in you. You are my friend, and strong as you are, you can't -love me more than I love you. And even if I was to die, dear"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't say that, Dan; I can't bear to think of it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why? It isn't dreadful. If I was to die, we should still be -friends--we should still love each other. Don't you love Golden -Cloud?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua whispered "Yes."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But Golden Cloud is not here. Yet you love him. And so do I, more -than I did when pet was alive. I don't quite know how it is with -birds, but I do know how it is with us. If you was here, Jo, and I was -there, we should meet again."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Amen, Dan!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"And it is nice to believe and know--as you and I believe and -know--that if we were parted, we should come together again by and by; -and that perhaps the dear little birds would be with us there as they -are here, and that we should love them as we love them now. They are -so pretty and harmless that I think God will let them come. Besides, -what would the trees do without them?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do you mean, Dan, by saying that you are going to live in me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is a curious fancy, Jo, but I have thought of it a good deal, and -I want you to think of it too. I want to be with you, although I shall -not be able to move. You are going to be a hero, and are going to see -strange sights perhaps. I can see farther than you can; and I know the -meaning of your going down to the riverside, as you have done a good -many times lately. I know what you will make up your mind to be, -although I sha'n't say until you tell me yourself. Well, Jo, I want -you to fancy, if I don't know what is happening to you--if you are in -any strange place, and are seeing wonderful things--I want you to -fancy, 'Dan is here with me, although I cannot see him.' Will you do -that, Jo, dear?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes; wherever I am, and whatever I shall see, I will think, 'Dan is -here with me, although I cannot see him.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is friendship. This isn't," said Dan, holding up a finger; "this -is only a little bit of flesh. If it is anywhere about us, it is -here;" and he took Joshua's fingers, and pressed them to his heart. -Then, after a pause of a few moments, he said, "So don't cry any more -because I am cutting up my crutches; I am making some new things for -the birds."</p> - -<p class="normal">They had a concert after that; and the blackbird whistled "Polly, put -the kettle on," to its heart's content; and the tomtit performed -certain difficult acrobatic tricks in token of approval.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan recovered so far from his sickness as to be able to leave his bed. -But it almost appeared as if he was right in saying that he should not -want his crutches. He had not sufficient strength in his shoulders to -use them. He had to be lifted in and out of bed, and sometimes could -not even wash and dress himself. Ellen Taylor was his nurse, and a -dear good nurse she proved herself to be. A cross word never passed -her lips. She devoted herself to the service of her helpless brother -with a very perfect love; and her nature was so beautiful in its -gentleness and tenderness that those qualities found expression in her -face, and made that beautiful also. Dan had yielded to Joshua's -entreaties not to destroy his crutches. "You might be able to use them -some day," Joshua would say. To which Dan would reply by asking gayly -if Joshua had ever heard of a miracle in Stepney. However, he kept his -crutches, and Joshua was satisfied. In course of time Joshua began to -train a few birds at his own house, and now and then Dan's parents -would allow Dan to be carried to Joshua's house, and to stop there for -a few days. When that occurred, Dan and Joshua slept together, and -would tell stories to each other long after the candle had been blown -out--stories of which Joshua was almost always the hero. Joshua had -one great difficulty to overcome when he first introduced the birds -into his house; that difficulty was the yellow-haired cat, of which -mention has already been made. With the usual amiability of her -species, the domestic tigress, directly she set eyes upon the birds, -determined to make a meal of them, and it required all Joshua's -vigilance to prevent the slaughter of the innocents. But he was -patient, and firm, and kind, and he so conquered the tigerish -propensities of the cat towards the birds, that in a few weeks she -began to tolerate them, and in a few weeks more to play with them and -to allow them to play with her, and gradually grew so cordial with -them that it might have been supposed she had kittened them by -mistake.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER IV.</h4> - -<h5>IN WHICH DAN GETS WILD NOTIONS INTO HIS HEAD,<br>AND MAKES SOME VERY BOYISH -EXPERIMENTS.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">If every farthing of the allowance of pocket-money which -Joshua and -Dan received from their respective parents had been carefully saved -up, it would not have amounted to a very large sum in the course of -the year. Insignificant, however, as was the allowance, it sufficed -for their small wants, and was made to yield good interest in the way -of social enjoyment. The lads did not keep separate accounts. What -was Joshua's was Dan's, and what was Dan's was Joshua's. As there were -no secret clasps in their minds concealing something, which the other -was not to share and enjoy, so there was no secret clasp in their -money-box which debarred either from spending that which, strictly -speaking, belonged to his friend. Dan was the treasurer; the treasury -was the money-box which was to have been Golden Cloud's coffin. Dan's -allowance was two pence a week, which was often in arrears in -consequence of his father being too fond of public-houses; Joshua's -allowance was four pence a week, which he received very regularly. But -each of their allowances was supplemented by contributions from -independent sources. The motives which prompted these contributions -were of a very different nature; as the following will explain:--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Something more for the money-box, Dan," said Joshua, producing a -four-penny piece, and dropping it into the box.</p> - -<p class="normal">"From the same party, Jo?" asked Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"From the same jolly old party, Dan. From the Old Sailor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is he nice?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"The Old Sailor? You should see him, that's all."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You have been down to the waterside again, then?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes. Tuck-tuck-joey!" This latter to the linnet, who came out to have -a peep at Joshua, and who, directly it heard the greeting, responded -with the sweetest peal of music that mortal ever listened to. When the -linnet had finished its song the obtrusive and greedy blackbird, -determined not to be outdone, and quite ignoring the fact that it had -had a very good supper, ordered Polly to put the kettle on, in its -most piercing notes.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Did you go on the river, Jo?" asked Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes. In a boat. Rowing. The Old Sailor says I am getting along -famously."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I <i>should</i> like to see the Old Sailor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I wish you could; but he is such a strange old fellow! He doesn't -care for the land. When I tell mother what I am making up my mind to -be--what I shall have <i>made</i> up mind then to be--I will coax him to -come to our house. I want him to talk to mother about the sea, for she -is sure to cry and fret, and although the Old Sailor doesn't think -that women are as good as men, he thinks mothers are better."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan laughed a pleasant little laugh.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is queer," he said.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He knows all about you, and he asks me every day, 'How is Dan?'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am glad of that--very glad."</p> - -<p class="normal">"So am I. I have told him all about the birds, and how, they love you. -You would never guess what he said to-day about you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Something very bad, I dare say," said Dan, knowing very well, all the -time, that it was something good, or Joshua would not tell him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Something <i>very</i> bad. He said, 'He must be a fine little -chap'--meaning you, Dan--'or the birds wouldn't love him.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Has he been all over the world, Jo?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"All over the world; and O Dan, he has seen <i>such</i> places!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I tell you what we will do," said Dan. "To-morrow you shall buy a -couple of young bullfinches, and you shall find out some tune the Old -Sailor is fond of; and I will teach the bullfinches to whistle it. -Then you shall give the birds to the Old Sailor, and say they are a -present from me and you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That will be prime! He will be so pleased!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Have you ever heard him sing, Jo?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," answered Joshua, laughing; "I have heard him sing,--</p> -<br> -<div style="margin-left:15%; font-size:smaller"> - -<p style="text-indent:-3%; margin-bottom:0px">'Which is the properest day to -drink,<br> -Saturday, Sunday, Monday?</p> -<p style="text-indent:-10px; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Each is the -properest day, I think-- -Why should I name but one day?</p> -<p style="text-indent:-10px; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Tell me but -yours, I'll mention my day,<br> -Let us but fix on some day--</p> -<p style="text-indent:-10px; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Tuesday, -Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,<br> -Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.'"</p> -</div> -<br> -<p class="normal">"I don't think that would do," said Dan, echoing Joshua's -laugh. -<br> -"Here's another," said Joshua, and he played a prelude to "Poor Tom -Bowling," and sang the first verse,--</p> -<div style="margin-left:10%; font-size:smaller"> -<p style="text-indent:-18px; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"> -'Here a sheer hulk lies poor Tom Bowling,<br> -The darling of our crew;</p> -<p style="text-indent:-10px; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">No more he'll -hear the tempest howling, -For death has broached him too.</p> -<p style="text-indent:-10px; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">His form was of -the manliest beauty,<br> -His heart was kind and soft,</p> -<p style="text-indent:-10px; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Faithful below -Tom did his duty,<br> -But now he's gone aloft,<br> -But now he's gone aloft.'"</p> -</div> -<br> -<p class="normal">Joshua sang the words with much tender feeling, but Dan shook -his head.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The birds would never be able to get the spirit of the song -into them," he said, "and the tune is nothing without that. Never -mind--we'll teach them something, and then the Old Sailor shall have -them."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And I shall tell him they are a present from you alone."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No," said Dan energetically; "that would spoil it all. They are from -you and me together. Can't you guess the reason why?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I believe I can," replied Joshua, after a little consideration. "The -Old Sailor likes me, and you want him to like you because of me, not -because of yourself alone; you want him to like me more because of -you--as I am sure he will when he knows you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's it. I want him to know that we love each other, and that we -shall always love each other, whether we are together or separated. I -want everybody who likes you, Jo, to like me."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua laid his hand upon Dan's, which rested on the table, and Dan -placed his other hand upon Joshua's playfully. Their hands were -growing to be very unlike. Dan's hand, as it grew, became more -delicate, while Joshua's grew stronger and more muscular. Dan laughed -another pleasant laugh as he remarked the difference between them. -"That is a proper kind of hand for a hero," he said. And then, in a -more serious voice, "Joshua, do you know I think we can see each -other's thoughts." And so, indeed, it appeared as if they could.</p> - -<p class="normal">The next day the bullfinches were bought, and Dan began to train them. -They were a pair of very young birds, not a dozen days old, and the -air Dan fixed upon to teach them first was "Rule, Britannia."</p> - -<p class="normal">So much for Joshua's supplemental contributions to the general fund. -Now for Dan's.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Another sixpence in a piece of paper, Jo!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That makes eighteen pence this month, Dan. Poor Susan!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Poor Susan!" echoed Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan was very much to be pitied. Looking upon herself as her -brother's destroyer, she endeavored, by offerings of sixpences as -often as she could afford them, to atone for the crime--for so she now -regarded it--by which she had made him a helpless cripple. These -sixpences were not given openly; they were laid, as it were, upon the -sacrificial altar in secret. Sometimes the altar was one of Ellen's -shoes, and Ellen, when she dressed herself, would feel something -sticking in her heel, and discover it to be a sixpence tightly screwed -up in a piece of paper, with the words, "For Dan; from Susan," written -on it; sometimes the altar was one of Dan's pocket-handkerchiefs, -and the sixpence was tied up in a knot; sometimes it was a bag of -bird-seed; sometimes Dan's cap. She was so imbued with a sense of -guilt, that she trembled when she met Dan's eye. He was as kind and -gentle to her, when he had the opportunity, as he was to all around -him; and divining her secret remorse, he tried by every means in his -power to lessen it. But the feeling, that, if Dan died, she was a -murderess, was too deeply implanted in her to be ever removed. She -lived in constant fear. She was afraid of the dark, and could not -sleep without a rush-light near her bedside. Often in the night, on -occasions when Dan was weaker than usual, she would creep down stairs, -and listen at his bedroom-door to catch the sound of his breathing. If -she did not hear it at first, the ghostly echo of the old terrible -cry, "Ah-h-h-h! who killed her little brother? Ah-h-h-h!" filled the -staircase and the passage with dreadful shadows; shadows that seemed -to thicken and gather about her as if possessed with a desire to -stifle her--and she would press her hands tightly upon her eyes so -that she should not see them. Then perhaps she would open Dan's door -quietly, and hearing him breathe, ever so softly, would creep up -stairs again, a little more composed; always closing her door quickly, -to prevent the shadows on the stairs from coming into her room.</p> - -<p class="normal">The supplemental contributions from Susan and the Old Sailor were very -acceptable to Dan and Joshua, who were both fond of reading. What was -not spent in birds' food was spent in books. They subscribed to two -magazines, the "Penny Magazine" and the "Mirror," which came out -weekly; the subscription was a serious one for them, and made a great -hole in their pocket-money: it swallowed up three pence per week. The -addition of a new book to their modest library was one of the proudest -events in their quiet lives. "New" books is not a strictly correct -phrase, for the collection consisted of second-hand volumes, picked up -almost at random at old-book stalls. Although their library was a -small one, not numbering in its palmiest days more than fifty volumes, -it was wonderfully miscellaneous. Now it was a book of travels that -Joshua bought; now a book of poems; now an odd volume of a magazine; -now a book on natural history; now a speculative book which neither of -the boys could understand--not at all a weak reason in favor of its -being purchased. Over these books the boys would pore night after -night, and extract such marrow from them as best suited their humor. -The conversations which arose out of their readings were worth -listening to; Dan's observations, especially, were very quaint and -original, and gave evidence, not only of good taste, but of the -possession of reflective powers of a high order.</p> - -<p class="normal">An old book on dreams which Joshua bought for a song, as the saying -is, proved especially attractive to Dan. The proper title of the book -was the "Philosophy of Dreams," an ambitious sub-title--the "Triumph -of Mind over Matter"--being affixed. Dan read and re-read this book -with avidity. In it the writer contended that a person could so -command and control his mental forces, as to train himself to dream of -events which were actually taking place at a distance from him, at the -precise moment they occurred. Space, said the author, was of the -smallest consequence. There was one thing, however, that was -absolutely necessary--that a perfect sympathy should exist between the -dreamer and the person or persons of whom he was dreaming. It was a -wildly-speculative book taken at its best, and contained much -irrelevant and ridiculous matter; but it was just the kind of book to -attract such a lad as Dan, and it set him thinking. "Perfect sympathy! -Such a sympathy," he thought, "as exists between me and Jo;" and he -proceeded to read with greater eagerness. The author, in support of -his theory, dragged in nearly all the sciences; and drew largely upon -that of phrenology. He explained where certain organs lay, such as -wonder, veneration, benevolence, destructiveness, and proceeded -somewhat in the following fashion: Say that a person is sleeping, and -that he is not disturbed by any special powerful emotion, arising -probably from strong anxiety connected with his worldly circumstances. -His mind must be at rest, and his sleep be calm and peaceful. Under -these circumstances, if a certain organ, say the organ of veneration, -be gently pressed, the sleeper will presently dream a dream, in which -the sentiment of veneration will be the quality most prominently -brought into play. And so with wonder, and benevolence, and -combativeness, and other qualities. Having stated this very -distinctly, the writer proceeded, as if the mere statement were -sufficient proof of its incontestability: say that between the sleeper -and the operator a strong and earnest sympathy existed; the operator, -selecting in his mind some person with whom they are both acquainted, -brings his power of will to bear upon the sleeper. (Here the writer -interpolated that the experiment would fail if the organs of -concentrativeness and firmness were not more than ordinarily large in -the operator.) With his mind firmly fixed upon the one object, he -wills that the sleeper shall dream of their mutual acquaintance; and -as he wills it, with all the intensity he can exercise, he gently -manipulates the sleeper's organ of tune--which, by the way, the author -stated he believed was the only one of the purely intellectual -faculties which could be pressed into service. The sleeper will then -dream of the selected person, and his sense of melody and the harmony -of sound will be gratified. Then, in a decidedly vague manner, as if -he had got himself in a tangle from which he did not know how to -extricate himself, the author argued that what one person could do to -another, he could do also to himself, and that the effect produced -upon another person by physical manipulation may be produced upon -one's self by a strong concentration of will. During our waking -moments he said, the affective faculties of our mind are brought into -play. Thus, we see and wonder; thus, we see and venerate; thus, we see -and pity. These faculties or sentiments are excited and make -themselves felt without any effort on our part. If, then, -circumstances, which previously did not affect us, can thus act upon -us without the exercise of voluntary effort to produce sensation; if -circumstances, in which we had no reason to feel the slightest active -interest, can cause us to venerate, to pity, to wonder--broadly, to -rejoice and to suffer--why should we not be able, by the aid of a -powerful sympathy and an earnest desire, to bring into reasoning -action the faculties which are thus excited by uninteresting and -independent circumstances?</p> - -<p class="normal">Thus far the author: unconscious that he had fallen into the serious -error of confounding the affective with the intellectual faculties, -and not appearing to understand that, whereas an affective faculty can -be brought into conscious action by independent circumstances, an -intellectual faculty requires a direct mental effort before it is -excited. His essay was not convincing. He wandered off at tangents; -laid down a theory, and, proceeding to establish it, so entangled -himself that he lost its connecting threads; and had evidently been -unable to properly think out a subject which is not entirely unworthy -of consideration. However, he had written his book, and it got into -Dan's hands and into Dan's head. Joshua did not understand it a bit, -and said so; and when he asked Dan to explain it, Dan could scarcely -fit words to what was in his mind.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Although I cannot explain it very clearly, I can understand it," said -Dan. "He means to say that a person can see with his mental sight"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is, with his eyes shut," interrupted Joshua jocularly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Certainly, with his eyes shut," said Dan very decidedly. "Our eyes -are shut when we dream, yet we see things." Joshua became serious -immediately; the answer was a convincing one. "And that proves that we -have two senses of sight--one in the eyes, the other in the mind. -Haven't you seen rings, and circles, and clouds when you are in bed at -night, and before you go to sleep? I can press my face on the pillow -and say--not out loud, and yet I say it and can hear it--which shows -that all our senses are double." (In his eagerness to explain what he -could scarcely comprehend, Dan was in danger of falling into the same -error as the author of the "Triumph of Mind over Matter" had fallen -into, that of flying off at tangents: it was with difficulty he could -keep to his subject.) "Well, Jo, I press my head into the pillow, and -say, 'I will see rings,' and presently I see a little ball, black, -perhaps, and it grows and grows into rings--like what you see when you -throw a stone in the water--larger, and larger, all the different -colors of the rainbow; and then, when they have grown so large as to -appear to have lost themselves in space--just like the rings in the -water, Jo--another little ball shapes itself in the dark, and -gradually becomes visible, and then the rings come and grow and -disappear as the others did. When I have seen enough, I say--not out -loud again, Jo, but silently as I did before--'I don't want to see any -more,' and they don't come again. What I can do with rings, I can do -with clouds. I say, 'I will see clouds,' and they come, all colors of -blue, from white-blue to black-blue; sometimes I see sunsets."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have seen them too, Dan," said Joshua; "I have seen skies with -stars in them, just as I have seen them with my eyes wide open."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, if we can do this," continued Dan, "why cannot we do more?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"We can't do what he says in this book," said Joshua, drumming with -his fingers on the "Philosophy of Dreams."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know. Why should he write all that unless he knew something? -There is no harm in trying, at all events. Let me see. Here is a chart -of a head, Jo turning to a diagram in the book. Where is -combativeness? Oh! here, at the back of the head, behind the ear. Can -you feel it, Jo? Is it a large bump? No; you are going too high up, I -am sure. Now you are too much in the middle. Ah! that's the place, I -think."</p> - -<p class="normal">These last sentences referred to Joshua's attempt to find Dan's organ -of combativeness.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't feel any thing particular, Dan," he said.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But you feel something, don't you, Jo?" asked Dan anxiously. "There -<i>is</i> a bump there, isn't there?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"A very little one," answered Joshua, earnestly manipulating Dan's -head, and pressing the bump. "Do you feel spiteful?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No," said Dan, laughing.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There's a bump twice as large just above your fighting one."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What is that bump?" said Dan, examining the diagram again. "Ah that -must be adhesiveness."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know what that means."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Give me the dictionary;" and Dan with eager fingers turned over the -pages of an old Walker's Dictionary. "'Adhesive--sticking, -tenacious,'" he read. "That is, that I stick to a thing, as I mean to -do to this. Now I'll tell you what we'll do, Jo. I shall sleep at your -house to-morrow night, and when I am asleep, you shall press my organ -of combativeness--put your fingers on it--yes, there; and when I wake -I will tell you what I have dreamed of."</p> - -<p class="normal">"All right," said Joshua, removing his fingers.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You will be able to find the place again?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And you will be sure to keep awake?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Sure, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">The following night, Joshua waited very patiently until Dan was -asleep. He had to wait a long time; for Dan, in consequence of his -anxiety, was longer than usual getting to sleep. Once or twice Joshua -thought that his friend was in the Land of Nod, and he commenced -operations, but he was interrupted by Dan saying drowsily, "I am not -asleep yet, Jo." At length Dan really went off, and then Joshua, very -quietly and with great care, felt for Dan's organ of combativeness, -and pressed it. Joshua looked at his sleeping friend with anxiety. -"Perhaps he will hit out at me," he thought. But Dan lay perfectly -still, and Joshua, after waiting and watching in vain for some -indication of the nature of Dan's sleeping fancies, began to feel very -sleepy himself, and went to bed. In the morning, when they were both -awake, Joshua asked what Dan had dreamed of.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can't remember," said Dan, rubbing his eyes.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I pressed your combativeness for a long time, Dan," said Joshua; "and -I pressed it so hard that I was almost afraid you would hit out."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I didn't, did I?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No; you were as still as a mouse."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I dreamed of something, though," said Dan, considering. "Oh, I -remember! I dreamed of you, So; you were standing on a big ship, with -a big telescope in your hand. You had no cap on, and your hair was all -flying about."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Were there any sailors on the ship?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"A good many."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Did you quarrel with any of them?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I didn't dream of myself at all."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Did any of the sailors quarrel with me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"There wasn't any quarrelling, Jo, that I can remember."</p> - -<p class="normal">"So you see," said Joshua, "that it is all fudge."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't see that at all. Now I think of it, it isn't likely that I -should dream of quarrelling with any one or fighting with any one when -I was dreaming of you, Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Or perhaps you haven't any combativeness, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Perhaps I haven't. It wouldn't be of much use to me if I had, for I -shouldn't know how to fight."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Or perhaps your combativeness is so small that it won't act," said -Joshua sportively.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't joke about it, Jo," said Dan. "You don't know how serious I am, -and how disappointed I feel at its being a failure. Will you try it -again to-night?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua, seeing that Dan was very much in earnest, readily promised; -and the experiment was repeated that night, with the same result. -After that the subject dropped for a time.</p> - -<p class="normal">But if Dan's organ of adhesiveness--which, phrenologically, means -affection, friendship, attachment--was large, it was scarcely more -powerful than his organ of concentrativeness. His love for Joshua was -perfect. He knew that Joshua's choice of a pursuit would separate him -from his friend. When he said to Joshua, "I shall live in you, Jo," -the words conveyed the expression of no light feeling, but of a deep -earnest longing and desire to be always with his friend--to be always -with him, although oceans divided them. If no misfortune had befallen -him, if his limbs had been sound and his body strong, Dan would have -been intellectually superior to boys in the same station of life as -himself. Debarred as he was from their amusements, their anxieties, -and their general ways of life he was thrown, as it were, upon his -intellect for consolation. It brought him, by the blessing of God, -such consolation that his misfortune might have been construed into a -thing to be coveted. There is good in every thing.</p> - -<p class="normal">All Dan's sympathies were with Joshua. Dan admired him for his -determination, for his desire to be better than his fellows. It was -Dan who first declared that Joshua was to be a hero; and Joshua -accepted Dan's dictum with complacency. It threw a halo of romance -around his determination not to be a wood-turner, and not to do as his -father had done before him. The reader, from these remarks, or the -incidents that follow, may now or presently understand why the -wildly-vague essay on the "Philosophy of Dreams; or the Triumph of -Mind over Matter," took Dan's mind prisoner and so infatuated him.</p> - -<p class="normal">Referring to the book again, after the failure of the experiments upon -his organ of combativeness, Dan found a few simple directions by which -the reader could test, in a minor degree, the power of the mind over -the sleeping body. One of the most simple was this: A person, before -he goes to sleep, must resolutely make up his mind to wake at a -certain hour in the morning. He must say to himself, "I want to wake -at five o'clock--at five o'clock--at five o'clock; I <i>will</i> awake at -five o'clock--I will--I will--I will!" and continue to repeat the -words and the determination over and over again until he fell asleep, -with the resolve firmly fixed in his mind. If you do this, said the -writer, you will awake at five o'clock. Dan tried this experiment the -same night--and failed. He repeated it the following night, and the -night following that, with the same result. His sleep was disturbed, -but that was all. But on the fourth night matters were different. Five -o'clock was the hour Dan fixed upon, and nothing was more certain than -that on the fourth night Dan woke up at the precise moment. There were -two churches in the immediate neighborhood, and, as he woke, Dan heard -the first church-bell toll the hour. One, two, three, four, five. Each -stroke of the bell was followed by a dismal hum of woful tribulation. -Then the other church-bell struck the hour, and each stroke of that -was followed by a cheerful ring, bright and crisp and clear. Dan -smiled and hugged himself, and went to sleep again, cherishing wild -hopes which he dared not confess even to himself. He tried the -experiment on the following night, fixing on a different time, -half-past three. Undaunted by that and many other failures, he tried -again and again, until one night he awoke when it was dark. He waited -anxiously to hear the clocks strike. It seemed to be a very long -half-hour, but the church-bell struck at last. One, two, three, four. -With a droning sound at the end of each stroke, as if a myriad bees, -imprisoned in a cell, were giving vent to a long-sustained and -simultaneous groan of entreaty to be set free; or as if the bell were -wailing for the hour that was dead. Then the joyous church-bell struck -One, two, three, four. A wedding-peal in each stroke; sparkling, -although invisible, like stars in a clear sky on a frosty night.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan went to sleep, almost perfectly happy.</p> - -<p class="normal">He repeated his experiment every night, until he had a very nearly -perfect command over sleep as far as regarded time, and could wake -almost at any hour he desired. Then he took a forward step. While -playing with his birds he said, "To-night I will dream of you." But the -thought intervened that he had often dreamed of the birds and that to -dream of them that night would not be very remarkable. So he said, -"No, I will not dream of the birds that are living; I will dream of -Golden Cloud." It was a long time now since Golden Cloud had been -buried, but Dan had never forgotten his pet. When he went to bed he -said, "I will dream of Golden Cloud--a pleasant dream." And he dwelt -upon his wish, and expressed it in words, again and again. That night -he dreamed of Golden Cloud, and of its pretty tricks; of its growing -old and shaky; of its death and burial. Then he saw something that he -had never seen before. He saw it lying quite contented and happy at -the bottom of its flower-pot coffin, and when he chirruped to it, it -chirruped in return.</p> - -<p class="normal">He told his dream to Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have dreamed of Golden Cloud a good many times," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But I made up my mind especially to dream of Golden Cloud," said Dan, -"and I dreamed of it the same night. At other times, my dreaming of it -was not premeditated. It came in the usual way of dreams."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do you want me to believe from all this Dan?</p> - -<p class="normal">"That, as the author of that book says, you can dream of any thing you -wish. I scarcely dare believe that I shall be able to dream of what I -shall most desire by and by. By and by, Jo," he repeatedly sadly, -"when you and me are parted."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua threw his arms around Dan's neck.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And you are doing all this, dear Dan, because you want to dream of -me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"And because I want to be with you, Jo, and to see things that you -see, and never, never to be parted from you." The wistful tears ran -down Dan's cheek as he said these words.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It would be very wonderful," said Joshua; "almost too wonderful. And -I shall think, 'Dan is here with me, although I cannot see him.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Listen again to what he says, Jo," said Dan, opening the "Triumph of -Mind over Matter." "A person can so command and control his mental -forces as to train himself to dream of events that are actually taking -place at a distance from him, at the precise moment they occur."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And that is what you want to do when I am away, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is what I want to do when you are away, dear Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am positive you can't do it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why? I dreamed of Golden Cloud when I wanted to."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can understand that. But how did you dream of Golden Cloud, Dan? -You dreamed of him as if he was alive"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"At first I did; but afterwards I saw him in the flower-pot, dead."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And Golden Cloud chirruped to you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Think again, Dan. Golden Cloud was dead, and Golden Cloud chirruped -to you!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Jo," faltered Dan, beginning to understand the drift of Joshua's -remarks.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is not dreaming of things as they are, Dan," said Joshua gently, -taking Dan's hand and patting it. "If you could dream of Golden Cloud -as he is now, you would see nothing of him but a few bones--feathers -and flesh all turned to clay. Not a chirrup in him, Dan dear, not a -chirrup!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan covered his eyes with his hand, and the tears came through his -fingers, But he soon recovered himself.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are right, Jo," he said: "yet I'm not quite wrong. The man who -wrote that book knew things, depend upon it. He was not a fool. <i>I</i> -was, to think I could do such wonders in so short a time."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan showed, in the last sentence, that he did not intend to relinquish -his desire. He said nothing more about it, however, and in a few -minutes the pair of bullfinches were on the table in a little cage, -whistling, "Rule, Britannia," the high notes of which one of the birds -took with consummate ease.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER V.</h4> - -<h5>JOSHUA MAKES UP HIS MIND TO GO TO SEA.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Who was the Old Sailor?</p> - -<p class="normal">Simply an old sailor. Having been a very young sailor indeed once upon -a time, a great many years ago now, when, quite a little boy, he ran -away from home and went to sea out of sheer love for blue water. In -those times many boys did just the same thing, but that kind of boyish -romance has been gradually dying away, and is now almost dead. Steam -has washed off a great deal of its bright coloring. The taste of the -salt spray grew so sweet to the young sailor's mouth, and the sight of -the ocean--the waters of which were not always blue, as he had -imagined--grew so dear to his eyes, that every thing else became as -naught to him. And so, faithful to his first love, he had grown from a -young sailor to an old sailor. At the present time he was living in a -rusty coal-barge, moored near the Tower stairs; and, although he could -see land and houses on the other side of the water, there was a curl -in his great nostrils as if he were smelling the sweet salt spray of -the sea, and a staring look in his great blue eyes, as if the grand -ocean were before him instead of a dirty river. He was a short -thick-set man, and his face was deeply indented with small-pox; -indeed, so marked were the impressions which that disease had left -upon him, that his face looked for all the world like a conglomeration -of miniature salt-cellars. His name was Praiseworthy Meddler. The sea -was his world--the land was of no importance whatever. Not only was -the land of no importance in his eyes, but it was a place to be -despised, and the people who inhabited it were an inferior race. From -him did Joshua Marvel learn of the glories and the wonders of the -ocean, and from him came Joshua's inspiration to be a sailor.</p> - -<p class="normal">For Joshua had settled upon the road which was to lead him to fame and -fortune. By the time that he had made up his mind what was to be his -future walk in life, most other lads in the parish of Stepney of the -same age and condition as himself were already at work at different -businesses, and had already commenced mounting that ladder which led -almost always to an average of something less than thirty-two -shillings a week for the natural term of their lives. Although, up to -this period of his life, Joshua's career had been a profitless one, as -far as earning money was concerned, his time had not been thrown away. -The tastes he had acquired were innocent and good, and were destined -to bear good fruit in the future. The boyish friendship he had formed -was of incalculable value to him; for it was undoubtedly due, in a -great measure, to that association that Joshua was kept from contact -with bad companions. He had not yet given evidence of the possession -of decided character, except what might be gathered from a certain -quiet determination of will inherited from his mother, but stronger in -him than in her because of his sex, and from a certain unswerving -affection for any thing he loved. A phrenologist, examining his head, -would probably have found that the organs of firmness and adhesiveness -predominated over all his other faculties; and for the rest, something -very much as follows. (Let it be understood that no attempt is here -being made to give a perfect analysis of Joshua's faculties, but that -mention is only being made of those organs which may help to explain, -if they be remembered by the reader, and if there be any truth in -phrenology, certain circumstances connected with Joshua's career, the -consequences of which may have been varied in another man.) Well, -then, adhesiveness and firmness very large; the first of which will -account for his strong attachment for Dan, and the second for his -determination, notwithstanding his mother's efforts, not to -take to wood-turning nor any other trade, but to start in -life for himself: Inhabitiveness very small; and as inhabitiveness -means a tendency to dwell in one place, the want of that faculty -will account for his desire to roam. All his moral and religious -faculties--such as benevolence, wonder, veneration, and -conscientiousness--were large; what are understood as the -semi-intellectual sentiments--constructiveness, imitation and -mirthfulness--he possessed only in a moderate degree; but one, -ideality, was largely developed. Four of his intellectual -faculties--individuality, language, eventuality, and time--call for -especial notice: they were all very small, the smallest of them being -eventuality, the especial function of which is a memory of events. -Mention being made that his organs of color and tune were large, this -brief analysis of Joshua's phrenological development is completed.</p> - -<p class="normal">For the purpose of fitting himself for his future career, Joshua had -lately spent a great deal of his time at the waterside, and in the -course of a few months' experience in boats and barges on the River -Thames, had made himself perfectly familiar with all the dangers of -the sea. Praiseworthy Meddler had a great deal to do with Joshua's -resolve. His attention had been directed to the quiet well-behaved -lad, who came down so often to the waterside, and who sat gazing, with -unformed thoughts, upon the river. Not upon the other side of it, -where tumble-down wharves and melancholy walls were, but along the -course of it, as far as its winding form would allow him to do so. -Then his imagination followed the river, and gave it pleasanter banks -and broader, until he could scarcely see any banks at all, so wide had -the river grown; then he followed it farther still, until it merged -into an ocean of waters, in which were crowded all the wonders he had -read of in books of travel and adventure: wastes of sea, calm and -grand in sunlight and in moonlight; fire following the ship at night, -fire in the waters, as if millions of fire-fish had rushed up from the -depths to oppose the wooden monster which ploughed them through; -shoals of porpoises, sharks, whales, and all the wondrous breathing -life in the mighty waters; curling waves lifting up the ship, which -afterwards glides down into the valleys: blood moons, and such a -wealth of stars in the heavens, and such feather-fringed azure clouds -as made the heart beat to think of them; storms, too--dark waters -seething and hissing, thunder awfully pealing, lightning flashes -cutting the heavens open, and darting into the sea and cutting that -with keen blades of light, then all darker than it was before: all -these pictures came to Joshua's mind as, with eager eyes and clasped -hands, he sat gazing at the dirty river. He held his breath as the -storm-pictures came, but there was no terror in them; bright or dark, -every thing he saw was tinged with the romance of youthful imagining. -Praiseworthy Meddler spoke first to Joshua, divined his wish, -encouraged it, told the lad stories of his own experience, and told -them with such heartiness and enthusiasm, and made such a light matter -of shipwreck and such like despondencies, that Joshua's aspirations -grew and grew until he could no longer keep them to himself. And, of -course, to whom should he first unbosom himself in plain terms but to -his more than brother, Dan?</p> - -<p class="normal">He disclosed his intentions in this manner: he was playing and singing -'Tom Bowling,' the words of which he had learned from old -Praiseworthy. He sang the song through to the end, and Dan repeated -the last two lines,--</p> -<br> -<div style="margin-left:10%; font-size:smaller"> -<p style="text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"> -"For though his body's under hatches, -His soul is gone aloft."</p> -</div> -<br> -<p class="normal">"<i>My</i> body has been under hatches today, Dan," said -Joshua, "although -I wasn't in the same condition as poor Tom Bowling. I dare say," with -a furtive look at Dan, "that I shall often be under hatches."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah!" said Dan. He knew what was coming.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The Old Sailor has been telling me such stories, Dan! What do you -think? He was taken by a pirate-ship once, and served with them for -three months."</p> - -<p class="normal">"As a pirate?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes; he has been a pirate. Isn't that glorious? It was an awful -thing, though; the ship he was in--a merchantman--saw the pirate-ship -giving chase. They tried to get away, but the pirates had a ship twice -as good as theirs, and soon overhauled them. Then the grappling-irons -were thrown, and the pirates swarmed into the merchantman, and there -was a terrible fight. Those who were not killed were taken on board -the pirate-ship, the Old Sailor among the rest. There were three women -with them, and O Dan! would you believe it?--those devils, the -pirates, killed them every one, men and women too, and threw them -overboard--killed every one of them but the Old Sailor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How was it that he was saved, Jo?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is a thing he never could make out, he says. It turned him sick -to see the pirates slashing away with their cutlasses, but when they -came to the women he was almost mad. He was bound to a mast by a -strong rope, and when he saw a woman's face turned to him and looking -at him imploringly, although her eyes were almost blinded by blood"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Oh!" cried Dan with a shudder, as if he could see the dreadful -picture.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It was a woman who had had a kind word for every one on the -merchant-ship--a lady she was, and everybody loved her," continued -Joshua, with kindling eyes and clinched fists. "When the Old Sailor -saw her looking at him, he gave a yell, and actually broke the rope -that bound him. But a dozen pirates had him down on the deck the next -moment. He fought with them, and called out to them, 'Kill me, you -devils!' You should hear the Old Sailor tell the story, Dan! 'Kill me, -you devils!' he cried out, and he grappled with them, and hurt some of -them. You may guess that they were too many for him. They bound him in -such a zig-zag of ropes--round his neck and legs and back and -arms--that he couldn't move, and they kicked him into a corner. There -he lay, with his eyes shut, and heard the shrieks of his poor -companions, and the splashes in the water as their bodies were thrown -overboard. After that there was a great silence. 'Now it is my turn,' -he said to himself, and he bit his tongue, so that he should not -scream out. But it wasn't his turn; some of the pirates came about -him, and talked in a lingo he couldn't understand, and when he thought -they were going to slash at him, they went away, and left him lying on -the deck alive! He lay there all night, dozing now and then, and, -waking up in awful fright; for every time he dozed, he fancied that he -heard the screams of the poor people who had been killed, and that he -saw the bloody face of the poor lady he had tried to save. They didn't -give him any thing to eat or drink all night; all they gave him was -kicks. 'Then,' said the Old Sailor, 'they're going to starve me!' If -he could have moved, he would have thrown himself into the sea, but he -was too securely tied. Well, in the morning, the captain, who could -speak a little English, came and ordered that the ropes should be -loosened. 'Now's my time,' said the Old Sailor, and he felt quite -glad, Dan, he says; and he says, too, that he felt as if he could have -died happy if they had given him a chew of tobacco. 'Open your eyes, -pig of an Englishman!' cried the captain, for the Old Sailor kept his -eyes shut all the time. 'I sha'n't, pig of the devil!' roared the Old -Sailor; but, without meaning it, he did open his eyes. 'Look here, -pig,' said the captain, 'you are a strong man, and you ought to be a -good sailor.' 'I'd show you what sort of a sailor I am, if you would -cut these infernal'"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"O Jo!" said Dan, with a warning finger to his lips.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is what the Old Sailor said, Dan," continued Joshua. "'I'd show -you what sort of a sailor I am, if you would cut these--you know -what--ropes, and give me a cutlass or a marlin-spike!' But the captain -only laughed at him; and said, 'Now, pig, listen. You will either do -one of two things. You will either be one of us'-- 'Turn pirate!' -cried the Old Sailor; 'no, I'll be--you know what, Dan--if I do!' -'Very well, pig,' said the captain; 'refuse, and you shall be cut to -pieces, finger by finger, and every limb of you. I give you an hour, -pig, to think of it.' The Old Sailor says that, if he had had a bit of -tobacco, he would have chosen to be killed, even in that dreadful -manner, rather than consent to join them. He never in all his life -longed so for a thing as he longed then for a quid, as he calls it. It -made him mad to see the dark devils chewing their tobacco as they -worked. 'Anyhow,' he thought, 'I may as well live as be killed. I -shall get a chance of escape one day.' So when the hour was up, and -the captain came, the Old Sailor told him that he would oblige them by -not being chopped into mince-meat, if they would give him a chew of -tobacco. They gave it to him, and unbound him; and that is the way he -became a pirate."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And how did he get away, Jo?" asked Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is wonderful, too," continued Joshua. "He was with them for -three months, and saw strange things and bad things, but never took -part in them. They tried to force him to do as they did, but he -wouldn't. And he made himself so useful to them, and worked so hard, -that it wasn't to their interest to get rid of him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I think the Old Sailor must be a little bit of a hero, Jo," -interrupted Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua laughed heartily at this. "You will not say so when you see -him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why? I suppose he is ugly."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua raised his hand expressively.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And weather-beaten, and all that"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"And knows," said Joshua, still laughing, "'Which is Saturday, Sunday, -Monday?'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Still he may be a hero--not like you, Jo, because you will be -handsome."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you think so?"</p> - -<p class="normal">If by some strange chance a picture of Joshua, as he was to be one -day, had presented itself to the lads, how they would have wondered -and marvelled as to what could have been the youth of such a man as -they saw before them! Look at Joshua now, as he is sitting by Dan's -side. A handsome open-faced lad, full of kindly feeling, and with the -reflex of a generous loving nature beaming in his eyes. Honest face, -bright eyes, laughing mouth that could be serious, strong limbs, head -covered with curls--a beautiful picture of happy boyhood. But no more -surprising miracle could have occurred to Dan than to see Joshua, as -he saw him then sitting by his side, and then to see the shadow of -what was to come.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you think so?" and Joshua laughingly repeated the question.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do I think so" said Dan, gazing with pride at his friend. "O Mr. -Vanity! as if you didn't know!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua, laughing more than ever, protested that he had never given it -a thought, and promised that he would take a good long look at himself -in the glass that very night. At the rate the lads were going on, it -appeared as if the Old Sailor's story would never be completed, and so -Daniel said, to put a stop to Joshua's nonsense.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is all your fault, Dan," said Joshua, "because you <i>will</i> -interrupt. Well, when the Old Sailor had been in the ship for three -months, it was attacked by a cruiser which had been hunting it down -for a long time. All the pirates were taken--the Old Sailor and -all--and sold as slaves at Algiers. They wouldn't believe his story -about his not being a pirate, and he was sold for a slave with the -rest of them. He worked in chains in the fields for a good many -weeks--he doesn't remember how many--until Lord Exmouth bombarded the -forts, and put a stop to Christian slavery. And that is the Old -Sailor's pirate-story."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And now to return to what we were saying before you commenced," said -Dan. Joshua placed his hands at the back of his head, and interlacing -his fingers, looked seriously at Dan, and drew a long breath: "You -have something to tell me, Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have," said Joshua. "I have made up my mind what I am going to be. -You can guess if you like."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have no need to guess, Jo, dear; I know, I have seen it all along."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What is it, then?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are going to sea," said Dan, striving to speak in a cheerful -voice, but failing.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, I shall go to sea;" and Joshua drew another long breath. "How -did you find it out, Dan the Wise?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"How did I find it out, Jo the Simple? Haven't I seen it in your eyes -for ever so long? Haven't you been telling me so every day? It might -escape others' notice, but not mine."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I told the Old Sailor to-day, and he clapped me on the back, and said -I was a brave fellow. But he knew it all along, too, he said. And he -took me into his cabin--such a cabin, Dan--and poured out a tiny glass -of rum, and made me drink it. My throat was on fire for an hour -afterwards."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Have you told mother and father?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Tell them at once, Jo. Go home now, and tell them. I want to be left -alone to think of it. O Jo! and I am going to lose you!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan had tried hard to control himself, but he now burst into a passion -of weeping; and it is a fact, notwithstanding that they were both big -boys, that their heads the next moment were so close together that -Dan's tears rolled down both their faces. Joshua's heart was as full -as Dan's, and he ran out of the room more to lessen Dan's grief than -his own.</p> - -<p class="normal">Thus it fell out that in the evening, when the members of the Marvel -family, variously occupied, were sitting at the kitchen fire, Joshua -said suddenly to his relatives,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should like to go to sea."</p> - -<p class="normal">George Marvel was smoking a long clay-pipe; Mrs. Marvel was darning a -pair of worsted stockings, in which scarcely a vestige of their -original structure was left; and Sarah Marvel was busily engaged in a -writing-lesson, in the execution of which she was materially assisted -by her tongue, which, hanging its full length out of her mouth, was -making occasional excursions to the corners of her lips. George Marvel -took the pipe from his lips and looked at the fire meditatively; Mrs. -Marvel burst into tears, and let the worsted stocking, with the needle -sticking in it, drop into her lap; and Sarah Marvel, casting a -doubtful look at her writing-lesson, every letter in which appeared to -be possessed with a peculiar species of drunkenness, removed her eyes -to her brother's face, upon which she gazed with wonder and -admiration. So engrossed was she in the contemplation, that she put -the inky part of the pen into her mouth, and sucked at it in sheer -absence of mind.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't cry, mother," said George Marvel. "What was that you said, -Josh?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should like to go to sea, father."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah!" ejaculated Mr. Marvel thoughtfully, looking steadily into the -fire.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua was also looking into the fire, and he saw in it, as plain as -plain could be, a fiery ship, full-rigged, with fiery ropes and fiery -sails, and saw himself, Joshua Marvel, standing on the poop, dressed -in gold-laced coat and gold-laced cocked-hat, with a telescope in his -hand. For Joshua, without the slightest idea as to how it was all to -come about, had made up his mind that he was to be a captain, dressed -as Nelson was in a picture which was one of Praiseworthy Meddler's -prize possessions, and which occupied the place of honor in the Old -Sailor's cabin. While this vision was before Joshua Mrs. Marvel -continued to cry, but in a more subdued manner.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And so you want to be sailor, Josh?" queried Mr. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes. A sailor first, and then a captain."</p> - -<p class="normal">The intermediate grades were of too small importance to be considered.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am sure, Josh," said Mrs. Marvel, crying all the while, "I don't -see what you want to go away for. Why don't you make up your mind even -now to apprentice yourself to father's trade and be contented? You -might get a little shop of your own in time, if you worked very hard, -and it would be pleasant for all of us."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You be quiet, mother," said Mr. Marvel. "What do women know about -these things? I'm Joshua's father, I believe"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, George, I believe you are," sobbed Mrs. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And, as Joshua's father, I tell you again, once and for all, that -he's not going to be a wood-turner. Here's the old subject come up -again with a vengeance! I wish a woman's clothes were like a woman's -ideas; then they would never wear out. A wood-turner! A pretty thing a -wood-turner is! I've been a wood-turner all my life, and what better -off am I for it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am sure, father, we have been very happy," said Mrs. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am not saying any thing about that," observed Mr. Marvel, -expressing in his voice a very small regard for domestic happiness, -although, in reality, no man better appreciated it. "What I say is, -I've been a wood-turner all my life; and what I ask is, what better -off am I, or you, or any of us, for it? If Josh likes to be a -wood-turner, he can; I have nothing to say against it, except that -he's been a precious long time making up his mind. And if he likes to -be a sailor, he can; I have nothing to say against that. I'm Joshua's -father, and, as Joshua's father, I say if Josh likes to make a start -in life for himself as a sailor, let him. If I was Josh, I would do -the same myself."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thank you, father," said Joshua. "And, mother, if you only heard what -Mr. Praiseworthy Meddler says of the sea, you would think very -differently; I know you would."</p> - -<p class="normal">But Mrs. Marvel shook her head and would not be comforted.</p> - -<p class="normal">"My father was a wood-turner," said Mr. Marvel, "and he made me a -wood-turner. He never asked me whether I would or I wouldn't, and I -didn't have a choice. If he had have asked me, perhaps we shouldn't -have gone on pinching and pinching all our lives. Now Joshua's -different; he's got his choice: never forget, Josh, that it was your -father who gave you the world to pick from--and I think he's acting -sensibly, as I should have done if <i>my</i> father had given me the -chance. But he didn't, and it's too late for a man with his head full -of white hairs to commence life all over again."</p> - -<p class="normal">And Mr. Marvel fell to smoking his pipe again, and studying the fire.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I've never seen the sea myself," he presently resumed; "but I've read -of it, and heard talk of it. There are better lands across the seas -than Stepney, for a youngster like Josh. There are lots of chances, -too; and who knows what may happen?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's where it is, father," whimpered Mrs. Marvel; "we don't know -what might happen. Suppose Josh is shipwrecked; what would you say -then? You'd lie awake night after night, father--you know you -would--and wish he had been a wood-turner. I've never seen the sea, -and I never want to; I've been happy enough without it. It's like -flying in the face of Providence. And what's to become of us when we -are old, if Josh can't take care of us?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Just so, mother. Listen to me, and be sensible. Suppose Josh becomes -a wood-turner; he can't expect to do better than his father has done. -I am not a bad workman myself; and though Josh might make as good, I -don't think he'd make a better. Now what I say again is--and it's -wonderful what a many times a man has to say a thing before he can -drive it into a woman's head, if she ain't willing--although I'm a -good workman what better off am I for it? And what better off would -Josh be for it, when he gets to be as old as I am? We've commenced to -lay by a good many times--haven't we, Maggie?--but we never could keep -on with it. First a bit of sickness took it; then a bit of furniture -that we couldn't do without took it; then a rise in bread and meat -took it; and then a bit of something else took it. You've been a good -woman to me, Maggie, and you've pinched all you could for twenty -years; and what has come of all your pinching? There's that old teapot -you used to lay by in. It's at the back of the cupboard now, and it -hasn't had a shilling in it for I don't know when's the time. It would -be full of dust, mother, only you don't like dust; and a good job too. -But it ain't your fault that it isn't full of something better; and it -ain't my fault. It's all because I've been a wood-turner all my days. -And the upshot of it is, that we're not a bit better off now than we -were twenty years ago. We're worse off; for we've spent twenty good -years and got nothing for them."</p> - -<p class="normal">"We've got Josh and Sarah," Mrs. Marvel ventured to say. The simple -woman actually regarded those possessions as of inestimable value--but -that is the way of a great many foolish mothers.</p> - -<p class="normal">Her husband did not heed the remark. He took another pull at his pipe, -but drew no smoke from it. His pipe was out; but in his earnestness he -puffed away at nothing, and continued,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who is to take care of us, you want to know, when we grow old, if -Josh don't. When Josh grows up, Josh will get married, naturally."</p> - -<p class="normal">"So shall I, father," interrupted Sarah, who was listening with the -deepest interest to the conversation.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Perhaps, Sarah," said Mr. Marvel a little dubiously. "Girls ain't -like boys; they can't pick and choose. Josh will get married, -naturally; and Josh will have children, naturally. Perhaps he'll have -two; perhaps he'll have six."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mrs. Pigeon's got thirteen," remarked Sarah vivaciously.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Be quiet, Sarah. Where did you learn manners? Now if Josh has six -children, and, being a wood-turner, doesn't do any better as a -wood-turner than his father has done--and he's a presumptuous young -beggar if he thinks he's going to do better than me"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't think so, father," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Never mind. And he's a presumptuous young beggar if he thinks he's -going to do better than me," Mr. Marvel repeated; he relished -the roll of the words--"what's to become of us then? Josh, if he's a -wood-turner with six children, can't be expected to keep his old -father and mother. He will have enough to do as it is. But if Josh -strikes out for himself, who knows what may happen? He may do this, or -he may do that; and then we shall be all right."</p> - -<p class="normal">There was not the shadow of a doubt that in that house the gray mare -was the worse horse, in defiance of the old adage.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And as to Joshua's being shipwrecked," continued Mr. Marvel, "you -know as well as I do, mother, that it would be enough to break my -heart. But I don't believe there's more danger on the sea than on the -land. There was Bill Brackett run over yesterday by a brewer's dray, -and three of his ribs broken. You don't get run over by a brewer's -dray at sea. And what occurred to William Small a month ago? He was -walking along as quiet and inoffensive as could be, when a brick from -a scaffold fell upon his head, and knocked every bit of sense clean -out of him. They don't build brick houses on the sea. Why, it might -have happened to me, or you, or Josh!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Or me, father," cried Sarah, not at all pleased at being deprived of -the chance of being knocked on the head by a brick.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Or you, Sarah. So, mother, don't let us have any more talk about -shipwrecks."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But if Josh <i>does</i> get shipwrecked, father," persisted Mrs. Marvel, -"remember that I warned you beforehand."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But Josh is not going to get shipwrecked," exclaimed Mr. Marvel, -slightly raising his voice determined not to tolerate domestic -insubordination; "therefore, hold your tongue, and say nothing more -about it."</p> - -<p class="normal">There was one privilege for the possession of which Mr. Marvel, had -fought many a hard battle in the early days of his married life, and -which he now believed he possessed by right of conquest; that was the -privilege of having the last word. To all outward appearance Mrs. -Marvel respected this privilege; but in reality she set it at -defiance. It was a deceptive victory that he had gained; for if he had -the last audible word, Mrs. Marvel had the last inaudible one. Woman -is a long-suffering creature; she endures much with patience and -resignation; but to yield the last word to a man is a sacrifice too -great for her to make. There are, no doubt, instances of such -sacrifice; but they are very rare. Many precious oblations had Mrs. -Marvel made in the course of her married life; but she had not -sacrificed the last word upon the domestic altar. True it was always -whispered inly, under her breath; but it was hers nevertheless; and -she exulted in it. When a woman cannot get what she wants by hook, she -gets it by crook, depend upon it. For twenty years had the Marvels -lived together man and wife; and during all that time Mr. Marvel had -never known, that in every family conversation and discussion his wife -had invariably obtained the victory of the last word; although -sometimes a half-triumphant look in her eyes had caused him to doubt.</p> - -<p class="normal">So, upon this occasion, notwithstanding the decided tone in which her -husband had closed the conversation, Mrs. Marvel bent her head over -her worsted stocking, and whispered to herself, half tearfully and -half triumphantly,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"But if Josh <i>does</i> get shipwrecked, father, don't forget that I -warned you beforehand."</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER VI.</h4> - -<h5>THE ACTOR AND HIS DAUGHTER.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">THAT night, as Joshua was lying half-awake and half-asleep, -his mind -being filled with pleasant sea-pictures, he was surprised to hear his -bedroom-door creak. Without moving in his bed, he turned his eyes -towards the door, and, in the indistinct light, he saw his mother -enter the room. She opened the door very softly, as if fearful of -disturbing him, and she paused for a moment or two in the open space, -with her hand raised in a listening attitude. Joshua saw that she -believed him to be asleep, and he closed his eyes as she approached -the bed. Her movements were so quiet, that he did not know she was -close to him, until she gently took his hand and placed it to her -lips. Then he knew that she was kneeling by his bedside, and knew -also, by a moisture on his hand, that she was crying. His heart -yearned to her, but he did not move. He heard her whisper, "God -protect you, my son!" Then his hand, wet with his mother's tears, was -released, and when he re-opened his eyes, she was gone.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Poor mother!" he thought. "She is unhappy because I am going to sea. -I will ask the Old Sailor to come and tell her what a glorious thing -the sea is. Perhaps that will make her more comfortable in her mind."</p> - -<p class="normal">He acted upon his resolution the very next day, and his efforts were -successful. In the evening, he wended his way homewards from the -waterside, in a state of ineffable satisfaction because the Old Sailor -had promised to come to Stepney, for the express purpose of proving to -Mrs. Marvel how superior in every respect the sea was to the land, and -what a wise thing Joshua had done in making up his mind to be a -sailor.</p> - -<p class="normal">The lad was in an idle happy humor as he walked down a narrow street, -at no great distance from his home. It differed in no respect from the -other common streets in the common neighborhood. All its -characteristics were familiar to him. The sad-looking one-story brick -houses; the slatternly girls nursing babies, whose name was legion; -the troops of children of various ages and in various stages of -dirtiness, one of their most distinguishing insignia being the yawning -condition of their boots, there not being a sound boot-lace among the -lot of them; and here and there the melancholy and desponding shops -where sweet stuff and cheap provisions were sold. Joshua walked down -this poor woe-begone street, making it bright with his bright fancies, -when his attention was suddenly aroused by the occurrence of something -unusual near the bottom of the street.</p> - -<p class="normal">A large crowd of boys and girls and women was gathered around a -person, who was gesticulating and declaiming with startling -earnestness. Pushing his way through the throng, Joshua saw before him -a tall, spare man, with light hair hanging down to his shoulders. So -long and waving was his hair, that it might have belonged to a woman. -His gaunt and furrowed face was as smooth as a woman's, and his mouth -was large, as were also his teeth, which were peculiarly white and -strong. But what most arrested attention were his eyes; they were of a -light-gray color, large even for his large face, and they had a -wandering look in them strangely at variance with the sense of power -and firmness that dwelt in every other feature. He was acting the -Ghost scenes in "Hamlet;" in his hand was a wooden sword, which he -sheathed in his ragged coat, and drew and flourished when occasion -needed. His fine voice, now deep as a man's, now tender as a woman's, -expressed all the passions, and expressed them well. In the library -which Dan and Joshua possessed there was an odd volume of Shakspeare's -works, and when the street-actor said, in a melancholy dreamy tone,--</p> -<br> -<div style="margin-left:10%; font-size:smaller"> -<p style="text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">"It waves me -still:--go on, I'll follow thee,"</p> -</div> -<br> -<p class="continue">Joshua remembered (as much from the intelligent action of -the actor as -from the words themselves) that it was a Ghost whom Hamlet was -addressing. The words were so impressively spoken, that Joshua almost -fancied he saw a Shade before the man's uplifted hand. Then, when -Hamlet cried,--</p> -<div style="margin-left:50%; font-size:smaller"> -<br> -<p style="text-indent:0; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">"My fate cries -out,<br> -<p style="text-indent:-40%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">And makes each -petty artery in this body<br> -<p style="text-indent:-40%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve.<br> -<p style="text-indent:-40%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Still am I called. Unhand me, gentlemen!"</p> -</div> -<br> -<p class="continue">(struggling with his visionary opponents and breaking from them, and -drawing his wooden sword)</p> -<br> -<p class="continue" style="font-size:smaller; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"> -"By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me!<br> -I say, away! Go on, I'll follow thee;"</p> -<br> - -<p class="continue">Joshua experienced a thrill of emotion that only the representation of -true passion could have excited. As the man uttered the last words, -Joshua heard a shuddering sigh close to him. Turning his head, he saw -Susan, whose face was a perfect encyclopædia of wondering and -terrified admiration.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who is he following, Joshua?" she asked in a whisper, clutching him -by the sleeve.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The Ghost! Hush!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"The Ghost!" (with a violent shudder.) "Where?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua pressed her hand, and warned her to be silent, so as not to -disturb the man. Susan held his hand tightly in hers, and obeyed.</p> - -<p class="normal">The Ghost that the actor saw in his mind's eye was standing behind -Susan. The man advanced a step in that direction, and stood with -outstretched sword, gazing at the airy nothing. Susan trembled in -every limb as the man glared over her shoulder, and she was frightened -to move her head, lest she should see the awful vision whose presence -was palpable to her senses. The man had commenced the platform-scene, -where Hamlet says, "Speak; I'll go no further;" and the Ghost says, -"Mark me!" when a tumult took place. At the words, "Mark me!" a -vicious boy picked up a piece of mud, and threw it at the man's face, -with the words, "Now you're marked;" at which several of the boys and -girls laughed and clapped their hands. The actor made no answer, but, -seizing the boy by the shoulder held him fast and proceeded with the -scene. The boy tried to wriggle himself away, but at every fresh -attempt the man's grasp tightened, until, thoroughly desperate, the -boy broke into open rebellion.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal" style="font-size:smaller; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"><i>Actor</i>. Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand -Of life, of crown, of queen, at once despatched.</p> -<br> -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"><i>Boy</i> (<i>struggling violently</i>). Just you let me go, will you?</p> -<br> -<p class="normal" style="font-size:smaller; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"><i>Actor</i>. Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, -Unhousel'd, disappointed, unaneal'd.</p> -<br> -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"><i>Boy</i> (<i>beginning to cry</i>). Come now, let me go will you? You're a -hurting of me! Let me go you--(<i>bad words</i>).</p> -<br> -<p class="normal" style="margin-left:10%; text-indent:-5%; font-size:smaller; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"><i>Actor</i> (<i>calm and indifferent</i>). No reckoning made, but sent to my -account,</p> -<p class="continue" style="font-size:smaller; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">With all my imperfections on my head.</p> -<br> -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"><i>A girl's voice</i>. Pinch him, Billy!<br> - -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"><i>A boy's voice</i>. Kick him, Billy!</p> - -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px;">Billy did both, but the actor continued.</p> -<br> -<p class="continue" style="font-size:smaller; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"><i>Actor</i>. Oh, horrible! Oh, horrible! Most horrible!</p> -<br> -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"><i>Billy</i>. Throw a stone at him, some one!</p> -<br> -<p class="continue" style="font-size:smaller; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px"><i>Actor</i> (<i>sublimely unconscious</i>). If thou hast nature in thee, bear -it not.</p> - -<p class="normal">A stone was thrown; and as if this were a signal for a general attack, -a shower of stones was hurled at the actor. One of them hit him on the -forehead; hit him so badly that he staggered, and, releasing his hold -of Billy, raised his hand to his head, while an expression of pain -passed into his face. Hooting and yelling, "Look at the mad actor!" -"Hoo, hoo! look at the crazy fool!"--the crowd of boys and girls -scampered away, and left the man standing in the road, with only Susan -and Joshua for an audience. Joshua was hot with indignation, and -Susan, spell-bound by awe and fear, stood motionless by Joshua's side, -while large tears trickled from her eyes into her open mouth.</p> - -<p class="normal">The blood was oozing from the wound in the man's forehead, and his -long fair hair was crimson-stained. His eyes wandered around -distressfully, and a sighing moan died upon his lips. The fire of -enthusiasm had fled from his countenance, and in the place of the -inspired actor, Joshua saw a man whose face was of a deathly hue, and -from whose eyes the light seemed to have departed. With his hand -pressed to his forehead, he staggered a dozen yards, and then leaned -against the wall for support.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is badly hurt, I am afraid," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan walked swiftly up to the man.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Shall we assist you home?" she said. "Home!" he muttered. "No, no! -Money! want money!"</p> - -<p class="normal">As he spoke he drooped, and would have fallen to the ground but for -Joshua, who caught the man on his shoulder, and let him glide gently -on to a doorstep. Susan wiped the blood from his face with her apron. -He looked at her vacantly, closed his eyes, and fainted.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is dying, Joshua!" cried Susan, her trembling fingers wandering -about the man's face. "Oh, the wicked boys! Oh, the wicked boys!"</p> - -<p class="normal">A woman here came out of a house with a cup of cold water, which she -sprinkled upon his face. Presently the man sighed, and struggled to -his feet, murmuring, "Yes, yes; I must go home."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where do you live?" asked Joshua. "We will assist you."</p> - -<p class="normal">He did not answer, but walked slowly on like one in a dream. Assisting -but not guiding his steps, Joshua and Susan walked on either side of -him, and supported him. Although he scarcely seemed to be awake, he -knew his way, and turning down a street even commoner than its -fellows, he stopped at the entrance to a miserable court. Waving his -hand as if dismissing them, he walked a few steps down the court, and -entered a house, the door of which was open. Impelled partly by -curiosity, but chiefly by compassion, Joshua and Susan followed the -man into a dark passage, and up a rheumatic flight of stairs, into a -room where want and wretchedness made grim holiday.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie!" he muttered hoarsely, and all his strength seemed to desert -him as he spoke--"Minnie, child! where are you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">He sank upon the ground with a wild shudder, and lay as if death had -overtaken him. At the same moment there issued from the corner of the -room where the deepest shadows gathered, a child-girl, so marvellously -like him, with her fair waving hair, her large beautifully-shaped -mouth, her white teeth, and her great restless gray eyes, that Joshua -knew at once that they were father and daughter.</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie crept to the man, and sat beside him. She spoke to him, but he -did not reply. And then she looked at Joshua and Susan, whose forms -were dimly discernible in the gathering gloom.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What is the matter with father?" she asked of them in a faint moaning -voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Some bad boys threw a stone at him, and hit him on the forehead," -Joshua answered. "He will be better presently, I hope."</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie did not heed what he said, but felt eagerly in her father's -pockets, and, not finding what she searched for, began to cry.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, no," she said, beating her hands together; "it is not that. He is -weak and ill because he has had nothing to eat. I thought he would -have brought home enough to buy some bread, but he hasn't a penny."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua remembered the man's words, "Money! I want money!" and he -immediately realized that the poor creatures were in want.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Are you hungry, Minnie?" he asked.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have not had any breakfast," she answered wearily. "No more has -father. Nor any dinner. We had some bread last night. We ate it all -up. Father went out to-day, hoping to earn a little money, and he has -come home without any. We shall die, I suppose. But I should like -something to eat first."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How do you know he has had nothing to eat?" asked Joshua; the words -almost choked him.</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie looked up with a plaintive smile.</p> - -<p class="normal">"If he had had only a hard piece of bread given him," she said in a -tender voice, "he would have put it into his pocket for me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Stop here, Susan," said Joshua, a great sob rising in his throat. "I -will be back in ten minutes."</p> - -<p class="normal">He ran out of the room and out of the house. Never in his life had he -run so fast as he ran now. He rushed into Dan's room, and said, almost -breathlessly,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where is the money-box, Dan? How much is there in it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Fourteen pence," said the faithful treasurer, producing the box. -"What a heat you are in, Jo!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Never mind that. I want every farthing of the money, Dan. Don't ask -me any questions. I will tell you all by and by."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan emptied the money-box upon the table, and Joshua seized the money, -and tore out of the house as if for dear life. Soon he was in the -actor's room again, with bread and tea. Susan had not been idle during -his absence. She had bathed the man's wound, and had wiped the blood -and mud from his face and hair. He had recovered from his swoon, and -was looking at her gratefully.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua placed the bread before him, and he broke a piece from the loaf -and gave it to Minnie, who ate it greedily.</p> - -<p class="normal">"So fair and foul a day I have not seen,'" the man muttered; and both -Joshua and Susan thought, "How strangely yet how beautifully he -speaks!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan made the tea down stairs, and she and Joshua sat quietly by, -while the man and his daughter ate like starved wolves. It was a -bitterly-painful sight to see.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I think we had better go now, Susan," whispered Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">They would have left the room without a word; but the man said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"What is your name, and what are you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"My name is Joshua Marvel, and I'm going to be a sailor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"'There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft,'" said the actor, -"'to keep watch for the life of poor Jack.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's what Praiseworthy Meddler says," said Joshua, laughing. "I -shall come and see you again, if you will let me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Come and welcome."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Goodnight, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Goodnight, and God bless you, Joshua Marvel!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie went to the door with Joshua and Susan, and looking at Joshua, -with the tears in her strangely-beautiful eyes, said,</p> - -<p class="normal">"Goodnight, and God bless you, Joshua Marvel!"</p> - -<p class="normal">She raised herself on tiptoe, and Joshua stooped and kissed her. After -that, Susan gave her a hug, and she returned to her father, and lay -down beside him.</p> - -<p class="normal">When he arrived home, Joshua told Dan of the adventure, and how he had -spent the fourteen pence. Dan nodded his head approvingly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You did right," he said,--"you always do. I should have done just the -same."</p> - -<p class="normal">Then they took the odd volume of Shakspeare from the shelf, and read -the Ghost scenes in "Hamlet" before they said goodnight.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER VII.</h4> - -<h5>EXPLAINS WHY PRAISEWORTHY MEDDLER REMAINED A BACHELOR.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Here is Praiseworthy Meddler, sitting in the best chair in a -corner of -the fireplace in the little kitchen in Stepney. In his low shoes and -loose trousers, and blue shirt open at the throat, he looks every inch -a sailor; and his great red pock-marked face is in keeping with his -calling. On the other side of the fireplace, facing Praiseworthy -Meddler, is Mr. George Marvel; next to Praiseworthy Meddler is Mrs. -Marvel; on a stool at her father's feet sits Sarah; and Joshua sits at -the table, watching every shade of expression that passes over his -mother's face. The subject-matter of the conversation is the sea; and -Praiseworthy Meddler has been "holding forth," as is evidenced by his -drawing from the bosom of his shirt a blue-cotton pocket-handkerchief, -upon which is imprinted a ship of twelve hundred tons burden, A 1 at -Lloyd's for an indefinite number of years. The ship is in full sail, -and all its canvas is set to a favorable breeze. Upon this blue vessel -Praiseworthy Meddler dabs his red face in a manner curiously -suggestive of his face being a deck, and the handkerchief a mop. When -he has mopped his deck, which appears to be a perpetually-perspiring -one, he spreads his handkerchief over his knee to dry, and says, as -being an appropriate tag to what has gone before,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is no place on earth like the sea."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor was not aware that any thing of a paradoxical nature -was involved in the statement, or he might not have repeated it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is no place on earth like the sea. Show me the man who says -there is, and I'll despise him; if I don't, I'm a Dutchman;" adding, -to strengthen his declaration, "or a double Dutchman."</p> - -<p class="normal">The man not being forthcoming--probably he was not in the -neighborhood, or, being there, did not wish to be openly -despised--Praiseworthy Meddler looked around with the air of one who -has the best of the argument, and then produced a piece of pigtail -from a mysterious recess and bit into it as if he were a savage boar -biting into the heart of a foe.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But the danger, Mr. Meddler," suggested Mrs. Marvel, in a trembling -voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is more danger upon land, lady."</p> - -<p class="normal">"There, mother," said Mr. Marvel; "didn't I tell you so, the other -night?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You told her right," said Praiseworthy, with emphasis. "Danger on the -sea, lady! What is it to danger on the land? A ship can ride over a -wave, let it be ever so high; but a man can't step over a wagon. -Are carts and drays and horses safe? Are gas-pipes safe? And if -there is danger on the sea, lady--which I don't deny, mind you, -altogether--what does it do? Why, it makes a man of a boy, and it -makes a man more of a man."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hear, <i>hear</i>, HEAR!" exclaimed Mr. Marvel, rapping on the table.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Look at me!" said the enthusiastic sailor. "Here am I--I don't know -how many years old, and that's a fact--I've lived on the sea from when -I was a boy; and I've been blown by rough winds, and I've been blinded -by storms and I've been wrecked on rocky coasts, and I've been as near -death, ay, a score of times, as most men have been. Lord love you, my -dear! All we've got to do is to do our duty; and when we're called -aloft, we can say, 'Ay, ay, sir!' with a brave heart. What better life -than a life on sea is there for boy or man? And doesn't Saturday night -come round?</p> -<br> -<div style="font-size:90%; margin-left:5%"> -<p style="text-indent:-7%;margin-bottom:0px">"'For all the world's just like the ropes aboard a ship,</p> -<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Each man's rigged out,<br> -A vessel stout,</p> -<p style="margin-left:-7%;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">To take for life a trip.</p> -<p style="margin-left:-7%;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">The shrouds, the stays, the braces,</p> -<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Are joys, and hopes, and fears;</p> -<p style="margin-left:-7%;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">The halliards, sheets, and traces,</p> -<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Still as each passion veers,<br> -<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">And whim prevails,<br> -Direct the sails.</p> -<p style="margin-left:-7%;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">As on the sea of life he steers.</p> -<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Then let the storm<br> -Heaven's face deform,</p> -<p style="margin-left:-7%;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">And danger press;</p> -<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Of these in spite, there are some joys</p> -<p style="margin-left:-7%;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">Us jolly tars to bless;</p> -<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">For Saturday night still comes, my boys,</p> -<p style="margin-left:-7%;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">To drink to Poll and Bess.'"</p> -</div> -<br> -<p class="normal">Praiseworthy Meddler roared out the song at the top of his voice, as -if it were the most natural and appropriate thing for him to do just -there and then. The effect of his sudden inspiration was, that every -member of the Marvel family, without being previously acquainted with -the young ladies referred to, repeated in their honor the refrain of -the last two lines,--</p> -<br><div style="font-size:90%; margin-left:10%"> -<p style="margin-left:-11%;margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">"For Saturday night still comes, my boys,</p> -<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">To drink to Poll and Bess."</p> -</div> -<br> -<p class="continue">with such extraordinary enthusiasm, that the carroty-haired cat rose -to her feet in alarm, debating within herself the possibility of the -Marvel family having suddenly caught a contagious madness from the Old -Sailor. Convinced that the matter required looking into, puss walked -softly to the door, with the intention of arousing the neighbors; but, -silence ensuing at the conclusion of the refrain, she became -reassured, and stole back to her warm space on the floor, and curled -herself up again, and blinked at the fire.</p> - -<p class="normal">After this exertion, Praiseworthy Meddler took the twelve-hundred-ton -ship off his knee, and dabbed his face with it energetically.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What does it amount to," he continued, "if the heart's brave? What -does it amount to when it is all over, and when one gets to be as old -as I am? I'm tough and firm;" and he gave his leg a great slap. "I'm -as young as a younger man; and I know that there's no place on earth -like the sea."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And you can get promotion, can't you?" asked Joshua, eagerly. "A man -needn't be a common sailor all his life?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, Josh; he needn't stick at that, if he's willing and able, and -does his duty. I know many a skipper who once on a time was only an -able-bodied seaman."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you hear that, mother?" cried Joshua. "Now are you satisfied?" and -he jumped up and gave her a kiss.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What is a skipper, Mr. Meddler?" asked Mrs. Marvel, with her arm -round Joshua's waist. She had a dim notion that a skipper was -connected with a skipping-rope, and that she might have been a skipper -in her girlhood's days. If that were the case, she could not see what -advantage it would be to Joshua to become one.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A skipper's a captain, mother," whispered Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Oh!" said Mrs. Marvel, but not quite clear in her mind on the point. -"Then, if I might be so bold, Mr. Meddler"--</p> - -<p class="normal">But here Mrs. Marvel stopped suddenly, and blushed like a girl.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay, ay, lady, go on," said the Old Sailor, encouragingly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"If I might make so bold," continued Mrs. Marvel, with an effort, "how -is it that you never rose to be a skipper?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"O mother!" cried Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The question is a sensible one, Joshua," said Praiseworthy Meddler -slowly, "and a right one too; though, if all able-bodied seamen rose -to be skippers, there wouldn't be ships enough in the world for them. -I should have been promoted, I have no doubt; but I was born with -something unfortunate, which has stuck to me all my life, and which I -have never been able to get rid of."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is it any thing painful?" asked Mrs. Marvel with womanly solicitude.</p> - -<p class="normal">Praiseworthy Meddler looked at her with a droll expression on his -face, and folded his twelve-hundred-ton ship into very small squares, -and laid it in the palm of his left hand, and flattened it with the -palm of his right, before he spoke again.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It wasn't my fault, it was my misfortune. I couldn't help my father's -name being Meddler, and I couldn't help being a Meddler myself, being -his son, you see. My father didn't like his name any more than I did, -but he didn't know how to change it; he was born a Meddler, and he -died a Meddler. My being a Meddler is the only reason, I do believe, -why I am not a skipper this present day of our Lord; and I don't think -I am sorry that, when I die, I sha'n't leave any Meddlers behind me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You have never been married, Mr. Meddler?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, lady; but I was very near it once, as you shall hear. It was all -because of my name that I wasn't. My father didn't like his name, as I -have told you. His Christian name was Andrew; he was a saddler. He got -along well enough to set up shop for himself, and one morning he took -the shutters down for the first time, and commenced business. Over his -window was the sign, 'A. Meddler, saddler.' There was a rival saddler -in the same town, whose name was Straight, and who didn't like my -father setting up in opposition to him; and he put in his window a -bill, with this on it: 'Have your saddles made and repaired by a -Straightforward man, and not by A. Meddler.' That ruined my father: -people laughed at him, instead of dealing with him; he soon had to -shut up shop, and go to work again as a journeyman. He had two -children; the first was a girl, the next was me. I heard that he was -very pleased when my sister was born, because she was a girl. 'She can -marry when she grows up,' he said, 'and then she will have her -husband's name.' When I was born, my father wasn't pleased: he didn't -want any more Meddlers, he said. But he couldn't help it; no more -could I. He did what he thought was the very best thing for me--he -gave me a fine Christian name to balance my surname he had me -christened Praiseworthy. Now that made it worse. If I was laughed at -for being a Meddler, I was laughed at more for being a Praiseworthy -Meddler. Once, when I was a young fellow, I did good service in a ship -I was serving in. When we came into port, the skipper reported well of -me, and the owners sent for me. I went to the office, thinking that I -should be promoted for my good services. The firm owned at least a -dozen merchant-ships; and I should have been promoted, if it hadn't -been for my name. The owners spoke kindly to me; and after I had -satisfied them that I was fit for promotion, the youngest partner -asked my name. I told him Meddler. He smiled, and the other partners -smiled. 'What other name?' he asked. 'Praiseworthy,' I answered; -'Praiseworthy Meddler.' He laughed at that, and said that I was the -only Praiseworthy Meddler he had ever met. They seemed so tickled at -it, that the serious part of the affair slipped clean out of their -heads; they called me an honest fellow, and said that they would not -forget me. They didn't forget me; they gave me five pounds over and -above my pay. If it hadn't been for my name, they might have appointed -me mate of one of their ships. I was so mad with thinking about it, -that I began to hate myself because I was a Meddler. If the name had -been something I could have got hold of, I would have strangled it. At -last I made up my mind that I would get spliced, and that I would take -my lass's name the day I was married. Being on leave, and stopping at -my father's house, I told him what I had made up my mind to do. He was -a melancholy man--it was his name that made him so, I do believe--and -he told me, in his melancholy voice, that it was the best thing I -could do, and that he wished he had thought of doing so before he -married. 'Wipe it out, my boy,' he said, 'wipe out the unlucky name; -sweep all the Meddlers out of the world. It would have been better you -had been born with a hump than been born a Meddler.' He talked a -little wild sometimes, but we were used to it. I began to look about -me; and one day I caught sight of a lass who took my fancy. My leave -was nearly expired, and I had to join my ship in a few days. I wanted -to learn all about the girl, and I was too bashful to do it myself, -which is not the usual way of sailors, my dear. So I pointed out the -lass to a shipmate, and told him I had taken a fancy to her, and would -he get me all the information he could about her. That very night, as -I was bolting the street-door, just before going to bed, I heard my -shipmate's voice outside in the street. 'Is that you, Meddler?' he -asked. 'Yes, Jack,' I answered. 'I thought I'd come to tell you at -once,' he cried; 'I've found out all about her. Her father's dead, and -her mother's married again, and the lass isn't happy at home.' 'That -makes it all the better for me,' I said. 'Has she got a sweetheart?' -'None that she cares a button for, or that a sailor couldn't cut out,' -he answered. 'Hurrah!' I cried; 'I will go and see her to-morrow. -Thank you, Jack; goodnight.' 'Goodnight,' he said, and I heard him -walking, away. Just then I remembered that I had forgotten the most -important thing of all--her name. I unbolted the door, and called -after him, 'What is her name, Jack?' 'Mary Gotobed!' he cried from a -distance. 'Mary what?' I shouted. 'Gotobed!' he cried again. I bolted -the door, and went."</p> - -<p class="normal">Praiseworthy Meddler, pausing to take breath, cast another droll look -upon his attentive auditors.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Gotobed!" he then resumed. "Why, it was worse than Meddler! I -couldn't marry a lass named Gotobed, and take her name; I didn't want -to marry and keep my own name; I couldn't put them together and make -one sensible name out of the two. Gotobed Meddler was as bad as -Meddler Gotobed. And the worst of it all was, that I liked the lass. -She was as pretty a lass as ever I set eyes on. She looked prettier -than ever when I saw her the next day; and forgetting all about the -names I spoke to her and lost myself."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Lost yourself!" exclaimed Mrs. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, my dear," said the Old Sailor, with a bashfulness that did not -set ill upon him. "I fell in love."</p> - -<p class="normal">He said this in a confidential hoarse whisper to Mrs. Marvel, as if -the youngsters ought not to hear it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Oh, that!" said Mrs. Marvel with a smile.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But directly she heard what my name was," continued the Old Sailor, -"she burst out laughing, and ran away. I had to go to my ship soon -after that; and when I came back again, she was married to some one -else. So I gave up the idea of marrying; and the name I was born to -has stuck to me all my life. And that is the reason why I never -married, and why I never became a skipper."</p> - -<p class="normal">They made merry over the Old Sailor's story, and over other stories -that he told of the sea, and of the chances it afforded a youngster -like Joshua of getting on in the world. And towards the close of the -evening Mrs. Marvel fairly gave in, and promised that she would not -say another word against Joshua's determination to be a sailor. In -token of which submission a large jug of grog was compounded, -in honor of the Old Sailor; and when that was drunk, another was -compounded in honor of Joshua. Of both of which Praiseworthy Meddler -drank so freely, that he staggered home to his barge in a state of -semi-inebriation, singing snatches of sea-songs without intermission, -until he tumbled into his hammock and fell asleep.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER VIII.</h4> - -<h5>A HAPPY HOLIDAY.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">In after years, when Joshua was many thousands of miles away -from -Stepney, Dan loved to linger over the memory of one especially happy -day which he, and Joshua, and Ellen and the Old Sailor spent together. -Upon that day the sun was rising now; and Dan, lying in bed, was -waiting impatiently for the solemn and merry church-bells to strike -the hour of seven. His Sunday clothes were smoothly laid out upon a -chair, close to his bed. Had the day not been an eventful one, he -would not have been allowed to wear his best suit in the middle of the -week. When Joshua makes his appearance in Dan's bedroom, it will be -seen that he will also be dressed in his best clothes. The secret of -all this is, that the lads had received permission from their parents -to spend the day with the Old Sailor at the waterside, and were to be -taken in a cart to the Old Sailor's castle--the barge near the Tower -Stairs. Twenty times at the least had Dan said to Joshua, "I should so -like to see the Old Sailor, Jo!" And Joshua, in the most artful -manner, had fished for the invitation, which would have been very -readily given had the Old Sailor been aware of Joshua's desire. But -Joshua, like a great many other diplomatists who think themselves wise -in their generation, went to work in a subtle roundabout way, and so -gave himself a vast deal of trouble, which would have been saved had -he come straight to the point at once. At length, one day, when the -Old Sailor had said, "And how is Dan, Josh?" and Joshua had answered -that he thought Dan was beginning to grow strong, he ventured to add, -with inward fear and trembling: "And he would so much like to see you, -sir, and hear some of your sea-stories! When I tell them they don't -sound the same as when you tell them. There's no salt in them." Artful -Joshua! "Well, my lad," the Old Sailor had said with a chuckle (he was -not insensible to flattery, the old dog!), "why not bring him here to -spend the day?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"When shall it be, sir?" asked Joshua secretly delighted.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Next Wednesday, Josh," said the Old Sailor. So next Wednesday it was. -And Joshua ran to Dan's house wild with delight, and coaxed Dan's -parents in to giving their permission.</p> - -<p class="normal">It was on this very Wednesday morning that Dan was lying awake, -waiting for seven o'clock to strike. He awoke at least two hours -before the proper time to rise; and those hours appeared to him to be -longer than hours ever were before. The ride itself would be an event -in Dan's life; but it was not to be compared with what was to come -afterwards--the spending of a whole day and night in a house on the -water. During the past week Dan had been in a fever of pleasurable -anticipation, and in a fever of fright also, lest it should rain upon -this particular day. The previous night it <i>had</i> rained; and Dan, -lying awake for a longer time than usual, had prayed for the rain to -go away. Ellen--standing at the window in his bedroom, after she had -got out his clean shirt and Sunday clothes, and brushed and smoothed -them, and taken up a stitch in them here and there, as women (and -girls after them) say--had seen the spots of rain falling, and, -joining her prayer to his, had begged very earnestly to the rain to go -away and come again another day.</p> - -<p class="normal">And now the day was dawning; and Dan, opening his eyes, clapped his -hands in delight to see the sun shining so brightly upon the broken -jug which stood upon the window-sill, and in which was a handful of -the sweet-smelling humble wall-flower. The pair of bullfinches which -Joshua had bought for the Old Sailor were busily at work in their -cage, which was hanging at the window, and were as conscious of the -beauty of the morning as the most sensible human being could possibly -be. Dan was so delighted that he whistled "Rule, Britannia! Britannia -rules the waves!" And one of the bullfinches, after abstracting the -last hemp-seed from the glass containing their morning meal, -immediately piped out with fervid patriotism, "For Britons never, -<i>never</i>, NE-<i>ver</i> shall be slaves!" From this episode the reader will -learn that the education of the bullfinches was completed. "Rule, -Britannia," was not their sole vocal accomplishment. They could -whistle "And did you not hear of a jolly young waterman?" in a very -superior manner. On that day the bullfinches were to be presented to -their new master--to whom not a hint had been given of the pleasant -surprise in store for him; which made it all the more delightful.</p> - -<p class="normal">While the patriotic bullfinch was asserting in the most -melodiously-persuasive notes that "Britons never, <i>never</i>, NE-<i>ver</i> -shall be slaves," its mate was engaged drawing up water in the tiniest -little bucket in the world--another of the accomplishments (coming, -presumably, under the head of "extras")which patient Dan had taught -the birds in order to win the heart of the Old Sailor. The industrious -bullfinch had a remarkably rakish eye, which flashed saucily and -impatiently as the music fell upon its ears. The slender rope which -held the bucket being in its beak, it could not join in the harmony; -but directly the bucket was hauled up and secured, it whetted its -whistle, and piped out in opposition,--</p> -<br> - -<p class="hang1" style="font-size:90%; margin-bottom:0px">"And did you not hear of a jolly young waterman,<br> -Who at Blackfriars-bridge used for to ply?</p> -<p class="hang1" style="font-size:90%; margin-top:0px">He feathered his oars with such skill and dexterity,<br> -Winning each heart and delighting each eye;"</p> -<br> - -<p class="continue">repeating, as was its wont, the last line, "Winning each heart and -delighting each eye," so as to produce a greater effect. I do not -assert that the bullfinch actually uttered the words, but I <i>do</i> -assert positively that it sang the music of them with the most -beautiful trills that mortal ever heard.</p> - -<p class="normal">But there was the solemn church-bell striking seven o'clock in tones -less solemn than usual, and there was the joyous church-bell following -suit. And as if the sound had conjured him up, there was Joshua, -dressed in his best, and looking so fresh and handsome with his -holiday-face on, that Dan might well be proud of him. He had his -accordion under his arm, and in one hand was a bunch of flowers which -Dan was to give to the Old Sailor, and in the other a glass containing -some rape-seed soaked in canary-wine for the birds. They knew as well -as possible--knowing little bullfinches!--that Joshua had something -nice for them; and as he approached the cage they came as close to him -as they could, and, to show their appreciation of his kindness, -greeted him with a gush of the sweetest melody. What better beginning -could there be for a happy holiday!</p> - -<p class="normal">When Dan was dressed the lads went into the kitchen to have breakfast. -And there was Ellen, as fresh as a daisy. The breakfast things were -laid; and there was a clean cloth (not damask, mind!) on the deal -table, and there, absolutely, were two new-laid eggs, one for Joshua -and one for Dan, which Ellen had bought and paid for with her own -money the day before, without saying a word about it. Ellen stooped -and kissed Dan, and as she raised her head Joshua looked at her, and -felt a huge longing to take her face between his two hands and kiss -her, as he used to do in the time when they played sweethearts -together. But he hadn't the courage. Yet he could not help looking at -Ellen again and thinking, What a pretty girl Ellen is! and then, -seeing Ellen's eyes fixed upon his, he turned away his head and -blushed. And Ellen smiled at that, and, if she had been asked, really -could not have told the reason why. Surely never was such a happy -commencement to a holiday, and never was such a happy couple as Dan -and Joshua! After all, are not simple pleasures the best? Are not -those the sweetest pleasures that cost the least?</p> - -<p class="normal">What put it into Joshua's head? Was it the sentiment of perfect -happiness that actuated the wish? Or was it a passing shadow, lighter -than the lightest cloud, that passed over Ellen's face, as the lads -were talking of the coming delights of the day? It was there but a -moment, but Joshua saw it, or thought he did, and thought also that -there was regret in it. Or was it Ellen's pretty face, or the little -piece of blue ribbon that she had put round her neck, the puss? For -Ellen was fair, and knew what colors best suited her complexion. -Whatever it was that actuated it, there was Joshua saying, just as -they had sat down to breakfast and Ellen was pouring out the -milk-and-water--you may imagine that there was not a great deal of tea -drank in Stepney--there was Joshua saying,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ellen, I wish you were coming with us."</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen's hand shook so that she spilt some of the milk-and-water, and a -spasm rose in her throat, for she had wished the same thing fervently, -but had never spoken of it. She checked the spasm, hoping that her -emotion would not be noticed, and answered not a word. But she looked. -Such a look!</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan was biting into a slice of bread-and-butter, but directly he heard -Joshua's wish, and saw the yearning, look that sprang into Ellen's -eyes, he ceased eating, and leaned his head upon his hand.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I think I am very selfish," he said, and hot tears gushed into his -eyes.</p> - -<p class="normal">In an instant Ellen was by his side, and Ellen's face was close to -his. Any one who saw that action, any one who could understand the -quick sympathy that caused her to put her face so close to Dan's, to -show that she knew what he was reproaching himself for, might have -been able to comprehend the depth of unselfish tenderness that dwelt -in the soul of that little maid. Ah! it was only in a kitchen, but how -beautiful it was to see!</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't bother about me, my dear," she said almost in a whisper. "If -you are happy, I am happy." And then she added, pretending to be -comically indignant, "You stupid Dan! I've a good mind to rumple your -hair! You selfish, indeed!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am selfish!" exclaimed Dan, looking up and thinking--just as Joshua -had thought--that he had never seen her look so pretty. "I <i>am</i> -selfish, Joshua!" he cried, so energetically that Joshua was quite -startled. "What would the Old Sailor say?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"But, Dan"--said Ellen.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Seriously, Jo" said Dan, putting his hand over Ellen's mouth, "what -<i>would</i> the Old Sailor say?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"The Old Sailor would be delighted."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, look here," said Dan, with a determination almost comical in its -intensity when one considered what inspired it; as if it were a -question of tremendous national consequence, or something in which -mighty interests were involved; "are you sure?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am sure he would be delighted, Dan," replied Joshua without the -slightest hesitation.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It's of no use, Dan and Josh dear," said Ellen, shaking her head. -"You musn't think of it. I can't go. Mother wouldn't be able to spare -me. Why, don't you know"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't I know what, Ellen?" asked Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't you know that it's washing-day?" said Ellen with a sharp nod, -as if that settled the question.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan's head was still resting upon his hand. He pondered for a few -moments, and then raising his head, said, "Good little Ellen;" and -kissed her. "Now let us have breakfast."</p> - -<p class="normal">Breakfast being over, Dan said he wanted to see Susan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Tell her I want to speak to her most particularly," he said to Ellen. -"And, Ellen! when Susan comes, you go out of the room, and Joshua as -well. I want to speak to her quite privately."</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen and Joshua left Susan with Dan, and went into the passage; which -gave Joshua opportunity to ask Ellen if she remembered when he used to -be pushed into the coal-cellar. Yes, Ellen remembered it very well -indeed; and they both laughed over the reminiscence.</p> - -<p class="normal">"How black your face used to be!" exclaimed Ellen.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And yours too, Ellen!" retorted Joshua saucily.</p> - -<p class="normal">Whereat Ellen blushed, and did not reply.</p> - -<p class="normal">What passed between Susan and Dan was never divulged. It was nothing -very dreadful, you may be sure; for when Dan called to Joshua and -Ellen to come in, they found him smiling. Susan was gone, but -presently she entered again with a radiant face and nodded to Dan, who -nodded to Susan in return, and said gayly,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thank you, Susey!"</p> - -<p class="normal">When Susan went into the passage, she wiped her eyes, and did not once -look round to see if any thing was behind her. That day, over the -washing-tub, Susan was happier than she had been for a long time.</p> - -<p class="normal">Then Dan rubbed his hands, and said, "I really think this is going to -be the happiest day of my life."</p> - -<p class="normal">The happiest day of my life! How often, and with what various -meanings, are those words uttered! At dinner-parties when the invited -guest rises to respond to the toast of his health, and commences by -saying in tones which falter from emotion, "This is the happiest day -of my life!" At wedding-feasts, if healths are being proposed, when -the bridegroom, the bridegroom's father, and the bride's father, each -in his turn declares, "This is the happiest day of my life!" At the -presentation of testimonials, whether to humbug, worthy man, or fool, -it is "The happiest day of my life!" with one and all of them. With -copious use of pocket-handkerchief, and with face more suitable for a -funeral than for a joyful occasion. But a fig for moralizing on such a -day as this!</p> - -<p class="normal">Dam's countenance was suffused with a flush of genuine delight, as he -repeated,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Ellen, this is going to be the happiest day of my life."</p> - -<p class="normal">She gave him a questioning, imploring look, which asked the reason why -as plainly as any words could put the question.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Come here, and I'll whisper," said Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen put her ear close to his mouth, but Dan, instead of whispering, -blew into her ear, which caused her to start away with a pleasant -shiver, and to cry out that he tickled her. Nothing daunted, however, -she placed her ear a second time to his lips; and then he whispered -something, which made Ellen jump for joy, and hug him round the neck, -and tear out of the room as if she were mad. And almost before you -could say "Jack Robinson!" there she was back again, her eyes all -aglow with excitement, in her modest Sunday dress and pretty Sunday -bonnet.</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan's voice was heard calling out,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Here's the cart at the door!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"She means our carriage, Jo," said Dan merrily, as Joshua carried him -out.</p> - -<p class="normal">And there they were, the three of them in the cart; Dan lying his full -length on some straw between Joshua and Ellen, who sat upon a kind of -bench in a state of perfect happiness. And there were the bullfinches -in their cage, wondering what on earth it all meant, but very blithe -and merry notwithstanding. And there was the cart moving, along -slowly, so that Dan should not be jolted. And there they were, -presently, looking at each other, and laughing and nodding pleasantly -without any apparent cause.</p> - -<p class="normal">Not among all the stars that gem the heavens (which some wise men -assert are really worlds in which forms that have life fulfil the task -ordained by the Master of all the worlds) could there be found a more -beautiful world than this was to our young holiday-folk on that bright -summer morning. Whitechapel the Dingy was as a flower-garden in their -eyes; and as they rode through the busy neighborhood a great many -persons turned to look at the crazy cart--the springs in which were -the only uneasy part of the whole affair--and at the three joyful -faces that peered about, enjoying every thing, and thankful for every -thing, from the flying clouds to the lazy gutters.</p> - -<p class="normal">Soon they were at the waterside; and soon they were on the barge, with -the Old Sailor welcoming them in downright sailor fashion. Directly -Dan put out his little hand, and felt it imprisoned in the Old -Sailor's immense palm, and directly he looked at the great open face, -pock-marked as it was, and into the staring pleasant eyes, which -returned his look honestly and pleasantly, he nodded to himself in -satisfaction. His delight was unbounded when the Old Sailor lifted him -tenderly, and placed him in a hammock specially prepared for him. He -was deeply impressed by the Old Sailor's thoughtful kindness. The mere -fact of his lying in a hammock was entrancing. And there Dan swung, -and, gazing in wonder upon the busy life of the flowing river, fancied -himself in dreamland.</p> - -<p class="normal">Before he gave himself up to that trance, however, there was much to -be done and much to be observed. When the Old Sailor lifted him into -the hammock and arranged him comfortably--Dan was surprised that those -great strong hands could be so light and tender--he said to the Old -Sailor, "Thank you, sir;" and the Old Sailor replied, "Ay, ay, my -lad," just as he had read of, and in just the kind of tone he imagined -a sailor would use.</p> - -<p class="normal">The next thing the Old Sailor did was to rest his hand upon Ellen's -head. Thereupon Joshua said, "You don't mind, Mr. Praiseworthy, do -you?" referring to the liberty they had taken in bringing Ellen -without an invitation. "Mind!" the Old Sailor exclaimed. "A pretty -little lass like this!" and he stooped and kissed her. And Ellen did -not even blush, but seemed to like it. The Old Sailor seemed to like -it too. There was something wonderfully charming in his manner of -saying "Pretty little lass;" none but a downright thoroughbred old tar -could have said it in such a way. And there was something wonderfully -charming in the rough grace with which he accepted the bunch of -flowers from Ellen. His first intention was to stick them in the bosom -of his shirt; but second consideration led him to reflect that their -circumference rendered such a resting-place inappropriate. So he -placed them in a large tin mug, and sprinkled them with water, which -glistened on their leaves as freshly as the dew-kisses which glisten -in the early morning wherever Nature makes holiday. Then Dan took the -cage containing the bullfinches, and asked the Old Sailor to accept -the birds as a present from him and Joshua; and the Old Sailor thanked -him in such cordial terms, that his heart was stirred with a fresh -delight. Truth to tell, the Old Sailor was mightily gratified with the -birds; but, at the same time, he was mightily puzzled as to what he -was to do with them. Prettier little things he had never seen; but, -small and beautiful as they were, they were a responsibility for which -he was not prepared. He stood with his legs wide apart, regarding the -birds with a perplexed expression on his face; and Dan divining what -was in his mind, opened the door of the cage and out hopped the -bullfinches looking about them with an air of having been accustomed -to the water all their lives. As if impelled by a sudden desire to fly -away and join their mates in distant woodlands, they took wing and -fluttered around the hammock in which Dan lay; now coming -tantalizingly near, and now sailing away with an independent air, as -much as to say, "We're off!" But when Dan held out his forefinger, they -came and perched upon it contentedly. The Old Sailor gazed on the -little comedy in admiration. His admiration was increased a hundred -fold when Dan, taking his hand, transferred the birds on to his -forefinger. He looked at the birds timorously; the birds looked at him -confidently. He was afraid to move lest some mischief should happen to -the delicate creatures.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Put them in the cage, sir," said Dan. The Old Sailor did so. "Now," -continued Dan, "I will send you food for them regularly; and it will -not be too much trouble for you to fill this well with fresh water -every morning, will it, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No," said the Old Sailor. "But how will the birds get at the water, -my lad? It is out of their reach."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah! you think so, sir. But have you ever been in want of water?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Of fresh water, I have, my lad; not of salt. Was for three days on a -raft, with not a drop of fresh water among thirty-seven of us. Two -drank salt water, and went raving mad; one threw himself into the -sea."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And the others, sir?" inquired Dan, immensely interested.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The others, my lad, waited and suffered, and prayed for rain. And it -came, my lad, and we were saved, by the mercy of God. It was awful -suffering; our very eyeballs were blazing with thirst. It would have -been a relief to us if we could have cried."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But the heavens cried for you, sir," said Dan tenderly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay, ay, my lad," said the Old Sailor; "that's well said. The heavens -cried for us; and we lay on our backs with our mouths open to catch -the blessed drops. The salt water that was death to us dashed up from -below; and the fresh water that was life to us came down from above. -In five minutes we were soaked with the rain; and we sucked at our -clothes. We caught enough rain-water to last us until we were picked -up by a merchantman, homeward bound from the Indies."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That was good," said Dan, feeling as if he had known the Old Sailor -all his life. "Now, supposing you were wrecked, sir, on a high rock. -Here is the rock," pointing to the perch on which the bullfinches were -standing.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Here is the rock," repeated the Old Sailor, chiming in readily with -Dan's fancy.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And here you are, sir, with another sailor," identifying Praiseworthy -Meddler and the other sailor with the two bullfinches.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And here am I, with another sailor," said the Old Sailor attentively, -nodding familiarly at his new shipmate in the cage, who, making much -too light of the calamity which had befallen them, winked saucily in -return.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And you are very thirsty."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And I am very thirsty," said the Old Sailor, smacking his parched -lips.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And here, out of your reach, is the water," indicating the well, "you -want to drink."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And here, out of my reach, is the water I want to drink," said the -Old Sailor, growing more parched.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, then," said Dan, "you can't get at the water with your beak--I -mean your mouth--and you can't reach it with your claws--I mean your -hands. Now what do you do?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah what do I do?" repeated the Old Sailor, not seeing his way out of -the difficulty.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why," exclaimed Dan enthusiastically, "you get a rope--or, if you -haven't got one, you make one out of some strong grass, or out of -strips of your clothes; and you get a bucket--or you make one out of a -cocoanut," in his enthusiasm Dan took the cocoanut for granted; and -the Old Sailor accepted its existence on the rock with most implicit -faith--"and you attach the cocoanut to the rope, and you lower it into -the water, and draw it up full. Here you are, doing it."</p> - -<p class="normal">And, obedient to Dan's signal, the bullfinches lowered their tiny -bucket into the well, and drew it up full, and dipped their beaks into -the water, as if they were shipwrecked bullfinches, and were nearly -dead with raging thirst.</p> - -<p class="normal">A thoughtful expression stole into the Old Sailor's face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"They are wise little creatures," he said. "I have seen a might of -strange things and pretty things; but this is as pretty as any thing I -have seen."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You can learn them any thing almost, sir," said Dan, who was bent -upon making the Old Sailor love the birds.</p> - -<p class="normal">"To climb ropes like a sailor?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"In a week they could. If I had a little ship, with two or three sails -and a rope-ladder, I could teach them to climb the ladder and set the -sails."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I dare say, my lad, I dare say."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Did you ever see a mermaid, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">This was one of the questions Dan had made up his mind to ask the Old -Sailor directly they grew familiar.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," answered the Old Sailor. "I wasn't very near her; and I was -laughed at for saying I had seen her. But I saw her, for all that."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where was it that you saw her, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"In the South Pacific, where there are the ugliest images of men and -women, and the most wonderful birds and flowers and trees, in the -world. I have walked for miles through forests of wild flowers and -strange trees, while thousands of parrots were flying about, with -their feathers all blue and gold and scarlet and silver."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Oh, how beautiful!" exclaimed Dan, twining his fingers together. "And -they're there now, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Surely. Your land-lubbers don't know any thing of the world."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Those men and women, sir--are they very ugly?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"As ugly as sin can make 'em--brown and copper-colored and nearly -black; cannibals they are."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's very dreadful!" said Dan with a shiver. "What else have you -seen, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"What would you say to gardens in the sea?" asked the Old Sailor -enthusiastically. "What would you say to fields in the sky?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No!" said Dan in wonder.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, my lad. Gardens in the sea, with the flowers growing and -blooming. I only saw land in the sky once; but it was a sight that -can't be forgot. We were thousands of miles away from land; but there -in the sky was the country, with fields and forests and mountains. We -saw it for near an hour; then it melted away. What would you say to -flying fish--showers of 'em. I heard of a talking fish; but I never -saw it. I shouldn't wonder, now, if these pretty little birds could -talk."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, sir," said Dan; "they can't talk, but they can sing."</p> - -<p class="normal">With that he whistled the first stave of "Rule, Britannia;" and the -bullfinches piped the patriotic song so spiritedly, that the Old -Sailor roared out in a hoarse voice, "Rule, Britannia! Britannia rules -the waves!" and then stopped, and wiped the perspiration from his -forehead, and exclaimed, "Lord, Lord!" with rapturous bewilderment. -But when Dan whistled "And have you not heard of a jolly young -waterman?" and the birds answered, "Oh, yes! we have heard of a jolly -young waterman," and proceeded to narrate where that jolly young -waterman plied, and how dexterously that jolly young waterman -feathered his oars, the Old Sailor was fairly dumfoundered, and sat -down in silence, and watched and listened, while Dan put the birds -through the whole of their performances.</p> - -<p class="normal">Ah, what a happy day was that--never, never to be forgotten! As he lay -in his hammock, with a delicious sense of rest upon him, he saw -pleasure-boats and barges floating down with the tide, with a happy -indolence in keeping with every thing about him. What else? Bright -visions in the clouds; not for himself, but for his friend, his -brother Joshua; bright visions of beautiful lands and beautiful seas. -What did the Old Sailor say? Gardens in the sea, with the flowers -growing and blooming! He saw them in the clouds; and each flower was -bright with beauty, and each petal was rimmed with light. Fields in -the skies! There they were, stretching far, far away; and some one was -walking through forests of wild flowers and strange trees. Who was it? -Joshua! And there were the parrots that the Old Sailor had spoken of; -with their feathers of blue and gold and scarlet and silver. But Dan -happened to turn his eyes from the clouds to the water, and dreamland -faded. Joshua was rowing on the river.</p> - -<p class="normal">Bravo, Joshua! How strong he looked, with his shirt-sleeves tucked up -to his shoulders; and how well he managed his oars! Not that Dan was -much of a judge; but he knew what grace was, and surely he saw that -before him when he saw Joshua rowing. Joshua looked at Dan, and smiled -and nodded; and Dan clapped his hands. And Joshua, to show how clever -he was, made a great sweep with the oars, and fell backwards in the -boat, in a most ridiculous position, with his heels in the air. But he -was up again like lightning, and recovered his oars, and made so light -of it, that Dan, who had caught his breath for an instant, laughed -merrily at the mishap, and thought it was good fun. His laugh was -echoed by Ellen, who was sitting by his side, and who had also been a -little alarmed at first. The industrious maid was making holiday in -her own peculiar way. She was not accustomed to sit idly down with her -hands in her lap. By some mysterious means she had obtained possession -of two of the Old Sailor's shirts which required mending; and there -she was stitching away at them, as if it were the most natural thing -in the world for her to do when she came out for a holiday. Did she -have a design upon the Old Sailor? It really looked suspiciously like -it, if one might judge from the demure glances she cast upon him every -now and then, and from the admiring manner in which he returned her -artful glances. One thing was certain: she had fairly captivated him; -and there is no telling what might have occurred, if he had been -thirty years younger.</p> - -<p class="normal">What more beautiful phase of human nature can be seen than that of an -old man with a young heart? Place, side by side, two pictures of old -manhood: one, with crafty face; with cautious eyes that never rove; -with compressed lips that keep guard on every word; with puckered -forehead and eyebrows, from every ugly crevice in which the spirit of -"You can't take me in" peeps out, as if the essence of a fox were in -hiding there;--the other, with open face, which says, "Read me; I am -not afraid;" with eyes that, be they large or small, enjoy what they -see; with full-fleshed wrinkles on forehead and eyebrows; with lips -that smile when others smile.</p> - -<p class="normal">No younger heart ever beat in the breast of an old man than that which -beat in the breast of Praiseworthy Meddler. He had never mingled with -children; yet here he was, at nearly seventy years of age, a hale and -hearty old man, with a nature as simple as a child's. What was it that -made him so? Was it because he had lived his youth and manhood away -from cities, where the tricky webs of trade teach men to trick as -their brethren do, or where the anxiety how to live, and with many, -alas, how to get to-morrow's bread, stops the generous flow of a -generous nature, and robs life's summer of its brightness? Or did he -inherit it? If so, how deserving of pity are those children who are -born of crafty parents! There are human mysteries which science has -not dared to probe, and there are inherited ills and calamities which -philanthropists, up to the present time, have not tried to get to the -root of.</p> - -<p class="normal">Anyhow, here was Praiseworthy Meddler sitting upon the deck of his -barge by the side of Ellen, showing her, in the intervals of -stitching, how to splice a broken rope, and initiating her into the -mysteries a short-splice, long-splice, and eye-splice. Dan, looking -on, begged some rope, and proved himself a wonderfully-apt scholar, -which caused the Old Sailor to remark,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"You ought to be a sailor, my lad;" forgetting for the moment that -Dan's legs were useless.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should have to work in a hammock, sir," said Dan cheerfully.</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor blushed.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I forgot," he said in a gentle voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There's the sailor for you, if you like," said Dan, pointing to -Joshua, who, a couple of hundred yards away, was pulling lazily -towards the barge.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay, ay, my lad; Joshua has the right stuff in him. He will be a fine -strong man."</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is better than strong, sir," said Dan; "he is noble and -tender-hearted. If you knew, sir, how good he has been to me, you -would admire and love him more. If you knew how gentle he has been to -me--how tender, and how self-sacrificing--you would think even better -of him than you do. We have been together all our lives; every day he -has come to me as regularly as the sun, and has been to me what the -sun is to the day. I look back now that he is going away, and I cannot -remember that he has ever given me a cross word or a cross look. And I -have been very troublesome sometimes, and very peevish; but he has -borne with it all. Look, sir," and Dan drew the Old Sailor's attention -to two pieces of rope, one thin and one thick, the strands of which he -had been interweaving, "this thin rope is me; this thick rope is -Joshua. Now we are spliced, and you can't pull us apart. Joshua and me -are friends for ever and ever!"</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor listened attentively, and nodded his head occasionally, -to show that he was following Dan's words, and understood them. Ellen, -having mended the Old Sailor's shirts, sat with her hands folded in -her lap, indorsing every word that Dan uttered.</p> - -<p class="normal">Just then Joshua reached the barge, and having secured the boat, -climbed on to the deck. As he did so, eight bells struck.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Eight bells," said the Old Sailor. "Dinner."</p> - -<p class="normal">With that, he lifted Dan out of the hammock, and carried him to where -dinner was laid on a table which extended fore and aft down the centre -of what it would be the wildest extravagance of courtesy to call a -saloon, and where every thing was prepared in expectation of a storm. -Joshua and Ellen followed, and the four of them made a very merry -party. Lobscouse and sea-pie were the only dishes, and they were -brought in by a Lascar with rings in his ears, whom the Old Sailor -called a "lubberly swab," because he was unmistakably drunk; and who -in return, notwithstanding his drunken condition, cast upon the Old -Sailor an evil look, which flashed from his eyes like a dagger-stroke. -This Lascar was the man who had struck eight bells, and who cooked for -the Old Sailor, and did odd work about the barge, in return for which -he got his victuals and a bunk to sleep in. A lazy, indolent rogue, -who would do any thing, never mind what, for rum and tobacco; a -cringing, submissive, treacherous rogue, ripe for the execution of any -villainy on the promise of rum and tobacco; a rogue who would fawn, -and lie, and stab, and humble himself and play Bombastes for rum and -tobacco. They were all he seemed to live for; they were his -Thirty-nine Articles, and he was ready to sell himself for them any -day. Of what quality might be the work proposed to him to do, so as to -earn the reward, was of the very smallest consequence to him. He gave -Ellen such an ugly look of wicked admiration that she was glad when he -was gone.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dinner over, they returned to the deck, and the Old Sailor told them -stories of the sea-stories so enthralling, that the afternoon glided -by like a dream; and the setting sun was tinged with the glories of -the distant lands whither it was wending. They had tea on deck--a -delicious tea, of shrimps, water-creases, and bread-and-butter. The -task of preparing the tea was performed by Ellen and the Old Sailor; -and during the performance of this task, it may be confidently stated -that the conquest of the Old Sailor was completed, and that he was -from that moment, and ever afterwards, her devoted slave. Then they -went down, and sat two and two on each side of the table, Joshua and -Dan being on one side, and Ellen and the Old Sailor on the other; and -they had more sea-stories, and were altogether in a state of supreme -happiness.</p> - -<p class="normal">During the latter part of the evening the conversation turned upon -Joshua's approaching voyage.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Always bear in mind the sailor's watchword, my lad," said the Old -Sailor. "Along the line the signal ran: 'England expects that every -man this day will do his duty.' That's meant not for this day alone, -but for always. What a sailor's got to do is to obey. Many a voyage -has had a bad ending because of a sailor's forgetting his watchword. -Don't you forget it, Josh."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I won't, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"The 'Merry Andrew,' that you're going to make your first voyage in, -is a fine ship; the skipper is a fine skipper--a man he is, and that's -what a ship wants--a man and not an image." The Old Sailor said this -in a tone of exasperation, inspired, possibly, by some tantalizing -remembrance of a ship commanded by an image instead of a man. "So -stick to your watchword, my lad. It wouldn't be a bad thing now if we -were to drink to it."</p> - -<p class="normal">The cunning old rascal was only too glad of a chance to get at his -grog.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Bravo!" exclaimed Dan, clapping his hands.</p> - -<p class="normal">No sooner said than done. Hot water, lemon, sugar, rum, compounded -with the skill of an artist. A glass for Joshua, a glass for Dan, a -glass for the Old Sailor, and a small glass for Ellen. Not one of them -seemed afraid of it--not even Ellen.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now then," said the Old Sailor, smiling as the steam rose to his -nostrils. "Now, then; the sailor's watchword--Duty, and may Joshua -never forget it!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Duty, Jo," said Dan, nodding over his glass to Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Duty, Dan," said Joshua, nodding to Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen said nothing aloud, but whispered something into her glass. Then -they drank and sipped their grog, and resumed the conversation.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Have you been to New Holland, sir?" asked Dan. The "Merry Andrew" was -bound for New Holland.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I was there when I was a youngster," replied the Old Sailor, mixing a -second glass of grog for himself. "It was a wild country then; I am -told it is growing into a wonderful country now. We were six months -going out. We had nearly four hundred convicts aboard, most of them in -irons. A miserable lot of desperate wretches they were! They were not -well treated, and they knew it. We had to keep close watch over them; -if they could have set themselves free by any means--they talked of it -many a time among themselves--they would have captured the ship, and -flung us overboard, or something worse. We landed them at Port -Phillip, where the British Government wanted to form a settlement."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why New Holland, sir?" asked Dan, always eager for information.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Discovered by the Dutch in about 1600," replied the Old Sailor -oratorically. "Victoria was discovered by Capt. Cook; let us drink to -him." They took a sip--all but the Old Sailor, who scorned sips. -"Discovered by Capt. Cook in 1770, after he had discovered New -Zealand."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Any savages, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Swarms. We were out in a boat exploring, and when we were close in -shore, two or three hundred savages came whooping down upon us. We -weren't afraid of them; we pulled in to shore, and they stopped short -about twenty yards from us, jabbering like a lot of black monkeys. -They soon got courage enough to come closer to us, and we gave them -some grog; but the ignorant lubbers spit it out of their mouths at -first. Then they began to steal things from the boat; and when we gave -them to understand that what was ours wasn't theirs, they grew saucy. -A black fellow caught up the master's-mate, and ran away with him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What did they want with him, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"To eat him, of course. We fired over their heads, and they dropped -the master's-mate, who ran back to us, glad enough to get free, for he -didn't relish the idea of being made a meal of. But when the savages -found that the guns didn't hurt them, they came whooping up to us -again, flourishing their spears. Their faces were painted, and they -had swans' feathers sticking out of their heads. Some of them had skin -cloaks on, painted all over with figures of naked men, and some of -them had bones stuck through their nostrils. On they came, yelling and -leaping like so many devils, thinking what a fine roast the fattest of -us would make. Then we fired and killed one of them. Directly they saw -him fall, they scampered off like madmen."</p> - -<p class="normal">When the conversation flagged, they had music and singing. Joshua -played, and Dan sang a song, and the Old Sailor sang a good many. The -best of the Old Sailor's songs was, that they were all about the sea, -and that every one of them had a chorus in which the company could -join. Of course he sang "Heave the Lead," and "Yeo, heave, ho! To the -windlass let us go, with yo, heave ho!" and "Saturday Night at Sea;" -and when "Saturday night did come, my boys, to drink to Poll and -Bess," he flourished his glass, and drank to those young ladies with a -will. The number of lovely ladies with whom the Old Sailor made them -acquainted was something astonishing. Poor Jack had his Poll, whom he -addressed in a not very dignified manner, when he said to her,--</p> -<br> -<div style="font-size:90%"> -<p class="hang1">"What argufies sniv'ling and piping your eye? -Why what a--(<i>hem!</i>) fool you must be!"</p> -</div> -<br> -<p class="normal">Out of respect for Ellen, the Old Sailor coughed over a good many -words in the songs he sang; for it must be confessed that there was -more swearing in them than was absolutely necessary. Poor Jack, -however, who called his Poll a something fool, made up for it in the -end by declaring that "his heart was his Poll's" (a very pretty though -somewhat trite sentiment), and "his rhino's his friend's" (a very -unwise and foolish sentiment, as the world goes). Then there was a -Polly whom the lads called so pretty, and who entreated her -sweetheart, before he sailed in the good ship the "Kitty" to be -constant to her; and who, when he returned without any rhino, turned -up her nose at him, as young women do now and then. Then there were -Poll in "My Poll and my partner Joe" (it was wonderful how faithless -the Polls were), and Poll in "Every inch a Sailor," who, when poor -Haulyard came home in tatters, swore (very unfeminine of her) that she -had never seen his face. But honest Ned Haulyard was a philosophical -sailor, for he something'd her for a faithless she, and singing went -again to sea. The Nancies were a better class of female:--</p> -<br> -<div style="margin-left:10%; font-size:90%"> -<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">"I love my duty, love my friend,<br> -Love truth and merit to defend,</p> -<p style="text-indent:5%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">To moan their loss who hazard ran;</p> -<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">I love to take an honest part.<br> -Love beauty with a spotless heart,</p> -<p style="text-indent:5%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">By manners love to show the man;</p> -<p style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">To sail through life by honor's breeze--<br> -'Twas all along of loving these</p> -<p style="text-indent:5%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">First made me dote on lovely Nan."</p> -</div> -<br> - -<p class="normal">And so on, and so on, with gentle Anna and buxom Nan; and poor Fanny, -who drowned herself in the waves near to the place where hung the -trembling pines; and poor Peggy, who loved a soldier lad (a marine, -without doubt); and bonny Kate, who lived happily afterwards with Tom -Clueline. Ellen joined in the choruses with her sweet voice; but, -strange to say, she had not been asked to sing until the Old Sailor, -struck perhaps by a sudden remorse at monopolizing the harmony, called -upon her for a song. Ellen, nothing loth, asked what song; and Joshua -said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Sing the song you learned of mother, Ellen."</p> - -<p class="normal">"'Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses?'" inquired Ellen.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, 'Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses.' 'Tisn't quite a girl's song sir" -(to the Old Sailor); "but it is a good song, and Ellen sings it -nicely."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hooray, then, for 'Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses!'" cried the Old -Sailor, casting a glance of intense admiration at Ellen, who, without -more ado, sang as follows:--</p> -<br> -<div style="font-size:90%"> -<h5>BREAD-AND-CHEESE AND KISSES.</h5> -<br> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">One day, when I came home fatigued,<br> -And felt inclined to grumble,</p> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Because my life was one of toil,<br> -Because my lot was humble,</p> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">I said to Kate, my darling wife,<br> -In whom my whole life's bliss is,</p> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">"What have you got for dinner, Kate?"<br> -"Why, bread-and-cheese and kisses!"</p> -<br> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Though worn and tired, my heart leaped up<br> -As those plain words she uttered.</p> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Why should I envy those whose bread<br> -Than mine's more thickly buttered?</p> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">I said, "We'll have dessert at once."<br> -"What's that?" she asked. "Why, this is."</p> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">I kissed her. Ah, what sweeter meal<br> -Than bread-and-cheese and kisses!</p> -<br> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">I gazed at her with pure delight;<br> -She nodded and smiled gayly; -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">I said, "My love, on such a meal<br> -I'd dine with pleasure, daily.</p> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">When I but think of you, dear girl,<br> -I pity those fine misses</p> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">Who turn their noses up and pout<br> -At bread-and-cheese and kisses.</p> -<br> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">"And when I look on your dear form,<br> -And on your face so homely;</p> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">And when I look in your dear eyes,<br> -And on your dress so comely;</p> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">And when I hold you in my arms,<br> -I laugh at Fortune's misses.</p> -<p style="margin-left:5%; text-indent:-3%; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">I'm blessed in you, content with you,<br> -And bread-and-cheese and kisses."</p> -</div> -<br> -<p class="normal">Thus ended the happy day.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER IX.</h4> - -<h5>MINNIE AND HER SHELL.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">So the simple ways of Joshua's simple life were drawing to a -close. He -had chosen his career, and to-morrow he would be at the end of the -quiet groove in which he had hitherto moved, and would step upon -rougher roads, to commence the battle which dooms many a -fair-promising life to a despairing death, and out of which no one -comes without scars and wounds which art and time are powerless to -heal. To-morrow he was to leave a father almost too indulgent; a mother -whose heart was as true in its motherly affection for him as the -needle is to the pole; a friend who gave him a love as tender and as -pure as that which angels could feel.</p> - -<p class="normal">During the past week he had been busily engaged in leave-taking, and -he had been surprised to find what a number of friends he had. There -was not one of the poor neighbors, in the poor locality in which he -had passed his boyhood's days, who had not kind words and good wishes -for him, and who did not give them heartily and without stint. Many a -hearty handwillshake from men whose hands he had never touched before, -and many a motherly kiss from women he had been in the habit of saying -only "Good-morning" to, did Joshua receive. There is a stronger -knitting of affection between poor people in poor neighborhoods than -there is among the rich in their wider thoroughfares. Perhaps it is -the narrow streets that draw them closer to each other; perhaps it is -the common struggle to keep body and soul together in which they are -all engaged; perhaps it is the unconscious recognition of a higher law -of humanity than prevails elsewhere; perhaps it is the absence of the -wider barriers of exclusiveness, among which the smaller and more -beautiful flowers of feeling--being so humble and unassuming--are in -danger of being lost or overlooked. Anyhow the ties of affection are -stronger among the poor. Putting necessity and sickness aside, more -mothers nurse their babes from love among the poor than among the -rich.</p> - -<p class="normal">The secret of this unanimity of goodwill towards Joshua lay in his -uniformly quiet demeanor and affectionate disposition. The wonderful -friendship that existed between Dan and Joshua was a household word in -the poor homes round about; there was something so beautiful in it, -that they felt a pride in the circumstance of its having been cemented -in their midst; and many tender-hearted women said that night to their -husbands, that they wondered what Dan would do now that Joshua was -going away. "And Josh, too," the husband would reply; "do you think -he won't miss Dan?" But the women thought mostly of Dan in that -relationship. The romance of the thing had something to do with this -general interest in his welfare. Here was a young man, one of their -own order, born and bred among them, who, from no contempt of their -humble ways of life but from a distinct desire to do better than they -(not to <i>be</i> better; that they would have resented), had resolved to -go out into the world to carve a way for himself. It was brave and -manly; it was daring and heroic. For the world was so wide! Cooped-up -as <i>they</i> were, what did they know of it? What did they see of it? -Those of them--the few--who worked at home in their once-a-week -shirt-sleeves, could raise their eyes from their work, and see the -dull prospect of over the way; or, resting wearily from the monotonous -labor, could stroll to their street-doors, and look up and down the -street in a meaningless, purposeless manner: like automatons in -aprons, with dirty faces and very black finger-nails, coming out of a -box and performing a task in which there was necessarily no sense of -enjoyment.</p> - -<p class="normal">Those of them--the many--who toiled in workshops other than their -homes, saw with the rising and the setting of every sun a few narrow -streets within the circumference of a mile, mayhap. Moving always in -the same groove, trudging to their workshops every morning, trudging -home every night--it was the same thing for them day after day. The -humdrum course of time was only marked by the encroachment of gray -hairs and white; or by the patching-up of the poor furniture, which -grew more rheumatic, and groaned more dismally every succeeding -season; or by the cracking and dismemberment of cups and saucers and -plates; or by the slow death of the impossible figures on the -tea-trays--figures which were bright and gay once upon a time, as -their owners were upon a certain happy wedding-day. Here, as a type, -are three small mugs, the letters upon which are either quite faded -away, or are denoted by a very mockery of shrivelled lines, as if -their lives were being drawn out to the last stage of miserable -attenuation. Once they proclaimed themselves proudly, and in golden -letters, "For George, a Birthday Present;" "For Mary Ann, with -Mother's Love;" "Charley, for a Good Boy." George and Mary, Ann and -Charley used to clap their little hands, and swing their little legs -delightedly, when they and the mugs kept company at breakfast and -tea-time; but now flesh and crockery have grown old, and are fading -away in common. The hair on George's head is very thin, although he is -not yet forty years of age; Mary Ann is an anxious-looking mother, -with six dirty children, who, as she declares twenty times a day, are -enough to worry the life out of her; and Charley has turned out any -thing but "a Good Boy," being much too fond of public-houses. With -such like uninteresting variations, the lives of George and Mary Ann -and Charley were typical of the lives of all the poor people amongst -whom the Marvels lived. From the cradle to the grave, every thing the -same; the same streets, the same breakfasts, the same dinners, the -same uneventful routine of existence, the only visible signs upon the -record being the deepening of wrinkles and the whitening of hairs. But -they were happy enough, notwithstanding; and if their pulses were -stirred into quicker motion when they shook Joshua's hand and wished -him good luck, there was no envy towards him in their minds, and no -feeling of discontent marred the genuineness of their God-speed. When -at candle-time they spoke of Joshua and of the world which he was -going to see, some of the women said that it would have been better if -"you, John," or "you, William," "had struck out for yourself when you -were young;" and John and William assenting, sighed to think that it -was too late for them to make a new start. Well, their time was past; -the tide which they might have taken at the flood, but did not, would -never come again to their life's shore. Joshua <i>had</i> taken it at the -flood, and would be afloat to-morrow; good luck be with him! In the -heartiness of their good wishes there was no expressed consciousness -that there was as much heroism in their quiet lives as in the lives of -great heroes and daring adventurers; which very unconsciousness and -unexpressed abnegation made that heroism (begging Mr. Ruskin's pardon -for calling it so) all the grander.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua had bidden the Old Sailor good-by. The dear, simple old fellow -had given Joshua some golden rules to go by; had enjoined him to be -respectful and submissive; to learn all he could; to be cheerful -always, and to do his work willingly, however hard it seemed; not to -mix himself up in the men's quarrels or grumblings; had told him how -that some officers were querulous, and some were tyrannical, but that -he could always keep himself out of mischief by obeying orders; and -had impressed upon him, more particularly than all, the value of the -golden motto--Duty. "Keep that for your watchword, my lad," said the -Old Sailor, "and you will do."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am glad it is nearly all over," said Joshua to Dan. "I have only -two or three more to say good-by to, with the exception of mother and -father, and Ellen and you, dear Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">"There's Susan, Jo," said Dan after a pause. "I wish you could see her -before you go."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I wish so, too. I am going now to say good-by to Minnie and her -father."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is he better, Jo?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I haven't seen him for a week; but I don't think he is ever quite -right here;" touching his forehead.</p> - -<p class="normal">They were speaking of the street actor, whose name was Basil Kindred.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And Minnie is very pretty, you say."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Very pretty, but with such strange ways, Dan, as I have told you -before."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," said Dan, looking earnestly at Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Sometimes like a woman, which she is not; sometimes like a little -child, which she is not. Yet for all she is so strange, one can't help -loving her, and pitying her."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is she at all like Ellen, Jo?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie is not like Ellen," said Joshua, considering. "Ellen's face is -calm and peaceful; Minnie's is grander, larger. Minnie is the kind of -girl for a heroine, and Ellen is not, I think. She is too peaceful. -Say that Ellen is like a lake, Minnie is like the sea."</p> - -<p class="normal">A quiet smile passed over Dan's lips, yet a regretful one, too.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You don't know Ellen, Jo," he said "Give me the lake."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And me the sea," said Joshua, not meaning it at all with reference to -the girls, but literally, with reference to his choice of a -profession.</p> - -<p class="normal">From the first part of this conversation it will be gathered that -Susan Taylor had left her home, and had chosen to keep her residence a -secret from her family. She was not to blame for it; for she had been -most unhappy in the family mansion of the Taylors. Although she earned -her own living, and paid for her board and lodging, her father, a -drunken, lazy mechanic, had lately been pestering her for small loans, -to be spent, of course, at the public-house. These she could not -afford to give him; and when he found that she would not assist him, -he quarrelled with her. He twitted her about her ungainly person, -jeered at her strange mannerisms, pricked her with domestic pins and -needles, and made her life so miserable, that she was glad when the -culminating quarrel gave her the opportunity to run away.</p> - -<p class="normal">She had never had a friend. Nearly every girl has a girl-companion -with whom she exchanges little confidences, and whom she consults as -to the fashion of the new bonnet, and how it is to be trimmed, the -pattern of the new dress, and how many flounces it is to have, the -color of the new piece of ribbon, and how it should be worn, the -personal appearance and intentions of the last new admirer, and how he -is to be treated. Susan never had such a companion; worse than that, -she never had a sweetheart. She had grown to woman's estate without -ever having experienced the pleasures of courtship, either as a child -or as a woman. No little boy had taken a liking to her when she was a -little girl; and when she grew to be a young woman, no young man had -cast a favorable eye upon her. Sooth to say, there was nothing -singular in the circumstance; for she was as little attractive -externally, as a young woman well could be.</p> - -<p class="normal">If it were necessary to define and describe her with brevity, a happy -definition and description might be given in two simple words--Joints -and Knobs. Susan Taylor was all Joints and Knobs, from the crown of -her head to the soles of her feet. There was not a straight line about -her; every square inch of her frame was broken by a joint or -intersected by a knob. Her face did not contain one perfect feature. -Bones, with sharp rugged outlines, asserted themselves in her cheeks, -in her chin, in her nose (most aggressively there), and in the arches -of her eyes. Her shoulders were suggestive of nothing but -salt-cellars; her fingers were covered with knuckles; her arms were -all elbows; and her knees, as she walked, forced themselves into -notice with offensive demonstrativeness. There was nothing round and -soft about her. Every part of her was suggestive of Bone; she was so -replete with mysterious and complicated angles that she might be said -to resemble a mathematical torture. Her angular proportions, broken -here by a joint, or intersected there by a knob, did not agree with -one another. As not one of them would accept a subordinate position, -they were necessarily on the very worst of terms: like a regiment in -which every soldier insisted on being colonel, and struggled for the -position. The result was Anatomical Confusion.</p> - -<p class="normal">Cupid is popularly represented to be a mischievous young imp, who -delights in tying persons together who are not in the least suited to -each other, and as being so reckless and indiscriminate in the use of -the metaphorical arrow, which he is everlastingly fixing to that -metaphorical bow with such malicious nicety, that the right man seldom -finds himself in the right place, and the right woman is similarly -unfortunate. As a consequence of this eccentric and inhuman conduct, -long men and short women and long women and short men, get absurdly -matched, and the mental disparity is often found to be no less than -the disparity in limb and bulk. But never, surely, did that tricksy -youngster (who is so convenient to writers as a reference, and in -various other ways, that they cannot be sufficiently grateful for his -mythological existence) play a stranger prank than when he made Susan -Taylor and Basil Kindred acquainted with each other. The evening on -which Susan, for the first time, saw Basil Kindred act the Ghost -scenes in "Hamlet," marked an era in her life not less important than -that sad era which was commenced by her letting her brother Daniel -fall from her arms out of the window on to the cruel stones. For if -ever woman fell in love (which is so violently suggestive that it may -well be doubted) with man, Susan Taylor, on that evening, fell in love -with Basil Kindred.</p> - -<p class="normal">But Susan was not the woman to exhibit her passion in words. In -another fashion she did exhibit it: in the best fashion that devotion -Can show itself--in deeds. She was not a cunning woman, nor a wise one -either. Being from the very infirmities of her nature a kind of social -outcast, she was not likely to consider what the world would say of -any action of hers. And here was an anomaly; she was neither foolish -enough nor wise enough to consider what the world would say; yet had -she considered that her conduct was open to censure, she would not -have swerved a hair's breadth because of the world's opinion; and this -very independence proceeded not from a hardened nature, but from a -nature utterly simple. So she did what a very considerable majority of -the busy bees in this busy world would consider either a very foolish -thing or some thing worse. When she left her home she rented a room in -the miserable house in which Basil Kindred and his daughter resided. -She did this because she loved him; and yet looking for no return of -her passion, she did it so that she might make herself useful to him -and to Minnie. The living she earned as a dressmaker was a poor and a -scanty one enough; but she managed, out of her small earnings, to -contribute some little towards the comfort of the couple whose -acquaintance she had so strangely made.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua was always certain of a warm welcome from Basil and Minnie; an -affectionate intimacy had sprung up between them, and he had spent -many a pleasant hour in their company. But in the first flush of their -intimacy he had been sorely puzzled by Basil Kindred's strange ways -and oft-times stranger remarks; the wandering restlessness of his -eyes, and the no less wandering nature of his speech, engendered grave -doubts whether he was quite right in his mind. And as Joshua looked -from Basil's fine mobile face to that of his daughter, so like her -father's in all its grand and beautiful outlines, it distressed him to -think that her intellect also might be tainted with her father's -disease. It might not be; it might be merely the want of proper moral -training that induced her to be so strangely incoherent, so reckless -and defiant, and yet at the same time so singularly tender in her -conduct. With Minnie every thing was right or wrong according to the -way in which it affected herself. She recognized no general law as -guiding such and such a principle or sentiment. There was this -similarity and this difference between Minnie and Susan: they both -ignored the world's opinion and the world's judgment of their actions. -But where Susan would be meek, Minnie would be defiant; where Susan -would offend through ignorance, Minnie would offend consciously, and -be at the same time ready to justify herself and argue the point; -which latter she would do, of course, only from her point of view. -Supposing that it could be reduced to weights and measures, Minnie -would have been content to place herself and her affections on one -side of the scale, and all the world on the other, with the positive -conviction that she would tip the scale.</p> - -<p class="normal">She was very affectionate and docile to Joshua; she looked up to him -with a kind of adoration, and this tacit acknowledgment of his -superiority was pleasing to his vanity. He was her hero, and she -worshipped him, and showed that she did so; and he, too, dangerously -regarding her as a child, received her worship, and was gratified by -it. And so she drifted.</p> - -<p class="normal">Now as he entered the room, Minnie sprang towards him with a joyous -exclamation, and taking his hand, held it tightly clasped in hers as -she led him to a seat. The room was not so bare of furniture as it was -when he first saw it. He looked round for Basil Kindred.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Father is not at home, Joshua," said Minnie. "He will be in soon, I -dare say." She pushed him softly into a chair, and sat on the ground -at his feet. "I am so glad you have come!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"But I don't think I have time to stay."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You mustn't go; you mustn't go," said Minnie, drawing his arm round -her neck. "I shall be so lonely if you do."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But you were alone before I came in, Minnie."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," returned Minnie; "but I did not feel lonely then. I shall now, -if you go away."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Then I will stop for a little while," said Joshua, humoring her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Always good!" said Minnie gratefully, resting her lips upon her hand, -"always good!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why did you not feel lonely before I came, Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I was thinking."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Of what?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Of long, long ago, when father was different to what he is now."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It could not have been so long, long ago, little Minnie,"--here came -a little caressing action from the child,--"you are only--how old?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Fourteen."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And fourteen years ago is not so long, long ago, little Minnie."</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie repeated her caressing action.</p> - -<p class="normal">"To you it isn't perhaps, but it is to me. It seems almost," she said, -placing Joshua's hand upon her eyes, and closing them, "as if I had -nothing to do with it. Yet I must have had; for mother was mixed up -with what I was thinking.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But I shall think of something else now that you are here," she said -presently. "I am going to listen."</p> - -<p class="normal">With the hand that was free she took something from her pocket, and -placing it to her ear, bent her head closer to the ground. She was so -long in that attitude of watchful silence, that Joshua cried "Minnie" -to arouse her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hush!" she said; "you must not interrupt me. I am listening. I can -almost hear it speak."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hear what speak?" asked Joshua, wondering.</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie directed his fingers to her ear, and he felt something smooth -and cold.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is a shell," she said softly, "and I am listening to the sea."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah," said Joshua in a voice as soft as hers, "that is because I am -going to be a sailor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"For that reason. Yes. Call me little Minnie."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Little Minnie!" said Joshua tenderly; for Minnie's voice and manner -were very winsome, and he could not help thinking how quaintly pretty -her fancy was.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Little Minnie, little Minnie!" whispered Minnie in so soft a tone -that Joshua could scarcely hear it,--"little Minnie, little Minnie! -The sea is singing it. How kind the sea is! and how soft and gentle I -should like to go to sleep like this."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Does the shell sing any thing else, little Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Listen! Ah, but you cannot hear! It is singing, 'Little Minnie, -little Minnie, Joshua is going to be a sailor. Little Minnie, little -Minnie, would you like to go with him?'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"And you answer?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, yes, yes! I should like to go with him, and hear the sea always -singing like this. I should like to go with him because"--But here -Minnie stopped.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because what?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because nothing," said Minnie, taking the shell from her ear. "Now -the sea is gone, and the singing is gone, and we are waiting at home -for father."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What for, Minnie? What am I waiting at home for father for?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"To see him of course," answered Minnie.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And to wish him and you good-by," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good-by!" echoed the child, with a sudden look of distress in her -large gray eyes. "So soon!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes. My ship sails to-morrow."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And this is the last day we shall see you," she said, her tears -falling upon his hand.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The last day for a little while, little Minnie," he said, striving to -speak cheerfully.</p> - -<p class="normal">"For how long?" asked the child, bending her head, so that her fair -hair fell over her face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"For a year, perhaps, Minnie," he answered.</p> - -<p class="normal">"For a long, long year," she said sorrowfully. "You will not do as -mother did, will you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"How was that?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"She went away from us one afternoon, and was to come back at night. -And it rained--oh, so dreadfully!--that night. We were lodging under -some trees, father, mother, and I. Father was ill--very ill, but not -with the same kind of illness that he has now sometimes. He had a -fever. And mother went into the town to get something for us to -eat--as you did that night when the bad boys threw a stone at father, -and you brought him home. When father woke we went in search of her. -But I never remember seeing mother again. And you are going away, and -perhaps I shall never see you again."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What does the shell say, Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie placed the shell to her ear.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I cannot make out any thing," she said in a voice of pain. "It isn't -singing now; it is moaning and sighing."</p> - -<p class="normal">He took the shell and listened.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It will speak to me, because I am a sailor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And it says?" asked Minnie anxiously.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And it says--no, it sings--'Little Minnie, little Minnie, Joshua is -going to sea, and Joshua will come back, please God, in a year, with -beautiful shells and wonderful stories for you and all his friends. -So, little Minnie, little Minnie, look happy; for there is nothing to -be sorrowful at.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah!" said Minnie in less sorrowful tones, "if I was a woman and loved -anybody very much, I would not let him go away by himself."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why, what would you do?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I would follow him." And she pulled Joshua's head down to hers, and -whispered, "I should like to go to sea with you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Would you indeed, miss!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes; for I love you, oh, so much!" whispered the child innocently in -the same low tones. "But you wouldn't let me go, would you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should think not. A nice sailor you would make; a weak little thing -like you!"</p> - -<p class="normal">The girl sprang from her crouching attitude, and stood upright. As she -did so, expressing in her action what her meaning was, Joshua noticed -for the first time that she was growing to be large-limbed and strong. -She tossed her hair from her face, and said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Father says I shall be a tall woman."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well," she repeated half-proudly and half-bashfully. "I should not -make such a bad sailor, after all." And then with a motion thoroughly -childlike, she knelt on the ground before him; and placing her elbows -on his knees, rested her chin in her upturned palms, and looked -steadily into his face. "If I was a woman," she said slowly and -earnestly, "I would go with you, even if you would not let me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How would you manage that?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I would follow you secretly."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You must not say so," said Joshua reprovingly; "it would be very, -very wrong."</p> - -<p class="normal">"To follow any one you loved?" questioned the child, shaking her head -at the same time to denote that she had no doubt whether it would be -right or wrong. "Wrong to wish to be with any one you loved? It -would be wrong not to wish it. But"--and she looked round, as if -fearful, although they were alone, lest her resolution should become -known--"nobody should know; I would not tell a living soul."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua was silent, puzzled at Minnie's earnestness. Minnie, with the -shell at her ear, soon broke the silence, however.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Has your friend--the boy you have told me about"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Dan. Has Dan got a shell?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No. I don't suppose he ever thought of it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And yet he loves you very much, and a shell is the only thing that -can bring the sea to him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who gave you the shell, Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No one."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How did you get it, then?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I took it from a stall."</p> - -<p class="normal">"O Minnie!" exclaimed Joshua, grieved and shocked; "that was very -wicked."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I know it was," said Minnie simply; "but I did it for you. Two days -afterwards, when father had money given to him, I asked him for some, -and he gave it me. I went to the stall where the shells were, and -asked the man how much each they were. 'A penny,' he said. I gave him -two pence and ran away. That was good, wasn't it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua shook his head.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It was very wicked to steal the shell; and I don't think you made up -for it by paying double when you got the money."</p> - -<p class="normal">But Minnie set her teeth close, and said between them, "It was wicked -at first, but it wasn't wicked afterwards, was it, shell?"--She -listened with a coaxing air to the shell's reply.--"The shell says it -wasn't'. Besides, I did it for you; Dan wouldn't have done it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, that he wouldn't."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Shows he doesn't love you as much as I do," muttered Minnie with -jealous intonation. "If he did, he would have thought of a shell, and -would have got it somehow. If he did, he would go with you, and would -never, never leave you!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, Minnie, listen to me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am listening, Joshua." She would have taken his hand; but he put it -behind his back, and motioned her to be still. She knew by his voice -that something unpleasant was coming, and she set her teeth close.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You know that it is wrong to steal, and you stole the shell."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I did it for you," she said doggedly. "That does not make it right, -Minnie. I want you to give me a promise."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I will promise you any thing but one thing," she said.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What is that."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Never mind. You would never guess, so you will never ask me. What am -I to promise?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That you will never steal any thing again."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you think I ever stole any thing but the shell, then?" she asked, -with an air that would have been stern in its pride if she had not -been a child.</p> - -<p class="normal">It was on the tip of Joshua's tongue to say, "I don't know what to -think;" but her manner of putting the question gave the answer to it. -"No," he said instead, "I don't think you ever did, Minnie."</p> - -<p class="normal">Her head was stubbornly bent; and she had enough to do to keep back -her tears. She would not have succeeded had his answer been different.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, I never stole any thing else. Stole is the proper word, I know; -but it is a nasty one, and makes me ashamed."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is your punishment, Minnie," said Joshua, wondering at himself -for his tenaciousness.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is my punishment, then," said Minnie not less doggedly than -before; "but I did it for you"--nothing would drive her from that -stand-point--"and I promise you, Joshua, that I will never steal any -thing again--never, never!"</p> - -<p class="normal">He gave her his hand, and she took it and caressed it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And now, Minnie, about Dan," he said. "You must not say or think any -thing ill of him. He is the best-hearted and the dearest friend in the -world; and I cannot tell you how much I love him, or how much he loves -me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why doesn't he go to sea with you, then?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua looked at her reproachfully.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Your memory is not good, Minnie. He is lame, as I told you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I forgot. He can't go because he is lame. Would he go if his legs -were sound?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I think he would."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't think," Minnie said, with a sly look at him; "be sure."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am sure he would then."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Caught!" cried Minnie, clapping her hands, the sly look, in which -there was simplicity, changing to a cunning one, in which there was -craft. "Caught, caught, caught!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should like to know how," said Joshua. "How ridiculous of you, -Minnie, to cry 'Caught!' as if I was a fox!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, I am the fox," she cried, shaking her hair over her face with -enchanting grace. "I am in hiding--just peeping round the corner." She -made an opening in her thick hair, and flashed a look at him; a look -that was saucy, and cunning, and charming, and wilful, all at once. -"Am I a good fox?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are a goose. Tell me how I am caught."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Listen, then," throwing her hair back, and becoming logical. "Dan -loves you as well as any man or woman could love another, you said."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Did I say as well? I thought I said better. I meant better."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's no matter. Dan loves you,"--she held up her left hand, and -checked off the items on her fingers--"that is one finger. And Dan -would go to sea with you; and it would be right, because he loves -you--that is two fingers. But Dan can't go because he is lame--that is -three fingers. Now I love you, and I am not lame--that is four -fingers. And it would not be wrong in me to follow you--and that is my -thumb, the largest reason of all. So you are caught, caught, caught, -you see."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I do not see," said Joshua in a very decided voice. "Dan is a boy, -and you are a girl; and what is right for a boy to do is often wrong -for a girl. I do not see that I am caught."</p> - -<p class="normal">But Minnie had relinquished the argument. She was satisfied that she -was right.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And you would really be very angry with me if I did it?" she asked.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should be very angry with you now, Minnie, if it were not that you -were a stupid little girl, just a trifle too fond of talking nonsense. -Such nonsense, too! Why, there's Ellen, Dan's sister, <i>she</i> wouldn't -talk so."</p> - -<p class="normal">All the brightness went out of Minnie's face, and a dark cloud was -there instead.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua noticed it with surprise. He took her hand gently; but she -snatched it away.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ellen would not behave like that," he said; "she is too mild and -gentle." There came into his mind what he had said to Dan of the two -girls--that Ellen was like a lake, and Minnie like the sea; and he -thought how true it was. "It would do you good to know her."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't want to know her," said Minnie sullenly, "and I don't want to -be done good to."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I didn't think you would be cross-tempered on my last day at home," -said Joshua in a grave and gentle voice. He paused, as if expecting -her to speak; but she remained silent. "Ah, well," he said, rising, "I -shall go and see if I can find your father."</p> - -<p class="normal">She jumped up and walked with him to the door.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Say that you are not angry with me," she said in a voice of the -softest pleading, raising her face to his.</p> - -<p class="normal">He would have made a different reply, but he saw that her face was -covered with tears.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Angry with you!" he said kindly. "Who could be angry with you for -long, little Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">She smiled gratefully and thoughtfully as he kissed her; and when he -had gone, and she had heard his last footstep, she returned to her old -place upon the floor, and crouching down, placed the shell to her ear, -and listened to the singing of the sea.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER X.</h4> - -<h5>GOODBY.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Minnie's obliviousness of what was right had never before been -presented so clearly to Joshua. He knew well enough that Minnie, -although she was aware that it was wrong to steal, could not -understand that she did wrong in stealing the shell. At the same time -he could not help feeling tenderly towards her because of that wrong -action. After all, how much she was to be pitied! Could it be wondered -at that she was hard to teach, and that she was wayward and wilful, -living such a lonely life as she lived, with no friend to counsel, no -mother to guide her? How quaint was her fancy, and what a pretty thing -it was to see her as he saw her in his imaginings--sitting alone in -her room, with the shell at her ear, listening to the singing of the -sea! With what a daintily-caressing motion she nestled to him when he -called her "Little Minnie!" He repeated the pet words to himself, -"Little Minnie, little Minnie!" as he walked along, and smiled. As for -her telling him that she would like to go to sea with him, what was it -but a childish whimsey? If he had not contradicted her, and made a -matter of importance of it, she would have said it, and there an end. -She would like to go to sea with him, and would follow him if she were -a woman: Well! she was but a child, and the wish was as innocent as -her declaration that she loved him.</p> - -<p class="normal">When he had thought out all this, he thought of to-morrow, and looked -round upon the familiar streets and the familiar houses with a pang of -regret. To-morrow he would be far away from them, and every succeeding -day would take him farther and farther away from them and all that he -loved. From mother, father, the Old Sailor, his pet birds, and from -Dan--ah! dear, dear Dan! Did ever boy or man have such a friend? Then -there was Ellen, his dear little sweetheart in the days when they were -children together. Was there ever such another unselfish little maid -as that? So devoted, so tender, so loving! How quickly she had won -the heart of the Old Sailor! He remembered that old salt saying, -pointing his great finger at Ellen as he said it, "Joshua, my lad, -that little lass there is the prettiest, the best, the truest and the -kindest-hearted in these dominions." And he remembered himself looking -at Ellen's mild face--peaceful as a lake--and saying, "So she is, -sir," and meaning it heartily; and he remembered the Old Sailor -saying, "That's right, my lad; all you've got to do is to mind your -bearings." Although he had answered, "Yes, sir, I will," he wondered -afterwards, and he found himself wondering now, what on earth the Old -Sailor meant by saying, "Mind your bearings." But what matter? Ellen -<i>was</i> the prettiest, the best, the truest, and the kindest-hearted -lass in these or any other dominions. God bless her!</p> - -<p class="normal">As he thought of these things, he felt himself growing so -soft-hearted, that he stopped and stamped his feet upon the pavement, -and thumped himself upon the chest, saying as he did so, between -laughing and crying, "This won't do, Josh; this won't do."</p> - -<p class="normal">He had given himself a score of thumps, and had said, "This won't do, -Josh," half-a-score of times, when loud cries for help fell upon -his ears. He had been walking in the direction of the river, through -some of the streets where he would be most likely to find Basil -Kindred; and he was in a locality where there was a number of low -public-houses, patronized by the worst class of seamen. Turning in the -direction of the cry, Joshua saw a woman run swiftly out of a narrow -thoroughfare. Pursuing her was a man, a dark-looking fellow, with -glittering eyes, and rings in his ears, and a knife in his hand, and -with all his copper-colored fingers and black-serpent locks of hair -flashing in the air with evil intent. Impelled by the unmistakable air -of terror in the form of the flying girl, and the unmistakable air of -mischief in the form of the pursuing man--partly, also, by the -impulsion born of the hunting spirit implanted in man and beast, -Joshua started off at a great pace, and flew after the flying couple.</p> - -<p class="normal">It was that part of the day when the neighborhood was most quiet. All -the men were at work in the dockyards, and the few women about (having -a wholesome horror probably of a man with an open knife in his hand, -and being perhaps accustomed to such diversions) seemed disinclined to -take part in the chase. With the exception of one drunken creature, -with a blotched and bloated face, who made a frantic motion to follow, -but being tripped up by her draggling petticoats, stumbled, more like -a heap of rags than a woman, into the gutter, Where she lay growling -indistinctly.</p> - -<p class="normal">The flying woman and the pursuing man were fleet of foot, but Joshua -was younger and more nimble than they. As he gained upon them, a dim -consciousness stole upon him that he knew them; and, as he approached -nearer, the doubt grew into conviction. The almost breathless woman, -throwing affrighted looks behind her, as if a dozen men were pursuing -her instead of one, was Susan; and the evil-looking man who was bent -on running her down was the Lascar who served the Old Sailor, and who -cooked for him, and would have poisoned him for rum and tobacco. Some -other than those, the ruling cravings of his existence, influenced him -now. All the passions of love and hate, and the desire to achieve his -purpose by striking terror, were expressed in every motion of every -limb: they were so eloquent and earnest in the savage pursuit that -they seemed to proclaim their owner's intention, as he raced after the -panting girl.</p> - -<p class="normal">He was almost upon her, and she felt his ugly lips reeking their -detestable flavor of rum and tobacco upon her neck, when Joshua, -coming up to him, seized him by the throat. He had been so savagely -vindictive in the pursuit, that Joshua's hand upon his throat was the -first indication he received that he was being himself pursued; but, -wasting no look upon his pursuer, he slipped from Joshua like an -eel--his neck was redolent of grease--and with an inarticulate cry of -rage and baffled lust, he sprang after Susan again, who had gained a -few steps by Joshua's ineffectual interposition. But Susan, thoroughly -bewildered and terrified, turned into a blind alley, and perceiving -that there was no thoroughfare, and that she was trapped, fell upon -the rough stones, prostrate from fear and exhaustion.</p> - -<p class="normal">On one side of the blind alley were four or five houses, in which no -signs of life were visible. They seemed stricken to death by disease. -On the other side was a black dead wall, which shut out the sky. -Before the Lascar could reach Susan--what the man's intention was, or -what he would have done in his wild fury, he, being more beast than -man, might probably not have been able to explain--Joshua had knocked -the knife out of his hand, and had knocked him down with a blow, the -force of which astonished Joshua himself, even in the midst of his -excitement. Almost before Joshua could realize what had occurred, the -cowardly Lascar was crouching by the side of the dead wall, as if his -lair were there, and Joshua was on his knee assisting Susan to recover -herself; keeping a wary look, however, upon the knife, which was lying -in the road at an equal distance from him and the Lascar. The Lascar -saw it too--saw it without looking at it, and without seeming to see -it. A surprising change had taken place in him. A minute since a -volcano of delirious lust was raging in his breast, and every nerve in -his body was quivering with dangerous passion; now, as if by magic, he -was coiled up like a snake, with no motion of life in him but the -quiet glitter of his eyes, which watched every thing, but seemed to -watch nothing.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What is it all about, Susan?" asked Joshua in wonderment, after a -pause. But, before Susan could reply, a crawling motion on the part of -the Lascar towards the knife caused Joshua to spring into the road. -The snake had no chance with the panther. The Lascar was knocked back -to his position by the dead wall, and Joshua stood over him grasping -the knife. This was the most eventful transaction that had ever -occurred to Joshua; and, as he stood over his antagonist palming the -knife, a strange sensation of pride in his own strength tingled -through his veins. There was blood upon the Lascar's face; Joshua had -struck him so fiercely as to loosen one of his teeth--so decidedly to -loosen it, that the Lascar put his finger into his mouth and drew it -out. He said nothing, however, but kept the tooth clasped in his -hand.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You black devil!" exclaimed Joshua, gazing upon the crouching figure -with a kind of loathing amazement. "What do you mean by all this?"</p> - -<p class="normal">The Lascar wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve, and shaking -the hair from his eyes, threw upon Joshua a covert look of deadly -malice--a look expressive of a bloody-minded craving to have Joshua -helpless on the stones beneath him, that he might press the life out -of his enemy. His eye spoke, but his tongue uttered no word. Raging -inwardly as he was with bad passion, he had sufficient control over -himself to suppress any spoken manifestation of it. But his attitude -and demeanor were not less dangerous for all that.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He follows me everywhere," said Susan, still gasping and panting for -breath. "He dogs me by day and by night. He waylays me in the dark, -and I can hardly get away from him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What for?" demanded Joshua, with his eye upon the Lascar, who was -sitting cunningly quiet, nursing his wounded mouth.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know," replied Susan, with an appalled look over her -shoulder, as if she were haunted by a fear that the spirit of the -Lascar was there, notwithstanding that he was crouching before her in -the ugly flesh. "I am afraid to think."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Afraid! in broad daylight!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Day or night it is all the same," moaned Susan. "Whenever he sees me, -he dogs me till I am ready to die. You don't know his power--you don't -know his power!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"What were you doing before I saw you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I was looking for some one."</p> - -<p class="normal">"For whom?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"For Mr. Kindred," with a curious hesitation.</p> - -<p class="normal">"For Mr. Kindred!" exclaimed Joshua, more amazed than ever; "why for -him?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is ill. I will tell you about it by and by," replied Susan -nervously. "I thought I should find him in this neighborhood, and -while I was looking for him, he"--pointing to the Lascar with a -shudder--"he saw me and spoke to me, and would not leave me--wanted me -to go with him and drink with him, and when I refused, he seized me, -and then--then--I scratched him--and--I don't remember any thing more, -except that I was afraid he wanted to kill me."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua looked up at the Lascar's face, and observed the scratch for -the first time. It was a long scratch downwards from the eye to the -wounded mouth. The Lascar made no attempt to hide it, but sat still, -with his hand on his mouth.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Serve you right, you black dog!" exclaimed Joshua. "What do you mean -by dogging her? What do you mean by following her with a knife? Why, -you Lascar dog, for two pins"--he raised his hand indignantly, and -advanced a step towards the Lascar, who made a shrinking movement -backwards, although in truth he could not get nearer to the dead wall -than he was already.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't, Joshua, don't!" cried Susan, seizing his arm, and clinging to -him imploringly. "Don't touch him, for God's sake, or"--with another -scared look behind her--"he'll haunt you as he haunts me."</p> - -<p class="normal">A taunting wicked smile crossed the Lascar's lips, but it was gone a -moment afterwards. It might have been the shadow of an evil thought -finding expression there.</p> - -<p class="normal">"How does he haunt you more than you have already told me he does?" -demanded Joshua in a great heat. "You don't think he can frighten me -as he frightens you, Susan, do you? The black dog! Look at him! He's -frightened of a white man's little finger!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hush!" implored Susan. "He haunts me when he is not near me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How can he do that, you foolish girl?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"He does it--he <i>can</i> do it--with his double!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"His double?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"He has a double--a spirit, a wicked spirit"--she turned her head -slowly and trembled in every limb; "and he told me it should haunt me, -and follow me wherever I go. And it does! I feel it behind me when I -don't see him. It is there now! It is there now!" And wrought to the -highest pitch of mental terror and excitement, Susan threw up her -hands, and would have fallen to the ground but for Joshua's protecting -arm.</p> - -<p class="normal">The taunting smile came again upon the Lascar's lips, as he secretly -watched Susan's terror. With a special maliciousness he flashed his -fingers towards her, as if he were issuing a command to his double not -to leave her. It was evidence of the power he possessed over her weak -mind that, notwithstanding her almost fainting condition, a stronger -shuddering came upon her when he made even that slight motion.</p> - -<p class="normal">Feeling that, for Susan's sake, it was necessary to put an end to the -scene, Joshua, with an indignant motion, commanded the Lascar to leave -them. The Lascar rose submissively, like a whipped dog, and so stood -with bent head before Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now then, what are you waiting for?" asked Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"My knife," answered the Lascar doggedly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not likely," said Joshua; "I know you too well to let you have it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do you know of me?" asked the Lascar in a low guttural voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have heard enough of you from Mr. Meddler"--the Lascar grated his -teeth with tigerish ferocity--"you and the likes of you. I know how -free you are with your knives, you Lascars, on land and on sea. Be -off!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"My knife!" again demanded the Lascar, with his eyes directed to -Joshua's feet; but he saw Joshua's face and every motion of Joshua's -body. "My knife! It is mine. I bought it and paid for it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Stole it more likely," said Joshua with a sneer.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is a lie. I bought it. Even if I did steal it, you have no right -to it. Give me my knife, and let me go."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Joshua reflected. Clearly he had no just claim to the man's knife, -and had no right to retain it. His mind was soon made up. Releasing -his hold of Susan, he placed the blade beneath his foot, and broke it -off close to the handle. Then he threw the handle and the blade over -the Lascar's head. A dangerous fire gleamed in the man's downcast eyes -and a cold-blooded grating of teeth came from his mouth. He stood -silent for a few moments, with his hands tightly pressed, striving to -master the devil that was raging within him. But he could not restrain -his passion.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Curse you!" he hissed; "I owe you something; I will pay it you, by -hell!"</p> - -<p class="normal">He crouched to receive the blow which he expected Joshua would give -him, in return for his curse. But no blow was given nor intended; yet -he quivered as if he had been struck before he spoke again.</p> - -<p class="normal">"See you!" he cried; "I never forget--never--never! My turn will come. -You called me black devil"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"So you are," said Joshua scornfully. "And black dog--dog of a -Lascar!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"So you are."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You shall pay for it! If it is years before I can pay you, you shall -be paid for it! See you--remember!" With all his fingers menacingly, -as if each was possessed with a distinct will, and was swearing -vengeance against Joshua. "Your life shall pay for it--more than your -life shall pay for it!" He spat upon the ground and trod savagely upon -the spittle. "I mark you--see!" With his forefinger he marked a cross -in the air. "I put this cross against you--curse you!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan, gazing on with sight terror-fixed, saw the infuriated man stamp -upon the stones, as if he had Joshua's life-blood beneath his foot, -and then saw the cross marked in the air. The fire of her fevered -imagination gave red color to the shadowy lines; and when the Lascar -lowered his forefinger, she saw the recorded cross standing -unsupported in the air--a cross of bright red blood. Fascinated, she -gazed until the bright color faded into two dusky lines, and so -remained. Joshua laughed lightly at the vindictive action and the -curse; yet he did not feel quite at his ease.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Come, Susan," he said, "let us be going."</p> - -<p class="normal">But Susan did not move. Every sense was absorbed in watching the -dreadful cross and the Lascar's passion-distorted face. He, stooping -to pick up the handle of the knife and the broken blade, turned again -upon Joshua, and remained faithful to his theme.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't forget," he said in his low, bad voice, the words coming slowly -from a throat almost choked with passion. "By this"--placing his hand -upon his wounded mouth--"and these"--holding up the pieces of the -knife--"I will keep you in mind. If it is to-morrow, or next week, or -next month, you shall be paid! The dog of a Lascar never forgets! See -you--remember!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Storm away," said Joshua, drawing Susan aside to allow the Lascar to -pass. "You will have to be very quick about it, for to-morrow I go to -sea."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You do, eh!" exclaimed the Lascar, with another harsh grating of his -teeth, and stopping suddenly in his course. "See you now--take this -with you for my good-by!" With a swift motion, he cut his finger with -the broken blade, and shook the blood at Joshua. It fell in a sprinkle -over his clothes, and a drop plashed into his face. The Lascar saw it, -and laughed. "Take that with you for luck!" he cried. "By that mark I -shall live to pay you, and you will live to be paid!"</p> - -<p class="normal">So saying, he turned and fled. Joshua sprang after him, but the man -was out of sight in a minute. Returning to Susan, Joshua found her -sitting upon the pavement, nursing her knees and sobbing -distressfully.</p> - -<p class="normal">"O Josh!" she cried, "it is a bad omen."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not at all," said Joshua, cooling down a little, and wiping the spot -of blood from his face. "What does the old proverb say? 'Curses always -come home to roost.' Do you hear me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">It was evident that she did not; her fright was still strong upon her. -With a shrinking movement of her head, she looked slowly round, and -clutching Joshua's hand, whispered, "For pity's sake, don't let him -come near me! Hold me tight! Keep close to me! He is not gone!"</p> - -<p class="normal">With a firm and gentle force, Joshua compelled her to stand upright.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is no one here but you and I," he said, in a firm voice. "You -are letting your fancies make a baby of you. There is no one here but -you and I. If you will not believe what I say--I can see, I suppose, -and I am calm, while you are in a regular fever--if you will not -believe what I say, I shall leave you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, no!" she cried, clinging to him.</p> - -<p class="normal">He compelled her to walk two or three times up and down the court. His -decided action calmed her. She gave vent to a sigh of relief, and -wiped her eyes.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's right," said Joshua as they walked out of the court. "Now I -can tell you that I am glad I have met you. I join my ship to-morrow."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I had no idea you were going away so soon."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am going now to see if Mr. Kindred is at home."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I live in the same house as he does," she said, looking timidly at -Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is strange. Are you and he intimate?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes. They are poor, you know, Joshua."</p> - -<p class="normal">"So are you, Susey."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But I can help them a little. He's often ill, and Minnie isn't strong -enough to take care of him, and so I nurse him sometimes. Minnie and I -are great friends."</p> - -<p class="normal">When they arrived at Basil Kindred's poor lodging, Minnie met them at -the door. With her finger to her lips, she motioned them to be quiet.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Tread softly," she whispered; "father has come home, and is lying -down."</p> - -<p class="normal">They walked to the bed, and saw Basil Kindred lying on the bed in -unquiet sleep. Susan placed her hand on his hot forehead, and said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have been afraid of this for a long time, Josh. He has got a fever. -What would he do without me now?"</p> - -<p class="normal">There was a touch of pride in her voice as she asked the question. The -pride arose from the conviction that the man she loved really needed -her help, and from the knowledge that she could make some little -sacrifice for him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is very, very ill, I think," whispered Minnie.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We will make him well between us, Minnie," said Susan.</p> - -<p class="normal">Al! the fears by which she was assailed but a few minutes since were -gone. Joshua was glad to see that, at all events.</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie took Susan's hand gratefully, and kissed it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"She has been so good to us, Joshua," she said.</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan's eyes kindled, and she directed to Joshua a look which said, -"Have I not done right in coming to live here? See how useful I can -be, and how happy I am!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I shall tell them at home where you live, Susey," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Very well. Give my love to Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua nodded, and bent over Basil Kindred. The action disturbed the -sleeping man. He seized Joshua's wrist in his burning hand, and said, -in a trembling voice, "She died in my arms, and the earth was her bed. -The stars were ashamed to look upon her. Well they might be! Well they -might be!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is speaking of his wife," said Susan softly to Joshua. "He loved -her very dearly, and would have died for her. When she died, his heart -almost broke."</p> - -<p class="normal">Sympathy and devotion made her voice like sweet music. Joshua looked -at her with a feeling of wonder, and was amazed at the change that had -come over her. An hour ago, she was crouching in drivelling terror, -overpowered by absurd fancies; now she moved about cheerfully, strong -in her purpose of love. But he had never in all his life seen her as -he saw her now. He bade her good-by, and she wished him Godspeed, and -kissed him. Minnie accompanied him to the door.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good-by, dear little Minnie," he said.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good-by," she said, with tears in her voice. "You forgive me, don t -you, for what I said this afternoon?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, my dear."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah! I like to hear you speak like that; it sounds sweet and good. -Say, 'I forgive you, little Minnie.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"But I haven't any thing to forgive, now I come to think of it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, you have. You say that out of your good nature. You mustn't go -away and leave me to think that you are angry with me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am not angry with you, Minnie. After all, what you did, you did -through love, and there could not be much wrong in it."</p> - -<p class="normal">The brightest of bright expressions stole into her face, and she -clasped her hands with joy.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Say that again, Joshua, word for word, as you said it just now."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What you did, you did through love," repeated Joshua to please her, -"and there could not be much wrong in it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"O Joshua!" she cried, pressing her hands to her face, "you have made -me almost quite happy. I have heard father say the same thing, but in -different words. Now I shall follow you to sea. Yes, I shall, with -this," holding up her shell. "To-morrow night, and every night that -you are at sea, I shall listen to my shell and think of you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Stupid little Minnie," he said affectionately.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And you will come back in a year?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I hope so, please God."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Then I shall be growing quite a woman," she said thoughtfully.</p> - -<p class="normal">The next moment she raised her face quickly to his. The tears were -streaming down it. As he bent to her, she caught him round the neck, -and kissed him once, twice, thrice, with more than the passionate -affection, but with all the innocence, of a child. Then she ran into -the house; and Joshua, taking that as a farewell, walked slowly -homewards, to go through the hardest trial of all.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">That hardest trial through which he had to go awaited him at home. All -the members of the Marvel family, and Dan and Ellen Taylor, were -assembled together in the old familiar kitchen. They were all of them -sad at heart, and made themselves sadder by vain little attempts to be -cheerful. The tea was a very silent affair, and the two or three extra -delicacies provided by Mrs. Marvel--as if it were a feast they were -sitting down to--were failures. The most remarkable feature about the -tea was the pretence they all made to eat and drink a great deal, and -the miserableness of the result. They pretended to accomplish -prodigies, and handed about the bread-and-butter and the cake very -industriously, as if it were each person's duty to be mightily anxious -about every other person's appetite, and to utterly ignore his own. -But every thing in the way of eating and drinking was a mistake. The -bread-and-butter was disregarded, and was taken away in disgrace; the -cake was slighted, and retired in dudgeon. It was a relief when the -tea-things were cleared. Mrs. Marvel was the bravest of the party; she -who had so strongly protested against Joshua's going to sea, did all -she could to administer little crumbs of comfort to every one of them, -and especially to her husband, who had so heartily encouraged Joshua -not to do as his father had done before him, but who was now the most -outwardly miserable person in the kitchen. Thus, Mrs. Marvel sang -snatches of songs, and bustled about as if she really enjoyed Joshua's -going, and was glad to get rid of him. When she had accomplished a -good deal of nothing, she rose and did nothing else; and when that was -done, she sat down and remonstrated with her good man, and would even -have rejoiced if she could have worried him into blowing her up.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't take on so, George," she said; "you ought to be cheerful -to-night of all nights. What is the use of fretting? Joshua's going to -make a man of himself, and to do good for all of us--ain't you, my -dear?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I intend it, mother, you may be sure."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Of course you do; and here is father in the dumps when he ought to be -up in the skies."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Some day, I hope," said George Marvel, mustering up spirit to have -his joke in the midst of his sadness; "not just now, though. I want to -see what sort of a figure Josh will cut in the world first. Give me my -pipe, Maggie."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Marvel made a great fuss in getting the pipe, knocking down a -chair, and clattering things about, and humming a verse of her -favorite song, "Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses;" and really made matters -a little less sad by her bustle. Then, instead of handing her husband -the pipe without moving from her seat, as she might have done, she -made a sweep round the table, and pinched Ellen's cheek, and patted -Dan on the head, and wiped her eyes on the sly, and kissed Joshua, and -so worked her way to George Marvel, and put the pipe between his lips.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are as active as a girl, Maggie," said George Marvel, putting his -arm round her waist, and gently detaining her by his side.</p> - -<p class="normal">She looked down into his eyes, and for the life of her could not help -the tears gathering in her own. She made no further attempts to be -cheerful; and what little conversation was indulged in occurred -between long intervals of silence. They had an early supper; for -Joshua was to rise at daybreak. When supper was over, George Marvel -took out the Bible, and in an impressive voice read from it the one -hundred and seventh Psalm. They all stood round the table with bent -heads, Joshua standing between his mother and Dan, clasping a hand of -each. Very solemn was George Marvel's voice when he came to the -twenty-third verse:--</p> -<br> -<div style="font-size:90%"> -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great -waters;</p> -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">These see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.</p> -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">For He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the -waves thereof.</p> -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; -their soul is melted because of trouble.</p> -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at -their wits' end.</p> -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them -out of their distresses.</p> -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.</p> -<p class="normal" style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">Then are they glad because they be quiet; so He bringeth them unto -their desired haven."</p> -</div> -<br> -<p class="normal">When the reading of the Psalm was over, and they had stood silent for -a little while, they raised their heads, but could scarcely see each -other for the tears in their eyes. Then they kissed, and said -goodnight; and Joshua, casting a wistful glance round the kitchen, -every piece of furniture and crockery in which appeared to share in -the general regret, assisted Dan up to his bedroom for the last time.</p> - -<p class="normal">They had scarcely time to sit down before the handle was gently -turned, and George Marvel entered. In the room were all Joshua's -little household gods--his accordion, his favorite books, and his dear -little feathered friends.</p> - -<p class="normal">George Marvel threw his arm round Joshua's waist, and drew him close.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What are you going to do with the birds, Josh?" he asked.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dan will take care of them, father."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't fret at leaving them--or us. Be a man, Josh--be a man," he -said, with the tears running down his face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, dear father, I will," said Joshua with a great sob.</p> - -<p class="normal">"An don't forget father and mother, my boy."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, father, never!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It's better than being a wood-turner, Josh. Don't you think so?" -doubting at the last moment the wisdom of his having encouraged Joshua -in the step he was about to take.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A great deal better, father. You'll see!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's right, Josh--that's right! I'm glad to hear you say so. -Goodnight, my boy. God bless you!" And pressing Joshua in his arms, -and kissing him, George Marvel went away to bed.</p> - -<p class="normal">He had not been gone two minutes before the handle of the door was -turned again, and Mrs. Marvel's pale face appeared. She did not enter -the room; and Joshua ran to her. She drew him on to the narrow -landing, and shut the door, so that they were in darkness. She pressed -him to her bosom, and kissed him many times, and cried over him -quietly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"O mother!" whispered Joshua, "shall I go? Shall I go?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hush, dear child," Mrs. Marvel said. "It is the very best thing; and -you must not doubt now. Bless you, my dear, dear child! You will come -home a man; and we shall all be so proud of you--so proud--and happy!" -She pressed him closer, and tried to speak cheerfully; but it was a -poor attempt. "And write whenever you can, and tell us every thing."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes; I will be sure."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Be a good boy, Joshua."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, mother."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And you will say your prayers every night?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I will, mother."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dear child, God will protect you. I shall think of you of a night -saying your prayers my dear, and it will comfort me so! And here I am, -keeping my boy out of bed, like a selfish, selfish, selfish mother! -Now, my dear, one more kiss, and say goodnight."</p> - -<p class="normal">He kissed her again, and she left his arms, and crept softly to her -room. These heart-shocks were hard to bear, and he paused to recover -himself before he re-entered the room. Dan did not look at him, nor -ask him any questions. But Joshua sat down beside Dan, and said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"It was mother kept me, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, I know, Jo dear. There's somebody else at the door."</p> - -<p class="normal">It was Sarah, who asked if she might come in. Of course she might. And -might Ellen come in? Of course. So Ellen came in, and she and Sarah -sat with their brothers for a few minutes. They talked quietly -together, and Joshua drew close to Ellen, and grew calmer as he looked -at her sweet peaceful face. She raised her eyes shyly to his, and told -him she had a little present for him, and would he accept it? <i>There</i> -was a question to ask him! Joshua answered almost gayly. She produced -her present--a poor little purse, which she had herself worked for -him--and Joshua kissed it, and kissed her afterwards, and she nestled -to his side very tenderly and very prettily, and cast down her eyes, -and was perfectly happy. The girls did not stay long. Goodnight was -said again and again, and Joshua asked Ellen to kiss him, and she did -so without hesitation. When they were gone, Joshua sat down, and -rested his head upon his hands. He was weary after the day's -excitement, but although he was tired, he was wakeful, and did not -feel inclined for sleep. So he and Dan had a long chat together, -recalling the many tender memories that enriched their friendship.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have a present for you, too, Jo," said Dan, producing a Bible.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua opened it, and read on the first page, "From Dan, to his -dearest friend and brother, Joshua. With undying love and confidence."</p> - -<p class="normal">"With undying love and confidence," mused Joshua. "Nothing could ever -change our friendship, Dan, could it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nothing, Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Come, now," said Joshua, "suppose, for the sake of argument, that I -was to turn out bad."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan smiled. "That couldn't happen, Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">Thereupon Joshua told Dan the adventure he had had that day with Susan -and the Lascar. "And, do you know, Dan, when I knocked him down, and -saw his mouth bleeding. I was glad--savagely glad, I am sorry to say. -Yet afterwards when I thought of it, and when I think of it now, it -seems as if it was a bad feeling that possessed me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It doesn't seem so to me, Jo; it gives me greater confidence in you. -If you had not acted so, what would have become of poor Susan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's true," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I knew all along, Jo dear, that you were loving and tender and good, -but I did not know until now that you were so bold and brave. And so -strong too! I am proud of you. You can't tell what may happen. Think -of this strange new world you are going to now, Jo, and of the strange -things the Old Sailor has told us of it. You have no more idea of the -wonders you will see than I have. But you will see them, and I shall -see them through you. Listen now to me, Jo. I love you, my dearest -friend and brother, and you have my undying love and confidence. I, a -poor helpless cripple, had no future of my own; and you have given me -one. I live in you. I shall follow you in my thoughts, in my dreams. -Somehow, Jo, our minds have grown together, and I smile at your words -that you might turn out bad. Could you believe it of me, if I was -strong like you even?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You answer for me Jo. You have always been noble and good to me, and -you will always be the same. I would not think of thanking you, Jo, -for what you have done for me--I would not think of thanking you for -making my poor crippled legs a blessing to me instead of a burden. Not -with words do I or can I repay you--but with undying love and -confidence. Kiss me now, Jo, and say that you fully understand my -friendship and truth."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Fully, Dan;" kissing him. "And I have never forgotten what I promised -you a long time ago, Dan. Wherever I am, and whatever I shall see I -will think, 'Dan is here with me, although I cannot see him.' Although -we are parted, we shall be together."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, in spirit, Jo dear," said Dan with a beautiful light of -happiness upon his face. "And now, goodnight."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good night, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">"If I am asleep in the morning, Jo, do not wake me. I am content to -part from you now with this goodnight."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Very well, Dan. Goodnight."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Goodnight, MY FRIEND."</p> - -<p class="normal">With that Dan turned to the wall, and Joshua, going to the bird-cages -hanging in that the room, said goodnight to the birds. They were -asleep on their perches, and he did not disturb them. "They will give -me a chirrup in the morning," he thought, and, blowing out the candle, -he said his prayers and went to bed. But he could not sleep; the -events of the day presented themselves to his mind in the strangest -forms. Minnie and her shell came and faded away, and her place was -filled by Susan nursing Basil Kindred; then came the ugly figure of -the Lascar crouching down, and afterwards making a cross against him, -and cursing him; his father reading the Psalm, while they all stood -round; he and his mother standing in the dark passage, and his mother -sobbing over him; Ellen kissing him and nestling close to him, oh so -prettily and innocently! All these pictures presented themselves to -him consecutively at first; but presently they grew disturbed, and the -Lascar, the evil genius of the group, was mischievously and -triumphantly at work, now in one shape, now in another. Joshua and -Ellen were sitting together when the Lascar came between them, and -struck Ellen out of the picture. Then the two were locked in a deadly -struggle on the ground, and the Lascar, overpowering him, knelt upon -his chest and hissed, "I could take your life, but that won't satisfy -me. More than your life shall pay for what you have done." Other -phases of his fancies were, that Dan believed him to be false. "My -doing!" hissed the Lascar. That Ellen believed him to be wicked. "My -doing!" hissed the Lascar. That they all believed him to be bad. "My -doing!" hissed the Lascar. That they were all grouped together, and -were turning from him, and that the Lascar, holding him fast, -whispered that that was his revenge. At length the combinations became -so distressing, that Joshua, to shake off the fancies, rose in his bed -and opened his eyes. The moonlight was streaming in through the -window, and Joshua crept quietly to the water-jug and sprinkled some -water over his face. Then, his mind being calmer, he knelt down by the -side of the bed; and Dan, who had not slept, raised himself upon his -elbow, and, seeing his friend in prayerful attitude, smiled softly to -himself and was glad.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XI.</h4> - -<h5>WHAT OCCURRED AFTER JOSHUA'S DEPARTURE.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">The nicest mathematical calculations of the probability of -events are -not uncommonly subjected to shocks which, to those dull and -unreflective persons who cannot distinguish between rule and -exceptions, seem to give the lie to science. Yesterday the world was -at peace, and rulers and politicians were eloquent in phrases of -friendship and goodwill to the inhabitants of every nation on the -face of the earth. To-day the world is at war, and rulers and -politicians, hot with wrath at a cunningly-provoked insult, are eager -to avenge traditional wrongs at any expense of blood and human -suffering, and to resent what they choose to call national -humiliation. Yesterday two nations clasped hands, and smiled upon one -another. Suddenly, as thus they stood, a fire--kindled by the worst of -secret passions and by the lust of self-aggrandizement--flashed into -their palms, and they threw each other off, and drew the sword. A more -serious shock was never given to the calculation of the probable -course of events.</p> - -<p class="normal">Yesterday peace was certain, and men were preparing to gather the -harvests; today war is raging, and the cornfields are steeped in -blood.</p> - -<p class="normal">So have I seen in a far-off country--now almost in its infancy, but -whose growth is swift, and whose manhood will be grand--a sluggish -river rolling lazily to the sea. Walking inland along its banks, now -broadened by fair plains, now narrowed by towering ranges, I have come -suddenly upon the confluence of it and another river, whose waters, -springing from cloud-tipped mountains of snow, rush laughingly down -the grand old rocks. Here, in the narrow pass where the rivers meet, -the gray sluggish stream of a sleeper opposes itself to the -marvellously blue waters of a passionate life. One, dull and inert, -rolls like a soulless sluggard sullenly to the sea; the other, with -its snow-fringed lines reflected in its restless depths of blue, leaps -and laughs as it flashes onwards, like a godlike hero, to the mightier -waters of the Pacific. But a few hundred yards away from the -confluence of the streams, no stranger, walking thitherward, could -imagine the singular and grand contest that is eternally waging in -that wonderful pass; and when he comes upon it suddenly, admiration -impels him to stand in silent worship.</p> - -<p class="normal">One of the commonest of common similes is the simile of life and a -river. But as it is not because a thing is rare that it must needs be -sweet, so it is not because a thing is common that it must needs be -true. Every river fulfils its mission: does every life? More like a -stream than a river is life. Trace the stream, from the inconsiderable -bubbling of a mountain spring, down the hillsides, over rocks, through -glades lighted by sunlight and moonlight, through tortuous defiles and -rocky chasms, into a sparkling current, which swells and swells and -grows into a lovely channel, or into a sullen rill, which drips and -drips and loses itself in a puddle.</p> - -<p class="normal">When Joshua's ship had sailed, gloom fell upon the house of the -Marvels: the sunshine that used to warm it no longer shone on it. -George Marvel showed his grief more plainly than did his good woman. -He was more gentle towards her, and sometimes his gentleness of manner -took the form of submission. Singularly enough she was seriously -distressed at the change. She wished him to be positive and -contradictory, as he used to be; to scold her and put her down, as he -used to do; to be more masterful and less gentle. She strove in all -sorts of ways to bring back his old humor; she tried his temper by -opposing him in trivial matters; she contradicted him when he spoke; -and she even ventured, on two or three occasions, to tell him that he -would have to wait for his meals--which waiting for one's meals, as is -well known, is one of the leading causes of domestic differences. But -all her well-meant efforts were thrown away; and when she saw him sit -down patiently on being told, with assumed snappishness, that tea -wouldn't be ready for half an hour, she gave it up as a bad job, and, -acting wisely, left time to cure him. It <i>did</i> cure him, as it cures -greater griefs; but in the mean time he suffered greatly.</p> - -<p class="normal">The fact of it was, George Marvel was troubled in his mind at the -prominent part he had taken in influencing Joshua's choice of a -profession. Having driven his son to sea, he felt as if he had a hand -in every storm, and as if he were in some measure responsible for -every gust of wind, inasmuch as it expressed danger to Joshua. Then -the thought of Joshua's being shipwrecked haunted him. "Suppose Josh -is shipwrecked, father," his wife had said, "what would you say then? -You'd lie awake night after night, father--you know you would--and -wish he had been a wood-turner."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Maggie was right," he admitted to himself; "it would have been better -for Josh, and happier for all us, if he had remained at home and been -a wood-turner."</p> - -<p class="normal">Being in pursuit of misery, he showed the doggedness of his nature by -hunting for it assiduously. He read with remorseful eagerness every -scrap of print relating to shipwreck that he could lay hands upon. He -would go out of his way to borrow a paper which he had heard contained -an account of disasters at sea, and when he obtained it, he would shut -himself up, and read it and re-read it in secrecy, until he extracted -as much misery from it as it could possibly yield him. The second -Saturday night after Joshua's departure he saw a number of persons -assembled round a sailor who was begging. The sailor had a patch over -his eye and a wooden leg, and he was singing, in a voice of dismal -enjoyment, a woful narration of his sufferings on a raft. George -Marvel stopped until the song was finished, and then gave the man a -penny. The following Saturday night he went in search of the sailor, -and listened to his song, and gave him another penny. And so, for many -successive Saturday nights, he went and enjoyed his penny-worth of -misery, getting, it must be admitted, full value for his money.</p> - -<p class="normal">On other evenings he smoked his pipe in the kitchen as usual. If the -weather was boisterous, he would go restlessly to the street-door, and -come back more low-spirited than ever.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It's dreadfully windy to-night, Maggie," he would say.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you think so, George?" Mrs. Marvel would ask, making light of the -wind for his sake, although she too was thinking of Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not a star to be seen," he would add despondently.</p> - -<p class="normal">Then would come a stronger gust, perhaps, and George Marvel would -shiver and ask his wife if she thought it was stormy out at sea. She, -becoming on the instant wonderfully weatherwise, would answer, No, she -was sure it wasn't stormy at sea, for the sea was such a long way off, -and it wasn't likely that a storm would be all over the world at once.</p> - -<p class="normal">One night when a great storm was raging through London, and when the -thunder was breaking loudly over the chimney-tops in Stepney, Mrs. -Marvel lay awake, with all a mother's fears tugging at her -heart-strings, praying silently for Joshua's safety, and clasping her -hands more tightly in agony of love at every lightning-flash that -darted past the window. She hoped that her husband was asleep, -oblivious of the storm; but he was as wide awake as she was, -and was following Joshua's ship through the fearful storm. At one -time, the house shook in the wild blustering of the wind, and they -heard a crash as of the blowing down of some chimneys.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Maggie," whispered Mr. Marvel, wondering if his wife were awake.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, father," answered Mrs. Marvel, under her breath.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is an awful storm." Then, after a pause, "Have you been awake -long, mother?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have been listening to it for ever so long, dear," said Mrs. -Marvel; adding, with a cunning attempt to comfort him, "And praying -that it might spend out all its force over our heads, and not travel -away to Joshua's ship. We ought to be thankful that Joshua is on the -open sea. Mr. Meddler says there's no danger for a ship in a storm -when it isn't near land."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And he knows better than us, mother."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, dear. All we can do is to pray for Joshua. God will bring him -back to us, father."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I hope so; I pray so. Goodnight, Maggie. Go to sleep."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, George. Goodnight."</p> - -<p class="normal">But they lay awake for a long time after that, until the storm, -sobbing like a child worn out with passion, sighed and moaned itself -away.</p> - -<p class="normal">As for Dan, for many days after Joshua was gone he felt as if a dear -friend had died; not Joshua, but some unknown friend almost as dear. -He had reason enough for feeling lonely and miserable. His dear -friend's companionship had been inestimably precious to him; Joshua's -very footfall had made his heart glad. The hours they had spent -together were the summer of his life, and now that he and Joshua were -parted he recognized that a great void had been made in his life, and -that it behoved him to fill it up. That void was want of occupation. -What was he to do now that Joshua was gone? When Joshua was at home, -there had been every day something to do, something to talk about. -something to argue upon. Then, time did not hang heavily upon his -hands; now, when there was no Joshua to look forward to, he found -himself falling into a state of listlessness which he knew was not -good for him. He wanted something for his hands to do. What? He -thought a great deal about it, and had not settled the difficulty when -a domestic calamity occurred.</p> - -<p class="normal">The drinking proclivities of Mr. Taylor have been incidentally -referred to. These proclivities had unfortunately grown upon him to -such an extent, that he was now an ardent and faithful slave of that -demon to so many English homes among the poor--Gin. It has been spoken -of often enough and truthfully enough, God knows! But it cannot, until -it lie vanquished in the dust, be too often struck at. If there is a -curse in this our mighty England which degrades it to a level so low -that it is shame to think of, that curse is Gin! If vice, domestic -misery, and prostitution have an English teacher, that teacher is Gin! -And in this England, which we so glorify, so sing about and mouth -about, no direct attempt has ever yet been made by statesmen who work -as Jobbers to root this teacher out of our wretched courts and alleys, -and replace it by something better. Perhaps one day, when a lull takes -place in the jangle of Politics--amid the din of which so many strange -sounds are heard; such as the wrangle of religious creeds, whose -various exponents split worthless straws in Church-and-State bills for -Heaven knows what purpose, unless it be for the triumph of their -particular creeds; such as the wrangle of private members whose hearts -and souls (literally) are wrapt up in private bills for the good of -the people--perhaps one day amid the lull, a wise and beneficent -statesman may turn his attention to the abominable curse, and earn for -himself a statue, the design of which shall be--after the manner of -St. George and the Dragon--Gin writhing on the ground in all its true -deformity, pierced through by the spear of a wise legislation, which -in this instance at least shall have legislated for the good of the -many.</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Taylor, one of the Gin Patriots, having enrolled himself as a -soldier in the cause, was necessitated by the magnanimity of his -nature to become a soldier leal and true. So he bowed himself down -before Gin, and worshipped it morning, noon, and night. Even in his -dreams he was faithful to the cause, mumbling out entreaties to his -god. His devotion causing him to neglect all lesser worldly matters, -he fell into a bad state of poverty, and his family fell with him. The -worst form of Mr. Taylor's devotion did not appear until Joshua left -home; hitherto he had been working up to his ambition's height. Having -reached it, he rested on his oars, which, being composed of the -frailest of timber, gave way and sent him rolling into the mud. As he -declined to provide for his family, that duty devolved upon Mrs. -Taylor, and she patiently and unmurmuringly performed her duty, and -worked her fingers to the bone, until her strength gave way. She was -one of those quiet souls who always do their best, and never complain; -and having done her best, she closed her eyes upon the world, and -passed without a murmur out of the hive of busy bees.</p> - -<p class="normal">There was much sadness in the house when the event occurred, and -there was much helpful sympathy among the neighbors. Not for Mr. -Taylor--although they remembered the time when he was a respectable -member of society, before he had fallen under the fatal influence of -Gin--but for the children. During Mrs. Taylor's illness, which lasted -but a very short time, Susan came to the house and helped Ellen in her -household work and in nursing their mother. It was an anxious time for -the poor little maid; but she did her work willingly, and with the -patient spirit her mother had exhibited. Susan was a great help to -her, and there was more sisterly love between them during that time -than had ever before shown itself. At the funeral, Mr. Taylor -presented himself in as decent a state of Gin as he could muster up -for the occasion; drivelled a little, trembled a great deal, and -proclaimed himself a most unfortunate man. Finding that he obtained no -sympathy for his miserable position from his children or from the -neighbors, he, when the funeral was over, pawned his waistcoat, and -dissolving the proceeds wept tears of Gin over the death of his wife. -While he was employed in that process of drowning his grief, the three -children were sitting together in Dan's room talking in hushed tones -over their loss and over their prospects. After the funeral, Mrs. -Marvel--who had helped to nurse Mrs. Taylor--quietly prepared tea in -Dan's room, and with her usual sympathetic instinct of what was best, -kept herself out of sight as much as possible. But at the last moment, -when tea was ready and she was about to leave the children -undisturbed, she placed her arm round Dan's neck, and whispered that -Joshua's home was Dan's and that he might come and occupy Joshua's -room whenever he pleased. "And be another son to us my dear," said -good Mrs. Marvel; "so that we shall have two." Dan thanked her, and -looked at Ellen thoughtfully, and then Mrs. Marvel left the children -to their meal.</p> - -<p class="normal">Said Dan, "Mrs. Marvel has asked me to live in her house, and sleep in -Joshua's room."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It would be a good thing," observed Susan.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan stole his hand into Ellen's, who had been looking down sadly; she -felt the warm pressure, and her fingers tightened upon his. That -little action was as good as words; they understood each other -perfectly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No," he said, "it would not be a good thing. It was a good thing for -Mrs. Marvel to offer, but then she is Jo's mother, and as kind and -good as Jo is; but it would not be a good thing for me to accept. For -there's Ellen here; she is half of me, Susey, and we mustn't be -parted. But indeed there will be no reason for it. I have a wonderful -scheme in my head, but it wants thinking over before I tell it."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan spoke bravely, as if he were a strong man, with all the world to -choose from.</p> - -<p class="normal">"O Dan!" exclaimed Susan, tears coming to her eyes at his brave -confident manner, "if it hadn't been for me you wouldn't have been a -cripple, and your poor legs might have been of some use to you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"They will be of more use to me perhaps than if they were sound, -Susey," said Dan cheerfully, "if I can make something out of the -scheme I have got in my head--and I think I can. Let us talk sensibly. -Now that poor dear mother's gone, we must all do something. I intend -to commence doing something to-morrow."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What, dear Dan?" asked Susan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You will see. What I should like is that we should all live together. -Perhaps not just now, Susey, but by and by. What do you say to that, -Susey?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan thought of Basil and Minnie Kindred, and felt that it would be -impossible for her to leave them. "It would be very good," she said, -"but we can talk of that by and by, as you say."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Very well. The first thing, then, we have to consider is -bread-and-butter. Bread-and-butter," he repeated, in reply to their -questioning looks. "We must have it, and we must earn it."</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan nodded gravely, and said, "Ellen had better learn to be a -dressmaker."</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen looked up with joyful gratitude.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Oh, how good of you, Susey!" she exclaimed. "Then I could earn money. -I wouldn't mind how hard I should have to work."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is a capital idea," said Dan, taking Susan's hand. "The best thing -you can do, Susey, is to bring some of your work here every day for a -couple of hours, and let Ellen help you--she will soon learn."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That I will," said Ellen in a voice of quiet gladness.</p> - -<p class="normal">These young people, you see, were not entirely unhappy.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I wonder where Joshua is," remarked Ellen during the evening.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah, where?" sighed Dan. "But wherever he is, he is doing his duty, -and we will do ours. How happy we all were that night at Mr. Meddler's -What a beautiful day that was! Like a dream! Hark! There is the -church-bell striking nine o'clock." They listened in silence. "That is -like a wedding-bell. Now the other church is striking--how solemn it -sounds--like a funeral-bell."</p> - -<p class="normal">The tears came to their eyes when Dan inadvertently made the last -remark.</p> - -<p class="normal">They did not speak for a long time after that, and then Dan said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"I feel now just as I felt the day after Jo went away."</p> - -<p class="normal">They sat up talking until eleven o'clock. They spoke in low tones, and -they sat in the dark.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't you miss mother's step, Dan?" asked Susan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"How strange it is to know that she is not in the house!" said Dan. -"Hush!"</p> - -<p class="normal">There was a step outside the door; it was the drunken step of their -father, who stumbled through the passage and up the stairs, shedding -tears of Gin as he staggered to bed, bemoaning the death of his wife. -They listened with feelings of grief and fear until they heard his -bedroom-door shut, and then turned to each other with deeper sighs. -Shame for the living was more grievous to bear than sorrow for the -dead.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XII.</h4> - -<h5>DAN ENTERS INTO BUSINESS.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Their plans were commenced the very next day. Susan came round -with -her work, and gave Ellen her first lesson in dressmaking. Ellen was as -skilful with the needle as Susan was, and made famous progress. A -cheerful worker is sure to turn out a skilful one.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have been thinking in the night, Ellen," said Susan, "that we might -go into partnership."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Wait," said Dan the Just, looking up from the table, on which the -birds were going through their performances; "there is time enough to -talk of that. I don't intend that you shall sacrifice every thing for -us."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No sacrifice could be too great for me to make for you, Dan," replied -Susan. "But I think that I should have all the advantage, if we were -partners. Ellen has such a beautiful figure, that she would be sure to -get customers. Stand up, dear--look at her, Dan!" And Susan turned -Ellen about, and looked at her pretty sister's pretty figure without a -tittle of envy. "If you are a judge of any thing but birds, Dan, you -must confess that but is a model."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan smiled and said, "If Ellen wasn't good, you would make her vain. -Let the partnership question rest for a little while. Go on with your -work, and don't talk. I've got something very particular to do."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan, with his birds before him, appeared to be perplexed with some -more than usually difficult problem concerning them. There was a -curious indecision also in his treatment of them. Now he issued a -command, now he countermanded it; now he ordered a movement, and -before it was executed threw the birds into confusion by giving the -signal for something entirely different. Until at length the birds, -especially the old stagers, stood looking irresolutely at each other, -with the possible thought in their minds (if they have any) that their -master had taken a drop too much to drink; and one young recruit--none -but a young one and a tomtit, who is notoriously the sauciest of -birds, would have dared to do it--advanced, alone and unsupported, to -the edge of the table, and looking up in Dan's face, asked what he -meant by it. Recalled to himself by this act of insubordination, Dan -recovered his usual self-possession, and selected two bullfinches, -somewhat similar to those which he had given to the Old Sailor. They -were young untrained birds, and Dan at once commenced their education. -But Ellen remarked with surprise that he was less tender in his manner -towards them than towards the other birds. He spoke to them more -sternly, and as if the business in which they were engaged was a -serious business, with not a particle of nonsense in it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"See, Ellen," he said after some days had passed--"see how clever they -are They draw up their own food and their own water; and directly I -sound this whistle, they sing 'God save the King.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">He blew through the tin whistle, and the birds sang the air through.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now you sound the whistle, Ellen." Ellen blew through the whistle, -and the birds repeated the air.</p> - -<p class="normal">"So you see, Ellen it doesn't matter who blows the whistle; the birds -begin to sing directly they hear it. Here is another whistle--a wooden -one, with a different note. Blow that softly."</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen blew, and the bullfinches immediately set to work hauling up -water from the well.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is good, isn't it?" said Dan. "They will obey anybody."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But tell me, Dan, why you don't speak to them as kindly as you do to -the others?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah, you have noticed it, miss, have you? I thought you did. Well, -then in the first place, I wanted to teach them by a new system. I -wanted to teach them so that anybody can make them do what I do, if he -gives the proper signal; and I have succeeded, as you see. If I had -taught them by my voice as I have taught the others, they wouldn't -have been of use to any one but me. They are such cunning little -thing's, and they have such delicate little ears! In the second place, -Ellen, I did not want to grow fond of them."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why, Dan dear?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because, if I had grown fond of them, it would almost break my heart -to part with them. Who could help loving them, I wonder? They have -been my world, you see, and they are such innocent little pets. I have -grown to love them so, you can't tell. And we know each other's -voices, and have made a language of our own, which no one else can -understand."</p> - -<p class="normal">He chirruped to them, and called to them in endearing tones; and all -the birds, with the exception of the pair of bullfinches, fluttered to -him, and perched about his shoulders and nestled in his breast. The -two little bullfinches, standing alone in the centre of the table, -looked more surprised than forlorn at the desertion.</p> - -<p class="normal">Then Dan said: "This is part of my scheme. I commence business to-day -as a bird-merchant. I have trained these two bullfinches to sell. You -are earning money already, Ellen dear, and you are a girl. I am not -quite a man in years, although I think I am here"--touching his -forehead--"and I am not going to let you beat me at moneymaking."</p> - -<p class="normal">He pulled out a paper, on which was written, in Roman letters, and -neat round hand,</p> -<br> - -<h3>THIS PAIR OF BULLFINCHES</h3> -<h4>FOR SALE.</h4> -<p class="center"><i>They draw up their own food and water; and they sing</i></p> -<h4>"GOD SAVE THE KING,"</h4> -<p class="center"><i>And other Tunes, to the Sound of a Whistle</i>.</p> -<p class="center">* * *</p> -<p class="center"><i>Inquire within of </i><span class="sc">Dan Taylor</span>.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">"What I propose to do, Ellen, is to put the cage with the bullfinches -in the parlor-window, with this announcement over the cage. Perhaps it -will attract the attention of some one or other, and he will be -curious about it, and will come in and make inquiries."</p> - -<p class="normal">So the birds were exhibited in the parlor-window, and above their cage -was hung the announcement that they were for sale. The neighbors saw -the birds, and there was not a woman for a quarter of a mile around -who did not make a pilgrimage to the parlor-window of the Taylors. -"Dan is selling his birds," they said, "because of his brute of a -father;" and they shook their heads sorrowfully, and admired Dan's -writing, and said he was quite a scholar. Ellen, working in the -parlor, would pause in the midst of her hemming, or stitching, or -basting, as the shadow of a passer-by darkened the window, and pray -that he would come in and buy the birds.</p> - -<p class="normal">The exhibition was a great boon to the dirty little boys and girls in -the neighborhood, who at first stood in open-mouthed admiration, and -would have stood so for hours, neglectful of the gutters, if an -occasional raid against their forces by anxious mothers had not -scattered them now and then. Those of the children who could get near -enough, would flatten their noses and mouths against the window-panes -in the fervor of their enthusiasm. The bullfinches, looking down from -their perch upon the queerly-distorted features, had the advantage of -studying human nature from an entirely novel point of view, and were -doubtless interested in the study. For the purpose of attracting the -passers-by, Dan, at certain intervals during the day, caused the birds -to draw up their water and food; and those exhibitions were the -admiration of the entire neighborhood.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I wish some one would come in and ask the price of them," sighed -Ellen, wishing that she had a fairy-wand to turn the sight-gazers into -customers.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan only smiled, and bade Ellen have patience.</p> - -<p class="normal">In the mean time Mr. Taylor, becoming every day more devoted in his -worship to his god, fell every day into a worse and worse condition. -One evening, Ellen, being tired, went to bed soon after tea, and on -that evening Mr. Taylor happened to come home earlier than usual. -There was a reason for it: he had spent all his money, had quite -exhausted his credit, and had been turned out of the public-houses. -Being less drunk than usual, he was more ill-tempered than usual, and -he stumbled into the parlor with the intention of venting his -ill-humor upon Ellen. But Ellen was not there. Dan was the only -occupant of the room, and he was reading. He raised his eyes, and -seeing his father half-drunk, he lowered them to his book again. He -was ashamed and grieved.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where is Ellen?" demanded Mr. Taylor.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Gone to bed," replied Dan shortly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why isn't she here to get my supper?" asked the gin-worshipper -irritably. Dan made no reply; but, although he appeared to be -continuing his reading, a quivering of his lips denoted that his -attention was not wholly given to his book. "Do you hear me?" -continued Mr. Taylor after a pause, thumping his fist upon the table. -"Why isn't she here to get my supper? What business has she to go to -bed without getting my supper?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"She was up at five this morning to do the washing, and has been -working all day."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan spoke very quietly, and did not look at his father.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Her mother wouldn't have done it," whimpered Mr. Taylor. "Here am I -without two pence in my pocket, and my very children rebel against me. -Is there any thing in the house for supper?--tell me that."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know. I don't think there is."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You don't know! You don't think there is!" sneered Mr. Taylor. -"You've had yours, I suppose?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, sir, I have not had any."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do you mean by 'sir'?" cried Mr. Taylor furiously. "How dare you -call your father 'sir'? Is that what you learned from your friend -Joshua?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan clasped his hands nervously together; he was agitated and -indignant, and he did not dare to give expression to his thoughts.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why don't you speak?" demanded Mr. Taylor with unreasoning anger. -"What do you mean by sitting there mocking your father?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am not mocking you," said Dan. "And as for speaking, I am too much -ashamed to say what I think; so I had better remain silent."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How dare you speak to me in that way? Haven't I kept you for years in -idleness and luxury? Haven't I provided for you? And now when I am in -bad luck, and haven't sixpence to get a quartern loaf"--he meant a -quatern of gin, but the loaf was the more dignified way of putting -it--"my children turn against me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It isn't my fault that you have had to keep me," Dan said quietly. -"If I had been like other boys, I should have been glad to work and -earn money; but I am crippled, and never felt that I was unfortunate -until now. I don't think mother would have thrown my misfortune in my -teeth as you have done."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Taylor was too much steeped in gin to feel the reproachful words. -He continued to bemoan his hard fate and the ingratitude of his -children. In the midst of his bemoaning he caught sight of an empty -cage. An inspiration fell upon him. That bird-cage could probably be -exchanged for a pint of gin. Present bliss was before him, and the -prospect of it made him cunning.</p> - -<p class="normal">He ordered Dan to bed, and Dan, who could crawl with the aid of his -crutches, went, thankful to escape from so painful an interview. When -Dan came down the next morning he discovered his loss. He was much -grieved; not so much at the loss of the bird-cage, but at the thought -that his other cages and the birds might be appropriated in like -manner. He said nothing of what had occurred, but that night when he -went to bed he had all his birds and cages removed to his bedroom, and -he locked his door.</p> - -<p class="normal">It was midnight when Mr. Taylor came home. Although he was drunk, he -crept like a thief into the house. The proceeds of the cage had -supplied him with drink for the day; and having conscientiously spent -every penny, he was in the same impoverished condition as he had been -the previous night. As he could not live without gin, he determined to -appropriate another bird cage. What right had Dan to them? They were -his, the father's, who had kept his son in idleness, and who had -clothed and sheltered him. Yet in the midst of his drunken muttering -he was oppressed with a shamefaced consciousness of the villainy of -his logic, and it was with difficulty he obtained a light from the -tinder-box. The poor little rush-light flickered when it was lighted, -as if it also were oppressed with shame.</p> - -<p class="normal">Unsteadily, and with much stumbling, Mr. Taylor groped his way to -Dan's room. Looking around on the walls he discovered, to his dismay -and astonishment, that the birds and the cages were gone. His first -surprise over, he gave way to passion. The boy had no doubt taken the -cages to his bedroom for fear his father should steal them. How dared -Dan suspect him? He would teach Dan a lesson--a lesson that he would -not forget. Working himself into a state of maudlin indignation he -stumbled up the stairs to Dan's bedroom, and tried the door. It was -locked. Here was another proof of his son's ingratitude and want of -confidence. What was he to do for gin the next day? He must have gin; -he could not live without it. Ellen's bedroom was next to Dan's. The -drunken father turned the handle of the door, and looked in. On the -floor were Ellen's boots. He saw gin marked on them, and catching them -up, he clutched them to his breast, and slunk guiltily to bed.</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen, rising the next morning, looked about in vain for her boots. -She searched for them up stairs and down stairs, wondering what had -become of them. The door of her father's room was open, and she -entered it; but Mr. Taylor, knowing that Ellen was an early riser, had -taken care to get out of the house before she was about. When Ellen -saw the empty bed, some glimmering of the truth flashed upon her. At -first the poor girl sat down upon the bed and began to cry; the loss -of her boots was a grievous loss indeed to her. She had no money to -buy another pair with; they were such beautiful boots, too, and fitted -her so nicely! What was she to do? How it would grieve Dan to know? -That thought calmed her. Dan must not know--it would hurt him too -much. She might be able to get an old pair from somebody during the -day; perhaps Susan had an old pair to lend her. She dried her eyes and -washed them well with cold water, and altogether managed so -successfully, that breakfast was over, and she and Dan and the birds -were all together in the parlor, without Dan ever suspecting what had -occurred.</p> - -<p class="normal">Those two children sitting there were fully aware that a grave crisis -was approaching. Young as they were to bear the weight of serious -trouble, they bore it cheerfully, and strove in their humble way to -fight with the world and with the hard circumstances of their lives. -Dan cripple as he was had much hope; and often when he was thinking -over certain schemes which had been suggested by the stern necessity -of his condition, a quaint smile would play upon his lips, and a -humorous light would shine in his eyes. Ellen, looking up from her -work, would sometimes see that smile, which, for all its quaintness, -had a shade of thoughtfulness in it; and on her lips, too, a pleasant -smile would wreathe in sympathy. They were very tender towards each -other; and their love made them strong.</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen busy with her needle, sat close to the table, so that Dan should -not catch a glimpse of her shoeless feet. Dan was industriously at -work training two birds, which were to replace those in the window -when they were sold.</p> - -<p class="normal">The education of this second pair of birds was almost completed, and -Dan said as much to Ellen. He had taught them different tricks, and -had fitted two ladders in the cage, up and down which they hopped, -keeping time, step for step.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But will they ever be sold?" exclaimed Ellen almost despairingly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It <i>is</i> a long time before we make a commencement," said Dan. -"There's Susan."</p> - -<p class="normal">When Susan entered, she examined the dress which Ellen was making, and -suddenly exclaimed,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why, Ellen, where are your boots?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan looked up quickly, and then directed his eyes to Ellen's feet. -Poor Ellen stammered a good deal, and striving to hide the truth from -Dan, got into a sad bewilderment of words.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nay, but, Ellen," interposed Dan in a grave voice, "you don't mean to -say that you have been sitting all the morning without your boots?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, I have," said Ellen, compelled to confess.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But why, my dear?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"When I got up this morning, I looked for them, and could not find -them. Perhaps I can find them now." And Ellen ran out of the room; but -she soon returned, shaking her head, and saying, "No, they're gone. -Never mind; it can't be helped."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You really don't know what has become of them?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Did you see father last night?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen shook her head.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nor this morning?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen shook her head again.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can't quite see what is to be the end of all this," said Dan sadly. -"It is almost too dreadful to think of. Father must have taken your -boots, Ellen dear. The night before last he took a bird-cage; that was -the reason I had all my birds in my bedroom last night. It is very, -very dreadful. Poor dear mother! Poor dear Joshua! I <i>do</i> wish you -were here now to advise us what to do!"</p> - -<p class="normal">And the three children then drew closer together, and strove to -comfort each other.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dry your eyes, Ellen," said Dan stoutly; "brighter days will come. -Susan, have you a pair of old boots that you can lend to Ellen?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan ran out of the house and returned with a pair of boots which she -had bought at a second-hand clothes-shop, and which Ellen was very -thankful for, although they were much too large for her.</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Taylor came home at midnight in a state of drunken delirium. He -had drunk deeply--so deeply, that when he slammed the street-door -behind him, he found himself in the midst of a thousand mocking eyes, -growing upon him and blasting him with hideous looks; and as he groped -his way in terror up the dark stairs, a thousand misshapen hands -strove to bar his progress. They fastened on him and clung to him; and -the faster his trembling hands beat them down and tore them away, the -more thickly they multiplied. So, fighting and suffering and groaning -in his agony, the drunkard staggered to his room, and Dan and Ellen -shuddered as they lay and listened. Well for them that they could not -see as well as hear; well for them that they could not see him pick -the crawling things (existing only in his imagination) off his -bed-clothes and throw them off with loathing; that they could not see -him, bathed in perspiration, writhing in his bed and fighting with his -punishment. He could not endure it. It was too horrible to bear.</p> - -<p class="normal">The room was full of creeping shapes, visible in the midst of the -darkness. He would go out into the streets, into the light, where they -could not follow him. Where was the door? He felt about the walls for -it. It was gone; he was closed in, imprisoned with his terrors. He -beat about with his hands deliriously. The window! ah, they had not -closed that! He dashed at the panes, and tearing open the casement -with his bleeding fingers, fell from a height of twenty feet, and met -a drunkard's death.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XIII.</h4> - -<h5>DAN DECLARES THAT IT IS LIKE A ROMANCE.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">The old gentleman with the hour-glass who never sleeps does -not look a -day older, and yet four seasons have played their parts and have -passed away. The white hairs in George Marvel's head are multiplying -fast, and he grumbles at them as usual, but has given up the task of -pulling them out. Great changes have taken place among Joshua's -friends; and Dan, looking up from his work, remarks sometimes that it -is almost like a romance. Judge if it is.</p> - -<p class="normal">When Mr. Taylor was buried--when the shame of his death was forgotten -and only sorrow for it remained--the children found themselves in one -of those social difficulties from which many wiser persons than they -are unable to extricate themselves. For the first three or four weeks -after their father's death, Mrs. Marvel and Susan had between them -managed to defray the small expenses of the house; but the tax was -heavy--too heavy for them to continue to bear. One day, however, -unexpected help came. George Marvel, in his quiet way, had conceived a -great idea, and in his quiet way had carried it out. Here were these -two children thrown upon the world. Not children exactly perhaps, for -they were nearly seventeen years of age; but one was a cripple, and -the other was a girl. They had been good children, and their character -stood high in the neighborhood. Who ought to assist them? The -neighbors. Some one must take it in hand, and why not he as well as -any other person? No sooner had he made up his mind than he set to -work. He went round to the neighbors personally, and told them what -his errand was. Poor as they were, they gave their mites cheerfully, -with scarcely an exception. When he had made the round of the -neighbors, he went to the workshops, and the men there gave their -penny each, and the boys their halfpence; and so swelled the total. -His own employers and fellow-workmen were more liberal than any. He -did not forget his tradesmen, his butcher and baker and grocer. They -all gave; and the result was that, at the end of the three weeks -during which he had been employed in his self-imposed task, he had a -sum of not less than twelve pounds four shillings in his possession, -to hand over to Dan and Ellen to assist them through their trouble. -The night he made up his accounts, he told his wife what he had done, -and she blessed him for it, and was silently and devoutly grateful -that Providence had given her a husband with such a heart.</p> - -<p class="normal">The following evening George Marvel visited the children, with his bag -of money in his coat-tail pocket. Ellen was at work, and although she -looked pale in her black dress, she looked very pretty. The goodness -of the heart always shows itself in the face.</p> - -<p class="normal">Now Dan had been thinking all day, and indeed for many previous days, -that he ought to consult some mature person as to what he was to do. -You must understand that Dan, notwithstanding that he was so much -younger than Susan, considered himself the head of the family. He had -his plans, but he wanted advice concerning them. Up to the present -time, his business in trained birds had not flourished. It could not -be said to have commenced, for he had not sold a bird. He had decided -Mr. Marvel would be a proper person to ask advice of, and by good luck -here Mr. Marvel was.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Have you a few minutes to spare, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, surely, Dan," replied Mr. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I want to take your advice, sir," commenced Dan after a slight -hesitation. "You know how we are situated, and how suddenly our -misfortunes have come upon us. Well, sir, we must live; we must have -bread-and-butter. Now the only scapegrace out of the lot of us is -me--don't interrupt me, Ellen, nor you, sir, please. Susan is earning -her bread-and-butter and something more. Ellen is earning enough to -keep her; and I am the only idle one of all of us, and I am the only -one who is eating bread-and-butter and is not earning it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But, Dan," interposed George Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, sir, please; let me go on. I have been eating the bread of -idleness all my life, and I am eating it now. It isn't right that I -should do so. I ought to earn my own living. But how? I am not like -other boys, and cannot do what other boys can do. One thing is -certain: I can't let Ellen work for me, and it would break my heart to -part from her; and she would feel it quite as much as I should.--Yes, -Ellen, keep your arm round my neck, but don't speak.--I tried to earn -money, you know that. I trained some birds, and put them in the -window, thinking that some one would buy them. But no one has. I -haven't earned a penny-piece, and every bit of bread I put into my -mouth has been paid for by Susan and Ellen."</p> - -<p class="normal">Notwithstanding his eagerness, his tears choked him here, and he was -compelled to pause before he resumed. In the mean time, obedient to -his wish, neither Ellen nor Mr. Marvel spoke.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, sir, this is my idea. I have got now twenty-two birds; they can -do all sorts of tricks: they can whistle tunes; they can climb up -ladders; some of them can march like soldiers and can let off guns; -some of them can draw carts. Would it be considered begging, if I, a -lame boy, who have no other way of getting bread-and-butter, made an -exhibition of these birds, and got some one to wheel me about the -streets, and stop now and then so that I might put the birds through -their tricks? I shouldn't be ashamed to accept what kind persons might -give me, or might drop into a little box which I would take care to -have handy. I wouldn't do it in this neighborhood. I would go a long -way off--three or four miles perhaps--into the rich parts of London, -where people could better afford to give. But would it be considered -begging? That is what I want to ask your advice upon, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">George Marvel's breath was completely taken away. The enthusiastic -manner in which Dan had spoken, no less than his admiration of the -proposed scheme, had caused him to forget his errand for the time. -"Wait a minute," he said somewhat excitedly, "I must think; I must -walk about a bit." But no sooner had he risen than the weight of the -money in his coat-tail pocket brought him to his sober senses, and he -sat down again.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dan," he said, taking the lad's hand affectionately in his, "you are -a good boy, and I am glad that you are Joshua's friend. I will answer -your question and give you my advice, as you ask it. In any other case -than yours I think it would be begging; but I don't think it <i>would</i> -be in yours."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thank you, sir," said Dan gratefully.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mind, I think even in your case it would not be exactly what I should -approve of, if you had any other way of getting a living."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You think as I do, sir; but I have tried, as you see, and I have not -succeeded."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Try a little longer, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How about next week's rent, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You can pay it," replied George Marvel, "and many more weeks' -besides. I have a present for you in my pocket;" and he pulled out the -bag of money and put it on the table. "In this bag is twelve pounds -four shillings, which your friends--yours and your sisters'--have -clubbed together for you, and that is what brought me here to-night."</p> - -<p class="normal">"O sir!" cried Dan, covering his face with his hands.</p> - -<p class="normal">"This money has been got together because all of us round about here -love you. I sha'n't give it to you all at once. You shall have it so -much every week; and I should advise you--as you ask for my advice--to -continue training birds for sale and putting them in your window. Try -a little while longer. A customer may come at any minute. And one -customer is sure to bring another."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How can I thank you and all the good people, sir?" said Dan, with a -full heart.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Never mind that now," said George Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">If he had known that it would have been so difficult and painful a -task, it is not unlikely he would have remitted it to his wife to -accomplish. Pretending to be in a great hurry, he rose to go, and, -pressing Dan's hand and kissing Ellen, went home to his wife and told -her of Dan's wonderful idea.</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen and Dan were very happy the next morning, and set about their -work cheerfully and hopefully. Dan wrote a new announcement concerning -the birds, and the windows were cleaned, and presented a regular -holiday appearance. In the midst of his work, Dan, looking up, saw a -face at the window that he recognized. It was that of a young man who -had been in the habit of looking in at the window nearly every day for -the last week, and of whom Dan had observed more than once, that he -looked like a customer.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There he is again, Ellen," said Dan; "the same man. Why doesn't he -come in and ask the price of them?"</p> - -<p class="normal">He had no sooner spoken the words than the man's face disappeared from -the window, and a knock came at the street-door.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Run and open the door, Ellen. I shouldn't wonder if he has made up -his mind at last." Dan's heart beat loud with excitement. "How much -shall I ask for them?" he thought. "Oh, if he buys a couple of them, -how happy I shall be!"</p> - -<p class="normal">The parlor-door opened, and the man entered; decidedly good-looking, -dark, with a fresh color in his face, and with black hair curling -naturally. The first impression was favorable, and Dan nodded -approvingly to himself. The man had curiously flat feet, which, when -he walked, seemed to do all the work without any assistance from -his legs; and although his eyes were keen and bright, they did not -look long at one object, but shifted restlessly, as if seeking a -hiding-place where they could retire from public gaze.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have been attracted by the birds in the window," he said, coming at -once to to the point, much to Dan's satisfaction. "Can they really -perform what the paper says? Can they really sing 'God save the King,' -and draw up their own food and water?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"They can do all that sir; but you shall see for yourself.--Ellen! -Where is Ellen?" Dan called; for he wanted her to assist him, and she -had not followed the stranger into the room.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah, Ellen," said the stranger, dwelling on the name. "Is that the -young lady who opened the door for me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, sir.--Ellen!" Dan called again.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Allow me," said the stranger; and he went to the door, and called in -tones which slipped from his throat as if it was oiled, "Ellen! -Ellen!" Then he turned to Dan, and questioned: "Your sister?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah," said the man greasily, "she is extremely like you. Allow me. I -will bring the cage to the table."</p> - -<p class="normal">He brought the cage from the window, and placed it before Dan. At that -moment Ellen entered the room. The man's eyes wandered all over her as -she took her seat at the table. She did not return his gaze, but bent -her head modestly to her work.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Your sister's name is Ellen," he said, "and yours?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Daniel," said Dan; "Daniel Taylor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Daniel; a scriptural name. Mine is also a Scriptural name: Solomon, -Solomon Fewster. Solomon was a wise man; I hope I take after him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I hope so, I am sure, sir," said Dan somewhat impatiently; for he was -anxious to get to business. "Now, sir, if you will please to look and -listen."</p> - -<p class="normal">He blew through the tin whistle; and the bullfinches piped "God save -the King."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Very pretty, very pretty," said Solomon Fewster, nodding his head to -the music. "And you taught them yourself?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, sir. But it isn't as if they will only sing for me; they will -sing for you, or for Ellen, or for any one who blows the whistle."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And they will sing for Ellen if she breathes into the whistle?" said -Solomon Fewster. "Will Ellen breathe into the whistle with her pretty -red lips? Allow me."</p> - -<p class="normal">He took the whistle from Dan and handed it to Ellen; and she -reluctantly gave the signal to the birds, who willingly obeyed it. -Fewster took the whistle from her and blew; and the birds for the -third time piped the air. Then Dan directed his attention to the -wooden whistle, and to the wonders performed by the birds at its -dictation. Nothing would please Mr. Fewster but that Ellen should -place the wooden whistle between her "pretty red lips," as he called -them again, and "breathe into it." He said that "breathe" was more -appropriate to Ellen's pretty lips than "blow." He, using the whistle -after her, cast upon her such admiring looks, that he really made her -uncomfortable. The performance being over, Dan gazed at Mr. Fewster -with undisguised anxiety. He had intended to be very cunning, and to -appear as if he did not care whether he sold the birds or not; but the -effort was unsuccessful.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, well," said Mr. Fewster; "and they are really for sale? Poor -little things! I asked the price of bullfinches yesterday at a -bird-fancier's, and the man offered to sell them for four pence each. -Not that these are not worth a little more. There is the trouble of -training them; of course that is worth a trifle. Still bullfinches are -bullfinches all the world over; and bullfinches, I believe, are very -plentiful just now--quite a glut of them in the market." He paused, to -allow this information to settle in Dan's mind, before he asked, "Now -what do you want a pair for these?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do you think they are worth, sir?" asked Dan, much depressed by -Mr. Fewster's mode of bargaining.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, no, Daniel Taylor," said Mr. Fewster, in a bantering tone, "I am -too old a bird for that; not to be caught. Remember my namesake. You -couldn't have caught him, you know; even the Queen of Sheba couldn't -catch <i>him</i>. I can't be buyer and seller too. Put your price upon the -birds; and I will tell you if they suit me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You see, sir," said Dan frankly, "you puzzle me. The training of -these birds has taken me a long time. You would be surprised if you -knew how patient I have to be with them. And you puzzle me when you -make so light a thing of my teaching, and when you tell me that -bullfinches are a glut in the market. If the bullfinches you can get -in the market will suit you, sir, why do you not buy them?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well put, Daniel, well put," said Mr. Fewster good-humoredly. "Still, -you <i>must</i> fix a price on them, you know. How much shall we say?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Fifteen shillings the pair," said Dan boldly.</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Fewster gave a long whistle, and threw himself into an attitude of -surprise. Dan shifted in his seat uneasily.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A long price," said Mr. Fewster, when he had recovered himself; "a -very long price."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I couldn't take less, sir," said Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not ten shillings? Couldn't you take ten shillings?" suggested Mr. -Fewster, throwing his head on one side insinuatingly.</p> - -<p class="normal">There was something almost imploring in the expression on Dan's face -as he said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, sir, I don't think I could. You haven't any idea what a time they -have taken me to train. I hoped to get more for them."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I tell you what," said Mr. Fewster, with sudden animation. "Ellen -shall decide with her pretty red lips. What do you say, Ellen? Shall I -give fifteen shillings for them?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"They are worth it, I am sure, sir," said Ellen timidly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That settles it," said Mr. Fewster gallantly. "Here is the money."</p> - -<p class="normal">And laying the money on the table, Mr. Fewster took the cage, and -shaking hands with Dan, and pressing Ellen's fingers tenderly, bade -them good-morning.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan's delight may be imagined. It was intensified a few day's -afterwards, when Mr. Fewster called again, and bought another pair of -birds; Mr. Fewster at the same time informed Dan that it was likely he -might become a constant customer; and so he proved to be.</p> - -<p class="normal">In the course of a short time, Dan found himself in receipt of a -regular income. Other customers came, but Dan could not supply them -all, as Mr. Fewster bought the birds almost as soon as they were -trained. Very soon Dan thought himself justified in making a proposal -to Susan. The proposal was that they should all live together in the -house where Dan carried on his business. The only obstacle to the -carrying out of the arrangement was Susan's determination not to leave -Basil and Minnie Kindred. But why should not Basil Kindred and his -daughter come as well? asked Dan; there was plenty of room for them, -and it would be such company. And after the lapse of a little time, -the result that Dan wished for was accomplished, and Basil and Minnie -and Susan were living with them. They were a very happy family. The -parlor-window had been altered to allow more space for the bird-cages; -and Dan, looking around sometimes upon the group of happy faces, would -remark that it was almost like a romance.</p> - -<p class="normal">And so indeed it was, notwithstanding that the scene was laid in the -humblest of humble localities.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XIV.</h4> - -<h5>THE STRANGE COURSES OF LOVE.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Perhaps one of the most absurd questions that could be put to -a person -would be to ask him how old he was when he was born. Yet the little -old-men's faces possessed by some babies might furnish an excuse for -such a question. The shrewd look, the cunning twinkle, the pinched -nose, the peaked chin, the very wrinkles--you see them all, though the -child be but a few weeks old. All the signs of worldly cunning and -worldly wisdom are there, ready made, unbought by worldly experience; -and as you look at them and wonder how old the little child-man really -is, the object of your curiosity returns your look with scarcely less -speculation in his eye than you have in yours. You are conscious that -you are no match, except in physical strength, for the little fellow -lying in his mother's lap or sprawling in his cradle; and a curious -compound of pity and humiliation afflicts you in consequence.</p> - -<p class="normal">Some such a child as this was Solomon Fewster before he attained to -the dignity of boyhood; his parents and their friends agreed in -declaring that he was a cunning little fellow, a knowing little -fellow; they would poke their fingers in the fat creases of his neck, -and would sportively say, "Oh, you cunning little rogue!" "You knowing -little rogue!" and he would crow and laugh, and endeavor to utter the -words after them. He was so accustomed to the phrase, and grew to be -so fond of it, that when he was old enough to understand its meaning, -his chief desire seemed to be to prove himself worthy of it. It falls -to the lot of but very few of us to compass our desires. Solomon -Fewster was one of the fortunate exceptions. He was dubbed a cunning -little rogue, before he knew what such praise meant; and (could it be -that he was unwilling to trade under false pretences?) when he did -know, he educated himself to deserve it, and succeeded. A small -percentage of the old-men babies retain their old-men's looks as they -grow to boyhood; specimens of these can be seen any day in our courts -and alleys. This was not the case with Solomon Fewster; as he grew, -the old-man's look faded from his face, and the spirit of "a cunning -little rogue" took root in his heart, and flourished there. His -parents dying when he was a child, he was left to the charge of a -bachelor uncle, an undertaker by trade, who adopted and educated him. -When he was taken from school--where he was the cunningest boy of them -all--he was initiated into the mysteries of the undertaking business, -and when he was of age he was intrusted with a responsible position, -and his uncle made a will leaving every thing to him. He proved -himself an invaluable ally; was grieved to the heart at the losses -sustained by his uncle's customers; wept when he assisted at -measurements; was broken-hearted when the clay was taken from the -house; and sobbed with an almost utter prostration of spirit when he -receipted the account, and signed Payment in Full. He entered heart -and soul into the business, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Whether it was -because he looked upon himself as the future master of the -establishment, or because it was congenial to his nature, he strove by -every means in his power to extend the connection; and being as acute -and sensible as a man of double his age, his efforts were successful -and the business flourished. Death was most obliging to him, and -waited and fawned upon him at every step he took. If his spirits -became depressed because trade was slack, a fortunate epidemic -restored him to his usual cheerfulness, and orders poured in; and it -is no disparagement of him, as an undertaker, to state that he buried -his friends and acquaintances with melancholy satisfaction. When he -was twenty-three years of age his uncle died. He paid the old -gentleman every possible mark of respect: had the coffin lined with -white satin; wept till his face was puffed; entered the expense of the -funeral in the ledger to the debit of the deceased, and wiped off the -amount at once as a bad debt. Then he set to work vigorously upon his -own account. He had his name painted over the door, and issued -circulars to every house for miles round. In those circulars he -announced that he undertook and conducted funerals cheaper than any -other undertaker in London; said that one trial would prove the fact; -and respectfully solicited the patronage of his friends and the -public. His appeal was successful; his trade increased; and Solomon -Fewster was generally spoken of as a man on the high-road to -prosperity.</p> - -<p class="normal">When Solomon Fewster first saw Ellen, she was seventeen years of age, -and he was seized with a sudden admiration for her pretty face and -graceful figure. He had never seen a girl so winsome; and when they -met again, he followed her admiringly to her home, and saw the -exhibition of the bullfinches in Dan's window. Here was an opportunity -to stare at her; and he enjoyed the cheap pleasure again and again -until Dan noticed his face at the window. Then a happy thought entered -Mr. Fewster's mind. The birds certainly were wonderfully intelligent, -and their clever tricks would most likely render them easy of -disposal. He entered into communication with a West-end fashionable -bird-fancier--the farther away from Dan the better, he thought--and -the bird-fancier (who had a connection among fine ladies) informed him -that if the birds could really do all that he stated, a profitable -trade might be established between them. "What a fine opportunity," -thought Solomon Fewster, "of introducing myself to the pretty girl in -the light of a benefactor!" Then came the first interview and the -first purchase. The pair of bullfinches he bought for fifteen -shillings he sold for thirty; and the following week the fashionable -bird-fancier asked for more. Thus it was that Solomon Fewster made his -growing passion for Ellen a means of putting money in his purse; and -thus it was that he came to be looked upon as a privileged visitor to -the house.</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor also found his way to the house. He was not as frequent -a visitor as Mr. Fewster, but he was a more welcome one. The Old -Sailor might have been a child, his heart was so green; and he had -such a fund of stories to tell, and he told them with such simplicity -and enthusiasm, believing in them thoroughly, however wild they were, -that his hearers would hang upon his words, and laugh with him, and -sorrow with him according to the nature of his narrative. They spent -the pleasantest of pleasant evenings together, and when Praiseworthy -Meddler told his sea-stories, Minnie would sit very quiet on the -floor--a favorite fashion of hers--listening eagerly to every word -that dropped from his lips. Then Basil Kindred would read Shakspeare -when he could be coaxed into the humor, and would keep them -spell-bound by his eloquence. He had ceased wandering in the streets -and begging for his living. Necessity was his master there. He was -stricken down with rheumatic fever, which so prostrated him that he -was unable to pursue his vagrant career. They had a very hard task in -inducing him to remain with them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Live upon you, my dear lad!" he exclaimed loftily. "No; I will perish -first!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is enough for all, sir," replied Dan. "Do not go. I would take -from you--indeed, indeed I would!--could we change places. And there -is Minnie, sir,"--with such a wistful tender glance towards Minnie, -who was growing very beautiful,--"what would she do? But not for her -nor for you do I ask this, sir. It is for me; for Ellen and Susan and -Joshua. How happy he will be to find you here when he returns! You and -Minnie, that he talked of so often, and with such affection! Then -think, sir. You would not like to be the means of breaking up our -little happy circle; and it is happy, isn't it, Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah, yes, Dan!" replied Minnie, with an anxious look at her father. -"Only one is wanting to make it perfect."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And that one is Joshua," said Dan, divining whom she meant, and -grateful to her for the thought.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And that one is Joshua," she repeated softly, placing her shell to -his ear. "Do you hear it? Is it not sweet, the singing of the sea?"</p> - -<p class="normal">But all argument and entreaty would have been thrown away upon Basil -if it had not been for Minnie. It was she who, when they were alone, -prevailed upon him to stay.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Your mother suffered for me and died for me," he said to her, as he -lay upon his bed of pain. "How like her you are growing, Minnie! Well, -well, one is enough. I will stay, child, for your sake."</p> - -<p class="normal">And she kissed him and thanked him, and whispered that he had made her -happy.</p> - -<p class="normal">The next day she told Dan in a whisper that father was not going away; -and Dan clapped his hands, and quietly said, "Bravo!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"And Joshua used to speak about us?" she remarked, with assumed -carelessness.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Often and often, Minnie," answered Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And really speak of us affectionately?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah if you had only heard him! You know what a voice he has--like -music."</p> - -<p class="normal">A sudden flush in her face, a rapid beating at her heart, a rush of -tears to her eyes. None of which did Dan notice, for her eyes were -towards the ground. A little while afterwards she was singing about -the house as blithe as a bird. Dan, stopping in the midst of his work, -listened to the soft rustle of her dress in the passage, and to her -soft singing as she went up the stairs; and a grateful look stole into -his eyes.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not to hear that!" he said. "Ah, it would be worse than death! But -she is going to stay, birdie," nodding gayly to one of his pets; "she -is going to stay!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan told Minnie of the pretty fancies he had in connection with his -friend; of the manner in which his love had grown, until it was welded -in his heart for ever and ever; of Joshua's care and self-devotion -towards him, the poor useless cripple. He told her of his fancy about -the dream-theory, and how he had believed in it, and of the -experiments he had made. And Minnie listened with delight, and -sympathized with Dan--ay, and shed tears with him--and showed in every -word she uttered how thoroughly she understood his feelings.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have dreamed of him over and over again," said Dan; "but of course -I don't know, and indeed I can't believe, that I have dreamed of him -as he is. He is a man by this time, Minnie; and--let me see!--he is -standing on his ship, with his bright eyes and handsome face"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes!" interrupted Minnie eagerly. "Made brighter and handsomer by -living on the open sea and away from narrow streets. I can see the -spray dashing up into his eyes, and he shaking it off laughing the -while."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, yes!" said Minnie enthusiastically. "You can see him too, -Minnie. I feel that you can. Is he not handsome and brave? I can hear -him say, as he looks round upon the grand sea and up at the beautiful -clouds,--I can hear him say, 'Dan is here with me, although I cannot -see him.' He has me in his heart, as I have him. It was a compact. We -were to be always together, and we are. Dear Jo!" He paused a while, -and Minnie, her hands clasped in her lap, gazed before her, and saw -the picture painted by Dan's words. Many such conversations they had, -and the theme was always the same.</p> - -<p class="normal">Shortly after the death of Mr. Taylor the Old Sailor came to see the -children. He did not know of the loss they had sustained; and when he -heard that both father and mother were dead, he was much grieved. The -news so disconcerted him that he rose to go three or four times, and -each time sat down again, as if he had something on his mind he wished -to get rid of first. As a proof that he was mentally disturbed, he -dabbed his face more frequently than usual with his blue-cotton -pocket-handkerchief, folding it up carefully before he put it in the -breast of his shirt, as if he were folding up his secret in it, and -afterwards taking it out and unfolding it, as if he had made up his -mind at last to disclose what that secret was. When he found courage -to speak, Dan learned that the bullfinches which Joshua and he had -presented to the Old Sailor were dead.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Died yesterday morning, my lad," said the Old Sailor; "died just as -we were beginning to understand each other. Sailor birds they were, -and they could climb ropes as well as any bird in the service."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am sorry they are dead, sir," said Dan; "but I can give you another -pair."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, Dan, no. I'll not have any more; they wouldn't be safe."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not safe?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"There was a mutineer in the crew, my lad," said the Old Sailor, -dropping his voice. "It comes awkward for me to tell you; but you -ought to know--and duty before every thing. The pretty birds were -poisoned."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who could have been so cruel as to poison the innocent creatures?" -asked Dan sorrowfully.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That damned copper-colored eon of a thief who cooked for me!" replied -the Old Sailor excitedly. "You saw him when you were on my ship. He -had rings in his ears."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I remember. He was a Lascar, you told us."</p> - -<p class="normal">"The treacherous dog!" exclaimed the Old Sailor wrathfully, dabbing -his face. "But I did what was right to him. I flogged him with a -rope's end till he couldn't stand."</p> - -<p class="normal">"He knew that Joshua gave you the birds, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay, he knew it. To tell you the truth, my lad, I christened the birds -Josh and Dan, and used to call them by their names. They were as -sensible as human beings, and I gave them decent burial. I sewed them -in canvas, and weighted it with shot, and slipped it off a plank. I'll -not have any more of them, Dan. That lubberly thief would crawl on -board one night and murder them too. No, no, my lad; no more birds for -me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, then, I'll tell you what we'll do," said Dan. "I will give you -another pair of birds, and I will keep them for you, and you will come -here sometimes and see how they are getting along. That's a good idea, -isn't it, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor admitted that it was, and thus it fell out that he -became a visitor to the house. Dan bought a toy ship, with sails and -masts and slender ropes all complete, and taught the birds to climb -the ropes and masts, which they did deftly, although not in sailor -fashion, hand-over-hand; and his thoughtful conceit filled the Old -Sailor with infinite delight.</p> - -<p class="normal">It was Susan's good fortune not to meet the Lascar for many months -after the eventful occurrence in which Joshua had played so prominent -a part. But one evening, when she and Ellen were returning home, she -met him face to face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Stop!" cried the Lascar, noticing Susan's agitation with secret -pleasure. "You don't forget me, do you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen, raising her eyes, saw and recognized the Lascar, and was -recognized by him at the same moment.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah!" he said, "I remember you. You came one day with a lame boy and -that young thief Joshua Marvel--curse him!--to see Mr. Meddler's -boat."</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen tried to hurry Susan along, but the Lascar stood directly in -their path.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not yet, my beauty. You are about the prettiest girl I've ever seen. -What's your name?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen was not so overcome with fear as to entirely lose her -self-possession. Had she been alone, she would have run away. But -Susan was clinging to her, almost fainting with terror. On the -opposite side of the road she saw a man walking towards them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Help!" she cried; but she could have bitten her lip with vexation -when she found that it was Solomon Fewster who responded to her -appeal. However, there Solomon Fewster was, ready to grapple with the -enemy and to die in Ellen's defence. The occasion for a display of -heroism was as good as he could have desired.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where is he?" he cried valiantly; "where's the villain who has dared -to frighten my pretty Ellen?"</p> - -<p class="normal">He said this with such a presumptuous air of being her defender by -natural right, that Ellen was annoyed and displeased. But she could -not be uncivil to him. She thanked him for coming to their help, and -he asked to be allowed to see them home. But Ellen refused, and -although he pleaded hard, she was firm.</p> - -<p class="normal">She was especially angry because of his calling her his pretty Ellen. -Glad as she would have been of a protector, she rightly thought that -it would be giving Mr. Fewster encouragement if she allowed him to -assume that office. So, with many distressingly-tender protestations, -he took his departure, congratulating himself upon the adventure, and -Susan and Ellen walked homewards.</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen was very anxious to know all about the Lascar, and why Susan was -frightened at him. Susan told her all, and Ellen's face glowed with -delight at Joshua's courage.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Brave Joshua!" she exclaimed. "Isn't he a hero, Susan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Notwithstanding that she had not recovered from her fright at meeting -the Lascar, Susan could not help smiling at Ellen's enthusiasm.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He was to be away a year," said Ellen, "and it is now two years and -four months."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And how many weeks, and how many days, and how many hours?" -interrupted Susan, half gayly. "You could tell, I dare say. Ellen, -couldn't you, if you were put to it?" Ellen looked shyly at Susan. -"What a change he will find in you, my dear!" Susan continued -tenderly. "In the place of a plain little girl he will find a very -pretty woman."</p> - -<p class="normal">"O Susey! calling me a woman!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, you are, dear, or you will be when he comes back. I wonder"--</p> - -<p class="normal">But Susan did not say what it was she wondered at, but stopped, most -unaccountably, in the middle of the street and kissed Ellen in a -motherly kind of way. The caress set Ellen a-blushing, and she fell -into a state of happy musing. They were very near home when a voice at -their side said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"You thought you had escaped me, eh?"</p> - -<p class="normal">It was the voice of the Lascar, who had dogged them until he found an -opportunity of speaking to them without attracting attention. Their -hearts beat fast, but they did not turn their heads.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't say a word," whispered Ellen, "don't speak, don't stop, don't -look! We shall be home directly."</p> - -<p class="normal">"So Joshua Marvel hasn't come back yet," he said with bitter emphasis. -"He is a long time gone; but wait till he comes. I go every day to see -the cross I put against him, and it grows brighter and brighter. I -curse him every night. Perhaps he thinks that I forget. He shall see -if I do." He gasped this at intervals, for the girls were now almost -running in their terror. "Tell him," hissed the Lascar, "when he comes -that that I poisoned at old thief's birds because Joshua gave them to -him, and because the old thief used to call one of them by his name. -Curse him! And you!" he exclaimed savagely, touching Susan's arm. "See -you--remember! My shadow follows you from this day, you damned witch! -for it was because of you that he came across me. Oh, you live there, -do you? Dream of my shadow, you cat, to-night. It shall stand at your -bedside. Blot it out if you can."</p> - -<p class="normal">He had worked himself into a horrible rage; his passion made a madman -of him; yet he did not attempt to stop them as they darted in at the -door, but stood aside and looked at the house, and marked it and -lingered about it for half an hour afterwards. In the mean time Ellen -and Susan had run into their bedroom and locked the door. It was a -long time before they recovered from their agitation. Susan was in an -agony of terror; all her old fears came with stronger force upon her. -She pressed her fingers upon her eyes and threw herself upon the -ground, shuddering and moaning.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you see his shadow, Ellen?" she moaned. "Do you see it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is nothing in the room but you and me, dear Susey," said Ellen, -smoothing Susan's hair, and striving by every means to soothe her. -"Why, I am braver than you, and I am ever so much younger. What have -we to be afraid of? A drunken man! You stupid Susey! And as for -shadows, who believes in them?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I do. I have seen them and felt them. I have heard them creeping -after me in the dark, and I have been frightened to turn. I have felt -their breath upon my face--and it is like death--like death!"</p> - -<p class="normal">All Ellen's efforts to tranquillize her were unavailing. Susan did not -leave her room again that evening, and during the night that followed -she awoke a dozen times, and her fevered imagination conjured up the -shadow of the Lascar standing at her bedside, pointing to a cross of -blood which shone with cruel distinctness in the midst of the -darkness.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XV.</h4> - -<h5>SOLOMON FEWSTER GIVES THE LASCAR A FLOWER.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Early in the new year letters from Joshua reached home. With -what joy -they were read! In one of them he wrote: "I remember saying that I -should be home in twelve months; but that time has passed, and another -twelve months, and nearly another, and still there is no talk of -returning. If I stay away much longer you won't know me when you see -me. Upon my word, I think if I were to open the door now and walk in -suddenly, you would be puzzled to know whether I was really myself or -somebody else."</p> - -<p class="normal">When they read this they all raised their heads and looked towards the -door, wishing that Joshua would turn the handle and walk into the -room.</p> - -<p class="normal">The evening of the day on which the letters arrived was spent in grand -state in Dan's house. Every member of the Marvel family was there, and -the Old Sailor, and Solomon Fewster as well; so that the little parlor -was quite full, and all the chairs had to be brought from the bedroom -and the kitchen to provide seats for the company. The letters were -read aloud, and commented upon and rejoiced over.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It isn't as good as Joshua's being here," said Dan, looking round -with a happy face; "but it is next door to it. I tell you what pleases -me almost as much as any thing in the letters--it is that Jo's a -favorite with the men. Hear what he says: 'I play to them on my -accordion two or three times a week, and according to them I am a -splendid musician--which I am not, you know, for I only play simple -tunes. Last week the captain sent for me and told me that some -passengers who were on board wanted to dance, and wished me to play -for them. Of course I fetched the accordion at once. You should have -seen us! I played for them twice after that night; and yesterday when -we arrived at Sydney--Oh, Dan such a lovely place, with such a -bay!--they gave me a sovereign, which I put into Ellen's purse. Tell -Ellen that!'"</p> - -<p class="normal">A blush came into Ellen's face, and her heart beat more quickly, when -she heard that Joshua was so careful of the purse she had worked for -him.</p> - -<p class="normal">Filled with such like matter, the letters could not fail to be a -source of delight. Dan was commissioned to give Joshua's love to -Ellen, and Ellen was asked to pay a visit to the Old Sailor, and to -tell him that Joshua was doing hie duty. Susan received messages for -Basil and Minnie, and was to tell Minnie that Joshua would bring her -some beautiful shells--"shells in which Minnie can hear the waves -singing to each other in whispers," Joshua wrote, almost poetically.</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie, sitting in her corner, scarcely spoke a word; she was thinking -of the sailor-lad who had been so kind to her, and she was looking -with the eyes of her mind upon the picture which Dan had painted of -Joshua, with his handsome face and free waving hair, standing on the -deck, and laughingly shaking the spray from his eyes.</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor nodded approval as the letters were read, and then -traced Joshua's course on a map which he had brought with him, -stopping many times to tell the eager on-lookers of the wonders and -the glories of the beautiful South Pacific. The map was spread on the -table, and it was not an unattractive picture to see them all -clustered round the Old Sailor, peeping over his shoulders and under -his arms, as with his great forefinger he followed the ship from port -to port. Mrs. Marvel, who had taken to spectacles, found them of but -little use to her on this occasion, for the obstinate tears came into -her eyes and dropped into the ocean which the Old Sailor's forefinger -was ploughing. Minnie leaned over Dan's shoulder, and the table was so -small that she had to put her arm round Dan's neck and to put her face -close to his, so that she might see. A strange feeling of happiness -came upon Dan as her cheek nestled close to his; a feeling of -happiness so exquisite that all his senses were merged in it. The -common parlor, the eager faces peering at the map, the pleasant voice -of the Old Sailor explaining the route, all faded from before him, and -he was conscious of nothing but Minnie's presence. He felt the warm -contact of a soft hand; it was Minnie's hand, which in her eager -abstraction she had placed on his. He folded it in his, and she -allowed it to rest there. It was like a dream. He feared to move -and held his breath lest he should awake. A sudden murmur of -voices--voices that sounded for a moment as if they came from afar -off--aroused him; he looked into Minnie's face, and saw it lighted up -with a happiness that seemed to be a reflex of his own; and as she -turned her eyes to his, so luminous a beauty dwelt in them that he -could have fallen at her feet and worshipped her. But the dream was at -an end--the blissful silence which had encompassed him was invaded. -Minnie had returned to her corner, and his friends were speaking -together, and laughing and appealing to him upon some point which he -had not heard. Dan still felt the warm pressure of Minnie's hand and -the soft contact of her cheek; and unobserved he rested his lips upon -the palm which had clasped hers, and kissed it softly and wonderingly.</p> - -<p class="normal">There was only one person in the party who did not feel happy. That -one was Solomon Fewster. Directly he entered the room he had been -greeted with the joyful tidings; and understanding that he was -expected to share in the general excitement of pleasure, he professed -a delight which he did not experience. That afternoon he had purchased -a rare flower, which it was his intention to present to Ellen. He had -brooded over the idea for several days, and had decided that it would -be a good thing to do. As he entered the room with the flower in the -button-hole of his coat, he was already primed with a few -complimentary words which he had learned by heart to say to Ellen, -when he presented his gift. Ellen had never before looked so pretty, -he thought. Her eyes were brighter, and there was a more joyous -animation than usual in her manner. She greeted him with a smile so -much more gracious than he was accustomed to receive from her, that he -congratulated himself upon the purchase of the flower. She gave him -her hand with more than her usual warmth, and when he ventured gently -to press it, she did not resent the liberty. The fact was, she did not -notice it. She was full of joy, and, as is the case with all amiable -natures, she dispensed gleams of her happiness to all with whom -she came in contact. Unless we are too much engrossed in our own -special cares, we sometimes meet with such like happy faces in -the streets--faces which seem to say, "We are happy; be happy with -us"--faces which, although quite strange to us, which we have never -seen before and may never see again, will kindle with a smile of -welcome upon the smallest encouragement.</p> - -<p class="normal">But Solomon Fewster was terribly discomfited when he learned the -reason of her cheerfulness and animation; it was because letters had -been received from Joshua. He determined not to present his flower -just then, for he read something in Ellen's blushes that sorely galled -him. He could not help thinking that the fuss they were making about a -common sailor-boy, and the laughing and the crying they indulged in -over Joshua's stupid letters, were utterly ridiculous, and in a sort -of way derogatory to himself, Dan's best patron.</p> - -<p class="normal">As the night wore on, his anger and uneasiness increased; and yet he -lingered until the last moment, torturing himself with all kinds of -speculations as to what was the nature of the feeling that Ellen -entertained for Joshua. Every expression of gladness that fell from -her lips concerning Joshua and Joshua's career was painful to him, and -it was with a bitter heart that he left the house, with the flower -still in his coat. He was hot and feverish as he closed the -street-door behind him, and he was not sorry to find that a heavy rain -was falling. He took off his hat and bared his head to the rain. -Within the house he had been compelled to repress expression of his -feelings; it was a relief to him now to feel that no one was by, and -that he could speak out at last. And the first words he uttered, as he -smoothed his wet hair and put on his hat, were, "Damn Joshua Marvel! I -would give money to drown him!" As he spoke the words aloud, he was -conscious of a slouching figure at his side. Although it was raining, -the night was not quite dark there was enough light for him to notice -that the man who had approached him was in rags--most probably a -beggar. Muttering that he had nothing to give, Solomon Fewster walked -on. But the man was not to be so easily shaken off, and Mr. Fewster -being in an eminently quarrelsome mood turned upon him, and repeated -in no civil tone that he had nothing to give.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have not asked you for any thing," said the man, surlily, "though -if I had, you might speak to me more civilly, Mr. Fewster."</p> - -<p class="normal">They were passing a lamp-post, and, attracted by the utterance of his -name, Mr. Fewster stopped and said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"How do you know my name?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I know it; that is enough," was the answer.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah!" said Mr. Fewster, regarding the Lascar with curiosity and -recognizing him, "I have seen you before, my man."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is not saying much against me, master," said the Lascar, rather -sneeringly. "I have seen <i>you</i> before; so we're equal.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And whenever I have seen you, it has been in this street," continued -Mr. Fewster.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And pretty well whenever I have seen you, it has been in this -street," retorted the Lascar; "you seem to be as fond of it as I am."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And generally of a night."</p> - -<p class="normal">"The same to you master; and what then? The street is free to me as it -is to you. Look you. I know more than you are aware of. If it comes to -that, why do you go so often to that house?" The sudden look of -discomposure that flashed into Mr. Fewster's face was not lost upon -the Lascar, who had seen him walking by Ellen's side more than once, -and who had stealthily followed them on every occasion. "Look you, -master. What one man does for love, another man does for hate."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hate of whom? What do you mean?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"The people in that house have received letters from Joshua Marvel -to-day."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, what of that?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"What of that!" cried the Lascar, in a voice of suppressed passion, -and yet with a cunning watchfulness of Mr. Fewster's face, as if he -were watching for a cue to speak more plainly. "Well, nothing much, -master; except that I should like to know when the cub is coming -home."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Fewster could not help an expression of satisfaction passing into -his eyes as he heard Joshua spoken of as a cub, and the Lascar saw it -and took his cue from it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do you want to know for? What is Joshua Marvel to you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is this to me," cried the Lascar, the dark blood rushing into his -face and making it darker; "that if I had him here, I would stamp upon -him with my feet, and spoil his beauty for him! He is this to me, that -if I could twist his heart-strings I would do it, and laugh in his -face the while! See me now, master; look at me well. I did not ask you -for money, for I know you, and I know you don't give nothing for -nothing. But I might have asked you, and with reason, for I want it. -Look at my feet" (Mr. Fewster noticed, for the first time, that the -Lascar's feet were bare); "Look at my clothes--rags. That old thief, -Praiseworthy Meddler, kicked me off his barge where I've lived and -slept this many a year. And every blow he struck at me went down to -Joshua Marvel's account, and makes it heavier against him. See you; -the Lascar dog never forgets. I've sworn an oath, and I'll keep it. -I've put a cross against him, and he shall see it when he is dying."</p> - -<p class="normal">Solomon Fewster looked at the wretch before him, quivering with -passion and shivering with cold, and deliberately cracked his fingers -one after another. When the operation was concluded, he said, lightly, -as taking no interest in what the Lascar had said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is your business, my friend; not mine. I will tell you as far as -I know about this young gentleman who has served you so well. He is -not coming home yet a while, I believe--not before the end of the -year, perhaps. I dare say you'll manage to see him when he does come -home."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, I'll manage to see him then," said the Lascar, with a sudden -quietude of manner and with a furtive rook at Mr. Fewster's face--a -look which said, "You are trying to deceive me, master; let us see who -is the more cunning--you or I." Then aloud, "Thank you for answering -my question. You say it is not your business, this hate of mine for -Joshua Marvel. Yet there may be something in common between us for -I've seen you walking with the girl who worships Joshua Marvel."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How do you know that she worships him?" demanded Mr. Fewster, thrown -off his guard, his heart beating loud and fast.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because I am not blind. I know that as well as I know that you have -as much cause to hate him as I have. I am like a cat; I watch and -watch. You are too young, my master, to mask your face; and I have -seen that in it that you wouldn't like to speak."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mind what you are saying," said Mr. Fewster, with his knuckles at his -teeth; "you are on dangerous ground."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why should I mind?" questioned the Lascar, with a curious mixture of -fierceness and humility in his voice. "My tongue's my own. I have -nothing to lose: judge you if you have any thing to gain. Mind you, I -stop at nothing. I am not squeamish. You are a gentleman; I am a -vagabond. I can do what you daren't. I can help you to what you want, -perhaps; and you can help me."</p> - -<p class="normal">The cunning of the Lascar was too deep for Mr. Fewster. The Lascar saw -as clearly as if he had been told that Solomon Fewster loved Ellen -Taylor, and he seized instinctively upon Ellen's love for Joshua as -the lever by which he was to gain power over Mr. Fewster. In the -present conversation the men were not evenly matched; the Lascar had -all the advantage on his side. Subtle as Mr. Fewster was, his love -blinded his judgment, and his hate led him to consider that this man -might be useful to him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can help you, you tell me," he said. "How?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am cold to the bone," said the shivering wretch. "Treat me to some -rum."</p> - -<p class="normal">They walked until they reached a public-house; then Mr. Fewster gave -the Lascar money.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Go in and drink, but don't get drunk."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ain't you coming in, master?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No," said Mr. Fewster, with a look of contempt at the Lascar's -tatters. "You can buy a bottle of rum, and bring it out with you. And -mind, when you come out, don't walk by my side; follow me."</p> - -<p class="normal">Five minutes afterwards they were walking in single file towards Mr. -Fewster's place of business, where he lived. When they arrived at the -door, Mr. Fewster hesitated. He wanted to talk to the Lascar, to get -out of him all he knew about Ellen and Joshua; yet, looking at the -Lascar, he hesitated. The man divined what was in his mind, and -said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is a policeman coming along on the other side of the way. Go to -him and say, 'Look at this man; I have occasion to speak to him on a -matter of business; but he is a disreputable dog, and I want you to -watch the house. Knock in an hour, and if I don't answer, or if you -hear any noise, force open the door.' Say that to him, or something -like it, and give him a pint of beer, and you will be all right."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Come along," said Mr. Fewster, stung by the Lascar's quiet sneer; "I -am not frightened of you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You have no need to be, master. You can use me like a dog, if you -give me to eat and drink."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Like a dog!" echoed Mr. Fewster, with a laugh. "Well, suppose I -regard you in that light; it may be useful."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Fewster struck a light in the shop, in which there were at least a -score of coffins--respectable coffins, solemnly black as coffins -should be, with respectable nails to match.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Waiting for tenants," he remarked, pleasantly, to the Lascar. "The -cheap ones--common deal--are in the workshop at the back." Mr. Fewster -put the candle down upon a coffin, and looked complacently upon his -wares. "Handsome, are they not? This one, now, with lacquered handles -and silvered plate for name, age, and virtues, what should you say to -that?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Shouldn't care much for it," said the Lascar, with evident -repugnance. "It would be more suitable for such as you, master. A -cheap one--of common deal--will be good enough for me, when my turn -comes."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Quite good enough, I should say."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are not going to stop here talking, are you?" inquired the -Lascar, seeing that Mr. Fewster evinced no disposition to move.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why, don't you like it, you dog?" retorted Mr. Fewster, with a spice -of his native humor.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, I don't; it smells of worms."</p> - -<p class="normal">With a pleasant laugh Mr. Fewster led the way into his sitting-room, -and set light to the fire and lit a second candle.</p> - -<p class="normal">"This is better," said the Lascar, huddling before the fire. "Ah, this -is good, this warmth; it is life! Have you ever slept out in the cold, -master?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, you dog," answered Mr. Fewster.</p> - -<p class="normal">He had recovered his self-possession and much of his usual equanimity.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have; in the cold and wet, for two or three nights together."</p> - -<p class="normal">"There was the Union," suggested Mr. Fewster.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have been there often enough. Sometimes I was too late; sometimes -there were too many of us; sometimes I didn't care even for that -shelter."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Would you like to sleep in my shop? I think I could trust you there."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I think you might. I shouldn't be likely to steal a coffin. I -shouldn't care to sleep there, master, and that's flat. If I woke up -in the dark, I should see dead men lying in the coffins. I wouldn't -mind it so much if the coffins were plain deal ones; but black--ugh!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Fewster laughed loud and long. Coffins were playthings to -him--toys symbolical of the joys of life. He laughed merrily as he set -food on the table, the Lascar watching him with greedy eyes the while. -"Fall to, you dog!" said Mr. Fewster; and like a dog, devoid though of -a dog's generous nature, the Lascar fell to, and devoured the bread -and cheese. Meanwhile Mr. Fewster helped himself to a large glass of -rum. He was one of the soberest of undertakers, who, as a rule, are -not the soberest of men. He drank but very rarely; but when he did, -all the worst part of his nature disported itself, in revenge for -being generally kept so much under control. Now as he drank his -rum--and he drank it neat--he became savage, vengeful, desperate. He -had never felt till now how deeply he loved Ellen Taylor. He had loved -her in a light way from the first, and his love had grown quietly, and -had been fed by her avoidance of his attentions. Her behavior towards -him had deepened his love and intensified it. Yet all along, -notwithstanding that he felt he was not as agreeable in her eyes as he -would wish to be, he thought that to have he had only to ask. "They, -poor working people," he thought, "earning just enough to keep them, -living as it were from hand to mouth, <i>must</i> feel flattered and -honored by my attention--by the attention of a man who has a -prosperous business and an account at the bank." As for marriage, he -had not thought of that till lately. But Ellen had so firmly and so -steadily repulsed him in any advances he had plucked up courage to -make, that he had resolved to lower himself and ask her to be his -wife. Having determined to make the sacrifice, he considered that the -road was clear to him. He reasoned with himself thus: "She thought -perhaps that I did not mean honorably by her, and that is the cause of -her treating me so coldly; but when she learns my real intentions she -cannot but feel flattered, and must accept me."</p> - -<p class="normal">He thought over these things as he sat before the fire entirely -engrossed by love for Ellen and hate for Joshua. The Lascar had helped -himself to the spirits, and as Mr. Fewster sat studying the fire, he -sat studying his host. That it was a study that interested him and -pleased him was evident from the satisfied expression in his face, and -from the satisfied manner in which he rubbed his hands gently over one -another.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, you dog!" exclaimed Mr. Fewster insolently.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, master?" replied the Lascar meekly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Have you had enough, you dog?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Plenty, thank you, master."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Master took another drink of rum, and the Dog followed suit. The -Master regarded the Dog with a contemptuous assumption of superiority. -The Dog regarded the Master with becoming humbleness. But the Dog had -the best of it, although he did cast down his eyes.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Look up, you dog," said Mr. Fewster.</p> - -<p class="normal">The Dog looked up.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What would you do to Joshua Marvel if you had him here, with no one -by?"</p> - -<p class="normal">The Lascar, who had been playing idly with the knife with which he had -cut his supper, raised it, and with a fierce action struck at the air. -Then, springing to his feet, he threw aside his chair, and kneeling on -the ground, made motions with his fingers as if he were strangling an -enemy.</p> - -<p class="normal">"H-m!" exclaimed Mr. Fewster, looking at the upturned face, blazing -with vindictiveness, that fronted his. "Dangerous."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's my business. I'll risk the danger of it. See you--shall I -speak plainly?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes."</p> - -<p class="normal">"This girl that you love worships the man that you and I hate"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Say that <i>you</i> hate, you dog," interrupted Mr. Fewster. "I'll have no -partnership. I am master."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I ask your pardon, master. The girl that you love worships the man -that I hate. She is waiting for him to come home; so am I. I have -sworn death to him. When he comes home, the girl that you love will -have no eyes for any one but him. What chance will you have with her -then?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Stop. You are too fast. Speak of yourself and of them without -reference to me. Don't iterate with your damnable tongue about the -girl that <i>I</i> love. The girl that I love, I'll have"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"So you shall, master, if I can help you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"When I want your help, I'll ask for it. Now go on with your story, -and heed my caution."</p> - -<p class="normal">With ready wit the Lascar fell into Mr. Fewster's humor.</p> - -<p class="normal">"This girl that I speak of--as pretty a picture of flesh and blood as -eyes ever saw--is loved by a gentleman who in a sort of way has -lowered himself to think of her. But the gentleman has made up his -mind to have her, and when a gentleman makes up his mind, who shall -stop him? He goes one night to the house where this pretty girl -lives--I shouldn't wonder if the very flower that the gentleman wore -in his button-hole wasn't intended for her"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are a clever dog, you!" said Mr. Fewster, half in anger, half in -admiration.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thank you, master. With the flower in his button-hole the gentleman -goes to the house where his pretty girl lives, and there he spends the -evening, and hears read, I dare say, some letters, which she has -received from his rival, who is a sailor--I only speak from fancy, -master; set me right if you can."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How can I set you right when I know nothing about it, you dog, except -by saying that I shouldn't think it likely <i>she</i> received any -letters?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thank you, master. My fancy was wrong, I've no doubt. The gentleman, -then, is obliged to listen to some letters which have been received -from abroad, and is obliged to listen to affectionate words uttered by -the girl he loves for his rival far away--mind, master, I don't know -this, I only suspect it--and he sees, too, in her face, that when her -sailor-boy comes home, she will open her arms to his rival, to his -enemy, whom he hates, and would like to see put out of the way."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How do you know that last?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have seen it in his face; I have heard it in his voice. I happened -to see the gentleman come out of his sweetheart's house one rainy -night, not long ago; and I happened to hear the gentleman mutter that -he would give money if that sailor-lover was drowned."</p> - -<p class="normal">"If were the gentleman, and you told me this to my face, I should say -that you lied."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Of course you would; but what should you know of it? Still, master, -confess that the story is a likely one as far as it has gone."</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is more of it to come, then?" asked Mr. Fewster, who had turned -his back so that the Lascar should not see his face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is more of it to come. But say, first, it is a likely story as -far as I have told it," said the Lascar a little doggedly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is likely enough. I have heard stories more strange."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where did I leave off? Oh! about my hearing this gentleman say, as he -stood bareheaded in the rain, that he wished his rival were dead. Now -that was a fortunate hearing for me. Not that I should take advantage -of what I heard; not that I should go to the pretty girl's brother, -and then tell him what I had heard the gentleman say about his -sailor-friend; not that I should go to the pretty girl herself and -say, 'Beware of the gentleman; he means mischief; if he can ruin your -lover he will.' That would be a mean thing to do; for it would upset -the gentleman's chances with the girl that he loves. No; I should go -to the gentleman and say, 'I hate this absent lover, and any thing -that I could do to make him suffer, I would do cheerfully. You would -do the same. But you are a gentleman, and I am a dog. You mustn't be -seen in the matter. What you want done do through me. Never mind how -mean it is, how dirty it is; do it through me. And all the return I -want for it is enough to buy food and shelter, and perhaps a drop of -grog and a bit of tobacco.' That wouldn't be much to ask in return for -what I may be able to do for him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But no gentleman would compromise himself by entering into a bargain -with a--a"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"A dog, master--say a dog; it is good enough for me," interposed the -Lascar with a careless laugh.</p> - -<p class="normal">"With a dog like you. I don't see how the affair could be arranged -with a proper understanding as to what was expected to be done."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It could be arranged easily enough, master. I might ask the -gentleman, supposing he had a flower in his button-bole, to give me -that flower, and not say another word. That would be a proper -understanding for both of us."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Fewster rose, and put aside the curtain of the window. The rain -was coming down hard and fast, and the wind was tearing furiously -through the streets.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A fine storm for a ship to be in near rocks, master," said the -Lascar, who had risen, and was standing by his side.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is time for you to be going," said Mr. Fewster, turning abruptly -away from the window.</p> - -<p class="normal">"In such a night as this!" exclaimed the Lascar. "And I with no place -to put my head in?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are homeless, then?" The Lascar nodded. "Well, I take you into my -service. It would be hard if no one could be found to do a good turn -for a poor devil like you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That it would, master," said the Lascar, standing in an attitude of -expectation; "and thank you. Could you spare that flower out of your -coat?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Blinded by passion, inflamed by jealousy, Mr. Fewster detached the -flower, and threw it to the Lascar, whose eyes gleamed with -satisfaction as he put it in his pocket.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You can sleep in the out-house," said Mr. Fewster; "and as every dog -should have a kennel, I dare say you can find a coffin to lie in."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, thank you, master; I will lie on the ground." He poured what -remained of the rum into his glass, and raised it to his lips. "Here's -luck, and my faithful service to you. You may depend upon me, for my -heart is in my work."</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XVI.</h4> - -<h5>CHRISTMAS-EVE AT HOME.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">A happier party was never assembled within four walls than is -now -gathered together within the four walls of Mr. Marvel's kitchen. That -it is Christmas-eve is proclaimed by the two little hoops which hang -from the ceiling, circled by colored Christmas candles; and that the -kindly influence of the time has fallen in full measure upon the -wood-turner's house may be read in the faces of George Marvel and his -family and guests. Sarah Marvel, whose place in this history is but a -small one, has grown into a comely young woman; and, indeed, the four -years which have elapsed since Joshua's departure have changed all his -friends for the better. Those of them who were young when he left are -no longer boys and girls, except in their hearts, which are as young -as ever, and which are pulsing with love for the absent hero. Not to -be absent for long now; for Joshua is coming home. They cannot tell -the exact day of his arrival; it may be a week yet, or a month; but -the sails of his ship are spread for dear home. So, as they sit round -the fire, there is a happy light in their eyes, and they look at each -other and smile, and laugh musical little laughs.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is more than four years ago," said George Marvel, "that one night -as we were sitting round the fire, as it might be now, Josh said all -of a sudden, 'I should like to go to sea.' Those were the very words -he said 'I should like to go to sea.' And it came so sudden-like, that -mother there began to cry. So you want to be a sailor, Josh? I -asked. 'Yes,' he answered; 'a sailor first, and then a captain.' Do -you remember, mother? And now my boy is coming home a man; and here we -are this happy Christmas-eve, talking of him, and thinking of him, and -hoping to see him soon after the New Year. Said mother that night, -'Suppose Josh is shipwrecked, what would you say then?' What would I -say then? What <i>did</i> I say then? I said that Josh wasn't going to get -shipwrecked, and that there's more danger on the land than on the sea. -And I was right, I was; and mother wasn't."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Marvel smiled contentedly at the reproof, and nodded in -confirmation of her husband's words.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And when Mr. Praiseworthy Meddler came to see us for the first time," -continued Mr. Marvel, "he said the very same thing that I said about -the dangers of the sea. And talking of Mr. Meddler, here he is, I do -believe; and that makes our party complete."</p> - -<p class="normal">The last words had been suggested by a great stamping and puffing -outside in the passage; and presently the door opened, and -Praiseworthy Meddler, covered with snow, stood in the entrance.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A merry Christmas to you all!" he said, peeling off his glazed coat. -"No, no my lasses, don't come near me; you'll spoil your pretty -ribbons."</p> - -<p class="normal">But the girls would not be denied, and clustered round him, assisting -him to take off his coat, and to shake the snow from his cap and hair. -A pleasant figure he was to look at as he stood there, his honest face -beaming with health and pleasure, encircling the waists of Ellen and -Minnie, who nestled to him as confidingly and lovingly as if they were -his daughters. A sprig of mistletoe hanging over the door caught his -sight, and he stooped and gallantly kissed the girls, who pretended -resistance, and sprang laughing from his arms. Then he shook hands all -round, and taking the seat that was waiting for him near the warmest -part of the fire, remarked that the snow was two inches thick on the -pavement, and that it was coming down heavily still. It reminded him -of a great snow-storm by which he was overtaken in a cruise in the -north. That, of course, led to entreaties for a snow-story, and the -Old Sailor, in his homely way, told them a story Of icebergs and -polar-bears, which kept them entranced for nearly an hour, and which -was all the more delightful because it ended happily.</p> - -<p class="normal">The story being concluded, they talked noisily and merrily as to what -they should do next in honor of Christmas. In the midst of the -conversation, Ellen, who was sitting next to Dan, felt her hand -tightly clasped. Looking up, she saw upon his face a listening -expression of such painful intensity that she asked him, in a whisper, -what he was listening to. He put his finger to his lips and told -her--with a strange abstractedness in his manner--that he was going -out of the room, and that he wished her to come with him without -attracting attention.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We shall be back presently," said Ellen to Mrs. Marvel, as she -assisted Dan with his crutches.</p> - -<p class="normal">When they were in the passage, she felt that he was trembling, and she -anxiously asked if he was unwell.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not bodily," he answered; "I want to look in the street."</p> - -<p class="normal">They went to the street-door, and, opening it softly, looked out. The -snow was falling fast, and the unpretentious houses, covered with -their white mantle, looked surprisingly quaint and beautiful. A man, -who passed on the opposite side of the way as they opened the door, -was the only sign of life beside themselves in the street. The man -slouched onwards, and dragged his feet along the pavement in a brutish -kind of way, tearing a black gash in the pure white snow, out of sheer -wantonness as it seemed. It looked like a desecration.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ellen," said Dan, when the man was out of sight, "I would not tell my -fancies to any one but you. I am not happy. All last night I was -dreaming of Joshua."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That was good, dear," said Ellen.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It was not good, Ellen. My dreams were bad ones. They were too -confused and indistinct for me to remember them clearly. But the -impression they left upon me was that Joshua was in danger; I cannot -tell in what way or from whom. I did not hear a word of the story Mr. -Meddler just told us. I was thinking of I don't know what--and all of -a sudden, Ellen, I fancied that I heard Joshua's voice."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is because he is so near us."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Near us? Yes. He is very near us; nearer than you imagine."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How do you know, dear?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I feel that he is; and strange to say, Ellen, the feeling does not -seem to bring me pleasure."</p> - -<p class="normal">"O Dan!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is so, Ellen; I cannot help it. That Joshua is near us, I am -certain. See: is there anybody in the street?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen looked up and down. No; there was no person to be seen, and she -said so.</p> - -<p class="normal">"How beautiful the night is, Dan!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, like fairyland, almost," said Dan. "It hurts me to see that -black track on the other side, where the man was walking. Did you -notice how he slouched along? Look at that shadow at the end of the -street. Is it the same man, I wonder?"</p> - -<p class="normal">The shadow lingered for a few moments, as if undecided which road to -take, and then disappeared again.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dan, dear," whispered Ellen, "you said that you would not tell your -fancies to any one but me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, Ellen?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"May I whisper something, my dear?" she asked very tenderly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Would you not tell them to Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">She was supporting Dan, and his hand was round her neck; a nervous -twitching of his fingers told her that her question was a momentous -one.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dear Ellen," he answered in an agitated voice, "I do not think I -would--at least just yet--because--because"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because what, dear?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because I am not sure, Ellen," he said, with a sob which he strove in -vain to suppress. "Do not say any thing more, dear. My heart is very -sad."</p> - -<p class="normal">She obeyed him, and kissed him, and then, with a lingering look at the -wondrous white outlines of eaves and roofs and at the wondrous white -carpet with which the earth was clad, they closed the street-door and -re-entered the kitchen. There they were greeted with the news that -Basil Kindred was going to describe and read a play to them. The play -which Basil had selected was Shakspeare's "Tempest," with which none -of them was acquainted but Minnie and Dan. Minnie clapped her hands in -delight.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We will all have characters," she said. "You," to her father, "shall -be Prospero. You," to the Old Sailor, "shall be Stephano. You," to -Ellen, "shall be Miranda; and I will be Ariel. What a pity it is that -Mr. Fewster is not here!--he should be Caliban. If Joshua were here, -he should be Ferdinand."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who is Ferdinand?" asked Ellen.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ferdinand is a prince, and is in love with Miran--no!" Minnie -exclaimed suddenly and impetuously, the blood rising into her face, -"he should not play Ferdinand; he should not play at all. Look at me. -I am Ariel."</p> - -<p class="normal">With a swift motion, she unloosed her hair and let it fall around her -shoulders. Bewitchingly graceful and bewitchingly beautiful, she bent -in obeisance to Prospero and said with a happy inspiration,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you love me, master?"</p> - -<p class="normal">And he, partly in accordance with her pretty conceit and partly from -fatherly affection, placed his hand upon her head and answered,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dearly, my delicate Ariel."</p> - -<p class="normal">Then, motioning her to be silent, Basil Kindred, book in hand, -commenced to tell the story, reading passages now and again in -illustration of the beautiful fancy, and giving appropriate vocal -distinctness to each character; so that his hearers could understand -without difficulty who it was that was supposed to be speaking. He was -in his happiest humor, and he lingered lovingly upon the theme. The -fooling of Trinculo, the brutishness of Caliban, the tenderness of -Miranda, the majesty of Prospero, the daintiness of Ariel, were all -faithfully portrayed; and his audience followed the course of the -story with eager delight. When he had given utterance to that grandest -of poetical images,</p> -<br> -<div style="margin-left:5%; font-size:90%"> -<p style="text-indent:40%">"We are such stuff<br> -As dreams are made of, and our little life<br> -Is rounded with a sleep."</p> -</div> -<br> - -<p class="continue">he paused, and a deep silence fell upon the room, a silence that was -broken by Dan exclaiming,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hark! a knock at the door!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Was it the magnetism of love that caused their hearts to flutter with -joy--that caused Mrs. Marvel to rise tremblingly and say that she -would go and open the door? But her limbs failed her, and Minnie, -crying, "I will go!" ran out of the room. They below, listening in a -state of strangely-anxious expectancy, heard Minnie ask "Who is -there?" and heard her open the door. Almost at the same moment they -heard a cry of joy, followed immediately by a sharp cry of pain. They -ran up stairs and saw Minnie kneeling in the snow, supporting on her -bosom the head of a man dressed in sailor-fashion, and pressing her -lips to his neck, from which the blood was flowing. The pure snow was -crimson-stained; and Mrs. Marvel, in an agony of fear falling on her -knees by Minnie's side, looked into the face of the wounded man, and -recognized the features of her sailor-boy just returned from sea.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XVII.</h4> - -<h5>THE DOG AND HIS MASTER.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Upon that same Christmas-eve Solomon Fewster sat in his room a -moody -unhappy man. He was alone; but if angry thought could have found -palpable shape, the room would have been thronged with ugly forms. He -had refused the invitation which Mrs. Marvel had given him to join the -Christmas party, simply because, when she invited him, she happened to -say something in joyful tones of Joshua's expected return. The mere -mention of Joshua's name was sufficient to inflame him; and he had at -once refused her in a lofty manner, saying that he had another -engagement for the evening. The Lascar had done his work well. There -is no death for jealousy: it sleeps, but it never dies. And the Lascar -had been careful that even the temporary bliss of forgetfulness should -be denied to his master. Less force of cunning than he was endowed -with would have served his purpose with such a man as Solomon Fewster.</p> - -<p class="normal">The good influence of the time did not touch Solomon Fewster's heart. -He was completely engrossed by two sentiments--love for Ellen, hate -for Joshua. The very circumstance that upon this Christmas-eve he had -wilfully deprived himself of the painful pleasure of being in Ellen's -company he laid to Joshua's door. Every happy face he saw that day -deepened the hate he bore to Joshua; for if it had not been for that -absent enemy, he would have been as happy as the best of them. Once -during the evening he went into the open space at the rear of his -house, and saw his neighbors' windows lighted up, and heard sounds of -merriment issue from the rooms. "Who is it that prevents me from being -as happy as they are?" he muttered. "Who is the cause of my remaining -here to-night, fretting my heart out, instead of sitting next to the -girl that I love more than my life?" He unlocked the gate in the rear -of his premises, and strolled along the narrow lane into which it -opened. The houses in the lane were mere hovels, yet there was not one -of them that was not brilliantly lighted, and the echoes of laughter -and singing floating from their walls denoted that care had been sent -to the right-about for that evening, at least. The sounds were so -displeasing to him that he returned to his room and resting his face -in his hands; raised up the picture of Ellen, fair and bright and -beautiful. He was a calculating, unfeeling man; and if it had so -happened that there had been no obstacle to the smooth course of his -love, he might have remained so to the end of his days, and might -never have suspected that there were points in his character which -would not bear to close a scrutiny. But the means by which we are -brought to a knowledge of ourselves are oftentimes very strange. The -majority of us go down to our graves without suspecting that there are -powerful forces hidden within us, which, had opportunity for display -been allowed them, would have materially altered the tenor of our -lives, whether for good or for evil. Solomon Fewster's love for Ellen -was the most ennobling feeling he had ever experienced. His hatred for -Joshua, and the thoughts and desires prompted by that hate were the -most villainous. It is strange that the hate which disgraced him, not -the love which ennobled him, should have made him conscious of his -defects. It was that very hatred that brought to him the knowledge -that he was not a good man; and that caused him to reflect that, if -his love were returned, it would be the means of making him better. -His thoughts were taking this direction now, and he was still sitting -with his face resting in his hands, when he was startled by the sound -of the gate being violently dashed aside. He remembered that he had -forgotten to fasten it. Before he had time to rise, the latch of the -door was lifted, and the Lascar glided in like a white spectre. With a -strange feverishness of manner, the Lascar turned the key in the door, -and at the same moment stooped and listened, holding up a warning -finger as a caution for Solomon Fewster to be silent. He remained in -that position for two or three minutes; then rose upright, and drew a -long breath.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What now?" demanded Mr. Fewster angrily, and yet with a consciousness -that the Lascar had sufficient cause for his abrupt entrance. "What -thieves' trick have you been up to to-night, you dog! that you run in -here as if the police were at your heels?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"They are not," said the Lascar, shaking the snow from his clothes, -dog-like; "and that's a good thing, master, for you and for me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"For me, you dog! You dare to say that!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I forgot to close the gate," said the Lascar, taking no notice of Mr. -Fewster's exclamation. He went out, and having locked the gate, -re-entered; and, seeing a bottle on the table, said, "What's this? -Rum?" He did not wait to be invited, but helped himself freely, and -spread his cold hands before the fire. "I am numbed to the bone. It's -precious cold being out in the snow all day. I didn't hope to find you -at home, master. I thought you would be enjoying yourself like a -gentleman. I ran in here, finding the gate open, not knowing where to -run. It is snowing fast--that's one comfort--and my footsteps will -soon be filled up."</p> - -<p class="normal">All the while he spoke he was busily occupied warming his fingers and -blowing on his knuckles.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, explain the meaning of all this," said Mr. Fewster.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Give me something to eat first, master. I haven't tasted food since -the morning."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Fewster pointed to the cupboard; and the Lascar took bread and -meat, and ate swiftly and ravenously.</p> - -<p class="normal">"My service to you, master," he said, glass in hand, "and a merry -Christmas."</p> - -<p class="normal">When he had emptied the glass, he threw a knife on the table. It was a -clasp-knife, and the blade was open. There was a triumphant -demonstrativeness in the action that instantly attracted Mr. Fewster's -attention. He saw blood upon the blade--blood scarcely dried. Whose -blood was it? A mist floated before his eyes. It was there but a -moment; but in that moment a picture presented itself to him in the -midst of a lurid cloud--a picture of a handsome sailor, smitten by an -assassin's hand, falling to the ground. Then the figures were lost in -a glare of bright blood and bright snow; and they, in their turn, were -lost in black shade. Although the vision lasted but a moment, it -produced the curious effect upon him of having been enveloped in -darkness for a long time; and the sudden awakening to consciousness -caused him to shade his eyes with his hand, as if the light in the -room were too strong for him. Awake again, the Lascar's familiar -action and bearing smote him with a sense of danger. The instinct of -self-preservation whispered to him that his good name might be -imperilled by further association with the man. It was clear that the -Lascar had done a desperate deed--a deed which, although he shuddered -to think of it, had perhaps removed his enemy from the scene. But if -so, it was murder. The merest whisper, the faintest breath of -suspicion, would be his ruin, not only with the world, but with Ellen. -He would pay for services--yes; but he would take no risk. It behoved -him to be wary.</p> - -<p class="normal">"They've had a merry party down yonder," said the Lascar, with a -motion of his head in the direction of Mr. Marvel's house. "I made -certain you were there, master. I've been hanging about the street all -night in the cold. I've been on the watch; shall I tell you for whom?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No; I want to know nothing," replied Mr. Fewster, measuring his words -carefully. "Understand me once and for all. Whatever you do you do on -your own responsibility; and I will in no way be associated with it or -with you. If you presume to associate me with any acts of violence on -your part, I wash my hands of you. Nay, more: I will set those upon -you who will not let you escape easily."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I understand you, master," said the Lascar, without the least show of -resentment. "But go on; you have more to say. I'll wait till you've -done."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You dog, you! You break into my house as if you had a right here! You -tell me, as if I were interested in knowing, that the police are at -your heels, and that you are afraid of your very footsteps being -tracked! You have the presumption to say that it is a good job for me -that it is not so! You throw down this knife before me with blood upon -it! What is it to me whose blood it is, or what crime you have -committed? What if it were to be discovered that you had rendered -yourself liable to the law, and then had been seen to come here? If I -did my duty, I should go for a policeman, and hand you into his -charge, and so be rid of you."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Lascar listened without the slightest sign of discomposure. He -even nodded approvingly as he said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"There's only you and me, master. You wouldn't speak so if anybody -else was by. Don't fear; I know what you mean well enough. There's no -chance of our misunderstanding each other, though you're a better -actor than I am, and that's a fact. Rest you easy. No one saw me come -here; and no one shall see me go out. As for the police, I know as -well as you that it would suit your game as little to set them on me -as it would suit my game for them to be set on. But you're right in -threatening me with them. It belongs to your part; for you are master. -And it belongs to my part to take what you say kindly; for I am a dog. -I am satisfied so long as I get enough to keep me; and I'm not greedy, -as you know."</p> - -<p class="normal">Solomon Fewster was extremely disconcerted by the Lascar's coolness. -It proved to him that he was in the Lascar's power, and that the -Lascar knew it. He was disconcerted also by the conviction that forced -itself upon him, that the Lascar measured his indignation at its -proper worth. But he could not belie his nature. It was impossible for -him to be straightforward; even in his villainy he was compelled to be -cunning. He would take care that he committed himself as little as -possible by word of mouth. He was burning to hear what the Lascar had -to tell, but he would not ask. He drew his breath hard, and it was -with difficulty that he restrained his impatience during the long -pause that followed; for the Lascar was as determined as he not to be -the first to break the silence. At length, feeling that he was being -mastered, he turned wrathfully upon the Lascar, and questioned, -"Well?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well!" was the quiet answer.</p> - -<p class="normal">"If you have nothing more to say, you can go."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have something more to say, but I am waiting for permission to -speak."</p> - -<p class="normal">There was an assumption of insolent humility in the Lascar's tone; and -Mr. Fewster bit his lip as he said, "Your tongue's your own; I can't -stop you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thank you, master;" with a cringing expression of satisfaction for -the concession. "Since I was employed in my present service--I mean, -since a certain night when a kind-hearted gentleman gave me a flower, -the leaves of which I have kept carefully in paper, so that I -shouldn't forget what I had to do--I have been more watchful than ever -in the task I had set myself to perform. I have been better able to do -that than I used to be, because the same kind-hearted gentleman has -generously supplied me with money, so that I have had all my time at -my own disposal. He also supplied me with information. The task I had -to perform was to revenge myself upon Joshua Marvel for stepping -between me and my affairs, and for doing me injury. A little while ago -the gentleman told me that Joshua Marvel was expected home soon; and -then I determined that not a night should pass and find me lagging. -Not only my hate, but my faithful duty to my master, made me -determined in this. I set myself to watch for the return of the sailor -Joshua; and during my watch I discovered a curious thing. I discovered -that the gentleman in whose service I am appeared very often in the -street I was watching, and that he was in the habit of lingering -there late at night. He never did any thing else but look up at the -bedroom-window of a certain pretty girl, whose shadow I have often -seen on the blind; and he never went away until the light in her room -was extinguished. I was careful that he should not see me, for it was -no business of mine; and I know when I ought to keep in the -background. Besides, I admired him for it; for I knew that he loved -this girl, and that Joshua Marvel stood in his way. Regularly every -day I went to the docks to see if the Merry Andrew--Joshua Marvel's -ship--had arrived; and as good luck would have it, the ship came in -this very morning. When I learned that, I went back to my watch in the -street the gentleman is so mightily fond of. I knew that Joshua Marvel -wouldn't be able to get away from his ship directly it got into port; -and I guessed that it was more likely than not that he wouldn't let -his people at home know of his unexpected arrival. No; he would -surprise them. It would be so pleasant on Christmas-eve to break in -upon them suddenly, and be petted and kissed, especially by one"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"The devil take you!" cried Solomon Fewster fiercely, grasping the -table with such force that it trembled with the trembling of his hand. -"Tell your story without preaching, can't you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I'll try, master. I hung about the street the whole day, eating -nothing, and drinking very little. I might have been frozen, if my -purpose hadn't kept me warm. I didn't grumble because I had to wait. I -wanted him to come at night, and he came when I wanted. It isn't much -more than an hour ago"--here he dropped his voice to a whisper--"that -I saw a sailor turn the corner of the street where pretty Ellen Taylor -lives. He had an accordion under his arm, and a cage in his hand -covered with a blue pocket-handkerchief; and he stopped two or three -times to look at the houses, and nodded to them as if he was wishing -them a merry Christmas. I followed him, like a cat, and opened my -knife. He was singing--I couldn't catch the words--and to judge from -that and from the way he walked, I should say he was as happy a man as -any in London. He never once looked behind him; if he had, I would -have struck him down. He stopped before the house where his father and -mother lived, and stooped to the keyhole and listened. I was close -upon him--waiting! If he hadn't been so much occupied, he might have -smelt me at his back. But it wouldn't have saved him if he had seen -me; he would only have been struck down the sooner. While he was -listening at the keyhole, he laughed quietly, enjoying the surprise he -was going to give his people. When he had his laugh out, he knocked at -the door. Presently I heard a woman's voice inside the house ask, -'Who's there?' 'It's Josh,' said my man. I heard a cry of pleasure; -and as the door was being unfastened, I raised my knife, and stabbed -him in the back."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And killed him?" cried Solomon Fewster involuntarily.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know. He fell; and as I ran off, I caught a glimpse of a -woman kneeling by him in the snow, and raising his head to her bosom."</p> - -<p class="normal">Solomon Fewster groaned. Without another word he opened the door by -which the Lascar had entered, and walked into the open air. The -snow-fall had ceased, and the stars were shining. The moon, too, had -risen, and clouds of light and deep shade were gliding swiftly across -it, while everchanging shadows were playing on the snow. In the -distance he heard the waits; they were a long way off, and the strains -of music fell upon his ears chastened and mellowed. He was in danger; -he had allied himself with this man, who made so light of the shedding -of blood; and he had been made a confederate in perhaps a murder. Not -that he had any compunction; not that he had any pity. Nothing would -have rejoiced him more than to have heard that Joshua had been killed -in a mutiny, had been wrecked, or had lost his life on sea or on land -by any means, so that he was not implicated in it. The feelings that -disturbed him now were purely selfish; he had to save himself from -suspicion, supposing any discovery were made. Perhaps it would be -best, after all, to speak plainly to the Lascar. There were no -witnesses, and it did not matter much what he said. If Joshua were -dead, the Lascar must be got rid of at any sacrifice of money. Thus -resolving, he returned to the room. The Lascar was sitting patiently -before the fire, and did not even raise his eyes as Mr. Fewster -entered. "He did not know what I went out for," thought Mr. Fewster. -"I might have gone for a policeman, and if I had brought one in, he -would have declared I was his accomplice."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Has it left off snowing, master?" asked the Lascar.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Then it wouldn't be quite safe for me to go away to-night--safe for -you, I mean."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You can stop here to-night."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thank you, master. Have I done well?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It doesn't matter whether I say you have done well or ill; so, to -save argument, suppose I say you have done well. Now, attend. If what -you have done to-night should turn out to be"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Say murder, master," said the Lascar, seeing that Mr. Fewster -hesitated to speak plainly. "I don't mind."</p> - -<p class="normal">"If it should turn out to be that, have you considered that you are in -danger?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I haven't thought of it, master, and that's a fact. But if I am in -danger, so are you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That may or may not be. The only danger I am in is from what you -might say; and, supposing I had spoken to you only once in my life, -you would be free to say any thing of me, or of any one else, for that -matter. What you might say wouldn't be evidence, you know."</p> - -<p class="normal">"True, master: but, at all events, I could ruin your chances with -pretty Ellen Taylor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What satisfaction would that be to you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Every satisfaction," said the Lascar with a kindling eye. "If any one -hurts me, I hurt him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"As you have hurt Joshua Marvel, because he hurt you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And because I am in your service," said the Lascar doggedly. "Don't -forget that, please; I don't intend to forget it. If this is to be a -fair argument, let it be fair. If it is to be acting, let it be -acting. What I have done to-night is half for me and half for you: -equal shares."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I told you once that I would have no partnerships," said Mr. Fewster -in a steady voice, "and I will have none; but I don't mind coming to a -distinct understanding. If what you have done to-night should turn out -at its worst"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Or its best," interrupted the Lascar sneeringly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It will not be safe for you to remain in the country. To please you, -I will say it will not be safe for you or for me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah!" exclaimed the Lascar thoughtfully. "I think I understand you. -Well, in that case there are plenty of countries I shouldn't mind -going to; or I might go aboard ship again. How much will you give me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"A hundred pounds."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Agreed, master,--if it should turn out at its worst, as you say. But -if it does not, I stay, mind you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is your affair."</p> - -<p class="normal">"As much yours as mine, master," said the Lascar with determination.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What makes you harp upon that, you dog?" exclaimed Mr. Fewster, -firing up.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Necessity," replied the Lascar coolly. He liked the life of indolence -he had been leading, and he did not intend to relinquish his hold of -Solomon Fewster. "I have no money, and no means of living. You have -acted fairly to me up to now, and you must continue to do so. You can -afford it, that's certain. I know what it is you fear. You fear that -it should be known that I am in your service. Well, no one shall know -it from me; and I will never come here again. You know where I stay. -What you have to give me, leave there for me; and when you want me, -send for me. I am your dog, ready to do your bidding. I can't speak -fairer. There's no occasion for any more palaver. I'm tired and -sleepy; I can sleep here, before the fire." He stretched himself on -the ground by the side of the fire. "Silence gives consent, they say. -If you don't speak, I shall understand that the affair is settled. You -wanted a distinct understanding, you know."</p> - -<p class="normal">He closed his eyes, and listened for the answer. The answer came--in -silence; for Solomon Fewster spoke not another word that night. The -Lascar, made drowsy by the glare from the fire, courted sleep; and it -came to him, as it comes to better men. And Solomon Fewster sat, -looking down upon the form of the man who could blast his good name by -a word, and thought--What? Once during the night the Lascar awoke with -a shiver. The fire had gone out; but Solomon Fewster was still sitting -at the table with a haggard look upon his face, as if he had suddenly -grown old.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XVIII.</h4> - -<h5>THE RIVALRY OF LOVE.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">A silence almost like the silence of the grave reigned in the -house of -the Marvels. If, by some chance, a blind man had found his way there, -he might reasonably have wondered whether it was tenanted by ghosts or -human beings. The persons in the house walked about it with such a -ghostly motion that scarcely a footfall could be heard. The doors were -opened and shut as tenderly as if wounds were being handled, and as if -rough treatment would cause them to cry out with pain. The very voices -were hushed and low, and what was said was said in whispers. The blow -by which Joshua had been struck down was a severe one, and wounded -many besides himself. Notwithstanding Minnie's efforts, Joshua had -lost a great deal of blood, and was laid on a sick-bed for many weeks. -For a long time the doctor feared for his life; but good nursing and a -strong constitution were in his favor.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But mind you, Mrs. Marvel," the doctor had said, half-a-dozen times, -"nothing <i>would</i> have saved him--not even his constitution, and -it's a good one; not even the nursing he has had, and no man ever had -better--nothing <i>would</i> have saved him if Miss Kindred had not behaved -like a heroine. You may thank that young lady for saving your son's -life. If she hadn't stopped the flow of blood with her lips, all the -doctors in London couldn't have kept him in the world for twenty-four -hours."</p> - -<p class="normal">When Minnie was told of this, she went to her room and locked herself -in.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have saved him!" she said to herself, weeping tears of delicious -joy. "I have saved his life! Oh, what happiness! I could die now, I am -so happy!"</p> - -<p class="normal">It might have been better for her if she had died then with those -words upon her lips.</p> - -<p class="normal">During the time that Joshua was in the greatest danger, Mrs. Marvel -would allow no one but herself to sit up with him at night. She had a -bed made up on the floor, and rested there, taking, indeed, but little -sleep, until Joshua was out of danger. Minnie, especially, had pleaded -hard to be allowed to sit up with her; but Mrs. Marvel was firm. -Although she would not have confessed it even to herself, she was -jealous of the girl's solicitude; and once expressed herself angrily -because Minnie had offered to give Joshua his medicine. Afterwards, -seeing Minnie in tears, Mrs. Marvel kissed her and begged her pardon -in a gentle, motherly way, which made Minnie cry the more. Mrs. Marvel -found Minnie more difficult to manage than Ellen. Ellen was -wonderfully undemonstrative and wonderfully obedient. And besides, -Ellen was never in the way when she was not wanted, and was always at -hand the instant she was required. There was an instinctive sympathy -between Mrs. Marvel and Ellen which did not exist between Mrs. Marvel -and Minnie. The good mother loved both the girls, but she loved Ellen -like a daughter. In the second week of Joshua's illness a circumstance -occurred which, for a short time, occasioned Mrs. Marvel much anxious -thought. Joshua being more feverish than usual--for three weeks he was -delirious, and did not know where he was, or who were tending him--the -girls hovered about the room (in their anxiety to be of some -assistance) rather later than Mrs. Marvel generally allowed them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Go to bed, girls," said Mrs. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen rose obediently, and kissing Mrs. Marvel, and asking to be -called if Mrs. Marvel wanted assistance in the night, went softly out -of the room. But Minnie lingered behind, and with a yearning, wistful -look at Mrs. Marvel, begged, in the softest of whispers, to be allowed -to sit up with her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, child," said Mrs. Marvel, "I can't think of it. You would be of -no use to me to-morrow if you were to sit up to-night."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Oh, yes, I should!" said Minnie, still pleading; "you don't know what -a strong girl I am. Do let me stop with you! Do let me think that I -can do something to help you!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You can do a great deal if you obey me, Minnie; and you do assist me -very much, my dear; but I will not let you sit up to-night. Hush!" For -here Joshua said something aloud, and murmured feverishly in his -sleep. When he was quiet, Mrs. Marvel said, "Don't distress me, dear -Minnie; go to bed, like a good girl."</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie, with deep sighs, went to the bedside to look at Joshua and to -bid him a silent goodnight--Mrs. Marvel regarding her jealously the -while--and then crept out of the room in tears. The girls being gone, -Mrs. Marvel felt more contented. She sat down by her son's bedside, -and, with that lightness of touch which nothing but a mother's pure -love or that of a wife can impart, smoothed the bed-coverings, and -brushed the hair from Joshua's eyes. At about eleven o'clock the -handle of the door was gently turned, and Mr. Marvel entered. He had -no boots on, and she had not heard him come up from the kitchen. -Clasping his wife's hand, he leaned over the bed to catch a glimpse of -Joshua's face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is better to-night, George," she said; "he is getting along -nicely. The doctor said to-day that he will soon be sensible."</p> - -<p class="normal">George Marvel nodded, and put his lips to his wife's cheek.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You must be very tired, Maggie."</p> - -<p class="normal">She replied by a bright smile.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Shall I sit up for an hour while you lie down?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, father," knowing it would please him. "Have you had supper?"</p> - -<p class="normal">A nod.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And your beer?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Another nod.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And your pipe?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes; Ellen got every thing ready nicely. She is like you were when -you were a girl, Maggie."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Better than me, father."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's not possible, wife." Ah! how her heart fluttered as he said -the word! She trembled in his arms like a girl. "Now lie down; I'll -wake you in an hour."</p> - -<p class="normal">She had but to close her eyes--being satisfied that her darling son -was in good hands--and she was asleep. George Marvel watched for an -hour, and perhaps a little longer, and then touched his wife, who was -instantly awake. Alone again, Mrs. Marvel resumed her loving vigil. -Not a sound was to be heard except the occasional prattle of Joshua, -now of Dan and the birds, now of "father" and "mother," now of Ellen, -now of Minnie and her shell. Mrs. Marvel had already learned, through -those unconscious confessions, that her son's heart was as tender and -as good as it had been before he had started in life for himself. A -few minutes after the church-clock had struck two, Mrs. Marvel fancied -she heard a soft breathing, outside the bedroom-door. She listened -intently, thinking she must have been deceived; but no--the soft -breathing, as of some one asleep, came distinctly to her ears. She -went to the door and opened it, and, lying at the foot of the stairs -in the narrow passage, she discovered Minnie, in her night-dress, fast -asleep. The girl had evidently kept awake until Ellen and Sarah were -asleep, and had then stolen down stairs, and had sat outside the door -of the sick-room until she had been overpowered by fatigue. Mrs. -Marvel stooped over the sleeping girl and whispered,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie!"</p> - -<p class="normal">The sound of her name, chiming in with some dreaming fancy, brought a -happy smile to the girl's lips, and she answered,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Joshua!"</p> - -<p class="normal">A look of pain passed into Mrs. Marvel's face; she knelt by Minnie's -side, and gently raising the girl's head, she whispered again,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie! You'll catch your death of cold lying here."</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie, still sleeping, encircled Mrs. Marvel's neck with her arms, -and murmured, as she nestled close to the anxious mother's breast,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Joshua! Love me! Love me, Joshua!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Marvel trembled as she looked upon the girl's fair face, made -fairer by the happy smile playing about the lips, and she felt a -sudden chill at her heart.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Oh, my poor Minnie!" she said beneath her breath. "Oh, my poor, poor -Minnie!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Then by a strong effort, she raised the girl, and so awoke her.</p> - -<p class="normal">Before Minnie had time to recover full consciousness, her name, -uttered by Joshua in his fevered sleep, fell upon her ears. With a -glad cry she sprang from Mrs. Marvel's arms into the sick-room; but -Mrs. Marvel stepped swiftly before her, and taking her two hands -prisoner, said, in a voice which, although very low, was stern and -decided, "I am seriously angry with you, Minnie."</p> - -<p class="normal">The sudden movements, the light in the room, and, above all, Mrs. -Marvel's stern voice, restored Minnie to her senses. She dropped her -head, and a hot blush of shame stole over her neck and face, while the -hands which Mrs. Marvel held turned cold as ice. All Mrs. Marvel's -sternness was gone, and pity only remained.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Forgive me," Minnie pleaded.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I do, child," said Mrs. Marvel, more agitated than Minnie was. "I was -obliged to speak sternly, or I should not have been able to wake you. -Go to bed now, and be more obedient for the future."</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie walked humbly into the passage, whither Mrs. Marvel followed -her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah, not like that!" sighed Minnie, as Mrs. Marvel turned to enter the -room. "Not like that! Kiss me, and say again that you forgive me."</p> - -<p class="normal">And Mrs. Marvel, distressed and pitiful, kissed Minnie, who clung to -her for a few moments, sobbing quietly, and then crept to bed.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">But who had struck the blow? Who was it that, waiting with malicious -cunning until Joshua's foot was on the threshold of the home where so -many loving hearts were eager to welcome him, had foully struck him -down? Susan was the only one who had any suspicion; but she did not -mention it, for she had not seen the Lascar for many months. When -Minnie was questioned, she declared that she saw no one in the street. -A neighbor asked why one of the men in the house did not look for -footsteps in the snow and follow up the track. They could not tell why -they had not done so; it would have been the right thing to do, -undoubtedly, but it had not occurred to them. When Joshua was -sufficiently recovered, he could not assist them. He was examined and -cross-examined closely. Did he suspect any of the sailors? No; he was -good friends with every person on board; was even a favorite with the -captain and officers. Ah! perhaps it sprang from that, they said; one -of his mates might have been jealous of him. No; he was certain not -one of them was. His own opinion was that he had been stabbed by a -thief who wanted to rob him. But there! what was the use of bothering -about it? Here he was, getting well and strong again, when it might -have been so much worse. Thank God, in a few weeks he would be as well -as ever! The day that Joshua was out of danger, the doctor told him -that his life had been saved by Minnie.</p> - -<p class="normal">"In what way, sir?" asked Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't you remember that, when you were struck"--commenced the doctor. -But Joshua interrupted him by saying that he remembered nothing from -that moment.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I was walking along, too much occupied with the happiness of coming -home to think of any thing else. I remember looking at the houses in -the street, and stopping before our house. I heard voices inside, or I -thought I did. Indeed, it might have been fancy. I stooped to listen, -and then knocked. Some one asked--ah, now I remember! It was Minnie's -voice asking who was there. Just as I answered, a dizziness came over -me; I did not even know that I was struck."</p> - -<p class="normal">"As you answered," said the doctor, taking up the narrative where -Joshua dropped it, "Minnie opened the door. She saw you falling, and -saw blood flowing from your neck. She threw herself by your side, and -put her lips to the wound, and pressed so as to cause the blood to -flow less freely. I honestly believe that if she had not done that, -your life would not have been saved."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua did not pursue the conversation, and the doctor did not recur -to the subject again. The following afternoon Joshua said to his -mother,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mother, I want to speak to Minnie."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Marvel, a little uneasily, went for Minnie, who came and sat by -Joshua's bed.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Are you better, Joshua?" asked the girl.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, dear Minnie," answered Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">They spoke in whispers. Joshua put out his big hand, and Minnie -clasped it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Your hand is quite cold, Minnie." Minnie, indeed, was very agitated. -"I owe you my life, dear Minnie, and I want to thank you for it. It -almost seems to me, after what I have been told, as if my life -belonged to you. Thank you, dear little Minnie--you used to like me to -call you that!--thank you a thousand thousand times. I shall never be -able to repay you!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't want payment, Joshua," said Minnie, when the wild beating of -her heart was subdued. "It brought its own payment with it. It is, and -ever will be, my sweetest remembrance. O Joshua! as the greatest -unhappiness that ever could occur to me would be"--(to lose you, she -was about to say, but she checked the words in time)--"to know that -you would not recover, so the greatest happiness that I have ever -experienced is to think that I have done you some little service."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Little service! The greatest service, the most devoted action that -woman could do to man! Perhaps--who knows?--one day I may be able to -repay you in my own way." As if those words were not sufficient for -her, who would have given her life for his. "Stoop down Minnie!" She -inclined her head to the pillow. "Little Minnie, little Minnie!" he -whispered tenderly, and he placed his lips to her cheek. "Thank you -for your devotion."</p> - -<p class="normal">It was fortunate for Minnie that it was dusk, and that her back was -towards Mrs. Marvel, or the good mother would have had further cause -for anxiety and uneasiness in Minnie's trembling form and flushed -face. As it was, there was a long silence in the room; and Mrs. -Marvel, approaching softly to the bed to see if Joshua was asleep, -broke the happy reverie into which Minnie had fallen.</p> - -<p class="normal">Solomon Fewster came to the house every day to inquire after Joshua, -and went away every day with content in his face and despair in his -heart. If ever a man played a double part, he played it during that -time. "If he would but die!" he thought many and many a time. "If -mortification would set in, or erysipelas, or something that would -kill him!" And "I am truly happy to hear it," he said, many and many a -time, to Mrs. Marvel, as in answer to his inquiries she told him that -Joshua was improving rapidly. "I have brought a little jelly for him," -which Mrs. Marvel received thankfully. At other times he would bring a -chicken or some other delicacy to tempt Joshua's appetite, and would -walk from the house with earnest wishes that what he left would choke -the invalid. "I shall never forget Mr. Fewster's kindness," said Mrs. -Marvel. "I feel quite angry with myself; for I did not give him credit -for so much good feeling. But it is just in such times as these that a -man shows the real goodness of his heart." And Mr. Fewster met with -his reward immediately; for they were all grateful to him for his -attention to Joshua. Mr. Marvel always had a hearty word for him, -Minnie always a bright look, Ellen always a kind welcome now. But it -was both sweet and bitter to him. "Ellen looks kindly upon me," he -thought, and thought truly, "because I profess myself kind to Joshua. -Will it ever be otherwise? Yes; if money can make it so, it shall be. -And money can do much."</p> - -<p class="normal">Yes, money can do much; but it cannot buy love, although it is often -paid for it.</p> - -<p class="normal">The most delicious three months of Joshua's life dated from the day on -which the doctor declared him to be out of danger. He lived in an -atmosphere of love. Loving hearts, loving hands, loving looks, loving -thoughts, surrounded him. Is it better to have those than to be great -and rich and powerful? Too modest for ambition are such blessings. Yet -are they the sweetest, the holiest attributes of life. Of life, which -is nothing without pleasures which cost money. Of life, which is not -worth the living without fine linen and rich food. Of life, which is -useless without the restless striving, the absorbing ambition, which -make up the sum of human progress. Of Life, the Paradox!</p> - -<p class="normal">Something which has fallen out of its proper place may be motioned -here. When Joshua was carried into the house on that memorable -Christmas night, two things that had fallen from his hands were picked -up from the snow and carried in after him. On of these was his -accordion, the other was a white cockatoo in a cage, which Joshua had -brought home from the South Seas. Whether it was that the cockatoo was -overwhelmed at finding itself in a strange land, or that it deemed it -necessary to be silent in the distressing circumstances of the case, -it certainly behaved itself in a most exemplary manner, and gave no -indication that it possessed a tongue. The cockatoo was taken to Dan's -house, which was but a very few doors from Joshua's, and two or three -days afterwards Dan was startled by hearing his name called in a -strange loud voice. He looked up at Ellen, and asked if she had -spoken. She had just time to say "No" when <i>her</i> name was called in -the same strange loud voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why, it's the cockatoo!" exclaimed Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">Sure enough, it was the cockatoo, which, now that its tongue was -loosened, made as much use of it as a woman could have done. Its stock -of language was not large, consisting only of a shrill "Dan!" a shrill -"Dan and Jo!" a shrill "Ellen!" a shrill "Minnie!" and a softer -articulation of "Bread-and-cheese and kisses! and kisses! and kisses!" -winding up with a volley of kisses, which it continued until it was -completely out of breath. No stronger proof of Joshua's attachment -could have been received by Dan and Ellen. Dan was much affected by -it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You see how he was thinking of us all the time he was away," he said -to Ellen, with tears in his eyes. "What shall I do if he dies!"</p> - -<p class="normal">But Joshua did not die, and it was not very long afterwards that Dan -was sitting in his friend's bedroom, surrounded by his birds as usual. -It was like the old time come over again. Here they were, man and man, -talking often as if they were boys. So much had to be told! The loss -of Dan's parents, Dan entering into business, and how they all came to -be living together. "Wonderful, wonderful!" said Joshua, again and -again. "Like a story in a book."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Just what I said," said Dan; "like a romance."</p> - -<p class="normal">Who should come to the house one day but the captain of Joshua's ship. -the "Merry Andrew"? The part he plays in this story is a small one, -but eventful enough in all conscience. He was a shrewd man of business -and a good officer. It was to his interest to have good men about him; -for he was the principal owner of the ship, and he was remarkably -sensible in any matter affecting his interests. He had heard of what -had occurred to Joshua, and he was very sorry for it, because he had -been so satisfied with Joshua's conduct on board his ship, that he had -determined to make the young sailor his third mate on the next voyage. -Therein he showed his eccentricity; most other captains would have -chosen a man who had already filled that position satisfactorily. But -Captain Liddle liked to judge for himself, and Joshua had found favor -in his eyes. The young sailor was steady and attentive, and had made -some progress in the study of navigation. There was one especial -reason why Captain Liddle wanted steady men with him on his next -voyage. He was about to get married, and he was going to take his -young wife with him. There was great excitement in the house when -Captain Liddle announced himself. Joshua, who was in bed, wanted to -rise, but Captain Liddle would not allow him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Lie easy, lie easy, Marvel," he said: "you'll get better all the -sooner."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I hoped to come with you, sir, on your next voyage," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, I had some thought of that myself," said Captain Liddle.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you go out soon, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not for three months, Marvel; perhaps not for four. The ship's -undergoing a thorough overhauling. She'll have a precious freight in -her next trip."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What loading, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Captain Liddle's eyes twinkled. "Female. Lie easy, lie easy, Marvel;" -for Joshua had given another start. "Mrs. Captain Liddle. I shall be -married soon, and my wife goes out with me."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua murmured respectful congratulations.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thank you, thank you, Marvel. Now, I'll tell you what I have come -especially for. First, though, how long before you are well?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am well now, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Strong, I mean; able to get about and do your work like a man."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not for two months, I am afraid, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That will do. Now, then. You get strong in two months, and you shall -go out with me in my next trip as third mate of the 'Merry Andrew.' -Lie easy, lie easy, Marvel. What do you say to it, eh?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Say to it, sir! O"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Lie easy, lie easy, my lad. When you get strong come to the ship, and -write a few lines soon telling me how strong you are getting. Mrs. -Marvel, your son is a good sailor, and will make a good officer. And -this is Dan, that you told me of once? A good head; but not so strong -in the legs as Marvel, eh?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, sir," said Dan with a bright smile, for he was overjoyed at -Joshua's good fortune; "but it wouldn't do for all of us to be strong -sir; consider the doctors."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why, here is a ship, ropes and sails and all! And birds!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Obedient to Dan's signal, the sailor-birds flew up the ropes, and -stood on the slender cross-trees, as proud as if they had passed their -lives in the service.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good--good!" said Captain Liddle. "For sale, eh?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No; they are not mine sir; they belong to an old sailor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Very proper. Ah, young lady," to Minnie, who had been in the room, -but in the background, during the captain's visit; "and what do you -think of the sea?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"If I had been a man, sir," said Minnie modestly and quietly, "I -should like to have been a sailor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Very proper--very proper. Good-day, Marvel. Get strong as quickly as -you can. You'll have to superintend cargo."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Marvel, coming home at night, was told the good news before he had -time to take the comforter from his neck. He ran up stairs at once to -his son's room. "A sailor first, and then a captain," he exclaimed, -recalling Joshua's words when he first announced his wish. "Do you -remember, Josh?</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, father, yes," said Joshua eagerly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It's better than being a wood-turner, Josh," said George Marvel -triumphantly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should think so, indeed. You'll see!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"There, Maggie!" observed Mr. Marvel to his wife later on in the -evening. "What did I tell you? And you was against it all the while, -and wanted him to be a wood-turner. He'll be a captain before he's -thirty."</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is spared, I hope, for great things." said Mrs. Marvel meekly; -"and to be a blessing to us all."</p> - -<p class="normal">That same night, Dan and Joshua and Ellen spent some very happy hours -together. Minnie was with Susan attending her father, so that the -three were undisturbed. Mrs. Marvel opened the door once; but seeing -the group, and observing how engrossed they were, she shut it softly, -and went down again into the kitchen. Once, also, George Marvel was -going out of the kitchen when his wife called to to him,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where are you going, father?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"To Joshua's room."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't go, George. Come and sit down; I want to speak to you."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Marvel resumed his seat, and Mrs. Marvel refilled his pipe and -handed it to him, with a light, "There! smoke your pipe and don't be -so restless."</p> - -<p class="normal">He took a few whiffs, and asked who was with Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ellen and Dan; and they are very happy and comfortable. I peeped in -once, and I wouldn't disturb them."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Oh!" said Mr. Marvel reflectively dwelling lengthily upon that -smallest of words.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have reasons, George," said Mrs. Marvel quietly. "I never saw Ellen -look so happy and pretty as she looks tonight."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Marvel nodded two or three times with an expression of -satisfaction. "Do you think, mother," he commenced; and then he -paused, and repeated, "Do you think, mother, that"--and then he paused -again, as if he had said enough to make his meaning clear.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, I do, George," said Mrs. Marvel. "I had my doubts, but now I -really think it will be so."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That will be a real good thing;" rubbing his hands. "Here's hoping -so!" and he drank a full glass of beer to his mysterious toast.</p> - -<p class="normal">What was going on up stairs that the wood-turner and his wife were -loath to interrupt? Merely a recalling of old reminiscences and a -closer drawing together of three hearts, which might have been one, -for the undivided affection for each other with which they were -filled.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thinking of then, when every thing before us was so uncertain, and of -now, when every thing before us is so bright and clear," said Joshua, -"makes me almost believe that our ways are shaped for us, and that, if -we strive to do our duty, our reward is certain."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is too deep a question for us, Jo," said Dan; "so many -considerations spring out of it. As to whether every good man is -happy. As to whether every man who strives to do right is spared pain -and misery. At all events, it is certain that the very best thing to -do is to do what is right, and to be straightforward and honest. It is -not too often done, I am afraid. I haven't seen any thing of the -world, but it strikes me that that is not the way of it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"If ever I am captain of a ship--and I may be, Dan--it looks -promising"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"That it does, Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You shall come with me a voyage. I will have every thing snug for -you; hammock on deck the same as that day we spent with the Old -Sailor--ah, what a day was that!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can recall every moment of it; from the night before, when Ellen -stood at the window watching the rain, and my waking up in the morning -waiting for you to come--oh, so anxiously! And the flowers, and the -birds--the poor birds!--and the breakfast, and the ride! I tell you -what, Jo, stories could be made out of these things. But the day -wouldn't have been the day it was if Ellen had not been with us."</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen smiled, and her eyes sparkled.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Every thing connected with it is so vivid to my mind just now," said -Joshua, "that it only wants one thing to make it complete; and that is -for Ellen to sing 'Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses,' as she sang it in the -Old Sailor's cabin."</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen, in a low voice, sang the song; and they were silent for a long -while, musing happily. Then Joshua made a remark that his pillow was -not nicely arranged, and Ellen smoothed it for him. Her arm -necessarily was round his neck for a moment--only for a moment by her -own will; for when she would have withdrawn it, Joshua held it there, -and she, with impulse as pure as pure heart and mind could make it, -allowed it to remain. What wonder that a silence of longer duration -followed?</p> - -<p class="normal">Ah! if a magic spell had fallen upon them then, a spell that would -have transfixed them and made their happiness eternal!</p> - -<p class="normal">Not one of them knew how long that blissful trance lasted. It was -broken by the slightest sound--it might have been the opening of a -door, or even the light tread of our old friend the tortoise-shell -cat--but whatever the sound was, the trance was at an end, and they -were all awake again. Ellen withdrew her arm, and, with downcast eyes, -hurriedly left the room. Joshua turned to Dan, and holding out his -hand, said, "Dan, take my hand, and say, Brother Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I do. Brother Jo!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's good; isn't it, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Brothers more than in heart, Dan, as we have always been. But -Brothers really and truly, if Ellen says yes."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ellen loves you, Jo. You have but to ask." He paused for a little -while before he spoke again. "There is something in my mind that it is -right you should know. It is the only thing I have ever kept from you; -but now, since you have told me about yourself and Ellen"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Did you ever doubt it, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I wasn't certain, Jo. You have removed a great weight from my heart. -It seems strange that now, when I see the almost certain prospect of -your future being as bright as we used to hope it would be--it seems -strange that I cannot say I am happy. Yet one thing would make me so -perfectly."</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is no cloud between you and me, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"None--nor ever will be, brother of my heart. But a great hope, -shadowed by a great fear, has entered into my soul--a hope which -fulfilled, would make earth heaven for me. Is it too precious a thing -to pray for? It seems so to me. I tremble as I think of it. But if it -is not to be, I hope I shall soon die."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dan!" cried Joshua in alarm, for Dan's last words were like a cry of -agony.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Haven't you seen it, Jo? Haven't you suspected it? I love her so -that, if I knew she were lost to me, I scarcely think I could live. I -love her so that, if she were lost to me, some stronger motive, some -stronger feeling than any I can now think of; would have to animate me -to make my future less black than the blackest night."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You mean Minnie, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes; she is my light. Ah, Jo! How I love her! I have never spoken of -it till now; I have never dared to breathe it. And now that I speak of -it for the first time, it frightens me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nay, Dan, take courage. You are frightened by shadows."</p> - -<p class="normal">"If I could think so!" mused Dan in a less agitated voice. "What can -I, a cripple, offer her? Love? Yes, I can offer her that, pure and -undefiled. Nothing more--nothing more! Keep my secret, Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Dan," said Joshua sadly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"If all should come right in the end, Jo! You and Ellen, and me and -Minnie!"</p> - -<p class="normal">He trembled, and burying his face in his hands, thought of the happy -night when the Old Sailor traced Joshua's course on the map, and when -Minnie's arm was round his neck and her cheek had touched his. How -many times had he thought of those few blissful moments, and what balm -and comfort had the memory brought him!</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XIX.</h4> - -<h5>SUNSHINE AND CLOUD.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">"George," said Mrs. Marvel to her husband one night, when they -were -alone in their room, "what has come over Mr. Kindred? He is quite -changed."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I've noticed it too, mother," said Mr. Marvel, "but I haven't thought -of it much, because, to tell you the truth, I don't believe he is -quite right here"--touching his forehead.</p> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Marvel had not mentioned to any one--not even to her husband--how -Minnie had distressed her during Joshua's illness. The girl had not -asked her to keep silence upon the subject; indeed, no word had passed -between them about it; but Mrs. Marvel judged that it would be best -for Minnie's sake, and for Joshua's also, to let the matter rest. -Since the night when Mrs. Marvel had discovered Minnie lying asleep at -Joshua's door, the girl had given her no further cause for -displeasure. Mrs. Marvel's fears were dispelled; for Minnie showed -nothing more than a friendly interest in Joshua's recovery. But if the -good mother had been less openly observant of Minnie's every look and -action, her fears would have grown stronger. For after the interview -between Joshua and Minnie, when Joshua had thanked her and kissed her -her, Mrs. Marvel set herself the task of closely observing Minnie's -conduct towards Joshua. And Minnie discovered it, and so behaved -herself that Mrs. Marvel was thrown completely off her guard. Minnie -displayed a carelessness and an indifference concerning Joshua's -health, at which Mrs. Marvel at any other time would have been hurt; -but now she was silently grateful, in the belief that her fears were -groundless.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua was better. With the exception of a scar upon his neck, where -the Lascar had stabbed him, he was as well and strong as ever he had -been. He had grown into a fine handsome man; and the affectionate -disposition which had characterized him as a boy seemed to have become -stronger with his strength. The affection that existed between him and -Dan was unchanged and unchangeable. He took as much delight in the -birds as ever he had done; and, notwithstanding that he and Dan were -men now, with deepened passions and stronger aspirations, their hearts -were as tender to each other as in the younger days of their -friendship, when they mingled their tears together over the death of -Golden Cloud.</p> - -<p class="normal">Every thing was bright before them. Dan had not spoken to Minnie of -his love for her; but he was made happy by a gradual change in her -behavior towards him. She grew more and more affectionate, spoke -softly to him, looked kindly at him, and did not repulse the little -tender advances he dared to make to her now and then.</p> - -<p class="normal">"When you are gone to sea, Jo," he said to Joshua in the course of a -conversation in which, in the fulness of his joy at Minnie's kindness, -he had unbosomed himself to his friend, "I shall speak to her, and -tell her I love her." He spoke very slowly, and his eyes were toward -the ground; it was so sacred a subject with him, that his voice -trembled when he spoke of it. "Once on a time, before I knew her, Jo, -you, and you alone, filled my heart; but I had no idea then of a man's -passions and a man's fears. I think I should have disbelieved any -person then who told me that you would have a rival in my heart. But -you have, Jo; although you are not less loved for all that."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I understand you, Dan, and am content. I am proud of your love. If I -were to lose it, the sweetness would go out of life."</p> - -<p class="normal">"So it would be with me, Jo; but you can never lose it--never, never. -I think you and I know what love is. In the midst of all our trouble -when you first went away--trouble that came upon us so suddenly that I -began to be frightened of it--I found consolation in thinking of our -love for each other. Misfortunes came. Never mind, I thought; Joshua -loves me. Mother died, father died; we were left penniless; and I -thought of you and was comforted. You had grown so in my heart--like -the roots of a tree, Jo--that if I had ceased to love you, my heart -would have ceased to beat. It is the same now; but Minnie is in my -heart side by side with you. I shall tell her, you know, by and by. By -and by," he repeated softly. "The thought of it is like heaven to me; -for I have begun to hope."</p> - -<p class="normal">It was on that same afternoon that Ellen was sitting in her bedroom -looking at her face in the looking-glass. She was fair; and she knew -it, and was proud of it. But it was not vanity that caused her to sit, -with her chin upon her hands, looking into the glass. Of a very modest -type a womanhood was Ellen; not a heroine of the Joan-of-Arc order, -who, with all her false glitter about her, would have been a woman -after very few men's hearts. Ellen was of the quiet order of women, of -whom there are thousands growing up in happy English homes, thank -Heaven! and who are blessed and contented and happy, notwithstanding -their sisters' unwomanly cries about woman's rights. May English women -like Ellen, modest and constant and loving, increase and multiply with -every succeeding year! Ellen was thinking of herself a little, as she -looked into the glass, and of Joshua a great deal. He had not spoken -to her yet; but he would soon, she knew. And as she sat and saw her -pretty face looking at her, whose step but Joshua's should she hear -coming, up the stairs? He went into the adjoining room--Dan's room; -and she heard him moving about, and--yes; singing! Singing what? Why, -"Bread-and-Cheese and Kisses." The heroine's name in the song is Kate; -but Joshua sang,--</p> -<br> -<div style="margin-left:10%; font-size:90%"> -<p style="text-indent:-10px; margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:0px">"I said to Nell, my darling wife,<br> -In whom my whole life's bliss is,<br> -'What have you got for dinner, Nell?'<br> -'Why, bread-and-cheese and kisses!'"</p> -</div> -<br> -<p class="continue">He said to <i>Nell</i>, his darling wife! The happy tears ran down Ellen's -face; but they were soon dried; and Ellen kept very quiet, fearing -that Joshua might hear her move. But Joshua went down stairs singing; -and then Ellen smiled at herself in the glass, and peeped at herself -through her fingers; and it wasn't an ugly picture to look at, if any -one had been there to see.</p> - -<p class="normal">It was all settled without a word passing between them. I don't -believe there ever was such another courtship. They were sitting in -Mrs. Marvel's kitchen only four of them--father, mother, Ellen, and -Joshua. It really looked like a conspiracy that no other person came -into the kitchen that night; but there they were, conspiracy or no -conspiracy. There was Mrs. Marvel, knitting a pair of stockings for -Joshua; not getting along very fast with them, it must be confessed: -for her spectacles required a great deal of rubbing. And there was Mr. -Marvel, smoking his pipe, throwing many a furtive look in the -direction of Joshua and Ellen, who were sitting next to each other, -happy and silent. There is no record of how long they sat thus without -speaking; but suddenly, although not abruptly, Joshua put his arm -round Ellen's waist, and drew her closer to him. It was only a look -that passed between them; and then Joshua kissed Ellen's lips, and she -laid her head upon his breast.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mother! father! look here!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Marvel rose, all of a tremble, and laid her hand upon Ellen's -head, and kissed the young lovers. But Mr. Marvel behaved quite -differently. He cast one quick satisfied look at the two youngsters; -and then turned from them, and continued smoking as if nothing unusual -had occurred.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, father?" exclaimed Joshua, rather surprised at his father's -silence.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, Josh!" replied Mr. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you see this?" asked Joshua, with his arm round Ellen's waist.</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen, blushing rosy red, looked shyly at Mr. Marvel; but he looked -stolidly at her in return.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes; I see it, Josh," said Mr. Marvel, without any show of emotion.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And what do you say to it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do I say to it, Josh?" replied Mr. Marvel with dignity. "Well, I -believe I'm your father; and, as such, I think you should ask me if I -was agreeable. I thought it proper to ask <i>my</i> father, Josh. It isn't -because I'm a wood-turner"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, no, father," interrupted Joshua; "I made a mistake. Ellen and I -thought"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ellen and you thought," repeated Mr. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That if you were agreeable"--continued Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That if I was agreeable," repeated Mr. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And if you would please to give your consent"--said Joshua, purposely -prolonging his preamble.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And if I would be pleased to give my consent," repeated Mr. Marvel -with a slight chuckle of satisfaction.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That as we love each other very much, we would like to get married."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's dutiful," said Mr. Marvel, laying down his pipe, oracularly. -"I'm only agreeable, Josh, because I am old, and because I am married. -As I said to mother the other night, when we was talking the matter -over--ah! you may stare; but we knew all about it long ago. Didn't we, -mother? Well, as I was saying to mother the other night, if I was a -young man, and mother wasn't in the way, I'd marry her myself and you -might go a-whistling. Shiver my timbers, my lass!" he cried, breaking -through the trammels of wood-turning, and becoming suddenly nautical, -"come and give me a kiss."</p> - -<p class="normal">Which Ellen did; and so the little comedy ended happily. Joshua, -having a right now to sit with his arm round Ellen's waist, availed -himself of it, you may be sure. If Ellen went out of the room, he had -also a right to go and inquire where she was going; and this, -curiously enough, happened four or five times during the night. If any -thing could have added to the happiness of Mr. Marvel--except being -any thing but a wood-turner, which, at his age, was out of the -question--it was this proceeding of Joshua's. Every time Joshua -followed Ellen out of the room; Mr. Marvel looked at his wife with -pleasure beaming from his eyes.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It puts me in mind of the time when I came a-courting you, mother," -he said. "How the world spins round! It might have been last night -when you and me were saying good-by at the street-door."</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Marvel had not spoken to her husband without cause of the change -that had taken place in Basil Kindred. A very remarkable change had -indeed taken place in him. A mistrustful expression had settled itself -upon his face, accompanied by a keen hungry watchfulness of all that -occurred around him. He gave short answers, and was snappish and -morose. Yet not a look, not a word, not a gesture escape his notice. -He did not avoid his friends; he rather courted their society. He -repelled their advances, but he sat among them, watching. Every sense -was employed in that all-absorbing task. What was it that he was -trying to discover?</p> - -<p class="normal">The change was so sudden. A few days ago he was as he had ever been -hitherto, frank and cheerful,--even gay sometimes. Now, all that was -gone. In place of frankness, mistrust; in place of cheerfulness, -gloom. Susan was the only one, with the exception of his daughter, to -whom he did not speak with a certain bitterness. His manner to all the -others was as though some sensitive chord in his nature had been -sorely wounded--as though all men were his foes--as though his faith -in what was good and noble in human nature had been violently -disturbed.</p> - -<p class="normal">See him now. He and Minnie have been sitting together for hours. He -has been strangely stern and strangely tender to her in turns, but she -is used to his wayward moods. He has detained her by his side all the -morning, upon one and another idle pretext; and she, as if wishful to -please him, has humored him, and been wonderfully submissive and -obedient. But once she had fallen into a reverie--not a happy one--and -he had broken it by asking her in a harsh voice what she was dreaming -about. She replied only by a startled look, and resumed her work, -which had been lying idly in her lap. Repentant of his harshness, he -turned his head from her to hide the sudden spasm which passed into -his face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Are you ill?" she asked.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, dear child."</p> - -<p class="normal">"In pain?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, dear child."</p> - -<p class="normal">Presently she put aside her work, and rose to leave the room.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where are you going?" he asked in a strangely anxious voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">"To see Mrs. Marvel," was her answer.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Sit you down," he cried sternly.</p> - -<p class="normal">She hesitated and lingered by the door, beating the ground with her -foot irresolutely. Seeing that, he grasped her wrist firmly, and hurt -her without intending to do so. The muscles of her face quivered, but -not from the pain.</p> - -<p class="normal">"O Minnie, my child!" he cried; then, releasing her, "have I hurt -you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No," she answered in a hard voice. "Why do you not wish me to go to -Mrs. Marvel's house? You have forbidden me before."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You trouble them too much."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is not your reason, father," she said in the same hard voice. -"You are hiding something from me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Are you not hiding something from me, Minnie?" he asked, looking -anxiously into her face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What should I hide from you?" she asked, in reply, coldly and -evasively. "I am not well, father. I can't stop in this room. I will -not go where you do not wish me."</p> - -<p class="normal">He did not detain her, and she glided swiftly out of the room. He was -about to follow her, when a dizziness came upon him, and he sank into -a chair. It was only by a strong effort of will that he kept himself -from fainting.</p> - -<p class="normal">"My strength is deserting me," he muttered, his breath coming thick -and fast; "scarcely a day passes but this weakness comes upon me." He -held up his hand; it trembled like a leaf. "Have I failed in my duty -to her? Is it my fault that she does not confide in me? Or is this a -wicked lie?" He took a letter from his pocket and read it, not once, -but many times. "No," he groaned; "it is true. I feel that it is -true." He rose to his feet and felt like one just risen from a sick -bed. He was as weak as a child; so weak, indeed, that the -consciousness of his weakness brought tears into his eyes; and he said -in a voice of anguish, "Now, when my child's happiness--her honor, -perhaps--depends upon my watchful care, I am helpless. If I had some -one that I could trust some one to help me!" He heard a step upon the -stairs. It was like an answer to his wish. "It is Susan," he muttered; -"the one being that I know in the world who would serve me faithfully, -Susan, Susan!"</p> - -<p class="normal">She heard him, although his voice was faint and low, and entered the -room. Alarmed by the traces of illness in his face, she hastened to -his side.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are ill," she said, assisting him to a seat. "Can I do any thing -for you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," he answered. "You can do much. You can be my friend."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Your friend!" she exclaimed. Had she not always been his friend? But -there was a deeper meaning in his voice than she had ever heard -before, and his appeal sent thrills of pleasure to her heart.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am ill," he continued; "but it is more from weakness than any thing -else. I am not in pain. A dizziness seizes me, as it seized me just -now, and I feel as if my senses were leaving me. I can scarcely stand; -and I have no one to trust to."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not Minnie?" she said softly and wonderingly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hush! Minnie, of all others, must not be told of this. Can I trust -you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I would work till I dropped to serve you."</p> - -<p class="normal">A flush came into his face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"To serve me and Minnie?" he said.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes; to serve you and Minnie."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Give me your sacred promise that what passes between us now will -never be divulged, will never be spoken of, by you, unless my tongue -is sealed, and the time comes when it may be necessary to speak."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Does it concern you?" she asked with a natural hesitation; for there -was a feverishness in his manner that alarmed her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It concerns me and Minnie."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I promise."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Faithfully and sacredly?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Faithfully and sacredly."</p> - -<p class="normal">He took her hand and pressed it, and then gave her the letter, and -asked her to read it. It contained but a few words, but they were -sufficient to cause a look of horror to start into her eyes.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Can it be true?" she asked, more of herself than of him and her -trembling lips turned white and parched in an instant.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Susan," said Basil Kindred, "I have lived long enough in the world to -know its falseness. In years gone by, men have smiled in my face and -shaken me by the hand, and I have learned afterwards, that while their -manner spoke me fair, there was treachery in their hearts. My life has -been a hard one, what with false friends and bitter poverty; but I -bore it all patiently, and lived--lived, when a hundred times voices -have whispered in my ear, 'Die, and be at peace!' I had an object to -live for--Minnie, my darling child! So I lived and suffered, rather -than die and leave her unprotected. It was a bitter, bitter life. You -can guess how hard a thing it was for me to find food for her, and how -often she had to go without it, before the day when you and that -boy--I cannot utter his name--came to our rescue. From that time until -this dark cloud"--he placed his hand on the letter--"fell upon me, I -have been happy. And now, when I need all my strength to fulfil my -duty as a father--when it seems to me a crime that I should allow her -to go from my side--this weakness strikes me down."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Does she know?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"She knows and must know, nothing. But she must be watched. If there -be no truth in this letter--and there may not be"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"I pray not! Oh, I pray not!" cried Susan. "For others' sakes as well -as yours."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I understand you; if there be no truth in it, no one need know of it -but you and I."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What shall I do?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Watch her and him, without seeming to do so," said Basil Kindred. "If -she goes out, follow her if you can without letting her see you and -let me know all you see and hear. Mind, I say <i>all</i>; keep nothing from -me. You have promised sacredly."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I will do what you bid me."</p> - -<p class="normal">He raised her hand to his lips, and in the midst of her great sorrow -his action brought a happy feeling to her heart. When she was gone, -Basil Kindred unlocked a desk and took out a clasped book, in which he -wrote a few lines. "It is necessary," he sighed, "for my memory is -lost to me sometimes, and I cannot recall events; and it may save me -from doing an injustice." Then he replaced the book and locked the -desk.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">That night, in her room, Susan sat upon her bed and bowed her head to -her knees, sobbing, "O my poor Dan! O my poor, poor Ellen! if; after -all these years, you should find him false!"</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XX.</h4> - -<h5>THE ONLY DUTY THAT MINNIE CAN UNDERSTAND.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">The "Merry Andrew" was nearly ready for sea again, and Joshua, -having -been duly installed as third mate, was busily employed superintending -cargo. The Old Sailor was immensely delighted, and took an active -interest in Joshua's doings. When he was told of the engagement -between Joshua and Ellen, he smacked Joshua on the back and shook his -hand again and again, and kissed Ellen a dozen times, the old rogue! -as if he were the lucky man, and Joshua had nothing to do with it. He -took a private opportunity of entering into a confidential -conversation with the young lovers, and told them he had made over his -barge and all his little property to Ellen and Joshua jointly, "for -better or worse," he added, with a vague idea that those words were -necessary in the circumstances of the case. And he took many other -opportunities of instructing Joshua in the duties of mate and master, -and also in navigation and astronomy. He was more exacting than any -Marine Board would have been, and his instructions and examinations -were of a very severe and precise character. But he had a willing and -apt pupil in Joshua; and he delighted Ellen by whispering to her -confidentially that Joshua would make as fine a mariner as could be -found in the service. The examinations generally took place when only -the Old Sailor, Joshua, and Ellen were together; and then Joshua -propounded, to the satisfaction of his teacher, such problems as, -how he would send a top-gallant yard down in a gale of wind; what he -would do if he wanted to shiver his main-topsail yard when the leeches -were taut and the main yard could not be touched: how to turn in a -dead-eye; what he would do if he wanted to tack on a lee shore, and -the ship wouldn't come round, and there was not room to wear; and so -on, and so on. The Old Sailor was not satisfied with simple answers, -but insisted upon the why and the wherefore; so that what with working -and studying and sweethearting, Joshua's time was well taken up. Ellen -herself became quite learned in certain matters concerning Joshua's -profession, and made him laugh heartily by the wise air she assumed -when she repeated the twelve signs of the Zodiac, which she had -learned by heart perfectly, from Aries to Pisces. Joshua, repeating -after her, would purposely leave out Gemini or Aquarius, or another -sign, and would instantly be taken to account. In this simple way many -happy hours were passed. The Old Sailor had a great liking for Captain -Liddle, because he was a thorough sailor, and Captain Liddle admired -the Old Sailor for the simplicity of his character.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are in luck's way," said the Old Sailor to Joshua: "you are -sailing under a good master--not a land saint and sea devil--but a -good officer and a kind man; and you have the dearest and the -truest-hearted lass in the world to stand by you through life. Do your -duty, Josh, to her and to your ship."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I will do my duty to both, sir, you may depend."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor took out his pocket-handkerchief, and thoughtfully -dabbed his face. "I don't doubt that you will, my lad," he said, "and -to Dan as well." Now the Old Sailor uttered these last words with a -significance that seemed intended to convey a deep meaning. His action -was appropriately mysterious. He looked round cautiously, after the -best manner of stage robbers, and hooked Joshua nearer to him by a -motion of his forefinger. "Hark ye, my lad," he whispered, guiding the -words to Joshua's ear by placing his open palm on one side of his -mouth; "Hark ye. Do you suspect any thing?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua opened his eyes very wide at this; he had not the slightest -consciousness of the Old Sailor's meaning.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You don't?" continued the Old Sailor in the same mysterious manner. -"So much the better. I didn't suppose you did. Now, supposing--mind, I -only say supposing, my lad--supposing you were asked to do a very -out-of-the-way thing for Dan's sake, but a thing notwithstanding that -you would be very glad to do"--this with a chuckle expressive of -intense enjoyment--"would you do it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Would I do it, sir!" exclaimed Joshua warmly. "I don't think you or -any one could ask me to do a thing for Dan's sake, that I shouldn't be -glad to do."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Just my opinion," said the Old Sailor, still in the same -charnel-house whisper; "and if Dan's happiness depended upon your -doing this out-of-the-way thing"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why, then, sir, more eagerly and willingly than ever."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's plain sailing; it might come to pass, or it mightn't," said -the Old Sailor, returning his handkerchief to its abiding-place in the -bosom of his shirt, to denote that the conversation was at an end.</p> - -<p class="normal">But this did not satisfy Joshua. "What might come to pass, sir?" he -asked.</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor winked craftily at Joshua, and said, "All I've got to -say is, that it might come to pass or it mightn't."</p> - -<p class="normal">And try as he would, that was all the satisfaction Joshua could obtain -from the Old Sailor.</p> - -<p class="normal">In the mean time Basil Kindred's condition had become so serious, that -he was unable to leave his room, and he was unreasonably obstinate in -his refusal to see a doctor. He knew well enough what was the matter -with him, he said, and doctors could not relieve him. But one day, -urged by Dan, Minnie brought a doctor to his bedside without -consulting him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Your daughter brought me," said the doctor, seeing that Basil was -displeased, and wisely judging that mention of his daughter would calm -him.</p> - -<p class="normal">Basil called Minnie to him and kissed her. "Go out of the room, -child," he said; "what passes between me and the doctor must be -private."</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie obeyed, and went down stairs to sit with Dan, and the doctor -remained with his patient for half an hour. As the doctor came down, -Minnie opened the door of Dan's room, and the doctor entered.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, sir?" asked Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Your father is suffering from rheumatism and low fever," said the -doctor, addressing Minnie. "I have left a prescription in his room; -run and get it."</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie went up stairs, and the doctor said to Dan, "You are very -anxious about Mr. Kindred."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, sir, very anxious, both for his sake and for Minnie's."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie--ah! yes, his daughter. Well, I may tell you in confidence -what I must not tell her. He is suffering from something more than -rheumatic fever. He has a disease which may prove fatal at any moment. -A strong mental shock would very likely prove fatal to him. His mind -is far from tranquil at the present time, and it is absolutely -necessary that he should have quiet and repose. Good-morning."</p> - -<p class="normal">Grieved as Dan was to hear this, it relieved him, for it enabled him -to account for the sudden change in Basil Kindred's manner which had -so perplexed him. It also served to account for a change he had -observed in Minnie. It was not that she was less friendly towards him; -on the contrary, she had on many occasions been more tender to him -than usual. But the frank cordiality of her manner was gone; she was -more reserved, and an engrossed expression, evidently born of painful -thought, had settled upon her face. Dan had watched it with the -sensitive eye of love, wondering what had brought it into her face. -Now he knew the cause: her father's illness brought gloomy forebodings -to her heart and made her anxious. "Does she ever think that I love -her?" thought Dan, "and that I am only waiting for the proper time to -tell her that my life is devoted to her?" He would have spoken that -very day, but a sentiment of true delicacy restrained him. The feeling -that closed his lips upon the subject for the present could not have -existed in any but a chivalrous nature.</p> - -<p class="normal">When Joshua came home in the evening, Dan told him what the doctor had -said. Joshua was silent for a little while before he spoke. "It is -very singular," he then said, "that what you have told me should make -me easier in my mind. Both Minnie's and Mr. Kindred's manner lately -have given me great pain, filling me with uneasiness, which I have -vainly struggled against. It is made clear to me now."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why, that was also my feeling, Jo," exclaimed Dan almost gayly. -"Another proof of the sympathy between us."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I shall go and see Mr. Kindred. I am ashamed of myself to have -allowed such small feelings to exist. I ought to have made more -allowance for his sufferings." His hand was resting upon Dan's -shoulder. He inclined himself so that he could see the face of his -friend. "And Minnie?" he asked in that attitude. "How is it with you -and her?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am more hopeful than ever, Jo; but it would not be right for me to -speak to her in her trouble."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is like you, Dan," said Joshua approvingly. "Ever tender--ever -considerate--ever just. No; you must not speak until Mr. Kindred is -better. You must wait."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan nodded assent, and Joshua went up stairs to Basil Kindred's room. -He paused at the door and listened. No sound came from within, and he -received no answer to his knock. He opened the door softly. The room -was in darkness.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who is there?" was asked in the abstracted voice of one just aroused -from sleep.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is I--Joshua. Shall I get a light?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No;" with a sudden fierceness. "What brings you here?"</p> - -<p class="normal">The want of friendliness in Basil Kindred's voice was very painful to -Joshua, and it was only by a great effort that he was enabled to -maintain his composure. "What is the meaning of this, sir?" he asked, -very gently.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Of what?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Of your changed manner towards me, sir. And not to me only, but to -all of us. Have we done any thing wrong--have <i>I</i> done any thing -wrong? If I have, it has been done unconsciously, and it is but just -that you should not leave me in ignorance of my fault. I came up to -you now, sir, to ask that we should be to each other as we once -were--as we were before I went to sea--as we were on the first day of -our meeting, when you said, 'God bless you, Joshua Marvel.' I have -never forgotten that, sir. I do not speak to you for myself alone; I -speak for all of us, who hold you, I am sure, in the tenderest -respect and regard." Joshua spoke feelingly, and his words had the -effect of softening Mr. Kindred's manner.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are right," he said softly and very "it is not just. Sit here by -my side." Joshua sat where he was bidden, and waited for Mr. Kindred -to resume. "Distemper of the mind accompanies distemper of the body," -continued the sick man "and you must lay some part of my -unfriendliness to that cause. I am sick in body, and therefore -peevish, and therefore, perhaps, unjust. Sick men have sick fancies. -They magnify straws, even as, lying here in the dark, I can by the -power of my will, magnify the shadows that rest within this room and -make them 'palpable to feeling as to sight.' Joshua Marvel, I owe you -much; you saved me and mine from starvation. I am glad that you are -here now, and that you met my fretfulness with patience; for there is -that within my mind, not newly born, but newly risen that I would -gladly not forget again. All the happiness of the last few years I owe -to you, for it was for your sake we were welcomed here."</p> - -<p class="normal">"The pleasure your society has given to all those dearest to my heart, -sir, is recompense a thousand-fold."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Those dearest to your heart!" repeated Basil Kindred musingly. "Who -are they?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You ought to know, sir," replied Joshua, surprised at the question.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is but a whim--a sick man's whim--but tell me: of all those -dearest to your heart, whom would you place first? Do not hesitate to -answer me. We are in the dark, and I cannot see your face."</p> - -<p class="normal">"In the dark or in the light, before all the world, if it were -necessary, I could name but one, whom you know well."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Still, to satisfy me name her."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ellen, sir. You know that she is to be my wife."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have heard so. Take my hand. I wish you the happiness that faithful -love deserves. No worldly happiness can be greater. It makes a heaven -of earth, in whatever sphere of life it comes. And if, as it was with -me, the partner of your faithful love is called away before you, the -remembrance of her goodness and purity will dwell forever in your -heart, like a divine star." His voice had grown so solemn, that Joshua -could only press his hand in reply. Presently Basil Kindred spoke -again. "Your past life should be a guarantee for the future. You have -been faithful in your friendship; you should be faithful in your -love."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You do not doubt it, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I cannot doubt it; your conduct gives doubt the lie. The shadows seem -to be clearing away. I have much to say yet, if you will sit with me a -little while."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am glad to do so, and happy to hear you speaking to me again in -your old kind manner."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is so hard to reconcile," mused Basil speaking as much to himself -as to Joshua. "From whom can the accusation have come? And the -motive--what can be the motive? Joshua, answer me--have you an enemy?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, sir, not one that I know of."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Reflect a little. Can you bring to mind any circumstance that -occurred during the years that you have been away to induce you to -suppose that some one is conspiring to do you injury?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am more than surprised at your question, sir; I am grieved that you -should ask it, and apparently with reason. To my knowledge I have not -a bad friend in the world."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Your surprise is natural," said Basil; "but though you may think my -remarks strange, do not think they are prompted by unkindness. I have -good reasons for what I say. I hold this conversation sacred, Joshua. -As it may be the last we shall ever have, let what is said between us -be said in perfect confidence."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Agreed as to that, sir; but you must not say that this is the last -conversation we shall ever have."</p> - -<p class="normal">"When do you go to sea again?" asked Basil Kindred, taking no heed of -Joshua's remonstrance.</p> - -<p class="normal">"In less than a fortnight. We set sail first for Sydney, New South -Wales, then for China, then for home. A short trip. We shall not be -away long this time."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Before you return, I shall have gone on a longer voyage than -you are about to take. Nay, do not interrupt me. I have received -warning--bodily, not spiritual, and therefore not open to doubt. It is -impossible that I can live much longer. And with this conviction -strong within me, I am tortured by an anxiety that racks me with a -mightier pain than that which even as I speak pierces me to the -marrow."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua was profoundly shocked at the disclosure; he had not thought it -was so bad as that. Instinctively he knew what the anxiety was by -which Basil was tortured, and Basil answered his thought.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You guess what my anxiety springs from. What will become of Minnie -when I am gone?"</p> - -<p class="normal">If he had seen! If in that darkened room a vision had appeared to -answer him, could he have believed that it would come to pass? But -silence was his only answer for a time; for Joshua was revolving in -his mind whether it would be wise and merciful--whether he had any -right to speak to Basil Kindred about Dan's love for Minnie. The -conversation between them was sacred and confidential, and the sick -man's tone when he spoke of the bodily warnings he had received was so -impressive, that it carried conviction with it. It would be like -speaking to a dying man, and it would be serving his friend.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is my great anxiety," continued Basil; "were my mind relieved -upon that point, I should fear nothing, for death is my smallest -terror. I suffer deserved misery when I say that even I, her father, -do not know her nature thoroughly, and that I fear to think to what -extent her impulse might carry her. But I know that she needs -guidance, and that she cannot control herself. I have taught her ill, -or rather have not taught her at all. I have been remiss in my -fatherly duty--not intentionally, God knows! But I see it now--I see -it now." Even in the dark he turned his face from Joshua, the more -completely to hide his tribulation. "There is but one duty she can -understand--the duty of love. She knows no higher. She comprehends -that, because it is instinctive. She has her mother's devoted nature, -and would sacrifice herself for the only duty she can comprehend, as -her mother sacrificed herself for me. But she could not be made to -understand that under certain circumstances love may be sinful."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua, following his train of thought, heard Basil's words, but -scarcely understood their sense. Still he said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"She loves you, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, she loves me as a father, and by that love I have unconsciously -controlled her. But that power has gone from me. Our minds are -strangers; they used not to be so. Once she hid nothing from me; now -as I watch her I see in her eyes the attempt to hide her thoughts, and -I cannot express to you my agony in knowing that her heart and mind -are not open to me, as they have hitherto been. If I knew--if I only -knew, I should be satisfied; for then I might protect her. Sometimes I -think that another kind of love has come to her, and has shadowed the -love she bore for me. But for whom? Do you know?"</p> - -<p class="normal">He asked the question in a singular tone of fierceness and entreaty; -but Joshua was thinking of Dan, and did not reply. Have I the right to -speak? he thought; and an affirmative answer did not come clearly to -his mind.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are silent," continued Basil in a quieter tone. "Are you -concealing any thing from me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"What should I conceal from you, sir?" asked Joshua in reply, after a -pause.</p> - -<p class="normal">Basil Kindred sighed, as the words so hesitatingly spoken came from -Joshua's lips.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Young men are often thoughtless in their actions," he said mildly, as -if wishful to rob the remark of direct significance; "they do not know -the depth and earnestness of some womanly natures. Listen, I will tell -you my story; it may be a lesson and a warning to you."</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXI.</h4> - -<h5>LOVE'S SACRIFICE.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">When I was a young man, I was an enthusiast. My mother had -died when I -was a child. My father was a clergyman, and wished to educate me for -the church. But my heart was not in my studies, and I did not satisfy -his expectations. I was too fond of poetry and plays, my tutors told -him; sterner studies were distasteful to me, and they met with nothing -but disappointment from so unwilling a pupil. I was also difficult to -control; would indeed submit to no control. On several occasions when -a company of players came to the place in which I was being educated, -I had stolen away to the theatre, remaining there until nearly -midnight. My tutors spoke the truth. From the first night that I -stepped inside the walls of a theatre and saw a tragedy, my fate was -fixed. I was fascinated, entranced. I had never conceived any thing so -grand, so noble, so heroic. Mine was a pure passion; glitter possibly -had its effect upon my mind, but no base ingredient was mixed with my -determination to become an actor. What nobler calling could there be -than that which clothed the noblest of all the arts with living fire, -which made dead heroes speak and move and live again? My father -received the report with displeasure. He looked upon a theatre as the -abode of all the vices. He spoke to me and expostulated with me, and I -argued with him until I angered him. Then he took me from school, and -kept me at home, so that he might wean me from my wicked notions. I -had not been home a month before a company of players paid our town a -visit. I was aglow with excitement. My father warned me not to go; I -told him frankly that I would. He locked me in my bedroom; and I made -a rope of the sheets, and let myself out of the window. I came home -late, and my father opened the door for me. He was so strict a -disciplinarian, that my disobedience was a crime in his eyes. He told -me so sternly, and told me also that unless I complied with the rules -of his house, and with his commands as a father, I must find a home -elsewhere. He had other children, and he declared that I should not -contaminate them by my example. When I ventured to expostulate with -him, he stopped me peremptorily. There was no sign of tenderness in -his manner. He was harsh and hard. He forgot that I inherited some -share of his own determination, and that I was as likely to be -immovable in my ideas as he was in his. I felt that I could have -answered him by arguments as forcible as his, and, with the not -uncommon egotism of youth, I believed that I could have convinced him. -But he would not listen to me, and I was compelled to sit silent and -inwardly rebellious while he laid down the hard rules by which my life -was to be guided. The glittering splendor of the play I had witnessed -that night was vivid to my mind while his cold words fell upon my -ears. The tragedian upon whose musical impassioned utterances I had -hung entranced, was one of the greatest that ever trod the stage; the -play I had seen was one of the grandest of England's grandest poet. -What! was it a crime to come within the influence of such a teacher? I -could not believe it; I would not believe it. My father said my -inclinations were sinful, impious, misbegotten, and preached to me -sternly, uncompromisingly, until my heart--beating with indignation at -his injustice--was as hard to him as his was to me. Then he left the -room with a cold goodnight, and I went to bed. But before I went to -sleep, I took from my box the volume of Shakspeare containing the play -that I had seen, and as I read the noble verse, the men and women who -took part therein came and inspired me with the nobility of their -speech.</p> - -<p class="normal">On the ensuing Sabbath my father preached against play-houses and -players. It is not necessary for me here to dilate upon his arguments; -they were the common arguments generally used against actors and their -abominations. Players were creatures of the devil, working in his -service for the damnation of souls. There was no heaven for them; by -their lives they earned damnation, and they received their wages in -another life. It was a strong sermon--"a beautiful sermon," as I heard -many men and women say to each other as they walked from the place of -worship; but it filled me with indignation. It was a challenge thrown -out to me, and I accepted it. I do not attempt to justify what I did; -but it seemed to me as if I should be false to myself if I did not do -it. On the following evening I went to the theatre early, and secured -a seat in the most conspicuous position, and sitting there the whole -night through, I applauded with more than my usual enthusiasm, and -even--perhaps I should be ashamed to say it--with purposed -demonstrativeness. It was like giving the lie to my father's teaching; -but I did not think of it then in that light. I was bound in honor to -a certain course of action, and I pursued it. When the play was over, -I walked about the town for an hour, filled with fervent passionate -admiration for what I had witnessed. It was past midnight when I -knocked at my father's door. No answer came. I knocked again. Still no -answer. I was standing in perplexity as to what I should do, when a -piece of paper fluttered on to the pavement from a window above. I -picked it up, and saw that it was addressed to me. It was in my -father's handwriting, and it told me in a few simple words that, as I -had chosen to commit a sinful outrage upon his cloth, and upon his -sermon of the previous day, he disowned me as a son and cast me off. A -postscript was added, to the effect that, upon my calling at or -sending to a certain place every week, I could receive a small sum of -money sufficient to keep me from want, but that if I adopted the stage -as a calling, the money would be withheld. In the event of my adopting -the stage, my father asked me as a favor to change my name. I never -received a farthing of the money; I would have died rather than have -taken it. I started that night from my native town, and I have never -seen one of my family since.</p> - -<p class="normal">I need not dwell upon the details of the next few years. The -recollection is too painful to me. When I walked away from my father's -house, I solemnly resolved never to set foot in it again; I renounced -all claims of kindred, and said to myself proudly and confidently, "I -am alone in the world, without friends, without family. I am free to -adopt what course in life I think best. I will show my father, by my -career, that I am right, and he is wrong." I changed my name to the -name by which you know me. Speaking to you as I am speaking now, with -the solemn darkness around us, with something like a sense of death -upon me, I cannot hide from you any thing that comes to my -recollection. The simple reason for my changing my name was, that it -laid my father under an obligation to me. The motive was unworthy; but -it is hard to reconcile the lofty aspirations and the despicable -sentiment that in the same moment may animate a single mind. Well, I -marched into the world friendless and unknown, filled with an arrogant -courage, almost with defiance. I had a watch and a little money; I -sold my watch to increase my wealth, and before I had spent my last -shilling, I gained admission to a company of players, and commenced -life as an actor. I had seen these actors on the stage, and had been -inspired by them; but my amazement was great when their private lives -were open to me. The men and women who had inspired me were poor -struggling creatures, living almost begging lives, and suffering -almost incredible hardships. The salaries they were supposed to -receive were barely sufficient to pay for food and lodging; but the -money that was taken at the doors of the theatre was often of such -trifling amount, that at the end of the week the players were -compelled to be content with half, ay, with a fourth the sum due to -them. They all shared alike; there was none among them who took the -lion's share while the others starved. The leading tragedian received -a guinea a week, and was thankful when he got it. I have seen him play -Macbeth, knowing that he had not tasted food since breakfast; and have -seen him come off the stage at the end of the play and faint, not from -enthusiasm and excitement, but from sheer hunger. From this you can -form some idea of my sufferings; but I never wavered. I was -indomitable in my resolve. Disenchanted as I was to some extent, I saw -fame and glory before me, and I followed the beckoning shadows that -lured me on. And then I saw so much to admire in the lives of my -poor companions--so much self-sacrifice, so much devotion, so much -virtue--that I was proud to suffer with them. "Children of the devil," -I had heard my father call them. A strong resentment against him -possessed me when I became a witness of their privations patiently -borne, of their self-sacrifices cheerfully made. All this -while--though I endured hunger and every species of worldly misery; -though I had to walk, many and many a time, forty, fifty, and sixty -miles, through wet and mud, in boots and shoes that scarcely held -together; though I often slept in the open air, by the side of -hay-stacks and under hedges--all this while I was advancing in my -profession, and enthusiastically believed that the day would come when -I should be famous and prosperous. So I grew to be a man, more firmly -hoping, more firmly believing. I was what is called leading man; I was -at the head of my profession, and was only waiting for the tide--being -prepared for it--that was to lead me to fame and fortune. But young as -I was, the life I had led had already destroyed my constitution. -Rheumatism had planted itself firmly in my bones, and want of -nourishing food had so weakened me, that I felt like an old man. It -was only the fire of enthusiasm that sustained me. I believed myself -to be what I represented at night; I lost all consciousness of my poor -self while I was acting; and would often come from the theatre with -the dream strong upon me, and in my sleep weave fancies sufficiently -bright and beautiful to recompense me for the material hardships of my -working life.</p> - -<p class="normal">I was at the height of my powers, when it was both my happiness and my -misery to come to a town where we had arranged to stop for a -fortnight, and where I gained such honors in the shape of applause as -had never before fallen to my lot. It was a prosperous town, and our -two weeks' stay was so remunerative, that we thought it advisable to -lengthen our visit. We staid for six weeks--for six happy weeks. The -place rang with my praises. I was a wonder, a genius; such acting had -never been seen. Throughout the whole of my career I had preserved my -self-respect; what I suffered, I suffered in silence. I complained to -no one, and I never forgot my determination to prove, what perhaps my -father might one day be forced to own, that an actor may be as good a -man as a clergyman. Being therefore, in my habits of life, somewhat -above my companions, and having been so successful in the town, I was -courted by some of the towns-people, and received invitations to their -houses. I was what is termed, I believe, a social success; and I was -proud of it. Here was I, an actor, moving in as good society as was my -father, a clergyman. Who was right now, he or I. During the second -week of our stay, I was invited to an evening party; and as my part in -the performance for that night would be finished by nine o'clock, I -was enabled to accept the invitation. Fatal night--happy night! That -night was the real commencement of my life; it shaped my career in -this world, and it makes me look forward with joy unspeakable to the -world beyond, where I shall rejoin the mother of my darling child. Her -family were well born, ad occupied a high position in the town. They -were looked upon as leaders of fashion; and I learned that night that -they were among the principal patrons of the theatre, and that her -father had passed the highest encomiums upon me. They were not present -at the party, and their daughter was accompanied by her aunt, an -eccentric wealthy lady, with whom she resided during the greater part -of the year. I had the good fortune to find favor in the eyes of this -lady, who had a passion for celebrities, and she invited me to her -house. The invitation arose in this way; she had been to the theatre -on the previous evening, and a gentleman in her company had taken -exception to one of my readings. She mentioned it to me, telling me -that she had insisted that I was right, and at the same time confessed -to me, that she had not the slightest idea upon the subject, and had -been prompted to side with me only for the reason that the gentleman -was the most insufferably-conceited person on the face of the earth.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is not satisfied unless he is master in every thing," said the old -lady with wonderful warmth; "he is dictatorial, self-willed, -ungenerous, and supercilious--so much so, that he will scarcely -condescend to argue a point upon which he has expressed an opinion. -Nothing would please me more than to be able to bring evidence against -him respecting your reading."</p> - -<p class="normal">It so happened that my reading was the correct one, and that the -emendation made by the gentleman was unsupported by authority. I told -her so, and she was delighted.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But it will be of no use my telling him what you say," she said; -"and it would not be proper to bring you together for the purpose of -quarrelling about it."</p> - -<p class="normal">Then I suggested a way. I would consult two or three old editions of -Shakspeare we had in the company, and have fair copies of the passage -made from them, with any notes or annotations that might be attached -to it. There was no occasion, I said, to let the gentleman know that I -supplied the evidence; it would be sufficient for him to see the -quotations and the authorities, and he would be able to test their -correctness for himself. She thanked me warmly, and I frankly owned to -her that I was almost as much interested in the matter as she was -herself.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah! you are a student," she said, tapping me with her fan, "and are -not actuated by such small motives as I am."</p> - -<p class="normal">I told her that it had been my nature, ever since I remembered myself, -to be in earnest in what I did. Success could not be attained without -earnestness, I said; and such a spirit was not thrown away even when -exhibited in the smallest matters. The old lady was pleased with my -conversation, and asked me to bring the written quotations to her -house the following day. She then introduced me to her niece.</p> - -<p class="normal">Bear with me for a little while. When I commenced, I intended to be -more brief but I have been carried away by a tide of memories. These -things that I have spoken of have dwelt in my mind, but mention of -them has not passed my tongue; not even my daughter has ever heard -from me the story of my life. All the memories that are dearest to me -are stirred into life by my speech; and in the midst of the darkness -in this room, where nothing human exists but ourselves, I see my wife -as I saw her that night for the first time--as I shall see her soon in -a better land.</p> - -<p class="normal">Good and evil, consciously wrought, are not of this world alone; mind -you that, Joshua Marvel. They bear their fruit hereafter. In what way -or in what shape we do not know--but they bear their fruit. I never -loved but one woman in my life, and never was false to her, even in -thought. I never harbored an unworthy sentiment towards her. I loved -her truly, purely, solely, as she loved me. If I had done her wrong, -and, loving her, had played false with another by a single act, by a -single word of encouragement, even if it were weakly given in a moment -of weakness, I could not look into this darkness as I do now without -fear and shuddering.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">(What was it that passed into the room? The deep darkness that -prevailed, no less than the intense interest with which Joshua -followed the course of Basil's story, prevented him from seeing. Yet -it was no less certain that the door was gently opened, and that a -person with noiseless footfall entered the room, and, wrapped in -shade, stood silent in listening attitude.)</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">She loved me, and sacrificed herself for me. Loving me, she conceived -it to be her duty to follow me; she forsook friends and family, and -imperilled her good name for me; and in this solemn moment, when all -the dearest memories of my life give life to my words, life to my -thoughts, I bless her for it! Her devotion, unworldly as it was, was -sanctified by love. There is no earthly sacrifice that love will not -sanctify!</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">(A sound, half sigh, half sob, floated on the air, but so light that -Joshua doubted if he had heard it. It reached Basil's ears. Rising in -bed, he clutched Joshua by the shoulder, and whispered in trembling -tones, "Can spirits speak, and make themselves heard? Did you hear any -thing?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Something like a sigh, I thought," said Joshua; "and yet it is not -possible."</p> - -<p class="normal">Rising, he walked to the door; but whoever it was that had entered so -noiselessly had so departed.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is no one here; it must have been fancy."</p> - -<p class="normal">Basil sank down in the bed, exhausted by emotion, and it was long -before he resumed his story. During the silence, Joshua thought of -Ellen, and was happy. Such love as Basil Kindred had spoken of, Ellen -had given to him. "But she will not have to sacrifice herself for me," -he thought; "hers and mine will be a happier lot, I hope." Yet Basil's -life was grand and noble. "Like a great storm at sea," thought Joshua, -"and two small boats, lashed together, contending against it vainly." -His thoughts were interrupted by Basil's voice.)</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">I need not describe her. Minnie is like her; but she was more -beautiful even than Minnie. I went to the aunt's house, and was a -frequent visitor there. Alice and I loved each other from the first. -How I won her pure heart, I do not know. I will not say I was unworthy -of her; for I was animated by a true ambition, and I was earnest and -conscientious in all I did. I did not deceive her; I told her exactly -what I was, what I had suffered, and what I hoped to gain. She paid no -heed to worldly matters; she loved me, and that was enough. She -sympathized with me in my ambition, and said it was a noble one. Her -words were like wine to me; they strengthened and encouraged me. -During the last week of our contemplated stay in the town I was -stricken down by rheumatic fever, and was confined to my bed for -nearly two months. The other members of the dramatic company waited -for me for a few days, hoping I would get well; but I grew worse, and -they were too poor to remain idle; so they left without me, and I was -alone in the place.</p> - -<p class="normal">I was delirious for a long time, and knew no one about me. How well I -remember the day when consciousness returned! I opened my eyes, -wondering where I was, and what had occurred yesterday to cause me to -feel so deliciously weak; but I could not understand it, and I lay -contented and happy, as if newly born into a world of peace and -blissful repose. But as I lay--it might have been for a few moments or -a few hours--a soft murmur of voices fell on my ear. I did not turn -immediately in the direction of the sound; I was content to lie and -listen to the murmur, and had no desire to analyze it--it so -harmonized with my condition--there was such a sense of luxurious ease -in it: it was like the soft lapping of the sea upon a shore of velvet -sand! But with returning consciousness, my mind was gradually aroused -into activity; and in the whispering of voices, a familiar note, -sweeter and more musical than the rest, came to me. Lazily I turned my -head, and saw my darling Alice. Our eyes met, and it was like a flash -of light. I understood in that instant that she had been my -ministering angel during my sickness. A look of pity and love was in -her eyes as I turned to her, and she glided to my side and took my -hand in hers.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Alice darling!" I whispered. My voice was tremulous as a blade of -grass in the summer air.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dear Basil!" she said in reply.</p> - -<p class="normal">No heavenly happiness can be greater than that which entered my -grateful heart at that moment. All sense of sight and touch and -hearing--all heart and soul and mind--were merged in the exquisite -belief that inwrapped me then--in the faith that constituted itself a -part of me, inseparable, indissoluble, that is mine through all -time--that she and I were one for ever and ever!</p> - -<p class="normal">She sat with me until my landlady warned her that it was time to go. -When she was gone, I learned that not a day had passed since my -sickness that she had not come to see me.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Alone?" I asked.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, alone," my landlady said, adding that she had not spoken to any -one of the young lady's visits, as they might have been misconstrued.</p> - -<p class="normal">The significant tone in which she said this caused me to reflect that -Alice's visits, if discovered, would expose her to the world's -censure, and I begged my landlady to preserve silence upon the -subject.</p> - -<p class="normal">I will not linger upon this part of my story. Alice's visits were -discovered; and one day, when I was nearly well, and when I was -sitting by the window waiting for her beloved presence, I received a -visit from her aunt.</p> - -<p class="normal">I saw the unpleasant news in her face directly she entered the room. -She commenced by saying she was glad to see I was nearly well, and -that she trusted I would not take advantage of a young girl's -indiscretion.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It was by the merest accident I discovered that my niece has been in -the habit of coming to see you every day," said the old lady; "and she -has been very rash and indiscreet; you must see that, I'm sure."</p> - -<p class="normal">I did not see it, and I told her so.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nonsense!" exclaimed the old lady; "you are a man, and you know the -ways of the world and its judgment. As a man of honor, you must not -encourage my niece in her folly."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is it a folly to love?" I asked.</p> - -<p class="normal">But the old lady would not listen to argument, and she demanded my -promise that I would not see my darling again.</p> - -<p class="normal">Firmly I refused to give it, unless Alice asked me to do so. We were -pledged to each other, I said, and it was out of my power to break the -engagement, unless; Alice wished it broken.</p> - -<p class="normal">The old lady was terrified by my firmness; and when she asked me what -I meant to do, and I told her that I meant to marry her niece, she -exclaimed aghast,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Marry her! and you an actor!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes; and I an actor," I answered proudly.</p> - -<p class="normal">She kept with me for more than an hour, begging and entreating; but -she could not move me. I was contending for what was dearer to me than -life, and an old woman's worldly arguments could not make me false to -myself and to my love. She tempted me too--offered me money to leave -the town. After that, I was silent; I would speak to her no more upon -the subject. When she had exhausted herself, and rose to go, I opened -the door for her; and before she went out, I thanked her for her -hospitality to me, and expressed my regret that I should have been the -means of causing her pain. She made no reply; but I fancied I saw a -pitying expression on her face as she passed out.</p> - -<p class="normal">I was overwhelmed by despair, and might have been guilty of I don't -know what extravagance, had not my darling foreseen my misery, and -provided against it. Within an hour of the departure of Alice's aunt, -a note was given to me by my landlady. It was from my darling herself. -She knew her aunt's errand; she knew that I was true to her; and she -told me not to lose heart, for she was mine, and mine only, and would -be true to me till death. Truly, those words were like oil upon the -troubled waters; my mind was instantly composed, and a deep peace and -joy fell upon me. The last words of her little note were to the effect -that she would find means to write to me again soon; and she begged me -not to go away until she saw me.</p> - -<p class="normal">So I waited, and grew strong; and time passed, until there came an -evening when we met--met never to part again. It was a solemn meeting; -there was no hesitation on one side, or entreaty on the other. We -walked up and down in the rear of a wood-side inn; and my landlady, -whom I had asked to accompany me, stood a little distance from us. My -darling told me that her family were about to take her to the -Continent, and that she saw no way of resisting. "There is one," I -said. And as I said this, I stood by the side of an old elm, and she -stood with drooping head before me. "There is one. We are pledged to -each other till death. If I parted from you now in the belief that we -should not meet again, I would pray to God to end my life here where I -stand."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Tell me what I shall do," she answered, "and I will do it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Follow me," I said. "Share my life, hard though it may be. Be mine, -as I am yours. Let us walk together till death, and after it."</p> - -<p class="normal">She placed her hand in mine, and answered me in the words of Ruth, and -I folded her to my breast, and kissed her.</p> - -<p class="normal">So, accompanied by my landlady, we turned our backs to the town where -we first met, and the next day we were married.</p> - -<p class="normal">Ali, how happy we were, and how our lives seemed spread before us like -a bright holiday, which was to be spent in a land where the air was -always sweet--where the flowers were always blooming! No thought of -winter; but it came, with its frost and snow, and racked me with a -renewal of the old pains. I could have borne them cheerfully, if they -had not sometimes prevented me from working. We fell into poverty; and -through all its bitterness she never complained, and never gave me one -word of reproach. Nay, often and often, when she saw that my -sufferings were increased by the thought that I had asked her to share -my poor life, she comforted me and cheered me with tender speech, that -fell like balm upon my soul. I struggled on in my profession, gaining -applause always, but never seeming to mount a step nearer to the goal -where fame and fortune stood beckoning me. My wife had written to her -family without my knowledge; but not one of them replied except her -good aunt, who sent her a small sum of money. When Minnie was born she -wrote again, but the old lady was dead. Still, somehow we managed: our -wants were small, and our happiness was perfect. We had to travel -about a great deal; and when we had not sufficient money to pay our -coach-fares, we walked, and made the way light for each other by -cheering words. Many scores of miles have I--the great tragedian, as -they called me in the bills--carried our little Minnie in my arms, -lulling her to sleep, or pointing out to her the beauties of nature, -as they peeped at us out of hedgerows, or as they sprang up in the -gardens of great mansions, where they were not hidden by grim walls, -as if their owners were jealous lest the poor toilers on the road -should enjoy their lovely forms and colors. Now and then we got a lift -on a wagon, and the music of the bells on the horses' necks often -lulled Minnie to sleep. We seldom staid in one place longer than a -fortnight; but once we stopped in a town for nearly four months, -playing three nights a week. That was a happy time. I used to come -home from the theatre when my work was done, and Alice and I would sit -in our humble lodgings until late in the night, talking of such -matters as were nearest to our hearts; painting the future in bright -colors, and weaving fancies about our Minnie, who would sometimes be -lying awake on her mother's lap, and whose little fingers would clasp -one of mine as the ivy clasps the oak. We made many friends--false -friends most of them, attracted by my wife's beauty--friends whose -speech was fair, but whose thoughts were treacherous. But rocks on -which many a woman's good name and happiness have been wrecked melted -like snow before my wife's purity. And still we struggled on, hoping -against hope, until there came a time which cast a shadow on me never -to be removed except by death. It was in the autumn of the year. My -wife had been ill, and I had to nurse her and carry her about, and -study and work, while my heart was almost breaking; for the doctors -had told me she required wine and nourishing food, and I was earning -barely sufficient to pay for the commonest necessaries. One night when -I left the theatre, the rain was pouring down like a second deluge. I -had been playing the principal parts in tragedy and comedy, and I came -into the street hot and flushed with my exertions. It was the last -night I ever played. The rain soaked me to the skin; but I took no -heed of that; I was too anxious to reach home. I crept into our one -room, and found my wife asleep. I sat by her side and looked at her -pale face, and recalled the past. I saw her as she had been five years -before, a bright and beautiful girl; and as she was now, pale and wan -as a ghost. I heard her whisper, "Until death, Basil--until death!" I -threw myself on my knees by the bedside, and hid my face on the bed in -utter prostration; and while I knelt, my body turned cold as ice, then -hot as fire, and a feeling like the feeling of death came upon me. -"<i>Is</i> it death?" I asked myself; and I almost rejoiced at the thought -that we might pass away together. When I raised my head, the room -seemed to be thronged with visible fancies. The light and brilliancy -of the theatre; the dark night with its down-pour of rain; Alice as -she was when I first met her; my father's study, and he and I looking -defiantly at each other; all these pictures, and many others, were -before me, and for a moment seemed to be in harmony with each other. -Unutterable confusion among them followed; and then a darkness fell -upon me.</p> - -<p class="normal">Weeks passed before the darkness cleared away. When I recovered my -senses, I found my patient angel nursing me, although she was scarcely -stronger than I was. But what will not a woman's love accomplish? We -were not in the same town in which I had fallen sick. She had removed -me to a village some twenty miles distant from my native place. I did -not discover this until I was able to rise and move about. I was but a -shadow of myself; all my strength had left me, and I was like a child. -I was to discover something worse than that. I was to discover that my -memory was gone, and that, although I could repeat snatches of parts I -had played, I could not, study as hard as I would--and I tried -diligently during my convalescence--get the complete parts into my -head. My wife helped me--looked at the book while I stumbled -on--prompted me, encouraged me, bade me rest for a day and try again. -All in vain. If I was rehearsing the scenes in "Hamlet," speeches and -lines uttered by Macbeth and Lear, interpolated themselves, and I grew -hopelessly confused.</p> - -<p class="normal">So, then--my occupation was gone; my ambition was at an end. The -knowledge would have been bitter enough to bear had I been by myself; -but there were my wife and daughter, my darling Minnie, my patient -suffering Alice, to provide for, and I in debt, without a penny in the -world, and without any means of driving white-faced hunger from my -dear ones. The despairing conviction almost brought on a relapse, and -it was only by the strongest effort of will that I kept my senses. But -I could not get strong; rheumatism had fastened itself too firmly in -my bones, and would not be driven away; and I was afflicted with -distressful shudderings and with feverish attacks, during which I knew -no one about me. Winter was coming on fast. Every atom of clothing -that could be spared had been sold by my wife; what she must have -suffered, dear angel! can never be told. Was it my selfishness or -blindness that prevented me from seeing death written in her face? I -did not see it--I did not suspect it--until the time when her cold -body lay before me. She suffered--yes; she could not disguise that -from me; but the pleasant smile and the cheerful look of content and -hope with which she always answered my wistful gaze, blinded me to her -condition and to the extent of her sufferings. I did not ask her why -she had brought me to the village--I guessed that it was because I had -known it in my happier days, and because it might induce me to think -of my father, and of the advisability of asking help from him. She did -not say a word upon the subject. She knew the story of my boyish life, -and was content that I should do as I thought best. But she was a -mother as well as a wife, and she deemed it to be her duty to bring me -where, if I so pleased, I might possibly obtain assistance. I thought -over it, and, bitter as it was, I saw that my duty lay clear before -me. I would sacrifice my pride and humble myself to my father. And yet -I hesitated--hesitated until one morning my wife came into the room -looking so strange that I passed my hand before my eyes, wondering if -I were awake.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Alice!" I cried.</p> - -<p class="normal">She came to my side with a cheerful look. Her beautiful hair, that had -hung down to her waist was gone. I took her upon my knee, and folded -her in my arms, and sobbed like a little child. She soothed and -comforted me.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It will grow again," she said, knowing but too well that before that -time came she would be beneath the daisies. "The landlady wanted -money, and every thing was sold but that. See, I can pay her."</p> - -<p class="normal">"All?" I asked.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, not all," she said cheerfully; "but perhaps some good fortune -will come to us."</p> - -<p class="normal">That morning I wrote to my father. I told him that I was married to a -gentlewoman, noble, good, and pure, that we had a child, and that I -was ill and in want. But no answer came. I wrote again, begging him to -reply and to assist us. Still no answer. And meanwhile my wife was -fading before my eyes, and our landlady clamored for what was due to -her. Oh, if I could have sold my blood for money, I would have done -it, when I heard her coarse tongue revile my wife! I tottered into the -passage.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Woman!" I cried, "you shall be paid. I will go and get money."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where?" asked my wife in a faint voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">"At my father's," I answered. "Come, we will go and lay our sorrows at -his feet."</p> - -<p class="normal">I took Minnie in my arms, and we started in the direction of my native -town. It was not until we had walked four or five miles that we -discovered how weak we were. We were penniless and hungry, and Minnie -was crying for food. I went into a public-house, and begged for some. -I was turned out without ceremony; but a common woman, who was -drinking with a tinker, ran after me--God bless her for it!--and put a -biscuit into Minnie's hand. We struggled on. A mile nearer. My wife -grew white in the face, and her lips were black. And as I looked at -her, there came by her side the image of what she was, ruddy, -bright-eyed, rosy-lipped. I saw it, I tell you. The impalpable shape -of the beautiful girl, radiant with health, walked with light step by -the side of the careworn haggard-faced woman. I must have been crazed. -She saw in my face the disturbed condition of my mind.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Courage!" she whispered, taking my arm.</p> - -<p class="normal">I laughed, and looked around. Fortunately, no one was near us, or I -should have robbed him--weak as I was, despair would have given me -strength. I have asked myself since, if it would have been a crime, -and have not found the answer. Ten miles were compassed when a storm -came on--a dreadful pitiless storm, in which the slanting wall of rain -before us seemed to shut out hope. We toiled through it, fainting from -weariness and hunger; we toiled through it, until I fell prone to the -earth. My wife knelt by me in the wet grass, and implored me to make -another effort for her sake, for our child's. I tried to rise, but -could not. All that I could do was to drag myself to a clump of trees, -where I lay exhausted. Every word that passed between us from that -time is too deeply engraven on my mind ever to be forgotten.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Wife," I said, "the struggle is over. Kiss me and forgive me."</p> - -<p class="normal">In the midst of her agony, a sweet smile irradiated her face. I could -not see it, but I knew it was there by her voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Forgive you, husband!" she exclaimed, as she kissed me. "We have -nothing to forgive each other. Pity and love are all that I feel now. -Love for you and our darling Minnie,"--and she placed our little -darling's hand on my aching eyes--"and pity for your great -sufferings."</p> - -<p class="normal">Not a word of herself! Her pure unselfish nature was triumphant over -all. As surely as we have hands to feel and eyes to see such love as -hers is heaven-born, and dies not with the flesh!</p> - -<p class="normal">"Rest here," she said, placing our child in my arms. "I will go and -seek help. Keep up your heart while I am gone."</p> - -<p class="normal">I had no power to stop her, and she left me and was lost in the gloom. -Hours must have passed, though it was night when I awoke. I had fallen -into sleep, and in my dreams all the circumstances of my life played -their miserable parts; from the dawn of my ambition down to the words -of my wife, "I will go and seek help. Keep up your heart while I am -gone." When those words were uttered, I followed my wife, in my dream, -as she stumbled on through the darkness. Suddenly I lost her; then a -whisper of pain stole upon me, and I heard her murmur, "Come to me, -Basil; I am dying." A strength born of fear enabled me to rise -shuddering to my feet. "Alice!" I cried. No voice answered me, but I -still seemed to hear the echo of the words, "Come to me, Basil; I am -dying." With Minnie in my arms, I followed the sound. Some wonderful -chance directed my steps aright. How far I walked, I do not know. The -rain was still falling, but there was a glimmering light in the sky to -guide me. The trees, past which I crept painfully and wearily, were -bare of leaves; their naked branches were emblematical of the -desolation of my heart. I crept onward until I came to a spot where I -saw a form lying on the ground. No need to tell me whose form it was -that I saw before me. No sound came from the lips, no sign of life was -observable in the limbs. The ghostly echo of the cry, "Come to me, -Basil; I am dying!" died away upon the wind as I fell by the side of -my darling, who had sacrificed her life for me. I raised her head on -my lap, and looked into her white face. The eyelids quivered, opened; -a look of joy leaped into her eyes.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Oh, my darling, my darling!" I wailed; "wait for me."</p> - -<p class="normal">I inclined my head to her lips, for they were moving.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I will wait for you, Basil. There!" And she looked up to heaven, -while the cruel rain poured down upon her face.</p> - -<p class="normal">I placed Minnie's lips to hers, and the child clasped her little arms -round her mother's neck.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Live, Basil," she said slowly and painfully, "live for her. No, no!" -fearing that I was going from her, "do not leave me yet!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Her fingers tightened on mine, and she closed her eyes. I leaned over -her to protect her from the rain. In that supreme moment of sacrifice -a smile rested on her lips.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Till death, and after it, Basil, my love!" she whispered.</p> - -<p class="normal">And her soul passed away into the wintry night.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">"You are crying," said Basil Kindred, after a long pause. "My story -has touched your heart. I have told it to you for the purpose of -opening your eyes to Minnie's nature. She is like her mother, without -her mother's teaching. She is a wildflower; the impulse of her mind is -under the control of the impulse of her heart. She is oblivious of all -else, defiant of all else. Those of her friends who have the -consciousness of a higher wisdom than she possesses--those of them who -can recognize that the promptings of such a heart as hers may possibly -lead her into dangerous paths--must guide her gently, tenderly. If any -betray her, he will have to answer for it at the Judgment-seat. -Joshua, you said to me, when you entered this room, that you had not -forgotten the blessing I gave you on the first day of our meeting. I -repeat that blessing. In all your actions that deserve blessings and -prosperity, I say, God bless and prosper you, Joshua Marvel! Now leave -me."</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Joshua's face was wet with tears, and his heart was throbbing with -sympathy for Basil as he walked down stairs. In the passage he heard a -footfall that he knew to be Minnie's. It was too dark to see her face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is that you, Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Joshua," she answered, in a low voice. "You have been sitting -with father."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have been wishing to speak to you, and I was afraid I might not get -the opportunity, for father is very strange to me. When does your ship -sail, Joshua?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"In a very few days Minnie."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should so much like to see it, if there was no harm in my coming."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What harm can there be, Minnie?" exclaimed Joshua. "Come to-morrow to -the docks at twelve o'clock when the men are at their dinner. Bring -Ellen or Susan with you, and ask for the 'Merry Andrew,' and I will -show you over it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thank you, Joshua. Goodnight."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Goodnight, Minnie."</p> - -<p class="normal">As their hands met, Susan, carrying a light, came from the kitchen. -Joshua did not wish Susan to see the tears on his face, and he turned -hastily away as she approached. But she did not appear to notice -either him or Minnie, as she passed to the upper part of the house; -and the next moment Minnie glided away, and Joshua entered the room -where Dan and Ellen were sitting.</p> - -<p class="normal">The following day Joshua, looking over the bulwarks of the "Merry -Andrew," saw Minnie standing in bewilderment amidst the busy life and -the confusion of bales and cases on the wharf. He was surprised to -find that she was alone. He hastened to her side, and asked her why -Ellen or Susan had not come with her, and received for reply that she -had thought they were both too busy, and had not liked to ask them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But you don't mind my coming by myself, Joshua, do you?" she said, -looking into his face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No," he said, returning her gaze. Her eyes were sparkling with youth -and health, and her cheeks had a bright color in them from the brisk -walk she had taken in the crisp air. "But I would have preferred your -not coming alone."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I will go back rather than offend you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Offend me!" he exclaimed. "You are a stupid to talk of offending me. -And as for going back, that would be sheer nonsense now you have taken -the trouble to come."</p> - -<p class="normal">It was impossible to look at her without pleasure; she was as -beautiful as the spring. A good many of the sailors turned to take -another peep at her, and thought what a lucky fellow the third mate of -the "Merry Andrew" was to have such a lass as that to come and see -him. But he was in luck's way right round, they said to each other as -they walked along. Joshua, not wishing to submit Minnie to their -prying looks--although, being human, he was proud of them a little -bit, it must be confessed--took her hand to lead her up the gangway. -It was not easy for Minnie to get aboard, and Joshua had almost to -carry her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"How strong you are," she said, "to be able to carry a big girl like -me! And this is your ship."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is lumbered up at present, Minnie," he said; "but when we are at -sea, and the decks are cleared, and the sails are set, and we are -flying along before a fair wind, it is a little better than this, I -can tell you. I can smell the sweet spray now, as it comes dashing -up." His nostrils dilated at the mere thought of the ocean, and -involuntarily he passed his hand before his eyes, clearing away -imaginary spray.</p> - -<p class="normal">"How beautiful it must be!" exclaimed Minnie.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua abated a little of his enthusiasm. "It's all very well in fine -weather, when the wind and sea are kind; but you would be frightened -at storms."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not if you were on the ship, Joshua," she said dreamingly, but in so -soft and low a voice that he did not catch the words; yet he looked at -her keenly; but she did not notice his gaze, for she was wrapped in -thought, and her eyes were turned from him. So still did she stand, -that Joshua touched her sleeve to attract her attention. She started, -as if he had aroused her from sleep, and then they went over the ship -together. She was very anxious to see every thing, and they had a busy -half-hour. The last part of the ship they went into was the saloon.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Captain Liddle has been very particular about the saloon," Joshua -said, "for his wife is coming with us this voyage. Here are their -cabins--one for the captain and his wife, and this little one -adjoining for her maid."</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie peeped into the cabins, and wondered how ladies could live in -such a dark place. Joshua had to explain that the cabins were dark -because the ship was in dock, and that when they got out at sea there -was light enough for any thing. Then they ascended to the deck again, -and Minnie thanked Joshua and prepared to go. Just at that moment -Joshua saw--or fancied he saw--Susan standing on the wharf. She was -standing quite still, and her eyes were fixed on the poop of the -"Merry Andrew."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why, there's Susan!" he exclaimed; and, leaving Minnie on deck, he -hurried down the gangway. But the woman was gone, and he could find no -trace of her. He returned to Minnie in a state of perplexity.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I thought I saw Susan on the wharf," he said.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You must have been mistaken, Joshua," said Minnie; "she was hard at -work at home when I left. If it had been Susan, she would not have -gone away when you went towards her."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I suppose I <i>must</i> have been mistaken. Good-morning, Minnie; take -care of yourself going home."</p> - -<p class="normal">He led her down the gangway, and Minnie made her way, like a gleam of -sunshine among the throng of rough workingmen, who stood aside to let -her pass, and sent admiring looks after her. During his work that -afternoon Joshua thought much of her, and of her father's anxiety -concerning her. "Mr. Kindred is right," he thought. "Minnie requires -gentle tender guidance; such guidance as Dan can give her, and will -have the right to do soon, I hope. She can have no better teacher, -wiser counsellor, than Dan!"</p> - -<p class="normal">So he mused and worked, and saw no signs of the dark clouds that were -gathering about him.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXII.</h4> - -<h5>NEVER TO RETURN.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Could a map be made of the mental life of a man whose career -has been -marked by the commonest of commonplace incidents, and from that map a -tale were woven, it would transcend in interest the most eventful -story that can be found in the wonder-world of fiction. Space matter, -and all the abstract relations of the Great System, affect the meanest -order of mind, and produce the strangest of contrasts between the -outer and inner life of men. Not more strange perhaps, but certainly -more beautiful, are the contrasts presented in men of a high order of -intelligence. As in the case of Dan. Quiet as were the grooves in -which his material life moved, compassed as it was by a few narrow -streets, his ideal life was a romance. It glowed with poetic beauty, -and was filled with graceful images, like a peaceful lake in whose -waters are reflected the glories of grand sunsets and the delicate -lines and colors of night clouds and overhanging trees. Had it been -Dan's fate to mix with the world, his sensitive nature would have -rendered him the most unhappy of beings. The selfishness with which -the world abounds, and with which he would have been brought in -contact, would have made his life a misery. Wishful to see good in -every thing, he would have seen its reverse in so many things, that -his enduring faith in the purity and goodness of those upon whom he -fixed his affections might have been weakened. His friends were few, -but all his heart was theirs, and no doubt of their truth found place -in his mind. Not to suspect belonged to the nobility of his nature.</p> - -<p class="normal">Otherwise, he might have found cause for suspicion in what was -occurring around him. Three days before Joshua's final departure from -home, Basil Kindred locked himself in his room, and denied himself and -Minnie to every person but Susan. She, and she only, attended to his -wants, and faithfully obeyed his wishes. To all inquiries the one -answer received, through Susan's lips, was, that he was too ill to be -seen, and that he required the constant attendance of his daughter, -who could not leave his room. Even Mrs. Marvel could not shake his -resolution, and was surprised to find that Susan encouraged him, and -would not assist her in her kind endeavors.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is not good for Minnie," remonstrated Mrs. Marvel, "to be -cooped-up in that room all day. She can nurse her father--it is only -right she should--but her health will suffer if she does not have -fresh air."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mr. Kindred knows what is best for himself and Minnie," returned -Susan in a voice that trembled, despite her efforts to be firm. "He -has asked me to nurse him, and to keep everybody out of his room until -he is better; and I mean to do it. If I can't do it here, I shall take -him away where he won't be disturbed."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Let me go up and see him," persisted Mrs. Marvel. "I may be able to -do him some good."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You can't do him a bit of good," replied Susan uncompromisingly, "and -he won't let anybody but me go into his room."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Sick people don't always know what is best for them, my dear. We are -all of us very much distressed and anxious about Minnie and her -father. They are more than friends to us, and perhaps you do not guess -what Minnie is to"--But Mrs. Marvel was stopped in her speech by a -fierce exclamation from Susan. The good mother was not sorry for the -interruption; she had been about to refer to Dan's love for Minnie, -which her delicate and keen instinct had discovered, and the thought -came to her that perhaps it would not be wise to speak of it. She was -not the less surprised at Susan's agitation, and at the frightened -look which immediately afterwards flashed into Susan's eyes--a look -which asked, "What have I said? Have I betrayed my trust?" But the -next moment Susan resumed her determined manner, and no entreaties of -Mrs. Marvel could move her. When Mrs. Marvel told her husband of the -interview, he said he was sure that Basil Kindred was not right in -his head, and that the best thing to do would be to let the sick man -have his own way. As for Susan, Mr. Marvel said, she was always -strange--they were a pair, she and Basil Kindred.</p> - -<p class="normal">So no further attempt was made by any of them to see Basil Kindred and -Minnie until the day when Joshua was going to sea. On that day Joshua -went to Basil's room, and knocked. Susan came out of the room into the -passage, and stood with her back to the door.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have come to say good-by," said Joshua; "and I should like much to -speak to Minnie and Mr. Kindred before I leave. Go in Susey, and ask -him to see me."</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan returned the usual answer, but Joshua's entreaties caused her to -waver. She re-entered the room, and Joshua heard Basil's voice -speaking to her. Then Susan came out again, and said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mr. Kindred is too ill to see you--he told me to say so."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie!" echoed Susan; and then in a low troubled voice, "Minnie is -asleep."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua was inexpressibly pained.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I must be content, I suppose," he said, sighing; "but I am deeply -grieved. Something seems to have come between us lately, and shall go -away leaving a mystery behind. I wonder sometimes if am the cause of -this estrangement. If I am, I hope all will be set right when I am out -of the way."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I hope so," said Susan, with a singularly earnest look.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You hope so! Then I am the cause, and you believe it. Take care, -Susan that you are not assisting in bringing unhappiness among us."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is for you to take care," said Susan, with bitter emphasis, "that -you do not do so."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do you mean?" asked Joshua, in amazement. "Tell me. I have a -right to ask, Susan, for you will one day be my sister."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua had taken her hand as he spoke, but she snatched it from him -angrily.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can tell you nothing that you do not know," she said hurriedly. "If -I am to be your sister, I have only one thing to say to you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well?" he inquired, in an offended tone, for he was angered by -Susan's manner.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Be true to Ellen," she said, with quivering lips and in a softer -voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is that your fear?" he exclaimed almost gayly. "Be true to Ellen! -Why, Susey, I love her with all my heart and soul. But there! words go -for nothing. Time will show. Bid Minnie and Mr. Kindred good-by for -me, and say I was sorry I could not see them before I went away."</p> - -<p class="normal">He put out his hand, and mechanically she took it in hers; but she -unloosed it immediately with a shudder, and left him abruptly. He was -compelled to be content with that good-by, unsatisfactory as it was, -and he walked to his home, where Dan had been staying for the last few -days, eating there, and sleeping, in Joshua's room. Sitting in their -bedroom alone on those last few nights, when all but themselves in the -house were sleeping the friends renewed their vows of faithful love, -and spoke of many things in the future which both of them desired. In -one of these conversations Joshua put into Dan's hands a written -paper, which made Dan and Joshua's father masters of his small savings -and of wages that would be due to him from the London owners of the -"Merry Andrew."</p> - -<p class="normal">"In case any thing happens to me," said Joshua, in explanation.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not for any other reason, Jo," said Dan, "for I shall never want the -money."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Father may want a little. It is all his and yours. As to your never -wanting money, I wish I could feel sure of it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You may, Jo; I am earning quite enough with my birds. Mr. Fewster -gave me an order yesterday for four canaries thoroughly trained to do -all the best and newest tricks."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua uttered a dissatisfied "Hm!" at the mention of Mr. Fewster's -name. Dan understood it, for Joshua had contracted what Dan said was -an unreasonable dislike for Solomon Fewster. Now, in reply to a -remonstrance from Dan, Joshua said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"But you don't like him, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know that," said Dan, considering. "When you put it to me so -plainly, I am rather inclined to say I do like him; for I cannot give -a reason for not doing so. I <i>can</i> give a reason for liking him; he -buys my birds"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"And sells them at a profit, I'll be bound."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Perhaps; he has a right to do so, if he pleases. I did think at first -that he bought them for himself, but of course I was mistaken. -However, whatever he does with them, he buys them and pays for them: -that's enough for me. You could give as good a reason for liking him. -He was kind to you when you were ill."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Oh, yes! brought me jellies and things"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"And you ate them and relished them," said Dan, laughing.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I didn't know that he had brought them, or I wouldn't have touched -them. I remember in one of our coasting-trips we had a passenger on -board who wrote for newspapers, and who was said to be a very clever -man. Certainly he talked like one. He used to talk to me, as much -perhaps because I was a good listener, as for any other reason. Well, -a favorite subject with him was what he called magnetic sympathy. He -would just have suited you, Dan! He said that the natural magnetism -which makes persons like or dislike one another, without apparent -reason, is never wrongly directed."</p> - -<p class="normal">"A kind of instinct," remarked Dan reflectively.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He said, too, that as there are certain things in chemicals that -won't mix, being opposed in their natures, so there are persons who -have natural antipathies"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"And won't mix--like you and Mr. Fewster," interpolated Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Just so. Besides that, I have a good many little reasons for not -liking Mr. Fewster.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Firstly," prompted Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He never looks me in the face."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Secondly."</p> - -<p class="normal">"He has a horribly smooth voice."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thirdly."</p> - -<p class="normal">"He has flat feet--ugly flat feet. I shall always hate men with flat -feet. Then every thing about him shifts and shuffles. But don't let us -talk about him any more. I can't keep my temper when he is in my -thoughts."</p> - -<p class="normal">The conversation drifted into other subjects, and Solomon Fewster was -dismissed.</p> - -<p class="normal">It was Dan's whim to have all his birds on a table for Joshua's -inspection on the morning of his friend's departure.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Although we are men now, Jo," he said, "I should wish us to keep our -boyish fancies fresh and green always in our hearts. There is plenty -of room for them, notwithstanding that life is a more serious thing to -us than it was."</p> - -<p class="normal">There they were, the modest linnets, the saucy tomtits, the defiant -blackbirds, the handsome canaries. Among the latter were four which -Dan pronounced to be "real beauties;" they were of a beautiful orange -color, and the feathers in their tails and wings were of a deep black. -These were the canaries which Dan had spoken of as having been -"ordered" for Solomon Fewster. As they were admiring them, Solomon -Fewster's step was heard in the passage, and the man himself entered -to wish Joshua good-by. He was profuse in his good wishes, to which -Joshua listened in silence, uttering no word but "good-by" as Fewster -quitted the room. It so happened that, during the pauses in his -expressions of good will to Joshua, Solomon Fewster looked at the -canaries which Dan had purchased for him, and handled them with words -of approval. When he was gone, Joshua who had thrown his handkerchief -carelessly upon the table, said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"That man hates me, Dan, more than I hate him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"My dear Jo," said Dan, "how can you be so fanciful?</p> - -<p class="normal">"Forewarned is fore-armed, Dan. I beg of you not to trust him; I beg -of you not to believe he is any thing but a cruel false man. He wishes -me ill--else why do I instinctively shrink from the touch of his hand? -He wishes me ill--else why is this?" Joshua removed his handkerchief, -and Dan saw one of his beautiful canaries dead upon the table. "As he -talked to me with his smooth tongue," continued Joshua, "wishing me -well in his hateful voice, he crushed the life out of this poor bird. -Is that no sign of a false bad heart? Had his thoughts been as gentle -as his words, would this have happened?" Dan was silent; he could not -defend Solomon Fewster by another word. "Let us say good-by here, dear -Dan. Mother and father are waiting for me, and many of the neighbors -also, to give me God-speed in a better fashion and with kinder hearts -than that cruel man. Good-by, dearest friend. God send you all that -your heart desires!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thank you, dear friend. You know the one thing I desire to render me -perfectly happy--Minnie's love. Say, 'God speed you in that venture!' -Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">"God speed you! Dan, it comes upon me now to ask you one question. You -do not doubt me, do you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Doubt you, Jo! No, nor never can."</p> - -<p class="normal">"The answer is from your heart. I should not have asked but that some -things have distressed me lately, and I should indeed be unhappy if I -thought you had the shadow of a doubt of me. It may be that our voyage -will not be prosperous; it may be that I may never live to return. If -I do not--nay, Dan, I am impelled to speak thus--if I do not, believe -me to have been always the same to you. Believe that I never wavered -in my love or my truth, and that to the last I held you in my heart, -as I hold you now, gentlest, dearest, best of friends."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan drew Joshua's face to his and kissed it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We are one, Jo," he said softly; "nothing can divide our hearts. God -bless and protect you, and bring you safely back."</p> - -<p class="normal">The leave-taking between Joshua and his parents was of a very -different nature from the last, when he was leaving home for the first -time in his life. Then Mr. and Mrs. Marvel were beset with doubts as -to whether the step Joshua was about to take was for the best. Now, -these doubts were dissolved. He had gone on his venture a bright happy -boy, and had returned a bright happy man. He had started on the lowest -round of the ladder, and had already mounted many steps. Third mate -already! What might he not attain to? They were proud of him, and with -just cause. All the neighbors were proud of him, too; he was a prince -among them. The family were quite a distinguished family in the -neighborhood, as having for their representative a young man who had -been all over the world--a man who had not only seen the sea, but who -had been on it. A little crowd of neighbors had gathered about the -house to give Joshua a parting handshake. The information of their -having gathered for that purpose was imparted to Joshua by his father -with an air of pride.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I've lived in this neighborhood for nearly fifty years, Josh," said -George Marvel, "and I've never but once seen so many of the neighbors -on the lookout at one time."</p> - -<p class="normal">"When was that, father?" asked Joshua, humoring his father's vanity.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That was when a carriage with two white horses came through the -street, and stopped in it for full five minutes. It was the first -carriage that ever was seen here, and the last, for that matter. You -remember, mother!</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, George."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I wish you could have stopped with us until the last minute, Josh," -continued George Marvel; "but Mr. Meddler was so mightily anxious that -you should spend tonight and to-morrow with him at Gravesend, that he -couldn't well be refused, being so good a friend. Do you think your -ship will sail to-morrow?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"To-morrow or next day, daddy." And Joshua put his arm round his -mother's neck, and she looked up at her big son with affectionate -pride.</p> - -<p class="normal">"In three or four months you'll be among the savages again," observed -George Marvel contemplatively and admiringly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I shall see plenty of them, I dare say, father. They come down to -Sydney from what the people call the interior."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And they are black all over, eh, Josh?" asked George Marvel, who was -never tired of a repetition of Joshua's adventures.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A kind of brown-black rather," answered Joshua, "with eyes like -pieces of lighted coal."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And not a bit of clothing?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"An old blanket, some of them; nothing at all, a good many. A sailor -gave one a pair of trousers, and the fellow tied them round his neck -by the legs."</p> - -<p class="normal">"D'ye see what strange things there are in the world, mother, that we -never knew of?" observed George Marvel to his wife. "That comes of -being a wood-turner all one's life.--Josh, if you have children, don't -make wood-turners of 'em."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I won't, father," said Joshua, laughing; "but I'm not certain either -that I'd make sailors of them."</p> - -<p class="normal">"There, father!" Mrs. Marvel could not help saying triumphantly, "what -do you say to that? Joshua is coming round to my old way of thinking."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, one would think," said George Marvel, appealing to an invisible -audience, "that Joshua's done a bad thing by being a sailor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, no," said Joshua; "I've nothing to grumble at; I've been very -lucky, and I'm thankful for it. But it is a hard life for a common -sailor. He's bullied here and buffeted there, and is obliged to be up -at all times of the night and day sometimes, and he gets soaked and -soaked until he hasn't a dry thing to put on. Then, when he's -dead-beat and turns in, he hasn't been asleep an hour perhaps when all -the watches are called on deck, and there he is again, half dead with -sleep, wondering whether he is dreaming or not, till he is woke up -with a vengeance by the water trickling down his back, and the wind -blowing as if it would blow his eyes clean out of his head."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Marvel shivered with apprehension at Joshua's description; and he -with ready tact continued,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"But that's not often; and even when an inexperienced man would -suppose there was great danger, there really is none at all. For the -most part, it is fair and beautiful; and when you are bowling along -under a steady breeze, with all sails set, surrounded by a bright -cloud and bright water, there isn't a more glorious life in the world. -If you were to see the ship, mother dear, on a calm day, with the -sails like birds' white wings, with a deck as clean as this kitchen -and the sailors sitting about mending sails and splicing ropes, while -the grand albatrosses are flying over us, and shoals of beautiful fish -are leaping like deer in the sea--if you were to see it then, you -would almost wish you had been a man, so that you might be a sailor. -And through all 'there's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, to -keep watch for the life of poor Jack.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Indeed, my dear," exclaimed Mrs. Marvel, satisfied with the sentiment -of the quotation, though its meaning was not quite clear to her; "I'm -glad to hear that."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dear old mother!" said Joshua, in secret delight at her simplicity, -kissing her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But the best of it all is," said George Marvel, "it makes a man of -you; your muscle's like a bit of iron. Feel mine, Josh--like a bit of -soft putty. That comes of being a wood-turner."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ellen and Mr. Meddler went down to Gravesend two hours ago," -said Mrs. Marvel to Joshua, who was tying his accordion in his -pocket-handkerchief.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua nodded. Brave as he had intended to be, spasms were rising in -his throat.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You have all your things, dear?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, every thing."</p> - -<p class="normal">He turned to take a last look at the homely kitchen, noting in that -momentary glance the position of every piece of furniture and of the -crockery on the dresser. The yellow-haired cat was too old now to do -any thing but lie on the hearth before the fire; and Joshua stooped -and patted its head. When he rose and put his hand on the back of a -chair, it seemed to him as if that common piece of wood and every -other inanimate thing in the room were familiar friends. The very -shape of the room was dear to him. The dear old kitchen! how many -happy hours had he passed in it! He could have knelt and kissed the -floor, his heart was so tender. As it was, he touched the table and -the mantle-shelf; over which the bright saucepan-lids were hanging, -lovingly with his fingers, and with dim eyes walked slowly away. His -arm was round his mother's waist as they went up stairs to the -street-door, and he put his face to her neck and kissed it--a favorite -trick of his when he was a child. It brought to her suddenly the fancy -that her son was a baby-boy still; and she caressed his curly head as -a young mother might have done. Mr. Marvel of course was too manly to -give way to such weakness; but nevertheless he clasped Joshua's hand -with a clinging fondness, and the tune he was humming in proof of his -manliness came rather huskily from his throat. It was a triumphant -moment for him when he opened the street-door, and stood on the step -with his wife and Joshua; for there in the street were many of his -neighbors, who pushed forward to shake Joshua's hand, and to wish him -God-speed; while some of the women slyly gave him "a lucky touch."</p> - -<p class="normal">"One word, dear mother," said Joshua, drawing mother and father into -the passage, whereat all the neighbors fell away, and turned their -backs to the door, there being nothing there really worth noticing. -"Take care of my darling Ellen for me. And Dan too; he may need it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"They are our children, Joshua, next to you," said Mrs. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You think to yourself, when you are away, Josh," said Mr. Marvel, -with his finger in a button-hole in Joshua's jacket. "'There is Ellen, -my wife that is to be; and there is Dan, my dearest friend; and there -is father and mother with them every day, loving them almost as much -as they love me and almost as proud of them.' You think that, Josh, and -you'll think right."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am sure of it. Once more, good-by; God bless you all!"</p> - -<p class="normal">And so, with tender embraces, hearty neighborly farewells, and waving -of hands, Joshua, with his accordion under his arm, bade farewell to -his dear old humble home.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXIII.</h4> - -<h5>THE OLD SAILOR SETS MATTERS STRAIGHT.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Having made over the whole of his worldly property to Joshua -and Ellen -"for better or worse," it was reasonable that Praiseworthy Meddler -should have considerable weight in the family council of the Marvels. -The arrangement whereby Joshua left his home a day before his ship was -to sail was entirely of the Old Sailor's making; he and he alone was -responsible for it. Naturally enough, when he had at first proposed -it, he had met with opposition--especially from Mrs. Marvel, who -wished Joshua to remain with them until the last moment. But, after a -private conversation with the Old Sailor, she had yielded to his wish, -and had even used arguments to induce Joshua's readier compliance. -That being obtained, the Old Sailor informed them that he had a -lady-friend at Gravesend, name Mrs. Eliza Friswell, who was a married -woman herself with a family, and who kept a respectable boarding-house, -with whom he had arranged that Ellen should stay until the anchor of the -"Merry Andrew" was weighed; substantiating his statement by a letter -from Mrs. Eliza Friswell to Mrs. Marvel, in which Mrs. Eliza--as the -Old Sailor called her--undertook to look after Ellen as "one of her -own." On the morning of Joshua's departure from Stepney, the Old -Sailor, dressed in his best, and decorated with a bunch of flowers in -honor of Ellen, had called for his pretty lass and had taken her away, -leaving a message that if Joshua did not arrive at Gravesend exactly -at the appointed time, Ellen had consented to run away with him--to -wit, Praiseworthy Meddler--and get married. Very proud was the Old -Sailor of his charge, and very tender and confidential was the nature -of his communications to her as they made their way to Gravesend. What -it was that made her blush and laugh and cry in turns--what it was -that made her serious one moment and glad the next--was known only to -themselves. Certainly no one was taken into their confidence until -they arrived at Mrs. Eliza's, when, with a fatherly kiss, he delivered -Ellen into the charge of that estimable matron. Mrs. Eliza's husband -was a boatman, rough and strong as a boatman should be: with a great -red face and great red hands, and with a voice that rumbled from his -great deep chest with such thunderous power as to render such a thing -as a whisper physically impossible. He was the owner of a fleet of -four boats, which had been bought and paid for in shrimps and -watercresses, or, at all events, with the profits made by Mrs. Eliza -out of those delicacies, which she purveyed to the easily-satisfied -amorous British public, with stale bread-and-butter and an imitation -of tea, at nine pence per head.</p> - -<p class="normal">Praiseworthy Meddler was fraternizing with Mrs. Eliza's husband when -Joshua made his appearance. Mrs. Eliza's husband immediately sheered -off, and the Old Sailor took Joshua in tow. In response to the Old -Sailor's remark that he was late, Joshua, who felt very despondent, -said that parting from those at home took a longer time than he had -expected.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay, my lad," said the Old Sailor gravely, "'tis a hard word, good-by, -when said to those we love. A long time with Dan, I dare say now?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, sir; but it didn't seem long. Time flies faster at some times -than others."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay; flies fastest when we most want it to hold out. Mother and father -all right?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"As right as may be, sir. Crying more now, I know by my own feelings, -than when I was with them. Kept up for my sake, sir, to give me -courage." And Joshua turned aside.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No need to be ashamed of your tears, my lad. Gentle thoughts and a -gentle heart go together. Some people say 'tis unmanly to cry, but I -wouldn't give much for the man who never cried, or who wasn't -sometimes so near it as to feel a gulping in the throat. 'Tis as much -crying, that is, as if the tears were rolling down his face. I've felt -like it myself, I'm glad to say."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are very kind to me, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You deserve it, Josh, you deserve it, though I've a doubt that you're -a bit blind to some things."</p> - -<p class="normal">"To what things, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Gently my lad, gently. Plenty of time to talk."</p> - -<p class="normal">The gravity of the Old Sailor was contagious, and Joshua felt that the -good old fellow was about to say something which he deemed of -importance.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where is Ellen, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"In the house with Mrs. Eliza. She is happy and comfortable, my lad; -and when you and me have had our bit of talk, we will go in to her. -She knows that we're together, and that we've got something to speak -about. As you turned the street, she put her pretty head out of window -there--you didn't know the house or you'd have seen her do it, like a -true sailor as you are--and when she saw us together, she put her -pretty head in again, satisfied. And you left everybody at home all -right, eh? Grieving naturally to be sure, but otherways all right?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Let us walk as we talk," said the Old Sailor, hooking his arm in -Joshua's, and walking in the direction of the river. "Or we shall talk -better in a boat, perhaps; Mrs. Eliza's husband shall paddle us about -the while."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But I should like to see Ellen just for one minute first.</p> - -<p class="normal">"To begin your kissing, eh, my lad?" said the Old Sailor, with a -roguish, laugh. "No, no; you'll have plenty of time for that. I'm in -command now, and I'll have no mutineering, or I'll put you in irons. -You'll not like them as well as Ellen's pretty arms." Notwithstanding -the light nature of the Old Sailor's word's, Joshua detected a -serious mood beneath them, and with a good grace he walked to the -landing-place and stepped into the boat which Mrs. Eliza's husband -held ready.</p> - -<p class="normal">"So you were a long time with Dan, my lad," remarked the Old Sailor, -when they were launched. "What did you talk about mostly?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"The old things, sir,--ourselves mostly?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You have no secrets from Dan, my lad?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, sir, none."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And he has none from you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"None, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And yet I'll be bound," said the Old Sailor, looking steadily at -Joshua, and compelling Joshua to return his gaze, "that there was -something which you might have spoken of had you not been restrained -by a feeling, say, of kindness to Dan. What, now?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"There was something, sir," replied Joshua, wondering what this -conversation, so singularly commenced, would lead to.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah!" ejaculated the Old Sailor, rubbing his knees in a satisfied -manner; "let us hear what that something was."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You speak so earnestly, sir," said Joshua, inwardly questioning -himself, "that I must be careful not to conceal any thing from -you--not that I have any reason nor that I wish to do so, but -something might escape me. I must first say, though that you must not -expect me to break any confidence--that supposing Dan had a secret, -and had imparted it to me, I should not be justified in telling that -secret to any one else."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Fair and honest, my lad; what I expected from you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, then, I have been sorry to find that Mr. Kindred"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie's father--yes," interrupted the Old Sailor, with a sharp look -at Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Has been changed to all of us lately, and especially to me; and I -have been sorry to think that it is because of something which I have -done that he is so changed."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You know of nothing, Josh?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nothing--absolutely nothing; and that's what grieves me. If I did -know, I should be able to justify myself. Why, sir, this morning he -refused to see me when I went to wish him good-by, and refused to let -me see Minnie. I did not speak of this thing to Dan because of my love -for him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And because," said the Old Sailor, "supposing that Dan had a secret -and had imparted it to you, you thought that Dan would be easier in -his mind--in consequence of his secret--if he did not know of Mr. -Kindred's strange refusal to see you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Just so, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Could I guess this secret of Dan's?" questioned the Old Sailor. -"Could an old tar like me, who wouldn't be supposed to know much of -boys and girls and their whims and whams, venture to guess that this -secret of our dear friend Dan's was all about a woman?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua did not reply.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And such a woman!" continued the Old Sailor. "With eyes as bright as -the stars, and with hair like a mermaid's. As cunning as a mermaid -too; not wickedly cunning--no, no; but 'tis in her to be so; and she -needs weaning from it, like a babe."</p> - -<p class="normal">Very gentle was the Old Sailor's voice; and greatly did Joshua wonder, -not at its gentleness, for that was natural to the old man, but at the -wisdom of the words that came from his lips. All his roughness was -gone; all his pleasantry was gone; all his simplicity was laid aside -for the time; and the Old Sailor spoke as if all his life he had been -studying woman's nature until he was master of its complexities. But -such deep wisdom often comes from very simplicity.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Lord love you, my lad!" he said, "how blind you have been! Here has -been a woman's heart laid bare to you, and you have not suspected it."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua trembled with apprehension. "For Heaven's sake, sir," he -implored, "speak more plainly!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I intend to do so, Joshua; for this is the solemnest time of your -life. I have considered the matter deeply, and I can see but one right -thing to do; but I am running ahead too fast. Steady there, steady. As -I said a time ago, here has been a woman's heart laid bare to you, and -you have not suspected it. What woman, now? But 'tis not right to ask, -mayhap."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ask me any thing, sir; I will answer truly."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What woman do you love?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ellen."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ellen? And Ellen only?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"And Ellen only. None other; nor ever shall, if it is given to man to -know his heart."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good! Answered like yourself; answered like the lad I used to see -looking out on the river that runs to the sea; like the lad my old -heart warmed to because there was honesty in his face; like the lad -who has grown to be a man, and who sits afore me now with truth in his -eyes."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thank you for that, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What woman does this lad, now grown to be a man, love? Ellen--the -pretty Ellen, the truest-hearted, gentlest-hearted, kindest-hearted, -dearest lass on all the high seas. What woman does Joshua's friend -Dan love? That's a question I ask myself. 'Tis easily answered. -Minnie--Minnie with the mermaid's hair, and with eyes bright as the -stars. Does Minnie love Dan? Yes; but not as Dan wants her to love -him. Why? Because there is some one in the way."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who, sir?" Joshua was constrained to ask, but dreading the answer.</p> - -<p class="normal">"She loves Dan's friend Joshua better than she loves Dan. Let that -friend, who sits afore me now, search his heart and his mind, and let -him say what he thinks. He knows her nature; has been her friend since -she was a girl; and, cunning as a woman may be, no woman can be -cunning enough to hide her love always from the man she loves, though -she may hide it from all the rest of the world. It happens sometimes -in a man's life that he may be unconscious of a thing for years -perhaps, it being present to him all the time, until, sometimes in one -way, sometimes in another, a sudden light is thrown upon it, and he -sees in a flash what he has been blind to all his life before."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are right, sir," said Joshua sadly. "It has happened to me now. I -have been blind."</p> - -<p class="normal">As he sat, sadly looking at the evening shadows reflected in the -river, every circumstance connected with his intimacy with Minnie came -to his mind with an interpretation different from that it had borne -before. Her pretty fancy of the shell, which he had thought of often -as a childish conceit bore a different meaning now. Tender looks and -simple acts, which had pleased him at the time, gathered strength, and -became more than tokens of mere friendship. Child as she was when he -first went to sea, he recognized now that she had more than the -strength of a child; that even then, indeed, she was almost a woman. -When he came back, a man, she had saved his life; and when he thanked -her for it--surely he could do no less!--she told him that she did not -want thanks, for the having saved his life would ever be her sweetest -remembrance. "Little Minnie, little Minnie," he had said, kissing her, -"thank you for your devotion." He remembered that she trembled, and -that something like a sob escaped her when he had kissed her. Had he -done wrong? Was he to blame? All he had done had been innocently done, -as from a brother to a sister. And her feelings were known to others -when they had been hidden from him. Minnie's secret was known to her -father and to Susan. That was the reason why Basil Kindred had -questioned him so strangely, and had told him the story of his life. -Words uttered by Basil, which had borne no direct signification when -they were spoken, came to him now with startling vividness. "Young men -are often thoughtless in their actions," Basil had said; "they do not -know the depth and earnestness of some womanly natures." The -revelation that had come to him served also to account for Susan's -singular conduct that very morning.</p> - -<p class="normal">"So," he thought; "they believe I have been playing with Minnie's -feelings; and both of them have condemned me. And I at the same time -engaged to Ellen! It is too dreadful to think of. What can I do? Oh, -what can I do?"</p> - -<p class="normal">The unspoken words rended him to the soul; he was enveloped in a -despairing darkness. But a greater terror than all fell upon him when -he thought of Dan. In such a momentous crisis as that through which -Joshua's mind was passing, nothing of the past is unremembered. Words -which otherwise are borne in mind only by their sense come back as if -they were just being, uttered. When Dan had imparted to Joshua the -secret of his love for Minnie, he had said, "A great hope, shadowed by -a great fear, has entered my soul; a hope which, fulfilled, would make -earth heaven for me. Is it too precious a thing to pray for? It seems -so to me. I tremble as I think of it. But if it is not to be, I hope I -shall soon die." And Joshua heard again that cry from Dan's soul, -almost word for word. The sacred nature of the love existing between -Dan and Joshua needs to be understood to realize the terrible fear -that smote Joshua at the present time. If Dan should ever come to -believe him false, he would not wish to live: for the salt would have -gone out of his life forever.</p> - -<p class="normal">For full a quarter of an hour Joshua was wrapped in painful thought; -and the Old Sailor had not disturbed him. But now, as he raised his -tearful eyes to the Old Sailor's face, the Old Sailor laid his hand -gently upon Joshua's knee, and said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, Joshua, and how do you make it out?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"As bad as it well can be, sir. This is the hardest stroke I have ever -had. I do not think that even you can understand how hard it is for -me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because of Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because of Dan, sir. I have no need to hide Dan's secret from you -now--you know it; but if Dan should be disappointed in his love for -Minnie, I don't know what effect it would have upon him. All this is -very terrible. I don't need to assure you, sir, that I have been -entirely blameless, and that I have never treated Minnie in any way -but that of an honored sister."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You do not, my lad," said the Old Sailor, with an evident brightening -up in his manner; "I am satisfied of that. But what do we do when a -storm comes? Do we run and bury our heads in our hammocks, or do we -stand up like men to meet it and battle with it?--as we are going to -meet this storm, which has come upon us unaware, and from no fault of -our'n. Like men, Josh; we're going to meet it like men. I am looking -it straight in the face. No wonder it made you stagger when it come -upon you sudden. It set my old head a-thinking when I found it -out--though it only come upon me by degrees, and after a deal of -watching. Just you think a bit now, Josh, and tell me if you don't see -any way of getting the ship off the rocks."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can see no way, sir," said Joshua, after a little anxious -pondering; "all is dark around me."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor laughed a quiet little laugh.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Lord, Lord how blind these youngsters are! Here's a sailor that's -lost his reckoning, and running the danger of seeing his ship break up -before his eyes; and all the while there's a smooth-water bay close -alongside him, and a friendly craft waiting to give him a hand."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where is that bay, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Steady, my lad, steady. Let's see what we've got to do. Firstly, our -duty to every body, right round. Next, to make two persons, who ought -to know better, ashamed of themselves for misjudging of us. Next, to -make every thing so snug that our friend Dan sha'n't suffer from any -fault of our'n. Next, to teach a gentle lesson to a mermaid of a girl -who's got a notion in her head that's no business to be there, but who -otherways is as good as gold. It's a riddle, my lad, and I've got the -key to it in my pocket."</p> - -<p class="normal">"May I see it, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You may, and shall, Josh," said the Old Sailor, with a sly chuckle. -"It was to give you the key, that I brought you out here to talk."</p> - -<p class="normal">And the Old Sailor took from his breast his blue-cotton -pocket-handkerchief, upon which was imprinted the twelve-hundred-ton -ship, with all its sails set to a favorable breeze. There was a knot -in the handkerchief; which the Old Sailor undid with his teeth, -keeping his eyes fixed upon Joshua's face all the while. The knot -being untied, the Old Sailor took from the handkerchief a very small -parcel in silver paper, and handed it to Joshua in perfect silence.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua opened the silver paper, and found in it a wedding-ring.</p> - -<p class="normal">He looked at the tiny symbol with a beating heart, and a glimmering of -the Old Sailor's meaning dawned upon his mind.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's the key, my lad," said the Old Sailor, with a triumphant -expression on his honest, weather-beaten face; "that's the key to it -all. You put that ring upon pretty Ellen's finger to-morrow morning -early, and what happens? Why, you spend your honeymoon here in -Gravesend with your little wife; and when the 'Merry Andrew' sets -sail,--which won't be to-morrow, Josh; I've found that out,--Ellen -goes back to Stepney with that pretty bit of gold on her finger. Says -she, 'I'm married--married to Joshua.' 'Married' says they, all but -one of 'em; 'married!' And surprised they are, all but one of 'em. -'Who made you do it?' says they, all but one of 'em. 'Mr. Meddler,' -says she; 'Mr. Meddler made me do it. He's a hard-hearted old shark, -and he made me do it. But I'm not sorry for it,' says she; 'I'm glad -of it. And I'd do it over again to-morrow; for I've got a true-hearted -man for a husband, and all I've got to do is to pray that he may come -back safe to me and to all of us.' With that they all fall a-kissing -one another, which is but right under the circumstances. What happens -then? Says Susan, 'I was mistaken; Joshua is as he always was.' Says -Mr. Kindred, 'Minnie is safe. God bless Joshua for doing what he has -done.' Says Minnie to herself, 'It's no use my loving a married man. -I've been a foolish girl, and what I've got to do is to love Joshua -like a brother, as he has always loved me--like brother and sister; -that's all we can ever be to one another.' Then she turns to Dan, and -loves that tender-hearted friend,--who ought to have been a man six -foot high, with his limbs as sound as our'n,--and loves him as he -ought to be loved. And I shouldn't wonder, my lad, that when you come -home from this trip, Dan will say to you, 'Here is my wife, Jo, my own -dear Minnie; and we're as happy as the day is long.' The consequence -of all of which is, that every thing turns out as it ought to turn -out, and as we all want it to turn out."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor drew a long breath after this peroration, and dabbed -his face in a manner expressive of a high state of exultation and -excitement. Joshua was no less moved. He toyed with the wedding-ring -as gently and affectionately as if it were already on Ellen's finger. -Truly, to him it was more than a piece of plain gold; it was a symbol -of love. If it had been a precious life, he could not have handled it -more tenderly. Tears came into his eyes as he looked at it, and his -heart beat more strongly with love for Ellen as he pressed the ring to -his lips. At which action the Old Sailor gave his knee a great slap; -and falling back, in the excitement of his triumph, upon Mrs. Eliza's -husband, nearly upset a boat for the first and only time in his life.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And that is the reason, sir," said Joshua, "that you wished me to -spend my last day at Gravesend with Ellen?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is the reason, my lad, and no other."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But how did you find all this out?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"The fact of it is, my lad," replied the most unsuspicious and -guileless old tar that ever crossed salt water, "I put this and that -together. I put this and that together," he repeated with an air of -amazing cunning. "It came first in a simple way. When you were ill, I -went one day to see Minnie's father; and when I went into his room, I -found that he was out. Minnie was there, though: but she didn't see -me. She was sitting on the ground by her father's bed, with a shell at -her ear, and was singing some words softly to herself; and I heard her -repeat your name, Joshua, over and over again. It might have been a -babe singing, her voice was so low and sweet. But I didn't like to -hear it, for all that; and from that time, my lad, I began to watch, -and to put this and that together. Lord love you if you hadn't been so -wrapped up with Ellen, you would have found it out yourself soon -enough. You see, if Minnie had been a little girl, that shell and her -singing wouldn't have mattered; but being a woman, it did."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And Ellen, sir. Have you told her what you have told me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Just as much as wouldn't wound her sensitive heart, the dear lass. -Not a word about Minnie. I've put it more as if it was your doing and -my wish, being an unreasonable old shark, you know, and because I had -a right to have my own unreasonable way. I told her I'd set my heart -on it, and so had you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And her answer?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That pretty little lass says, 'If Joshua, that I love dearer -than all the world'--them's her very words, 'dearer than all the -world'--'wishes me to marry him down here at Gravesend, it will be my -pride and my joy to do as he wishes, now and always.' Something else -she says too. But before I tell you what that something else was, let -me know what you think about it, Josh."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What can I think, sir, after what you have told me, but that I -believe it is the best and only way to set all matters straight? It is -a task both of love and duty--love to Ellen, duty to Dan and Minnie. -Yet I have one regret. I have often pictured in my mind what a -proud day our wedding-day would be to mother,"--his voice faltered -here,--"and how her dear face would have brightened when our hands -were joined!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's the very something else that Ellen says to me, Josh," said the -Old Sailor, beaming with satisfaction. "Says she, 'I should like to -have Josh's mother at the wedding.' Says I, 'My dear, Josh's mother -<i>will</i> be at the wedding.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No!" exclaimed Joshua with a sudden start of surprise.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," cried the Old Sailor dabbing his face gleefully. "Says I, 'My -dear Josh's mother <i>will</i> be at the wedding. She will come down to -Gravesend to-morrow morning early, and will go back quietly in the -afternoon.' And when Ellen tells 'em at home all about it, mother will -be the only one among 'em who won't be surprised."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Enough said, sir," said Joshua, his heart filled with wondering -happiness. "I don't know what I have done to deserve such friends as -I've got. Let us get back to Ellen."</p> - -<p class="normal">With that, Mrs. Eliza's husband, who had behaved more like a machine -than a man during the long interview, pulled briskly to shore.</p> - -<p class="normal">It was dusk when they walked along the street where Mrs. Eliza lived; -but Joshua saw Ellen standing at the door waiting for them. He -hastened to her eagerly, and with his arm around her waist, drew her -away from the little light that was left. She was trembling; but his -strong arm supported her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"So you are to be my little wife to-morrow?" he said in a voice of -exceeding tenderness.</p> - -<p class="normal">She clung closer to him, and hiding her face, although it was dark, -answered him in the softest of soft whispers, "Yes, if you are -satisfied that it shall be so."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It will be for the best, darling," he whispered, embracing her.</p> - -<p class="normal">How proud he was of her! and what a memorable night they passed with -the Old Sailor! The best room in the house had been brightened up for -them to have tea in; and after tea, Joshua and Ellen strolled by the -waterside for an hour, which seemed about five minutes long, talking -as lovers have talked since the Creation. Meanwhile, the Old Sailor -stood at the door, smoking his pipe with infinite satisfaction at the -thought of having set all matters straight. While he thus stood, a man -approached with the evident intention of making an inquiry of him; but -catching sight of the Old Sailor's face, the man uttered a hasty -exclamation and abruptly crossed the road, making a pretence of being -intoxicated. It was but a pretence, but it deceived the Old Sailor, -who set it down in his mind that the man was a sailor on the spree. -"Going to join the 'Merry Andrew' to-morrow, perhaps," he thought; -"and fuddling himself, as most of 'em do the first and last nights -ashore. A rare old swiller is Jack! Never knows when he has had -enough. Must always take another drop."</p> - -<p class="normal">The man's thoughts were of a different kind. When he had turned the -corner of the street, he walked more leisurely, and drew such a breath -as one draws when he has escaped a danger. His first muttered words -were "He didn't see me;" his next, "What the devil brings him here?" -That his mind was disturbed by the sight of the Old Sailor was evident -from his manner; and it was evident also, by the wary looks he cast -about him, that he was bent already on no idle mission and needed -nothing fresh to occupy him. "A good job it was dark," he muttered, -directing his steps to the waterside; "if he had seen me, he would -have been sure to tell Marvel, and it might have given rise to -suspicion. Where is that dog of a Lascar, and what the devil does he -mean by keeping me waiting?" The words were scarcely uttered when his -face grew deadly white, and an ugly twitching came about the corners -of his lips at what he saw before him. It was merely a man and -woman--evidently lovers--who were walking slowly along, in earnest -conversation. He was about to follow them, when his arm was touched by -a new-comer, in a sailor's dress.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Here I am, master," said the new-comer.</p> - -<p class="normal">"See there, you dog!" exclaimed Solomon Fewster, pointing to the -lovers. "See there! What brings her here?"</p> - -<p class="normal">The Lascar looked after them, shading his eyes with his hand, and -shrugged his shoulders. "Joshua Marvel and Ellen Taylor!" he said, -with a careless laugh. "Doing a little sweethearting on the sly. If -you had the chance, you'd do the same yourself. See, they're turning -back this way; let us get out of sight."</p> - -<p class="normal">They stood aside, and as the lovers passed, heedful of nothing, -conscious of nothing, but their own great happiness, their faces met, -and a kiss passed between them. In his torment of jealousy, Solomon -Fewster grasped the Lascar's shoulder so tightly as to make the man -wince. The dog shook himself free from his master, and said, "Well, -he'll be away soon, and you'll have the pretty Ellen all to yourself. -Come, now; I don't want to stop here all night. Let us say what we've -got to say, and be done with it."</p> - -<p class="normal">Solomon Fewster walked away a few steps to recover his composure, and -when he had mastered his agitation, returned to the Lascar.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I shipped this morning, through an agent," said the Lascar; "here are -my papers."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is too dark for me to see them; I must take your word that you -have done what you say."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You have taken my word before, master, and you have found me -faithful. You keep your part of the bargain; I shall keep mine. It is -my interest to do so."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, your interest," said Solomon Fewster, with somewhat of a bitter -emphasis. "You have cost me enough, you dog."</p> - -<p class="normal">Notwithstanding that their positions of master and dog might have been -appropriately reversed, the old fiction was kept up between them, with -insolent arrogance on one side, and with mock humility on the other. -Neither of them deceived the other.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I might have cost you more, master," replied the Lascar; "but go on."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Let us see then, if we are agreed upon the position Of matters, and -if we understand one another. When a certain thing happened last -Christmas, which nearly cost a whelp his life, you thought it -necessary for your safety"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"We thought it necessary for our safety," corrected the Lascar.</p> - -<p class="normal">"To take yourself off somewhere, so as not to be seen, and therefore -not suspected. Out of sight out of mind. In accordance with that -understanding you went to a certain watering-place, and lived at my -expense until you got into a drunken quarrel with your drunken -mates, in which one of them received a cut across the face. The same -night--being within a week of the present time--you thought it -advisable to leave that district, and you accordingly did so, coming -down here to Gravesend, and apprising me that you were in danger of -arrest and in want of money."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You talk like a book," said the admiring Lascar, with a laugh.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I came down to see you, and to advise you"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Taking such an interest in me, master!" interrupted the Lascar, with -another and a louder laugh.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And I told you that as in England a man who is too free with his -knife is likely to be deprived of his liberty for a longer time than -he would probably consider pleasant, the best thing you could do--the -police being on the lookout for you--would be to join a ship bound for -a distant port, and so get clear of danger. Is that fairly stated?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Pretty fairly for you, master. It is for me to say, that so long as I -am out of danger your safety is secured. But that's a matter, of -course, that you don't think much of."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It happening, as it does not often happen with such dogs as you," -continued Solomon Fewster, taking no other notice of the Lascar's -taunt than was indicated by a contemptuous emphasis on the word -"dogs," "that you were for once open to reason, you agreed with me -that it would be best for you to get out of the country. As luck would -have it, Joshua Marvel's ship, the 'Merry Andrew,' was shortly to -start for New South Wales, and as part of the crew was to be engaged -at Gravesend, where you were skulking about, you set your mind very -strangely upon going in the same ship with the whelp, and according to -your own statement, have accomplished your desire to-day."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I didn't find it a very difficult thing, master. Sailors are none so -plentiful. Go on."</p> - -<p class="normal">"When I found that you were determined to go in Joshua Marvel's ship, -I bearing in mind that you have been as faithful as it is in the -nature of such a dog as you to be, told you that the night before the -ship sails, I would come down and give you a few necessaries which you -said you required."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Such as twenty-five pounds in gold," said the Lascar.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Such as twenty-five pounds in gold," repeated Solomon Fewster, taking -some packets from his pocket.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Such as a six-bladed knife."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Such as a six-bladed knife."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Such as another knife with one blade."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Such as another knife with one blade."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Such as a silver watch and a silver chain."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Such as a silver watch and a silver chain."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Bah!" exclaimed the Lascar, in a voice of intense scorn, as he -received the articles, one after another. "Look at the sky, master."</p> - -<p class="normal">It was intensely dark; the clouds were black, there was no moon, and -not a star was discernible. Solomon Fewster looked up, and said, -"Well?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"What can you see, master?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nothing."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Look at me"--he had walked away a few paces. "Can you see me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can see your form."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not my face, nor my eyes?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, you dog!" answered Solomon Fewster hotly, for the Lascar's voice -was contemptuously insolent.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Bah! you are worse than I am. Too free with my knife, am I? I wonder -whether you would be too free with your knife--in the dark? In the -light I know you wouldn't be. You wouldn't have the pluck to use it. -Look you, master: the first part of what you said was pretty well as -things happened; but the last part--Well, you and me know all about -that. And yet, although we're in the dark, and can't see each other's -face, nor each other's eyes, you haven't pluck enough to tell the -truth; you haven't pluck enough to say even to me, here in the dark, -with no one by, that when I found that the 'Merry Andrew' was -going to sea. I said to you, What a fine thing it would be for me to -go in the same ship as Joshua Marvel, and to take advantage of any -thing that might happen to do him a good turn and that then you -mentioned--quite accidentally, of course--that if any thing should -happen to him through me, you would give me fifty pounds if the 'Merry -Andrew' came home without Joshua Marvel. You haven't pluck enough to -say that then I said, 'Done!' and done it was; but that I--knowing -you, master--made a point of having something in earnest of the -bargain--such as twenty-five pounds in gold; such as a six-bladed -knife; such as another knife with one blade; such as a silver watch -and chain. Bah! If it wasn't that I was such a cursed fool when my -blood is up, that I don't know what I do, and that, because of that, -it is safer for me to leave the country than to remain in it, I would -stop and feed upon you--I would, by God!--and worry the heart out of -such a coward."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You've been drinking," said Solomon Fewster, with difficulty -suppressing his anger.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What if I have? I know what I am saying well enough. I have had too -much of your airs of superiority, and of your lies and your acting. -Why, do you think that I would ever have done your dirty work, if it -hadn't served my purpose? Do you think that if I hadn't sworn an oath, -and marked it with my blood, to be revenged upon that damned upstart, -Joshua Marvel, for what he did to me, I would go in his ship? Look -you! I will do my share of the work, never fear, master; but I would -have done it for next to nothing, if you were a man instead of a -sneak!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You dog!" cried Solomon Fewster, in an uncontrollable burst of -passion. "You have my money, my knives, and my watch upon you at this -moment. I have half a mind to give you into custody for robbing me."</p> - -<p class="normal">An exclamation of anger escaped the Lascar, and Solomon Fewster cursed -himself inwardly for his injudiciousness the moment the words had -passed his lips. A long silence followed, a silence lengthened by -Solomon Fewster's fears; for he knew that he was in the Lascar's -power, and could not consider himself safe while his dog was in the -country.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I didn't mean that," he said, with an awkward effort at conciliation; -"but you were wrong to provoke me."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Lascar did not reply, and Solomon Fewster's alarm increased every -moment. "Why don't you speak?" he asked.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I've been thinking, master," then said the Lascar with a quiet -laugh--"I've been thinking that a man isn't safe with such a sneak as -you, and I've made up my mind."</p> - -<p class="normal">"To what?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"To this; and if you don't do it, I'll go straight to Joshua Marvel -and his pretty Ellen, and open their eyes to what you are."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And ruin yourself," said Solomon Fewster, trembling in every limb -like the coward he was.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And ruin myself," said the Lascar composedly, "and you along with -me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You do not know what you are saying."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You shall see," said the Lascar, moving slowly away.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Stop! What is it you want me to do?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"If the 'Merry Andrew' returns without Joshua Marvel, and I, having -done my work, come to you for my wages, it isn't unlikely that you'll -hatch some charge against me which I sha'n't be able to face, for you -are rich and I am poor. I will prevent this. You shall come with me -now to my lodging-house, and you shall scratch upon the inside of my -watch, 'From Solomon Fewster to his Lascar friend,' and you shall give -me a paper saying as how you made me a present of the knives and the -money because I have earned them. This is what I have made up my mind -to, and what I intend to have done, as sure as there is a sky above -us. What's more, I'm not going to have any palaver about it. If you -don't follow me to my lodgings, where I am going this very minute, -I'll peach upon you, by God!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Without another word, he walked towards the town; and Salomon Fewster, -in a tumult of fear and vain passion, followed him to his lodging, and -unwillingly gave him his bond. That being done, the Lascar repeated -that he might be depended upon for fulfilling his task; and Solomon -Fewster took his leave with the consciousness that the basest of dogs -considered himself superior to the master who used him.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Early the following morning Mrs. Marvel came down to Gravesend, and -all preparations having been made by the Old Sailor, Joshua and Ellen -were married. It was the quietest and happiest of weddings. There were -but two guests--Mrs. Eliza, in a blaze of red ribbons, and Mrs. -Eliza's husband, whose futile efforts to speak in whispers were the -only evidences to Joshua and Ellen that the events of the morning were -real. Every thing but that irrepressible voice was so hushed and -subdued, that it seemed to belong more to a dream than any thing else. -But it was a happy dream, marred by no cloud, made bright by perfect -love. There was no happier person in the party than Mrs. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now you are truly my daughter," she whispered to Ellen, "and really -belong to me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can't believe that I am awake, mother," said Joshua to Mrs. Marvel, -as they two stood a little apart from the others; "yesterday I had no -thought of this. I wonder if Dan is thinking of me! When will you tell -him?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"None of them will know, dear, until Ellen comes back, and that won't -be until your ship is gone. Mr. Meddler says it will not sail for two -days, so your honeymoon will be longer than you expected."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And father! how surprised he will be!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"He will approve, my dear, when I tell him all."</p> - -<p class="normal">When she told him all! That means, thought Joshua, when she tells him -about Minnie. But he said nothing aloud in answer. Minnie was in both -his and his mother's thoughts, but neither of them mentioned her name.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Look at her, Josh," said Mrs. Marvel, turning with affectionate pride -to where Ellen stood, hanging tearfully upon the Old Sailor's arm; "no -man ever had a greater treasure."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua, gazing at the modest figure of his dear little woman, thought -of the comparison he had once drawn between Ellen and Minnie. "Minnie -is like the sea; Ellen like a peaceful lake." Every thing about -her--her dress, her trustful face, the calm light in her eyes--was -suggestive of peaceful love, a haven of refuge from the storms of -life. She turned to him, and he hurried to her side, and took her arm -on his.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Darling," he whispered, "it seems too wonderful to be real. I am -afraid that I shall wake up presently, and find that it is all a -dream."</p> - -<p class="normal">Thank God, that while this world of ours is pulsing with mean -ambitions and unworthy strivings, with heartless pleasures and vicious -desires, flowers of circumstance such as this bloom sometimes in the -lives of the poorest among us.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dinner was taken in Mrs. Eliza's private parlor which, abounded in -family relics of great price, among which were especially conspicuous -two brown-stone mandarins, who wagged their heads upon the -mantle-shelf; two large pieces of white coral under glass shades; some -stuffed parrots similarly protected from the ravages of time; and an -impossible castle made with small shells. It was April weather with -all the company, and smiles and tears alternately chased one another. -Mrs. Eliza's husband proposed the toast of "The new-married couple," -but, attempting to make a speech, could only get out the words, "And -may they ever," which he repeated four or five times, without being -able to explain himself. However, the toast was drunk not the less -cordially, Mrs. Eliza's husband and the Old Sailor giving three times -three in hearty sailor fashion. Then, it being nearly time for Mrs. -Marvel to go back to Stepney, the Old Sailor rose, glass in hand, and -said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mrs. Marvel, lady, if you was my own mother, my dear, which you -couldn't be, seeing that I am old enough to be your father, but if you -was my own mother, I couldn't honor you more. Some women are sent into -the world expressly to be mothers; you're one of 'em, and a noble one -you are, and a credit to Britannia. Here's may Josh and his lass ever -be a pride to your heart, lady, as they have ever been, and may Josh -be a skipper before he's thirty! And if a rusty old sailor like me, -lady, can ever serve you, my dear, I shall be proud to be commanded by -such a commander."</p> - -<p class="normal">With that he drained his glass, and turning it upside down, took Mrs. -Marvel's hand and kissed it, like the gallant knight he was. Amid -tears and embraces and blessings, Mrs. Marvel took her departure, -escorted by the Old Sailor; and the lovers were left to their quiet -honeymoon. The "Merry Andrew" did not sail until two days afterwards, -as the Old Sailor had said. All too swiftly flew by the hours in that -brief time; and Joshua and Ellen found it harder to part than they had -ever done before.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am pledged to you forever, darling," said Joshua, as they stood -together during the last few minutes.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And I to you, dear."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I want a curl, Ellen; not to remind me of you, but to have something -of you always near me."</p> - -<p class="normal">She cut off one of her brown curls, and he kissed her and it, and -placed it in the Bible Dan had given him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"How shall I count the days, darling! But I shall see you through all -my work. It is time for me to go. My undying faithful love for you. My -undying faithful love for Dan. And now, put your arms about my neck, -and say 'God bless you, and bring you safely back!'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"God bless you, and bring you safely back, my dear, my heart's -treasure!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Her strength failed her here, and she was sinking to the ground.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Take her, sir," said Joshua to the Old Sailor, who was standing a -little apart. "May Heaven reward you for all your kindness!" He -stooped and kissed her once more, and whispering, "I leave my heart -behind me," hurried with uneven steps to the boat in waiting for him.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXIV.</h4> - -<h5>FALSE FRIEND OR TRUE?</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">"I wish Ellen was at home," said Dan to himself, as he sat -alone in -the parlor which served as his training-room; "the house is quite -lonely without her." Joshua had been gone from Stepney for four days, -and, knowing how Dan would miss Ellen, Mrs. Marvel had insisted that -he should stop at her house during that time. "There will be no one to -attend to you, my dear," Mrs. Marvel had said to him; "Mr. Kindred is -ill, and Minnie and Susan are fully employed waiting upon him." Dan -acknowledged the superior claims of Mr. Kindred on Minnie's and -Susan's attention, and consented to stop at Mrs. Marvel's house until -Ellen returned. Now that Joshua was gone, however, he could not help -thinking it strange that Minnie had not found time to run in and see -him, if only for two or three minutes. He expressed this to Mrs. -Marvel, who replied that Mr. Kindred was suffering much, she believed, -and did not like Minnie to be away from him, loving her so dearly. -"But it will be all right, my dear, when Ellen comes back," she said, -"she will be able to assist the girls in their nursing." The -uneasiness which Dan would have otherwise experienced at not seeing -Minnie was allayed by the knowledge that she was doing her duty. Still -he was glad when the morning came upon which Ellen was to return; for -patient as he was, he was hungering to see Minnie. And now at last he -was at home in his own little parlor, waiting almost impatiently for -Ellen. He heard a sound in the passage, and he raised his hand in a -listening attitude. "Ellen? No; Susan." The door opened, and Susan -entered. Accustomed as he was to Susan's strange manner and to the -alterations in it--morose one day and remorsefully affectionate the -next--he had never seen her as as he saw her now. Her face was pinched -as with some great agony, her hands wandered restlessly about her -dress and over one another, her eyes dilated as he remembered them in -the old days when she was tormented by the fear that terrible shapes -were stealing upon her unaware. Yet, notwithstanding these distressing -symptoms of a mind disturbed to its very uttermost, there was -something still more painful in her appearance. This was the effort to -appear calm and self-possessed, evidenced in the attempts she made to -keep her hands still and her eyes from wandering around. But she could -not bring color to her white face, nor composure to her quivering -lips. No nerves are more difficult to master than those which directly -affect the mouth, and many a hard-grained strong-minded man has -betrayed himself by a twitching of his lips, which he has found it -impossible to control. Dan had not seen Susan for more than a week, -and he was appalled at the change in her. His first thought was of -Minnie.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What has happened, Susan?" he cried. "Minnie is not ill?"</p> - -<p class="normal">He betrayed himself in the tone of anguish in which he made the -inquiry. Susan twisted her fingers so tightly together that the blood -left them, but she felt no pain.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why should Minnie be ill?" she asked. "You have not seen her, then?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Thank God!" Dan thought to himself; "it is not anxiety for Minnie -that has changed her so."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And her father, Susan?" he said aloud, more softly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Her father!" exclaimed Susan, approaching Dan so that he could take -her hand; it was like ice. "Basil! He is stricken almost to death. I -don't know what to do; and I am pledged, miserable woman that I am--I -am pledged not to speak; not to divulge what I know!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Poor Susey!" said Dan soothingly, and in a tone of earnest sympathy, -thinking that Susan's last words referred to what the doctor had told -him of Basil's heart-disease. "Poor Mr. Kindred! I am grieved to the -soul to hear it."</p> - -<p class="normal">She strove to free her hand from his grasp; but he retained it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Tell me about Minnie, Susey," he implored. "Ah, if you knew how I am -yearning to see her--how I am yearning to console her!"</p> - -<p class="normal">At this appeal, so strong a trembling took possession of her, that her -words, to any but the acutest sense, would not have been -distinguishable.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You, Dan!" she said, tightening her grasp upon his hand. "You -yearning to see her! You yearning to console her! Why?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Susey, you will help me when I tell you. You will let me see her when -I tell you. I love her!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"My God!"</p> - -<p class="normal">A deathlike silence followed, and Dan was almost frightened to break -it, but he was constrained by his fears to speak.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is a hidden meaning in your words, Susan," he said in hushed -tones, "that I cannot fathom. Give me some clew, if you have any love -for me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can give you none," she answered hurriedly, "until I am released -from my pledge. Do not ask me any thing else--I don't think I am -conscious of what I am saying. I will go up to Basil--to Mr. -Kindred--and beg of him to see you. What is that?"</p> - -<p class="normal">It was merely a knock at the street-door; but in Susan's nervous -condition the sound was sufficient to cause her to start in alarm from -Dan's side.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Only a knock at the door, Susey. You have overtasked yourself, my -dear, with nursing."</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan hastened to the street-door, and Dan heard a voice ask if Mr. -Basil Kindred lived there. "Yes," answered Susan. "Here is a letter -for him; is it right?" "Quite right." And taking the letter from the -messenger, Susan went up stairs to Basil Kindred's room. She had left -the street-door open, and before another minute had passed, sunshine -entered the house--sunshine, in the person of Ellen, who, radiant with -joy, ran into the house and into the parlor, and clasping Dan round -the neck, called him by the dearest of names, and kissed him again and -again. What a bright flower she was! What a lovely flower she was! -What nameless beauty had passed into her face, that caused Dan to -thrill with pride that she was his sister, and caused him to wonder at -the same time what change it was that had come over her and added to -her loveliness? The sombre aspect of the room was gone; the chill, the -fear, the dread of Susan's meaning was gone; the terror that had no -reason in it, as far as he could see, was gone. For sunshine had -entered the house.</p> - -<p class="normal">"O my dear, dear Dan!" she cried, shedding tears in the fulness of her -joy. "O my darling, darling brother! I am so happy to be with you -again!"</p> - -<p class="normal">She kissed his face a dozen times again, and hid hers on his neck, and -kissed that too, until from Dan's heart, infected by her happiness, -every particle of fear planted there by Susan's manner had fled. -Truly, she was sunshine--the best, the dearest, the warmest.</p> - -<p class="normal">"My dear, dear Ellen!" said Dan, returning her affectionate embrace, -"how happy I am that you are back! I have been thinking how lonely the -house is without you. But"--holding her face between his hands and -looking at it, bright and blushing and beautiful--"you have grown -positively lovely. What have you been doing with yourself these last -four days?"</p> - -<p class="normal">What had she been doing with herself? She laughed softly at the -question, then ran and shut the door, and came back and sat on the -floor at his feet, tucking up her dress to save it from the dust. -She was in such a flutter even then--taking Dan's hand and fondling -it--that he waited to speak until she was more composed. Presently she -grew quieter, and resting her head on his knees, said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, Dan, I am quiet. Ask me questions."</p> - -<p class="normal">"To commence, then, when did you come back?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"This very minute."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who brought you back?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mr. Meddler."</p> - -<p class="normal">"The dear old friend! Why didn't he come in to see me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"For reasons. He said that we had best be left alone, so that we might -chat. He is coming to see you to-night."</p> - -<p class="normal">"When did Joshua's ship go away?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"The day before yesterday."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why, you little puss, you've been playing truant!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mr. Meddler persuaded me; and yesterday Mr. Meddler and Mrs. Eliza -and me went for a ride in the country."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What a grand young lady you've got to be! And Jo! What about Jo?"</p> - -<p class="normal">She nestled to him more caressingly; and he, passing his hand over her -face, drew it away, with tears upon it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Crying, Nell?</p> - -<p class="normal">"For happiness, Dan--for very happiness, my dear! What about Jo, you -ask. I will speak his exact words--almost his last, dear--'My undying -faithful love for Dan.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dear Jo! my dear, dearest brother!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"That was not all he said, Dan; we were speaking of you all the -day--you were never out of our thoughts, never out of his, I am sure. -He is the dearest friend, the truest friend, the most faithful, the -most constant, that happy man or woman ever had!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is all that you say, dear Ellen, and I thank Heaven for giving him -to us."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Any more questions, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No; I can't think of any."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Then I must tell you something without being asked," said Ellen: "I -am the happiest woman in the world."</p> - -<p class="normal">She arose, and standing at the back of his chair, clasped him round -the neck, folding her hands one in the other, so that he should not -see her wedding-ring. Then she inclined her lips to his ear, and was -about to whisper the precious secret which made her the happiest woman -in the world, when an agonized scream rang through the house. With -affrighted looks they turned to each other for an explanation.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is Susan," said Dan, all his fears returning. "I have not had time -to tell you, Ellen, but her manner just now frightened me. For -Heaven's sake assist me up stairs!"</p> - -<p class="normal">With his crutch under one arm, and his other round Ellen's neck, he -went to Basil Kindred's room, and, pushing open the door, entered. -Basil Kindred was sitting motionless in his chair, before a table on -which were writing-materials; his head was thrown back as if he were -asleep; one hand was on his heart, and the other, from which a letter -had fallen was hanging listlessly down. And kneeling by his side was -Susan, with a look of horror on her white face. But Minnie where was -Minnie? No one had gone out of the house; if she had come down stairs, -Dan must have heard her. He sank into a chair and gazed about him -vacantly. It was not that the power of thought had left him, but that -he was afraid to think. Susan, rocking herself to and fro, her face -turned away, had taken no notice of their entrance.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ask her where Minnie is," said Dan to Ellen. He had tried to utter -the words two or three times, but his throat was parched; and now his -voice sounded so strange to him, that he wondered if he or some one -else had spoken.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Susan!" said Ellen, placing her hand on Susan's shoulder. "Susan, -where is Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">But Susan did not heed her; and Ellen raising her eyes from Susan's -face to that of Basil Kindred, retreated appalled to Dan's side. It -looked like the face of one to whom death had come suddenly; perfectly -peaceful, but terrible to see. Still she found strength to whisper to -Dan, "Be strong, my dear, be strong. Shall I run and fetch mother?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mother!" echoed Dan, with the same doubt upon him as to whether he or -some one else were speaking. "Mother! Oh! Mrs. Marvel you, mean Jo's -mother."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, dear, Jo's mother and ours. Shall I run and fetch her?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, not yet. What is that paper by his side? Pick it up; give it to -me."</p> - -<p class="normal">Averting her eyes from Basil's face, Ellen picked up the letter and -gave it to Dan. "It is Minnie's writing," she whispered.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hark!" said Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">It was the cockatoo that Joshua had brought home that startled him. It -was screeching down stairs, "Dan, Ellen, Minnie! Bread-and-cheese and -kisses! and kisses, and kisses!" ending with the usual running fire of -kisses, until it lost its breath. When the bird was quiet, Dan looked -at the letter in his hand.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie's writing," he said, trying to read it; but the words swam in -his fading sight. "Read it, Ellen; I cannot make it out."</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen took the letter from his trembling hand, and read:--</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Father</span>,--I have not gone from you because I do not love you, but -because it was my fate to do what I have done. I could not resist it. -I have nothing to say in justification of my conduct, except the words -I heard you use to Joshua when you were telling him of my mother. I -came into the room while you were speaking; it was dark, and neither -you nor Joshua saw me. What you said of my mother then sank into my -mind, and I can never forget it. Do you remember 'She loved me and -sacrificed herself for me. Loving me, she conceived it to be her duty -to follow me; she forsook friends and family for me, and I bless her -for it. Her devotion, unworldly as it was, was sanctified by love. -There is no earthly sacrifice that love will not sanctify.' As my -mother did, so I have done. It will be useless searching for me; for -when you read this, I shall be hundreds of miles away on the sea. If -you guess my secret, keep it for the sake of my good name; and for the -sake of my good name do not let any other eyes but yours see this -letter. If it were possible for me to have a wish fulfilled, I would -pray that I might die before this reaches you. On my knees I ask you -to forgive your unhappy</p> - -<p style="text-indent:50%">"<span class="sc">Minnie</span>."</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">No one but Ellen noticed the entrance of Solomon Fewster while the -letter was being read; and she, with a warning finger to her lips, -restrained him by that gesture from coming forward. So he stood silent -and attentive within the doorway. As the words came slowly and -painfully from Ellen's lips, each of them cut into Dan's heart like a -knife. Ellen had seen his sufferings, and would have ceased reading, -but that he motioned her to proceed.</p> - -<p class="normal">"So, then," said Dan, after a long and painful pause, "Minnie is gone. -What have I to live for now? I would have been content if she had only -been near me; if I could have heard her voice or the rustle of her -dress to assure me of her beloved presence. Without that, my life is -dark indeed. But where has she gone?"</p> - -<p class="normal">He asked the question of himself; but Susan starting to her feet, -answered him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where has she gone? Where else but to sea in the 'Merry Andrew,' with -your false friend Joshua Marvel? And the knowledge of it has killed -her father!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is false!" cried Dan in a clear ringing voice. "It is false, you -bad sister!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is true, Daniel Taylor," said Solomon Fewster in his smooth oily -voice. "I have here a letter from a sailor on board the 'Merry Andrew,' -informing me that Minnie and Joshua are on the same ship."</p> - -<p class="normal">At this corroborative testimony, Susan fell upon her knees, and raised -her arms.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Curse that false friend!" she cried.</p> - -<p class="normal">But Ellen fell at her side, exclaiming, "O Susan, Susan, restrain your -tongue! For all our sakes--for my sake! He is my husband!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Whereat Solomon Fewster, upon whose face there had hitherto been an -ill-concealed expression of triumph, crushed the letter he held in his -hand, and muttered a bitter curse.</p> - -<p class="normal">And Dan, folding Ellen in his arms, said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hush, my sister, hush! Blessings on your wedding-ring! Blessings on -your husband and my true friend! We shall live to see him give the lie -to slanderous tongues. I have something to live for now--to defend the -honor of my brother!"</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXV.</h4> - -<h5>THE DEAD WITNESS.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">When Ellen felt the comforting protection of Dan's arms, and -heard the -words to which he gave utterance in the nobility of his soul, the -despair by which she had been overwhelmed vanished like snow before -the sun, and left her an unhappy, but not a hopeless woman.</p> - -<p class="normal">"This, then, was your secret," said Dan to her, as she lay in his -arms; "your marriage with Jo. It is the proof of his faithfulness, my -dear. For me, I needed none. No heart but mine can judge my friend; no -tongue shall malign him unanswered while I am by."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good, noble brother," she sobbed, "to comfort me thus in the midst of -your own great grief! I do not doubt him; I love him--love him--love -him! My faithful darling!"</p> - -<p class="normal">The reproachful looks she cast at Solomon Fewster, no less than the -passionate tenderness of her words, stung him to the soul. In truth he -had received a severe blow. When the Lascar's letter was delivered to -him, and he read the amazing news that Minnie was on board the "Merry -Andrew," he exulted in the triumph that awaited him. "Ellen is mine," -he thought. "That fool of a whelp has played straight into my hand!" -As such mean souls as Fewster's delight in detecting the meanness of -others, he was rejoiced at the thought that Joshua had been playing -false with Minnie, although, before reading the Lascar's scrawl, he -had no suspicion of it. He walked to Dan's house exultant, and deemed -himself fortunate in being in time to witness the tragic scene in -Basil Kindred's chamber. But when he heard Ellen's declaration that -Joshua was her husband, a groan of despair escaped him, and he became -almost desperate in the sudden and unexpected dashing down of all his -hopes. This feeling lasted but a very little while. His scheming mind -was busy at work calculating the chances for and against him, and rays -of light soon illumined the darkness. "If the Lascar keeps his word, -and Joshua does not return," he thought, "all may yet be well." Even -when Ellen flung at him the words, "I love him--love him--love him!" -he said to himself, "Believing that he will come back to vindicate -himself. We shall see."</p> - -<p class="normal">Notwithstanding this conflict of thought, his professional instinct -led him to the side of the inanimate form of Basil Kindred. He placed -his ear and hand to the dead man's heart; and then, with heartless -solemnity he lifted the gaunt form in his arms, and laid it on the -bed. Susan's eyes asked him, "Dead?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dead," he answered aloud. "It looks like a sudden stroke."</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan covered his face; and Ellen shudderingly turned her eyes from -Solomon Fewster.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is not my fault," he said, as if Ellen's looks conveyed an -accusation. "Neither this, nor the letter I have received. It would -not have been the act of a friend to keep such a thing to himself: -What would you have thought of me, if you had discovered that I had -received such a letter, and had concealed it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No one accuses you, sir," said Dan sadly. "Indeed how could you be to -blame? These things have come of themselves, and from no fault of -ours. But," and his eyes kindled, and he laid his hand soothingly on -Ellen's head, "we will have no word spoken against Jo. He is dearer to -us absent than present; he is dearer to us now, when Susan's voice -accuses him, and when you come to add your testimony to hers than he -has ever been before."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have not come to add my testimony to hers," said Solomon Fewster, -with a well-assumed warmth of manner. "It is no testimony of mine; it -is no accusation of mine. This letter surprised and grieved me almost -as much as it has you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"May I see the letter, sir?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Certainly." He had almost said "with pleasure," but checked himself -in time.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan took the letter, which was written an an uneven and dirty piece of -paper, and read aloud:--</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">"<span class="sc">Master</span>,--Joshua Marvel has run away with a young woman that lives in -Daniel Taylor's house--him as trains the birds. They are both of 'em -on board the 'Merry Andrew.' I send this by the pilot, and told him -that you would pay him for putting it into your hands. My faithful -service to you. When I come back, I hope to get what you promised me.</p> - -<p class="normal" style="font-size:80%">"Aboard the 'Merry Andrew.'"</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">"There is no name to it," said Dan. "Who sent it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"A sailor on the ship," replied Solomon Fewster; "a man who has done -odd jobs for me, and whom I have assisted."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But how does he know me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Through the birds, and through my telling him of you, I suppose. He -has been in the street often, and knows who live in the house. He is a -faithful honest fellow, and I dare say thought it his duty to tell me -about Miss Kindred, so that I might acquaint her friends."</p> - -<p class="normal">"'When I come back, I hope to get what you promised me,'" said Dan, -reading from the letter.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I promised him money if he brought home some foreign birds," answered -Solomon Fewster readily, "such as parrots and cockatoos, and other -likely birds, for you to train for me."</p> - -<p class="normal">Meanwhile Susan had covered the dead man's face, and sat moaning on -the floor. To her Dan addressed himself, calling her by name; but it -was not until he had repeated it two or three times that her attention -was aroused. She took her hands from before her eyes, and looked at -him vacantly. There was no sign of intelligence in her face as she -spoke; it seemed as if the light of reason had fled, and as if the -words she uttered belonged to a lesson she had learned and was forced -to repeat.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I promised him faithfully and sacredly--yes; they are the very words; -he made me say them after him, 'Faithfully and sacredly,'--that I -would never tell unless his tongue was sealed, and the time came when -it was necessary to speak. Is the time come?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is, Susan," said Dan, a new fear at his heart; "it is come."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is the time come?" she repeated, turning to the motionless form on -the bed, and waiting for the answer in the awful silence that -followed. "I was the only one he trusted. Not a soul but me was to -come into the room; and they didn't--no I kept my promise faithfully -and sacredly. He said to me, 'If I die, and Joshua Marvel has betrayed -my daughter, give this book to Dan, and tell him it contains the words -of a dying man.'" She rose to her feet, and taking a book which was -lying on the desk, gave it to Dan. "Now you can tell him, when he asks -you, that I obeyed him to the last, faithfully and sacredly."</p> - -<p class="normal">A listening expression flashed into her face, and she inclined her -body to the door. With feverish haste she ran down stairs and into the -street; but returned presently, muttering, "She is not come; there's -no sign of her;" and resumed her station by the side of the bed.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">It is night, and Dan is sitting alone in his bedroom. An unopened book -is before him: it is the book that Susan gave him by Basil Kindred's -desire. He has not read a line in it. Between him and Ellen it has -been tacitly agreed that whatever is written in it shall be read, by -them, and by them alone, at night. Another book is also before him: it -is a Bible, and it is open.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan is waiting for Ellen. The grief that reigns in the house, and in -that of Mrs. Marvel, cannot be written here. It is too deep, too -overwhelming for expression. Mrs. Marvel is in the house now. All that -she knows is that Basil Kindred is dead, and that Minnie is gone: she -has no knowledge of the terrible suspicion that hangs like a deadly -cloud over the good name of her beloved son. But the news of the death -and the flight: they could not be concealed, although no one is aware -how they became known: has gone forth into the neighborhood; and -little knots of the neighbors have hung about the house all the -evening and night, discussing the strange events. Even now, -notwithstanding that it is near midnight, a dozen street-doors are -open, each with its assemblage of gossippers, chiefly feminine, -prattling, not at all sorrowfully, about the wonderful news. There is -much head-shaking and raising of hands; but whatever may be the -meaning of this play of heads and hands, it certainly does not express -grief. The neighborhood is rather bare of historical events; and those -that have just occurred are godsends. Given to the neighbors round -about the merit of all the kindliness of heart they deserve, they -really enjoy their gossip, and show their enjoyment of it. A stranger -walking through the street might have reasonably supposed that the -dwellers therein had been making general holiday.</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan's face is very pale as he sits, with no sign of impatience upon -him, expectant of Ellen's coming. The door opens and Mrs. Marvel -enters. She draws down the blind--the moonlight has been streaming in -upon his face, giving it a more painful pallor than that which rests -on it when the moon is shut out--and sits down by his side in silence -for a while. She draws his head upon her breast, and kisses him; his -arm steals round her neck, and he sheds tears, and kisses her in -return; but few words pass between them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Susan?" he asks.</p> - -<p class="normal">"She is in bed, my dear," she answers.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Has she said any thing?" he asks anxiously.</p> - -<p class="normal">"She has not spoken, my dear."</p> - -<p class="normal">He gives a soft sigh of relief. She knows that he is waiting for -Ellen, and she will not linger. She kisses him again in her motherly -way, and bids him goodnight; and soon after Ellen enters the room.</p> - -<p class="normal">A great change has taken place in Ellen. All the girlishness has gone -out of her face, and in its stead is an expression of quiet -trustfulness in which there is much sadness, but no doubt. It is as -though she is prepared to defend and believe in her husband's honor, -though all the world condemn him. She closes the door gently, and -draws a chair next to Dan. Then those two faithful souls, to each of -whom the bitterest of trials has come, look into each other's eyes, -and are comforted by what they see. They exchange no words of -sympathy; none are needed from one to the other. They make no effort -to conceal their sorrow; it must be borne, and they must suffer. But -for Joshua's sake, and for Minnie's, they must be brave and hopeful.</p> - -<p class="normal">Does Ellen acknowledge this, and in her heart of hearts is she -disposed to be generous to the unhappy girl who has brought this great -misery upon them? Yes--she feels nothing but pity for Minnie. The -influences which actuate mental feeling are so delicate and various, -that it is difficult even to the most profound of pathognomists to -dissect the commonest of motives, and rightly account for it. We all -pride ourselves, in a greater or less degree, upon our knowledge of -character, and believe that we know full well what prompted So-and-so -to do such-and-such a thing. But in truth, in nothing do we show more -ignorance than in arrogating to ourselves the power of divining -character and motive. Strive as we may be just and calm and -reasonable--strive as we may to banish for the time the small feelings -of uncharitableness which we are conscious of harboring, and which -necessarily warp our judgment--we must from very necessity argue in a -certain measure from our own point of view. Otherwise we should be -infallible, and juries would never return a wrong verdict, and judges -would never commit an error of judgment. Otherwise rogues would have -their due; and some of them would not, as they do now, live in fine -houses, and eat and drink of the best. It is impossible to put -yourself in another man's place.</p> - -<p class="normal">Most women in Ellen's situation would have thought of Minnie with -inexorable animosity. Not so Ellen. The knowledge that Dan loves -Minnie would alone have been sufficient to disarm harsh or bitter -feeling. But that influence is not necessary. She has the firmest -faith in Joshua's honesty and virtue, and firmly believes that when he -returns home, please God, all will be explained. In the mean time, her -duty is clear. Joshua's good name is at stake. In face of all adverse -circumstance and sentiment, she must uphold it, and defend it if -necessary.</p> - -<p class="normal">Thus it is that as she and Dan sit looking sadly at each other, Dan is -comforted by what he sees, and she is no less so. Their mutual faith -in the purity of the absent dear ones is inexpressibly consoling to -them. Unconsciously each gives to the other strength to bear the -bitterness of the shock. But when their eyes turn to the book which -they are to read to-night, they hesitate and tremble, What may not -those dumb pages reveal! The place, the time, and all its surrounding -circumstances are solemn and mournful. The presence of Death; the -silence that strikes greater terror than brazen tongue of accusation; -the gloom of the mean apartment, in the corners of which lurk fears -made awful by the black shadow which inwraps them--these things and -their influence impress with a deeper sadness those two young hearts. -What wonder that they hesitate and tremble as they look upon the book -in which the words of their dead friend are recorded? Joshua is on the -sea, and each moment adds to the distance that separates him from his -friends; Minnie is gone also; Basil, alas, is dead; and all that -remains to light the mystery is the dumb witness that lies before -them. But hesitation soon yields to indomitable faith.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ellen," says Dan, laying his hand upon the book, "perhaps the worst -of this day's trials is here. Are you prepared for it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Dan," answers Ellen with a steady light in her eyes.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Susan's words were very dreadful," continues Dan; "but she does not -know Jo as we know him. Come, we will read what is here written. And -if it accuses your dear husband and my dear friend, our hearts will -defend him. His memory will be dearer to us because he is unjustly -accused; and we will wait hopefully and patiently for his return, -please God, and never, never waver."</p> - -<p class="normal">And drawing Ellen closer to him, Dan opened the book, and in a subdued -voice read what follows.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXVI.</h4> - -<h5>BASIL KINDRED'S DIARY.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">I make this record for various reasons, the strongest of which -is the -conviction that I have not long to live. Although my mind is in a -state of sad confusion, what I write shall be no phantasy of the -brain. I pledge myself to this. And I pledge myself also to throw down -my pen when the suspicion comes upon me that, because of my fears and -my agony, I am writing what is not strictly the fact. If I do not thus -pledge myself, and death comes upon me unaware, this mute witness -might be the cause of bringing undeserved unhappiness to persons whose -conduct towards me has been wonderfully good and noble.</p> - -<p class="normal">Let me read what I have written. Yes, it is clear, and it gives me the -assurance that, to-day at least, I shall be able to express myself -clearly. I pause over every word. I am careful of the construction of -every sentence. For I must be just. I could not rest in my grave if my -fear spoke instead of my reason.</p> - -<p class="normal">What is it that immediately prompts me to commence this record? A -letter--signed by no name, delivered by I know not whom. The writing -is strange to me; I have never before seen its like. It lies before me -now, upon my desk.</p> - -<p class="normal">It is night. I am alone, and Minnie is at Mrs. Marvel's house. Let me -carry back my thoughts to the time when I first made the acquaintance -of the good people with whom I have lived for years--for many happy -years--during which Minnie has grown from a child to a woman.</p> - -<p class="normal">I had left her at home, poor child! hungry and unhappy. She had asked -me in the morning for food, and I had none to give her, nor any money -to buy it for her. The previous night we had eaten our last piece of -bread. I went out of our little room, telling her I was going to get -food for her. I toiled in the streets all the day, and was not -fortunate enough to receive a penny. My sufferings were great, almost -too great for human endurance, but I was compelled to bear them for -the sake of Minnie. Nothing but the consciousness that, if I went home -without food, my child might die from want, supported me. Late in the -afternoon I was in the streets declaiming, when some boys among the -crowd which surrounded me threw stones at me. One of the stones -wounded me in the forehead, and I think I must have fainted. Two -persons came to my assistance--a woman and a boy. The woman was Susan -Taylor, the boy was Joshua Marvel. They assisted me home, and the next -thing I remember was Susan bathing my wound and making tea for me. The -boy Joshua had brought in some food for us. My gratitude was great, -for his charity had saved my child. I blessed him that night before he -left us.</p> - -<p class="normal">From that time he was a constant visitor to our wretched lodging, and -from that time I never knew want. I grew to love him. He was to be a -sailor, and it was a pleasure to me to listen to the enthusiastic -outpourings of his mind. He had a friend, Dan, whom I had not then -seen; and the loving manner in which he spoke of that friend, seemed -to me to be an assurance of the goodness of his own heart. He was the -principal subject of conversation between me and my daughter, and she, -dear child! grew to love him too. Before he went to sea, the woman -Susan Taylor--the sister of Joshua's friend Dan--came to live in the -house in which I lodged, and was very kind to us. Joshua went to sea, -and I felt a void in my heart as if I had lost a son. Minnie grieved -as much as I did--perhaps more--for she had never had a companion, and -Joshua's visits were looked upon as a kind of holiday. We consoled -ourselves for our loss by speaking of him often and by looking forward -to his return home. Minnie derived much pleasure from a childish -conceit in which she indulged. She had a shell, and she used to place -it to her ear and listen to the soft singing, to remind her of the sea -and of Joshua, she said. I thought it was a pretty fancy; but had I -feared then what I fear now, I would have crushed the shell to powder -beneath my heel.</p> - -<p class="normal">Some time after Joshua left, circumstances occurred which caused me to -remove to the house of Joshua's friend Dan. I was loath to do so when -it was first proposed by Susan; but the argument used by Susan, who -was devoted to us, that Minnie would have a companion of a suitable -age in her sister Ellen, prevailed upon me. That was the sole cause of -my removal to the house in which I am now living. I had reason to be -grateful for the change. Minnie, who used to have many unhappy moods, -was happy and cheerful in the society of her new friends. And I was no -less so. I found that Joshua's parents were good simple people whom to -know was to love. A girl could have had no better companion than -Ellen, who is one of the pearls of womanhood. But before them all, I -learned to love Dan. I had never met with so pure a mind, with so -constant a nature. A cripple almost from his birth, it seemed as if -the good God had endued him with the purest thought and the sweetest -disposition to compensate for the misfortune he had met with. He might -truly say, with our great poet, "Sweet are the uses of adversity."</p> - -<p class="normal">Some happy years passed, during the whole of which Joshua was at sea. -At rare intervals letters from him were received, and the perusal of -these letters gave us all--for we were like one family--the greatest -pleasure. At length he returned. It is not long since--but a few short -weeks--that he arrived home. He was expected, but not so soon. His -coming was eagerly looked for--he was the hero of the two houses. The -night of his return was memorable. It was Christmas-eve, and we were -all assembled in Mrs. Marvel's kitchen, celebrating the blessed time -with joyful, grateful hearts. Minnie persuaded me to read a play. I -chose the "Tempest," that loveliest creation of the poet's mind. She -is not present, but I can see her as she unloosed her hair and stood -before me, bright and bewitching as Ariel could have been. "Do you -love me, master?" she asked. I answered in the words of Prospero, -"Dearly, my delicate Ariel." . . . I resume my pen, which I had laid -aside, thinking that I was being betrayed by my feelings, and that I -was indulging in an exaggeration of sentiment. But no. I have read -over what I have written, and I am satisfied.</p> - -<p class="normal">I was in the midst of the lovely story when a knock came at the -street-door. Minnie went out of the room to open the door. A silence -followed. Presently a scream struck fear to all our hearts. We ran up -stairs, and found that Joshua, having returned sooner than he was -expected, had been stabbed by a coward's hand when his foot was on the -threshold of his home. The house of joy was turned into a house of -mourning. I have no need to set down here the events of the next few -weeks, that bring me to the present day. Sufficient to say that Joshua -lingered for some time between life and death, and to the joy of all -of us, was declared out of danger three weeks ago. I have been -confined to my chamber with my old complaint nearly the whole of that -time. Susan has attended to me chiefly; for seeing Minnie's anxiety to -assist Mrs. Marvel in her trouble, I have allowed her to be much away -from me. Although Minnie has not spoken of it, I have learned that -she, according to the doctor's statement, saved Joshua's life by -pressing her lips to the wound in his neck and stopping in some -measure the effusion of blood, which might have been fatal to him. It -gave me pleasure to hear this; for no service, purposed or accidental, -could pay for the kindness we have received from the good people with -whom we have lived so happily.</p> - -<p class="normal">So! I have temperately set down all that has occurred up to the -present, or rather up to four days ago, when I received the letter -which lies before me now. I will not attempt to describe the effect it -had upon me. It seemed to change the current of my blood. If there be -truth in it, is there, can there be, truth in man? Before pinning it -in the book, I copy it word for word:--</p> - -<p class="normal">"A well-wisher warns Mr. Basil Kindred that Joshua Marvel is playing -false with his daughter. The writer has no purpose to serve in writing -this, and does not wish to be known. The information he gives is given -in kindness. Minnie Kindred loves Joshua Marvel, who takes every -secret opportunity that presents itself to prosecute his bad designs -upon a simple girl. It is right that Mr. Basil Kindred should be made -acquainted with the real character of the hypocrite, who is fair to a -man's face and false behind his back."</p> - -<p class="normal">With some girls and with some people, the best way to do with such a -letter would be to show it to those concerned. But I dare not do this. -It would bring unhappiness and mistrust among these confiding good -people.</p> - -<p class="normal">And I fear for Minnie. I fear that the writer, whoever he may be, is -right when he says that my darling child loves Joshua. And I, knowing -her nature, feel that if unhappily she has contracted a love for -Joshua, the discovery of it in this manner would bring misery upon her -for life. No; she must not see the letter--must not have a suspicion -of it.</p> - -<p class="normal">All Joshua's previous life contradicts the accusation. It was the -simplicity and kindliness of his nature that attracted me to him. If -he is fair to a man's face and false behind his back, he is false to -his friend Dan; and I, knowing Dan's heart, know that there could be -no blacker treachery than that; for I have at times suspected that Dan -loves my Minnie. Yes; I may tell that secret to this mute friend, -although I have never otherwise whispered it. On one particular night -when we were all assembled together, reading a letter from Joshua, and -when Mr. Praiseworthy Meddler was tracing the course of Joshua's ship -upon the map, I detected in Dan's manner something more than a feeling -of friendship for Minnie. Since then, other small evidences have -forced themselves upon me, and I have not been unprepared for the -disclosure of Dan's love. Would it be a good thing for Minnie? Yes; if -she returned his love. Although he is a cripple, she could have no -better mate: he is all that is noble and good, and he would make her -happy, if she could learn to love him.</p> - -<p class="normal">If she could learn to love him! These words have caused me to think if -Minnie could ever <i>learn</i> to love--have caused me to ask myself if -love is not intuitive to her, as it was to her mother. My anxiety is -deepened by the thought. I am afraid to think further.</p> - -<p class="normal">Every thing depends upon Joshua. If she loves him, and he encourages -her, he is false to his friend, false to honor. My duty is plain. I -must watch first, and discover if or there be any foundation for the -accusation, if it emanates from spite and vindictiveness.</p> - -<p class="normal">I close the book and lock it in my desk, for fear other eyes than mine -should see what I have written.</p> - -<p class="normal">Notwithstanding the bodily pain I have suffered, I have so far -controlled it as to visit Mrs. Marvel's house during the last three -days, and to sit with the young people as if nothing ailed me. I am -beset with doubt. I know not what to think. I have watched every look, -every movement; and I am afraid that my anxiety has caused me to be -uncivil and abrupt. I do not think that any one but Mrs. Marvel has -noticed my anxiety or any change in me; but I have observed her -sometimes look at me questioningly, as if wondering at my changed -manner.</p> - -<p class="normal">That Minnie has an affection for Joshua is certain: she strives to -prevent it being observed, and I think no one suspects her. If there -is any secret understanding between her and Joshua, I have not -discovered it. He treats her kindly and affectionately, but he is -chiefly attentive to Ellen. But still the letter says that he avails -himself of "every secret opportunity" to see her. If that be true, it -is not likely that he would betray himself in the presence of his -friends. I must act upon the results of my observation. I must -endeavor to keep Minnie from visiting Mrs. Marvel's house so -frequently; it may prevent her feelings from ripening into love. In a -few weeks Joshua will be away, and then all danger will be over for a -time. I am, indeed, loath to believe any wrong of him; he seems to -have preserved the simplicity of character and the goodness of heart -for which I used to admire him.</p> - -<p class="normal">I am glad I commenced this record; for my thoughts are often very -confused, and my memory is impaired.</p> - -<p class="normal">Although my uneasiness increases with respect to Minnie, I have heard -good news: Joshua is engaged to be married to Ellen. Do I need any -other proof of Joshua's honesty? It would be monstrous if I did; and -yet I cannot regard him with the old feelings of affection, for Minnie -is unhappy, and he is the cause. One day I accuse myself of injustice -towards him; another day I almost hate him, and curse the circumstance -that made me and Minnie acquainted with him. Would to God that he were -gone! Every hour that he stops is an additional agony to me.</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie has been sullen and rebellious because I have sometimes -prevented her from going to Mrs. Marvel's house. She has not always -obeyed me. I must speak more firmly to her; "I must be cruel only to -be kind."</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">A day of agony. I have not been able to leave my room. Minnie was with -me all the morning: but before she came to me, I had received another -communication, in the same handwriting as the last. It contained but a -few words,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"The friend who warned Mr. Basil Kindred before, warns him again. -Joshua Marvel is a smooth-tongued villain. In his character of a hero -he is playing false with two simple girls at on time."</p> - -<p class="normal">Who can this friend be? I have no friends out of these two houses. But -whoever he is, he is right, I fear, as to Minnie, and may be right as -to Joshua--the mere writing of the name gives me pain. The receipt of -the few words I have just copied opened my wounds, and they bled -afresh. I detained Minnie with me all the morning; and when she wanted -to quit the room, I invented pretexts to induce her to remain. She was -not at her ease; I saw that plainly. Once or twice I am afraid that I -spoke harshly to her; but she was painfully submissive--almost humble. -At length she rose, with the intention of leaving the room. I asked -her where she was going. She answered, to see Mrs. Marvel. I grasped -her hand, and bade her resume her seat. She asked me why I did not -wish her to go to Mrs. Marvel's house; and when I said it was because -I thought she troubled the Marvels too much, all the hardness and -obstinacy in her nature came into play, and she answered in a voice -that might have come from lips of stone, that that was not my reason, -and that I was hiding something from her. For the first time I -betrayed myself. I asked her if she was not hiding a secret from me; -and she returned me an evasive reply. She left the room, and I was -about to follow her, when I was seized with a terrible dizziness. My -strength deserted me, and I was afraid I was about to die. The attack -passed away, and left me as weak as a child.</p> - -<p class="normal">I pause in my recital of the day's events to make two declarations. -The first is, that I am certain, from my sensations this day, that a -sudden shock would be fatal to me; I am afraid that my heart is -diseased. The second is, that if I die suddenly, and Joshua has -betrayed my child, he is my murderer in the sight of God and man--as -much my murderer as if he were to come into the room this moment and -plunge a dagger in my heart!</p> - -<p class="normal">How awful are these words! As I look at them, they seem to rise in -judgment against me. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy -neighbor." Am I bearing false witness against Joshua? Am I to be the -cause of bringing unhappiness to friends but for whom Minnie and I -might have perished from hunger? Still do I cling to the hope that -lives in uncertainty. Still do I strive to believe that my fears have -grown without reason, and that they are like the monstrous shadows -that mock us on the walls and ceiling of a room whose only light is a -flickering fire. Above every other consideration, I must be just. If -no eye but mine reads these lines, I shall have done no harm in -writing them. If it should happily result that Minnie's love is not -deeply rooted--if it should happily result that Joshua has not been -tampering with her affections, and that he goes away spotless, as I -would fain believe him to be--let me determine to destroy this record. -It must be done. Determining to do this--willing it with the whole -strength of my mind--I shall be able to do it even before I am -stricken down, if it be fated that I am to die suddenly. Should it be -otherwise--should he prove to be false--this record shall remain as an -evidence of his treacherous heart.</p> - -<p class="normal">When Minnie left me, and I discovered that I was too feeble to follow -her, I thought, Oh, if I had some one I could trust--some one to help -me! And as I thought, Susan entered the room. In her I confided; to -her I told my fears; and after pledging her sacredly to secrecy, I -showed her the letter I have received. She has promised to watch -Joshua, and she will be faithful. Now I shall know whether I have -cause for fear; now I shall know whether Joshua Marvel is false or -true.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">I do not think I shall ever be able to leave my room. It is more than -a week since I wrote in this book: True, I have had nothing to say -until now. Minnie has been tender and affectionate to me; she has been -absent at various times during the day; but when she is with me she is -all that a child should be. I have left her free to come and go, -knowing that Susan was watching that she should come to no harm. I -sometimes think that she is fighting with her soul; for a new-born -sadness has settled upon her face. Yesterday I saw her sitting by the -window, with her hands clasped in her lap, and a deep-seated sorrow in -her eyes. I have seen her mother sit so in the old days long, long -ago--in the old days that seem to belong to another life. I had been -asleep; and when I awoke, I saw Minnie wrestling with her sorrow. I -called to her twice before she heard me; and when she came to my side, -she had the air of one who has been suddenly aroused from a dream. -Darling child, I pray to God to give you strength to bear affliction, -if it comes to you! If any sacrifice that I could make would lessen -your pain, how gladly would I make it!</p> - -<p class="normal">Last night Susan slept with her, and in her sleep heard her murmur -Joshua's name. It proves that he is in her thoughts; but it proves -nothing more. I hear a step upon the stairs. Goodnight, dumb witness -of my grief!</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">How shall I commence? All my pulses are throbbing with rage and -apprehension. Proof has come. Joshua Marvel is a damned false-hearted -villain!</p> - -<p class="normal">I write with pain and difficulty. My heart is beating so violently, -that I am obliged to stop to calm myself, for fear of consequences. -Calm myself! Can I do it? I must. I will lay down my pen, and wait -until I have subdued the tumult of passion which rages within me.</p> - -<p class="normal">So! I am calmer. It is well that I stopped, or what the doctor warned -me of might have occurred. And I want to live--Oh, how I want to live!</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan is sitting in the room with me; for I am afraid a being alone, -to-night of all nights. I am glad that I have kept this record; I am -glad that, if I die suddenly, the guilt of an infamous recreant will -be brought to light by means of this evidence.</p> - -<p class="normal">About noon to-day--I am writing this at night--Minnie brought a doctor -to my bedside. I had steadily refused to see one before; for I knew -what I was suffering from, and I knew that the doctor's art was -powerless to cure me. But I was not displeased that Minnie brought -him; it was her anxiety and love--for she does love me--that caused -her to disobey my wishes. I sent Minnie out of the room, so that I -might speak to the doctor in private. He told me nothing new; as well -as suffering from rheumatism and low fever, I have heart-disease. He -told me what I already knew--that I might die suddenly, without any -other forewarnings than those I have already received. He went away -after uttering the usual platitudes. Late in the afternoon I fell -asleep; and when it was dark, I heard a step in the room; asking who -was there, Joshua's voice answered me. I spoke to him bitterly out of -the bitterness of my heart, and he answered me quietly and feelingly. -He said he had noticed with sorrow that I was changed; that he was not -conscious of having done any wrong. He begged that I would be to him -as I was before he first went to sea, and when I had blessed him. I -could not see his face; but his voice was tremulous with emotion; and -when he appealed to my sense of justice, I softened to him, for I had -no evidence against him but the suspicion which had been created by -the warning letters I had received. I had it first in my mind to tell -him all; but my pride and my consideration for Minnie's feelings -restrained me. Instead of doing that, I resolved to probe him; and, -that my agitation might not betray me, I refused to have a light. We -spoke in the dark. I elicited from him that he was engaged to Ellen, -whom he declared he loved before all the world. Upon that, his hand in -mine, I wished him the happiness that faithful love deserves. When, -after that, Minnie became the subject of conversation, there was a -hesitancy in his manner that aroused my slumbering suspicions. Then I -spoke so plainly to him--though telling him nothing about the -letters--that he could not have misunderstood me. I told him that my -heart was diseased, and that I could not live much longer. I told him -that I was tortured by anxiety for Minnie's future; that she needed -guidance and control; that she knew only one duty--the duty of love; -and that she could scarcely understand that, under certain -circumstances, love may be sinful. I told him that she was changed, -that she was hiding something from me, and that I was afraid some such -love as I had spoken of had come to her. And when I asked him if he -knew or suspected to whom that love was given, he was silent, and did -not answer me. Was not that silence sufficiently damning? I asked him -if he were concealing any thing from me, and he equivocated. What -should he conceal from me? he asked. At that answer I almost gave up -hope; but my child's happiness was at stake, and I persevered. I -resolved to tell him the story of my life, that he might learn how -Minnie's mother sacrificed herself for love; that he might learn what -Minnie's nature, being like her mother's, really was; and to what -extent she would go where her heart was engaged. It was an appeal to -him for mercy. How has he treated that appeal?</p> - -<p class="normal">I told him the story of my life; I laid bare my heart to him. I lived -over again the agony of my wife's death. I told him that Minnie was -like her mother, without her mother's teaching; that the impulse of -her mind was under the control of the impulse of her heart; that those -who knew it must guide her gently, tenderly; and that if any man -betrayed her, he would have to answer for it at the Judgment-seat. -Could tongue speak more plainly than mine did? Could any man who was -not totally devoid of honor and humanity have listened to my trembling -words unheedingly? I appreciate at its proper worth the code of -morality by which many heartless men are guided; but I never believed -it possible that man could be so base as Joshua has proved himself to -be. Here is a proof of his villainy. Within a few minutes after my -story was ended--within a few minutes after he left my room, crying in -sympathy with me--he was fondling Minnie in the passage below. Susan -can prove it. They were in the dark, and Susan came up from the -kitchen with a lighted candle, and discovered them. Their hands were -in each other's clasp; and when Joshua Marvel saw the light and Susan, -he turned away his head, so that she should not see his face. They -parted on the moment; and Susan, not appearing to notice them, passed -them by, and, faithful woman as she is, came straight to me, and told -me what she had seen.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Fair to a man's face, and false behind his back"--ay, that he is! But -not for him, for whom my indignation can find no fitting name, do I -care. For Minnie are all my thoughts. How can I act towards her? How -can I warn her? Tell her that he is false! that he is lying to her! -that to listen to him is shame! She would smile at my words; and if -she dared not scorn, would pity the tongue that uttered the calumny. I -must think; must think. In the mean time, she must not be allowed to -go about without being closely watched. Susan will do that for me. It -will not be for long. He will be away soon, thank God; and when he is -gone, I can resolve what to do. Perhaps he may never come back. With -all my heart I pray--No, I dare not pen the words. The thought of -Ellen and Dan, and his gentle mother, stops me. I give them here my -heartfelt thanks, for all their noble kindness to me and Minnie. But -for him--the treacherous son, the false friend, the perjured lover--I -vow never willingly to look upon his face again.</p> - -<p class="normal">My passion has exhausted me. I turn to the first page of this record, -and I see there the pledge that I would throw down my pen when the -suspicion came upon me that because of my fear and my agony I am -writing what is not strictly the fact. I read over what I have written -this night; and I solemnly declare that every word is true, as I hope -to meet my wife in heaven!</p> - -<p class="normal">But a few words more. When I return this book to my desk, I shall tell -Susan to place it in Dan's hands, if I die before Minnie is safe. A -step upon the stairs! It is my darling child's!--</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Another day of misery has passed, and I have received farther damning -proof that Joshua Marvel is tampering with Minnie's affections. In my -present state of mind, it will be best for me to write down Susan's -statement, word for word. I cannot trust myself. I call her to me, and -bid her relate, without passion, and without prejudice, what she saw -to-day. What follows is from her own lips.</p> -<br> - -<h4>Susan's Statement.</h4> -<br> - -<p class="normal">"I noticed this morning that Minnie was more restless than usual. -Whenever I looked at her, she looked at me back again; as much as to -say, what do you mean by staring at me in that way? I couldn't help -thinking that she knew I was watching her and I felt uncomfortable. -But I watched her for all that, as I promised you I would. When she -went out of the room, I made believe that I wanted to go out too. Now -I think of it, she must have gone out of the room on purpose to try -me; because the second time I followed her, she turned upon me in the -passage, and looked at me in such a manner that I was frightened. -Between eleven and twelve o'clock I was in the kitchen, helping to -cook the dinner; and when I came up stairs, Minnie was gone from the -house. I ran round to Mrs. Marvel's, and she wasn't there. Scarcely -knowing what to do, I slipped on my bonnet and shawl, and went into -the streets to look for her. All at once it came into my mind, that if -I should find her anywhere it would be at the docks, where Joshua's -ship was, and where Joshua was working. I ran there as hard as ever I -could, and just at the entrance of the docks I caught sight of Minnie. -I was regularly out of breath, and my only fear now was that she might -see me. So I kept out of the way as much as I could, and followed her -quietly. When she got near the ships she stopped short; and presently -Joshua, who was looking over the side of his ship, as if he was -expecting some one, came down to where she was standing, and began -talking to her. He seemed a little bit uneasy--perhaps, because there -were so many people about, and because, I thought, he didn't want -Minnie to be noticed, for all the workmen and sailors were staring at -her. They went up a plank on to Joshua's ship; and Joshua had his arm -round her waist. They stood by the side of the ship, looking towards -the river, talking together. I never took my eyes off them, and I am -certain--though, of course, I couldn't hear them--that they were -talking of something very particular. All at once I lost sight of -them; they had gone to a part of the ship where I couldn't see them. I -think they must have been out of my sight for nearly a quarter of an -hour; and when they returned, Joshua looked to the place where I was -standing by the side of some large cases, and came off the ship -towards me. I was frightened that he would catch me, and I ran away. -When I was safe, I turned, and saw Joshua and Minnie together coming -from the ship. Minnie walked out of the docks by herself; and I -followed her home, and waited in the street a little before I went -into the house after her. But I no sooner got inside the door, than -Minnie met me in the passage; she hadn't taken her bonnet off. I -didn't seem to notice her; but she came into the kitchen after me. -'Where have you been, Susan?' she asked me, so sudden-like that I was -almost taken off my guard. 'Out for a walk,' I said. 'Have you been to -the docks?' she asked me. 'No,' I said; but I felt my face turning red -as I told the story. I thought she was done with her questions; but -she soon commenced again. 'Are you going out again?' she asked. I -said, No, I wasn't. '<i>I</i> am,' she said; 'I am going out for a walk.' -And she ran up stairs and out of the house. I didn't know what to do; -and I came to you, and you told me not to watch her any more to-day."</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">It is evident that Minnie is suspicious of Susan, and I know that -Susan is no match for her. Ill as I am, I can see but one thing to -do--I must wait and hope. That the innate goodness and purity of -Minnie's heart will keep her from harm, is my earnest prayer. I will -be, if possible, more tender and loving to her than I have hitherto -been. I dare not speak plainly to her; I believe, if I did, that she -would go away from us, and we should never see her again. If I were -well, it would be different. I should take her from here until Joshua -Marvel had sailed.</p> - -<p class="normal">What can I say of him? It is clear that Minnie went to the docks by -appointment, and that he expected her. I have appealed to him vainly. -After what passed between us--after the knowledge he has gained that I -am aware of his treachery--he has shown himself, in this clandestine -meeting with Minnie, to be totally devoid of honor. I leave him to his -conscience and to the judgment of his friends. May occasion never come -for them to learn how they are deceived in him!</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Two days more have passed. In a week Joshua Marvel's ship sails. I -believe from that moment I shall begin to grow better. Then I shall -make new plans for the future. The future! Alas, my future on earth -will soon come to an end! See how I contradict myself. One moment -saying that I shall begin to get better when Joshua is gone; the next, -that my end must soon come. But 'tis in the nature of such a state of -feeling as mine to be hopeful one minute, and despondent the next. The -best thing for Minnie would be, that she should be impressed and -touched by Dan's love for her--of the existence of which I am sure, -having thought much of Dan's manner towards her--and that she should -consent to marry him. It is not certain that she loves Joshua; after -all, nearly the whole--nay, the whole--of the evidence is -circumstantial. It is but natural that she should have an affection -for him; the nature of the intimacy, his kindness to her and me, the -very circumstances attendant upon his return home, make that a -necessity. Indeed, indeed, it would be most unnatural if an affection -did not exist between them. The mere writing of these words is -comforting to me. I know that they are at variance with much that I -have previously written; but at one time I am writing out of my -despair, at another time out of my hope. I write now out of my hope. -Joshua Marvel will soon be gone, and I am assured that no farther -meeting has taken place between him and Minnie. Minnie's behavior to -me has been most kind. She is growing more and more like her mother -every day. There appears to have arisen in her some consciousness that -my claims to her love are more binding upon her than those of any -other person. I have passed some very happy hours with her.</p> - -<p class="normal">She said a strange thing to me this morning. "Father, do you think I -should make a good actress?" The question startled me, for it brought -back to me some memories of my past life. Minnie, when a little child, -was often in her mother's arms in the theatre where I happened to be -playing; her mother would be waiting for me perhaps, and would not -leave our little darling alone in the room. Minnie has no definite -remembrance of those times and circumstances, I think; but shadowy -impressions of the scenes she then almost unconsciously witnessed are -stamped upon her mind. Upon this theme I questioned her somewhat -curiously this morning, and found that these experiences had had their -effect upon her, and that she has vague remembrances of beautiful -creatures beautifully dressed, walking in gardens in the midst of -light. Ah, if she were aware of the reality! If she knew what poor -struggling men and women these beautiful creatures were, and what a -mockery were the beautiful dresses and the lovely gardens in which -they lived their artificial lives! But I did not disenchant her. Life -is bitter enough; if a gleam of brightness can be thrown upon it by -the indulgence of a harmless fancy, it is good. In the midst of our -conversation, Minnie suddenly left the room, and in about half an hour -returned completely metamorphosed. She went out of the room a fair -lovely girl, she returned a dark tawny woman, looking at least half a -dozen years older; but still beautiful, very beautiful. I gazed at her -in wonder. By what means had she effected such a marvellous change in -herself? She explained, first asking me if I knew her again. Knew her -again? Could she by any disguise hide herself from my knowledge? But -suppose I had only seen her once in my life, she asked, then did I -think I should have known her again? I did not exactly know how to -answer that, and although she pressed me to give her an answer, I -could not. I was delighted to see her in the new light in which she -presented herself to me; it was almost an assurance that some portion -of my fears was groundless. She explained to me that in the box -containing her clothes were some remnants of the wherewithals I once -used in my profession, such as colors and a few wigs. I had forgotten -them, not having had occasion for them for so long a time. And she -confessed that she had often amused herself with these things. Indeed, -in the middle of her explanation she stooped and hid herself from my -sight, and rose in the wig I used to wear when I played "Hamlet." She -had tucked up her beautiful hair with the skill of an actress, so that -it was completely hidden by the wig; and as she stood before me, I saw -in her some shadowy resemblance of myself as I was in days gone by. I -could not but be delighted with her light humor; it almost entirely -dispelled my fears. Then she took off the wig, and washed the color -out of her face, and sat by my bedside quietly. I am used to her -variable moods, and therefore, although I was sorry to see that her -sportiveness had fled, and that a more serious mood took its place, I -was not surprised. Never in all her life has she shown me such -tenderness as she exhibited towards me this day. "I shall always love -you, father," she said to me, more than once. Dear child! Darling -treasure of my heart! All good angels guard you.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">The cup of happiness is dashed from my lips. Something so strange, so -unexpected, has happened, that, simple as it is, I scarcely know how -to set it down, or what to augur from it.</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie has gone!</p> - -<p class="normal">Where--for how long for what purpose--I do not know. She has gone from -her home, from me.</p> - -<p class="normal">Early this morning, while I was waiting to see her dear face, I was -thinking of something strange that occurred in the night, wondering -whether it formed part of my dreaming fancies or had actually -occurred. It was this:--</p> - -<p class="normal">The house was very quiet. It was the most solemn part of the night, -when troubled life is most like peaceful death. The healthfulness of -dreamless sleep is denied me, as it is denied to all men whose minds -are harassed. For many weeks I have not enjoyed an hour's repose, and -so confused are the images that pass through my mind when I am alone, -that I am often in doubt whether the scenes in which I am taking part -are real or fanciful. I was in this condition last night at the time -of which I am writing. While I was thinking or dreaming of Minnie and -her mother, I heard a soft footfall in the room. The impression that -some one was in the room was strong upon me, and when I felt a kiss -upon my face, and my pillow being smoothed by a gentle hand, I was -almost convinced that it was Minnie. The presence remained with me for -I know not what length of time; I do not know when I lost it, or when -it departed, but when I called "Minnie!" no voice answered me. When -daylight came, I determined to ask Minnie if it was she who had -entered my room in the night. I waited impatiently for her appearance, -but she did not come. Susan came, and I asked her if Minnie was down -yet; Susan had not seen her. I bade her go and tell Minnie to come to -me; she returned and said that Minnie was not in bed, nor in any part -of the house. As Susan told me this, she came to my bedside, and, -stooping, picked up a paper which must have fallen from beneath my -pillow. There was writing on it--Minnie's writing. It was addressed to -me, and it told me that Minnie had left me, not from any want of love, -but because she was miserable and unhappy. She said said she knew that -she had been watched; that a feeling she could not control had -compelled her to leave for a time; that she would write again or see -me in a few days; and she begged me to believe that no one but herself -was to blame for what she had done. She asked me, too, not to be -anxious as to how she would live, for she had provided for that.</p> - -<p class="normal">The first thing I did was to desire Susan to lock the door, and on no -account to allow a person to enter the room. For the thought flashed -upon me, that if it were known that Minnie had left her home -clandestinely, her good name would suffer. She had done a foolish -thing--ay, it was a cruel thing to leave me thus; but it was done in -all innocence, I am sure, and in ignorance of the world's judgment -upon such an act. I, her father, must protect her good name; no breath -of slander must be allowed to touch her. Therefore I judged it -imperative that the secret of her departure should be known only to -Susan and me. I gave Susan the letter to read, and when her tears were -dried, my plan was formed. It is well for me that I have such an -attached and faithful friend as Susan. Without her, I should be -helpless indeed. I explained my wishes to her, and she promised to -obey them implicitly--and she will. The Marvels and Dan and Ellen are -to be told that Minnie cannot leave me; that my illness has increased, -and I require her constant attendance. And on no pretence whatever is -any one of them to be allowed to come into the room. The door is to be -always locked, and when Susan goes out of the room, she is to lock the -door and take the key with her. I am afraid that Susan judges Joshua -even more harshly than I do; for she suggested that she should watch -his movements, in the expectation that some clew might be gained. Her -evidence of to-day is all in his favor. She ascertained that he went -this morning direct from home to his ship; that he worked there for -six hours, and that he came home direct to Ellen. No, I cannot -associate him with Minnie's disappearance. I have been thinking as -coherently as I could as to what is most likely the cause of her -leaving home, and the most hopeful conclusion I can arrive at is this: -That Minnie has an attachment for Joshua, which, in the face of his -engagement with Ellen, she feels it is her duty to subdue; that it is -painful to her to be a witness of Ellen's happiness; and that, fearful -lest she should betray her attachment, she has left the neighborhood -until Joshua has gone upon his voyage.</p> - -<p class="normal">I am re-assured. This conclusion is reasonable as well as hopeful. I -must bear with the misery of her absence--ah, how I miss her beloved -face!--in the hope that my darling will return to me when he is gone, -and that she will regain her peace of mind, and be to me as she has -hitherto been; chastened perhaps, but not entirely unhappy.</p> - -<p class="normal">Are you thinking of me, Minnie? Can you realize the depth of my love -for you, my dearest? If such a thing exists in the flesh as spiritual -communion with those we love, you will know, darling treasure of my -heart! that my thoughts, my blessings, my prayers are with you now.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">In two days Joshua's ship will sail, and then my darling will come -home. The secret of her departure has been well kept. No one knows or -suspects. There is a rare faithfulness in Susan's nature. If she -possessed all the graces of womanhood, she could not be nobler than -she is.</p> - -<p class="normal">I need all my strength to enable me to bear with Minnie's absence; so -constantly do my thoughts dwell upon her, that at certain times I lose -consciousness of what has taken place, and detect myself listening for -her footstep. At other times I am engrossed by the idea that many -years have passed since I last saw Minnie. When this impression is -upon me, Minnie appears to me not as a woman, but as a child.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Joshua Marvel has gone. Thank God! Now I may expect Minnie to return. -Any moment may bring her to my loving arms again. I am haunted by the -ghosts of footsteps on the stairs. I know afterwards that my fancy has -conjured them up; but if they were real, I could not hear them more -plainly. They are Minnie's footsteps always. I hear them first in the -passage leading from the street--I stop and listen. Softly yet swiftly -they come nearer and nearer to me, till they are outside my door. Then -I say to myself, "She is lingering for a while, thinking of the -happiness I shall feel when she opens the door and runs to my side." -But the long silence that follows tells me that the steps I heard were -created by my fancy, and that I have still to wait for the -accomplishment of my dearest hope.</p> - -<p class="normal">Before Joshua left, he came to the door, and asked to see me and -Minnie to bid us good-by. His desire to see Minnie was assuring, for -it convinced me that the reasons I assigned for her leaving are -correct, But I would not see him--I could not; for if he came into the -room, he would discover Minnie's absence.</p> - -<p class="normal">I am thankful to think that may forced seclusion will soon be at an -end. How the minutes lag! Come, Minnie! Come, my darling child!</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">How shall I be able to endure this agony? It is night; yesterday -morning Joshua Marvel left to go on his voyage, and there is no sign -of Minnie. What can I think? Has any calamity befallen her? Is she -lying sick, helpless anywhere, and must I remain here, gnawing my -heart away with the knowledge that I am powerless to help her? O God, -who only witnesseth my sufferings, send my darling home to me -to-night! If in my life I have erred, and deserve punishment--if the -injunction I laid upon the woman who loved me, and whom I loved with -all my strength, was a crime, and if I am to suffer for the misery of -her wedded life, being the cause of it--deal with me as thou wilt; but -let me look once more upon the face of my darling!</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">The third day. My life is being tortured away. I believe that I shall -die before seeing Minnie. The prescience of death is upon me. Every -few minutes Susan runs into the street to see if Minnie is coming; but -there is no sign of her. The slightest sound in the house causes my -heart to beat so violently that I am afraid. I try to think, but I -cannot; I can only fear. These few words have taken me long to write. -I cannot read what I have previously written. I have tried to do so, -but the words swim before my eyes. I can write no more to-day.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">With a despairing mind I trace these words slowly and painfully. They -are powerless to express my feelings.</p> - -<p class="normal">Death is near. I know it. Not by physical pain am I warned, but I know -it. I saw my wife last night. She stood by my side for full an hour. -It is a sign that my hour is come.</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan is below, looking for Minnie, perhaps--looking for Minnie, who -will never, never come. . . .</p> - -<p class="normal">I take up my pen again. What lies before me? A letter. Susan brought -it up a while ago, and gave it to me. But when I saw the writing on -the cover, I had not courage to open it, so I placed it in the desk. -It is addressed to me in Minnie's writing. And on the cover are these -words: "The 'Merry Andrew;' John Steele, pilot." The letter, then, -comes from the "Merry Andrew," and is in Minnie's writing. What -follows? That Minnie is on board the "Merry Andrew" with Joshua -Marvel! I must read it--I <i>must</i>, if it strike me dead!</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">That was all that was written. Dan read every word of the manuscript -aloud, but was compelled by emotion to pause many times. During the -silence that followed, one thought rose uppermost in their minds. -Ellen thought, "How will Dan bear this?" And Dan had the same thought -with respect to Ellen. Is such noble unselfishness rare? Let us hope -not. For the first and only time in the course of this narrative, the -writer pauses to speak of a personal experience of devotion and -unselfishness. It was before him during his boyhood in the person of -his mother; and it is to her, and to the patient, unmurmuring -gentleness with which she bore the trials of her life, that her -children owe whatever little of good there may be in their nature. It -is from his experience of his mother's life of goodness and -self-sacrifice that he knows that the noble unselfishness of Dan and -Ellen is not, thank God, a creation of his fancy. And as he writes -these words in the midst of a great city, with all the whirl of its -busy life around him, he is glad to think that in it--in great -mansions and mean houses, in sight of gardens where Nature makes -holiday, and of dirty streets and courts where bright leaf never -grows--flowers of human life which the world shall never see are -blossoming tenderly and holily, and living gentle lives for others' -good.</p> - -<p class="normal">For a long time no word was spoken by Ellen and Dan. Then Dan turned -and looked in Ellen's face. She met his gaze pityingly, almost -appealingly. He answered her with a sad smile, in which there was much -sweetness.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You were the first to guess my love for Minnie," he said; "and only -to Jo did I ever confess it. But do not fret for me, my dear; she can -never be to me what I was daring enough to hope she would be one day. -My love for her is not less strong, but my hope is buried now."</p> - -<p class="normal">She could say nothing but "Oh, my poor Dan! Oh, my poor Dan!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nay, why?" he answered in his gentle voice; "what could I have -offered her? What right had I, a cripple, to entertain the hope? I -dared to hope that she, bright, strong, and full of healthful life, -would tie herself to a weak, sickly thing like me. I dared to hope -that she would love me. I fed my heart upon delusions; I can see it -now, But I can love her still--can believe in her still--shall have -faith in her purity as long as my heart shall beat, and after -that--ay, who knows?" He paused for a little while before he resumed: -"What you and I have in our thoughts, my dear, we must speak of; in -that lies our only consolation. And we must not shrink from it; for -our duty, no less than our love, demands it."</p> - -<p class="normal">And yet she did shrink, fearing what was coming.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What wonder that she should love Joshua?" continued Dan, -unflinchingly determined to look the truth in the face, and not to -spare himself; although as he spoke his quivering lips and tremulous -voice betrayed his agitation. "We who know how good and brave he is -are able to understand that she could not help loving him. But he--no, -he played no false part by her." He placed his hand upon the Bible, -and the action gave a deeper solemnity to the declaration. "Some -suspicion he may have entertained that her feelings towards him were -warmer than they ought to have been; and I well know the grief such -suspicion brought to him. But he could not mention it--he dared not -speak of it for Minnie's sake--for mine. I can trace a meaning now in -the last words he said to me. 'You do not doubt me, Dan?' he asked. I -answered, 'No, nor never could.' And then he said he should not have -asked, but that certain things had distressed him lately. Poor Jo! -Yes, he must have guessed Minnie's secret, and, knowing my love for -her, trembled lest I should turn against him. Turn against him! my -best, my dearest friend! When I do, it will be time for me to die. -Believe that I never wavered in my love or my truth, and that to the -last I held you in my heart as I hold you now, gentlest, dearest, best -of friends!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Unconsciously he had uttered the very words which Joshua addressed to -him, and he spoke them as if Joshua were standing before him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"As for what we have read to-night, we, and we alone, can rightly -understand it. He who wrote it in his agony knows now that Joshua's -heart is as pure as Minnie's honor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Those strange letters poor Minnie's father received," whispered -Ellen; "who wrote them?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who stabbed Jo when he came home?" asked Dan in reply. "Whoever did -that wrote the letters. Jo has an enemy." Then, with a sudden -remembrance of Joshua's warning against Solomon Fewster, he cried in a -louder tone than he had hitherto used, "Mr. Fewster!" With eager -impatience he turned over the pages of Basil Kindred's diary, and -lighted upon the original letters. They were pinned on blank pages at -the end of the diary, and were written on soiled sheets of blue -letter-paper. "No," said Dan, examining them; "the writing is strange -to me. We must wait until Jo comes back; all will be explained then."</p> - -<p class="normal">The candle had burnt low in the socket by this time, and Dan had just -said, "I think we had better try to sleep for a little while, Ellen," -when they heard sounds of some one walking softly about the house.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is no one here but Susan," said Ellen in a tone of quiet -surprise.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No one but"--said Dan, and then paused, awestruck by the thought of -that only other one in the house, who lay stark and dead in the room -above.</p> - -<p class="normal">They listened to Susan's footsteps, and a new fear entered their -hearts. There was a soft stealthiness in the footfall, as if Susan -were hunting for some one who was hiding from her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Shall I go and see?" asked Ellen.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hush!" whispered Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan's footsteps, soft and stealthy as those of a cat, were in the -passage. Presently the door was opened cautiously, and Susan entered, -and softly closed the door behind her. She did not notice either Dan -or Ellen, but looked about the room inquiringly, then went to the -window and pulled up the blind. The moon was high in the heavens, and -the light streamed down upon her face, making it ghastly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Susan!" cried Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">But she did not heed him; she peered anxiously through the window into -the street, shading her eyes with her hand.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is she asleep?" whispered Ellen.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know," said Dan in a troubled voice; "it is dreadful to see -her with that expression on her face."</p> - -<p class="normal">It was an expression of suppressed watchfulness; that her -firmly-compressed lips and wandering eyes were at variance might have -been due to the peculiar circumstances of her life; but in the cunning -and revengeful determination in her face there was no sign of -indecision. It was as though she had staked her life on the -accomplishment of a task.</p> - -<p class="normal">As she turned from the window and approached Dan, he seized her hand. -"Susan," he said, gently, "speak to me, my dear. What is the meaning -of this?"</p> - -<p class="normal">She laid her hand upon his head, and said, "Poor Dan! And you loved -her, and she is lost to you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not lost, Susey," he said, detaining her hand and humoring her, for -he was afraid that her reason was gone; "not lost. She will come -back."</p> - -<p class="normal">"She will never come back--never, never! When she hears that <i>he</i> is -dead--he is lying dead up stairs, Dan--she will never come back; she -will drown herself first; for she loved him, and me too; and would -have loved you, Dan, but for that false-hearted friend.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You must not say that, Susey," said Dan, pointing to Ellen, who had -turned aside weeping. "Look at Ellen. He is her husband, and he is not -false-hearted. For her sake you must have kinder, juster thoughts -towards Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">But Susan did not catch the sense of his words. All that she -understood was, that he was speaking in defence of Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"All in his favor," she muttered. "If any one is to blame, it is -Minnie--that's what all of you will say. But I know better; I know -better. Didn't I watch them? Didn't I see him making love to her on -the ship? Didn't I see the poor dear that's lying dead up stairs -tortured slowly to death? And don't I know who killed him?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who, Susan, who?" asked Dan, holding his breath.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Joshua Marvel," said Susan, between her set teeth, with no change -upon her face. "And as God's my judge, I will bring him to justice! -You are his friends--I know that: you'll try to hide him from me; but -I'll do what I've made up my mind to, if I drop down dead the minute -after."</p> - -<p class="normal">She twisted her hand from Dan's grasp, and crept slowly into the -passage, and thence into the street. And there she stood for many -minutes, with the same expression of implacable animosity on her face, -waiting for the return of Basil Kindred's murderer.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXVII.</h4> - -<h5>WHAT THE NEIGHBORS THINK OF IT.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">The events that have been described, proved to be something -more than -a nine-days' wonder. The neighborhood was remarkably bare of exciting -incidents, and nothing so stirring as the sudden death of Basil -Kindred and the flight of Minnie had happened within the memory of the -oldest inhabitant. Besides that, there was one element in the -occurrences which, above all others, added zest and flavor to -them--this was the element of mystery. Here was a family, which might -be looked upon as the most respected family in the neighborhood; for -there was no question about the position held by the Marvels. Every -one of the neighbors liked them, and every one of the neighbors had a -good word for them. They had lived in the neighborhood--they and their -fathers and grandfathers before them--for many scores of years, and no -shadow of reproach had ever rested upon a single member of the family. -They had always been steady, industrious, and sober, and had been held -up as examples, time out of mind, by wives to their husbands, and -parents to their children. They were homely, hospitable, and sociable, -and, although they might very well have done it, had never held their -heads above their fellows. If any male acquaintance wanted a word of -advice, he went to Mr. Marvel for it; and the advice received was -generally found to be sound, and was always admitted to be good. If -any one was sick, Mrs. Marvel always came forward to help and assist, -in her small way, and was always ready to sit up of a night if it were -necessary, and to do some portion of the household work if it were -needed. And what she did was done so unostentatiously and quietly -that it never left a sting behind it, and never--strange as it may -sound--elicited any thing but gratitude. Joshua was a model of a son, -and the neighbors had been proud of him. Take them for all in all, the -Marvels were a credit to the locality. And yet, as you shall presently -see, notwithstanding their irreproachable character, notwithstanding -the credit in which they were held, notwithstanding that they were -famous for all the virtues under the sun, a very remarkable change was -to take place in the estimation in which they were held.</p> - -<p class="normal">Then as to the Taylors. There had been many transitions of feeling -regarding them when the parents were alive. They had not been a credit -to the neighborhood. The meek uncomplaining life which Mrs. Taylor had -led had been entirely lost sight of in the drunken dissolute habits of -the head of the family. Perhaps it was because of this bad conduct on -the part of Mr. Taylor that the virtues of the good wife had not been -taken into account; and the fact remained, that it was not until after -Mr. Taylor's death--the manner of which was disgraceful, and left a -blot upon the family name--that any strong affection was mingled with -the pity with which Dan and Ellen were regarded. There were so many -singular circumstances connected with the family history. First, there -was Susan letting Dan fall out of the window when he was a baby and -breaking his legs. Many of the neighbors, with young families of their -own, remembered the time when they were boys and girls, and when Susan -was twitted and jeered at for being Dan's murderer. Then Susan's -strange manner and slovenly dress--not it must be admitted, that her -slovenliness had very much to do with the feeling,--had not rendered -her a favorite; and she was often spoken of as being soft and not -quite right in her mind.</p> - -<p class="normal">Then came that part of Mr. Taylor's career when (it having been -whispered about that he had been the death of his wife) he fell into -deeper and deeper dissipation, and when he was to be seen regularly -every night tumbling out of the public-house, and reeling home in a -state of intoxication. It is surprising how hard many wives, whose -husbands were not quite free from the reproach of over-indulgence, -were upon the failings of Mr. Taylor. He was a "drunken beast," a -"disgrace to the street," and so forth. And yet, as you have seen, -they were proud of the beautiful friendship that existed between Dan -and Joshua, and appreciated the good conduct of Ellen from the time -that she was big enough--she was young enough, Heaven knows, when her -duties commenced--to assist in the cleaning and washing. But the -father's drunken habits stained the family reputation, and not all the -washing and wringing could wash it clean at that time. Then came the -shameful death of the drunkard. From the date of that occurrence, the -position of the family began to improve, and the engagement of Ellen -and Joshua lifted them up still further in the estimation of their -neighbors.</p> - -<p class="normal">Lastly, there were Basil Kindred and Minnie. Neither of them had ever -been favorites out of their own small circle. Basil Kindred had held -his head above them, and Minnie was too much of a lady for "such poor -folks as us." All the grown-up girls disliked her because she was -superior to them, and because she did not associate with them. -Therefore neither father nor daughter obtained sympathy, and there was -very little pity expressed for Basil's death. As for Minnie, she was -generally condemned. The neighbors in speaking of her and her flight -said, "she was always a forward thing;" and some even went so far as -to call her a "stuck-up slut." They never expected any thing better of -her, not they.</p> - -<p class="normal">The mystery was, how it all became known; for it was known, every -detail of it, the day following that on which Basil Kindred had died. -Every person, for about a dozen streets round about, knew all the -particulars almost as soon as Mr. and Mrs. Marvel were made acquainted -with them--knew that Minnie had run away, knew that she was in Joshua -Marvel's ship, knew that the intelligence of the flight had caused her -father's death. Then they began to be wise in their generation, after -the usual manner of human herds, and before nightfall of the second -day it was recognized as an established fact, that it had been a -cunningly-planned plot from first to last, and that Joshua and Minnie -had run away together.</p> - -<p class="normal">There is no accounting for these revulsions of feeling, and it is -perhaps best not to attempt to analyze them. So much small malice and -miserable uncharitableness would be brought to light, that we should -be ashamed of the exposure--being liable to such influences ourselves. -Joshua's character had hitherto been irreproachable; he had been -almost loved by many, and liked and admired by all. Suddenly he is -tainted by suspicion, and by suspicion only. There is not a tittle of -direct evidence against him. But the suspicion is enough; directly it -is whispered, it swells and grows, like the cloud which is at first -"no bigger than a man's hand," and Joshua's good name is wrecked in -the storm that follows.</p> - -<p class="normal">The additional grief that this general verdict inflicted upon Joshua's -parents may easily be imagined. They had to learn that "slander's edge -is sharper than the sword," and that though their dear son were -"chaste as ice and pure as snow, he should not escape calumny." But -they did not receive these lessons meekly. They fought and protested -against them with all the strength of their loving souls. They might -as well have tried to stop a fierce wind with the palms of their -hands.</p> - -<p class="normal">One of their bitterest experiences was the knowledge that there was a -difference of sentiment between them. They did not all believe alike. -All of them, except Susan, believed alike in the innocence and purity -of Joshua; but not so with respect to Minnie. The mercy that Dan and -Ellen accorded to her was denied to her by Mr. and Mrs. Marvel. -Neither of them thought well of her; and although Mrs. Marvel's -verdict was less harsh than that of her husband, she too, gentle and -forgiving as was her nature, could not forgive and hold dear the -unhappy girl who had brought this great misery upon them. What Minnie -had done was nothing less than a crime in the eyes of the good mother -and good woman.</p> - -<p class="normal">But Minnie had one champion--Susan. It was generally reported, a few -days after the tragic occurrence, that Susan had gone mad because of -Basil Kindred's death; and a whisper went about, that, mad as she was, -she was fixed to the one idea of bringing Joshua to justice. Susan's -madness, if madness it was, took a very mild form. She did not speak -upon the subject, but she believed thoroughly in Minnie's innocence -and Joshua's guilt; and she was ever on the watch to bring that false -friend to justice. She was always peering about her and hunting for -Joshua. She contracted a strange habit of suspecting that he was -biding in the place she last left, and when she went out of the house, -returned, after going a few paces, to see if the man she was waiting -for was in the passage. If she opened a gate and shut it behind her, -she walked back to it and looked about her, expectant. Never a night -passed but she rose from her bed and went into the street, waiting for -Joshua; in the dead of night, when all others were asleep, she would -sit at her window and look into the street, waiting patiently. When -they discovered this habit at home, they tried to break her of it; but -their efforts were unavailing. By and by, this proceeding began to be -exceedingly popular in the neighborhood, and popular opinion veered -round to Susan's view; Minnie was not so thoroughly condemned, and the -blame was entirely laid on Joshua's shoulders. And when the neighbors -openly expressed their sympathy to Mr. Marvel because Joshua had -"turned out bad," he resented it angrily in his dogmatic obstinate -way, until he began to quarrel with them. He was so indignant, so -hurt, so unhappy, that he refused to speak to his old acquaintances, -and gradually they fell off from him, and a coldness sprang up which -made his life a misery. Still, he and all that were bound to him -cherished the hope that when Joshua came home all would be cleared up. -But Mr. Marvel made up his mind that he would never forgive his -neighbors for their suspicions. Months passed, and the estrangement -between him and his acquaintances grew stronger; his home, too, was -not a happy one. He grew morose and ill-tempered, and would not speak -to his wife upon the subject of Joshua and Minnie; and when she found -that he was determined upon this point, she wisely forbore to press -him, knowing his nature.</p> - -<p class="normal">Before the advent of another spring, Ellen became a mother. Her -situation had been concealed from all but Dan and Mrs. Marvel; even -Mr. Marvel did not know it until the child was born. It was a girl; -and when the news was buzzed about the neighborhood, Joshua and Minnie -started again into a notoriety which had been on the wane. Again the -busybodies were at work, and again the busy tongues wagged more -volubly than before. It was a matter for resentment with the neighbors -that they had not been made acquainted with Ellen's situation; it was -depriving them of a legitimate privilege. But Ellen and her two -confidants had kept the secret well; and now the young mother nursed -her child in privacy, and seemed only anxious to keep it from prying -and unsympathizing eyes. No news had been received of Joshua or of his -ship; and although Mr. Marvel went every other day to the London -agents of the "Merry Andrew," they had nothing to tell him. Now that -the child was born, their anxiety for news of Joshua increased. But -still they received none. Weeks passed, months passed, until the -suspense became almost maddening. Ellen nursed the baby, and rejoiced -that the pretty little thing had Joshua's eyes, and yearned for Joshua -to see them. Mr. Marvel looked more angrily upon his old -acquaintances, who were ready to quarrel with him afresh for his sour -looks. Mrs. Marvel suffered in patience, and strove by assumed -cheerfulness to lighten the loads the others had to bear. Susan waited -and watched. And Dan waited and hoped--When there came a time!--</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen was in Mrs. Marvel's kitchen; her baby was in her lap, and she -was gazing at and worshipping, for the thousandth thousandth time, the -baby's beautiful eyes, and beautiful fingers and nails, and the round -cheeks, and the pretty mouth and chin, so like Joshua's. It was -evening, and Mr. Marvel was expected home every minute, with news -from the agents about Joshua's ship. Ellen began singing this to -baby--singing in a low soft voice how father would soon come from over -the seas to see his own little darling--his dear darling precious; and -she was in the midst of this, enriching the theme with twenty -different forms of endearing expression, when Mr. Marvel staggered -into the kitchen. There was a wild look in his face, and his hands -were trembling. He was drunk.</p> - -<p class="normal">"O father!" cried Ellen.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where's mother?" he asked in a husky voice. "Where's mother?" he -repeated in a louder tone.</p> - -<p class="normal">His wife answered the question by coming into the kitchen. She had -seen him reel into the house, and had followed him at once. She knew -he had been drinking, but she did not reproach him. He saw in her face -the knowledge and the forbearance, and he said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, I've been drinking; I was bound to. O mother, mother! how shall -I tell you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Her lips framed some words, but she could not utter them. She sank -into a chair and gazed at him with blanched cheek, with quivering -lips, with blurred eyes.</p> - -<p class="normal">Hush, baby, hush! you have never seen your father's face, and you do -not understand now what one day will be told you--what George Marvel -has had to drink brandy to give him courage to tell his faithful -wife--</p> - -<p class="normal">That the good ship, the "Merry Andrew," has foundered, and that every -soul on board, Joshua and Minnie included, has gone down to the bottom -of the sea. Not one saved--not one.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h4> - -<h5>ON BOARD THE "MERRY ANDREW."</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">While the "Merry Andrew" was lying at Blackwell taking in -cargo, Capt. -Liddle, like the shrewd captain he was, had caused it to be notified -that he would be happy to take a certain number of passengers to the -New World at fifty pounds per head. It happened, as it usually happens -in such like cases, that just at that time the exact number of persons -that the ship could accommodate found either that Great Britain was -too crowded for them to move freely in, or that at length the hour had -arrived for them to make a fresh start in life. The captain of the -"Merry Andrew" offered them the necessary opportunity. His ship would -take them to a country where they would be able to turn without being -elbowed. And there was no doubt that the start they contemplated would -be a fresh one, inasmuch as in the new land their heads would be where -their feet were now, and night was day and day night, and cherries -grew with their stones outside, and many other wonders were -commonplaces of every-day life. Accordingly, these enterprising souls, -much to Capt. Liddle's satisfaction, paid their fifty pounds per head -for four months of quiet misery on the sea. By that stroke of business -Capt. Liddle served two purposes. He put money in his pocket as chief -owner of the vessel, and he provided society for his wife, who was to -accompany him on the voyage. Mrs. Liddle was a cheerful little body, -who, although she was thirty years of age, had as much sentiment as a -tender-hearted miss of eighteen. Her engagement with Capt. Liddle had -been a long one. It was now more than twelve years since she first saw -him and fell in love with him, as he did with her; but she happened to -be blessed in a father who entertained not uncommon ideas as to the -value of money, and as to the difference it made in a man, especially -in a man who presumed to fall in love with his daughter. At that time -Capt. Liddle was only second mate, and his matrimonial overtures were -pooh-poohed by Capt. Prue, which was the name and title of his wife's -father; Bessie Prue was hers. Capt. Prue (retired from the service) -declared that he loved sailors and loved the sea, and that nothing -would please him better than that his Bessie should marry a sailor. -But then, that sailor must be a captain, he declared, and that captain -must be absolute owner of the ship he commanded. Having passed the -principal part of his life on sea, in a position where his word was -law, he was, as most old sea-captains are, intolerant of opposition. -Having given the word, he would not depart from it. Consequently, -second-mate Liddle found that all his arguments and rhapsodies were as -wind--a fluid which is much more useful at sea than on land, however -it is produced. Bessie, as it proved, possessed a goodly share of her -old father's determination of character. Having fallen in love with -second-mate Liddle, and having determined to marry him or die an old -maid, she informed her lover that if he would be faithful to her, she -would be faithful to him--a form of declaration which has been very -popular from time immemorial. The pledge being sealed by the -infatuated ones in the usual manner--that is, with much protestation, -with much unnecessary solemnity, (as if they were doomed to execution, -and were to be beheaded within a few hours), with many kisses and -tender embracings--Bessie went to her father and apprised him, -melodramatically, of her determination.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You wouldn't marry without my consent?" was the obstinate old -captain's question, after a little consideration. They were absurdly -happy, these two determined persons. Bessie was the apple of his eye, -the pride of his heart; she had not a wish, except the wish -matrimonial, that he would not have made any sacrifice to satisfy. -"You wouldn't marry without my consent, my pretty?" he repeated -anxiously, for she did not answer his question immediately.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I won't, on one condition," replied Bessie categorically; "and that -is, that you won't ask me or wish me, or try to persuade me to marry -anybody but John Liddle; for I love him with all my heart, and I -wouldn't give him up--no, not to be made Lord High Admiral."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I give you my promise, my pretty," said Capt. Prue, secretly admiring -his daughter's determination, and loving her the more for it; "I'll -never ask you, nor wish you, nor try to persuade you to marry anybody -but John Liddle."</p> - -<p class="normal">It may be guessed how willingly the old sea-captain gave the pledge, -when it is known that he looked forward with absolute dread to the -time when Bessie might be taken from him to another home. He would -give her any thing, help her to anything but a husband. What right had -any body else to her? Why, the ship would go on the rocks without her -"And when John Liddle is skipper and owns a ship," he added, "I'll -give my consent free and willing." In which last words Capt. Prue was -not quite ingenuous. But the compact was made and adhered to. -Second-mate Liddle was informed of it, and was compelled to abide by it. -He trusted to chance, as many other men, not lovers, have done before -him; and he derived consolation from the thought, that when Capt. Prue -and Bessie pledged their word, it would need something very -extraordinary and unlooked-for to induce them to break it. He rose -from second mate to first mate, from first mate to skipper; and when -he returned from his voyages, he found Bessie faithful and true, and -received a hearty welcome from her father. And during these long and -many years of probation, he learned to love his true-hearted little -woman more deeply than he had done at first; she taught him to -understand what love really was; she taught him the true beauty of it, -the holiness of it--that it was something more than a sentiment, -something higher than a passion; she taught him to understand that it -was a sacrament.</p> - -<p class="normal">It seems fated for this story, that its narration should necessitate, -for the most part, the depicting of the higher virtues, and what is -most noble and self-sacrificing in our natures. But it should be none -the less acceptable because of that.</p> - -<p class="normal">A short time after Bessie's lover became skipper, a relative of his -died, and left him some money. Directly he came into possession of it, -he bought a share in the "Merry Andrew." Bessie was then twenty-six -years of age, as pretty as ever, and as fresh at heart as ever. One -would have thought that her father would have spoken to her of his own -accord, there and then, and that he would have given her the reward of -her faithfulness and devotion. But the truth must be told; he was a -selfish old curmudgeon, and he trembled at the thought of losing her. -So once more Capt. Liddle sailed away from his lady-love on the voyage -in which our Joshua commenced his apprenticeship at sea. The "Merry -Andrew" was away, as you know, for more than four years; and when it -returned, and Capt. Liddle went to see his Bessie, he found her in -mourning. Her father was dead. Before he died he had made her the only -reparation in his power. The last codicil to his will, written a few -weeks before his death, contained expressions of his love for her, his -admiration of her lover, his consent to their marriage, and his regret -that he had not consented to it years ago. But it is so easy to regret -<i>after</i> a thing has occurred which we might have prevented or -remedied. I have not yet made up my mind as to the value of deathbed -repentance. Neither am I satisfied that we may sin properly for six -days in the week, in a comfortable knowledge that we can evade the -penalty by crying, "I have sinned!" on the sabbath.</p> - -<p class="normal">However, the departed Captain Prue had been in all other respects a -kind and tender father, and no word of reproach passed the lips of -Bessie and John Liddle. They were not too old for the enjoyment of -life's blessings. Two months before the present sailing of the "Merry -Andrew" they were married; and it is not to be doubted that the -circumstances of their engagement promised them a lasting happiness.</p> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Liddle had a maid, a beautiful brown-complexioned girl, whose -appearance might have suggested some suspicion of a gypsy breed, had -it not been for her manners, which showed a refinement no gypsy-girl -could have acquired in her vagrant life, and for her eyes, which were -gray despite their brightness. The circumstances of her becoming Mrs. -Liddle's maid were somewhat peculiar. She had presented herself to -that lady a few days before the "Merry Andrew" sailed, and stating -that she had heard by accident that Mrs. Liddle wanted a maid to -accompany her on the voyage, asked to be engaged in that capacity. -There was something so winsome about the girl, that Mrs. Liddle--who -had not succeeded in engaging a maid willing to brave the terrors of a -sea-voyage--was at once attracted to her, and lent a sympathizing ear -to her story of being alone in the world and without friends. Perhaps -it was Mrs. Liddle's romantic happiness that caused her to be less -prudent than usual; but certain it is that the girl was engaged, and, -setting about her duties at once, proved so apt and attentive, that -Mrs. Liddle congratulated herself upon her decision. Captain Liddle -did not interfere in the matter; but when he first saw the girl her -face seemed familiar to him, and he glanced at her more than once, -wondering where he had met her. But he could not settle the doubt, and -the matter was not of sufficient importance to permanently engage his -attention. Thus it was that Minnie succeeded in obtaining a passage in -the "Merry Andrew," and in being near to the man who was dearer to her -than all other earthly considerations. She was not influenced by any -dishonoring passion; she simply desired not to be parted from the man -she loved. She did not want him to see her or speak to her--at least, -so she thought at that time; it was sufficient for her to know that -she was in the same ship with him, and that she would perhaps now and -again catch a glimpse of her hero, without his knowing that she was -by. When she first made up her mind to leave her home, she did not -pause to consider what would be the consequences of her rash act. She -was unhappy there and utterly miserable; everybody was against her; -and when she discovered, as she did discover, that Susan was playing -the spy upon her, she became defiant and more resolved. She loved her -father and honored him; but she loved Joshua with all the passion of -her passionate nature, and in her mistaken sense of right and wrong, -the stronger love usurped the place of duty, and made her oblivious of -all else. She was blinded by love, and by love in which there was not -a shade of impure passion.</p> - -<p class="normal">She had had at first a wild idea of dressing herself in sailor's -clothes, and had saved a few shillings towards the purchasing of them; -but her success with Mrs. Liddle set that aside. When she went on to -the ship with her mistress, she was careful that Joshua should not see -her; but indeed, if they had met face to face at that time, it is not -likely that he would have recognized her in her disguise; for his -thoughts were with Ellen, and his heart was too full as yet to be -curious about the passengers. But the Lascar saw her, and was puzzled -about her directly he set eyes upon her face. He watched her like a -cat, and yet he could not make up his mind about her. He had seen her -often in Stepney, but he could scarcely believe that the fair girl -with the beautiful hair and this dark gypsy with the short curls were -one and the same. He knew her name and all about her from Solomon -Fewster, and he was quite ready to believe in the villainy of Joshua. -Resolved to make sure of the value of his suspicions, he contrived to -pass close by her as she was taking some bandboxes down stairs to the -saloon, and as he passed her, he muttered the name of "Minnie -Kindred." A start, a frightened look over her shoulders, and the -dropping of the bandboxes down the stairs, were sufficient -confirmation of his doubts; and before the pilot left the ship he gave -him a scrawl for Solomon Fewster to the effect that Joshua and Minnie -had run away together. He was cautious enough also to send upon -another piece of paper a private scrawl to Solomon Fewster, saying he -was not quite sure, but that Fewster would know how to act if Minnie -were missing from home.</p> - -<p class="normal">But when the Lascar next saw Minnie's face, which was not until the -"Merry Andrew" was a thousand miles the other side of the Bay of -Biscay, his doubts returned, and he thought that, after all, he must -have been mistaken. He did not know the cunning of Minnie. In the -startled glance she had thrown over her shoulder when her name was -pronounced, she had marked the Lascar's face, so that she was sure she -would know it again; and when, after the lapse of weeks, she detected -him gazing at at her, she looked at him so boldly and contemptuously -that he drooped his eyes before her. What added to his perplexity was, -that he never saw Joshua speak to her, never saw him look at her. When -she came on deck, which she did very rarely, and never unless her duty -to her mistress called her there, she was careful not to give Joshua -an opportunity of speaking to her or of looking closely at her; and -he, detecting in her manner a wish to avoid any little attention he -might have it in his mind to offer her, did not trouble himself even -by giving her a thought. She was as distant and reserved to all the -officers; and in a little while it began to be understood, that the -handsome gypsy-maid did not wish to be spoken to by any one on board -but her mistress; and her wish was scrupulously respected.</p> - -<p class="normal">To readers who are not well acquainted with ship-life, it may seem -strange that Minnie should have been able to keep herself so free from -observation; but there really can be--and there often is--as much -exclusiveness on board a passenger-ship as there is in society on -land. You may live in a ship for months, and travel for thousands upon -thousands of miles over the seemingly interminable waste of waters, -without having any more personal knowledge of those who sleep within a -few yards of you than you would have of them if you and they were -living at the extreme ends of a great city. When the long, long voyage -is at an end, and the ship is being piloted into the bay that skirts -the land of Pisgah, men and women whom you do not remember ever to -have seen before appear magically on deck; and you wonder where they -come from, and how it is you have not set eyes on them during all the -time that you and they have been living in the wonderful house of wood -and iron that has brought you safely over the raging seas.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua knew the Lascar directly he saw him on board, and was not -pleased to find that he was one of the crew. But the man did his duty, -and worked as well and apparently as willingly as the other sailors; -and as he was uniformly respectful, Joshua could not, even if he had -been so inclined, treat him harshly with any sense of justice.</p> - -<p class="normal">And so the "Merry Andrew," containing within its wooden walls its load -of human love and hate, cleaves through the ocean onward to its goal -steadily and patiently, while before it, with every new rising of the -sun, a monotonous hill of waters, never varying, never changing, lies -in the gray distance mocking its progress. Through cold weather, -through hot weather, burnt up in the torrid zone, and chilled by winds -which rush from ice-bound waters; through days when scarce a ripple -can be seen on the grand ocean's breast, and others when the waves -leap at its throat furiously, as an enemy might do; through nights -when the moon rises threateningly in the heavens, like a blazing ball -of lurid fire, suggesting thoughts of a dreadful to-morrow; and -through dark nights, solemnly beautiful, when the track of the vessel -is marked by the brilliant Medusæ (the sailor's girdle of Venus) which -gleam and shine--a line of living light--in the wondrous sea: through -all these, with unerring faith, the ship pursues its way steadily and -patiently to the garden of the world. Now the captain smells the -breeze, and hoarse cries, unintelligible to all but the initiated, -travel about the ship to clap on sail and make good use of the breath -of Boreas. Then the ship dashes on like a god drunk with joy, dives -into awful depths, and climbs water-mountains that a moment ago -threatened to fall in upon it and dash it to pieces. The curling seas -break over the deck, and the toilers that are battling with wind and -wave cling fast for dear life to ropes and spars; while ever and anon -a water-titan, more angry than his fellows, breaks against the side -with such tremendous force that the vessel reels and quivers beneath -the mighty shock. So! the breeze slackens and dies away; the anger of -the sea subsides, and after many days the ship is becalmed. Then the -passengers lie about the white deck in happy indolence, and muse and -dream of the great whale they saw a while ago, hung round with -sea-weed and barnacles; of the cloudless night, star-gemmed above and -below; of the beautiful Southern Cross and the strange Magellan -clouds; and while they muse and dream, the white sky stares down -lazily into blue peaceful waters. Every one on board is contented with -the change, excepting the skipper, who paces the deck restlessly and -prays for the breeze to spring up--taking advantage of the calm, -however, like the good skipper he is, to splice ropes, and make new -sails and mend old ones. Soon wind and water wake into life again, and -the waves sparkle, and the fresh breeze blows merrily, when a sudden -cry rings through the ship that a man is overboard. The next moment -every soul on board is bending over the bulwarks, watching the -retreating form of the sailor who is floating on his back, gazing with -agonizing dread at the cruel beaks of the swan-white albatrosses, -which are already hovering above him. Quickly the ship is put about; a -boat, with rowers in it, is lowered into the sea; and after the lapse -of many anxious moments a wild cheer rings through the air, as the man -saved from death, is dragged into the boat. He tells afterwards to -eager listeners--he is a notable man on board from that day forth--how -it seemed to him that he was floating on his back for full a day, and -how the only fear he felt was that the albatrosses would pick out his -eyes. Then the following week a young man died who was in a -consumption when he was first brought on to the ship, and who had -hoped that the warm breezes of the South would give him a new lease of -life; but he was never to breathe the balmy southern air. The little -colony of human beings is very sad when the funeral service is read -over the body, and the canvas coffin slips with a dull thud into the -sea; and a fear arises that some calamity is near. And surely that -night there is a fearful storm. The wind howls and roars; heavy seas -dash down the two men at the wheel; the sails split into a thousand -shreds; masts and spars crack like reeds. The sobs and lamentations of -the passengers are dreadful to bear. Minnie, creeping from her cabin -into the saloon, sees a dozen men and women, half-dressed, on their -knees, praying for mercy and forgiveness, making vows of reformation, -and indulging in all the fear-impelled evidences of a suddenly -awakened contrition. Pursued by the conviction that in a few minutes -she and all in the ship will meet their doom, she yearns with all her -soul to see Joshua, to touch him, to whisper in his ear that Minnie is -by his side. Then, if he will but take her hand, she will be content -to go down with him into the solemn depths of the awful sea. She -creeps to the wet stairs leading to the deck, only to find that the -hatches are fastened down, and that she is a prisoner. She tears at -the cruel door that separates her from Joshua, until her fingers bleed -and her strength gives way. She calls aloud to him, but she cannot -hear her own voice, so weak is it and so overwhelming is the roar of -the storm. She sinks, despairing, at the foot of the stairs, and in -the agony of her mind and the terror of the time so entirely loses -consciousness, that the cold waters which steal down the hatchway are -powerless to arouse her. But with the next rising of the sun the storm -has passed away, and the captain looks joyful, and the sailors sing -blithely at their work, and the passengers forget their vows of -reformation. So the ship sails on and on, until land is sighted, and -the passengers begin to prepare their best clothes to go on shore in. -Then comes a quiet evening when the "Merry Andrew" drops quietly down -the beautiful bay, and as evening deepens into night, a thousand -twinkling lights from distant hills welcome the wanderers and gladden -their hearts. How peaceful, how lovely, is the night! The balmy air, -the restful sound of dipping oars, the floating strains of music that -come from a neighboring ship, the beautiful star-lit waters--all these -bring grateful feelings to weary travellers, and silent prayers of -thankfulness arise to Heaven for the mercy that has brought them -safely through the perils of the mighty sea.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXIX.</h4> - -<h5>THE WRECK OF THE "MERRY ANDREW."</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Built in the bed of a beautiful valley and on gardened slopes -rising -from the waters which run to the sea, lies Sydney, the fair city of -the South. It is spring although the month is October. The heavens are -bright with bright clouds, the air is sweet with perfume from tree and -flower, the bay is gemmed with gardened isles and promontories. -Outside the heads which protect the bay and make it a safe refuge for -mighty fleets, the sea dashes against hoary rocks which stand defiant -of its wrath; but to-day, swayed by the influence of smiling sun and -cloud, the grim old walls sport with the huge waves, splinter them -into silver spray, and send them, laughing, back into the sea. -In the fair land girt by the blue waters of the South Pacific are -orange-groves, the fragrance of whose snow-white blossoms is in -harmony with the time and place, and coral-trees with bright scarlet -flower, and trees of peach, loquat, and bread, and hill-slopes where -the vines grow, and myriad other evidences of Nature's beneficence. -All things that see the light contribute to the beauty of spring.</p> - -<p class="normal">"'Tis the garden of the world," said Captain Liddle to his wife, as -they stood apart from the others on board the "Merry Andrew;" "'tis -the garden of the world," he repeated, gazing at the lovely hills and -gloriously-tinted sky with that sense of gratitude which it is so good -for a man to experience.</p> - -<p class="normal">Her thoughts were in harmony with his, but she did not answer him -immediately. She, too, was sensible of the beautiful scene around -them, and stood by his side in silent thankfulness. To-morrow, the -"Merry Andrew," having discharged her cargo, and taken in another -(chiefly hard wood), was to set sail for China, where she had a -charter for London. It was of London--of home--that the captain's wife -was thinking, and presently her thoughts found simple expression.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, John," she said; "it is indeed a garden--a beautiful garden; but -it is not home."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why now, Bessie," said the captain, looking down smilingly upon the -wife he had waited and worked for as anxiously as Jacob did for -Rachel, "could you not content yourself here?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"All my life, John?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"All your life, my dear."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No," she said without hesitation; "I should always be pining for -home. Even if we were poor, and it were a necessity that we should -live here, I don't think I could manage to quite content myself. But -as it is"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"As it is, Bessie"--repeated her husband, in secret delight at his -wife's enthusiasm.</p> - -<p class="normal">"As it is, John," she responded softly, "'there's no place like -home.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">Captain Liddle hummed a few bars of the Englishman's household hymn; -and then, looking to that part of the ship where Joshua was busy, -said: "There is some one on board, Bessie, who is even more anxious to -get home than you are."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who can that be, John?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"My handsome mate, as you call him, Joshua Marvel. He was expressing -his delight to me yesterday that we should be not away longer than we -thought we should when we started. And when I asked him what made him -so impatient to get home, he told me that he was married three days -before we left Gravesend. How would <i>you</i> have liked that?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I wouldn't have allowed you to go," said Mrs. Liddle, with a very -positive shake of the head.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Easily said, little woman; not so easily managed, though, if I had -been third mate instead of captain. Thank your stars that you married -a captain."</p> - -<p class="normal">"So I do, John," said Mrs. Liddle tenderly--so tenderly, that her -husband would have stooped and kissed her, if they had been alone. -"Was it a love-match?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Marvel's? Certainly, I should say. When I went to his house in London -to see him, I saw a very beautiful girl in his room. Perhaps it is to -her that he is married."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Very beautiful, sir?" exclaimed Mrs. Liddle, with a toss of her head. -"I am almost inclined to take you to task for that; but I'll ask you, -instead, to describe her."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can't, Bess; 'tis not in my line. I tell you what, though: your -maid would be like her, if she was fair instead of brown, and if she -had long hair."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Making eyes at my maid, sir!" cried Mrs. Liddle, with a pretty -wilfulness. "When I get you home, I shall lock you up."</p> - -<p class="normal">Captain Liddle laughed, and pinched his wife's cheek.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am glad it was a love-match," she said; "I like Mr. Marvel all the -better for that. You ought to do something for him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I shouldn't be surprised, Bessie, if Marvel was second mate on our -next voyage," was the captain's reply. "Now go and see to the stowing -away of your curiosities."</p> - -<p class="normal">During the time that the "Merry Andrew" had been lying in Sydney -Harbor, Mrs. Liddle and her gypsy maid had been living on shore, and -had only come on board today. Her husband's last remark referred to a -number of parcels which were scattered about the poop, containing -curiosities she had collected in that strange new world--such as -feathers and skins, and curious weapons and plants--designed to -astonish her friends at home.</p> - -<p class="normal">Captain Liddle's intention to promote Joshua had been quietly -whispered by the sailors to one another for some weeks past, although -the captain, from motives of prudence and a proper regard for -discipline, had made no mention of his intention, even to his wife, -until now. Captain Liddle respected Joshua, and often engaged him in -familiar conversation. He saw much to admire in the young sailor, and -recognized in him qualities, both intellectual and professional, of a -far higher standard than those exhibited by his other officers. A -sailor more deeply impressed than Joshua was with the highest -qualification a sailor can possess, duty, never walked the deck of a -ship; and this merit, added to a quick natural intelligence, made him -a great favorite with Captain Liddle. He was much liked, also, by the -sailors; for while his sense of duty made him firm, his kindliness of -heart made him gentle. Sailors resemble women in one particular: the -more they respect a man, the better they like him. Joshua, however, -had two bitter enemies on board: one was the Lascar, who was compelled -to conceal his hate; other was the second mate, Scadbolt by name, who -made no secret of his animosity. Scadbolt, being both an inefficient -officer and one who liked to shirk his work, had been sharply spoken -to by Captain Liddle on several occasions. From this may have sprung -the rumor of his intended deposition; and when it reached his ears, it -made him venomous. Between Scadbolt and the Lascar about this time -there sprang up a kind of intelligence with regard to Joshua, which -boded him no good if he should chance to get into their power. No -conversation passed between them on the subject; but each knew -instinctively that the other hated the upstart third mate of the -"Merry Andrew."</p> - -<p class="normal">With his usual foresight and shrewdness, Captain Liddle had announced -his readiness to take a small number of passengers to China, or to -London by way of China--rather a roundabout route home, it must be -confessed, but one which recommended itself to certain colonists from -its novelty, and from the opportunity it afforded them of seeing -something of the wonderful land where so many Sons of the Moon lived -and had their being. Captain Liddle knew what he was about by stating -that he could provide accommodation for only a few passengers, for -only a few took passage. Here is the way-bill:--</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. and Mrs. Pigeon and daughter, the latter five years of age.</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Bracegirdle.</p> - -<p class="normal">Stephen and Rachel Homebush, brother and sister.</p> - -<p class="normal">James Heartsease.</p> -<p class="normal">Harry Wall.</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready.</p> - -<p class="normal">So that there were nine passengers in all, including little Emma -Pigeon.</p> - -<p class="normal">The crew numbered twenty-eight persons, all told; and these, with the -passengers and the captain's wife and her maid, made the total number -of souls on board thirty-nine.</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Pigeon was the son of a wealthy squatter, who had lately died. -Desirous of giving his wife and child better advantages than could be -obtained in the colony, he had sold out his property, and was now on -his way home, for the purpose of settling in the "old country." He was -a rough kind of a gentleman at the best, as might be expected of one -who had been brought up in the bush; but he had a tender heart, and -was passionately devoted to his wife and child. Mrs. Pigeon was a -sparkling little creature, full of life and bustle, never still, and -with a laugh so merry and contagious, that every soul on board felt -glad when it was first heard on the ship. Little Emma, as the child -was called, was a small edition of her mother, with precisely the same -natural gayety of disposition. The family were in high glee at the -prospect of going "home" (even Little Emma, born in the bush, had been -taught so to call it), and found in the pleasures of imagination some -compensation for the natural sorrow they felt in leaving the bright -and beautiful land of the South.</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Bracegirdle was a mystery. No one knew any thing about him; and as -no one inquired, and he was not communicative, his antecedents could -only be guessed at.</p> - -<p class="normal">Stephen and Rachel Homebush were a hard-featured morose-looking -couple, whose piety was generally recognized as unimpeachable, but -whose good-nature was certainly open to question. And this induces the -reflection, that it is singular how often piety and sourness go hand -in hand. It almost seems as if, with the majority of so-called pious -people, religious contemplation chills the generous impulse, and -hardens the heart instead of softening it. The light of truth falls on -them not like dew, but like a miasma.</p> - -<p class="normal">James Heartsease and Harry Wall are bracketed in the way-bill, as they -were bracketed in heart. They were friends who had travelled together -all over the world. They were enthusiastic sketchers; and it was -whispered that they were writing a book, which caused them to be -looked up to with a kind of veneration.</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready was as great a mystery as Mr. Bracegirdle, but whereas -nothing was known of Mr. Bracegirdle's antecedents, so many stories -were current concerning Rough-and-Ready, that the difficulty was to -hit upon the right one. None of them were at all creditable to him. -One story was, that he was a bushranger; another, that he was a -stockman, who had shot down any number of blacks; another, that he was -a runaway convict. The name he chose to go by fitted any one or all of -these stories. He engaged his passage in the name of Mr. Rough; but -before he had been on board half an hour, every sailor knew him as -Rough-and-Ready. The lady passengers cast cold looks upon him; but the -sailors adored him; and he, taking the aversion of the women and the -admiration of the men very philosophically, was as much at home on -board the "Merry Andrew" as the captain himself. Captain Liddle saw -nothing objectionable in Rough-and-Ready. He was prone, as you know, -to form his own judgments of people, and was one of the small minority -of men in the world who decline to be led by the nose. There was -nothing very smooth or polished about Rough-and-Ready, as was implied -by his name; but he had a bright eye, a free manner, and a civil -tongue--sufficient recommendations to Captain Liddle's good favor.</p> - -<p class="normal">At the appointed time the "Merry Andrew" weighed anchor, and started -for China. Joshua rubbed his hands, and thought with a light heart of -his pretty Ellen and his friend Dan, and his old mother and father, -and that good friend the Old Sailor. He saw himself walking along the -familiar street in Stepney, and saw all the neighbors running out to -greet him, and saw Ellen, his own dear little wife, fluttering into -his arms, and nestling there as prettily as could be. What wonder that -his face grew bright, and that he went about his work with a -cheerfulness that brought a darker scowl into the face of the Lascar! -This worthy had not advanced a single step towards the furtherance of -the scheme to which he had in a sort of measure pledged himself to -Solomon Fewster before he left Gravesend. True, he had gone on board -the "Merry Andrew" with the vaguest of ideas as to the manner in which -he should be able to carry out his intentions regarding Joshua. The -fact was, that he had been only anxious to get away from England for a -time; the brawl in which he had been engaged and had used his knife -was a serious one, and he was frightened for his own safety. But he -had played his cards cunningly with Solomon Fewster, and had succeeded -in extracting money and valuables from his cowardly master; thus -providing for his safety, and putting money in his purse at the same -time. Joshua had kept a sharp eye upon him during the whole of the -voyage, and he was compelled to be careful and wary for he knew that -Joshua was a favorite with the captain, and that he would be clapped -in irons upon the first sign of insubordination. Then he was -disappointed in finding that not another sailor on board but himself -owed Joshua a grudge, or was envious of him; so that he was alone in -his hate until that instinctive understanding took place between him -and the second mate Scadbolt, which made Joshua a mark for their -mutual animosity. The Lascar would have dearly liked to do Joshua an -ill turn; but he could not see his way to the accomplishment of his -wish. But even from this thwarting of his desire he derived a kind of -malicious satisfaction; for he could not help thinking with pleasure -of the dismay and disappointment Solomon Fewster would experience when -Joshua came home safe and sound. He could not help chuckling to -himself as he thought, "What a way he'll be in when the 'Merry Andrew' -gets into Blackwall, and how he'll storm and swear! But he'd better -mind what he's about with me. I owe him one for that threat of giving -me into custody for stealing the things he gave me." Certainly no such -sentiment as "Honor among thieves" found place in the breast of the -Lascar.</p> - -<p class="normal">And Minnie? She had not calculated the effect of living within -herself, as she had been compelled to do. Loving Joshua as she did -with all her heart and soul, she had deceived herself by believing -that she would be happy if she were only in the ship with him. Happy -she would have been, had he known her and spoken kindly to her; but -the gulf that divided them seemed to her to be wider than it would -have been had thousands of miles of ocean been between them. She had -time for reflection on board ship; and reflection, although it did not -turn the current of her love, nor lessen it, added to her misery. At -one time during the voyage she had been so unhappy that she was almost -on the point of throwing herself overboard; and indeed had she known -of the marriage between Joshua and Ellen she might really have done -so. Happily for her she was not aware of the marriage, and was spared -the contemplated sin. But she was on a rack of love and doubt, and was -truly unhappy in the present, and despairing in the future. She went -about her work in a dull mechanical way, keeping aloof from every one, -and never going on deck unless her duties called her there. Mrs. -Liddle saw that the poor girl was miserable, and questioned her. But -here Minnie's rebellious nature came into play; she shut her heart -against the proffered sympathy, and returned cold answers to her -mistress's kind questions. Mrs. Liddle was sorry, but not offended; -she saw that the girl was struggling with a great grief. "A love -affair, depend upon it John," she said to her husband; and she -respected Minnie's desire not to have her confidence openly intruded -upon. Minnie's behavior on board inspired Mrs. Liddle with the -conviction that her maid was a thoroughly good girl, and she could -overlook a great deal in a girl who behaved so well. And -notwithstanding Minnie's retired behavior, she was an object of -interest to all. The officers and sailors called her "the shy beauty," -"the pretty gypsy-maid," "the brown-faced little beauty;" and, when -she came towards them with her eyes downcast, made way for her with -almost as much deference as they did for the captain's wife. But she -spoke no word to any one of them, and lived her life of self-imposed -isolation in grief and silence.</p> - -<p class="normal">The wind was fair, and a favorable voyage was anticipated. Sail after -sail was clapped on, and Captain Liddle walked up and down the deck -with a beaming face and in a state of high satisfaction. Five of the -passengers were below in the first agonies of sea-sickness. Four were -on deck--the two friends, James Heartsease and Harry Wall, Stephen -Homebush, and Rough-and-Ready. The friends had travelled too many -thousands of miles upon the ocean to be troubled by sea-sickness now; -they had struggled with and vanquished that fell enemy years ago. -Rough-and-Ready was not the sort of man to give in; he treated -sea-sickness as he treated every thing else that came to him in a -threatening shape--he laughed in its face. Perhaps previous experience -enabled him to do so with impunity. Stephen Homebush was not so -fortunate. He had a large stock of bile, and (speaking after the -manner of a well-known great man) when he had got rid of a great deal, -he would have a great deal left. He certainly got rid of a great deal -upon this occasion; and accustomed as he was to wrestle against -yearnings of the flesh and terrible foes, this foe was too powerful -for him, and this yearning of the flesh sent him into a deep pit of -tribulation from which he saw no chance of escape. Some kind friend -had advised him not to go below when he was attacked; and in -accordance with that advice he remained on deck, possessed by a spirit -so fiendish as not only to set at naught the pious exhortations of the -worthy Stephen, but even to change words of piety into utterances that -sounded very like anathemas. Even in the midst of his agony, he looked -round for some one, as was his wont in his happier moods, upon whom to -pour the vials of his spleen; for Stephen Homebush had this peculiar -conviction with respect to himself. His invariable verdict when -tribulation visited other persons was, that it was a just -punishment--it was a visitation of the Lord. But there was no such -acknowledgment regarding any vexation by which he was afflicted. In -that case his opinion was, that he was suffering for the sins of -others, and the conviction was to him a sufficient proof of his own -worthiness and of the wickedness and unworthiness of every other -person. He looked round for some one on whom to vent his spleen; but -no person met his eye but Rough-and-Ready, whose merry face and -cheerful manner were an additional sting to the miserable Stephen. -Rough-and-Ready nodded encouragingly to the pale-faced Stephen, who -was leaning against the bulwarks, and said cheerfully, and really from -no ill-natured motive--</p> - -<p class="normal">"You will be better by and by, Mr. Homebush. Besides, it will do you -good."</p> - -<p class="normal">These last words were unfortunately chosen; for the afflicted -Stephen--who had heard the discreditable stories attached to -Rough-and-Ready, and who had already judged him as a sinner of the -first magnitude--glared at the speaker, and said with difficulty, -"Scoffer, sinner!"</p> - -<p class="normal">He intended to add, "Repent!" but a sudden paroxysm compelled him to -confide that exhortation to the waves.</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready laughed gayly, and turning on his heel, met the -captain, and fell into step with him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Some of the sailors are grumbling," observed Rough-and-Ready, -"because we have set sail on a Friday."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Grumble!" exclaimed Captain Liddle, pettishly. "Ay, and they'll -grumble till the end of the voyage. I have had that sort of thing -occur to me before. This is the fifth time I have started on a Friday, -and nothing more unusual ever occurred than occurred at any other -time. But the men wouldn't believe it, and won't believe it now. If a -head-wind comes, it is because we set sail on a Friday; if we're -becalmed, because we set sail on a Friday; if there's a squall, -because we set sail on a Friday; if a man tumbles overboard, -because we set sail on a Friday; if we lose a spar, if a sail is -split, because we set sail on a Friday. I do believe, if one of -them cuts his finger, he thinks, 'Curse the skipper! What the -something unmentionable did he set sail on a Friday for?'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have no doubt, skipper," said Rough-and-Ready, smiling and pointing -to Stephen Homebush, whose head was hanging over the bulwarks, as if -its owner were curiously interested in the swelling of the waves, -"that Mr. Homebush is quite ready to side with the men, and to declare -that he is sea-sick because you set sail on a Friday."</p> - -<p class="normal">Captain Liddle smiled at the pious sufferer, and shrugged his -shoulders. It was evident, although he said nothing upon the subject, -that he had already formed a not too favorable opinion of Stephen -Homebush.</p> - -<p class="normal">For the first three days the prognostications of the sailors, that -"something" was sure to happen because the voyage was commenced upon a -Friday, did not seem likely to be realized. The weather was fine, the -wind was fair, and every stitch of canvas was set. But the grumbling -did not cease, and for a very good reason. Scadbolt and the Lascar did -their best to keep the subject warm, and between them managed to -foment and increase the dissatisfaction. Captain Liddle, cognizant of -this, became stern and strict, and took but little rest. He did not -know who it was that was encouraging the men; he suspected Scadbolt, -and, estimating his second mate at his proper worth, he wanted but the -slightest confirmation of his suspicions to take prompt action against -the offender. By this time the passengers had recovered from their -sea-sickness, and begun to assemble on the deck. Stephen and Rachel -Homebush set to work vigorously in their task of reclaiming the -sinners, in which category every person but themselves on board was -included; but though they prayed (for others), and groaned (for -others), and "wrestled" (for others), their efforts were not crowned -with success. Indeed, the only person who tolerated them at all was -the man who had the worst character, and whom nearly everybody -avoided. Rough-and-Ready was a treasure to the pious couple. To him, -as the most illustrious sinner within their reach, they imparted the -knowledge of their own goodness and of everybody else's wickedness; -him they informed that their special mission (out of heaven) was to -lead him to the waters of grace, and that his special mission was to -be led thereto by them. They prayed for him wrathfully, in stony -voices, and would have wept over him, had he allowed them to do so. -And when they found that they made no impression upon him (for it was -only his good-nature that induced him to listen to them), they groaned -the louder, and prayed the longer, and wrestled the more, because of -the hardness of man's heart. It was a curious thing, seeing how good -they were and how bad he was, to observe the conduct of Little Emma, -Mrs. Pigeon's five-year-old daughter, towards the saints and the -sinner. The little child ran away from the saints, and cried and -struggled when Rachel Homebush took her hand; but when she saw the -sinner, she ran into his arms with perfect confidence, and submitted -to be tossed in the air and to be kissed by him very much as if she -liked it. But then children have no judgment.</p> - -<p class="normal">Towards the close of the third day the weather became threatening, and -the sails were taken in. This set the grumblers at work more busily -than ever. Some time before midnight, the watch being in charge of the -second mate, Captain Liddle came unaware upon two of the men who were -grumbling, and sternly asked them what they were grumbling at. The -Lascar was one of the twain, and of course he did not reply; but the -other man, being pressed by the captain, pulled at his forelock, and -said that the sailors weren't pleased because the voyage had been -commenced on their unlucky day.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And that's the cause of this rough weather, eh?" questioned Captain -Liddle sarcastically.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, your honor," was the reply. "Why, even the second mate says so."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Does he?" cried Captain Liddle, turning wrathfully upon Scadbolt, who -at that moment approached them. "What do you mean, Mr. Scadbolt, by -spreading dissatisfaction among the crew?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Brought face to face with the man to whom he had spoken, Scadbolt, who -was no coward, gave him a threatening look, and said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, sir, I've an objection to setting sail on Friday; and, as you -see, the men have the same objection."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I see quite enough to warn you to be careful," said Captain Liddle in -a determined tone; "I have warned you before, and I warn you now for -the last time. Keep your objections to yourself, sir, and trouble -yourself only with your duty.--And you, men, attend to yours, and let -me hear no more of this nonsense. You know me well enough to know that -I will not be trifled with."</p> - -<p class="normal">The men slouched away, and Scadbolt was obliged to suppress his -passion for the time: but it burned the fiercer for that.</p> - -<p class="normal">The next day the weather became worse, and circumstances thus gave a -color to the dissatisfaction, which grew stronger every hour. But the -captain was equal to both emergencies; like a good sailor and a stout -captain he grappled with the storm that raged without, and with that -scarcely less dangerous one that raged within. He was seldom off the -deck, and when he did go down to snatch an hour's rest, he left Joshua -on board to watch in his place. For Captain Liddle was not slow to -discover that Joshua was the man of all the other men on the ship upon -whose faithfulness he could best depend. He said this many times to -his wife, and often spoke to her in praise of Joshua. Minnie heard -this, and heard also of the dissatisfaction among the sailors, and how -Scadbolt, the second mate, had fomented the dissatisfaction. About -this time a whisper spread among the passengers that there were three -or four sailors in the crew who only wanted a favorable opportunity to -break into open mutiny. Confirmation of this was given by the captain, -on the third day of the bad weather, when the ship was scudding along -under bare poles. He, coming down hastily into the saloon, went into -his cabin, and made his appearance in a few minutes with a belt -buckled round his waist and two pistols in it. The passengers, -looking at each other in astonishment, received another shock -presently by the surprising appearance of Rough-and-Ready. His dress -hitherto had been of a respectable character black coat and waistcoat -and tweed trousers; but now he had on a red-serge shirt, and a rough -billycock-hat, and buckskin riding-trousers, and boots that reached -half-way up his thighs, and a red-silk sash round his waist, with -knife and pistol stuck therein. You may guess the alarm he caused -among the ladies; the only passenger who seemed pleased at the change -in his appearance was little Emma Pigeon, who skipped round him -delightedly, and clapped her hands in approval of his bright-colored -shirt and sash. Rough-and-Ready caught the child in his arms and gave -her a hearty kiss, and nodded cordially to the fellow-passengers who -had so studiously avoided him. They were so frightened at his -desperate appearance, that they forgot to frown upon him as they were -wont to do. Rough-and-Ready then going on deck, walked up to Captain -Liddle, and said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"You can depend upon me, skipper. I've seen this sort of thing -before."</p> - -<p class="normal">Captain Liddle gave him a look of grateful acknowledgment, and they -made their way into the midst of a knot of sailors who were standing -irresolutely about Scadbolt and Joshua. Joshua was cool but perplexed, -and Scadbolt was in a furious rage.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Whose watch is this?" asked Captain Liddle. He knew well enough, but -he had a motive for asking.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mine, sir," answered Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What are the men hanging about for?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I gave an order, sir, and Mr. Scadbolt countermanded it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Give your order again, Mr. Marvel."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua did so; and as Scadbolt, in a voice thick with passion, was -desiring the men not to obey it, Captain Liddle very promptly knocked -him down. Calling two of the sailors by name, Captain Liddle ordered -them to put the second mate in irons. After the confusion which -followed the execution of this order had partially subsided, Captain -Liddle cried out,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, then, what have you to complain of? Speak out like men."</p> - -<p class="normal">At this one of the sailors stepped forward, and said respectfully,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, your honor, some of us think it would have been better if we -had stopped in port another day."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's a matter of opinion," said the captain. "You have a right to -yours, but I have a right to mine also; and I am master of this ship. -Now I ask you as sensible men and good sailors, is it right that you -should forget your duty because we don't agree upon a certain point? -Do you know what this means my men?" pointing to Scadbolt. "It means -mutiny. What would any one of you do if you were skipper in my place -You would put a stop to it at once, as I have done, and as I intend to -do. I'll do it by reason, if you'll let me, and I'll say nothing of -any other means, for I don't want to use them. I speak you fair, men, -and I mean you fair. What do you say, now, to treating me as I treat -you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Acquiescent murmurs ran round the crew, most of whom had gathered -together during the scene. "And at such a time as this too," continued -Captain Liddle, "though it would be all the same in fair weather or -foul. I'll tell you something that many of you, as good mariners, -suspect already. We are near a dangerous coast--how near I do not -know, for I have not been able to take a sight for two days. And it's -at such a time as this that this bad sailor--I found out before we got -into the Bay of Biscay that he wasn't as good as he ought to be--it's -at such a time as this that he tries to get you into trouble. Come, -now, have I spoke you fair?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, you have; spoke like a man!" a dozen voices said.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's well said. Whoever is on my side step over to me."</p> - -<p class="normal">Every man--even the Lascar, too much of a coward to stand -aloof--stepped to the captain's side and saluted him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I'm proud of my crew," was the captain's simple remark after this. -"Now go to your duty."</p> - -<p class="normal">As the captain walked on to the poop, Rough-and-Ready said,</p> - -<p class="normal">"That was well done, skipper; but there are two or three black sheep -among 'em, for all that."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I know it," replied Captain Liddle, with a significant look. "I shall -keep a sharp look-out on them. I've got a man on board that's a match -for a dozen black sheep, or I'm very much mistaken."</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready laughed and turned on his heel, and Captain Liddle -went down to say an encouraging word to his wife.</p> - -<p class="normal">On the eighth day the captain, suspecting that they were in the -vicinity of the Minerva Shoal, near which there were some dangerous -rocks, ordered a sharp lookout to be kept for broken water. All the -passengers were by this time in a state of great alarm, and although -Captain Liddle tried to cheer them by encouraging words, his anxious -face belied his speech. Perhaps the one who suffered the most from -terror was Stephen Homebush. His terror was so great that he forgot -his mission, and flew to others for consolation, instead of imparting -it. Such men as he are most true to their calling when the weather is -fine. It was a miserably dark night. The captain, completely tired -out, had gone down to his cabin for a little rest. All the passengers, -with the exception of Rough-and-Ready, who never seemed to sleep, and -yet was the freshest man of them all, had retired to their beds with -hearts filled by gloomy forebodings of what the morrow might bring; -and there they lay, tossing about, listening to the raging wind that -was driving them perhaps to certain death. In the captain's cabin were -Mrs. Liddle and her maid. There was something in the present danger -that was to Minnie almost a relief from the horrible monotony of her -life. Her self-imposed silence had become unbearable, and she fretted -under it until her health was in danger of giving way. So that this -change, with all its terrors and uncertainties, was an absolute relief -to her. She was too sad and unhappy to be frightened at the prospect -of death. Had the future held out to her any hope of happiness, she -would have prayed to live; but as it was--"Better to die," she -thought, "and so end all." There is no doubt that this miserable state -of her mind was due to the want of proper moral training in her -childhood. Thrown completely upon herself; with no mother's love to -teach her what is often taught by love's instinct alone, that such and -such impulses and thoughts are weeds that destroy, and such and such -are flowers that beautify: doomed to the almost sole companionship of -a father whose misfortunes had rendered him an unfit teacher, it is -scarcely to be wondered at that she should have been oblivious of the -true duty of life.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Bessie," said Captain Liddle to his wife, "I have come down for an -hour's sleep. I can rest with confidence, for Marvel is keeping the -watch."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Liddle nodded, and gave him a sweet little smile that was like -wine to him; and Minnie heard him say, in answer to a whisper from his -wife, "We are in God's hands, Bessie, and must trust to His mercy." -"We are in God's hands, and must trust to His mercy," thought Minnie -as she left the cabin; "and Joshua is keeping the watch. Death may be -very near. Will it be wrong to speak to him?" Mechanically she made -her way to the deck, stumbling two or three times and bruising -herself. But she felt no pain. "I should like to die near him," she -thought; "if he would take my hand in his, I should be content and -happy."</p> - -<p class="normal">Nothing but darkness surrounded her on deck. She clung to a rope, -appalled by the mournfulness of the scene. Not a star was to be seen -in the heavens, and the sky and water were as black as the night. So -solemn, so mournful was every thing around, that the ship seemed to be -rushing into a pit of death, where no light was. She could not see her -hand before her, but all at once her heart beat wildly at the sound of -Joshua's voice. He was speaking to Rough-and-Ready, and they were -quite near her, although she had not seen them. Even now she could but -barely discern their forms in the gloom. Joshua had just made a remark -that Rough-and-Ready must have been a great traveller.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," answered Rough-and-Ready, "I've been about a pretty great deal. -I've led a wild life; but then, you see, I never had any one to care -for but myself."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Never?" questioned Joshua, in a tone that had a dash of pity in it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Never but once, and that was only for a little while. But what -matters? It will be all one by and by."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should be sorry to think you meant that," continued Joshua; "it -would be a sad belief that, at such a time as this."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You speak as if you didn't believe it, at all events," said -Rough-and-Ready, in tones as soft as a girl's; "but then your -circumstances are different to mine. You are young; I am"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not old."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Old enough for twice your years. Then you have friends at home, -mayhap?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay, dear ones."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mother and father?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay; God bless them!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Wife perhaps?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua gave a gasp that sounded almost like a cry of pain.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah, well," continued Rough-and-Ready, "if we were to go down this -minute, I don't know the man or woman who would say 'Poor fellow!' -when my fate was known. I leave no one behind me, and my death would -bring no grief to a single soul. Perhaps my condition is the happier -of the two."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not so," said Joshua sadly; "and I hope--indeed I believe--that you -don't mean what you say. I have a friend at home--Dan, his name--to -whom the news of my death would be the bitterest grief. I have dear -ones at home, whose lives would be lives of mourning if I were not to -return. I know this, and feel the pain that they would experience -should it be God's will that we are not to escape this peril. But, -strange as it may sound, I would not spare them the pain if it were in -my power. Could I, by a wish, destroy the memories that make my life -dear to me and them--dearer than you imagine--and so pluck from their -hearts and minds the sting that my death would bring to them, I would -not do so. For after death, there is life!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You believe in the immortality of the soul, mate?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Surely; and you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready made no reply.</p> - -<p class="normal">"'Tis often difficult to believe in what we don't understand. On such -a night as this--bleak, dreary, awfully solemn--with death waiting for -us within a few yards perhaps--it is difficult to believe that there -are spots on the earth where the sun is shining and where the flowers -are blooming."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's true, mate; you speak more like a scholar than a sailor. Shake -hands."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I learned a great deal from the friend of whom I have spoken," said -Joshua, grasping Rough-and-Ready's hand. "What is that ahead of us?"</p> - -<p class="normal">A dark cloud. Impossible to see whether it belonged to earth, or air, -or water. A moment after he uttered the words, the man who was keeping -the look-out cried that there was land ahead. Joshua hastily gave some -orders, and was making his way to the saloon to arouse the captain, -when he was almost thrown off his legs by a terrible shock. -Involuntarily he threw his arms around Minnie, who was clinging to the -rope. She held him fast for a moment, and he cried,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who is this?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is me," she said; "cling to me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't stir," he whispered rapidly, filled with a wild amazement at -the familiar tones of Minnie's voice; "if it were not that I know I am -not dreaming, I could believe a spirit spoke, and not a woman. But -keep you here; do not move for your life."</p> - -<p class="normal">The next instant all was confusion, and cries and lamentations filled -the air. Captain Liddle was on deck barefooted, and all the passengers -were there in their nightdresses, clinging to ropes and spars, praying -and crying and wringing their hands. Great seas washed over the ship, -drowning the cries for a brief time; the night was so dark that their -true situation could not be discovered, and imagination added to their -terrors and magnified them. The captain could do literally nothing; -for the ship appeared to have been lifted on to the rocks, and kept -bumping against them in its endeavors to get free. And yet there was -sea all around them. Some of the passengers had sought shelter under -the lee of the cuddy, among them the captain's wife, Mr. and Mrs. -Pigeon and Little Emma, and Steven and Rachel Homebush. Many times -during the night was the voice of Stephen Homebush heard, calling upon -the Lord to save <i>him</i>; while his sister Rachel, braver than he, stood -by his side, with a stern set face, in silence. The cheery laugh of -Mrs. Pigeon was stilled, but she was not so overcome by terror as not -to be a comfort to her husband and child; during the dark night those -three clung together and comforted each other as well as they were -able; while the captain, making his way from one group to another, -bade them not lose heart; for the ship seemed to be keeping together, -and when daylight came their condition might be found to be less -desperate than it appeared.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Besides," he whispered to the male passengers, "we have three or four -rascals among the sailors, and for the sake of the women we must keep -ourselves cool and self-possessed."</p> - -<p class="normal">To his wife he said simply,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, Bessie, this is a bad job. I ought not to have allowed you to -come with me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I would sooner be here with you, John," she said, kissing him, "than -I would be at home in safety."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Brave little heart," he whispered to himself as he walked away from -her. "Yet I could bear it better if I were alone."</p> - -<p class="normal">James Heartsease and Harry Wall kept together, as friends should, all -through the night. They felt not a particle of fear; they thought it -was very grand and very awful, and spoke in calm tones of what the -morrow might bring.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't think we shall see China, Jim," said Harry.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Perhaps not. Hope no body will be hurt," was the reply. "What a grand -painting this would make!"</p> - -<p class="normal">A few minutes after Joshua had left Minnie, he came to the cuddy, -where Mrs. Liddle had sought protection.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mr. Marvel," she called to him, "have you seen my maid?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Then it came upon him that the woman to whom he had clung when the -ship struck was the gypsy-maid who had kept herself so reserved, and -he said, "Yes my lady; do you want her?"</p> - -<p class="normal">All the officers called the captain's wife "my lady," and she was -proud of the title.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," she answered; "I wish you could bring her to me, poor girl; she -is friendless and unhappy, poor child!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Has she no friends at home, my lady?" Joshua could not help asking.</p> - -<p class="normal">"None, I believe."</p> - -<p class="normal">The word "home" reached little Emma Pigeon's ears, and as she nestled -in her mother's arms, the child cried, "Mother, are we going home?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, yes, my dear," sobbed Mrs. Pigeon; "try to go to sleep, there's -a darling." And she rocked the child, and sang a little song about -birds and angels.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua, steadying himself as he walked cautiously to where Minnie was -standing, wondered to himself whether it was fancy that had made the -gypsy-maid's voice sound so familiar to him; a sea washing over the -deck, drenched him to the skin, and as he stood upright and shook the -water from his clothes, the memories that were stirred within him -brought to him a picture of the dear old kitchen at Stepney, with -himself half-naked, barefooted, and with the water streaming from him, -standing at the door. The vision may have occupied but a moment, but -the picture was complete; father, mother, Ellen, Dan and the birds, -the Old Sailor, all were there. But where was Minnie? Why, by his -side, with short curly hair and brown gypsy-face. "Am I mad?" he -exclaimed, as he dashed the waters from his eyes. But when he reached -the spot where Minnie stood, and she clasped his hand and said, "Thank -God, you are safe!" his amazement grew.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I cannot see your face," he whispered, with his arm round her, for -the better protection of both; "but your voice is strangely familiar -to me. Do I know you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes. But do not press me farther. Wait till the light comes. Shall we -live till then?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I hope so."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Will you promise me to keep near me till daylight comes? It is my -dearest wish--my only one."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I promise," he said, strangely agitated, "until my duty calls me -away."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And even then, you will come back when you have done your task, and -stand by my side?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I will, my poor girl. I have come now to bring you to the captain's -lady."</p> - -<p class="normal">"She sent you for me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes."</p> - -<p class="normal">"She is a good lady. But wait a little; I have something to say -first." Many moments passed before she spoke again, and in the pause a -grateful prayer went up from the girl's heart even for the small -blessing of gentle speech from her hero's lips. "You have made me -very, very happy. Until tonight--for many, many months past--I have -been most unhappy." She bent her lips to his hand and kissed it. "Now -answer me. We are in great peril?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"The greatest, I fear."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But a danger threatens you of which you are not aware. Listen. The -second mate, he who was put in irons the other day"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Scadbolt--go on."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is loosed."</p> - -<p class="normal">"By whom?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know. But he is loosed, and but five minutes since was near -me with a sailor whom I think I know, although I could not see him. -Listen. I must whisper, for he may be near us now. They were talking -of you, and they swore--O my God!--they swore to have your life."</p> - -<p class="normal">"They spoke of me by name?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"By name--Joshua Marvel."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You think you know the sailor who was talking to Scadbolt. Is he a -dark man?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes; a Lascar I think."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are right. He owes me an old grudge."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Scadbolt said that this coast is one of the most dangerous upon which -a ship could strike. He believes he knows pretty well where we are, -and that it will be a fight for the boats"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"We have only two, the jolly-boat and the longboat; he may be right."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Be on your guard; tell the captain; be prepared."</p> - -<p class="normal">"We will; and you"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can protect myself. Feel this."</p> - -<p class="normal">"A knife!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I picked it up. Let them beware."</p> - -<p class="normal">Another lurch of the vessel made them cling closer to each other. -During all the horror of the scene, Joshua had not dared to ask -whether it really was Minnie to whom he was speaking; he feared to -know the truth. Minnie on the ship with him! and Ellen at home--and -Dan--he dared not think of it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Come," he said; "I will take you to the captain's lady. Cling fast to -me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Say a few words to me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What are they?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"God bless and forgive you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"God bless and forgive you! From my heart."</p> - -<p class="normal">"He will, I think," said the girl, as if communing with herself. "I -have not felt so happy for a long time past. Death has no terror for -me if you are kind!"</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXX.</h4> - -<h5>JOSHUA IS PROMOTED.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">When daylight came--and oh, how they watched for it, and -prayed for -it!--they saw clearly their great peril. The ship was rolling amongst -a mass of sharp rocks jutting upwards from the sea. They saw the -points of these rocks on all sides of them; but no friendly land was -in view.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The ship is lost," said Captain Liddle to Joshua whom he looked upon -as his right-hand; "she is breaking up fast. Our next chance is the -boats."</p> - -<p class="normal">It was a wonder indeed how the "Merry Andrew" had kept together during -the night, with the tremendous beating she had received from the -rocks; if she had been in deep water, she must inevitably have sunk.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua had told Captain Liddle of the understanding between Scadbolt -and the Lascar, as overhead by Minnie; and now the captain walked to -where the two conspirators were standing in conversation with other -sailors. Scadbolt was endeavoring to persuade them to seize the jolly -boat, and leave the passengers to shift for themselves.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What is that you are saying?" cried the captain breaking in amongst -them, and grasping Scadbolt by the shoulder with a grasp of iron. -"More incitings to mutiny! Take heed, sir! Give me but a little -stronger cause--nay, dare to lay a finger upon boats or provisions -without leave--and, by God, I'll throw you into the sea!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Will you stand this, men?" shouted Scadbolt, writhing in the -captain's grasp.</p> - -<p class="normal">The Lascar made a movement towards the captain, and the glitter of a -knife flashed in the light; but a blow from Joshua sent him reeling, -and in an instant the knife was torn from his hand.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Remember!" said Joshua in a low voice. "You had a lesson from me -years ago. What the captain does to Scadbolt, I do to you, you -treacherous cur."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I remember," muttered the Lascar, presenting the singular aspect of a -man cowed by fear and raging with furious passion at the same time, "I -swore to have your heart's blood, and I'll have it! Look you! the end -has not yet come. Give me my knife."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua looked at the knife; it was one-bladed, with a clasp--one of -the articles, indeed, which the Lascar had wrested from Solomon -Fewster's fears.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You asked me once before for a knife I took from you," he said; "then -I broke it before I gave it back. But this--this I mean to keep."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now then my men," cried the captain, in a cheery voice, "this is the -second time that this damned rascal has tried to step between you and -me. What I feared then has happened now. The ship is breaking up, and -can't hold together for many days, and if the weather gets worse, may -break up in a day. There are certain chances in our favor, every one -of which will be destroyed unless we act in friendly concert and like -men. This scoundrel has tried to make you believe that your interests -and the interests of the passengers are in opposition. He lies! I -declare to you, as a captain and a man" (if he had said a gentleman, -all would have been ruined), "that your lives and your safety are as -dear to me, as those of anybody else on board--except my wife," he -said softly yet stoutly, and murmurs of "Bravo, skipper! Bravo you're -a man!" broke even from the lips of those sailors who were most -disposed to be won over by Scadbolt. "Well then, you hear me declare -now, as I have declared before, that I mean you fair. And I declare -moreover, that our only chance of safety is in union. Once again--With -me,--or Against me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"With you I with you, skipper!"</p> - -<p class="normal">During this scene, Joshua did not know that Minnie was standing near -him. Now, releasing the Lascar with warning words, he turned and saw -her. She met his gaze unflinchingly, and a hot blush mantled over her -neck and face. He gazed at her for so long a time, that she drooped -her head before him, and stood in an attitude of pleading. But he -could not doubt the evidence of his senses. Her manner, no less than -her appearance, convinced him. It was Minnie, indeed, who stood before -him.</p> - -<p class="normal">He covered his eyes with his hand, and staggered to the saloon. If a -thousand despairing and undeserved deaths had stared him in the face, -he could not have been more shocked and bewildered. He sat down and -tried to think. What was the meaning of it? What did they know at -home? What did they, know? What might they suspect? He saw himself and -the Old Sailor together in the boat at Gravesend, and heard that -faithful old friend tell him of Minnie's love for him, and what it was -his duty to do. He had seen his duty clearly then: love for Ellen no -less than duty--affection for his friend and brother, no less than -love and duty--impelled him to the right and honorable course of -making Ellen his wife. And then! Why, within three days of that -consummation of his dearest hope, he and Minnie were together on board -the "Merry Andrew." If they at home knew it, suspected it even, must -they not believe that his whole life was a monstrous lie? that he had -planned, plotted, deceived, schemed, to prove how utterly false he was -to the woman who adored him, to the man who believed in him, to the -kind mother and father who loved him better than Benjamin was loved? -For a few moments he lost all consciousness of present peril. The ship -beat amongst the rocks; the seas dashed over the deck: he heard them -not, felt them not. He took from his breast Ellen's picture and the -lock of hair she had given him at their parting, and kissed them -again and again while his tears ran on them. Strangely enough, there -came to his ears then, in the midst of his agony, his father's hearty -exultant voice, saying, "This is better than being a wood-turner all -one's life, isn't it, Josh?" He shivered and sobbed and cried, "O Dan, -Dan, do not forsake me!" and stretched forth his hands as if his -friend were near. A hand upon his shoulder aroused him, He looked up, -and saw the captain's wife. She was a brave woman, and had done much -during the night to sustain the courage of the others.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is a man's work to do on deck," she said to him gravely and -sweetly. "You are not growing faint-hearted?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, my lady," he answered, "not faint-hearted at the prospect of -death; but I have received a shock worse than death."</p> - -<p class="normal">She did not stop to ask for an explanation of his meaning--time was -too precious; but she took the picture of Ellen and looked at it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"My wife, my lady," he said, with a sob.</p> - -<p class="normal">A troubled expression crossed her features, and she said -encouragingly,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nay, all hope is not gone; we may succeed in reaching land, or some -ship may see us and pick us up. But all private grief must give way -now for the general good. There are not too many faithful men on -board; the lives of others depend on them. If they lose heart, and -yield to the selfishness of their grief, we are lost."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua jumped to his feet and wiped his tears.</p> - -<p class="normal">"They are not unmanly tears, my lady," he said bravely; "I can justify -them to you when there is no pressing work to do. Thank you for -calling me to my duty."</p> - -<p class="normal">She smiled brightly on him and shook hands with him. When he got on -deck, the captain was giving orders to lower the jolly-boat; but as -the boat was being lowered, the broken water caught her and splintered -her to pieces. The sailors and passengers looked with dismay at the -fragments of the boat drifting away and dashing against the jagged -rocks. "What next?" they all thought.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Try the long-boat, men," cried the captain. And in accordance with -his instructions, the long-boat--the only one left--was launched over -the vessel's side; but as she hung in the tackle a huge wave dashed up -and filled her. It was imperative that the water should be bailed out -of her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who will do it?" asked the captain, loath to give an order in which -there was almost certain death. Joshua was about to start forward, -when Minnie's hand upon his arm restrained him. Before he could shake -off the grasp, the first mate, crying, "I'm a single man; I've no wife -and children waiting for me at home!" jumped into the boat up to his -waist in water, and began to bail it out. But he had not bailed out a -dozen gallons when the stern-post was jerked out of the boat, which -was left hanging in the tackle. The shouts of the men and the screams -of the women apprised him of his danger; and as he looked about to see -how he could remedy the disaster, the fore-tackle got adrift, and the -boat was battling with cruel rocks and water. The force of the current -was too powerful for her. The captain threw out lines to the -unfortunate man, but he could not catch them. But if he had, he would -have been bruised to death by the sharp rocks. The moment before he -went down, he waved a good-by to those on board. A long silence -followed. The women looked anxiously at the captain, but saw no hope -in his face. Then with a gesture to all to follow him, he went down to -the saloon, and there read prayers, and commended them to God. He was -not what is understood as a religious man; but knowing the danger in -which they stood, he conceived this to be a duty. That done, he said, -"Men and passengers, we have one chance left, and only one. Out of -our masts and spars we can make a raft sufficiently large to hold all -of us. Then we may be able to reach some friendly land. To stay on -board and wait, and not work, is certain death. Even as it is, a raft -will take us some days to make, and the ship may break to pieces -before it is done. But we must trust to God for that. What we've got -to do is to work like men, for our own sakes, for the sake of the -women, and for the sake of wives and children at home. Some of you -have these, I know. It is not for me, now that we are in such a -strait, to say, do this, or do that; although under any circumstances -I shall insist upon discipline and order. I can't make you work, and -therefore I submit for your approval the plan I think best for general -safety. Have any of you a better one to propose?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, no!" was the unanimous cry.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Very well; then we'll determine upon this. And for the better -carrying out of our design, I appoint Mr. Marvel second in command. He -is first mate now. If any thing happens to me, you will look to him. -When the raft is made, and safely launched--if it please God that it -shall be so--we will set down necessary rules for all on board. Until -that time there is but one rule--to work. Every man on board must -work--passengers and all; and every man must aid me in preserving -order."</p> - -<p class="normal">The captain's manly speech infused hope into every heart; and -exclamations of "Good!" "Bravo skipper!" "Well said, sir!" followed -his last words.</p> - -<p class="normal">"One other thing," he said, in a more determined voice: "to my certain -knowledge, we have unfortunately among us two men who have endeavored -to spread dissatisfaction and add to our confusion. I will not point -out these men; they are known to me and all of you. They are men, -though, as we are, so far as the value of life to each of us goes; and -it is only fair that they should have equal chances with us. But this -I declare, by my dear wife's life! If these men do not work, and if -they attempt any thing that is not for the general good, I will shoot -them with my own hand! Now then, to the deck!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Not a man among them who did not take off his coat and set to work -with a will. There were a great many loose spars on board, which, with -the mizenmast, were found to be sufficient for their purpose. They -tried to cut down the mainmast; but there was so much danger in the -attempt that it was relinquished. For three days they worked like -slaves. The rocks served as a resting-place for the ends of the -largest spars, which were firmly lashed together and nailed; the light -and short spars were used for the centre of the raft, upon which a -kind of platform was raised on which many of the shipwrecked persons -could lie out of the water; a mast, to carry sails was also rigged up. -The raft was not finished too soon; they could not have stopped -another day on the ship. While the work was going on, three of the -sailors lost their lives, so that already their number was lessened by -four. The raft being ready, it was launched with great difficulty. The -next anxious question was provisions; and the result of their inquiry -blanched many a cheek. All the bread was spoiled by the salt water, -and most of the preserved meat had been lost, in consequence of having -been brought on deck when they tried to launch the boats. They also -made another disheartening discovery. They could only find two small -kegs to hold water. Still, when the first shock of these discoveries -was over, they were borne bravely, almost cheerfully. The women, -excepting Rachel Homebush, were the cause of this; they smiled upon -the workers, encouraged them, and made them hopeful in spite of -themselves. Even Mrs. Pigeon recovered some of her good spirits; and -knowing that her merry laugh was a comfort to the men, she laughed -often when she was not inclined for mirth. The little child, Emma, was -the only truly happy one of the party, and her presence drove away -many a hard thought. Rough-and-Ready had his anxious intervals, but he -worked with a will. Between him and Joshua a strong attachment sprung -up; each admired the manliness of the other. He was also particularly -kind to Minnie, and she grew accustomed to look upon him with -confidence, and to trust in him. The night before the raft was -launched, Joshua persuaded Captain Liddle to take a night's rest.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It will be all the better for you and all of us, sir," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But you too, Marvel," said Captain Liddle, "you want rest as much as -I. I don't believe you have had two hours' sleep since we struck." -This was really true; both Joshua and the captain had been in -defatigable.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Never mind me, sir," said Joshua, with a sad sweet smile. "You have -your wife to attend to. Besides, I promise that I will rest to-morrow -night, if you will give me leave."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are a noble fellow, Marvel;" and Captain Liddle gazed admiringly -at the young sailor. "I have often wondered how you acquired certain -qualities that are not common to the ordinary sailor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know, sir; I doubt if they were ever in me. They must have -been put there by my friend Dan, who is nobleness itself."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dan? Ah! the lame boy with the wonderful birds; that I saw at your -house. I liked his face."</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is the dearest fellow"--Joshua turned away his head.</p> - -<p class="normal">The next day the provisions and the charts and instruments, and many -things that would be useful, such as blankets, tools, and writing -materials, were stowed safely on the raft. Of the provisions there was -a very small store: twenty tins of preserved meat, a small quantity of -sugar, about a gallon of rum, and two kegs of water. By the time every -thing useful was stowed away and secured, and the passengers were -safely on the raft, it was evening, and within three hours the "Merry -Andrew" broke completely up. The raft, having parted its moorings, -forced by the strong current, was carried to sea, and the passengers -watched the last of the ship with unmixed feelings of sadness. The -women shed tears, and all of them, men and women, felt as if they had -lost a friend. When the vessel was out of sight a stronger feeling of -desolation stole upon the unhappy group, and Rough-and-Ready had many -looks of astonishment cast upon him as he rubbed his hands and said in -a cheerful voice, "This is splendid. Now we can be comfortable." But -it was well for them that they had some stout hearts on board.</p> - -<p class="normal">The direct allusion made by Captain Liddle to Scadbolt and the Lascar -had had its effect upon those worthies; they knew that their lives -depended upon their conduct. But they found means to exchange -confidences, and they resolved to revenge themselves on both Joshua -and the captain when opportunity served. "Wait till we make land," -said Scadbolt; "they shall smart then the pair of them. I'll teach -both of them the meaning of 'general good!'" The Lascar's old feeling -of hate for Joshua had been revived in all its intensity by the late -scene between them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I'll have my knife back," he muttered to himself as he lay on the -raft the first night, at a little distance from Joshua, watching him -with venomous looks, "and his heart's blood with it."</p> - -<p class="normal">Not a movement, not a glance, escaped Minnie's notice. Aware of the -feelings of hate entertained by the Lascar for Joshua, she set herself -the task of watching over Joshua's safety. He, overpowered by fatigue, -had been persuaded by the captain to take some sleep, and when he lay -down Minnie crept to his side and remained there during the night. He -slept long and peacefully through the solemn night and after the gray -morning had dawned, dreaming of home, of Dan and Ellen, and murmuring -their names with a smile upon his lips.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXXI.</h4> - -<h5>ON THE RAFT.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Joshua, opening his eyes, saw Minnie sitting by his side. She, -seeing -that he was awake, moved quietly away without a word, and went to -where the other women were lying. He had been so fatigued when he lay -down to rest, that his sleep had been very profound; and when he -awoke, the full sense of his situation did not come upon him. Minnie, -sitting by his side with her brown face and short curls, was the first -thing he saw; and it seemed to him for a brief space that he was -dreaming. But when she moved away and joined the other women, he -remembered the perils they had encountered, and the terrible position -in which they were placed. He would have called to her, but that some -feeling restrained him; and although he thought much of her during the -day, he was glad that he had not spoken to her. Besides, his attention -was diverted for a time to another circumstance. Some of the men were -clamoring for breakfast. Neither Scadbolt nor the Lascar was among the -murmurers; these last consisted of the weakest of the party, who were -less able than the others to bear hunger, and to whom the fear of -starvation made it appear as if they had been already fasting a day.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Breakfast! breakfast!" they cried.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Wait till ten o'clock," said the captain, in a stern determined -voice; "you can't be hungry already. If you don't cease murmuring, I -will put off breakfast until twelve."</p> - -<p class="normal">This threat silenced them.</p> - -<p class="normal">In the mean time the captain called his council together, and -consulted with them. There were four in the council: himself, Joshua, -Rough-and-Ready, and an old sailor named Standish, who had been -wrecked twice before, and who consequently was looked upon as a -distinguished personage. At eight o'clock the captain read prayers. -Then the men, with the exception of the council, sat idly watching the -water, and looking out for a fish. The morning was fine; one of the -sailors noted for quaint sayings remarked that the weather had no -business to be fine; it was a mockery. At ten o'clock the captain -piped all hands; the call was answered readily, but there were no -signs of breakfast.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Be seated," said the captain.</p> - -<p class="normal">They all sat down, with the exception of the captain and his three -counsellors. The captain stood in front, his supporters behind.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We who stand," said the captain, "have been constituted by me, -commander of this ship, into a council for the discussion and -deliberation of all matters relating to the general welfare. The -fairness of the selection will recommend itself to the crew, for the -council is composed of three sailors and one passenger. Are you -content?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, yes!" cried a large number.</p> - -<p class="normal">Up rose Scadbolt.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Let us hear first what you have to say about the provisions," he -said. "I am not one who says yes without consideration."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's fair too," broke from half a dozen throats.</p> - -<p class="normal">Captain Liddle eyed Scadbolt steadily. Scadbolt returned his gaze. He -knew that in the position he had assumed, he could command the -sympathies of a certain number, and the knowledge gave him confidence.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, it is fair," said the captain; "and a reasonable suggestion is -always reasonable, never mind who makes it. The council have drawn out -a set of rules this morning, which I have here writ down on paper. If -you approve of them you will approve of the council; do I understand -that?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, yes!"</p> - -<p class="normal">The captain produced his paper and commenced.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Rule 1. All questions in dispute, with the exception of such as are -properly within the province of the duties of Captain Liddle--whose -orders as Captain of the 'Merry Andrew,' we promise to obey and uphold -to the death--shall be decided by the majority."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Agreed!" some cried.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Stop!" exclaimed Scadbolt; "how about the women? We are not going to -let them vote."</p> - -<p class="normal">Thought Captain Liddle, "This is no common scoundrel; he puts in -speech what many a malcontent would only dare to think." Said Captain -Liddle aloud, "That was not mentioned by the council. I don't suppose -the women would wish to vote; a proper man would not have mentioned -it. Decided, however, that the women do not vote."</p> - -<p class="normal">In arguing with Scadbolt, Captain Liddle committed a grave mistake; it -put them upon a kind of equality, and from that moment Scadbolt could -boast of being the leader of a party, small as it might be.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Rule 2," continued Captain Liddle. "The small stock of provisions -shall be equally divided between every soul on board"--</p> - -<p class="normal">A little faint cheering here broke out.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But, in consequence of the smallness of the supply, the quantity to -be measured out to each person shall be regulated, as occasion -demands, by the Captain and his council."</p> - -<p class="normal">No demur was made to this.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Rule 3. That all fish, birds, or food of any kind which may be found -in air or water shall be added to the general stock, and shall be -fairly and equally divided."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Unfair!" exclaimed Scadbolt; "each man is entitled to what he can -catch in air or water."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not so," replied the captain; "for what then would become of the -women?--Men, I appeal to you: does this man, who speaks while you are -silent, represent your views?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Two or three voices answered, "Yes;" a score answered, "No."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good," said the captain; "he represents but one in a dozen; and even -the two or three of you who seem to side with him may be brought to -see the selfishness of what he advocates. If he had his way, the weak -would be left to die; the strong alone should live, and have a chance -of being saved. Is this fair? is it manly? is it honest?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Every man for himself, and God for us all," muttered Scadbolt trying -to fan the flame.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Then the strongest man would crush the rest, and might would take the -place of right," continued the captain, beginning to see that he had -made a mistake in listening so patiently to Scadbolt. "We were never -nearer to death than we are this day; but shall that make us forget -that we are men? Shall that turn us into brutes? We have helpless -women depending upon us, and upon our manliness. They shall be shown -no favor in the way of provisions; they shall divide equally with us, -share and share alike. But, by God, the one who seeks to deny them -their fair chance of life, dies by my hand!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am with you, captain," cried Rough-and-Ready.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And I," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And I," said the sailor who had been twice wrecked.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And I," "And I," from most of the rest.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Decided, then, that all food that may be found in air or water shall -be added to the general stock, and shall be fairly and equally -divided."</p> - -<p class="normal">Scadbolt did not dare demur.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Rule 4. That, recognizing the full extent of our dread peril, and -knowing that death stares us in the face, we resolve to die like men, -if it be God's will; and thus resolving, we solemnly declare that, -supposing all our food to be gone, we will not eat human flesh"--</p> - -<p class="normal">A shudder ran round the attentive group, and Mrs. Pigeon fainted; but -Captain Liddle proceeded firmly,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nor draw lots as to who shall be killed to feed the rest. This we -solemnly resolve, in fear of the Lord, out of common humanity, and out -of respect for ourselves as Christian men."</p> - -<p class="normal">Assented to in silence; not one of them could realize the horrible -craving, born of raging thirst and hunger, that had come upon men in -such a strait as theirs.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is all," concluded the captain after a long pause. "You approve, -then, of the council and these rules?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now to breakfast. Water, for the first week, will be served out -twice a day--a quarter of a pint in the morning, and a quarter of a -pint in the evening--half a pint a day to each person. Of food we -have only preserved meat and sugar, and very little of either. One -tablespoonful of preserved meat will be served out to each person at -eleven o'clock every morning, and at five o'clock one ounce of sugar. -Of rum we have about a gallon: a teaspoonful will be served out to -each person once in every other day, in the morning or in the evening, -as he may choose. The general stock of previsions will not be touched -by any one on board, except in presence of all, and it will be guarded -by two of the council; the penalty of tampering with the stock, or of -attempting to steal any portion of it, will be death. And God give us -strength, and send us happy deliverance!"</p> - -<p class="normal">When breakfast was served, the men lay about the raft idly, watching -the water for fish, which they were not successful in catching, and -rising every now and then to scan the horizon for a sail. Some slept -or tried to sleep; some talked over the chances of deliverance; some -spoke in whispers of what they had heard from men who had been -wrecked. While the provisions were being measured by the captain, the -other three of the council stood by with cocked pistols, ready to fire -should a rush be made. Most of the men took their spoonful of -preserved meat, and ate it quickly and greedily, some of them at one -gulp; but a few, wiser than their fellows, retired with their portion, -and sitting down, ate it very slowly. These last were the best -satisfied. The council were busy enough all the day; assisted by Mr. -Pigeon and the two friends, Wall and Heartsease, they were employed in -re-arranging every thing on the raft, and in making things more -comfortable for the women. A kind of low tent was built, under cover -of which the women could lie down and rest, screened from the men; but -it was only used at night; for at first the women mixed with the men -during the day, and made themselves useful. Mrs. Pigeon, of her own -accord, crept to where the sailors were lying about, and asked if they -wanted any thing mended. At first they were too surprised to reply; -but presently a dozen voices answered her. One wanted a pair of socks -darned; another had half a dozen rents in his shirt; and in a very -little while Mrs. Pigeon's hands were full. She made her way back to -her female companions, and throwing a heap of clothes in the midst of -them, proposed that they should set to work at once. Soon all of them, -with the exception of Rachel Homebush, were busily and cheerfully at -work; and while their fingers were plying, Mrs. Pigeon sang snatches -of songs. It was as little like a picture of shipwrecked persons as -one could imagine. But it was a picture that did an immense amount of -good. The men looked at the women admiringly, and Rough-and-Ready's -eyes glistened every time they wandered that way.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A pretty bunch!" he observed to Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua nodded hopefully, for the sight cheered him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's a good little woman of yours," said Rough-and-Ready, turning -to Mr. Pigeon. Rough-and-Ready held a very different position now from -what he did when he first stepped aboard the "Merry Andrew;" he was a -general favorite with men and women. Even Rachel Homebush cast glances -of approval at him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I tell you what," answered Mr. Pigeon in a confidential tone; "I've -not seen much of women--you know out there in the bush they're rather -scarce--and we had some hope of getting home"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"<i>Had</i> some hope!" interrupted Rough-and-Ready. "Say <i>have</i> some hope. -If there's one thing in the world that makes me certain of it, it is -that picture there," pointing to the women.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am heartily glad to hear you say so. <i>Have</i> some hope, then, of -getting home, where the streets are crowded with women they say. But -there isn't one among 'em to come up to her. Although there were not -half a dozen lasses to choose from when I first made up to her, I'd -choose her now out of a million."</p> - -<p class="normal">Having delivered himself of these, his articles of faith in his wife, -he sat down by her side, and held her cotton for her as she stitched -and sewed.</p> - -<p class="normal">Meantime the current and their one sail carried them along at the rate -of about two miles an hour. No land was in sight, and there was no -sign of a ship, although during the day many a false alarm was given. -The weather remained fine. The light wind died away in the evening, -when the thin crescent of a new moon came out in the sky. It was -welcomed as a good omen; and the women looked at it, and smiled at one -another, the foolish things! as if the silver crescent were a -messenger of good tidings. Then the stars came out brightly--another -good omen. Many a one on the raft thought, "This is better than being -jammed on the rocks, in the 'Merry Andrew;' we are moving towards -safety. If we do not see a ship, we may see land, and may manage to -get ashore." References were made to Robinson Crusoe and the Swiss -Family Robinson; not in a gloomy, but in a cheerful spirit. It was the -admirable bearing of the men in command, no less than the virtues of -the women, that contributed to this state of hopeful feeling. The -sailors were also comparatively contented; most of them had a little -stock of tobacco--some more, some less--the chewing of which gave them -comfort. Each man hoarded his store more jealously than a miser hoards -his gold; but some were greedier than others, or craved for it more, -and could not withstand the temptation of chewing it almost -wastefully, certainly not prudently. But then sailors are not a -prudent class of men.</p> - -<p class="normal">To Joshua, who was sitting musing of home, came Rough-and-Ready, and -sat beside him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You don't smoke?" asked Rough-and-Ready.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's not sailor-like."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua shrugged his shoulders, and smiled.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nor chew?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Here is a little piece of tobacco. Chew it."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua put it in his mouth and chewed it, because he thought it was, -after all a certain kind of food, and might make him less hungry. But -it made him sick.</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready laughed a little when he saw the effect of it, and -presently said, so that no one else should hear, "You must learn to -chew."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It will help to keep you alive when the provisions run out. I have a -dozen pounds of tobacco strapped round me; it was my own, so I thought -I had a right to it. By and by it will come in handy. I wish I could -teach the women to chew."</p> - -<p class="normal">"If the men knew you had so much," said Joshua, "your life would not -be safe."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I know that. I had an idea at first of handing it to the skipper for -general use; but I thought better of it. There are a few on board to -whom I don't think I'd give an ounce to save their lives. What is that -in your handkerchief?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"My accordion."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you play? Of course, though, or you wouldn't have it. I should -like to hear some music."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua untied his handkerchief and took out his accordion. The night -was very still, and the soft tones floated in the air, and seemed to -linger about the raft as it glided through the sea. The quiet bubbling -of the water as it stole through the openings between the spars, as if -in sport, was in consonance with the melody and the still night and -the beautiful peaceful heavens. Men who were lying at full length sat -up when the music commenced, and were the better for it. The women -crept from out their shelter, and listened and shed tears, not -entirely unhappy. Surely it was a night of good omens. As Joshua -played, his thoughts wandered back to his boyish life, and to the -tender conversations that had taken place between him and Dan. Often -he stopped as he mused and thought; but presently his fingers would be -on the keys again, playing a few bars of "Poor Tom Bowling," and other -more cheerful songs of Dibdin, which the Old Sailor loved so well. -They came back to him, the memories of that happy time. Their anxiety -about their birds, when they first commenced to train them; the death -of Golden Cloud, and the after conversation which he had never -forgotten, in the course of which they had read together of the wreck -of Robinson Crusoe. Why, it seemed all to have come true! Here he was, -wrecked, certainly not alone, and therefore better off than Crusoe -was, but wrecked for all that. But under what circumstances, and with -what a dreadful web of suspicion surrounding him! Oh, if he could see -the end of it! It was horrible to think that he might die--he and all -of them on the raft; and that Dan might believe him false because of -Minnie. It would not bear thinking of. He ceased playing, and bathed -his fevered head and face. Often and often had he said to himself, in -former storms and former scenes, the words that Dan had impressed upon -him; and now he tried to fancy that Dan could see him, and knew that -he was true.</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready, seeing that Joshua was engrossed in thought, did not -disturb him, and presently dozed off. How long he had been asleep he -did not know; but he woke up with a curious impression upon him. He -must have slept long, for the night was far advanced, and no sound was -heard but the plashing of the water against and through the spars. The -impression was this: that he and Joshua were lying side by side (as, -in fact they were) asleep, and that a woman suddenly came between -them. Her back was to him, her face turned to Joshua; that she sat -down so, and so remained, for an hour and more, making no movement, -uttering no sound; but he could tell that all the while she was -watching Joshua's sleeping form. That then she inclined herself gently -to Joshua, and pressed her lips to his hand: and that rising to go, -she turned her face to Rough-and-Ready, and he saw that it was Mrs. -Liddle's gypsy-maid. So far his fancies went. Starting into a sitting -position, he saw Minnie a few paces from him, making her way to where -the women were lying.</p> - -<p class="normal">Now this set Rough-and-Ready thinking--for more reasons than one. Had -he been dreaming, or had it really occurred? If it had occurred, it -must have been love that prompted her. He had observed her the -previous night sitting near Joshua; but then it had not been so -noticeable, for there was no kind of order on the raft. How long had -she known Joshua? He was the more perplexed because he had never seen -the two in conversation, and because of the mystery surrounding the -acquaintance. He was troubled, too; for, rough as he was, and old -enough to be Minnie's father, he had taken a tender interest in her, -and the discovery he had just made came upon him like a shock.</p> - -<p class="normal">Every person on the raft was asleep with the exception of the men in -the watch and himself. He did not feel inclined to lie down again, so -he sat and thought of things. In such a solemn scene, and at such -solemn moments the spirit of nature works wonders in the minds of the -roughest men--quickens the sympathies, and stirs into life the -tenderest memories. It was so with Rough-and-Ready at the present -time. Incidents in his life which had been so long unremembered that -he wondered how he thought of them now, came vividly before him. His -home--his mother--small domestic joys and griefs--a brother who died -when they were both children, with whom he used to play and pelt with -daisies--Good God! what kind of a bridge was that in his life that -spanned that time and this? By what strange step had he walked from -then to now? The stars grew less bright and paled out of the skies; -the water grew grayer in the brief space before the morning's dawn. -Soon in the east a thin line of water at the edge of the horizon -quickened into life, and Nature's grandest wonder began to work in the -dawning of a new day. The waterline, a mere thread at first, but -broadening with every second that marked the flight of gray shadows, -was rosy with blushing light. Purple clouds, fringed with wondrous -colors, surrounded the clear space, in which presently the glorious -sun rose grandly from the golden bed of waters; and as it rose, sky -and sea rejoiced. At one time, for a few moments, the sea was like a -field of golden corn waving in the sun's eye; but soon it deepened, -till it and the heavens, that looked down into its mighty depths, were -filled with flaming restless light, which in their turn gave way to -softer shadows. Many a sunrise had Rough-and-Ready seen, but never one -that he had watched so steadily as this; but it seemed as if his -thoughts were in harmony with it.</p> - -<p class="normal">Late in the day, Rough-and-Ready asked Joshua how long he had known -Mrs. Liddle's maid. Joshua looked at him curiously, but did not reply. -He had not spoken to Minnie since they had been on the raft, and had, -indeed, taken pains to avoid her. She did not intrude herself upon -him; she submitted in patience to the silence he imposed upon her by -his manner. But a strange phenomenon took place in her. While the -others grew weaker and paler and more unhappy, she seemed to gather -fresh strength, and actually grew rosier and more hardy. The dark -color, too, was dying out of her face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have a reason for asking," said Rough-and-Ready, as an excuse for -his question.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua nodded, not unkindly, but with a troubled face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is a strange story connected with your question," he said; "so -strange and so gainful, that I cannot give you an answer."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I thought there was some mystery in the affair," observed -Rough-and-Ready; "but I will not press upon your confidence. Do you -know that the night before last she watched by you the whole time you -were asleep?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Watched by me?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay. And last night, too, for some time--I don't know for how long."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua gave Rough-and-Ready an amazed look, and turned away to where -Minnie was sitting. She saw him coming towards her, and her heart beat -fast.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why have you watched near me for two nights?" he asked, without -looking at her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You have enemies on the raft," was the answer, very quietly given.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I know; Scadbolt and the Lascar. But I can take care of myself."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not when you are asleep," she said, almost in a whisper.</p> - -<p class="normal">What could he do? What could he say? Together on the raft in the -presence of Death, from which only something very like a miracle could -save them, could he be stern and harsh to her? And his great misery -was, that he knew and felt his power. He knew that an unkind word from -him to this young girl was as bitter as death could be.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are like the rest of us, I suppose," he said, gently; "growing -very weak."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I do not think so," she answered, trembling at the gentleness of his -voice; "I feel strong as yet. Shall we be saved?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"We are in God's hands," he said. "I think there is but little chance -of being picked up, or even of making friendly land."</p> - -<p class="normal">Neither addressed the other by name.</p> - -<p class="normal">"If the end comes, and you know it, and I am not near you, will you -try and find me, and say a kind word to me before I die?"</p> - -<p class="normal">He gave her the promise, and hurried suddenly from her, for his heart -was fit to break, and he dared not trust himself to say more.</p> - -<p class="normal">The third day passed, and the fourth. No sign of succor near. Hope -began to die.</p> - -<p class="normal">On the sixth morning, when the roll was called, one of the passengers -did not answer to his name. It was Mr. Bracegirdle.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is asleep," said one.</p> - -<p class="normal">They shook him, but he did not move. He was dead. This was the first -death, and it affected them deeply. Before he was sewn in the canvas, -he was searched, in the anticipation of finding something useful. A -surprising discovery was then made. He had in his pocket-book and -round his waist bank-notes and bills for more than ten thousand -pounds. But nobody knew any thing about him; he died, as he had lived -among them a mystery. After his body was slipped into the sea, a -whisper went about that the money found on him had not been honestly -come by.</p> - -<p class="normal">That same night two sailors were washed into the sea. When it became -known, there were some among them who secretly rejoiced in the thought -that there would not be so many mouths to feed. Nearly a third of the -provisions was eaten, and the women were very weak. Little Emma Pigeon -held out the best; but that was because her mother, from even her -small portion, gave some to her child between the times of serving out -the provisions; the child also was petted and nourished by the other -women. Rough-and-Ready as especially considerate to the females. -Joshua saw him chewing something, and wondered what it was. Noticing -the look of inquiry on Joshua's face, Rough-and-Ready enlightened him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am eating leather," he said.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua stared at him. Then Rough-and-Ready took from his pocket a -dozen very thin strips of leather which he had cut out of his boot, -and told Joshua that he had found a new food. He gave Joshua a couple -of strips--very thin they were, almost like a wafer--and Joshua set to -work on them, and after some difficulty, chewed them to a pulp and -swallowed them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There's nothing like leather," said Rough-and-Ready with a quiet -laugh. "It wants strong teeth, but it fills up an empty place in the -stomach."</p> - -<p class="normal">The next day Joshua noticed that Rough-and-Ready received his -tablespoonful of preserved meat in his handkerchief, and later on he -saw Rough-and-Ready slyly feeding little Emma with a portion of the -meat, and then go to her mother and slip what remained into her hand.</p> - -<p class="normal">Now and then a few small fish were caught. There being no means of -cooking them, the women refused their share with horror, but the men -ate them raw. They also snared some birds, and ate them in the same -manner.</p> - -<p class="normal">On the twelfth night Scadbolt and the Lascar lay side by side awake. -Nearer than they to the edge of the raft lay a shipmate, chewing -tobacco.</p> - -<p class="normal">"All mine is gone," said Scadbolt enviously.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And mine," said the Lascar, with a horrible look at the man who was -chewing.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I think he must have a good lot left. I heard him boast of it last -week."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Two men are better than one."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Wait till that black cloud touches the moon; then stop his mouth; -I'll do the rest!"</p> - -<p class="normal">The black cloud travelled on and on, crept before the moon, and soon -shut out its light. When the moon shone again upon the waters there -was one man less on the raft, and Scadbolt and the Lascar were chewing -tobacco greedily!</p> - -<p class="normal">These two men had a line out in the water, with a small hook at the -end of it. The Lascar felt it jerk. He pulled in the line; there was a -fish at the end of it, weighing more than a pound. He took from his -pocket a six-bladed knife, opened the largest blade, and cut the fish -in two equal parts. He gave one to Scadbolt, and ate the other -himself. So that they should not be observed, they lay down on their -faces while they ate.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That was a good bit of luck," said Scadbolt; "I feel stronger."</p> - -<p class="normal">"If the skipper caught us, he would throw us overboard, whispered the -Lascar.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He'd try to; but one man is as good as another now. Let us do this -and take care of ourselves; we shall outlast the others. I wish they -were all dead--all but two."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay, Joshua's Marvel's one. I know what you mean. You'd like to have -the doing of him. So would I. Who's the other?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"The gypsy-maid. She's a rare beauty."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Lascar did not say any thing to this. He had seen enough since -they had been on the raft to convince him that his first suspicions -were right, and that the gypsy-looking girl really was Minnie. -Notwithstanding their desperate condition, he had cast many admiring -glances at her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"How fine," he thought, "to strike at Joshua Marvel through her!"</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXXII.</h4> - -<h5>SAVED FROM THE SEA.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">The first among the passengers to completely give way was -Stephen -Homebush. He had observed no manner of discretion in eating his food, -and had always swallowed it hastily, so that it did him but little -good. Contrary to what might have been expected of him as a man of -pious parts, he was the most selfish of all the passengers. Instead of -praying for mercy, he rebelled in thought and speech against the -misfortune which had overtaken him. He did not think of the others. It -was <i>his</i> fate that was so hard. The prayers that he had so liberally -offered up for other lost men were not for him now that he was lost. -All other men were sinners, so he had preached. There was no grace in -any of them. He came to impart it to them. Let them open their -rebellious hearts, and receive it, while there was yet time. To all -kinds of men had he preached this, striking at them hard, trying to -frighten them with threatened penalties if they refused to believe as -he believed. He came to give them grace; did he himself require none?</p> - -<p class="normal">What kind of faith is that which believes all other faiths wrong and -sinful? What is the test of faith? Sincerity? Ay, for me; but not for -you. <i>I</i> am sincere; <i>I</i> am born in the grace of God. But you! Fall -down and repent!</p> - -<p class="normal">Such had been the preaching of Stephen Homebush. But now that the -earth was crumbling from beneath his feet, and the New Life was before -him, he prayed neither for others nor for himself. He maintained a -sullen rebellious silence, faithful to his nature for the first time -in his life. His mood, no less than the scanty supply of food and his -manner of eating it, drove him mad; and within a fortnight of his -sojourn on the raft, he was crawling and staggering about, uttering a -dreadful jumble of prayers and blasphemies. His sister Rachel attended -to him as well as her strength allowed her; but he struck at her -often, and often cursed her and himself. It was terrible to see and -hear. He did not suffer long. One day he ran from one part of the raft -to another, raving that a sail was in sight. At first they thought -that he might be right, but they soon discovered that he was raving. -But he saw the ship coming nearer and nearer. His sister was the only -one who had patience to bear with him. He described the ship to her, -and described the men and women that were on the deck; and she -shuddered as she recognized in his descriptions acquaintances and -relatives every one of whom was dead.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Here it comes," he said, standing up in his eagerness, -"nearer--nearer! I shall be able to jump on board presently."</p> - -<p class="normal">She strove to restrain him; but he broke from her wildly, and gave a -leap on to the imaginary ship. He sank at once, and was seen no more.</p> - -<p class="normal">The forlorn woman sat stupefied, and never moved. Hours afterwards, -Rough-and-Ready, taking pity upon her condition, spoke to her, and -bade her take comfort, The sense of what he said was lost to her, but -she understood the sympathy that was expressed in his voice, and she -looked at him gratefully while the tears rolled down her face. He -placed his hand upon her shoulder, and said gently; "Poor woman! poor -woman!" She took his hand in hers, and clung to it, as if her only -hope of life was there. He could not disengage his hand except by -force; so he sat by her for an hour and more, until she released him. -Then he crept to where the women were lying; there was comfort in -being close to them.</p> - -<p class="normal">One of their most frightful experiences was the sight of the sharks -snapping at the bodies as they were thrown into the sea. A great -number of these creatures followed the raft day and night, scenting -their prey. Each of the unfortunates thought, as he saw the sharks -tearing at the body of his fellow creature, "Perhaps it is my turn -next." About the twentieth day they caught at least a dozen rock cod, -but after that they caught no fish for many days. Soon their fresh -water was nearly gone; for some time past they had only half a pint a -day; now the quantity was reduced to a quarter of a pint. Some tins of -the preserved meat were also found to be putrid: the women could not -touch it; but a few of the sailors Scadbolt and the Lascar among them, -devoured it greedily. When another new moon rose, the courage of -nearly every one of them was gone; hope had fled too. They looked upon -themselves as doomed.</p> - -<p class="normal">A curious conversation took place between the two friends, Harry Wall -and James Heartsease. In the morning they had refused their portion of -food.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Save it for the women, sir," they said to the captain.</p> - -<p class="normal">He expostulated with them, and tried to prevail upon them to take it, -but he did not succeed.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Sir," said James Heartsease, "we are going to lie down to die. We -both of us feel that our time has come. To rob the poor women of any -more food would be simple barbarity. I should like to shake hands with -you."</p> - -<p class="normal">Captain Liddle shook hands with them; and after that they crawled to -the women, and shook hands with them, and kissed little Emma Pigeon. -Then they crawled away, and lay down side by side.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The end has come, Jim," said Harry.</p> - -<p class="normal">"All right, Hal," said James; "it is only a matter of a few -years--perhaps not so long as that. If we had had plenty to eat, it -might have come just the same. After all, what is time? Draw a breath, -and it is gone. It isn't so hard to give up a few years when you think -of that. Besides"--But here he paused.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Besides what, Jim?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"We are alone; we have no women-ties--no wives, no sweethearts. If we -had, I think we should both try to live as long as we could."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I think so too. 'Tis a good job we are alone in the world."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Did you notice the women, Hal? I don't think they'll last long."</p> - -<p class="normal">"One of them won't," said Harry. "Mrs. Pigeon will soon go. Well, you -know the reason of that."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes; she gives all her food to her little girl. Women are good -creatures, Hal."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Such as she are. Jim, old boy, a sudden weakness has come over me. -Put your face closer to mine--I want to kiss you. Good old boy--good -old boy!"</p> - -<p class="normal">They did not speak for some time after that. Heartsease was the first -to break silence.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hal, old fellow," he said, "we shall meet somewhere by and by."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Sure to," said Harry; "somewhere, somehow. It is awfully grand to -think of--it is good to believe. I am glad I never did any great wrong -to sting me now. Jim, depend upon it, there is only one true religion; -that is, the religion of being kind and tender and unselfish--the -religion of doing unto others as you would others should do unto you, -and of living a good life. Give me the man who does that, and who -believes in the goodness and greatness of God. All the rest is -mummery. We have agreed upon that, haven't we old boy?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay, times out of mind."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, I tell you what I am going to do. I don't want to quite starve -to death--it would be too painful; it's frightful to bear even now. I -don't want to commit suicide, although to throw one's self into the -water just now would be, in a certain measure, justifiable. I am going -to draw myself close to the edge of the raft; then I am going to -sleep. If the waves should chance to wash me over in the night--good! -Let them; then I shall know something."</p> - -<p class="normal">"All right, Hal; I'll lie by your side. Goodnight, old fellow."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Goodnight."</p> - -<p class="normal">When the sun rose again, those two good friends had gone to their -rest, to meet again. Somewhere--Somehow!</p> - -<p class="normal">So day after day passed, and their numbers continued to grow fewer, -until there were no more than eighteen on the raft. In the first -quarter of the second new moon--that is, when they had been on the -raft for more than thirty days--Mrs. Pigeon died. When the news went -round, there were few dry eyes among the poor creatures. Every one -loved her, even to Scadbolt and the Lascar, whose clothes she had -mended. It was a wonder how she had lasted so long, for it was with -the greatest difficulty she could be prevailed upon to take food; she -gave it all to her little daughter. When, almost by force, a small -portion had been put into her mouth, Joshua had seen her take it out -to feed Little Emma. That is why the child lived while the mother -starved to death. Between Mrs. Pigeon and Minnie a strong affection -had sprung up. Minnie scarcely ever left the side of the dying woman, -and what little she could do to ease her last hours--it was but -little, God knows!--she did tenderly and cheerfully. Minnie knew that -Mrs. Pigeon was starving herself, so that her little girl might live. -The beauty of that sacrifice Minnie was well able to comprehend. She -would have done the same. But she was terribly unhappy. She knew by -Joshua's manner, and by the few words that he spoke to her--kind one -day, constrained the next--that her conduct had added to his -unhappiness. She had seen him look at her with such a look of fear and -wild amazement in his eyes, as to convey to her the impression that -she had done him a great wrong. But so blinded was she by her love, -that she could not quite understand the meaning of this; indeed, she -did not pause to consider. The night before Mrs. Pigeon died, Minnie -lay by her side, talking in whispers. But few words were spoken at a -time; Mrs. Pigeon was too weak. The mother lay with her child in her -arms, and her husband sitting close to her, his hands clasping his -knees, and with an expression of stony despair in his face. So he had -sat for three or four days, answering his wife vacantly, and with the -air of one whose mind was a blank. Little by little, Minnie had told -Mrs. Pigeon her story; and the dying woman, notwithstanding her own -great trouble, had wept with Minnie, and sympathized with her. But -Mrs. Pigeon, as well as expressing her sympathy, had striven to make -Minnie aware of the fault she had committed.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You see, my dear," she gasped in her weak voice, "he has left a -sweetheart at home, and he fears that if it were known that you were -in the ship with him, she and his other friends might believe that he -had played false with them."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I never thought of that before," sobbed Minnie. "I only thought of -one thing: I loved him, and I wanted to be near him. I didn't want him -even to know; and those at home bad no idea of what I was going to -do--they can't even suspect."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But Mr. Marvel <i>fears</i> they may. Then think, my dear, was it not -wrong to leave your father?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It was--I see it now; but I did not think of it then. But O Mrs. -Pigeon if he would only forgive me! If I ask him, he will; but the -answer would come out of the goodness of his heart, and while he -forgave he would still condemn me. I know it, I know it, for he has -never once called me by my name."</p> - -<p class="normal">Soon after that, Mrs. Pigeon fell into a doze; and waking when it was -near midnight, whispered, "Minnie!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," answered Minnie. She had been sleeping too, but so lightly that -a whisper was sufficient to awake her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have not long to live, my dear," said Mrs. Pigeon; "and I should -like to pass my last minutes alone with my husband and child, and to -speak to no one but them--to think of no one but them. But before I -go, I should be glad to say good-by to Joshua Marvel. Can you bring -him to me? Say that I am dying."</p> - -<p class="normal">Repressing her sobs, Minnie crept to where Joshua was standing on the -lookout. He had grown thin and gaunt like the others; his feet were -bare, the only pair of shoes he had possessed having been rotted by -the salt water; his clothes hung about him in tatters; and his face -was covered with hair, which, having not yet grown to a decent length, -added to the wretchedness of his appearance. The moon had gone down, -and Joshua, shading his eyes with his hand, was looking out to sea, -possessed with the fancy that he saw a sail many miles away. This had -now become a very common illusion; scarcely a man on board who did not -see imaginary sails and ships a dozen times a day. With a weary sigh -Joshua dropped his hand.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is folly," he muttered; "there's no hope."</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie timidly touched his sleeve, but did not succeed in attracting -his attention. Then she called softly, "Joshua!" And he gave a gasp, -and turned and saw her; but there was not light enough for him to see -the tears upon her face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mrs. Pigeon has sent me for you," said Minnie. "She is dying, and -wants to wish you good-by."</p> - -<p class="normal">He followed her in silence to where Mrs. Pigeon was lying.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is it so bad?" he asked gently, as he leaned over her close enough to -see her poor thin face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," she murmured. "Sit by me for a few minutes."</p> - -<p class="normal">He sat down, and took her wasted hand in his: it was like the hand of -a skeleton, thin and cold--a hand already dead, though it closed on -Joshua's fingers.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Every one speaks well of you," said Mrs. Pigeon in broken tones: "I -have heard the captain speak many times of your courage and goodness -and constancy."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have been glad to hear it, and am glad to hear it again," replied -Joshua; "it is my best reward as a sailor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You have a kind heart, I am sure," continued the dying woman. "If it -were in your power to lessen the bitter grief that even a mere -acquaintance might suffer, you would do so."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I think I would."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am sure you would; if only for the sake of those you love at home, -and to whom you would wish that others might be kind when grief comes -to them. You will forgive me for speaking thus; but I am dying, and I -am a woman. I cannot say much more; I am too weak. If I could see you -do one little thing, I should be glad."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I will do any thing you ask."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because a dying woman asks you; but do it from your own kind impulse -as well. That is what I wish. You know who it is that is sitting by us -now."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," he answered with a troubled glance at Minnie.</p> - -<p class="normal">"She has been very good to me, very kind, very, very patient. And she -is so young! Soon you and she may follow me. Think of that."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What is it you would have me to do?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I would have you be kind to this poor child; I would have you, at -this awful time, show to her the love that a brother might show to a -sister. She has committed a fault; forgive her for it; let her atone -for it. Be not you the one to cast the stone at her. And when you -speak to her, speak from your heart; for she can read and understand, -as all loving women can, the music of the voice."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie," said Joshua, turning to her. Mrs. Pigeon had loosed his -hand; and now be held out his two hands to Minnie. It was the first -time he had called her by her name.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Joshua," she said, with deep sobs, her hands in his, and bowing her -head upon his shoulder until her lips almost touched his face.</p> - -<p class="normal">Was it treasonable to Ellen that he should permit it? Surely not, -surely not, at such a time.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You have made me glad," said Mrs. Pigeon. "Now go. Good-by. Heaven -send you peace!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"And you!" they both said.</p> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Pigeon nestled her face close to that of her little daughter, and -soon afterwards died peacefully.</p> - -<p class="normal">Then, for the first time, Mr. Pigeon seemed to awake to the reality of -things. Kneeling by the side of his wife, he called softly, "Emma! -Emma!" And receiving no answer, shook her gently, and smoothed the -hair from her white face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Be comforted," said Joshua to him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Comforted!" he repeated with a pondering look, as if he were -considering what meaning there was in the word. He kissed her -passionately, and whispered something in her ear, and waited for the -answer that could not come. "My God!" he cried suddenly, "she is -dead!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie placed Little Emma before him, thinking that the sight of his -little girl might lessen his grief; but he took no notice of the -child, and sat the whole day nursing, the dead body of his wife in his -lap. One tin of preserved meat was all that remained now of their -stock of provisions. They brought his small share to him; but he -motioned them away impatiently and fretfully. They went to him, and -endeavored to make him understand that, for the sake of the others, he -should allow the remains of his wife to be placed in their poor shroud -of sacking; but he met them savagely, and threatened to bite at them -and strangle them if they did not let him alone.</p> - -<p class="normal">"For the sharks to eat," he whispered to the inanimate form; "they -want to throw you into the sea for the sharks to eat, my darling. But -I'll tear their hearts out before they part us."</p> - -<p class="normal">When the silver crescent looked down again upon the despairing group, -Joshua tried once more to comfort the man, and said, with a heavy -heart, that perhaps at the last moment a ship might pick them up. But -though he uttered the words, he did not believe in them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And if it does," muttered Mr. Pigeon hoarsely, "what do I care now? -You don't know what it is to lose the woman you love." He staggered to -his feet with the beloved form in his arm. "You want to take her from -me; that is why you speak the lying words. But nothing shall part -us--nothing."</p> - -<p class="normal">Her face was lying upon his shoulder, and her fair hair was hanging -loosely down over his breast. He took some of the hair in his mouth; -and as Joshua saw him standing thus in the moon's light, he thought he -had never seen a picture so utterly despairing. Thus the man stood, -motionless, for a time, until the captain's lady crept to his side, -and tried to console him. Poor thing! she was terribly weak, and the -words came from her lips slowly and wearily. He gazed at her vacantly -while she spoke, then turned his eyes to his dead wife.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Emma," he said, "don't fear; nothing that they say shall make me give -you up. We will go together--we will go together."</p> - -<p class="normal">He cast one last look at the peaceful heavens, and whispering, "Lord, -receive us!" clasped his wife more closely to him, and jumped into the -sea. Two or three heads turned at the plash; but no other notice was -taken of the event. They were all too weak and despairing. The -captain's wife gasped, with heart-broken sobs,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Poor dears! poor dears! Their troubles are over; they are happier -than we are."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, my lady," said Joshua; "but I would not end my life like that. -We are in the hands of the Lord; our lives belong to Him."</p> - -<p class="normal">He stretched himself at full length upon the raft, and took Ellen's -picture and the lock of hair from his breast, and kissed them again -and again. They, and the Bible that Dan had given him, were his most -precious possessions. When he looked up, Minnie and Little Emma were -close to him. He took the child's hand; and they remained together -during the long, long night.</p> - -<p class="normal">A dreadful announcement was made the next day. The water that was -served out was the last--one tablespoonful each exhausted the store; -all the provisions were used up also. It seemed, indeed, as if the -best thing they could do would be to die at once by their own hands. -The rules made by the council were no longer thought of. Something to -eat, something to drink: these were the only laws now. When the next -man died, the sailors looked longingly at the body. The Lascar had his -knife open, and was about to use it, when Captain Liddle called to him -to stop.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why?" asked the Lascar, with a savage flourish of his knife.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why?" echoed the other men: there were only six of them left -altogether.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because fish is better to eat than human flesh," said the captain.</p> - -<p class="normal">"So it is," said one; "but we haven't any more fishing-line."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Come now," said the captain, "even without that we can manage to -catch a shark perhaps. Wait a few minutes. I'll think of a way."</p> - -<p class="normal">And sure enough, very soon he devised a snare. First a running-bowling -knot was made; then they cut a leg off the man that WAS dead (terrible -to write, but true), and lashed it to the end of an oar; while on the -end of another oar they hung the snare in such a way that the fish, to -get at the bait, was compelled to come through it. There were plenty -of sharks; and it was not long before one fell into the trap. It was -dragged on to the raft; and a few blows from an axe soon killed it. -After that, the man was sewed in sacking, and the funeral-service was -read over him as it had been over all the others who had been buried -in the sea.</p> - -<p class="normal">During all this time it was evident that they were near the coast, and -yet they never saw it. The captain said that they were in the vicinity -of the north-east coast of Australia--a part of the continent which -had been very little explored. Here came in Rough-and-Ready's -experience. He knew something of the country, he said. It was -inhabited by the most savage of the Australian natives, and no white -man had as yet had the courage to penetrate far into the country.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yet we might make the coast," said Rough-and-Ready, "and not see a -native for a long time, if we could manage to live; for I don't -believe there are a great many of them. Cannibals they are; but, for -all that, I should be glad to get among them. We might succeed in -working our way down to a cattle-station."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Would there be really a chance of that?" asked one or two.</p> - -<p class="normal">"About a hundred to one against us," replied Rough-and-Ready -carelessly; "but that would be better than nothing."</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready gave them a description of some natives that he had -seen, and told of their manner of living, their treachery and -wildness. It was not very comforting to hear; the prospect of reaching -land, and finding themselves in the midst of such savages, was very -dismal.</p> - -<p class="normal">The suffering that they had now to bear--that of thirst--was the most -awful experience of all. Some of them grew delirious, and saw gardens -and pools of fresh water. "My lady" was one of these. She whispered to -her husband that a beautiful garden was within a few yards of them, -and that they should reach it presently. She described the flowers and -trees, and the cool fruit waiting to be plucked. And as the vision -faded, she clutched him by the hand, and cried, "John, John! What are -they doing? We are going the wrong way. O my God we have passed it--it -is gone!" and lay exhausted. The words came from her parched throat -with difficulty; and Joshua shuddered as he touched her face: it -seemed to be on fire. Soon, however, the gardens dotted with -clear-water fountains, and with trees laden with refreshing fruit, -grew again for the delirious woman. She saw them in the water, in the -air, in the heavens--so bright, so deliciously cool, that her heart -almost burst in the vain attempt she made to reach them with her hand. -A little rain fell mercifully, and yet mockingly; for nearly every -thing on board was so impregnated with salt as to render the pieces of -rags and canvas that were held out to catch heaven's tears no better -when they were soaked than if they had been dipped into the sea. -Rough-and-Ready took the lining out of his wide-awake hat; and he and -Joshua held it out until it was soaked with the blessed drops. The -first use they made of the piece of wet rag was to moisten the women's -lips with it, and then the little girl's and their own. Little Emma -lived still; and Minnie had taken charge of her. As Joshua moistened -Mrs. Liddle's lips, the captain, who was lying beside her, motioned -him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is all over with me, Marvel," he gasped; "I haven't long to live. -If by God's mercy you are rescued, report me at home and say I did all -in my power to save the ship." Joshua pressed the dying captain's hand. -"Mind, you are first in command now. In a few hours you will be -captain. You have risen quickly," he said with a faint smile. "Beware -of Scadbolt and that Lascar dog. When I am dead, take my boots--you -have none--and what of my clothes may be useful to you; take the -log-book too, and keep it safe. There is a record in it of Scadbolt's -conduct, and your promotion. It will be necessary in case a ship picks -you up. Scadbolt was your superior officer when we left the port of -Sydney; and he might bring a charge against you, which, without the -log-book, you would not be able to refute."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua thanked the captain for his thoughtfulness, and expressed a -hope that it was not so bad with him as he feared. Then the captain -told Joshua how, a few days before, he had struck his head against a -piece of iron, and how he had lost a quantity of blood. Joshua put his -hand to the back of the captain's head, round which a piece of canvas -was tied, and felt a great gash there.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I did not tell any one; but it so weakened me, that I thought I was -about to die then. This is a piteous sight!" pointing to his wife. She -lay, pale as death, with her eyes wide open, gazing at the gardens in -the air. The tears rolled down Joshua's face. "Bury us together," -continued the captain. "There are two or three pieces of iron you -might put into the canvas with us, so we may sink at once. You will do -this?'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes."</p> - -<p class="normal">Captain Liddle pressed Joshua's hand, and creeping close to his wife -clasped her in his arms. In the mean time Rough-and-Ready was busy -squeezing drops of fresh water into a bottle. He saved nearly a pint.</p> - -<p class="normal">Shortly after that, Joshua was the first to see land. He went to tell -the Captain, but could not arouse him; his heart still beat, but very -faintly. Night came on soon; and when day dawned again the land was -gone. Rough-and-Ready came to Joshua with a grave face. He said -nothing; but Joshua understood him. They went to where the lifeless -bodies of the captain and his wife lay, and sewed them in canvas, and -placed inside the pieces of iron, as Joshua had promised. Joshua read -the burial-service as the bodies were thrown into the sea. They sank -at once.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not many of us left," observed Rough-and-Ready. "I should like to see -land again. If we don't sight it soon, we may find that the worst has -not yet come. It is as Scadbolt said when the rules were being read, -'Every man for himself now, and God for us all.' But come what may -we'll stick to each other and to the women."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It does my heart good to hear you speak so," said Joshua. "I know -what you mean: the worst men are left against us; but we are a match -for them, I think. See, here's the log-book, with the poor skipper's -last words: 'I appoint Joshua Marvel captain of this raft, made out of -the spars of the "Merry Andrew," and intrust to him the charge of the -surviving passengers and crew.--John Liddle, Master of the "Merry -Andrew."'"</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready touched his hat in sailor fashion.</p> - -<p class="normal">"While we are at sea, captain," he said, "I will obey your orders."</p> - -<p class="normal">A thrill ran through Joshua as he heard himself called captain. -Captain! But of what a crew! The promotion had come all too soon.</p> - -<p class="normal">Before long he had to exercise his authority. They were being, driven -on to a reef by a strong current. It was necessary to get the raft -into deep water before dark. He gave his orders; and although both -Scadbolt and the Lascar saw the wisdom of them, they refused to obey.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am captain," said Scadbolt. "You will obey my orders now."</p> - -<p class="normal">Then Rough-and-Ready took a double-barrelled pistol from his belt, and -gave its fellow to Joshua. They covered Scadbolt and the Lascar with -them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Obey orders!" cried Rough-and-Ready in as loud a voice as he could -command. "Obey orders! Speak another word of disobedience, and you are -dead men!"</p> - -<p class="normal">The rebellious men were cowed. With scowling faces they worked as -Joshua directed: and with some trouble they got the raft clear over -the reef, and floated it into deeper water. The night that followed -was a night of great anxiety. Joshua knew that they were near land; -and he and Rough-and-Ready kept watches of two hours' duration in -turn. The reason of this was, that they did not deem it safe to sleep -both at the same time; for they suspected that Scadbolt and the Lascar -were only waiting for the opportunity to fall upon them and kill them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We have all the fire-arms, thank goodness," said Rough-and-Ready, -"and all the powder and shot. We are masters while we can keep these."</p> - -<p class="normal">He had kept a sharp guard over the firearms, and had indeed secretly -dropped three guns into the sea. "Better there than in those rascals' -hands," he wisely thought; "we mustn't cumber ourselves with too much -lumber."</p> - -<p class="normal">In the night Joshua whispered to Rachel Homebush and Minnie that -to-morrow probably would decide their fate. They revived somewhat at -the news, and Minnie directed Joshua's attention to little Emma -Pigeon.</p> - -<p class="normal">"She has not spoken all day," said Minnie anxiously.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua placed his hand on the little girl's heart; it beat, but very -faintly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"She will live, Minnie," said Joshua, "if we can reach land; we are -certain to find food then."</p> - -<p class="normal">While they spoke, Minnie kept Joshua's hand in hers; it was her only -comfort, poor child. He was kneeling by her side, and she saw in his -face that he had no harsh thoughts for her. They had not exchanged a -word about their friends at home, but Minnie said to-night,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Joshua, when you first came to our little room--do you -remember?--what should we have thought if a wizard had told us this?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"What, indeed!" replied Joshua; and then, after a pause, "Do you -suffer much, Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not now. Ah, Joshua, if I can only live to repay you!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Keep up your courage, Minnie, and pray that we may reach friendly -land--any land--to-morrow," was his answer.</p> - -<p class="normal">She did pray fervently, and when daylight came they saw land. It did -not look very friendly. A long line of dark savage-looking rocks was -what they saw; towering gloomily and threateningly for the most part, -but with many a little inlet, which offered them a favorable chance of -landing, as Joshua's seaman's eye discerned. There were only eight -living persons now on the raft out of the thirty-five who first took -shelter there. Five men--to wit, Joshua, Rough-and-Ready, Scadbolt, -the Lascar, and the sailmaker; two women--Rachel Homebush and Minnie, -and the little girl Emma. The men worked and watched with a will. -Private animosities were for the time forgotten; but for all that, -Rough-and-Ready was never off his guard. Every thing looked fair, when -suddenly up sprang a land breeze, and they were driven to sea again; -the hope that had been kindled died away. They caught a cod, but the -women turned from it with loathing. Then Joshua thought of a fine -thing. The sun was high in the heavens. He took a piece of rag and -washed it and dried it; then he took a magnifying glass out of a -telescope, and caught the sun's fire on to the rag. He had wood ready, -and they made a fire on the raft. The sailors ate their portion of the -fish raw; but Joshua put his and the women's and Rough-and-Ready's on -the wood, and roasted it. Before they gave this delicious food to the -women, they moistened their lips with a little of the water that was -still left in Rough-and-Ready's bottle; the moistening and the food -were new life to them all Minnie chewed a little of the fish and -placed it in the child's mouth; the child swallowed it, with -difficulty at first, and seemed to grow stronger soon afterwards; she -had been better nourished than the others. As if in reward for this -good thought of Joshua's, the wind shifted to a sea breeze, and a -couple of hours before mid-night they were driven on to land. It -required the greatest care and the most delicate handling to steer the -raft safely through the rocks; but it was done. Scadbolt and the -Lascar were about to scramble on to the rocks, when Rough-and-Ready, -in a voice of thunder--he seemed suddenly to have recovered his full -strength--commanded them to stand. Not his voice, but his pistol, -enforced obedience.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why?" demanded Scadbolt.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because you are treacherous dogs," roared Rough-and-Ready; "because -you are not men, but savages; because I know how such scum are to be -treated. Ah! scowl as you will I but I have shot better men than you -down before to-night, and I'll shoot <i>you</i> down if you dare to stir, -as I would a brace of treacherous dingos or Blacks--they're much the -same. The women and child are to be saved first. Why, if we allowed -you to get ashore, you'd strike us from the rocks before we got a -footing! I know you, you see, you skunks. Marvel, take the women and -little girl ashore first, one by one. I'll keep guard here the while. -Sailmaker, assist Mr. Marvel."</p> - -<p class="normal">By this last masterly stroke Rough-and-Ready enlisted the sailmaker on -his side, for a time at least. For the sailmaker and Joshua were man -to man, and Joshua had fire-arms. So, with difficulty, the women and -child were conveyed on to the rocks in safety; then Rough-and-Ready -bade Joshua take ashore what things would be useful from the raft. -Among other things, Joshua took ashore two axes, all the nails he -could find, and some iron pots. The women also had some things they -were anxious to preserve--needles and thread and such like. All this -occupied nearly two hours, and was not accomplished without -difficulty. Scadbolt and the Lascar stood sullenly by, the while. -Rough-and-Ready was in his element; he absolutely revelled in the task -he had set himself. It was as good as meat and drink to him to watch -those two rascals and beat them through their fears. When Joshua and -the sailmaker had completed their task, Rough-and-Ready joined them on -the rocks. After him Scadbolt and the Lascar scrambled on to land, and -began to look hungrily about them. It was a fine night; the moon was -nearly at its full. The first thing Rough-and-Ready did was to cast a -glance at the women lying helpless on the rocks; the next thing he did -was to smooth his mustache with his hand in a thoughtful manner; the -next, to send a dark look at Scadbolt and the Lascar, who were -prowling about on the rocks in search of shell-fish; the next, to lay -his hand in a familiar manner upon the sailmaker's shoulder.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I say, mate," said Rough-and-Ready, "have you a wife at home?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Two."</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready whistled loud and long, and followed up the whistle -with a laugh.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It's no joke," said the sailmaker.</p> - -<p class="normal">"One isn't, much less two," replied Rough-and-Ready, with a wink; "but -never mind them now."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I'm content."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You seem a good-hearted fellow, sailmaker, and as you have two -wives, you must think a great deal of womankind."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I love 'em,"--looking at the two poor creatures lying near them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I'm a bushman myself," said Rough-and-Ready, with assumed -carelessness; "I'd as soon be where I am as in any part of the world. -I am at home here. What do you say, mate? Shall we be friends?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Glad to be." And the two men shook hands, Rough-and-Ready hugging -himself for his successful diplomacy.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You're a man after my own heart," said Rough-and-Ready, really -appreciating the crisp utterances of the sailmaker, who evidently was -not a word-waster. "Seems to me that the first thing we've got to do -is to bring the women round; mustn't let them die, eh?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Certainly not."</p> - -<p class="normal">"There's a split in the camp," continued Rough-and-Ready. "Those two -rascals prowling about in search of something to eat, would be glad of -an opportunity to get rid of us; and then God help the women. At all -events let us three stick together--you and me and Captain Marvel. -Agreed?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Agreed."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good. What I want to do is to get fresh water for us and the women; I -know how to look for it. Will you keep guard over the women with -Captain Marvel till I return?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes."</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready placed a loaded pistol in the sailmaker's hand--he did -it without hesitation--and that act completed the conquest. Joshua, -standing by, had heard the conversation and now shook hands with the -sailmaker. Scadbolt and the Lascar had also seen the conference.</p> - -<p class="normal">"They've bought him over," said the Lascar.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Never mind," replied Scadbolt, "there will be plenty of -opportunities."</p> - -<p class="normal">In less than an hour Rough-and-Ready returned. He had taken two -bottles with him, and brought them back filled with bright, clear, -fresh water. He had his wide-awake hat in his hand; it evidently -contained something good, he was so careful in carrying it. Joshua put -his hand in, and started back with a cry; he had grasped a nettle.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Careful, careful," said Rough-and-Ready, laughing at Joshua's -grimaces; "don't be too eager to take hold of things. A great deal of -the wood-growth round about-here is covered with thorns, and some of -them are poisonous to the blood. This isn't, though; 'tis an old -friend."</p> - -<p class="normal">He took out of his hat two small branches with long spines upon them; -the branches were covered with fruit resembling a small apple.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good to eat?" asked the sailmaker.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Shouldn't have brought them otherwise," answered Rough-and-Ready, in -unconscious imitation of the sailmaker's manner of speaking.</p> - -<p class="normal">The sailmaker took some of the fruit and ate it, and would have taken -more, but that Rough-and-Ready's hand restrained him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's not the way for a man to eat who has been nearly starved for -six weeks," he said, "unless he wants to kill himself right out. Here, -make yourself useful; but take a little water to drink first."</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready measured a small quantity of water, and gave the -sailmaker and Joshua to drink. He had thrown down a couple of pieces -of wood when he said "Make yourself useful," and the sailmaker, after -drinking, asked him what the wood was for.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A good job for you two that you have me for your mate," said -Rough-and-Ready good-humoredly; "you might stand a chance of starving -else. The enemy"--with a nod of his head in the direction of Scadbolt -and the Lascar--"won't be half as well off as we shall be. Just watch -me." He took his knife and cut from the wood two pieces, in one of -which he made a kind of groove, which he placed upon the ground. "This -is off the black fig-tree, and is the best wood there is for making -fire. Now rub away into the groove, steadily, like this, and keep -rubbing. It's hard work; but never mind; it's worth the labor."</p> - -<p class="normal">He disappeared again, leaving the sailmaker at work, and returned -with an armful of dry sticks and leaves. Soon fire came into the wood, -the sparks dropped on to the dry leaves, and a blaze was kindled, that -brought astonishment into the eyes of Scadbolt and the Lascar. Before -the fire was made, the indefatigable bushman had gone <i>down</i> the rocks -this time, and had returned with a hat full of mussels. These he put -on the fire to cook; and then sat down and rubbed his hands in a high -state of satisfaction. Joshua had not been idle; he had attended to -the women and child, and had given them a little water, which was like -nectar to them. They were too weak to exert themselves; so the men sat -by them and ate supper, and gave them to eat, sparingly, under the -direction of Rough-and-Ready, who was regarded by the others with -unbounded admiration. The warmth of the fire was very comforting to -them, for although summer was coming, their long sojourn on the raft -had chilled their blood.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well now," said Rough-and-Ready, when supper was over, "I think we -ought to be very grateful for our escape. It was touch-and-go with us. -We sha'n't be very strong for a few days; and that's what we've got to -do first: to get strong. Then we can look about us."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where are we?" whispered Minnie.</p> - -<p class="normal">"As well as I can make out, my dear, we are somewhere on the -north-east coast of the continent of Australia; where I don't believe -a white man ever trod foot before. That's something, isn't it? We're -the first bits of civilization that these rocks have ever seen."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is there any chance of a ship seeing us?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I doubt it; but for my part I don't want a ship to see me; I've had -enough of ships. I feel at home here, or I shall feel so in a little -while. I don't doubt but what we shall be able to get plenty to eat -and drink, and that's our first great need. Try and sleep for an hour -now. Strength is what we want, remember."</p> - -<p class="normal">Rachel Homebush turned to him and held out her hand. She was grateful -for being saved, but she did not speak. The three men arranged to get -a little rest also, watch and watch in turn. It was Rough-and-Ready's -watch first. Before Joshua lay down, he went to see if Minnie was -asleep. Her eyes were closed, but she was aware of his approach.</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is you, Joshua?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Minnie. Do you think you can sleep?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know; I am strangely excited. I thank God that you are saved. -Joshua," rising to a sitting posture and taking his hand, "you will -not be unkind to me now that we are out of danger?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Surely not, Minnie. What makes you ask?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I was afraid, that was all."</p> - -<p class="normal">Here the little child murmured something. Minnie placed her ear to the -girl's lips.</p> - -<p class="normal">"She asked who was talking to me, and I told her you," said Minnie, -taking Little Emma upon her lap. "She wants you to kiss her."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua stooped and kissed the little girl, and she put her arms round -his neck, and asked where papa had gone to. Joshua turned away, and -pressing Minnie's hand, was soon afterwards in the land of dreams. So, -during the night, they slept and watched, and in their troubled dreams -felt the rocks moving and swaying beneath them. Every now and then -they started in terror, and clutched what was nearest to them, as if -life was slipping away; they suffered over again the agonies of -thirst, and moved their parched lips entreatingly. When it was -Joshua's watch, he observed the sufferings of his sleeping companions; -he guessed the cause, for he had suffered himself in like manner. With -merciful thoughtfulness he moistened their lips with fresh water; the -women smiled and grew more composed; perhaps at that moment they -dreamed that an angel was bringing them life and health. Minnie's head -was lying on her hand, and her face was exposed to the light. It was -sun-burnt, but the gypsy stain was dying out of it. Her hair too was -growing lighter and longer. Joshua looked up at the sky and round -about him at the strange scene. Over his head the light of day was -just breaking, but the dusky shadows still lay upon the waters. Behind -him a faint light, heralding the sun, was quivering on distant wood -and upland.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dan made me promise," he said softly to himself, as the wonderful -strangeness of his position came upon him, "when I was seeing strange -sights in strange places, to think, 'Dan is here with me, although I -cannot see him.' <i>Is</i> Dan here with me now? Is it possible that he can -have the vaguest idea of me as I stand, heart-wrecked, in this wild -country? I will try to believe so; I will try to believe that he and -Ellen see me as I am, know me as I am, and pity me. I could die here -now contentedly, if that were a conviction. Ellen, dear wife! Dan, -dear friend! dear mother and father! stand fast to me, and believe -that I never wavered in my love and my truth!"</p> - -<p class="normal">This was his theme that he thought of and mused upon, while all the -others were asleep. The rocks were burnished with golden light before -they awoke.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h4> - -<h5>ON THE ROCKS.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">As the sailmaker was stretching himself, Rough-and-Ready, who -was -already stirring, said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"I say, mate what name shall we call you by?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Isn't Sailmaker good enough?" was the Irish answer.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It's good enough; but it's no name."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Tom, for short, then."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That'll do, Tom; it's like your talk, short, and to the point."</p> - -<p class="normal">From that time they talked of him as Tom the Sailmaker.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We're going to look for something for breakfast, Marvel," said -Rough-and-Ready. "Don't wake the women--let them have their sleep out. -And keep your eye on those two rascals yonder. If they come to close -quarters, have no mercy. They'd have none on you. Come along, Tom."</p> - -<p class="normal">They returned some two hours afterwards, with smiling faces. The women -gathered hope from their cheerful countenances. The sailmaker was -loaded with wood to replenish the fire, which had not been allowed to -go out during the night.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We're going to have a fine breakfast," said Rough-and-Ready, -flourishing half a dozen plump pigeons. He chuckled as he exhibited -them; but he had no time for trifling. There was more serious business -to attend to--the cooking of the pigeons.</p> - -<p class="normal">With those and a few mussels they made a breakfast fit for kings and -queens. The two malcontents in the distance had no fire and no -pigeons; they made their breakfast off cold shell-fish, and looked -with envious eyes at the cooking going on among the other party.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah, ah, my fine fellows!" cried Rough-and-Ready, waving half a -roasted pigeon in the air; "what d'ye think of mutineering now?"</p> - -<p class="normal">They could not hear him, but they understood his taunting action.</p> - -<p class="normal">Said Rough-and-Ready to the women, when breakfast was finished,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Can you handle a pistol? Could you pull the trigger of one straight -in the face of man or beast, if danger threatened?"</p> - -<p class="normal">They looked at him inquiringly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You might have to do it," continued Rough-and-Ready; "so you had -better learn, and be prepared."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But why?" they asked.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You see, my dears, there are two parties of us. Here we are, one -party. Yonder are two rascals, another party. We are not the best of -friends, we two parties. If they could get rid of us, they would. By -fair means they can't; but they might try foul. Now I take it that we -men have to look after you and protect you--and you may depend upon us -for doing our best, my dears. We must see to every thing--food, -lodging, protection from storms and from savage Blacks. That may take -us away from you sometimes, and those rascals might steal upon you -unaware. Or another thing might happen: we might fall sick. Then who -will protect you? Or another thing--But, pshaw! there are a dozen -other reasons why you should learn to use fire-arms."</p> - -<p class="normal">Without more ado he showed them how to load a pistol and fire it, -and indeed was not content until they did it to his satisfaction. -Minnie was the more expert of the two; she soon learned. Then said -Rough-and-Ready,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, we are going to take a walk. A mile, I dare say. We shall be -followed, you'll see; the enemy will want to know where we are going."</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready took Little Emma in his arms, the sailmaker assisted -Rachel Homebush, and Joshua attended to Minnie. As Rough-and-Ready -expected, Scadbolt and the Lascar followed them at a distance. -Rough-and-Ready led the way over the rocks, on to sand, into forest. -They were nearly an hour before they came to the end of their journey, -for the women were very weak and could walk but slowly. Without any -forewarning, Rough-and-Ready stopped.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Here is another thing I have to teach you. A native call."</p> - -<p class="normal">And to their astonishment, he put his hands to his mouth and emitted a -shrill cry, that rang through the woods and seemed to linger there. -The word he uttered was "Coo-ēē!" and the sound was composed of -two notes, the second an octave higher than the first. He made them -all repeat the cry after him many times, and made them dwell on the -notes as long as their breath lasted.</p> - -<p class="normal">"If we miss each other, and lose our way, that cry will be a signal. -You have no idea how far it will travel, if you dwell long enough on -the notes. Now, you" (to the men) "stop here for a little while. You," -(to the women) "follow me."</p> - -<p class="normal">They obeyed him unhesitatingly. He led the women over a rise in the -woodland, where the trees were thickly grouped; and when they were on -the declivity on the other side, they saw at the base of the rise a -lovely creek of fresh water sparkling in the sun.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You will not be disturbed for an hour," he said, and darted away.</p> - -<p class="normal">They divined the meaning of this delicate thoughtfulness, and with -full confidence in him and his party they made their way to the creek, -and bathed and combed their hair. (I vouch for the comb, but am not -prepared to say where it came from, for the cunning of woman is beyond -me.) The men looked at them with astonishment when they came back, -sleek and trim. They appeared to have grown a dozen years younger. -They blushed and smiled as the men gazed at them, and Little Emma -lisped, "It was so nice!" Even Rachel looked brighter and more -womanly.</p> - -<p class="normal">After them, the men went in turns and bathed, and by that time they -were hungry enough for their dinner. Rough-and-Ready had already -provided it, having shot a sufficient number of birds for three or -four meals. Nothing could satisfy them after dinner but to go to the -rocks, and look seaward for the sight of a ship. Rough-and-Ready -declared it was useless. "Time thrown away," he said. "If we see a -ship, we have no means of signalling it; and even if we had, 'tis a -thousand to one that they would not see the signal." But all-potent as -his authority and advice were in every other matter, he could not -prevail upon them to cast away the hope of being rescued by that -means. Before night came they made their way back to the woods, and -constructed some rough tents with branches of trees, to sleep in. As -they were collecting suitable timber, Rough-and-Ready, who never -omitted an opportunity to instruct his companions in the resources of -the country, called their attention to a group of curiously-twisted -trees, which he said were apple-trees, although there was no fruit on -them. On nearly every one of them, three or four feet from the ground, -was a large knob, bulging out like a tumor.</p> - -<p class="normal">"See how bountiful Nature is," said Rough-and-Ready. "You need seldom -be in want of water or food, if you know the secrets of the bush."</p> - -<p class="normal">He dug his knife into one of the knobs, and fresh water ran out of the -wood. They tasted it, and found it very sweet.</p> - -<p class="normal">It was a beautiful night, and they sat talking for some time before -they retired to rest. Their strength was recruited by the nourishing -food they had eaten, and by the bath they had had. They had not seen -the Lascar or Scadbolt since the morning, and they deemed it prudent -to keep watch during the night. Now that the first excitement of being -saved was over, their thoughts turned to their unfortunate companions -who had found a grave in the cruel sea, and they shed pitiful tears -over the memory of the dead.</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready's experience of the Australian natives was largely -drawn upon during the night. Although he said nothing of his past -career, it was evident that he was well acquainted with every thing -appertaining to Australian bush-life. His descriptions of the natives -were not comforting; he described them as treacherous, mean, and -cruel. As to their chances of escape, he declared that there was no -hope from the sea. Their best plan would be to try and work their way -southward, but not for some time, until they were quite strong.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We will camp here," he said, "for two or three weeks at least, and -try and learn something about the country."</p> - -<p class="normal">But he told Joshua, when they two were alone, that he only said that -to console the women.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We can manage to live here; but to get south we should have to cross -country, where we should almost certainly be starved to death or -butchered by the Blacks."</p> - -<p class="normal">The prospect was dismal indeed; they seemed to be cut off from the -world.</p> - -<p class="normal">Notwithstanding that the women shuddered and trembled as they listened -to Rough-and-Ready's account of the natives, with whom they were -almost certain to come in contact soon, the subject was too -fascinating to be avoided. So, being compelled to talk about them, he -spoke of many strange things concerning them. The conversation turning -upon their superstitions, he told his hearers of the savage beliefs in -water-spirits and land-spirits, who are all females, and walk about -without heads; of the Oorundoo, who comes out of the water to drown -bad wives; of the Balumbal, a gentle race of spirits who live upon the -sweet leaves of flowers; of the Bunyip, a monster who lives in the -large lakes, and who issues therefrom to seize women and children; -Potoyan, a spirit of darkness, whose Whisper strikes terror; and of -many other singular beliefs.</p> - -<p class="normal">Said Rough-and-Ready, "There is no surer way to frighten the blacks -than through their superstitious fears. Their 'doctors' can work upon -them as they please."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua had taken care of his accordion, and had preserved it almost -uninjured. He played, and they all listened wonderingly to the soft -notes of "Home, sweet home," floating through the woods. It was like a -dream; they could scarcely believe they were awake. When he ceased -playing, a melancholy cuckoo-note came from the distant woods.</p> - -<p class="normal">"'Tis the more-pork, a night-bird," said Rough-and-Ready. "I never -heard it sing in the day."</p> - -<p class="normal">They retired to their beds of dry leaves soon after that, and dreamed -of the strange things they had heard. But Joshua could not sleep. Some -time before midnight--it might have been an hour--he rose and wandered -away from the camp, through the solemn woods. He took no notice of the -groups of majestic trees through which he walked--here masses of the -silver-leaved iron-bark; there thick clusters of the gigantic palm, -woven together, as it were, by luxuriant vines trailing through their -topmost branches. Strange effects of light and shade were produced by -this natural network; but Joshua took no heed of them, nor of the -other wonders of the woods by which he was encompassed. A sense of -awful desolation was upon him; tremblingly he retraced his steps till -he came to the camp, where he sank upon the ground exhausted by -emotion. The full moon rose and shed its light upon him. He took from -his breast the Bible which Dan had given him, and read upon its first -page, "From Dan, with undying love and confidence." Those words did -much to calm him; he kissed them, and pressed the book to his heart, -and gradually fell into a deep sleep.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h4> - -<h5>BITTER REVELATIONS.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Here in the grand Australian woods are two tents--gunyahs, -Rough-and-Ready calls them--built of tea-tree bark, bound round by -vine creepers. They are in the form of a hive, and are wonderfully -picturesque and comfortable. Up to this time, the castaway dwellers in -these gunyahs have been undisturbed by savages, and this has been a -matter of surprise to all but Rough-and-Ready. "Wait till after the -rainy season," he has said a dozen times; "we shall have plenty of -them then." Rough-and-Ready has made this "rainy season" a pretext for -lingering near the spot where they first camped after their rescue. It -would be suicide, he told them, to attempt to move at present; they -would not be able to make their way through the country. But indeed -all of them, with the exception of Joshua, were content to remain -where they were; they dreaded to encounter the horrors of the wild -country through which they would have to pass. Joshua was the only one -who fretted at their life of inaction. It seemed to him the cruellest -thing to remain passive while Ellen and Dan and his parents were -waiting for him at home. But what could he do? Without the assistance -of Rough-and-Ready he was powerless; and that wise man of the woods -declared emphatically that it would be madness to start upon such an -expedition. So Joshua was compelled to wait for events to shape his -destiny, and fretted and worried because he could take no hand in the -direction of them. It was a good thing for him that he had plenty to -do; he might else have lost his reason. Rough-and-Ready was the best -of physicians; he would not allow any of his companions to be idle, -and he took care to supply them with more work than they could -conveniently accomplish. He derived a huge pleasure from this cunning -proceeding, and had many a sly laugh to himself because of it. The -building of the gunyahs was a matter in which he took especial -delight, and he and his mates labored at them for many days; when they -were finished, Rough-and-Ready declared that they were better than the -finest stone houses that ever were built. The women took delight in -them also, and decorated them with the prettiest creepers they could -find. During all this time they were not molested by Scadbolt and the -Lascar. In their rambles through the woods they occasionally came upon -traces of the two rascals and caught distant glimpses of them, but -they never came to close quarters. Once Scadbolt had attempted to -make overtures; but he was warned off with small ceremony by -Rough-and-Ready, who declined to parley with him.</p> - -<p class="normal">On a certain moonlight night, not many nights ago, Rough-and-Ready -invited Joshua to accompany him on an expedition. Coming to a place -where the moon was shining over the tops of the gum-trees -Rough-and-Ready motioned Joshua to be still, and in a few minutes they -heard a call, half scream, half chatter. Presently Rough-and-Ready -raised his gun, pulled the trigger, and down came two animals shaped -like cats, with long brushy tails, sharp claws and something like -thumbs on their hind feet.</p> - -<p class="normal">"'Possums," said Rough-and-Ready in explanation.</p> - -<p class="normal">He had found out a haunt of these animals, and that night they brought -back more than a dozen, some ring-tailed, some silver. They could -only be shot on moonlight nights, said Rough-and-Ready, and are -chiefly found where the gum or peppermint-tree abounds. They had a -splendid harvest, and in a week they collected nearly a hundred, -Rough-and-Ready was mighty particular about the skinning of them, and -about rubbing the fleshy parts of the skins with fine wood-ashes -before fixing them on the trees to dry. They also caught a score or so -of the sugar-squirrel, whose fur is real chinchilla. Upon these skins -Minnie and Rachel are busy now with needle and thread, making caps for -the men. It is a strange sight to see such evidences of civilization -in the wild woods. The women had begged Rough-and-Ready to spare the -lives of two young opossums which were found alive in their mothers' -pouches, and he, knowing that they could be easily tamed, had readily -consented. They were the most docile and harmless little things, and -soon became domesticated, if such a word may properly be used in the -life I am describing. At the present time, one of them is hanging head -downwards, with its tail curled round the branch of a tree, in a state -of serene happiness and content. The other is with Little Emma, who is -sitting not far from the women, playing with it in the midst of a -great heap of wild flowers she has collected.</p> - -<p class="normal">The females are not alone. Two of the men are away, but Joshua is in -sight, busy with his axe cutting up a tree for slabs. To tell truth, -Rough-and-Ready is not desirous of moving from the woods where they -are now camped, unless they are compelled to do so by the savages or -by unforeseen circumstances. They are camped upon high land, where -they are comparatively safe from floods; the country round about is -fairly stocked with game; and there is water in abundance--somewhat of -a rare circumstance, and, rarer still, the water is sweet. As for the -life itself, none could be more attractive to him. The slabs that -Joshua is cutting now are designed for a fence round their homestead. -"Even if Blacks come," thought Rough-and-Ready "and they are not -inclined to be friendly, we may frighten them away with our guns." He -is very sparing of their powder and shot, of which they have not too -large a store, and has taught his companions to make and lay many -kinds of cunning snares for game. He is a thorough bushman, and in his -present circumstances is certainly the right man in the right place.</p> - -<p class="normal">The character of Rachel Homebush appears to have completely changed. -The trials she has gone through have softened her hitherto hard -nature. No stony-voiced exhortations to repent drop from her lips; she -is humanized and humbled. But a short time since she was intolerant, -arrogant, harsh, and proudly-insolent in her armor of sanctity; but -now she has doffed that armor, and has inward doubts of herself: She -believes in the goodness of others. She is less sanctified and more -godly.</p> - -<p class="normal">Said Rough-and-Ready to Joshua, when they were talking of the women--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Rachel Homebush is a different creature to what she was. She is not -so good as she was, and I think she's all the better for it."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua smiled at this paradox, and said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"At all events she has a different opinion of you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Think so, mate?" asked Rough-and-Ready, a little anxiously. "I'm -sorry for it, in one way. There's only one woman"--</p> - -<p class="normal">But he paused unaccountably in the middle of his speech, looked at -Minnie, who was a few yards away, looked at Joshua, and walked off -whistling.</p> - -<p class="normal">Here is the picture. Two hives, bright with flowering creepers; Rachel -and Minnie sitting in the shadow of the hives, on stumps of trees, -making fur caps; a 'possum hanging by its tail, studying gravitation; -the little child, not far away, lying on the ground, surrounded by -wild flowers, playing with her pet; in the distance, Joshua busy with -his axe; surrounding and encompassing all, bright sky and lovely -forest. Rachel, raising her eyes from her work, looks at the child in -the midst of her garden, and a soft expression rests upon her face. -The child sees the look, and thrusting the 'possum in the bosom of her -frock, runs towards Rachel with a handful of flowers. Rachel kisses -the child, strokes the silky coat of the 'possum, and selecting a -piece of wild jasmine, places it in her breast. Then Little Emma goes -to the back of Minnie, and twines some of the brightest flowers in -Minnie's beautiful hair; and after falling back and admiring the -effect of her handiwork, whispers to Minnie to get up, for she wants -to show her something. Minnie smiles and rises, and they walk hand in -hand to where Emma's wild flowers are, but the child leads her farther -on, in the direction of Joshua. Made aware of the child's intention, -Minnie falters, and tries to release her hand gently; but Little Emma -clings to her, and laughingly strives to pull her along. Joshua's -attention is attracted to the gentle struggle, and, coming forward, he -asks the meaning of it. The child explains that she wanted Joshua to -see how pretty the flowers looked in Minnie's hair, and that Minnie -tried to run away. Joshua looks at Minnie, who stands trembling before -him, as if she were guilty of some deep offence. Her bosom is heaving, -her eyes are luminous with tears, her face is bright with blushes, and -the tell-tale blood dyes her fair neck. Surely he has never looked -upon a more beautiful picture! He says some kind words to her, and she -goes back to her place near Rachel, and he to his work. But, within a -few minutes afterwards, he swings his axe over his shoulder, and walks -away in deep thought. The bees are humming about him, many-colored -locusts and golden-green grasshoppers flit among the tangled -brushwood, gorgeous butterflies skim through the air; the gaudy beetle -creeps lazily along; the praying mantis, with its leaf-like wings, -darts before him; the tree-frog utters its strange cry; a great -lizard, with a frill round its neck, disappears at the sound of his -step. He walks past these and myriad other wonders of the woods, until -the character of the country changes, and he finds himself among rocky -gullies, with many a fissure in the stony ranges that lead down to -them.</p> - -<p class="normal">The buzz of woodland life has ceased; unfathomable silence seems to -dwell in these rocky hills and valleys. But suddenly a sharp -shrill note sounds upon the air. It is a bird's note, but no mate's -voice replies. It is like himself; solitary in the midst of this -ungracious scene, which frowningly proclaims, "Love finds here no -dwelling-place." Again the note sounds, and as he makes his way toward -it, curious to see what kind of bird haunts so desolate a place, he -hears a faint echo answer--a voice with no soul in it, he thinks in -his then melancholy mood. He comes to the opening of a small cave, the -walls of which assume fantastic shapes in the dim light. And there, -uttering its wail, to which only mocking echoes make response, he sees -the Solitary Warbler standing alone in the centre of the cave, like -the Cain of its race. He sighs and walks on--over the rocky range, -into woodland again, where the ground dips, and where the rich soil is -teeming with new wonders; and coming to a great pool, he sits down by -its side. He has been to this spot before. Chancing upon it by -accident in one of his rambles, he was attracted by its beauty, and by -the singular effect of the shifting shadows upon the bosom of the -pool, whose surface is almost covered by lovely pink-and-white -water-lilies. He looks now into the water, and sees his haggard face -reflected between the beautifully-colored lilies. And singularly -enough he sees at the same time, with the eyes of his mind, the -picture of Minnie as she stood before him, with eyes downcast and the -flowers in her hair. It is because he was disturbed by thought of her -that he left his work. He knows her secret but too well. She loves him -with all her soul. She tells it in every look, in every word; every -little act of hers towards him is imbued with dangerous tenderness, -and yet she is unconscious of wrong. Every day she grows more -devoted--every day grows more beautiful. And it is a part of his great -misery to feel that her society gives him pleasure as well as pain. He -is storm-tossed by a conflict of feeling. In this conflict no -miserable vanity finds place, although it might be well excused in -most men in such a position; nor is he by a thought false to Ellen. -But Minnie is dependent upon him, lives upon his kindness, asks -nothing from him but gentle speech. Shall he deny her this? Shall he -be false to his nature, and be harsh where harshness would be -brutality? He is strong; she is weak. Her power is in her weakness; -his weakness is in his strength. She leans upon him for support, and -rules by submission.</p> - -<p class="normal">Something stirs behind him. A sound so light that it might have been -produced by the fall of a leaf or by the swaying of a bough from which -a bird has flown. Joshua, whose senses have been quickened by his late -experience, turns rapidly, and meets the Lascar face to face. In the -woods thought and action are twin-like. Quick as lightning Joshua's -pistol is in his hand, and the muzzle is pointed straight at the -Lascar's breast.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Stand!" cries Joshua, "if you value your life."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Lascar stands motionless, his hands behind him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Show your hands and what is in them, or I fire."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Lascar shows his hands--a large piece of rock in one. He had seen -Joshua sitting by the pool, and had intended to brain him with the -stone. At Joshua's command, he drops the stone. A bitter smile -wreathes Joshua's lips, and something like a savage instinct whispers -to him to shoot his enemy dead upon the spot. But the thought that it -would be nothing less than murder restrains him. The Lascar sees the -struggle in Joshua's face, and trembles; miserable wretch as he is he -has not conquered the fear of death. He is re-assured when Joshua -drops his hand and moves away, still facing him. At this, fear being -subdued, the venom in his nature begins to work. Shall he let his -enemy depart without a sting? He commences with a piece of bravado.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah," he exclaimed, "you have robbed me, but you can't make up your -mind to murder me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Robbed you!" exclaims Joshua, forgetting for a moment. "Of what?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Of my knife. Give it me back. I can't hurt you with it. You are more -than a match for me with your pistols. How do you think I can live -without a knife?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua makes no reply to this appeal to his humanity, and moves off a -few steps, warily.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I suppose you think yourself a manly sort of fellow," continues the -Lascar, moving step for step with Joshua, but keeping at a safe -distance nevertheless, "robbing people of their knives, threatening to -murder them, and running away with an innocent girl, and ruining her!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You villain!" exclaims Joshua, quivering at this reference to Minnie, -"do not make me forget myself!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"So far as to shoot a man in cold blood!" sneers the Lascar. "But -don't forget that the first time you struck me it was for running -after a woman. What better are you than me? I ran after a woman, not -an innocent girl. Perhaps you'll say you didn't trick her from her -father's house, and make love to another girl, her friend, all the -while, and that girl the sister of the man you pretended such fondness -for! Going to be married to her too, I heard. But I can tell you -something you don't know. You were precious sly with your sweetheart, -Ellen Taylor, in Gravesend; she wouldn't suspect you, I dare say you -thought, if you had her down at Gravesend until the ship sailed--she -wouldn't have an idea then that your other sweetheart, Minnie Kindred, -with her face stained brown, was waiting for you on board the 'Merry -Andrew.' Ah! you played a cunning game, you pink of perfection, you -sailor-hero; but I outwitted you, I think, in a way you're not aware -of."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How?" asks Joshua, constrained to listen.</p> - -<p class="normal">"How? I watched you, and was paid for it. You little thought that, did -you? I'll tell you something more. The man who paid me for watching -had a fancy for your sweetheart Ellen: you've no need to ask me who he -is, for you'll not find out through me. I did my duty to him, and he -paid me for it. Why, directly I set eyes on that brown-faced -gypsy-maid aboard the 'Merry Andrew,' I says, 'Minnie Kindred, by -God!' and I set a trap for her, and she fell into it. Then what did I -do? I sent a letter to my master by the pilot, and told him to go to -Minnie Kindred's father, and to Dan, and to your mother and father, -and to your other sweetheart, Ellen, and let them know that you had -run away with the girl, that you parted from Ellen Taylor one minute, -and was courting Minnie Kindred aboard ship the next. Was that a good -game to play? Was I as cunning as you? Was that paying you for what -you first did to me? Do you remember what I said, when you called me a -dog of a Lascar? I told you that the Lascar dog never forgets--never, -never! Why, now I look into your face, I could hug myself to think -that we're wrecked, and that we shall die and rot here, every one of -us, and that your sweetheart (who's my master's sweetheart now, I'll -be sworn) and your friends know you for what you are--a mean false -hound! I put a cross against you once, and I swore to have your -heart's blood. Have I had as good? Think of it, and tell me if I have -had my revenge."</p> - -<p class="normal">But he does not wait to be told. There is so dangerous a look in -Joshua's face, that he darts away and disappears in the bush. It is -well for him that he has escaped, for Joshua is maddened by what he -has heard. Truly the Lascar has struck at him with a cunning hand. The -agony of his soul is shown in the convulsive twitching of his -features, in his white lips, and in the veins of his strong hand, -which swell almost to bursting as he grasps a stout branch for -support. So he remains fighting with his agony with a bleeding heart, -for full half an hour. This knowledge that he has gained is more -bitter than all the rest. He knows the worst now. The evidence against -him is awful in its completeness. "Even the Old Sailor will believe me -guilty," he thinks, and groans aloud at the thought. But there is one -duty before him to do. He must tell Minnie. This last resolve comes -upon him when the force of his first passion is somewhat spent. -Between him and Minnie no word has ever passed of those at home; their -very names have been avoided. But Joshua now makes up his mind that -silence on this subject must be broken. It <i>must</i>; both for Minnie's -sake and his own.</p> - -<p class="normal">It is past sundown. The day has been very hot, and the shadows of -night bring cooler breezes, grateful to the senses of the castaways. -Joshua has drawn Minnie a little apart from the others; she, yielding -to his slightest wish, accompanies him to a part of the forest where -they can talk unobserved. His first impulse is to ask her why she came -on board the "Merry Andrew" unknown to him, and why she had disguised -herself from him; but he spares her this pain, and takes from his -breast Ellen's portrait and her lock of hair, and Dan's Bible. He -hands Minnie the Bible.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you know what this is?" he asks. "Yes," she answers; "it is the -Bible that Dan gave you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Read what is on the first page."</p> - -<p class="normal">She reads the inscription: "From Dan to his dearest friend and -brother, Joshua. With undying love and confidence."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You know the love that existed between Dan and me, Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I know. It is perfect. Why do you say existed? Surely it exists!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know; I'm afraid to think. Your words are in some sort -comforting to me; for they prove you have acted in ignorance, and that -you have not wilfully wronged me."</p> - -<p class="normal">She looks at him imploringly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You will understand presently," he says.</p> - -<p class="normal">He takes Ellen's lock of hair, and presses it to his lips, and kisses -Ellen's portrait also. The hot blood flushes into Minnie's face, then -suddenly deserts it, and she clasps her hands convulsively. She is but -woman, after all. Yet she controls her agitation sufficiently to ask -in an unsteady voice,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Is it necessary to speak further of this, Joshua?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is more than necessary," he replies; "it is imperative. My duty -and my honor demand it."</p> - -<p class="normal">She bows her head; he pauses a while, and when he speaks again, it is -in a softer tone.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie, do you know that Dan loved you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Loved me!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay, with all the strength of his constant heart."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I did not know it. I thought he liked me, but I had no idea it was as -you say."</p> - -<p class="normal">"He told me in confidence some time before I left. My heart bleeds as -I recall that conversation. No girl could hope to be more fondly, more -faithfully loved. When the 'Merry Andrew' left Gravesend, I said to -myself, 'When I return, Minnie will be Dan's wife,' for I could not -but believe that you would have learned to appreciate the worth of -such a love as his. But it was not to be."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, it was not to be," says Minnie sadly. "If I had known, it could -not have been; if I had remained at home, it could not have been. You, -who knew Dan so well, do you not know something of me also? I -understand the motive that impels you to speak to me of these things, -and I honor you the more for it. It is another proof of your goodness -and generosity"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie, Minnie!" he cries, "do not speak to me like that!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I must; I cannot help myself. Have you so poor an opinion of me--do -you know so little of me--as to think I would marry a man I did not -love? Rather than that, I would choose for him I loved the bitterest -lot that life can offer--misery, shame, humiliation--and be content. -Dan is all that you say; but I did not love him, did not deceive him. -If he told you so, he told you what is false."</p> - -<p class="normal">"He did not tell me so, but said that from your manner to him -sometimes, he hoped to win your love."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Must I shame myself to justify myself?" she cries recklessly. "I -was happy in his company because he was your friend, and because he -loved you. I was happy in his company because he spoke of you, and -because--Joshua, have pity on me and forgive me! O my heart, my -heart!"</p> - -<p class="normal">He catches her fainting form, for she is falling. Weeping, she turns -her face from him and hides it in her hair. Soft breezes play among -the branches of the trees, stirring them into worshipping motion, and -the more-pork, with its sad-colored plumage, flits by on noiseless -wings, uttering his melancholy note. Joshua waits until Minnie is more -composed; presently her sobs grow fainter and she leaves the shelter -of his arm, and stands a little apart from him, with her face still -averted.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I do pity you," he then says, "and forgive you. What I have said and -what I have done springs from no feeling of unkindness to you, Minnie. -God knows, in such a strait as ours, such a feeling would be worse -than cruel. But there are certain things of which I am afraid you are -ignorant, that I must speak of and that you must hear. Do you know -that, before I left home, I was suspected of playing with your -feelings--of making love to you clandestinely, and so betraying the -friend whom I would have laid down my life to serve?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, no Joshua, do not tell me that!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is the truth; but I did not know it until after I had bidden -good-by to mother and father and Dan, in Stepney. Where were you on -that day?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I--I was not at home," she falters.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You had left, then. I went to your father's room to wish you and him -good-by. He refused to see me. I asked to see you, and Susan told me -you were asleep. I was deeply grieved; and I can understand now what -caused Susan to beg me imploringly to be true to Ellen. What a -cowardly villain they must believe me to be! Your father suspected me; -Susan suspected me. If I had died that Christmas night at mother's -door, it would have been happier for me! Minnie I thanked you once for -saving my life; but I cannot thank you now, for you have made me the -unhappiest of men."</p> - -<p class="normal">She does not answer him, but stands before him trembling and -suffering, as before a judge, enduring her punishment and admitting -the justice of it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is part of my unhappiness," he continues, "that I have to speak -thus to you; it is part of my unhappiness that I have to show you the -consequences of your rash conduct. Listen: To-day I saw the Lascar; he -came behind me stealthily, to kill me, I believe; but I turned and saw -him in time. I could have shot him dead where he stood; indeed, some -savage prompting urged me to do so, but I held my hand and was spared -the crime. This man hates me, Minnie. In an encounter I had with him -before I first went to sea, I struck him and hurt him. He has had a -bitter revenge upon me. He saw you on board the 'Merry Andrew' before -the pilot left the ship, and recognized you, despite your disguise."</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie holds her breath. She remembers how the Lascar whispered her -name in her ear the first day she went aboard.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He did a devilish thing then. He wrote a letter home, saying that I -had run away with you, and that we were together on board the 'Merry -Andrew.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">She falls on her knees before him, and raises her bands -supplicatingly, and begs him again to forgive her, and to believe that -she knew nothing of this, and that if she had known--</p> - -<p class="normal">"If you had known, Minnie," he says, gently raising her, "you would -not have done what you have. But you did not stop to consider, poor -child! You see the consequences of that letter, do you not? Suspecting -me, your father told me the story of his life, to warn me not to -betray you. Suspecting me, Susan implored me to be true to Ellen. Dan -confided to me his love for you, and I listened to and sympathized -with him. Well, what must he and all of them think, when they have -learned that you and I are together on board the 'Merry Andrew'? And I -have something to tell you more painful than all the rest."</p> - -<p class="normal">He puts Ellen's portrait into her hand. "Do you know who this is?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Her eyes are blurred by tears, and she sees Ellen's sweet face through -the sorrowful mist.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is Ellen's," she says.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is my wife!"</p> - -<p class="normal">As Joshua utters these words, earth and heaven fade in Minnie's sight; -nothing is visible, nothing is palpable to her senses, but the -knowledge that flashes upon her, that her love, instead of being her -glory, is now her shame. "There is no earthly sacrifice that love will -not sanctify," her father had said. Could love sanctify such a -sacrifice as she had made--a sacrifice that had brought disgrace and -dishonor upon the man she loved? For the first time some slight -consciousness of her error breaks upon her, and she looks upon herself -as a shameful thing. As Joshua, witnessing her agony, moves a step -nearer to her, she cries, "No, no, do not touch me!" and with a wild -shudder sinks upon the ground. He, animated by sincerest compassion, -throws himself by her side, lays his hand upon her head, and raises -her face to his. She bows her head upon his shoulder, and sobs her -grief out there. By every means in his power--by gentle speech, by -tender act--he strives to soothe her, and succeeds. And then, true to -his purpose, he finishes his story--tells her what occurred between -him and the Old Sailor at Gravesend; how surprised he was to find -that the good old man, and even his own mother, had seen Minnie's -fancy for him, and had devised the cure for it; and how, prompted by -duty and by his love for Ellen (he dwelt much on that), he had married -her quietly at Gravesend, and had spent there the three happiest days -of his life. And when his story is finished, and she has learned all, -they sit hand in hand, very quiet and sore-smitten, until Minnie, in a -singularly-subdued voice, asks what she shall do: as if, having -committed this fault, and brought such terrible suspicion upon him, he -has only to tell her how to atone for it, and she will straightway do -it. Sadly he replies, "What can you do, Minnie? Nothing--nothing but -wait. There is, to my mind, not the barest chance of escape. We shall -make our graves in this wild forest; but we must live so--you and I, -my dear--that upon my deathbed I shall be able to think that I have -been true to my wife, true to my friend. Life is not the end of all -things."</p> - -<p class="normal">Meekly she assents. He calls her "Sister," and kisses her; and then -they rejoin their companions, who are seated by the gunyahs, cooking -turtles' eggs found by Rough-and-Ready, the discoverer.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXXV.</h4> - -<h5>SURPRISED BY SAVAGES.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">The wisdom of Rough-and-Ready's plan of action was soon -proved. One -night, thunder awoke them from sleep. The thunder that breaks over the -housetops, and the lightning that flashes in at the window-panes of a -populous city, are very different from what are heard and seen in -mountain ranges and great wastes of forests. Nature seems to be toned -down in the city; in the forests and mountains she is grandly -beautiful in repose, terrifically beautiful in travail. The -thunder-peals were so loud and awful, that the women and child lay -clasping each other in speechless fear. Like savage Titans the sound -swept down upon them, and rushed through the forests and over the -mountains and into them in search of echoes. The lightning darted upon -the trees, and ran along the branches, and leaped through the woods -into the bowels of the earth. Every thing that lived in stream and -woodland, in rocky range and dark lagoon, sought shelter from the -storm, of which Sound was but the herald. Presently it came, the swift -rush of waters, like a second deluge, filling the creeks and rivers, -and flooding all the land. Great torrents rushed down the mountainside -into the low land, sweeping all before them. The storm raged the whole -night through, abating slightly when morning dawned. It was well for -the castaways that they had a little food stored by, for they could -not go out in search of any. The second night the women begged the men -to stay with them; so they all occupied the women's gunyah, lying side -by side in the dark, and whispering to each other little words of -comfort. All but Rachel Homebush, who was struck dumb by fear. The -second night's storm was more terrific than the first, and about -midnight so tremendous a peal of thunder broke over them, that they -started up in dread.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who screamed?" asked Rough-and Ready. But his voice was not heard; -and swift upon the heels of the thunder another vivid lightning-flash, -instantly followed by a terrific burst of thunder, darted through the -gunyah, and struck them blind for many moments. Then, during a slight -lull, Rough-and-Ready asked again,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Who screamed?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not I," said Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nor I," said the sailmaker.</p> - -<p class="normal">The women did not speak. Joshua's heart beat with a new fear as he -whispered,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie! Minnie! speak to me. You are not hurt?"</p> - -<p class="normal">And tears of thankfulness came into his eyes as Minnie answered in a -trembling voice,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"No Joshua; I am only frightened. Let me hold your hand."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where's the child?" he asked.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Rachel has her. Rachel! Rachel!"</p> - -<p class="normal">No voice replied. Thoroughly alarmed, they called to her again and -again, and to the child, but could not rouse them. They were in the -deepest darkness.</p> - -<p class="normal">Presently Rough-and-Ready said, "Hush! we must wait for the light."</p> - -<p class="normal">They waited for the light, and by the first faint glimmer they saw -Rachel and the child lying down peacefully, the woman with the child -folded in her arms. Light had come to them before the others!</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready, who was the first to discover it, turned to his -companions, with the tears streaming down his face and beard.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Comfort <i>her</i>," he said to Joshua, pointing to Minnie.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua put his arm round Minnie and turned her face from where the -woman and child lay.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Poor Rachel! Poor Little Emma!" he said. "Be brave, Minnie, my dear. -Do not give way, for my sake."</p> - -<p class="normal">He knew what words to utter to give her strength to bear the shock, -and he made use of his power with a wise compassion.</p> - -<p class="normal">Her poor white lips trembled as she said to him,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Pray for one thing for me, Joshua. Pray that I may not die before I -have made atonement."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hush, hush, my dear!" he replied; "there is none to make. It is I who -rather should have to make it, for my hardness to you. Be comforted, -my dear."</p> - -<p class="normal">The words came from his heart. He would have been unfeeling indeed if -he had not learned to appreciate the beautiful unselfishness of -Minnie's love; her meekness, her faithfulness, her devotion, her -unmurmuring submission, could not fail to have a powerful effect upon -such a nature as his.</p> - -<p class="normal">The men went into their gunyah, and before night came again had made a -rough coffin of bark. The next morning they dug a grave and stood -round it bareheaded while the rain was falling. They kissed the -child's face and poor Rachel's also before the cover was put on the -rude coffin. Amid deep sobs--the men were not ashamed of their -tears--Joshua read prayers; some vine-creepers were thrown into the -grave; the earth was piled up into a mound: and they went back sadly -to their tent. The loss of some one very near and dear to them could -not have been more severely felt. From that time forth it became a -practice for Joshua to read a chapter out of the Bible every morning -and evening.</p> - -<p class="normal">The rainy season lasted for three weeks, and during this time they -lived very miserably. Minnie thrived, however--perhaps because Joshua -was tender to her. The hot weather came and they were able to go in -search of food. But Minnie was never left alone. Joshua and she were -waiting one evening for the return of Rough-and-Ready and the -sailmaker, but Rough-and-Ready came back without his companion. He -looked round in some anxiety.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hasn't the sailmaker returned?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No," said Joshua; "you went out together."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I know; but I missed him a couple of hours ago, and although I have -searched for him and coo-ēēd for him everywhere, I haven't been -able to find him."</p> - -<p class="normal">The sailmaker did not make his appearance. To the surprise of his -companions, Rough-and-Ready, after dark, fired half a dozen shots from -his pistol into the air.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You look surprised," he said; "well, now" (to Minnie), "can you bear -a shock? Will you promise to be brave if I tell you something?"</p> - -<p class="normal">She nodded.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is only something that I have been expecting. I think that the -sailmaker is with the natives."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why do you think so?" asked Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"For good reasons. I saw some tracks of them when I was hunting for -Tom. Perhaps they have captured him."</p> - -<p class="normal">"He had his pistols."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Frightened to use them, perhaps; or perhaps there were a lot of the -Blacks, and he thought it would be foolish and useless. Besides he is -new to them. He's all right, though; they won't hurt him for he's a -plucky fellow. Now, mind. When you first see the natives, and indeed -always after that, show no fear of them. What I am going to say is to -my mind a most foolish thing; but there's the faintest chance in the -world that, making friends with them, you might make your way down -south, from one tribe to another, in a few months, and come upon some -cattle station. But, lord! there's one chance for you, and a hundred -against you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why do you say 'you'?" asked Minnie. "'We,' rather."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, my dear," said Rough-and-Ready with a blush. "I have two reasons -for saying you and not we. The first reason is not a reason--it is a -presentiment. I shall die in the bush. The second reason is a plainer -one. It wouldn't be pleasant for me to get into civilized company in -New South Wales."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Why?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready looked at her with admiration, and said, very -inappropriately, as she thought,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you know that you have made me a better man?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"A better man!" she exclaimed. "Why, you are a good man, and a brave -man, too."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You think so. So let it be," he said, half seriously, half gayly. -"I'm not going to spoil your delusion just yet."</p> - -<p class="normal">They saw no signs of the savages that night. They did not retire until -late, and Rough-and-Ready went many times short distances in different -directions to look for the natives, but they did not appear. Joshua -took out his accordion and played. Rough-and-Ready listened -thoughtfully, and when Joshua had finished an air, he said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"I told you, when we first came ashore here, that there is no surer -way to frighten the blacks than through their superstitious fears. -Your playing to-night, connected with the near presence of the -savages, brings that remark back to me; and I'll tell you why. That -music of yours may possibly be a great power with them. They have -never heard any thing like it. If you don't lose your self-possession -when you get among them--and you must take care not to, for Minnie's -sake; her life may depend upon your courage--you may obtain an -influence over them by means of your accordion. Sound for which they -cannot account has a wonderful effect upon them. Here you have it. -Don't forget what I say. Come, now, I can hear no sign of the black -devils. You take some rest. I'll wake you in a couple of hours."</p> - -<p class="normal">So they watched in turns during the night.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What is the best thing to do," asked Joshua the following evening, -"when the savages come?--to make friends with them, or try to frighten -them?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"There are too few of us to fight," answered Rough-and-Ready. "We -might frighten them for a time, but they would be sure to come back in -larger numbers. Then we haven't too much powder and shot left. No; the -best and wisest course will be to be friendly with them, if possible. -I <i>have</i> heard of white men living with them for many years. I saw an -Englishman myself once who had been with them for five years. He was -glad enough to get away from them; but they treated him kindly, he -said. One man, whom I never saw, lived with them for thirty years. His -name is Buckley, and he is living now."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you know any thing of his story?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I'll tell you what little I know. He was a bricklayer in -Cheshire--came from Macclesfield, I've heard. A great big hulking -lazy fellow he was--brick-making was too hard work for him, so he -enlisted as a grenadier. A fine grenadier he must have looked--he was -six feet six inches in his stockings. But grenadiering didn't satisfy -his wants. He was a natural vagabond like myself, and he got into -trouble, and was sentenced to transportation. So he and three or four -hundred other natural and unnatural vagabonds, being deemed fine -material for the purpose, were sent out to form a colony. Buckley and -his mates were put ashore at Port Phillip; but the governor, whose -name was Collins, liked the place as little as the convicts, and he -moved them off to Van Dieman's Land. Then they began to talk of -escaping. They didn't know any thing of the interior of the country; -but they thought, perhaps, that any thing was better than the devil's -life they led as convicts. Buckley got away with two mates, of whom -nothing more was ever heard. About twelve months after he escaped, he -fell in with the natives, and lived with them for more than thirty -years. During the whole of that time he never saw a white man. At -length he heard from the tribe he was living with, that some men with -skins the same color as his had been seen within a few miles of the -native camp. They belonged to a band of explorers headed by a man -named Batman. Buckley went in search of them, and presented himself to -them. You can imagine what a sensation he created; a white giant, who -had forgotten how to speak English, with native weapons hung round his -body, and a kangaroo-skin rug his only clothing. He soon picked up a -bit of English, and was taken to a white settlement, where he was made -a pet and a wonder of. He might have done good service for the white -people with the natives, for they say he has great influence with -them. But my opinion of him is, that he is a lazy, skulking thief, and -that living with the savages, where he hadn't to work for his food, -just suited him. I expect that some part of his influence over them -was produced by his tremendous height and big limbs. However, he is -among the whites again, with a free pardon granted him, I've heard, -and earning his living as he has earned it all his life--by doing -nothing."</p> - -<p class="normal">During the recital of this story, which Rough-and-Ready declared was -veracious, every word of it, he was busy baking a fresh-water turtle, -which he had caught that day while he was fishing in a lagoon. The -turtle was baked in its shell, and they made a delicious supper off -it. They had arranged to fish for eels that night, and Rough-and-Ready -said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Come along; it's of no use being frightened by thinking of the -natives; we must get accustomed to them. We shall soon see them, and -Tom with them."</p> - -<p class="normal">They took all their fire-arms. Minnie had two pistols in her belt, and -Joshua and Rough-and-Ready, besides pistols, had guns slung across -their shoulders. Each of them wore a cap made of the beautiful fur of -the sugar-squirrel. They walked through the quiet wood, looking -sharply about them as they went along, but neither heard nor saw any -signs of the natives. When they came to the lagoon, Rough-and-Ready -told them he was going to show them a fine way of catching eels -without trouble. He had his fire-sticks with him, and in half an hour -he had a great fire blazing by the side of the lagoon. Attracted by -the light, the eels came swarming towards them; and in a very short -time they caught as many as they desired. Loaded with their spoil, -they made their way back to their gunyahs; and as they got near them, -they saw a dark figure glide swiftly away from the spot into the bush.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A native," said Rough-and-Ready. "We must look out to-night."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Or Scadbolt, or the Lascar, do you think?" suggested Joshua, -supporting Minnie, who was clinging to him in alarm.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No; a white man couldn't move away with such a cat-like motion. I -fancy I saw his dark skin."</p> - -<p class="normal">Thereupon Rough-and-Ready, for the purpose of familiarizing Minnie -with the idea of living with the savages, and so lessening her fears, -commenced talking of them, and continued talking for a couple of -hours. By which time Minnie's fears really <i>were</i> lessened.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What a number of stars have fallen the last few nights remarked -Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah, you have noticed that!" said Rough-and-Ready. "And if you -observe, they have fallen immediately over this spot, in the direction -of the sea. Well, those shooting-stars may have brought the natives -here; for although some tribes believe that danger lies where stars -fall, or that they indicate the direction of hostile tribes, others -have a kind of belief that a great and good spirit may be seen where -they fall. They believe that there is a new sun every day and a new -moon every night, One tribe throws up the sun at daybreak, and another -tribe catches it at sunset."</p> - -<p class="normal">Here they were interrupted by cries of fear, and by the running -towards them of some person who fell at their feet trembling and -grovelling. It was the Lascar, who was evidently in a state of -horrible fright. He looked more like a wild beast than a man. What few -clothes he had on were torn and tattered, his nails were long, and his -disordered hair and grovelling fears deprived his features of any -likeness to humanity.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The savages, the savages," he cried.</p> - -<p class="normal">He had chosen what he considered the lesser of two evils; his white -foes were preferable to black cannibals. Rough-and-Ready looked down -upon him contemptuously and touched him with his foot.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The cowardly ruffian!" he said. "I'd sooner trust the Blacks than -such as he. Where's his rascally mate, I wonder--Get up!" he cried, -and administered so smart a kick to the prostrate wretch that he -jumped up on the instant, imploring mercy.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Be silent, you chattering imp of darkness!" roared Rough-and-Ready; -"be silent, and answer me. You've seen the Blacks, I suppose?"</p> - -<p class="normal">The Lascar muttered an affirmative.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, what are you frightened at? Why don't you go and make friends -with them? They haven't much the advantage of you in color, and you -are more of a wild beast than they are. Frightened of being eaten, eh? -Faugh! they'd spear you and throw you away; you're not good enough -even for them." The Lascar trembled the more at this; he was a true -coward. "What d'ye think of mutineering now, eh? Answer me, you -copper-colored devil, or I'll make an end of you--where's your mate, -Scadbolt?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know; I haven't seen him for days.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah, two of a trade never agree. I thought you'd be cutting each -other's throats. Captain Marvel, here's one of your crew who tried to -raise a mutiny. As if that was not enough, he has murdered his mate." -(It is a fact that Scadbolt was never heard of again, nor was any -thing ever known of his fate.) "Now then, you, as captain of the -'Merry Andrew,' pronounce judgment--death, nothing less--and I'll take -him away and execute it, as truly as I'm a living man!"</p> - -<p class="normal">There was something so determined in Rough-and-Ready's speech, and -something so threatening in his action, that the Lascar leaped away in -mortal fear. Whereat Rough-and-Ready laughed loud and long, and fired -a shot in the air to frighten the Lascar the more.</p> - -<p class="normal">In the morning, while they were at breakfast, two savages suddenly -made their appearance, about twenty yards from where they were -sitting. They appeared so suddenly, that they seemed to have started -out of the ground.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, Minnie," said Rough-and-Ready quietly, "don't scream out, and -don't show any alarm. By the look of those fellows they are friendly, -and do not mean to harm us."</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie conquered her fears bravely, although her heart was beating -fast, and by the direction of Rough-and-Ready they went on with their -breakfast, to all appearance quite unconcerned, and as if the presence -of the savages was the most natural thing in the world. The two men -who stood gazing at them were naked, with the exception of a girdle of -emeu-feathers round their waists; their color was pale black; they -were tall, with thin limbs and fine chests, and their hair was thick -and curly. They had spears in their hands, about seven feet long, made -from the stem of the tea-tree.</p> - -<p class="normal">Seeing that they stood quite quiet, Rough-and-Ready held up part of an -eel towards them, and smiled, and nodded his head gently. Whereupon -the two savages looked at each other, said a few words, and -disappeared. Both Joshua and Minnie drew a long breath of relief, for -which Rough-and-Ready was inclined to be cross with them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"They will be back presently," he said, "in company."</p> - -<p class="normal">They had not long to wait. In less than half an hour the two who had -first presented themselves returned with nearly a score of others. To -the joy of the castaways, they saw Tom the sailmaker in the rear, and -they nodded and smiled at him. Seeing that the savages, who had been -jabbering among themselves, made signs to the sailmaker; and after the -display of much pantomime, he came towards his mates. They shook hands -with him, and Rough-and-Ready asked him how he was.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Jolly," he replied. He told them in crisp sentences, all of them in -answer to Rough-and-Ready's questions, that the natives seemed -disposed to be friendly, and that they were not half so bad as they -looked.</p> - -<p class="normal">Rough-and-Ready, accompanied by Tom, then walked half a dozen yards in -the direction of the savages, and held out his hands to them. Tom -looked at the savages, touched Rough-and-Ready on the breast, and then -himself, with sufficiently expressive pantomime, to denote, "We two -are one." Minnie and Joshua stood in the background, side by side, -with linked arms. The savages, coming a little nearer, pointed to -them, and jabbered unintelligibly, as much as to say, "What do you do -here? Who are you?" Joshua, observing the success of Rough-and-Ready's -pantomime, touched Minnie on the breast, and then himself, conveying -the same meaning, "We two are one."</p> - -<p class="normal">Here it must be told that Minnie had regained her naturally fair -complexion, and that her hair, also fair, had grown to a great length. -Tall and well-formed, with bare arms beautifully shaped, with pure -complexion; with dreamy eyes, with long hair hanging loosely down, and -with the charm and grace of youth upon her, she stood before them in -her strange dress of civilized cotton and woodland fur; and her -singularly-beautiful appearance had a powerful effect on the savages. -They approached Rough-and-Ready, and felt his clothes, and made -friends with him in their primitive fashion; but they kept some -distance from Joshua and Minnie, regarding, her with looks of -reverence and astonishment. Presently, after much grimacing and -flashing of hands and fingers, Rough-and-Ready came towards Minnie, -and, to her surprise, bowed low before her, and stood in an attitude -of respectful worship. The savages, who were watching him attentively, -saw only his back; but if they had seen the merry twinkle in his eyes, -they would have been as puzzled as Minnie was.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I've heard say that every woman is an actress," he said, smiling. -"Prove yourself one now, for all our sakes, by not moving, and by -listening to me attentively. Your conduct may decide our fate. I have -told you what significance the natives attach to shooting-stars, and -how they either avoid the direction in which they fall or are impelled -there by some powerful superstition. Fortune has favored us. I don't -understand a single word these savages utter; but I understand from -their actions that they are so amazed at your appearance as to -entertain a belief that you are not quite mortal--that, in fact, you -are a superior spirit. If they can be kept in this belief (supposing -they entertain it), it will be of immense service to us. If you are -brave enough not to show fear, they will almost be certain not to -attempt to harm us."</p> - -<p class="normal">No better speech could have been spoken to Minnie to inspire her with -confidence and courage. But she turned to Joshua first, and asked, -"Shall I do this?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," he answered; "I think it will be well, if you can nerve -yourself to it."</p> - -<p class="normal">Smiling at the "if" she said softly, "For your sake, Joshua," and -then, with queenly motion, walked towards the savages, conquering her -disgust at their appearance. They awaited her approach; and when she -was within a few steps of them, an old graybeard came forward, and -held out his hands, saying some words expressive of respectful -welcome. Minnie understood as much by his expressive action. She -touched his hands, and waved hers, bidding them welcome, and beckoning -to Joshua, touched him on the breast, and placed her hand upon his -shoulder. Then, smiling placidly upon the dusky group, she walked away -with Joshua, and sat down in the shade of the gunyah. Whatever meaning -her pantomime had conveyed, it evidently excited great interest among -the savages. They conversed earnestly and excitedly, and pointed to -the sky and to the earth, describing, by their motions the action of a -star falling gently to the ground.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Bravely done," said Rough-and-Ready to Minnie. "Whatever notion they -have in their heads, it is one that will do us no harm. See, they are -moving off, taking the sailmaker with them."</p> - -<p class="normal">And, indeed, the natives went away in a body, leaving behind them four -of their party, however, who squatted upon the ground, with their eyes -fixed upon the castaways.</p> - -<p class="normal">"They are left to watch us," said Rough-and-Ready; "but I think we may -make ourselves easy about their being disposed to be friendly."</p> - -<p class="normal">He and Joshua went about their pursuits as usual; but to keep up the -fiction concerning Minnie with the natives who were watching them, -they would not allow her to work, and treated her with such marks of -deference as could not fail to impress the savages. During the day, -Rough-and-Ready offered food to the savages, who accepted it. To show -their gratitude, two of them went away into the forest, and returned -with a quantity of honey in a reed basket, which they placed at -Minnie's feet, and which she partook of to their evident satisfaction.</p> - -<p class="normal">"There isn't the slightest mistake," said Rough-and-Ready merrily, -"that the devil isn't half so black as he is painted."</p> - -<p class="normal">They were left apparently undisturbed for two days, when the natives -returned, with different descriptions of food--sweet roots many of -them, pleasant and good to eat. "They have some plan in their heads," -said Rough-and-Ready. He was right. Early the next morning the natives -gave them to understand that they were going farther inland, and that -the white people were to accompany them. "Now we shall see something," -observed Rough-and-Ready as they plunged into the forest. They walked -for three days before they came to the native camp. They made short -stages to accommodate Minnie. During this time, Minnie kept close to -Joshua, as if to protect him; but Rough-and-Ready mixed freely with -the natives, and made some snares for game, which he gave to them, and -with which they were much pleased. When they were within a few miles -of the camp a number of the tribe, chiefly women and children, came -out to meet them. Soon they arrived at the camp, and were surprised at -its picturesqueness. It consisted of about a dozen roomy huts, roofed -and thatched with bark and reeds. At a short distance from the huts -was a large pool, the vegetation around which was singularly -beautiful. Among the strange trees which attracted the notice of the -castaways, the umbrella-tree, with its dark loaves and crimson -flowers, seemed to them the most remarkable. There were also a large -number of great fig-trees, and magnificent palms with feathery leaves. -The air was sweet with the perfume of lily and jasmine and the -golden-flowered thorn. There was one hut which appeared but newly -built; it was prettier than the others, and its sides were decorated -with wild flowers and flowering vines. Towards this the natives led -Minnie, upon whom the women and children looked in awe and wonder. -She, clasping Joshua's hand, entered this hut, and sank upon the bed -of dry leaves, wondering what was next to come. She begged Joshua to -stop with her, for she was frightened of being left alone. So, after -partaking of the food which the natives brought to them, he lay down -near the mouth of the hut, and she at the farther end on her bed of -leaves. Joshua could see the glories of the sunset from where he lay; -and he saw the fire die out of the sky, and saw the stars come out. -But he was tired with his day's walk, and sleep overpowered him, -although he tried to keep awake. Early in the morning they rose, and -walked towards the banks of the pool,--</p> -<br> -<div style="margin-left:5%; font-size:80%"> -<p style="text-indent:-10px">"To where the weed of green and red<br> -Its floating carpet gayly spread,<br> -Whereon the emerald frog reclined,<br> -Fanned by the fragrance of the wind;<br> -And all was darkened by the shade<br> -The water-weeping branches made--<br> -Save where a paler, tenderer green<br> -Made bright the beauty of the scene.<br> -The birds flashed down, to drink or lave,<br> -With varied note and joyous stave,<br> -And plunging sidelong from the reeds,<br> -That wavered mid the water-weeds.<br> -Plashed in the stream so cool and calm,<br> -O'erhung by many a fern-tree palm;<br> -And bell-bird peels, whose silvery chimes<br> -Found in the rippled water rhymes,<br> -Throughout the perfumed thicket rang,<br> -Whence the tall-headed bulrush sprang."</p> -</div> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h4> - -<h5>THE POWER OF MUSIC.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">The natives were busy preparing for a grand Correboree, which, -being -interpreted, means a grand gathering and celebration in honor of some -imposing event. Scouts were sent out in every direction, and every -hour brought fresh comers, who evinced the greatest possible curiosity -in the white people. At one time nearly sixty members of a different -tribe arrived in a body, and a fierce jabbering took place between the -old men of the tribes. Rough-and-Ready, who had by this time picked up -a few native words, came to Minnie and Joshua with a look of concern -on his face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"They are quarrelling about us," he said. "As far as I can understand, -this new tribe lay claim to us for having been found in a country -which they say is theirs. I think I know how they will settle it, if -they settle it at all peaceably."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How?" asked Joshua anxiously.</p> - -<p class="normal">"They will separate us--two for each of the two strongest tribes." -Minnie caught Joshua's hand convulsively. "I know what you mean, my -dear," said Rough-and-Ready, a little sadly; "you and Joshua must not -be parted. And indeed, it would not be right; you belong to one -another. Well, the sailmaker and I will go our way and you will go -yours. Only you must be cunning and keep together. Joshua, tonight, -before the natives go to sleep, play a few soft airs upon your -accordion. You and Minnie must be in your hut together while you play. -And don't let them see the accordion. The music will fill them with -wonder, and it will be a strong reason with them why you should not be -parted. But indeed, my dear, if you continue to act your part well -there will be no fear of that."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are a good man," said Minnie gratefully, holding out her hand to -Rough-and-Ready.</p> - -<p class="normal">He took it and pressed it to his lips, and held it in his with -infinite tenderness.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, my dear," he said, "I am not a good man. You have seen me at my -best. I am a convict, and when I came on board the 'Merry Andrew,' I -was trying to escape from the colony. There's many a black mark -against me which I doubt will never be wiped out in this world. I was -a little sinned against at first, it is true, but I had my revenge -afterwards; I couldn't be meek and humble under undeserved punishment. -There! that's all I shall tell you about myself. Your imagination must -fill in the outlines. And, mind you! you can't make me out worse than -I am. I am glad I have made this confession, lame and bald as it is; -it has relieved my mind." He turned his back to them, with a motion -which said, "You see what a vagabond I am; I am not fit company for -such as you."</p> - -<p class="normal">But Minnie laid one hand upon his shoulder, and with the other turned -his face towards hers.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are a good man," she repeated earnestly, looking into his eyes, -which were filled with tears, "and I honor and respect you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And I, too," said Joshua, grasping his hand heartily. "If it should -be our good fortune to meet under happier circumstances than these, I -will show my gratitude to you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"There, there, there!" exclaimed Rough-and-Ready, half roughly, half -tenderly; "enough said about the past. We sha'n't be together much -longer, as I've told you, and as you'll soon find. We must take things -as they come, and make the best of them. Do you know the natives have -a curious fancy about you?" he said to Minnie. "There was once in -their tribe a young woman of rare beauty and virtues, who was idolized -by all I don't know how long ago this was, and it is only by piecing -stray words and actions together that I have been able to understand -it. Well, this young woman, by some means or other, was transformed -into a star. They believe you to be her, having taken mortal form -again to visit them. 'Tis a pretty fancy, isn't it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"But I am white, and"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"She was black," interrupted Rough-and-Ready gayly. "That is easily -accounted for; they believe that when they die they jump up white. If -you were of their color, they would not have the fancy about you."</p> - -<p class="normal">By the evening there were not less than a hundred and fifty savages -collected together. Although the weather was warm, they were lying -down before their campfires, with the exception of one group of about -twenty old men and doctors of the principal tribes, who were earnestly -engaged in discussing matters relating to the white people. An old -chief of the tribe who had first discovered the castaways was on his -feet, declaiming violently, with extravagant action, in which, -nevertheless, there was much dignity. Opara was his name. His hair and -beard were white, and his face and body were scored with ugly seams -gained in battle, or in the exercise of the strange rites and -ceremonies of his tribe. On his neck and breast, and from his -shoulders to his hips, were still to be seen, old as he was, the -gashes made in his youth to entitle him to the dignity of manhood. A -great chief was Opara--wise in council, fearless in battle and had -been the most skilful of all his tribe with boomerang and spear, and -middla, and in throwing the wirra.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The strangers are ours," he said; "the sacred crow, Karakorok, -witnesseth that they are ours by right. The heavens were filled with -light, and great voices thundered. We listened in awe. Fire rent the -mountains, and made new caverns sacred. Light dived into raging -waterfalls, cutting the earth. We waited full a moon. The storm -ceased; the spirits spoke no more. We waited another moon. The stars -fell near the sea--into it. We went there, wanting to know. We brought -the strangers back. They are ours."</p> - -<p class="normal">Up rose Wealberrin, chief of the other tribe. No less famous he than -Opara. White-bearded, too, and tattooed from top to toe, and no less -cunning with war and hunting weapons. Around his waist was a belt made -of the hair of the enemies he had slain in battle.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Not so," he said. "The <i>land</i> is ours. There, in Pandarri Kurto -(heaven's cavern), lie our mintapas--our doctors. There are our -hunting-grounds--our fishing-lands. There we make men of our sons. -Shall I take Opara's food, and call it mine by right? He would reply -as becomes a warrior. If I ask, he would give. But I ask not now. The -land is ours. What is found on the land is ours."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Once lived Mirgabeen," said Opara. "Bright-eyed, fleet-footed, -hollow-backed. Her tongue spoke the music of the birds. Her dark hair -hung down to her arched feet. She could shroud her glory in it--as -night the day. She was beloved by all. Too bright for earth, she lives -in the heavens now, a star. She looks down on me. She hears me speak. -So dwelt with us a maid, whose supple limbs cleaved the water, who -sang the music of the woods. The trees bent to her as she walked. The -branches bowed before her, and whispered to her, and she replied. She -left us for the grand vault where moons are made. What was ours is -ours. She has come back to us. She is ours."</p> - -<p class="normal">"So be it," said Wealberrin. "The others then are ours. Opara has -spoken."</p> - -<p class="normal">"She has with her a mate," said Opara, "whom she has touched upon the -breast. Let Wealberrin take two--we two. Then we shall have peace."</p> - -<p class="normal">Wealberrin would have replied, but as he rose to his feet a wondering -expression stole into his face, and into the faces of all assembled -there. For from Minnie's gunyah issued sounds so soft and sweet that -the night-birds hushed their voices to listen. The breeze was so light -that the melodious notes hung upon the air, and lingered long before -they died away. The savages clutched each other, and stood transfixed -with fear and wonder. What voices were these that were speaking? In -their dreams they had never heard any thing so sweet. Opara had said -it. Minnie had come from the vault where the moons are made, and was -speaking to the spirits of another world. Motionless, with bended -heads or with forms inclined towards the sound, they stood like -figures of stone, in reverential attitude. And did not move a limb -when the music ceased; for a shadow fell upon the moonlit space, and -Minnie came to the opening of the gunyah and looked in dumb amazement -at the strange scene before her.</p> - -<p class="normal">And now the day has come upon which the grand ceremony of the -Corroboree is to be celebrated. The rival tribes have settled their -dispute. Rough-and-Ready, who is the Chorus of the party, tells his -friends that Joshua and Minnie are to remain with Opara's tribe, and -that he and the sailmaker are to be attached to Wealberrin's. Joshua -hints at resistance, but Rough-and-Ready declares it would be madness.</p> - -<p class="normal">"If there was no woman in the case," he says, "I might counsel -differently; but for Minnie's sake we must have no fighting. We might -kill a score or two of the natives, but you must bear in mind there -are half a thousand of them here now. Then their spears are poisoned. -Suppose one should strike Minnie. No, no; submission is our best -course." So, with much grief, they are compelled to make up their -minds to submit.</p> - -<p class="normal">All day long, there is great feasting. An emeu has been hunted down, -and the fat carefully distributed among the natives; honey and sweet -roots have been brought in in abundance, and the bushes have been -stripped of their fruit. Rude seats of vines, decorated with flowers, -have been placed for Minnie and Joshua in front of their gunyah, and -in front of the seats a kind of arched screen of leaves and branches -has been erected, through the network of which they can see and be -seen. When night comes, fires are lighted, the flickering flames of -which give birth to monstrous shadows that flit about the trees, and -fill the woods with grotesque shapes. Minnie and Joshua watch with a -kind of wonder the shadows created by the fire nearest to them. Now -the light goes down, and the black shapes dart through the woods, or -run swiftly along the branches, ravenously, and with cruel intent, as -it appears; anon, the flame leaps up, and the shadows fly and shift -restlessly about, with lightning speed, as if suddenly surprised by an -enemy. Their attention, however, is soon diverted from these inanimate -creations. The natives are assembling. Men, women, and children troop -in from all quarters, and seat themselves round and about the fires in -somewhat orderly fashion. There cannot be less than five or six -hundred of them. All being seated, a long silence ensues, broken at -length by a circle of singers, who chant a monotonous song, narrating -how they had journeyed towards the sea into which stars were falling, -and how they had found the strangers, and brought them to their camp. -As they sing this song over and over again, they beat time with their -clubs. A brave then chants a tradition of one of their ancient chiefs, -who was compelled to fly before a hostile tribe; all his young -warriors were slain, and he alone escaped; but his enemies determined -to put an end to him, set fire to the bush around him, and he was -encircled by a net of flame. Suddenly the earth opened, and water -stole up from the caverns and extinguished the fire, and so the chief -was saved, and a great river was made, in which fish was plentiful. In -the midst of the silence which follows this song, a man springs from -out the shadows. His face is crossed with lines of red and yellow, and -his body is painted white. In his hand is a branch of green leaves, -and a great tuft of emeu-feathers is on his head. He stands perfectly -still for full a quarter of an hour, looking into the sky for the -spirits of dead men. What inspiration falls upon him at the end of -that time it would probably be difficult to explain; but he waves his -branch of green leaves to and fro, and the singers strike up another -song, and the musicians beat time as before with their war-clubs, -while the chief actor in the scene rushes about, and flourishes his -arms in a gradually-worked-up state of the wildest excitement. He -vanishes in the shade as suddenly as he had appeared, and in his place -leap a dozen men, presenting so startling an appearance that Minnie -clasps Joshua's hand in sudden alarm. Flowers are twined round their -ankles and above their knees. Some have tails or dingoes wound about -their heads, others wreaths of down from the white cockatoo; some have -tails of wallabies attached to their peaked beards, and all have -feathers in their hair. White rings are round their eyes, their noses -are striped, and lines of red, yellow, and black are painted from -their shoulders and breasts down to their waists, where a white ring -encircles them. The singers burst into song again, and the -hideously-decorated figures begin to dance, advancing towards the -singers and retreating from them; their motions at first are slow and -tremulous, but soon they are leaping and jumping frantically from side -to side, each trying to out-tire the others, with such violent exertion -as to cause them presently to fall upon the ground in a state of -exhaustion. As soon as each recovers, he rises, and dances by himself, -and the women utter cries of commendation, and beat the ground in -ecstasy. These performers are followed by others, who dance in a -serpentine line, until they present the appearance of a serpent coiling -and uncoiling itself; as they dance, they make a hissing sound with -their tongues, to imitate the hissing of a serpent. And so through the -night the Corroboree continues, until, thoroughly worn out, the savages -retire to their rest, and the woods that a while ago were filled with -such strange life and sound, are lying quiet and solemn in the -peaceful light of the stars.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Wealberrin and his tribe are ready to start, and Rough-and-Ready and -the sailmaker have come to wish Minnie and Joshua good-by. They go -into the woods, out of sight of the natives, and sit sadly upon trunks -of trees that have been blown down by storms.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have heard say, or have read somewhere," says Rough-and-Ready, -striving to speak gayly, "that life is made up of meetings and -partings, so that this is quite a natural thing, and not to be repined -at. What we've got to do is to make the best of things."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It might be worse," says Tom the sailmaker, good-naturedly assisting -Rough-and-Ready to cheer Minnie's spirits.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Bravo, Tom!" exclaims Rough-and-Ready. "It might be a good deal -worse. We have escaped greater dangers than the present one, and if we -act wisely and bravely we shall escape this. But it all depends upon -ourselves, and if we lose courage, we lose all. You must bear that in -mind, my dear. Why, this day twelve months we may be talking together, -and smiling at these experiences which now seem so hard to bear!"</p> - -<p class="normal">But Minnie only smiles sadly in reply, and Joshua asks Rough-and-Ready -if there is any thing they can give him to enable him to bear them in -remembrance.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nothing is needed," replies Rough-and-Ready. "We have not been -together for a very long time, but our acquaintanceship has been -sufficiently eventful to cause us never to be able to forget each -other. Yet I should like one thing," with a tender glance at Minnie.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What?" she asks, learning by his look that it is something in her -power to give.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A piece of your hair, Minnie," he says.</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie desires Joshua to cut off a lock with his knife, and he cuts a -thick tress and gives it to Rough-and-Ready, who winds it round his -finger and puts it into his pocket.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now," says he, "for a little sensible talk. Your sole aim must be to -endeavor to work your way near to the settled districts, where you may -have the chance of falling in with white people. Southward lies your -chance of being rescued. Every day the squatters are coming farther -inland in search of new ground for cattle-stations, and every day this -fresh opening up of the country adds to the chances of escape. -Whosesoever lot it is to first fall in with our countrymen must tell -them that there are two white people living with one of the native -tribes who are desirous of getting into civilized company again. That -will make them look out for us perhaps. You will find that stockmen -and bushmen are as fine and manly a set of fellows as you would desire -to meet. I think you have the best chance of first hearing the crack -of a stockman's whip, for your tribe is more of a southern one than -ours." Then Rough-and-Ready told them, as much for the purpose of -diverting Minnie's attention from the sad parting near at hand as for -any other, of the wonderful enterprise of the Australian pioneers of -progress, of the dangers they cheerfully encounter, of the unknown -country they bravely plunge into, of the hardships they bear and make -light of, and of the grand future that awaits the beautiful Australian -continent.</p> - -<p class="normal">"To my thinking," he says with enthusiasm, "there is no life that -contains so much pure enjoyment as the life of a backwoodsman. I would -not change it for any other--only I would prefer, for occasional mates -and companions, white people instead of savages. I don't believe man -was intended to live in close cities."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But even such a life as you describe," says Joshua, "leads to the -making of great cities. The pioneers go first, and the masses follow."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's the worst of it," says Rough-and-Ready; "they follow, and are -not content to live naturally. They make streets and cramp them up -with just room enough for a score of men to walk abreast in. Down in -Sydney there are streets, as you know, where not a half a dozen men -could walk abreast through; but that's the way of all cities, large or -small. Directly new land is opened up, in troop the masses, as you -call them, who make their streets and build their houses as if there -wasn't an inch of ground to spare; while all around them are thousands -and thousands of miles of lovely country, with trees and flowers, and -fruit, and fish, and game, inviting them to come and enjoy life as it -ought to be enjoyed!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well," says Joshua, "'tis the way of the world. <i>You</i> were never -intended to live in cities, that's clear."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know. I dare say, once upon a time, I should have thought I -was mad if such ideas as I have now had entered my head. I wasn't -always so rough as I am now. But cities are necessary, I suppose; and -it's folly to talk as I do. Why, I don't doubt that in less than fifty -years a city will be built even here in these wild woods; and perhaps -on this very spot where we now sit they'll build a prison." He speaks -these last words with a dash of bitterness: but he soon shakes off his -cynical humor, and proceeds to speak of more important matters -concerning the present. "Be especially careful of one thing," he -concludes, "never by any chance let them see your accordion." (Joshua -had it slung round his shoulders, wrapped in a bag of fur which Minnie -had made for it.) "When you play, let the natives hear the music, not -see where it comes from. By that means you will best preserve your -influence and Minnie's over them. And bear in mind--work southward."</p> - -<p class="normal">Here two natives make their appearance, and after looking attentively -at the white people, glide away quietly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"'Tis time to go," says Rough-and-Ready, jumping to his feet; "that is -their delicate way of telling us that they are waiting." Minnie, with -streaming eyes, raises her face to his. He stoops and kisses her, and -says tenderly, "God bless and protect you, my dear!" The four of them -shake hands sorrowfully, and part--never again to meet on earth. So -Rough-and-Ready and Tom the sailmaker disappear from the yearning gaze -of their friends, and from this story; and Joshua and Minnie are left -thus strangely alone.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXXVII.</h4> - -<h5>HARSH JUDGMENTS.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">The foundering of the "Merry Andrew" and the loss of every -soul on -board were duly recorded in the newspapers, and utterly shattered the -happiness of that humble home in Stepney wherein love and content had -dwelt for so many years. If Mrs. Marvel's daughter Sarah, who has -played an insignificant part in this history, had been at home, -unmarried, her parents might have derived relief and consolation in -watching the progress of her fortunes; but Sarah had had the rare good -fortune to be quickly wooed and quickly won by a country mechanic, and -her subsequent career has nothing in common with these pages. So that -Mr. and Mrs. Marvel were left alone in their unhappy position. They -could not bear to live longer in the house in which Joshua had been -born and reared, and they agreed to Dan's proposition, that they -should move, and live with him and his sisters. What added to their -unhappiness was, that they were at war with every one of their -neighbors. When the news of the loss of the "Merry Andrew" reached -Stepney, the neighbors one and all decided that Joshua was guilty, and -many of them declared that the punishment which had overtaken him was -a just visitation. To listen to this in silence seemed to Joshua's -family to be nothing less than flat treason; they fought stoutly and -earnestly against the calumny, and defended the character of their -lost son with all the strength of their loving hearts. But vainly. The -neighbors persisted in their belief until George Marvel gave out that -if he caught any man speaking against the dead, he would thrash him. -He had not long to wait to give effect to his words. He came home one -day with a black eye and a bruised face. "I've been fighting Bob -Turner," he said in explanation, "for taking away our Josh's good -name." Now Bob Turner was a favorite in the neighborhood, and the -cause in which he received a drubbing was not his alone, but all -his neighbors' as well. Was free and fair speech to be burked by -such an obstinate and opinionated old fellow as George Marvel? Were -they to be deprived of their legitimate privilege of gossiping and -tittle-tattling? Things had come to a pretty pass, when a man was to -be allowed to bully all his neighbors because they wouldn't agree with -him. The fight between Bob Turner and George Marvel was an exciting -topic of conversation in every house for a dozen streets round; and a -unanimous verdict was given in favor of Bob Turner, who was looked -upon in some sort of way as the general champion of the important -privilege of Tittle-tattle. Much sympathy was expressed for him, -inasmuch as he had been taken home after the fight with a battered -nose and bunged-up eyes, and could not go to his work for a week -afterwards. During that week George Marvel thrashed another man, and -called a woman unpleasant names; and when the woman's husband demanded -an explanation, he received one of such a nature as to convert him -instantly into an active enemy. Then Bob Turner, convalescent, made -his appearance in the streets again, with traces of disfigurement in -his face; and burning with animosity and shame, armed himself with a -stone tied in the corner of his pocket-handkerchief, and, swinging his -sling defiantly, expressed his regret that Joshua had been drowned, -for thereby the gallows had been cheated. George Marvel, hearing this, -went in search of his enemy Bob, and came away again with his hand so -disabled by a blow from the sling, that he also could not work for a -week. At which Bob Turner rejoiced, and all the neighbors rejoiced -with him. After that George Marvel refused to speak to any of his -work-mates, and they, in retaliation, passed a resolution sending him -to "Coventry" for six months; which sending to "Coventry" may, to the -uninitiated, be described as the very refinement of cruelty, inasmuch -as it ignores the offender's existence, and condemns him not to be -spoken to by any of his fellow-workmen. This enforced silence was a -dreadful punishment to George Marvel. He bore it patiently enough for -two or three weeks; but then it became a horrible torture. To sit at -his work day after day, and week after week, uttering no word, and -with his work-mates avoiding his very look, was almost maddening. It -drove him to something which I am sorry to have to record; it drove -him to drink. And the habit that began to grow upon him was of the -worst kind. Having no one to drink with him, he drank by himself, and -soon began to carry a flat bottle in his pocket, liberally supplied -with that national curse--Gin.</p> - -<p class="normal">Although it may be objected of George Marvel that in his behavior -towards his neighbors he carried things with too high a hand, he acted -only in strict accordance with his nature; and indeed, if he had been -less dictatorial and more conciliatory it is likely that the same -result mould have been produced. It was not to be expected of him to -be gentle and self-suffering under the dreadful accusation that was -brought against his son, when Mrs. Marvel's conduct was taken into -consideration. She could not listen patiently to the revilings of the -neighbors; to remonstrate with them, to speak gently to them, to beg -of them to be more merciful in their speech, would have been an -injustice to the memory of her son. Every tender remembrance -connected with him--and ah, how many there were, and how she cherished -them!--urged her to defend him. And she did defend him, with all her -mother's love, and with flaming eyes and agitated breast; told the -revilers that they ought to be ashamed of themselves, and that they -must be bad and wicked themselves, else they could not set their -tongues to such bad and wicked accusations of the best son that ever -blessed a mother's eyes. Poor thing! it was a sad sight to see her -make her indignant defence in public, and then to see her in her -room--pale, powerless, trembling--sink into a chair, overcome by the -agony of her grief. It was not long before white hairs began to -multiply, and before the cheerful look quite died out of her face. And -Dan and Ellen worked on, and never lost their faith in the dear one -who was lost to them; and Susan, notwithstanding what had befallen, -still watched and rose in the night, and went into the street, -awaiting the return of Basil Kindred's murderer. But no word of him -passed her lips; she worked at her dressmaking in silence, and never -uttered a cheerful word. A blight had fallen upon those once happy -homes.</p> - -<p class="normal">They had, however, two friends and constant visitors, Praiseworthy -Meddler and Solomon Fewster. Through good and evil report, these two -friends remained faithful to Them, although from widely-different -motives. Considering all the circumstances, every thing had turned out -very fortunate for Solomon Fewster. He confessed as much to himself -exultantly, and curiously enough, gave himself some credit for having -brought it about. Every tittle of evidence against him had been -destroyed; no suspicion rested against him. Joshua was drowned; and -Ellen remained, looking prettier in her black dress than he had ever -seen her. He was sure of her now. He had only to wait. She had an -encumbrance, certainly, which he would gladly have dispensed with--her -baby-girl, born in sorrow. But he made up his mind that he would be -kind to her, if she lived; and this resolve, to his own thinking, -atoned for any hand he may have had in Joshua's misfortunes. When he -saw Ellen with her baby in her lap, he thought, and thought rightly, -that he had never seen a more beautiful sight. "One day," he said to -himself, "I shall see her with a child of mine upon her breast;" and -he dreamed with tender pleasure, and with no pangs of conscience, of -the happy time to come.</p> - -<p class="normal">So time passed on, and no ray of sunshine illumined the darkness of -that unhappy home. Things were going from bad to worse. George Marvel -was not a confirmed drunkard, but he drank more than was good for him; -and his reputation as a cunning workman was on the wane. He did not -work regularly either; he was often absent, and earned less money. His -wife expostulated with him many times, and begged him not to drink. He -listened without impatience, and said, "It's of no use, Maggie; if I -didn't drink I should go mad. I'm an altered man to what I was, and -I've brought it all on myself."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nay, George," she said, "you cannot say that and mean it."</p> - -<p class="normal">(It is to be noticed as a singular thing that now she never called her -husband "father," and indeed had not done so since the news of -Joshua's death had reached them. The delicacy and thoughtfulness of a -faithful wife's love are not to be excelled.)</p> - -<p class="normal">"I <i>can</i> say that and mean it, Maggie," he replied; "I have been the -cause of all this. I wasn't content that my son should be a -wood-turner; no, I drove him to sea and away from all of us. We might -have been as happy as the day is long if he had remained at home. And -he would have remained but for me. I remember what you said, Maggie, -as well as if you'd said it last night: 'If Joshua is shipwrecked, -don't forget that I warned you beforehand.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"O George!" cried Mrs. Marvel, in an agony of remorse, "how can you -bring my wicked words up against me now?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I do not bring them up against you, wife; I bring them up against -myself. And they were wise and good words--not wicked ones. I ought to -have listened to them; but I was obstinate and pig-headed, and -thought, like a fool, that I knew better than you. Ah! but it's too -late to alter what is past; and I've brought death to our son and -misery to you, and shame on all of us."</p> - -<p class="normal">Then he refused to listen to her longer, and walked away to chew the -cud of his remorse, and to drink more gin. To her and to the others in -the house he was gentle: but to everybody else he was a bear. One -night he came home in a condition which may be described as neither -drunk nor sober. Dan and Ellen were sitting together, and the baby--to -whom they had given Mrs. Marvel's name of Maggie--was lying in the -cradle, when he came into the house. It belonged to his humor not to -show himself ashamed of his new bad habit: when he was drunk he did -not slink away and hide himself; but exhibited a kind of reckless -defiance, for which it would have been as hard for him as for others -to account. So upon this occasion he came into the room, quickly -followed by his wife, who never watched him out of doors, but who -attended to him in the house as if he were a child. He took his seat -in the chair which Ellen placed for him, and sat moody and silent -while Mrs. Marvel quickly set his supper before him. But he could not -eat it. He pushed the food from him fretfully, and took his wife's -hand and patted it, and then said suddenly,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Maggie, we must go away from here."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Go away, George!" she exclaimed. "Where to?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know; but I can't stop here much longer. If I do, I shall -bring fresh disgrace upon you. I can't live this life any longer; it -is killing me. We have already lost our good name and our good -character in the neighborhood, and where I used to get respect I now -get contempt. And, Maggie, I am afraid of myself! A new workman came -into the shop to-day, and I heard Bob Turner tell him about us and -about our poor lost boy, and speaking of him in such a way--Dan! -Ellen!" he cried, appealing to them in justification of himself -"<i>could</i> you stand by quietly and listen to shameful words spoken of -our Joshua? Could you restrain yourself if you heard him spoken of as -a--Oh, but I cannot say it!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen rose, with flashing eyes and cheeks burning with honest -indignation.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No," she exclaimed; "I could not, father. I should tell the wretch he -was a coward and a villain."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I told him so--your very words: I called him a coward and a villain; -and I almost had my hand on his throat, when the other men interfered. -But there was a row in the place for an hour: for I was almost mad. -And then the master called me into his room, and told me--what do you -think? Why, that he was very sorry to see the change that had taken -place in me lately; that he was very sorry to see that I had taken to -drink; that I was a good workman, and that I had worked well for him -for a many years; but that if I couldn't behave myself as I used to -do, I must find another shop. That was a pretty thing to say to -me!--the best workman he ever had, and the steadiest too--no, I can't -say that now; but I could up to a little time ago. I had a mind to -take off my apron, and fling it in his face, but thought of all of you -stopped me. Instead of that, I asked him what he would have done in my -place supposing he had had a son; but he stopped me there, and said -that he was talking business, and not sentiment. With that I flung -myself out of the room, and swore I'd join the Chartists, and teach -the masters one day that workmen have hearts"--But Mr. Marvel broke -down here and glared about him in violent agitation.</p> - -<p class="normal">They let him be, and waited till he was calmer; they had studied how -best to humor him. Then Mrs. Marvel said:--</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do you think we had best do, George?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know," he answered somewhat roughly; "I'm not fit to give -advice. I was dead against you when you didn't want our poor boy to go -to sea, and I'm rightly served for it; but I'll never advise again. -I'll be led now, not lead."</p> - -<p class="normal">At this point, Dan, purposely, but without attracting observation, -pushed the cradle so as to awake baby, and thus caused a diversion. -After that, he quietly gave Ellen and Mrs. Marvel to understand that -he wanted to speak to Mr. Marvel alone, and the women presently glided -out of the room. George Marvel took no notice of their departure, and -indeed did not notice it until Dan aroused his attention. Then he -said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where's Ellen and the wife?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Gone to bed, sir," replied Dan; "and I'm glad of it, because I wanted -to speak to you."</p> - -<p class="normal">George Marvel gave Dan a disturbed look, and said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Won't another time do, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, sir; I want to say what I have to say now, particularly."</p> - -<p class="normal">George Marvel nodded, and somehow or other, the flat bottle in which -he carried his gin obtruded itself unpleasantly upon his notice. It -made a bulge in his pocket, and he tried to hide it from Dan, but did -not succeed.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Will you give me leave to speak of certain things in the past, sir, -and not consider it a liberty?" asked Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Say what you like, Dan; I can't consider any thing you say a -liberty."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah--then I may speak of another thing presently, which makes us all -very unhappy." (George Marvel shifted uneasily upon his chair, and -wished he could get rid of the flat bottle which made itself so -conspicuous in his breast-pocket.) "We have gone through many changes -in our humble life; but for the most part we have been very happy. Do -you remember, sir, when father died, how perplexed I was as to how we -should live, and how, when every thing seemed to be a failure, and -there didn't seem to be a ray of hope, you came to me with twelve -pounds four shillings, in a bag, which you had collected for us among -the neighbors?" (George Marvel groaned, and thought, "What would the -neighbors say to me now if I went to them on such an errand? But I was -respected then.") "Well, sir, from that time fortune smiled upon us, -and we got on, until the unhappy day came. You know, sir, what father -died of; it causes me shame and sorrow to think of, although it is a -long time ago. I remember how Ellen and I used to sit here, in this -very room, and tremble when we heard his step in the passage--she was -frightened, but I was more ashamed than frightened. There was the day -poor mother was buried--I shall never forget that night when we sat -here in the dark; Mrs. Marvel was very kind to us that day, but indeed -she was always that. Jo's mother couldn't be otherwise." (George -Marvel gave a gasp, and lowered his head.) "It cuts, sir, to speak of -Jo in this way; I feel it as well as you. But it may do good. Now I'll -tell you what I thought that night of poor mother's funeral, when I -heard father stumbling in the passage. I thought it was cruel and -unkind to mother; I thought that even if he had the right to bring -shame on himself (which I am certain he hadn't, for no man has), he -had no right to bring it on us; I thought that perhaps poor mother -died sooner than she might have done if father had been a steady and -sober man. For father earned very little money, and mother had to work -very hard to make both ends meet. I have known her get up in the -winter mornings at five o'clock, and work and slave till near -midnight, and all because of father's idleness. Now tell me, sir, you -whom I have always looked up to because you are a just man, could any -thing justify father in leading the life he did?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nothing, Dan," replied George Marvel, in a low voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">"He did not even have the excuse of a great grief," said Dan -courageously and tenderly. "Why, when he died that dreadful death, -shamed and shocked as I was, I looked upon it as a mercy to him and to -us that he was taken away. Yet, going a long way back, to the time -when I was very young, I remember that father was not so very bad; he -used to drink a little, but was not always drunk. It grew upon him, I -suppose, until it mastered him, and made him what he became." -Certainly, Dan proved himself the cunningest of physicians; he had -brought home to George Marvel a consciousness of the abyss towards -which he was walking, and had executed his task tenderly, wisely, and -without giving offence. "Now, come, sir," continued Dan boldly; "let -us look things straight in the face. You said you must go away from -here--you mean all of us, of course. Have you any idea where we should -move to?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"None, Dan. Only one thing is plain to me--ay, much plainer to me -after what you have said--and that is that I must go from this -neighborhood, where once I held up my head and was respected, but -where now every man and woman is my enemy. I never will be friends -with them again--never! If they held out their hands to me now, I -should refuse them after what they have said of our poor dead boy."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dead boy!" mused Dan. "Are you certain, sir, that Jo is dead?" So -startled was Mr. Marvel by the question, that he gazed at Dan in -speechless astonishment. "I haven't spoken of it to anybody else, but -something tells me that our Joe is alive. Yes, sir, you may well stare -at me, for every other person but you and Ellen and Mrs. Marvel would -call me mad for saying such a thing. I can give you no reason for the -belief--for it is a belief, not a fancy. Haven't you heard, sir, of -men being wrecked on strange lands, and living there for many years -after they were supposed to be dead? Haven't you heard of men living -amongst savages, and suddenly appearing among their friends years and -years after they were lost? Some such thing, happily, may have -occurred to Jo."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But it's two years now since Josh went away," gasped Mr. Marvel; and -then added, "Don't tell mother, Dan; it would drive her out of her -senses."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I shall wait before I tell her, but I shall tell Ellen when the -proper time comes. Hope isn't a bad thing, sir.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But hope without reason," suggested Mr. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Except the reason that exists and the comfort that exists in thinking -of the cases that we have read of in stories of shipwrecked men who -have been preserved from death. But hope is a good thing always, -whether it comes from reason or fancy. And if you can believe as I -believe, it will be the better and not the worse for you. Indeed, -indeed, sir, you don't know how earnest I am in this. Think of the -friendship that exists between me and Jo; I believe it to be something -better and higher than ordinary friendships among boys and men. It has -grown up with us, until it has become almost a part of our very being. -We are never out of each other's thoughts; when he was away on his -first voyage he was always thinking of me, and I of him. And that -Christmas night that he came home--do you know what happened then, -sir? Ellen can tell you that during the whole of that day I was uneasy -about Jo; I had dreamed of him the night before, and my dream made me -unhappy, for I was convinced that he was in danger. I had no reason -for that, nor had I any reason for telling Ellen that Jo was very near -us an hour before he came to the door. But unhappily, it all came true -as I feared. Now, sir, I have thought often that if Jo was dead, I -should feel it and know it--and I don't feel it and don't know it. -Something keeps whispering to me, 'You will see him again, be with him -again.' And I believe that I shall. For last night, sir, I dreamed of -Jo, and Jo was alive; and as sure as we're sitting here talking, we -shall see Jo one day, and all the dreadful mystery that looks so black -against him will be cleared up."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Marvel jumped to his feet, and walked excitedly about the room. -There was something contagious in Dan's enthusiasm. So earnest, so -thrilling was Dan's voice, that Mr. Marvel's heart beat high with the -hope in which there was no reason.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have not done yet, sir. When you said to-night that you must go -away from here, I was amazed, for it seemed to belong to part of my -dream. Jo seemed to say to me, 'I can't come to you Dan; come to me.' -And I want to go to him"--</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Marvel stopped suddenly in his walk, and stood before Dan with a -startled look on his face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I want to go to him, or as near to him as I can. The last place Jo -was heard of was at Sydney, and the ship is supposed to have foundered -somewhere near the Australian coast. Well, sir, if by any means it can -be managed, we ought to go to Australia."</p> - -<p class="normal">"All of us!" exclaimed Mr. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"All of us," repeated Dan. "Why not? We are miserable here--unhappy -here. We haven't, as you say, a friend in the place. Everybody is -against Jo, and believe him to be bad, while we know him to good. I -agree with you, sir, that if those we thought were our friends and who -have spoken against Jo were to hold out their hands to me, I would not -take them. It would be treasonable to Jo. To live on here in this way -would only be adding to our unhappiness. I dare say we could manage to -get along out there. Mr. Meddler says it is a rising place, and a -splendid country for a poor man to get along in. You could take your -tools, and could get work. I could take my birds, and should be able -to get plenty there that I could train. Why, sir, it would be a -splendid thing, and the best for all of us."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I believe it would--I believe it would," said Mr. Marvel, his voice -trembled with eagerness; "but where is the money to come from?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"We have forty pounds of Jo's, sir, that he left for you and me; I -wouldn't mind it being spent that way. That wouldn't be any thing like -enough, I know; but I think I have a friend. However, sir, let us -think over it for a little while. I am glad that we've had this talk. -You'll forgive me, sir, won't you, for what I said in the first part -of it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">George Marvel made no reply, but, standing by Dan, put his arm -affectionately round the neck of his son's friend; then left the room, -and comforted his wife by a very simple act. He took the flat bottle -out of his pocket, and said, "Maggie, I have done with this; I shall -never fill it again." And, happily for him and all of them, he kept -his word.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h4> - -<h5>MR. MARVEL SHAKES THE DUST FROM HIS FEET.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Dan took the Old Sailor in to his confidence, and the -impracticable -old fellow excitedly proposed that they should leave Stepney and come -and live with him in his barge. But as Dan declared that that was -impossible, the Old Sailor's hopes fell down to zero.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We can't live in this neighborhood much longer," said Dan; "it -wouldn't so much matter to me, for I'm always indoors, but it does to -Jo's father. I know what he must suffer. You see, what we want is a -friend."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah!" said the Old Sailor, "what you want is a friend. Well, we'll -talk of this again by and by."</p> - -<p class="normal">"He went down stairs to see Ellen, and found her crying over her baby.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Come, come, my dear," he said; "this won't do; you'll be making an -old woman of yourself in no time." And he dried her eyes with his -handkerchief.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You're the only friend we've got now," said Ellen sadly.</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor thought: "Says Dan, 'What we want is a friend.' Says -Ellen, 'You're the only friend we've got.'" And he put this and that -together, as he had done once before in the memorable conversation he -had had with Joshua at Gravesend, when he set all matters straight.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What were you crying for, my lass?" he said aloud.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah, sir!" replied Ellen, "I don't mind telling you. I was looking -down at baby, and thinking that when she is old enough to understand -things--and baby is very quick, and almost understands already, don't -you, my pet?--she will hear such stories from ill-natured people about -father, as will make her as unhappy as her poor mother is. When I -thought that, sir, I began to cry, and was almost wicked enough to -believe that it would be better for both of us to die than to live -amongst such bad-hearted people."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor did not stop long, but walked away in profound thought.</p> - -<p class="normal">Soon after that, another misfortune occurred. George Marvel told them -that he had left his situation. "I gave it up of my own accord, -Maggie," he said to his wife, to whom he first spoke upon the subject; -"If I hadn't, I should have done something that would have made the -master give me warning, and I should have been disgraced. I can't make -sure of myself now; my blood boils up so when I hear a word dropped -about Josh, that every thing swims before my eyes. I can't help it, my -dear. Don't blame me."</p> - -<p class="normal">She did not blame him, but said she was sure he had done what he -thought was for the best.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I've worked in the shop, man and boy, for more than thirty years," he -said huskily, "and I doubt if I shall get another. Trade's overdone. A -good many men are out, and I'm not as young as I was. I don't quite -see the end of it, Maggie."</p> - -<p class="normal">She cheered him and comforted him, and he went out the next morning in -search of work, feeling very much ashamed of himself. It was like -begging. He came home disheartened and footsore, and hadn't a cheerful -word or look for any one. "A nice ending this is!" he said bitterly. -"But I brought it all on myself. I shouldn't have driven our boy to -sea." He seemed to think it was nothing but strict justice that he -should take all the blame upon himself. He earned so little money, -that presently he had to break into Joshua's legacy to him and Dan, -and it began to melt like magic. Things were getting very bad. The -dressmaking work, too, was slackening, and Susan and Ellen had many -idle days.</p> - -<p class="normal">Solomon Fewster observed all this with inward satisfaction, although -outwardly he sympathized with them, and was profuse in his offers of -assistance. But they would not accept any thing from him; and very -soon the proceeds of the birds he continued to purchase from Dan -became their most dependable source of revenue. Notwithstanding that -he was careful never to say a word of the past that would be -distasteful to them, he did not make much way in their good graces. -They did not show this, however; he was consistent in his offers of -assistance and in his friendly behavior, and they could not show -ingratitude; but their instincts were against him. He allowed a year -to pass before he spoke to Ellen of his love for her, and even then he -thought it best first to make sure of the co-operation of her friends. -He addressed himself in the first place to George Marvel, who opened -his eyes very wide, and was indeed very much astonished at Mr. -Fewster's declaration. He had never suspected that Mr. Fewster had an -attachment for Ellen.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I loved her before she was married," said Mr. Fewster to him; "but -then I saw that she loved your poor son, and I was too honorable to -interpose. So I did not distress her by telling her of my love."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mr. Marvel thought that that was manly and straightforward, but asked -Mr. Fewster why he spoke to him upon the subject.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are in a sort of way Ellen's father," replied Mr. Fewster, "and -it is due to you that I should speak to you first. I should not be -justified otherwise in offering myself to Ellen. I have something to -say also, if you will excuse me for taking the liberty"--</p> - -<p class="normal">Seeing that Mr. Fewster hesitated, Mr. Marvel bade him proceed, and -then the wooer cunningly placed before Mr. Marvel certain advantages -that would accrue to him if Ellen consented.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should feel it my duty," said Mr. Fewster, "to see that the man I -look upon as Ellen's father is properly cared for."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Never mind that," said Mr. Marvel; he had recovered from his -astonishment, and felt a sort of displeasure at Mr. Fewster's -proposal. "Never mind that," he repeated dryly, "but tell me what it -is you want me to do."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I want you to give your consent, Mr. Marvel, and to assist me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Assist you in making a woman love you, Mr. Fewster!" exclaimed Mr. -Marvel. "No, no; the matter rests with you and Ellen. It is none of -mine, and any feeling I may have in the matter it is but right I -should keep to myself."</p> - -<p class="normal">"But you won't say any thing in my disfavor," urged Mr. Fewster, -alarmed at Mr. Marvel's coldness of manner, and thinking to himself -that when Ellen was his wife, he would have as little as possible to -do with the Marvels.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I shall say nothing to Ellen one way or the other," replied Mr. -Marvel moodily. "I have no doubt Ellen knows what is due to herself. -And to Joshua," he was about to add, but he only thought the words; -they did not pass his lips. When Mr. Fewster went away, Mr. Marvel was -very despondent, and thought with some bitterness that he would have -spoken to Ellen's lover very differently, if he hadn't been so low -down in the world. So discouraged was Mr. Fewster by his interview -with Mr. Marvel, that he did not speak to any other members of the -family, not even to Dan, but came straight to the point at once with -Ellen. After all, whom else did it concern but Ellen and himself? She -was sitting in the kitchen, working; baby was in the cradle, and upon -Ellen's face were traces of tears. When she and baby were alone, her -tears flowed too readily now. Solomon Fewster had prepared himself -carefully for the occasion. He was attired in his best, and presented -quite a holiday appearance. He bought a bunch of flowers for Ellen, of -which he begged her acceptance. With a little hesitancy of manner, she -took them from his hand and placed them on the table. There is -something in the air of a wooer that betrays his purpose to the woman -he loves, and when Ellen looked into Mr. Fewster's face and saw this, -she rose hurriedly, and stooped to take baby out of the cradle, -intending to leave the room. But Mr. Fewster's hand upon her arm -restrained her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nay, Ellen," he said awkwardly, "let baby alone for a little; don't -disturb her--she looks so pretty in her sleep." And calling up a look -of admiration in his face, he contemplated baby with an appearance of -affectionate interest, which would have won its way to the heart of -most mothers at once. But not to Ellen's. Mr. Fewster's tender manner -brought back to her the memory of all his disagreeable attentions when -they were first acquainted, and she waited in silent apprehension for -what she dreaded was to come. But round about the bush went Mr. -Fewster.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Things are very much changed, Ellen," he observed. She would have -resented his calling her by her Christian name on the present -occasion, although he had often done so before; but he was Dan's -patron and their chief dependence, and she did not dare to object. -"Very much changed," he repeated. "Mr. Marvel, poor fellow, looks -quite shabby. He has a difficulty in getting work, I believe. Very -sad--very sad. But it's the way of the world. One man up, another man -down, Lucky, man that who can always keep up."</p> - -<p class="normal">"He is indeed, Mr. Fewster," said Ellen, constrained to say something -in reply. "But we can't help misfortunes coming."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No; but we can often turn bad fortune into good. Now, looking lately -at Mr. and Mrs. Marvel, who are far from happy, poor things! far from -happy, I have been thinking what a beautiful thing it would be to make -them easier in their mind as regards their worldly circumstances, for -there is no doubt that that constitutes the greatest part of their -unhappiness. As for the other part of their unhappiness--family -grief--time will soften that. But time doesn't soften poverty if it is -always with you. It is a sad thing, a very sad thing, but it is so -unfortunately. There is no harder misfortune in the world than -poverty."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, there is, Mr. Fewster," said Ellen, who had taken baby on her -lap as a kind of protection. "There are griefs of the heart which are -bitterer to bear than poverty."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I stand corrected. But then that will be the case with the few, not -with the many--with the few who are superior to most people, and who -are the more to be admired for the possession of such excellent -virtues. I know one woman who is far above all others in this respect, -and whom I therefore love and admire far above all other women." Ellen -trembled and turned very pale, but Mr. Fewster proceeded rapidly, -fearful lest he had been too precipitate, "Coming back to Mrs. -Marvel--would it not be a good thing to make her comfortable in her -mind about her worldly circumstances?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It would be--a very good thing," answered Ellen, in a low tone.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And it can be done. There is one person who has it in her power to do -this for Mrs. Marvel." Again Mr. Fewster paused until Ellen asked, -"Who is that person, Mr. Fewster?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You," he said eagerly. "You can do this, and at the same time you can -make a man who has loved you from the first day he saw you the -happiest man in the world."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Stop, sir!" cried Ellen, in a firm voice. "You must not say what you -were about to say. It would be folly--worse than folly--it would be -wicked for me to pretend not to understand you. It would be merciful -to me, and best for both of us, that you should not say any thing more -now. I have no heart for any thing but my grief and my child."</p> - -<p class="normal">So earnestly did she speak, that Fewster was fain to desist. The only -words he said were, "You shall see how I respect and love you: your -word is my law;" and straightway left her. But he did not leave her -despairingly. One little word that Ellen had unconsciously uttered -filled him with hopeful anticipation. She had said, "It will be -merciful to me, and best for both of us, that you should not say any -thing more <i>now</i>." She had put no impression upon the word; but the -wish that "keeps the word of promise to the ear" imbued it with a -distinct utterance to Solomon Fewster's sense. "I must not say any -thing more <i>now</i>," he thought; "that opens the way for the future. I -must be content for a little while." He thought he had made a good -move, and that he was sure to win the game.</p> - -<p class="normal">When he was gone, Ellen caught her baby to her bosom, and ran to Dan's -room for consolation--almost, as it seemed to her, for protection. -There she found George Marvel sitting in an attitude of sadness. He -had not had an hour's work for the last fortnight, and half of -Joshua's savings was spent: but barely twenty pounds remained. When -that was gone! Well, that was what was fermenting in George Marvel's -mind now. When that was gone, what was he to do? Sit down and starve? -Without doubt, they could not all live upon Dan's earnings; for Dan -and his sisters earned barely enough to keep themselves. He groaned in -bitterness of spirit to think that he, the only man in the house who -could work, was doomed to idleness. He had striven hard, and still -strove, to obtain employment--with what success has been narrated. He -felt at times as if he would be justified in demanding work, instead -of begging for it. Indeed, on one occasion he had asked for work in -some what defiant tones, and, being refused, had spoken out of the -bitterness of his heart, of the injustice and hardship that stood in -his way of earning food, being willing to work for it honestly. The -only answer he received was an order to quit the shop immediately, if -he did not wish to be given in custody. The sentiments to which he had -given utterance were soon made known to many masters in the trade, -some of whom afterwards, in reply to his applications, said they did -not want any Chartists in their workrooms. His case was a desperate -one indeed. The problem which he was trying to solve as Ellen entered -the room after her interview with Solomon Fewster was a common one -enough, more's the pity. He would have expressed it in very simple -words: "I must work to live. I am able to work, and willing. I cannot -get work. How am I to live?" Ellen saw the trouble in his face, and -sat down by his side. He gave her just one glance, and learned what -had occurred; for he had seen Solomon Fewster go out of the house.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I know what has occurred, my dear," he said anxiously. "Mr. Fewster -has been speaking to you. And your answer?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have no need to tell you, father," said Ellen, raising her eyes to -his. She said nothing of the bribe Fewster had offered for her love.</p> - -<p class="normal">George Marvel saw that Ellen had refused Mr. Fewster, and he nodded -grave approval; yet, from a sense of justice, was compelled to ask,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Have you considered all the circumstances, Ellen? Have you considered -the future?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't know," she answered; "I only know that I have done what is -right, and what is due to my dear Joshua's memory."</p> - -<p class="normal">All this was Greek to Dan, and it had to be explained to him. He -listened in silence, and was very thoughtful afterwards. He let the -matter drop, however, until he and Ellen were alone; and then he told -her, gently and by degrees, of his belief that Joshua was not lost, -and of his earnest desire to go over the seas and commence a new life. -She, listening eagerly, almost breathlessly, pressed his hand to her -lips and kissed him again and again, and was absolutely so simple as -to share his belief. Hope revived within her; and when Dan said, "You -are not widowed yet, dear; of that I feel assured," she blessed him -for the words in which there was no reason.</p> - -<p class="normal">Other troubles came. Solomon Fewster, strong in cunning, made a new -move in the game. His orders began to fall off, and in a short time he -bought one bird where formerly he had bought three. Perhaps he -thought, "If love won't drive Ellen into my arms, necessity may." It -was a cruel device, mean and merciless, and it struck fresh terror to -their hearts. They could do nothing; but wait and watch the tide come -up. And things grew so bad for them that they had to content -themselves with two meals a day, and those but poor and scanty ones. -Their condition was a strange parallel to that of the unfortunate -passengers of the "Merry Andrew" on the raft. There are wrecks on land -as sad as any in the records of the sea.</p> - -<p class="normal">Solomon Fewster, of course, was profuse in his regrets at the -falling-off of the business, and offered to lend Dan and Ellen money, -which they refused. He renewed his offer many times, not offended at -the refusal. "He wants to buy Ellen," thought Dan; "but he doesn't -know her. Jo said once that Ellen was not the kind of a girl for a -heroine. Would he say so now, if he could see her, I wonder?"</p> - -<p class="normal">It was in this way that he often thought of Joshua as of one who would -be restored to them some day. He had fixed the belief firmly in his -mind, and nothing could shake it. He had no hope of ever seeing Minnie -again. She was as one who had passed out of his life forever. But she -lived in his mind and in his heart, and came to him in his dreams. And -in the light, often and often, he would muse upon her tenderly and -lovingly.</p> - -<p class="normal">So they lived on, and the tide of adversity rose higher and higher, -until they were compelled to begin to pawn things. But a better time -was coming. The Old Sailor passing a pawn-shop one day in Dan's -neighborhood--he was on his way to Dan's house--saw Ellen hurry out of -the shamefaced door. He was so staggered that he allowed her to escape -his sight. He had had no idea that things were so hard with them as -that. When he recovered himself, he gave his chest a great thump, -called himself "a blind old swab," and made his way to Dan's house. He -went straight down to the kitchen, prying old interloper as he was, -and caught Ellen, in the act of counting a few--very few--small pieces -of silver and copper in Mrs. Marvel's hand. He was so distressed, that -the blood rushed into his face. He only desired to see Ellen alone and -speak to her, and here he was shaming them in their poverty. The -tender-hearted old fellow was fit to sink into the ground, he was so -remorseful. He stammered out a few words of apology, said he thought -Ellen was alone, but that Dan would do as well. He went up to Dan, and -to Dan's astonishment locked the door. Then he inclined his head -melodramatically, to be sure that no one was listening, and, being -satisfied, drew a chair close to Dan's.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hark ye, my lad," he said: "can you and I speak to the point, and -without beating about the bush?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I think we can, sir," replied Dan, smiling; the Old Sailor's voice -always did him good.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Frankly, then," said the Old Sailor, "do you find it a hard matter to -live?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Very hard, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No money in the house, eh?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"None, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And business falling off?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Fallen off would be more correct, sir. My earnings for the last month -not more than ten shillings."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And Mr. Marvel?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"About a day's work in the week, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And the money that poor Josh left?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"All gone, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"O Dan!" groaned the Old Sailor, "why wasn't I told of this?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan gave him a sad look, but made no other reply.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And the poor mother," continued the Old Sailor, "how must she have -suffered! And Ellen, poor lass! and the little one! Dan, Dan! if I -don't feel to you as if you were my son, I could find it in my heart -to be angry with you!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nay, sir," urged Dan gently, "you are not to blame. We are -unfortunate, that is all. We are not the only ones, I dare say."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Come, now, open your mind to me. Look things in the face. What do you -see before you this time twelve months?"</p> - -<p class="normal">The practical question was like a blow, and Dan trembled. The answer -came from his reason in which there was no hope.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do I see before me this time twelve months? Worse poverty than -this--and this is hard enough, God knows! We are growing poorer every -day, and every day it is a puzzle where to-morrow's food will come -from. All our friends have fallen off from us; when Ellen and Jo's -mother go into the streets, not one pleasant face greets them. They -come back, sad and suffering. And they must bear it while they remain -in this neighborhood, if they are to be true to Jo. I can understand -now how some good people are made bad by the world's injustice. It -won't make them bad, I can answer for that; but I'm not so sure of Mr. -Marvel. I haven't seen a smile on his face for months; his nature -seems to be completely changed. I am almost afraid to think what -remorse might drive him to, for he is continually reproaching himself -with being the cause of all our misfortunes. He says he drove Jo to -sea, when his influence would have kept him at home; and this thought -stings him day and night. As for me, I earn very little money now. And -I am so stupid," he added, with an odd smile, yet thoughtful withal, -"as to repine sometimes that we can't live without silver and copper."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor dabbed his face with his handkerchief in a state of -great excitement during this recital, and was compelled to wait until -he was cool before he said, "So, taking them altogether, things are -very bad."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Taking them altogether, sir," said Dan, "I don't see how they could -be worse. We have only one consolation."</p> - -<p class="normal">"What is that, Dan?" asked the Old Sailor eagerly, with a faint hope -that it was something tangible.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Our faith in Jo, and our knowledge that he is good and true, as we -have always known him to be. Poor Jo!"</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor groaned.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You can't live on that, Dan," he said.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, sir," replied Dan with rare simplicity; "but it is a great -comfort, nevertheless."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor pressed Dan's hand.</p> - -<p class="normal">"'Tisn't so bad a world," he murmured more to himself than to Dan, -"despite its injustice." Then aloud: "What would be the best thing for -all of you to do, Dan, under the circumstances?</p> - -<p class="normal">"There is but one thing, sir; and I might as well wish for cheese from -the moon as wish for that."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Perhaps not, Dan, perhaps not. Tell your wish."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I want some money."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah! how much?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Enough to take us to Australia, where we could commence a new life."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You hinted at that some time ago, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's what you meant when you said you wanted a friend?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And I took no notice of it, like a hard-hearted old hunks as I am. Do -you know why I took no notice of it, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, sir."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because I didn't want to part from you--because I didn't want to lose -the only friends I have in the world--because I thought only of -myself; and how lonely I should feel when you and my little Ellen and -the good mother were thousands of miles away. Well, well! Old as I am, -I'm not too old to learn from younger heads. Look you, my lad! But -stop--we'll have the women up."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor went down into the kitchen where Ellen and Mrs. Marvel -were, and took a hand of each, and led them gravely up stairs into -Dan's room.</p> - -<p class="normal">"This is a family council, my dears," he said, kissing them, "where we -are to speak our minds without hesitation. Dan has been making things -clear to me, and I see a good deal to which I've been blind, selfishly -blind, more shame to me. When the storm came on, I had an idea that -you might be able to weather it; but you were not strong enough, and -human hearts have not been so kind to you as winds and waves are. The -winds howl to-day, but a calm comes to-morrow; the waves dash over you -for a time, but presently the sea grows smooth. That's at sea; 'tis -different on land sometimes. You have found it so, my dears, eh?"</p> - -<p class="normal">They sighed assent, and waited in a state of painful expectancy for -what was to come.</p> - -<p class="normal">"And here you are with every sail split, with every spar broken, with -bulwarks dashed in, and every thing adrift. And around you cruel -tongues and unjust hearts. What! with all this craft in view, won't -one come forward, and ask, What cheer? Not one? And yet you've held -out a helping hand many a time, my dear" (to Mrs. Marvel), "as I well -know, and spared a spar here and a bit of canvas there, with a willing -heart and a free hand. But you are pearls, you women, and teach us -goodness. The Lord love you, and send you happier days!"</p> - -<p class="normal">He almost broke down here; but he recovered himself by a great effort, -and continued, somewhat huskily at first:--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah, my dears, I've been in storms, but never a worse than this has -been to you. Look up, my lass!" he cried to Ellen, and pointing -upwards to the dingy paper ceiling in so earnest a tone that he found -all of them followed the direction of his finger, while a new-born -hope entered their hearts. "Look up! D'ye see the clouds a-breaking? -D'ye see the sun tipping the edges with white light? If you don't, -take my word for it, the storm's over, and a friendly craft is bearing -down upon you." He paused awhile before he spoke again. "'You see,' -says Dan to me, 'what we want is a friend.' Says Ellen to me, the very -same day, 'You're the only friend we've got.' What did I do? Clap on -sail and bear down upon you? Not I!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nay, sir," interposed Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hold your tongue, Dan; I deserve to have the cat for my behavior. -Now, hark ye. Before my poor lass here was married to Josh--don't cry, -my dear--I made over my little bit of money to them jointly, for -better or worse. I dare say it will come to a matter of two hundred -pounds. Will that be enough, Dan?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Dan's sobs prevented a reply, and the women sat silently thankful.</p> - -<p class="normal">"So look upon that as settled," said the Old Sailor, rising; "and make -your arrangements. I'll see what ships are going out, and 'll let you -know to-morrow."</p> - -<p class="normal">He left the room abruptly, unable to bear the thankful looks and tears -of his friends. Besides which, he was almost unmanned at the thought -of parting from them. They were the only friends he had in the world, -as he had said; and when they were gone, he would be left lonely in -his old age. The thought flashed across him to go with them, but he -dismissed it at once. Not only was he too old to cross the seas, but -he felt he could not leave his barge near the old Tower Stairs.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should be like a fish out of water," he thought; "and besides, I -should only be an encumbrance to the poor souls. I shall be in my -dotage soon, and they have troubles enough of their own. No; I'll stop -and lay my bones in Old England."</p> - -<p class="normal">So the faithful old soul set to work at once, and left himself with -the very barest pittance to live on, in order to get together -sufficient money for the necessities of his friends.</p> - -<p class="normal">The news soon spread. Some of the neighbors said it was a good job -they were going; some were envious; and a few repented of their -harshness. These last went so far as to make slight advances towards -Mr. and Mrs. Marvel. Mr. Marvel looked at them angrily, and responded -with hard words; but his wife, a true peacemaker, was more -conciliatory. When she remonstrated with him, and begged him to -consider that they were sorry because they had concurred in the -general verdict of condemnation of Joshua, he said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Let be, Maggie; if they're sorry for what they've said about Josh, -the more shame for them for hurting us as they did. You can do as you -like; I sha'n't mind your shaking hands with them. But for me, I've -said I'll never forgive them, and I never will." When Susan was told -that they were going to Australia, her dull vacant face suddenly lit -up.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We shall be near <i>him</i>," she muttered; "near Minnie too. Poor Minnie! -where is she?"</p> - -<p class="normal">The next moment her old manner was upon her, and she relapsed into -vacancy again.</p> - -<p class="normal">But there was one by whom the news of their intended departure was -received with a chill of angry despair. Solomon Fewster could scarcely -believe it when he was told. He hurried to the house, blaming himself -for his stupidity in trying to starve Ellen into acquiescence.</p> - -<p class="normal">"This would never have come about," he thought, "if they had not been -driven to it by necessity. I ought to have shown myself a greater -friend than ever to Dan. Gratitude would have made Ellen love me."</p> - -<p class="normal">To obtain Ellen's love had become a mania with him. The farther she -was removed from him, the stronger grew his desire. "Perhaps it is not -yet too late," he thought. He broke into Dan's room in feverish haste, -and cried,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good news, Dan! I've got a customer for four birds, and he wants them -at once."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Here are two bullfinches and two canaries," replied Dan with a queer -smile; "I thought you would have wanted them earlier. I have others -ready, if you want more."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I'll take them by and by," said Solomon Fewster; and then treated Dan -to a long account of the late dulness and the expected revival of -trade, and to the certain prospect of there being a great demand for -Dan's birds presently. Dan listened in silence, and discomfited -Solomon Fewster by charging a higher price than usual for the -bullfinches and canaries. Solomon Fewster thought it would be fatal to -hesitate, and he paid the money with apparent willingness; and Dan -gave another queer little smile as he put the money in his pocket. -Then Fewster referred to the rumor, and Dan said it was true.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We shall sail in about a month," said Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"But why go at all?" asked Fewster.</p> - -<p class="normal">"We are not able to get a living here, sir," said Dan. He did not -tell everybody of his fancy about Joshua.</p> - -<p class="normal">"If that's your only reason," urged Fewster, "stop, and let me be your -friend. I promise that you shall never want, especially if--if"--</p> - -<p class="normal">But he could not get the intended reference to Ellen gracefully off -his tongue.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I understand you, sir," said Dan; "but nothing that you can say can -keep us here."</p> - -<p class="normal">At this point Mr. Marvel entered, and Fewster left. Between the two -men there had been an utter absence of cordiality since Fewster's -overtures respecting Ellen. Besides, Mr. Marvel had suspected why -Fewster's commissions for birds had fallen off, and had made Dan -acquainted with his suspicions; and this, indeed, was the reason why -Dan, whose eyes were open to Fewster's meanness, had taken a secret -pleasure in charging him a high price for his present purchase.</p> - -<p class="normal">Solomon Fewster tried by every means to induce them to stay, but his -efforts were unavailing. The passages were taken, the day was fixed. -The Old Sailor made special arrangements for the accommodation of -Dan's birds on board ship, and Dan bought a number of young songsters -to train on the voyage out, although the Old Sailor shook his head and -expressed grave doubts whether the birds would live. As the day of -departure approached, the excitement in the neighborhood grew -stronger, and public opinion veered steadily round in favor of the -Marvels. The band of the remorseful ones received fresh recruits -daily, until, when the day arrived, there were not a dozen of the -neighbors who were not sorry for the judgment that had been pronounced -against Joshua, and who did not, in one way or another, give -expression to their sorrow. Mr. Marvel would not listen to them; the -others did, and took pleasure in listening to apologies which were in -some sort a vindication of Joshua's character. But Mr. Marvel declared -bitterly that he would shake the dust from his shoes the day he left -Stepney, and that he was only too thankful to escape from the nest of -vipers.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You women," he said, "are too soft-hearted for justice: if a -scoundrel who has wronged you comes crying to you, you look kindly on -him, and cry with him, out of the tenderness of your hearts. But for -me, when I think of the many years we've lived here, with never a -black mark against us--when I think of the good turns we've done for -this one and that one, and of the manner in which they have returned -our good offices, I'm fit to choke with passion. They tried to -disgrace me, and would have seen us starve without offering us bit or -sup. But now that we're going, well off as they think, they come -whining round us, sorry for the mud they threw at us. The mud didn't -stick, that's one comfort. I could dash my fist in their faces when I -think of it!"</p> - -<p class="normal">So matters went on until the morning came when they were to go aboard -the ship at Blackwell. They had a few little odds and ends to take -with them, and a cart was at the door to convey them to the docks. All -the women and children in the neighborhood flocked round the cart to -see the last of the emigrants. First Ellen, with her child, got in; -the women kissed their hands to her, and murmured to each other that -she looked older than her years. Ellen's eyes were blinded with tears -as she looked up at the old house and at the familiar faces in the -crowd. Susan was the next: she looked vacantly at the throng, and -turned her eyes to her lap, taking no further heed of them. Dan -followed with his birds, and listened gravely, and not without -tenderness, to the farewells which greeted him. After him came Mr. -and Mrs. Marvel.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good-by, my dear; God bless you! God take you safely over, my dear!"</p> - -<p class="normal">In twenty different ways were these farewells and good wishes -expressed, and Mrs. Marvel pressed her hand upon her heart, and sobbed -till she could not distinguish a face in the crowd that surrounded -her.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Get in Maggie," said George Marvel; and then, deliberately and -gravely, stooped and took off his shoes. He climbed into the cart in -his stockings, and bending over the wheel, shook the dust from his -shoes. "I'll take no dust from here with me," he said in a loud tone; -"I leave that and your lying words behind me. I loved you once, and -loved these streets; but I've hated you and them from the time you -turned upon us and made our lives bitterer than misfortune had already -made them. By and by, you can tell the men I've worked with and been -kind to, that I was glad to go from the place where I was born, and -that I shook the dust from my feet before I went away."</p> - -<p class="normal">Then, amid a dead silence, the cart lumbered away from Stepney on to -Blackwall. There they found the Old Sailor waiting for them. "I will -keep with you until you are fairly off," he said. They were thankful -enough for his company, and as he did what he could to cheer them, and -they had plenty of work to do in their cabins, they soon became more -cheerful and hopeful than they had been for many a day. Soon the ship -was at Gravesend, a place fraught with sad and sweet memories--for -Ellen especially. Mrs. Friswell, at whose house the wedding was -celebrated, came aboard to see them, and admired the baby, and -whispered to all of them in turns, that if there ever lived a man with -a heart tender enough for twenty men, that man was the Old Sailor, and -no other. No need to say with what heartiness they all indorsed this -sentiment.</p> - -<p class="normal">A surprise awaited them. On the morning of the ship's sailing, there -came climbing up the side Solomon Fewster. He accosted them gayly.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You were wondering, I dare say, why I hadn't been to wish you -good-by."</p> - -<p class="normal">"We thought you would be sure to come although at the last moment," -answered Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">Solomon Fewster first rubbed his hands and then his chin.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No need to say good-by," he said, with a conscious look at Ellen; "I -am going with you."</p> - -<p class="normal">They were too much astonished to reply.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes," he continued; "when my best friends were going, I didn't like -the idea of stopping behind. So I've sold my business upon capital -terms--capital terms. A good sum down, and a share in the profits for -the next ten years. Shall be able to make plenty of money in -Australia, eh, Mr. Meddler?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No doubt, no doubt," said the Old Sailor, with a disturbed look.</p> - -<p class="normal">Solomon Fewster, divining that his absence would be agreeable to them, -hurried away to look after his boxes.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am sorry he's going," said Dan; "but it can't be helped. We must -make the best of every thing not the worst."</p> - -<p class="normal">In the tender conversation that ensued, consequent upon their parting -from the Old Sailor, Solomon Fewster was forgotten.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Write to me as often as you can," said the Old Sailor, "and I will -do the same to you, though my old joints are getting stiff. You'll -soon be settled down somewhere, and you can let me know. 'Tis a sad -word--good-by. But I shall soon be saying good-by to all the world, my -dears."</p> - -<p class="normal">He sat among them until the last moment, and first wished Susan -good-by.</p> - -<p class="normal">Then said George Marvel, as he and the Old Sailor stood hand in hand, -amidst the confusion of ropes and cases, "If there had been hearts -like yours among our neighbors, my poor Josh's name would not have -been blackened. Heaven will reward you. I couldn't honor my own father -more than I honor you."</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor quivered at the stroke; he could better have stood a -hard knock. He kissed Ellen tenderly, and she him; and he put a ribbon -round baby's neck with a little silver whistle at the end of it. "In -memory of me, my dear," he said.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I will teach her that it is the symbol of the heart of a good man, -dear sir," said Ellen, her eyes full of tears; "and when she is an old -woman--if she lives to be such--it may happen that she will show it to -her children, and tell them her mother's sad story, and how her life -was sweetened by the kindest, dearest, best"-- Sobs choked her voice.</p> - -<p class="normal">The Old Sailor waited a while until she recovered, and then said, with -exquisite tenderness,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"If she will sound the whistle sometimes when she is a young woman, -and I am in my grave, I shall hear her perhaps." He smiled -thoughtfully at this conceit. And then folded Ellen in his arms, and -saying, "God bless you, my lass!" released her and turned to Dan and -Mrs. Marvel. She took his hand and kissed it; she could have knelt to -him, her heart was so full--too full to speak.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I know, I know, my dear," he said, and kissed her. "I asked you once -if you would like to be a sailor, Dan; do you remember?" His arm was -resting on Dan's shoulder, and Dan drew it round his neck and laid his -face upon it. The action conveyed such tender meaning, that the tears -rolled down the Old Sailor's cheeks.</p> - -<p class="normal">"When I see Joe," said Dan, "I may tell him that you never doubted -him?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ay, Dan," replied the Old Sailor aloud; but thought, "I shall see him -before you do, my lad." He would not disturb Dan's faith by uttering -the thought.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do I remember your asking if I would like to be a sailor?" continued -Dan. "Ah, yes! what of that day can I ever forget? You taught me to -splice a rope, and I showed you Jo's heart and mine spliced, so that -nothing could sever them. And the poor birds shipwrecked, as Jo is. We -little thought then, did we, sir?" The Old Sailor grasped Dan's hand, -and the next minute was in his boat; and the ship was swinging round, -hiding him from the loving gaze of his friends.</p> - -<p class="normal">Through the river that runs to the sea the ship makes its way slowly -and grandly. In the ship's stern, looking with dimmed eyes over the -bulwarks, are Dan and Ellen and Mr. and Mrs. Marvel. Good-by, dear -friend! Good-by, dear heart! Smaller and smaller grows the ship in his -eyes. Can they see him still? he is lost in the whirl of boats. No; he -is standing up, cap in hand. Good-by, faithful simple heart, richer in -your honest goodness than if you were endowed with all the jewels that -lie concealed in earth's depths. He is lost to them now, and they -shall see him no more--here!</p> - -<p class="normal">Lost? No. He is with them every night in their prayers--he dwells in -their hearts. To their dying days they think of him tenderly. -Blessings on the dear Old Sailor!</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h4> - -<h5>SO NEAR AND YET SO FAR.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Joshua."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That is all; I thought you were asleep."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are very kind to me, Joshua. I feel a little better to-day, I -think."</p> - -<p class="normal">"That's a good hearing, Minnie. Get strong, my dear, for my sake."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah! If I could; but I fear--I fear." (This last to herself under her -breath.) "Sit nearer, Joshua."</p> - -<p class="normal">Many moons had passed, and with the exception that Minnie had grown -very weak, only one event of importance had occurred since the -departure of Rough-and-Ready and Tom the sailmaker. That event was the -death of the Lascar; and the discovery made a deep impression on -Joshua. It occurred within a few weeks of the parting of the tribes. -The tribe of which Opara was the chief, observing that Minnie was -drooping, resolved to return to the spot where they had found her. By -easy stages they travelled near to the rocks where the castaways had -landed, and rested there some days, in the belief that Minnie would -regain her health. The mysterious influence she had over them was -never weakened, and as she and Joshua were inseparable, he shared in -the favor which was shown to her. She saw this, and would not allow -him to quit her side, fearful lest harm should befall him. One evening -she and Joshua had wandered from the native camp to the pool where the -Lascar had stolen upon him, with the intention of killing him; and -they talked together of the villain, and wondered what had become of -him. They saw a wonderful sight as they sat and talked. From the -distant woods rose an immense army of flying foxes, not less than four -or five thousand in number, flying in a straight line to a distant -pool. When they arrived over the water, they dipped down to drink in -regular order, keeping their ranks, so that presently they presented -the shape of a perfect curve. Joshua and Minnie watched the singular -flight until the last of the animals had satisfied its thirst; shortly -afterwards the entire flock disappeared. As they retraced their steps -to the native camp, Joshua observed something unusual lying on the -ground. It looked like a crouching animal, and Joshua drew Minnie -aside fearing that it might be a dangerous creature; but it remained -perfectly still, and Joshua, drawn thereto by an irresistible impulse, -slowly approached the spot. To his horror he found that it was a human -creature--dead; and turning the face recognized the Lascar. So! his -enemy was dead, and this was the end of his animosity. The -circumstances of the eventful meeting when he had rescued Susan from -the Lascar's pursuit came to Joshua's mind as he looked upon the dead -form. "His hate of me would not have lived so long," thought Joshua, -"if it had not been fed by other means. Whom did he refer to when he -spoke of his master the day he stole upon me with the stone? But that -is past discovery now!" The dead man's face was distorted by agony, as -if he had died in torture, and Joshua looked around for the cause of -death. There were a variety of trees near the spot--among them some -stinging trees. Joshua knew the fatal effect of the deadly tree, and -divined that the Lascar had fallen from one of the higher trees, which -he must have climbed in search of food, into the poisonous nettles, -and so been stung to death. He could not have been dead above a few -hours. Joshua turned away, and told Minnie.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You will not leave him there unburied, Joshua?" said Minnie.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, Minnie, it would not be right. He was our enemy, but there is an -end to all that now. Sit down on this trunk, my dear, and I will be -kinder to him in death than he was to me in life." With his knife and -a stout stick he removed sufficient soil to lay the dead man in; as he -moved the body, a silver watch fell from a pocket. Joshua picked it -up, and involuntarily opened it. There was an inscription on the case, -roughly scratched in, and Joshua read, "From Solomon Fewster to his -Lascar friend." Joshua's heart beat loudly as he read these words. He -felt that he was on the eve of a discovery. "They knew each other," he -thought in amazement; and then, like a flash, it came upon him that -Solomon Fewster was the master for whom the Lascar said he was -working. Eagerly he searched the Lascar's pockets for more evidence; -and found it in the shape of the following document: "To my Lascar -friend: I give you twenty-five pounds in gold, and a silver watch and -two knives for services you have rendered me in connection with J. M. -And I promise you twenty-five pounds more in gold, if; when you return -in the 'Merry Andrew,' you have accomplished what has been agreed upon -between us.--S. F."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua read this document twice, and then looked round, as if in -expectation of meeting Solomon Fewster face to face.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Let me fix the villain's features in my mind," he thought; "I will -raise him before me, so that when we meet, in this world or the next, -I may bring his treachery home to him." With the eyes of his mind he -saw Solomon Fewster's false face, and he dashed his fist into the air -with a loud cry. "Fool!" he muttered, recovering himself; "am I -growing as much a savage as those amongst whom I live? Was it Fewster -or this villain who stabbed me when I came home?" He looked down, and -seemed to find his answer. "It was your hand that struck the blow, and -he employed you. He was too much of a coward to do it himself, and he -paid you for your services as you have told me. And he wanted to get -me out of the way, so that he might win the love of my Ellen." A -bitter smile came to his lips, passed away, and a sweeter expression -took its place. "To win the love of my Ellen! No, he can never do -that; she is mine till death, and after it, and is as true to me as I -am to her. Ellen, dear wife! hear me, and be comforted."</p> - -<p class="normal">Concealed beneath his covering of fur, was a small bag, made of stout -skin, well dried, containing Ellen's portrait, her lock of hair, Dan's -Bible, and the page from Captain Liddle's log-book, appointing him -captain. Into this bag he put the silver watch and Fewster's document.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Rest there," he muttered. "When I am dead, chance may direct these -relics into the hands of my friends. I will write a statement myself -of certain things, and place it with these. Be merciful, O God! and -keep firm the faith of my friends."</p> - -<p class="normal">The appeal was like a prayer, and its utterance soothed him. He laid -the Lascar's body in the shallow grave, and covered it as well as he -could with earth and leaves and branches. Then he returned to Minnie, -and they walked to the camp. He did not tell her of his discovery. It -would have made her more unhappy.</p> - -<p class="normal">On another occasion they were sitting together in the woods, in -silence and resignation. They had sat so for full half an hour, and -not a word had passed between them; their thoughts were with their -friends, thousands of miles away. Suddenly there came to their ears -the tinkle of a bell. They started, and looked at each other in -wonder. A wild hope entered Joshua's heart. The sound was faint but -distinct. It was like an evidence of approaching civilization. -Presently it sounded again, and was followed by other bells of -different tones, but each note being clearly uttered. Tinkle, tinkle, -tinkle! till the woods were filled with music. Creeping slowly and -softly in the direction of the sounds, they discovered the cause. The -sounds were not produced, as they had hoped, by bells on the necks of -cattle, but by a congregation of small birds of a greenish-yellow -color, who, perched upon the branches of trees, in a spot where the -trees formed a circle, were singing to each other their sweetest -songs. Disturbed by the approach of footsteps, the birds hid -themselves among the leaves, and were silent; but Minnie and Joshua -remained perfectly still, and soon the sweet sounds were heard again, -and the concert was resumed, to the delight of the hearers.</p> - -<p class="normal">For many evenings after this Joshua and Minnie came to the spot to -listen to the melody of the bell-birds. It was on one of these -evenings that an idea in association with the birds presented itself -to Joshua. Why should he not employ a little of his idle time in -training some of the birds with which the beautiful woods abounded, as -Dan and he used to do in their boyish days? He trembled with delight -at the thought, and was eager to begin. It seemed to bring him nearer -to Dan and the beloved ones at home. He told Minnie of his fancy, and -she encouraged it. He would set about it at once; but first he must -make a cage. He made one of wickerwork, sufficiently large to hold a -score of birds; and in a very little while his cage was inhabited by -birds as beautiful and almost as docile as any he had taught at home.</p> - -<p class="normal">All this while they were allowed by the natives to do pretty well what -they pleased. Food was supplied to them regularly, and they were not -expected to work or hunt for it. Scarcely a night passed without -Joshua played his accordion in the shade of their hut, and the -singular fancy which the natives entertained respecting Minnie was -strengthened by these mysterious melodious sounds. From time to time -the natives shifted their camp, according to the seasons, and they -invariably regulated their day's walking by Minnie's strength. -Uncultured and savage as these ignorant creatures were, they were -tender and kind to Minnie and Joshua, and showed them a thousand -little attentions which could only have been prompted by the most -delicate consideration. Joshua's fancy about the birds was quite a -natural thing in their eyes. Minnie wanted the birds to talk to; she -understood the mysterious voices of birds and trees. Their reverence -for her was increased when they saw her one day with a golden-crowned -honey-sucker upon her finger. This was one of the first birds which -Joshua had tamed; he was careful to give it its favorite food,--the -blossoms of the blue gum-tree when it was in flower, and at all times -honey and sweet leaves, and had anticipated the effect it would -produce upon the natives, when they saw it perching contentedly upon -Minnie's finger.</p> - -<p class="normal">"See!" said Opara, "the birds know our Star; she talks to them the -language of the trees. From us they fly, and hide themselves in -clouds; but she bids them come, and they rest upon her bosom."</p> - -<p class="normal">Soon other birds were tamed and trained; and the wonder spread to -distant tribes, who made long journeys to see the Star of Opara's -tribe, who understood the voice of Nature, and talked with all the -children of the Great Mother; for so the simple savages interpreted -it.</p> - -<p class="normal">But Minnie grew weaker and weaker. She concealed her weakness as much -as possible from Joshua, who was very tender to her, very, very kind. -He had quite forgiven her; no cloud disturbed the harmony of their -strange lives. Bearing always in mind the advice which Rough-and-Ready -had given them to endeavor to make their way southward, and knowing -the one great wish of Joshua's heart, she had used all her influence -with the tribe to induce them every time they shifted their camp to -move in that direction, and had succeeded so far, that every season -found them nearer to the settled districts. But, although three years -had passed, they had not seen the slightest signs of civilization.</p> - -<p class="normal">Once Joshua was in a terrible state of agitation. He was gathering -sweet leaves for his birds, when "Crack!" went the sound of a whip. He -uttered a joyful cry, and threw himself upon the ground with all his -heart in his ears, for he had not caught the direction of the sound. -"Crack!" went the whip again. He ran swiftly towards it, and listened -again. Rough-and-Ready had told him many times to keep his ears sharp -open for the crack of a whip, and here it was, at last, after weary, -weary waiting.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You will find most likely," Rough-and-Ready had said, "that it is a -stockman looking after some stray cattle. Then you will be all right."</p> - -<p class="normal">The thoughts that crowded upon Joshua's mind in the few moments that -elapsed between the cracking of the whip would occupy an hour to -describe; they may be summarized thus: "That is a stockman's whip. -Thank God for it! I shall see him presently, and he will wait while I -fetch Minnie. Then we will go to where his companions are, and I will -get some presents for our kind friends the natives. Minnie will soon -grow strong; thank God! We will go down to Sydney, and get passage -home in the first ship. Then--then--O Ellen, Ellen! O Dan, dear -friend! dear mother and father! All will come right--all will be set -right. Thank God!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Crack, crack!" Nearer--nearer. He was close to it, but saw nothing. -He looked round carefully, watchfully. "Crack!" Over his head. He -turned his eyes to the clouds, and saw a bird--the whip-bird--flying -over the trees, uttering its "crack!" as it flew, taking his hopes -with it, and bearing them away to where perhaps he would never meet -with them again.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">And Dan is sitting in a wooden hut built near the banks of a beautiful -river. Seas do not divide him from his friend. They both live on the -same bit of land, ignorant of each other's whereabouts. The same -continent holds those two faithful hearts. What is Dan doing? who are -with him? what kind of a place is this where he and they reside?</p> - -<p class="normal">A village in which dwell not more than a few hundred inhabitants. Not -free from care, for care is human; but happier than inhabitants of -great cities are. There is plenty of work for hands to do; more than -there are hands to do it. What luxury there is, is the luxury of -nature--rich fruits, bright flowers, clear atmosphere, sweet air, -lovely skies, grand sunrises and sunsets, and sparkling watercourses -whose banks teem with graceful shapes and lovely color. Here a city is -to be formed, and they who live in it and are content shall see it -grow up to strength--ay, to manhood--and shall have a share in its -increasing wealth. First, tents of canvas to live in; now huts of -wood; by and by houses of stone. But these last, though they be -stronger, will not bring more enduring happiness. And here is Dan, -with his birds, as usual. He earns money enough now. Not a hundred -miles away, in the capital of the colony of which this little village -is a speck, lives a dealer who comes regularly to Dan's wooden house, -and buys such birds as he has trained, and pays handsomely for them. -Not Solomon Fewster. He also is in that rising capital, and Dan will -not sell him a bird. Not that Solomon Fewster needs them; for he -is making money fast, and the miserly passion of accumulation is -growing very strong in him. His business carries him often to Dan's -village,--twice a month, perhaps; and regularly every two or three -months he makes some kind of overture to Ellen, who shakes her head, -and sometimes answers him, and sometimes evades the subject. Dan has -remonstrated with him, and has begged him never to refer to the -subject again. But he answers,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"I cannot help it, Dan. If you knew what love was, you would know that -a man can no more help loving than he can help feeling. It was love -that first brought me to your house in Stepney. I didn't want the -birds; but so that I might have the privilege of coming to the -house--and of doing you and Ellen a good turn at the same time, mind, -Dan--I took a deal of trouble to find dealers in birds who would buy -them of me at the same price I paid you for them; and I shouldn't be -telling an untruth if I said that I lost money by many of the birds I -paid you for. One man I sold to failed, and I had to take a -composition. Well, I didn't know then that Ellen loved Joshua; nothing -was said between them; and when he first went away he wasn't old -enough to know his own mind. He came back, and when he was ill I -didn't show a bad spirit to him. After Ellen and he were engaged, I -did not desert you; and I didn't annoy Ellen by forcing my attentions -upon her. You spoke to me once about that unfortunate canary that died -in my hand when I bade Joshua good-by. You can't think that I killed -it purposely. But you may be able to form some idea of my feelings -(which can't always be suppressed, Dan), and of the restraint I had to -put upon myself when in the presence of the man who had taken from me -the most precious thing in the world to me--Ellen's love--and you can -put down the poor canary's death to that cause. I've no need to say -any thing more. I've loved Ellen all along, and I've always treated -her with respect and consideration. You mustn't debar me from the -chance of being happy; Ellen may change her mind one day. It is many -years now since I first saw her, a girl; and that I am content now to -wait and hope ought to be sufficient proof of my disinterestedness and -sincerity."</p> - -<p class="normal">To such-like pleading Dan finds no reply, and so they go on as usual.</p> - -<p class="normal">To Dan, as he sits with his birds, comes Ellen with her peaceful sad -face. She has not found happiness, but she has found peace. Solomon -Fewster is not her only suitor. Every single man in the village is -enamoured of her, and would be glad to make her his wife. But she -tells her story to all with a womanly purpose. She is married, and her -husband went out as third mate of the "Merry Andrew," and the ship was -lost and all hands, as it is supposed. But she cannot believe that her -husband is dead; something tells her that he is alive--living upon -some uninhabited shore mayhap, and looking forward to the time when, -by the mercy of God, they shall be together again. Her story is -repeated from one to another; and some kind souls who have been in the -colony a few years come to her and Dan with little scraps of -information concerning the "Merry Andrew," such as the finding of a -piece of a figure-head which belonged to her husband's ship, and other -similar evidence, which convince them that the "Merry Andrew" was lost -off the Australian coast. "Is it not possible," asks Dan, "that some -of the crew may have been saved, and may be dwelling now on some part -of the uninhabited Australian coast?" "Quite possible," they answer: -and they relate such instances as they know of vessels being wrecked, -and of some of the sailors being saved and found years after they were -supposed to be lost. Dan and Ellen derive much comfort from these -narrations.</p> - -<p class="normal">Ellen's little child Maggie is the pet of the village. At the present -moment she is playing with her goat in the paddock at the back of the -house, breathing in health with fresh air. To-night, when she says her -prayers, she will pray that God will please send her father home--a -prayer joined in by all of them every night.</p> - -<p class="normal">Who is this? Susan. In no whit changed. With the same strange watchful -manner upon her as in the old days in Stepney, but never uttering a -word concerning Joshua. Sometimes she will go for days without -speaking to a soul, and a smile never crosses her lips.</p> - -<p class="normal">And this gentle woman, going about the house quietly, doing her work -cheerfully, with a sweet smile for every one she comes across, and by -whose side the little Maggie is content to sit in silence with her -hands folded in her lap? This is Mrs. Marvel. You would know her if -you had only seen her once, although her hair is nearly white now; for -hers is one of the peaceful faces that dwell in your memory and remind -you of your mother. As for her hair being nearly white--for the matter -of that, so is Mr. Marvel's. It would not do for him to pay for every -white hair that is pulled out of his head, as at the commencement of -this story.</p> - -<p class="normal">They sit together on this evening, as is their wont, and as they used -to do in the dear old kitchen in Stepney, and talk of Joshua. And -George Marvel smokes his pipe, and his wife darns--more slowly than in -the old days, for her sight is not so strong as it was--and Dan trains -his birds and reads to his friends. They have been sorely afflicted, -but faith and love have banished despair.</p> - -<p class="normal">On this very evening, hundreds of miles away, Joshua is sitting on the -ground in his gunyah, amusing himself and Minnie with his birds. She -is reclining on her 'possum-skin rug, looking affectionately and -gratefully at Joshua, who has grown very wise in the different habits -and natures of the strange birds he has before him. With what care he -has collected them! Here is the quaint kingfisher, flitting about as -contentedly as it used to flit among the dead trees that lie on the -banks of creeks. Joshua, watching it one day, saw it suddenly dart -into the water with such eagerness that it was completely submerged; -he thought it was drowned, but the next instant it appeared above the -surface with a small fish in its mouth, with which it hopped, -exultant, into the woodland again. It is a handsome bird, and a -singular-looking one too, with its beak about a quarter as long as its -body, and its light crimson breast and azure back and shrewd brown -eyes. Here is the mountain bee-eater, the wondrous blending of colors -in whose plumage suggests the fancy that its feathers must have been -dyed in the glorious sunsets of the South, and that it first saw the -light when rainbows were shining. Here are the honeysuckers, -yellow-eared, blue-cheeked, and golden-crowned; and the -crimson-throated manakin, with its pleasant song; and the spotted -finch, with red eyes; and the scarlet-backed warbler and the pretty -thrush, black-crowned and orange-breasted, whose piping in the early -morning was the cheerfullest of all the birds; and the yellow-rumped -fly-catcher, fussing about, and chattering like a magpie. All these -are here, and many others; and Joshua often thinks how delighted Dan -would be with them. Joshua and Minnie are clothed completely in fur -garments; all their civilized clothes are gone. Joshua's hair has -grown so, that his face is quite covered with it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Would they know me at home, Minnie, if they could see me as I am?" he -asks.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I doubt it," she replies; "but they would know your voice."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Shall we ever see them again?" he asks, more of himself than of her.</p> - -<p class="normal">She sighs, and does not answer. He may; she prays that he will. But -she! The breeze sighs with her, as she thinks that she will never -again look upon the faces of her friends. Well! perhaps it is better -so. She desires no happier lot than to die in Joshua's arms, with his -eyes looking kindly upon her. She has been growing weaker and weaker -every day; she does not complain, but he often regards her with -apprehensive looks, and prays that she may not be taken from him. They -live together as brother and sister; the love he bears for her is as -pure as the love he bears for his mother. He speaks to her often of -Dan, and she listens with sweet patience. But he does not understand -that her love for him is part of her very nature, and that it cannot -be transferred--that it cannot change. He does not understand it, does -not know it; he deludes himself with the hope that, if it should -mercifully chance that they should reach home, the dear hope of Dan's -life may be realized, and that Minnie's love and Dan's belief in her -purity may brighten the days of his friend. She knows that Joshua -entertains this hope, and does not pain him by telling him how false -it is.</p> - -<p class="normal">So the days pass, and the seasons change. In accordance with Minnie's -wish, the tribe moves farther and farther southward, and is rewarded -by finding plenty of game in the woods, and fish in the rivers and -pools. Summer dies, and the beautiful autumn brings strength to -Minnie; but the succeeding winter strikes her down. Her savage friends -and worshippers are grieved to the heart at her weakness, and she, -true to her purpose and to Joshua, makes them understand that health -and strength for her lie southward, and urges them on towards the -settled districts.</p> - -<p class="normal">"If we are saved," says Joshua, "I shall owe all my happiness to you, -Minnie. Once you gave me life; now perhaps you will give me what is -better than life."</p> - -<p class="normal">A look of content rests in her eyes as he says this, and she muses -upon it for days afterwards, murmuring the words to herself before she -falls asleep. Speaking to her of her father at one time, he is -surprised to hear her say, "Father is dead, Joshua."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How do you know?" he asks, startled.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I feel it--here," pressing her hand to her heart; "I have dreamt that -I saw him and mother together. Some things come to us intuitively; we -do not need to be told."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you know any thing else about those at home?" he asks, half awed -by her solemn tone.</p> - -<p class="normal">"No; but one other thing I know that I ought not to keep from you."</p> - -<p class="normal">He waits in silence for what is to come, dreading to speak. She takes -his hand; hers is hot with fever.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do not think me unkind," she says, "but for many weeks I have felt -impelled to tell you, and now that the time is drawing near, I must no -longer keep it from you. Can you guess what it is, my dear?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"O Minnie! Minnie!" he cries, falling on his knees at her feet; "do -not tell me that you are going to leave me!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I cannot help it, dear," she says, tenderly. "Before the spring dies -I shall leave you. I shall spend my summer in another world." She -repeats the words, as though they conveyed to her some deeper meaning -than they implied. "Yes, I shall spend my summer in another world. My -heart has been wintered in this."</p> - -<p class="normal">He strives to reason her out of her belief,--tells her that it is -fancy; but she gently checks him, with "Nay, dear Joshua. 'Tis but a -little time to spring. Let us talk of other things."</p> - -<p class="normal">Soon the buds begin to come, and the leaves grow green. Minnie hides -her weakness, says that she feels stronger, and Joshua begins to hope. -But he does not know what motive she has in this; he does not know -that she puts on an appearance of strength, so that she may not retard -their course southward. In many of their marches she sustains her -fainting heart by strength, of love. "Nearer, nearer," she whispers to -herself; "he shall owe all his happiness to me."</p> - -<p class="normal">Come there to the camp one day some members of another tribe, who -speak of having seen men of the color of Joshua and Minnie a couple of -hundred miles to the south, mounted on strange animals. These -aboriginal wanderers, indeed, are at variance with one another: some -say that men and animals are one; others, that they are distinct -creatures. Opara tells Joshua and Minnie, who are able by this time to -understand the native tongue, and to make themselves understood.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What Opara says is good," says Minnie. "We will go towards these men. -They are our brothers. They will give me back my strength."</p> - -<p class="normal">Opara being gone, Minnie asks Joshua what he thinks. Joshua, with -eager voice and sparkling eyes, cries that they are stockmen on -horses, as Rough-and-Ready had told them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"All will yet be well," he says, his voice trembling with joyful -emotion; "in a few months perhaps we shall be among white people -again."</p> - -<p class="normal">She listens in silence: and presently, in accordance with their -nightly custom, he takes his accordion from its bag of fur, and plays -the sweetest airs he knows. "Poor Tom Bowling" and "Bread-and-cheese -and Kisses" are his principal themes; and as he plays, the -newly-inspired hope stirs into life his dearest memories, and brings -before him those pictures of his boyish days that he most loves to -dwell upon.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XL.</h4> - -<h5>FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">The river runs onward like a sparkling stream, now rushing -between -high banks of forest land, dotted here and there with miniature -islands of rocks covered with lichens and shrubs, now settling into a -still-looking reach, its surface covered with delicate mauve-colored -water-lilies. Near to a great grove of palms upon the river's bank the -native camp is fixed; and not far from the spot the channel forms a -descent, more steep than abrupt, where it is cut up into hundreds of -brawling streams by islands of beautiful shrubs. The natives have -pitched their camp here, in accordance with Minnie's wish; they have -been marching southward for more than a week, and Minnie has borne up -bravely; but her strength has failed her at last, and she is compelled -to succumb. It is understood among them that their Star is sick, and, -the mintapas (doctors) are anxious to practise their healing arts upon -her, but their efforts are firmly and gently repulsed by Joshua. For -this, they look upon him with no friendly eye, and but for Opara his -life among them would not be so pleasant as it has been. He pays no -heed to them; his anxiety concerning Minnie engrosses all his thoughts -now.</p> - -<p class="normal">She is sinking fast, and has grown so weak that he is obliged to carry -her about. The spot she most loves is where the river is still and -quiet; there she will lie for hours, with Joshua by her side, watching -the shifting shadows of the clouds in the water's depths. She says but -little; but every time her eyes turn to Joshua, they are filled with -gratitude and love. Once she expressed a desire to write something, -and Joshua makes a little ink with paint and gum-juice, and makes a -pen from a duck's quill; but paper he has none.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Your Bible," says Minnie.</p> - -<p class="normal">He gives it to her, and she writes a few lines on the blank page at -the end. Then she tears out the leaf, and folding it carefully says, -"This is for Dan, when you see him" (having a full faith that Joshua -and Dan will meet); "do not read it, but place it carefully by."</p> - -<p class="normal">He puts it with Ellen's lock of hair in the bag he wears round his -neck.</p> - -<p class="normal">That same night a change comes over Minnie. He has been away from the -hut for a few minutes, and when he returns he sees her sitting in a -listening attitude with her hand to her ear.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Minnie!" he exclaims; but she holds up a warning finger, and says,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hush, Joshua! I am listening to the singing of the sea. Is it not -sweet?"</p> - -<p class="normal">His heart beats rapidly, and he takes her disengaged hand in his, and -asks her what she has in the hand she is holding to her ear.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is a shell," she says. She shows it to him and her face assumes -the exact childlike expression of pleasure and simplicity it wore in -the farewell interview he had with her before he first went to sea.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You know me, Minnie?" he says, distressed.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, dear Joshua! What a question! But you must not be angry with me. -I took the shell--but I took it for you."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nay but, Minnie," he says, striving to arrest her wandering thoughts; -"listen to me"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Call me little Minnie," she pleads like a child, in the softest of -voices.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Little Minnie!" he sighs, with an almost broken heart.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Little Minnie! Little Minnie!" she repeats. "The shell is singing it. -Hush!" She remains silent for some time after this, and Joshua deems -it best not to disturb her. An hour may have passed when she calls to -him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Say that again, Joshua," she says. Wondering, he asks her what it is -she wishes him to repeat.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nay," she answers, "that is to tease me. But you must say it after -me, word for word: 'What you did, you did through love, and there -could not be much wrong in it.'" He recognizes his own words to her, -and in a troubled voice he repeats, "What you did, you did through -love, and there could not be much wrong in it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I am satisfied," she says; "you have made me happy. I shall try to -sleep now."</p> - -<p class="normal">He covers her with a rug, and watches by her side during the night.</p> - -<p class="normal">He has no heart for his birds, and were it not that she takes a -childish delight in them, and is glad to have them around her, he -would have taken them to the woods and set them free. She does not -recover consciousness of her true position; she believes that she and -Joshua are children together, and--it may be happily--all the horrors -through which she has passed have faded from her mind. Her great -delight is to play with the birds and listen to her shell. Sometimes -the fancy that he is at sea possesses her, and she talks to him of -himself, as she used to talk to Dan, and coaxes him to tell her the -story of the death of Golden Cloud and other incidents of his boyish -life. In this condition she remains for many days, until the time -comes when she awakes from a deep sleep, and says, in her weak voice, -"I have been dreaming, Joshua. I thought we were children again." Then -opening her hand with the shell in it, looks at it, blushing, and -says, "It is the old shell, Joshua. You remember."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you feel stronger, Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, dear; I shall not grow stronger. It will be as I told you a -little while ago. Spring is not gone yet; but it will be soon. Have -they asked about me?" meaning the natives.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, many times every day, Minnie; and have brought their choicest -food for you regularly."</p> - -<p class="normal">"They have been very kind to us. Rough-and-Ready was not quite right -about them. I used to tremble with fear when he spoke of them. Poor -Rough-and-Ready and poor Tom! What has become of them, I wonder!"</p> - -<p class="normal">They muse sadly over the memory of those two good friends.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Some lives are very hard, Joshua," she continues. "His was, I am -sure. I suppose it was as he said, and that he has done bad things. -Yet how kind and gentle he was to us! It is hard to reconcile; but it -seems to me, my dear, that our lots are shaped for us. We can't help -our feelings; we don't make them; they come, and we must act as they -prompt us to act. Opara and the savages now: they couldn't help being -born savages, and they have had no good teaching. Don't think me -wicked for what I am going to say, my dear."</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, Minnie; go on."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, I can't help believing that a good deal of what is called wrong -is not wrong, and that bad is not always bad. I can't explain exactly -what I mean, but I feel it." She appears to think that she has got out -of her depth, and suddenly changes the subject. "Take me out, and let -me see Opara. You must carry me; I am not as heavy as I was."</p> - -<p class="normal">He lifts her in his arms, and carries her, with her arm round his -neck, out of the hut towards the savages. They crowd round her, and -she speaks a few words to them, and smiles upon them. Then, by easy -stages, he carries her to her favorite spot by the river's side, and -there they rest.</p> - -<p class="normal">"All rivers have currents, Joshua?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, my dear."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Even this, that looks so still and quiet?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Even this, my dear; the current is running, although you cannot see -it. But remember, the river is not so still everywhere. A very few -miles away it is full of life; it is rushing over the rocks, and is -never still for an instant day and night."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Strange! So restless there, so quiet here! It has been so with me: so -restless there, so quiet here! Look! we can see the fish in the clear -depths. How beautifully the wild jasmine smells!"</p> - -<p class="normal">He gathers a little for her, and a bunch of fringed violets, and she -puts them in her breast. Then she encourages him to talk of home, and -listens with sincere pleasure to his praises of Dan.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is good to be loved by such a heart," she muses.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah, Minnie!" he ventures to say, "if it could have been with him as -he once hoped it would!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"About me?" she replies unhesitatingly. "Does not that seem to be a -proof that our lots are shaped for us? Tell him that I was very, very -sorry, and that I begged him to forgive me."</p> - -<p class="normal">But it is chiefly about Joshua's mother that she speaks, and wishes -that her mother had lived. In the midst of the conversation she falls -into a light slumber, and opening her eyes half an hour afterwards, -resumes from the point where they had left off, as if there had been -no interval of silence.</p> - -<p class="normal">On another occasion they are together on the same spot, and Joshua is -telling her of a beautiful part of the river's bank which she had not -seen. "The river is narrow there, and even more peaceful than this," -he says. "The trees on both sides bend over the water until the -topmost branches almost touch, so that the river is in shade. The sun -was peeping through the arch of branches, lighting up the water here -and there, and the golden light streaked the white leaves of the -lilies, over which the pretty lotus-bird was running with so light a -step as not to stir the flowers."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How beautiful!" she says softly. "At night, when the moon is shining -on the water and the lily-leaves through the arch of branches, how -grand and peaceful it must be! Joshua, bend your head, my dear. When I -am gone, let me be buried there. Nay, don't cry; but promise."</p> - -<p class="normal">In a broken voice he promises her, and she is content. Then she bids -him bring Opara to her; and the aged chief comes and sits by her side.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Opara," she says, taking Joshua's hand and kissing it, "this my -brother and I are one. You understand?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I understand," he answers; and Joshua wonders what it is she is about -to say.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You see how weak I have grown, Opara. Look at my hand; you can see -the light through it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Say, my daughter," asks Opara: "you who know the language of birds -and flowers,--you who know the mysteries of the Grand Vault,--can you -not make yourself strong?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, Opara; I am wanted."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Cannot our mintapas make you strong?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, Opara; their skill is not for me. Tell them so; and tell them I -thank them, and will not forget them. Listen. Many moons ago, I walked -in the woods, where the leaves were singing to each other, and where -the wind whispered strange things as it travelled through the trees. I -heard a voice; I listened; and I was told that when the next summer -came, I should be wanted--There!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Opara gravely followed the motion of her hand, as it pointed upwards.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The summer is coming, and I must go. Do not disturb me then; my -brother will see to me; and tell your young men and women to let me -rest."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I will tell them, and they will obey. Will our daughter return to -us?"</p> - -<p class="normal">Minnie catches at this question eagerly, and clasps Joshua's hand with -a firmer clasp.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I will return, if you will do one thing for me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Opara will do it."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It will take many days to do."</p> - -<p class="normal">"If it takes many moons to do, it shall be done."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Opara's name shall be known in the Grand Vault," says Minnie in an -earnest tone. "Take heed of my words. Those men of the same color as -my brother, of which you were told some time ago, you have not seen -them?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"They are southward. My brother has a message for them from me. He has -promised to deliver it to them; but he does not know the country. If -he goes by himself, bad men of other tribes may meet him and take him -with them. If you and some of your young men will accompany him south -until he sees the strangers, or is near to them, I will return to you -by and by, and your tribe shall never want food. The strangers will be -kind to you, and will give you good things. Will Opara do this, and -protect my brother?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Opara will do this, and will protect your brother."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Good." She gives the old chief her hand, and he places it on his -eyes, and departs gravely.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua for a time is too agitated to speak. This last proof of her -devotion is the crowning sacrifice of her life. She is the first to -break the silence.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Joshua, my dear, I have made atonement?"</p> - -<p class="normal">He can only say, "O my dear, my dear, how unworthy I am in my own -eyes!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nay, nay," she says soothingly, "you are all that is good and noble. -A better heart, a purer, never beat. I have committed a great fault, -and have done you a great wrong--unconsciously, my dear, and without -thought; and, by the mercy of our Father, I have been able to atone -for it. Think of me as a child, my dear, who has loved you with all -her heart, despite her wilfulness. Take me in your arms as you would a -child, and say that you forgive me."</p> - -<p class="normal">He takes her in his arms, and, to satisfy her, sobs out the words she -wishes to hear. Her face is close to his.</p> - -<p class="normal">"This kiss for Ellen," she whispers; "this for your dear, kind mother; -this for Dan. Tell all of them of my fancy, that I wish to live in -their minds, not as a woman, but as a child as a child who erred -through love, and who had not been taught to understand what duty was. -Who said this, 'There is no earthly sacrifice that love will not -sanctify.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Your father!" he whispers, amazed.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I heard him; I was in the room when he blessed my mother for devoting -her life to him."</p> - -<p class="normal">Presently she asks him to fetch his birds, and he runs and brings -them. He opens cage, and they hop about her contentedly. He gathers -some wild flowers, and places them by her side. Shortly afterwards she -directs his attention to the fringed violets, which do not live an -hour after they are gathered. "They are withering," she says. "Do not -pluck any more of the pretty things; let them live." He supports her -in his arms; and she watches the birds with glistening eyes, and -whispers that they remind her of dear Dan. Then she falls asleep, with -her face turned to Joshua. He does not disturb her. Every thing around -is very still and quiet. He thinks of the restless river a few miles -away, and of Minnie's words, "So restless there, so quiet here! It has -been so with me." The afternoon passes; the sun is going down, and the -heavens are filled with wondrous color. Minnie has been asleep for a -long while now. Shall he arouse her? Her fair face is perfectly still, -and a smile is on her lips. "Minnie!" he whispers. Her hand is on her -heart, and in her hand the shell. She does not speak; and a darkness -comes upon him, and his heart grows cold as he presses his lips to -hers. She has gone to spend the summer of her life in another world.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Opara holds the last words of Minnie sacred. To the expressed desire -of the doctors of the tribe to inter Minnie according to their rites, -he says, "Our daughter has spoken, and Opara has promised. Her brother -will see to her. Let her rest." So, on the following night, Joshua is -standing alone by Minnie's grave, which he has strewn with wild -flowers. In the rude coffin of bark, which he has cut and made with -his own hands, he places also the sweetest-smelling flowers he can -find. Her shell he leaves in her hand, and cuts a long tress from her -hair. "For Dan," he murmurs.</p> - -<p class="normal">He buries her in the place he had described to her, and where she had -expressed a wish to be laid. It is just such a night as she pictured. -The moon is streaming through the interlaced branches on the beautiful -lilies and the peaceful water. He reads prayers from Dan's Bible, and -falls upon his knees; and, as he sobs there, the words of her father -recur to inn, and he repeats their sense prayerfully: "She is a wild -flower; the impulse of her mind is under the control of the impulse of -her heart. She is oblivious of all else, defiant of all else. Those of -her friends who have the consciousness of a higher wisdom than she -possesses, those of them who can recognize that the promptings of such -a heart as hers may possibly lead her into dangerous paths, must guide -her gently, tenderly. If any betray her, he will have to answer for it -at the Judgment-seat!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Judge me," he cries aloud, raising his arms to heaven, "and so deal -with me! This dear angel lies in her grave pure as at her birth. But -she will speak for me, dear, honored sister!"</p> - -<p class="normal">In the distance, standing in the shadow of the trees, are the natives, -their bodies streaked with white. They do not intrude upon Joshua's -sorrow. Slowly he piles the earth upon the faithful heart, and kisses -the earth with passionate grief. When he is calmer, he reads his Bible -by the moon's light; and, as he reads, peace comes to him.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XLI.</h4> - -<h5>JOSHUA AND THE OLD WIZARD.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">For two weeks the natives mourned for Minnie. Their grief was -sincere, -notwithstanding that it was expressed in barbarous fashion--such as -painting their bodies white with pipeclay, and inflicting painful -gashes upon their breasts and arms with shells and stones. They -observed Joshua gathering wild flowers to place upon her grave, and -every day after that, the women and children collected the prettiest -and rarest flowers they could find, and decorated Minnie's grave with -them. During this time a terrible feeling of desolation came upon -Joshua. If Opara failed to keep the promise he had given Minnie, what -would become of him? He thought of some words Dan had spoken to him in -one of their boyish conversations, when they were talking of Robinson -Crusoe. Dan had said he thought it strange that Robinson did not -forget how to speak his native language, and had wondered that he -didn't go mad. This remembrance was terrible to Joshua. At night, when -he was alone in his hut, he would speak to himself, and would tremble -at his voice; and stopping sometimes with half-uttered words upon his -tongue, would be seized with sudden terror as at an unfamiliar sound. -But at the end of a fortnight, Opara came to Joshua, and said, "Our -days of mourning are over; but the image of our daughter will dwell -forever in our hearts. To-night we hold a council. Shall we tarry yet -a while, or shall we prepare to depart?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have a message for my brothers and hers," replied Joshua. "They -live southward. Is that the direction Opara will take?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Opara will do as he has promised," said the old chief with dignity, -"and will accompany you to the south."</p> - -<p class="normal">"My sister will be glad if her message is delivered soon;" and -Joshua's heart beat quickly at the prospect of deliverance.</p> - -<p class="normal">Opara gravely bent his head; and that night it was decided that twenty -young men and doctors of the tribe, including Opara, should start in a -couple of days, with Joshua, for the south. When Joshua was informed -of this, he went to Minnie's grave, and shed tears of joy, and -gathered a little of the earth, and placed it in the bag round his -neck which contained his most precious possessions. On the appointed -morning they started early, accompanied by the entire tribe; but by -noon all the stragglers had departed. In a few days their road lay -through very rough country, where, although fruits and birds were -plentiful (it being summer), Opara said they would not be able to live -in the winter. Their great difficulty was to obtain water, for the -creeks and watercourses were drying up; and Joshua was filled with -admiration at the resources of the natives, who found water in -places--digging it out of trees, indeed, very often--were a stranger -would never have dreamed of searching for it. When Joshua saw them -strike their stone weapons into a tree whence cold bright water -flowed, he could not help thinking of Moses striking the rock. A -favorite food with them was a species of shrubby plant which they -called Karkalla, and which yielded a rich luscious fruit; and they -ate, with intense relish, many species of grubs which they cut out of -the bark of trees.</p> - -<p class="normal">Among the party was one famous wizard and doctor, who was not disposed -to look upon Joshua with the same friendly eye as the others did. When -Minnie was ill, he had been especially desirous of exercising his arts -upon her, and of restoring her to health, by which means his -reputation with the tribe would have been enormously increased; and -when Minnie died, he entertained the belief that he could have saved -her if he had been allowed. This doctor's name was Nullaboin, and he -had joined Joshua's escort because he thought that he might, by -watching Joshua's movements, obtain some kind of knowledge that might -be useful to him.</p> - -<p class="normal">During the latter days of Minnie's illness Joshua had not played his -accordion, which, it must be borne in mind, the natives had never -seen. Joshua had kept it jealously concealed in its covering of fur, -and had never played it in sight of the natives. It was at the end of -the second week of their journey, when Joshua was looking out -anxiously for traces of white settlers, that a circumstance occurred -which boded him great danger. He had wandered, as he had been in the -habit of doing every night, a long distance from where the natives -pitched their camp. From time to time Opara and his party had met -natives of different tribes, with whom they had conversed (though -sometimes with difficulty, for their dialects differed) concerning the -white men; and on this morning a strange native had given them such -information as led Opara to tell Joshua that he believed he would soon -be able to deliver Minnie's message to her brothers. Interpreting by -this that the stranger they had met had seen something of Englishmen, -Joshua, in the night, wandered farther from the camp than usual, in -the vague hope that he might come upon traces of his countrymen. He -saw none, and yet thought they might be near. An idea struck him. "Why -should I not play my accordion?" he thought. "I might be within a -short distance of my deliverers, and not know it. The sound of -civilized music might reach their ears, and they would come to me." He -acted upon the thought without delay. For the first time for many -weeks, he took his accordion from its covering (it was slung round his -shoulders by a strap of dried skin), and walked through the woods, -playing, and swinging the instrument in the air, so that the sound -should travel far. He little dreamed of the effect he produced. -Nullaboin was tracking him--had tracked him every night in his -wanderings. Hitherto Nullaboin had learned nothing; but now directly -the music struck upon his ears, he was so amazed as almost to betray -himself. The idea that flashed through that cunning savage mind was as -singular as it was original. It was neither more nor less than that -Joshua held Minnie's spirit imprisoned in the strange instrument from -which the melodious sounds proceeded. They were the same as used to -proceed from Minnie's hut, when it was imagined she was speaking with -invisible shapes. What wonders might he not perform, could he obtain -possession of that power! The mysterious spirits of air and heaven -would speak to him, and would tell him strange things. But how could -he obtain it--how? Joshua was strong--too strong for him. He was an -old man--ay, he was an old man, and these spirits, if he could speak -to them in their language, might teach him how to become young again. -The courses of his blood quickened through the old wizard's veins at -the wild hope, and he picked up a stone and cut at his breast in his -excitement. He could not hope to wrest the magic power from Joshua -singly. He must enlist his companions on his side. His influence was -great, but Opara's was greater. He dreaded that aged chief. "If Opara -knows," was his cunning thought, "Opara will claim it for himself. -No, no; it is mine Nullaboin's. Here me, Pulyalanna! Strike Opara with -your thunder to-night! Strike him dead! He has lived long enough." But -as he thought, he started away in terror. Among the trees some twenty -yards away, he saw a crouching figure, which he took to be one of the -fabulous Purkabidnies, that roam through the woods at night to slay -black men. It was but the charred stump of a tree, but it was -sufficient to cause Nullaboin, the wizard, to fly from the spot in -direst terror, towards the camp. He lay awake until Joshua returned, -and noted with his lynx eyes that Joshua wore the magic instrument -strapped round his shoulders. The following day he took occasion to -speak to Joshua in a subtle manner, as thus: "Nullaboin dreamt last -night of his daughter the Star."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua nodded.</p> - -<p class="normal">"She spoke to me. Her voice was like the voice of the birds. I shall -see her soon."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua gave him a startled look.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Has her brother seen her?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Has she not spoken to him?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Nullaboin is a great mintapa, and his daughter knows his power."</p> - -<p class="normal">All this was Greek to Joshua, and he did not encourage the old wizard -to continue his revelations. But during that day and the next, -Nullaboin was busy working upon the credulous minds of the younger -natives, and found but little difficulty in inflaming their curiosity. -Joshua's eagerness had become almost painful by this time; and when -they were travelling over plains, every speck on the horizon became a -horseman in his anxious eyes. Occasionally they had to make their way -through dense scrub, where there were but few trees; but for the most -part their road lay through the woods, where tall timber was abundant. -Under any other circumstances, Joshua would have found the life he was -leading wonderfully interesting, fatiguing as it was. Now they were -wending their way through a gully, the heights on each side of which -were so thickly wooded as almost to shut out the light of heaven; now -they were on a plain somewhat thinly dotted with trees when suddenly a -young savage would dart off in pursuit of a bee which his wonderful -sight had detected fifty feet high in the air. Away buzzed the bee -through the clear air, and, with his eyes fixed upon the tiny insect, -after it flew the savage joined by other young men of the party, the -older men following more leisurely. With unerring sight the hunters -ran until the bee settled upon a tree; and with wondrous speed the -bee-hunter, seeing the sugar-bags in the topmost branches, climbed the -trunk, cutting notches in the bark for his toes with his stone -hatchet, until he reached the sweet store, with which he loaded -himself, and then rejoined his companions. Now they caught an enormous -guana, more than five feet in length, upon which the natives feasted; -and saw strange specimens of the mantis, which looked like rotten -pieces of dead twigs until they were touched, when they crawled away -by the aid of their abundant misshapen limbs. Now they came to a place -where, surrounded by almost impenetrable scrub, in which patches of -wild bananas grew, were a number of fresh-water lagoons, filled with -reeds and weeds of every description, and abounding in screeching -cockatoos and beautifully-colored ducks. While Nullaboin was busy with -his scheme for obtaining the magic box in which he imagined Minnie's -spirit was imprisoned, some members of a strange tribe came to the -party, one of whom, to Joshua's amazement, was singing in imperfect -English a verse of the ballad, "He promised to buy me a bunch of blue -ribbons."<a name="div4Ref_01" href="#div4_01"><sup>[1]</sup></a> The singer knew -no other words of English: but he -contrived to make Joshua understand that he had been among white men, -which, indeed, was sufficiently evident from his singing.</p> -<br> -<p>----------</p> - -<p class="hang1"><a name="div4_01" href="#div4Ref_01">Footnote 1</a>: A fact.</p> - -<p>----------</p> - -<br> -<p class="normal">"Opara," said Joshua, with sparkling eyes, "my brothers are -near."</p> - -<p class="normal">"It is well," was Opara's simple reply. "Opara will have performed his -promise. When his daughter returns to her tribe, she will thank -Opara."</p> - -<p class="normal">But by this time Nullaboin's plans were matured; and that night, when -Joshua wandered into the woods, his heart filled with grateful -feelings towards the faithful savages, he was followed stealthily by -Nullaboin, and a half-a-dozen braves who had joined in his plot.</p> - -<p class="normal">"At last!" thought Joshua, visions of happiness to come floating -before his eyes--"at last! Perhaps to-morrow I shall see the faces of -my countrymen, and then, and then"-- But he could not think clearly; -for as the images of those dearest to him came before him, the false -face of Solomon Fewster seemed to cast a shadow upon his happiness. He -leaned against a silver-leaved gum-tree, and tried to calm himself, -and in a little while succeeded. Ellen was true to him, he was sure. -And Dan? "Is he training his birds still?" he thought "How has he -borne his great grief?" He saw before him the dear old kitchen in -Stepney, exactly as he had seen it last; every chair and every piece -of crockery was in its exact place. Every detail of those last few -minutes at home presented itself clearly to him: his yearning look at -the old familiar room; his walking up the stairs to the street-door -with his face hidden in his mother's neck, and she caressing him, as -she had done when he was a little child. Almost unconsciously he had -taken out his accordion, and his fingers were wandering over the keys, -playing softly those airs most in consonance with his thoughts. He -even murmured the words of "Tom Bowling:"</p> -<br> - -<p style="margin-left:10%; text-indent:-10px; font-size:90%">"Here, a sheer -hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling,<br> -The darling of our crew."</p> - -<br> -<p class="continue">"Dear Old Sailor! How glad I shall be to see his honest -face!" And he -saw the Old Sailor take a wedding-ring out of a piece of silver-paper, -with a triumphant expression upon his face, as he had done in that -memorable interview in Gravesend, when--whiz! Good God! what was -this? The sky seemed to come down upon the earth, and he sank through -it--down! down!--</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Nullaboin, snatching the accordion from the falling man, -hugged it to -his naked breast, and glided swiftly away, followed by his -confederates. They must have traversed full four miles before they -paused, and then they looked cautiously around, to assure themselves -that they were alone. The old wizard had kept the instrument tightly -pressed to his bosom during the flight, so that no sound had proceeded -from it; but now, when they paused, his grasp relaxed. His hand was on -the keys: and and as the accordion gradually distended itself, a slow -wail issued from it, which so terrified him that he let it fall to the -ground, so that the weak and plaintive sound was followed by a harsh -and sudden jangle of all the notes. Appalled at this angry cry, which -was to them full of fearful meaning, the younger savages, with -palpitating hearts and dismayed faces, flew from the spot, and left -Nullaboin alone with the terrible prize. He stood like a statue for -many minutes, although the thick beads of perspiration were rolling -down his face and beard, and then cautiously approached the prostrate -mystery. Encouraged by its silence, he stooped over it, and, after his -savage fashion, entreated it to speak to him. No answer came. What -should he do? A sudden light came into his eyes. Minnie's spirit was -imprisoned there, and she was angry. He would release her. He lifted -the accordion gently from the ground, and timidly pressed his finger -upon one of the higher keys. The response was gentle, almost piteous; -it was an appeal to him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"O Star of the tribe!" he whispered, "Nullaboin will set you free. -Make him great!"</p> - -<p class="normal">He took a small green-stone mogo (hatchet) from his girdle, and -carefully cut a long hole in the cloth. He held his hand over it to -grasp the spirit; but he saw nothing, heard nothing. He waited; -nothing came. He took it in his hand, and waved it up and down; no -sound issued from it. The spirit had fled, and the old wizard was left -despairing.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Joshua felt no pain. A delicious sense of rest was upon him. -Of all -the memories that came to him in his dreams, the happy holiday he had -spent with Dan and Ellen on the Old Sailor's barge was the most vivid. -He lived once more through the whole of that happy day--stood in Dan's -room in his holiday clothes, with food for the birds which were to be -presented to the Old Sailor--went down to breakfast, and saw Ellen's -yearning look as they talked of the coming pleasures of the day--saw -her run out of the room and run in again, almost mad with delight -because Susan had obtained permission for her to accompany the -lads--rode in the creaking cart through dingy Whitechapel--saw Dan -swinging in the hammock and gazing at him affectionately while he was -rowing--heard every word of the Old Sailor's sea-stories over -again--sat on the deck in the twilight in a state of delicious -happiness by Ellen's side, and went down into the saloon, and heard -the Old Sailor sing, and then Ellen, her favorite song of -"Bread-and-cheese and Kisses." After that a darkness came upon him, -and he opened his eyes, and saw the stars shining in the heavens; but -they were shut out immediately afterwards, and he was standing on the -deck of the "Merry Andrew" the night the ship struck on the rocks; -holding Minnie in his arms; the dead faces of his shipmates crowded -upon him, rising from the cruel sea with the exact expression upon -their features that they wore when he last saw them; then came his -encounter with the Lascar in the woods; and that memory brought to him -the face of Solomon Fewster, which lingered long; but it faded in its -turn, and gave way to other fancies, the most enduring of which was -the river near which Minnie was buried, and the refrain of her words, -"So restless there, so quiet here!" dwelt in his mind through the long -night.</p> - -<p class="normal">When he awoke it was daylight. He struggled to his feet, but could -scarcely stand for weakness. He had been struck by a boomerang on the -temple, and had lost a great deal of blood. He was so weak and -bewildered that, even now that he was awake the past incidents of his -life were strangely mingled in his mind. It was not until after long -mental pondering and sifting of incidents that the true knowledge of -his position and of what had occurred to him dawned upon his senses. -He looked round for his accordion; it was gone. Then he thought, -"Opara has betrayed me at the last moment. They have stolen my -accordion, and they have left me here for dead. But they may return at -any moment to strip me of what I have about me." Weak and faint as he -was he crawled cautiously towards the most thickly-wooded part of the -forest, and there concealed himself. "What now?" he thought. "Must I -wait for death?" For indeed he was too weak to walk. His heart almost -fainted within him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Now, when I was so near to deliverance," he groaned aloud, shedding -bitter tears, "to be thus dashed back to misery!" But even as he -uttered the words, he heard the crack of a stockman's whip. Crack! It -rang through the woods and through his heart. Not the mockery of a -whip-bird this time! No, no; it was too near; and it was followed by -the sound of horses' hoofs and by the sound of English voices. Thank -God! thank God!</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<h4>CHAPTER XLII.</h4> - -<h5>FAITHFUL HEARTS.</h5> -<br> - -<p class="normal">On a pleasant summer evening Dan and Ellen and George Marvel -were -sitting in the shade of the veranda which surrounded three sides of -their house. The house was built of wood, and was all on one floor, -and there was a garden in the front and in the rear. George Marvel was -smoking his pipe as usual, and having by this time got used to the -short clays, which were the only ones he could now obtain, had just -declared that he enjoyed a short pipe as well as a long one; "though I -couldn't stomach them at first, Dan, as you know." Dan nodded in -acquiescence; he had no time to reply; for at that moment a great -shouting was heard, and the mail-cart was seen driving round the -corner towards them. The arrival of the mail-cart in the village was -an event of the utmost importance, and was always greeted with cheers -by the excited population. There was a mail-service once a fortnight, -and sometimes it would be a day or two behind, which was most -serviceable to the inhabitants of the village, as giving them -something to be anxious about and to talk about. The driver (who was -contractor for the mail, owner of the mail-cart, and driver of it, all -in one) had one invariable excuse when he was late; he had been -waiting for the birds. Now, when Dan first heard this, he, without -knowing its meaning, felt instantly attracted to the driver of the -mail, whose name was Ramsay; and when he had an explanation from the -lips of a neighbor to whom Ramsay had given a lift (he was always -giving kindly "lifts" to one and another), Dan was disposed to be -affectionately familiar with him. This feeling being reciprocated by -Ramsay, an intimacy sprung up between them, the consequence of which -was, that Ramsay, after delivering his mails to the postmaster (a -rheumatic old woman, deaf, and almost blind), came as regularly as a -clock to have a smoke and a chat with Dan and the Marvels. A curious -character was Ramsay; a man who had seen better days--who had, indeed, -once been very wealthy--who had been plundered and deceived from his -youth upwards--and who yet retained a kindliness to every living thing -with which he came in contact. Thus, his waiting for the birds: it was -whimsical, pretty childish, some said; consisting in stopping -whichever of his two steady old mares he was driving, immediately he -saw a bird on the bush track before him. "Get out of my way, little -bird," he would say in a singularly gentle voice, and he would give -his whip a flick at the back of his cart, which had not the slightest -effect in disturbing the little creature that blocked the road. But -Ramsay could no more drive past it than he could drive through a wire -fence; and he often found it necessary to descend from his cart, and -walk softly towards the bird, which, having probably by that time -finished its pecking, would jerk up its cunning head towards the -intruder, and leisurely take flight to the nearest tree, where it -would watch the lazy old mare trotting along and would receive perhaps -a comical "Good-morning, little bird!" from the gentle-hearted -mail-contractor.</p> - -<p class="normal">When Ramsay had delivered his mail to the rheumatic old female -postmaster, he would look over the letters and newspapers (five -minutes was long enough to sort the lot of them) to see whether there -was any thing for Dan and Mr. Marvel. On this evening there was a -newspaper; and Ramsay, taking possession of it, walked leisurely to -the house of his friends. Ellen's child, Maggie, saw him, and ran to -him for a jump in the air, and he stopped to indulge her until he was -out of breath, when he was glad to deliver her into her mother's -charge, shaking his head laughingly in answer to her cries for "more!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Hi, Mrs. Wattles!" he shouted to a woman who was passing. "There's a -letter for you at the post-office." Which sent Mrs. Wattles off, in -eager haste, to receive her missive.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You're a day late," said Dan, as Ramsay opened the gate.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Waiting for the birds, Dan; couldn't get along for the creatures. -Here's a newspaper for you."</p> - -<p class="normal">The newspaper had an English postage-stamp upon it, and there was -something marked inside.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It's from the Old Sailor!" cried Dan, and pressed it to his lips and -so did Ellen, and all those simple foolish people, in turns, one after -another. The paragraph that was marked related how a ship, with all -hands, was reported lost ten years ago, and there was nothing more -heard of her until a week before the newspaper was printed, when into -the London Docks came a vessel from China, which had been driven out -of her course, luckily, and had in consequence picked up six men off -an island, who had been living there for many years; and how that -these men belonged to the crew who were supposed to have gone to the -bottom ten years before. You may imagine that they read this paragraph -half a dozen times at the least, having Joshua in their minds all the -time, and that Ellen and Mrs. Marvel disappeared for a few minutes to -have a cry together. While they were away, the men sat silent and -grave, Dan reading the newspaper, and George Marvel and Ramsay smoking -their pipes.</p> - -<p class="normal">Now, once in every month--that is, by every other mail--Ramsay had to -deliver a mail-bag at a cattle-station known as Bull's Run. The -station was between forty and fifty miles distant from the village, -and Ramsay took two days for the journey, out of a merciful regard for -his old mare. As he had to start for Bull's Run early in the morning, -he did not stay late with his friends, but bade them goodnight at -about nine o'clock. When he was gone, the Old Sailor became the -subject of conversation, and every circumstance of their intimacy was -recalled and dwelt upon with loving affection. Every night they sat -together--Susan as well, although she never joined in the -conversation--talking of one thing and another. Time had softened -their grief, but it had not made them less constant; their hearts beat -as fondly and devotedly for Joshua as ever they had done.</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan and Mr. and Mrs. Marvel had gone to bed; Ellen and Dan were -alone. Between these two an undefinable sympathy existed; they could -almost read each other's thoughts; and this night Ellen lingered when -the others had retired to rest, because she had read in Dan's face the -signs of something more than usually important in his mind. For a long -time they were silent; the stillness of every thing around impressed -them deeply. The nature of their thoughts and the stillness of the -night, in which there was something solemn, brought to both of them -the memory of another night, years ago, when they had sat alone as -they were sitting now, with Basil Kindred's unopened diary before -them.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ellen," said Dan, playing with her fingers thoughtfully, "I have -dreamed of Jo lately more often than usual, and to-night my thoughts -dwell upon him so strongly that I shall not go to bed for a while."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I will sit up with you, my dear."</p> - -<p class="normal">The windows in the room were folding windows, and reached to the -ground. Ellen opened them; and she and Dan were presently sitting -beneath the veranda, he upon a chair, she upon the ground, with her -head resting in his lap.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Do you remember that Christmas night, Ellen, when Jo came home?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Dan."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And the strange impression I had upon me that Jo was near us, -although I had no actual knowledge of it?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I can see the street as we saw it then, Ellen, with its covering of -snow, and that cruel black gash in it which the only man who passed -tore with his feet. It was like an ill-omen. You see nothing to -disturb the beauty of the scene, Ellen?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No; but why do you ask, my dear?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Because I have upon me to-night the same feeling that I had then; -because notwithstanding that it is almost madness to say it and -believe it, I believe that Jo is near us."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Dan!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"To no one else but you would I say this, my dear. Long dwelling upon -one subject fills the mind with singular thought concerning it, and it -may be that this feeling that is upon me now is but the creation of -the wildest fancy. Yet there are strange influences within us and -around us for which we cannot account, and which affect us in -mysterious ways. When I first knew that it was Jo's wish to be a -sailor, and that we should be parted, I tried with all my mind and -soul--it may be that it was a foolish, childish fancy, Ellen, but I -had it--to create such a heart sympathy between us that we could never -be parted in spirit. I had some wild ideas then of being able to dream -of what he was doing and seeing when he was thousands of miles away -from our little room in Stepney. Of course they came to nothing; but -it would be strange indeed, if this earnest striving of mine had not -produced some feeling within me which time only can test. You remember -what poor Minnie's father used to say: 'There are more things in -heaven and earth than is dreamed of in our philosophy.'"</p> - -<p class="normal">So they sat together talking and musing, and it was past midnight -before they retired to rest.</p> - -<p class="normal">Early in the morning, the whimsical mail-contractor was jogging along -towards Bull's Run; he had to stop so many times for the little birds -in the road, that his progress was slow; but he had reckoned upon -these impediments, and he arrived at the station not more than a -couple of hours after the usual time. That was the end of his journey; -the following day he had to make his way back to Dan's village. The -residence of the owner of Bull's-Run station was built of slabs split -from the bloodwood-tree; the roof was of shingle; and the interior of -the house was lined with rich dark-red cedar, which gave it quite a -cosey, comfortable appearance. The workmen's huts were built of -palm-tree slabs, and the roofs were thatched with strong sword-grass, -which grew in great profusion on the banks of a river within a few -miles of the homestead. Ramsay was always welcomed at Bull's Run; the -men and women on the station--for, primitive as it was, there were -women and children living on it--used to cluster round him and ask him -for news from the villages through which he passed, and the smallest -items were received with thankfulness, and eagerly listened to. On -this occasion, Ramsay had but little news to tell, and his budget was -soon exhausted. In return, they told him theirs: one of the bulls had -torn a man's arm open; a child had been lost for a whole night, and -all the men were out searching for it miles away, and it was found the -next morning within half a mile of the hut; three bushrangers, -splendidly mounted, passed the station last week at full gallop; one -of the shepherds had come in with a cock-and-a-bull story of gold -being found somewhere or other; another shepherd had gone mad; -Yellow-hammer Jack and his wife had had a row; and--but Oh! this was -the best bit of the lot!--a man had been brought in by two stockmen -who were looking for lost cattle, and had found him instead; he was -almost dead, and had been living a long time with the Blacks. He -seemed a decent kind of fellow, had been a sailor, he said, but was -strangely silent about himself--for good reasons, some of the -ill-natured ones said. Any ways, the man was better, although still very -weak, and intended to start the next morning for Sydney; nothing would -stop him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A long tramp for a weak man," said kind-hearted Ramsay; "if he's a -decent fellow, I'll give him a lift."</p> - -<p class="normal">As he said this, there came towards the group, walking very slowly, a -strange-looking man, with a beard down to his breast, dressed in skins -and furs; he had a stick in his hand, and seemed to require its -support. They pointed to him, and said that was the man. Ramsay looked -at him keenly, and the air of melancholy that rested in the man's eyes -impressed the mail-contractor with a feeling of pity.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A sailor, eh?" he thought; "and living with the savages. Wonder what -he lived with them for?" Then he thought of Dan's and Ellen's anxiety -concerning strange sailors and castaways, and that perhaps they would -be glad to see this man. He said nothing, however, but was up the next -morning early, and saw the man start on his road with slow and painful -steps. A few minutes afterwards the old mare was harnessed, and its -tail was turned to Bull's Run. Soon he came up to the man, and as he -did so, two purple-breasted robins pecking at a bit of honeysuckle -barred his progress. "Get out of my way, little birds," said the -mail-driver, pulling up his mare; and he gave a soft flick with his -whip in a direction where the robins were not. The words reached the -man's ears, and he turned his head in surprise, and saw the little -comedy. A gentle, sweet smile rested on his lips, and he looked at the -mail-driver almost gratefully. Ramsay smiled in return, and again bade -the little robins get out of his way; and presently they took flight, -each with a tiny piece of the sweet flower in its beak. Then the old -mare jogged lazily along, and the strange-looking man gazed wistfully -after the cart. Ramsay, looking back, saw the wistful expression, and -stopped at once. "Hi, mate!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua came slowly forward.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where you bound for?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Sydney."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Going to walk all the way?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"If I can," sighed Joshua; and could not help adding, "and if I don't -die on the road!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Jump up, mate; I can give you a lift for forty miles."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I have no money," and Joshua turned away, with a sob.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I don't want your money; I want your company. But how were you going -to live, if you've no money?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"I should trust to the Providence that has so wonderfully delivered -me," thought Joshua, but made no reply aloud; though it could be seen -in his eyes, which were filled with tears.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Jump in," said Ramsay, imperatively and kindly, "without another -word."</p> - -<p class="normal">And without another word Joshua climbed into the cart.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I dare say now," said Ramsay in the course of conversation, as the -old mare trotted steadily on the road, "that you wonder what made me -so anxious for your company. Well, I'll tell you. In the village where -I shall put up to-morrow afternoon, and which is forty odd miles on -the road to Sydney, live some people I'm very fond of, who had a -sailor friend that they've not heard of for a long while."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ah!" sighed Joshua; "I know, what their feeling must be. Did they -love him?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Love him! Well, you shall see for yourself; if, in return for the -lift I am giving you, you won't mind talking to them a bit."</p> - -<p class="normal">"I shall be glad to; it may remind me of my own friends."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Where are your friends?--Now, Dozy!" this to the old mare, who had -stopped suddenly short; "what d'ye stop for? The sense of the -creature!" he added proudly, pointing, to a bird some yards in front -of them. "Get out of my way, little bird!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"When I first heard you say that," said Joshua, "I was sure you had a -kind heart."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Fond of birds yourself, mate?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Very, very fond. The tenderest remembrances of my life are connected -with them."</p> - -<p class="normal">Ramsay cast a sharp glance at the half-savage.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Been long among the Blacks, mate? or isn't the story true?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"It's true enough. Long among them? Ay--years, but I don't know how -long."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua, indeed, had lost count of time.</p> - -<p class="normal">"From choice?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No; but I've told my story to no one yet. It would scarcely be -believed. But tell me about your friends and the sailor."</p> - -<p class="normal">"There's a mother there, that lost a son when she lost her -sailor"--Joshua pressed his fingers to his face, and sobbed -convulsively at the thought of his own dear mother, who had lost a son -when she lost her sailor; and the mail-driver felt a choking in his -throat, and had to wait a few moments before he could proceed. "And a -father that lost a son at the same time. And a wife that lost a -husband. And a friend that lost a friend. And a little child that can -hardly be said to have lost a father, for she never saw her father's -face."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Merciful God!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"What's the matter, mate?"</p> - -<p class="normal">For Joshua was trembling--like a child; and great sobs came from his -chest--like a man.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You remind me--you remind me," sobbed Joshua. "Don't think me -unmanly, don't think me mad. I have been sorely, sorely tried!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Whereat Ramsay stopped the mare, and got out of the cart, and went -into the bush to look for birds. He must have had a great difficulty -in finding them, he was away so long; and the old mare stood perfectly -still and contented the while, twitching her tail to knock off the -flies, which was the only spirited action she was ever known to be -guilty of. When they were jogging along again, they did not speak a -word for a full hour, and then it was Joshua who spoke first, taking -up the thread where it had been dropped.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The child who has never seen her father--a girl then?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, mate."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How was it that she had never seen him?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Married her mother; went away to sea, and never heard of since."</p> - -<p class="normal">"How old is the child?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Five years, I should say."</p> - -<p class="normal">"If you knew," said Joshua in a slow trembling voice, "what a chord -you have touched in my heart, you would pity me. Forgive me for my -strange manner, and answer me. The mother who has lost a son; describe -her."</p> - -<p class="normal">"An angel. I'm not good at picking faces to pieces; but when I look at -her, she reminds me of my own mother, dead and gone this many a year. -Never thinks of herself; always putting herself out for other -people--bless her old face! And yet she's not so old, although her -hair is nearly white--that's from grief."</p> - -<p class="normal">"The father who lost a son?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"A fine fellow; a little self-willed and obstinate; a wood-turner."</p> - -<p class="normal">A long, long silence. The mail-driver did not break it, nor did he -intrude upon his companion's thoughts. "Twit-twit-twit!" came from the -throats of some diamond sparrows, which were flitting among the -gum-tree branches and a flock of scarlet lowry parrots floated -through the bush that lined the road on either side, their -wonderfully-gorgeous plumage lighting up the dark trees with brilliant -light.</p> - -<p class="normal">"The wife that lost a husband, and the friend that lost a friend?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Treasures both; brother and sister."</p> - -<p class="normal">"One other question--where do they come from?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"London. I don't know what part."</p> - -<p class="normal">A mist floated before Joshua's eyes, and he remained like one in a -dream during the afternoon--wondering, hoping, fearing. When they were -near to the village the following afternoon, Joshua said,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"It may be that you have rendered me one of the greatest services that -a man can possibly render another. If it be as I scarcely dare to -hope, we shall know each other for long after this. Complete the -service by doing one little thing more. Drive past the house where -your friends live and point it out to me, so that I may descend and -walk to it alone when we are at the end of your journey."</p> - -<p class="normal">Ramsay nodded. It was about five o'clock when the mail-cart rattled -into the village. The contractor for the mails always made a great -clatter when he came in, as if he had been driving for his life--a -fiction which, although no one believed in, he thought it desirable to -keep up. "It looks government-like," he said.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Solomon Fewster is in the garden at the rear of the house, -pleading -his suit to Ellen for the twentieth time. She stands silent until he -has finished a rhapsody, in which love and money are strangely -commingled.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Think of the time I have waited, Ellen," he says; "think of the -constancy of my affection, and of the position I can offer you. -I am making money fast, and only wait for you to say yes, to buy a -house for us, which in three years will be worth three times what -they ask for it. What is the use of your wasting your life in this -out-of-the-way village when all the attractions of a city-life are -open to you? Come now, give me your hand, and reward the man who has -been your constant friend and lover, and who can make you rich."</p> - -<p class="normal">But Ellen is insensible to the splendor of the offer; indeed, she is -weary of it and him, and she tells him so spiritedly, and yet cannot -repulse him. At length she says,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Mr. Fewster, there must be an end to this. I shall never, never marry -again; and even if I did," she adds, to put a stop to what has become -persecution, "I should not choose you;" and leaves him with this arrow -in his heart.</p> - -<p class="normal">He stands amazed. Not choose him! Why, a thousand girls would jump at -him. Not here perhaps, for womankind was a scarce commodity; but at -home, or anywhere where girls were more plentiful. Not choose him! He -follows her into the house, wounded and mortified, and into Dan's -room, where Mr. Marvel and Dan are at work. Mr. Marvel has all his -tools, and does a great deal of wood-turning--having, indeed, more -than he can do--and is putting by money. He scarcely looks up as -Solomon Fewster walks in, somewhat defiantly; and as no one speaks to -him, an awkward silence ensues upon his entrance; broken by Mr. -Marvel, who, noticing Ellen's flushed face, observes,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Been teasing Ellen again, Mr. Fewster?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Teasing her, indeed!" exclaims Solomon Fewster loftily; "honoring -her, I should say."</p> - -<p class="normal">The flush upon Ellen's face deepens at this, and she casts such a look -of aversion at Mr. Fewster that all the blood rushes into <i>his</i> face, -and he says some injudicious words about ingratitude, and about what -one might expect if one condescended to lower himself as he had done.</p> - -<p class="normal">Upon this George Marvel starts to his feet in a great heat, and -exclaims,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do you mean by ingratitude, and by lowering yourself, Mr. -Fewster? What gratitude do we owe you?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Ask Dan," says Mr. Fewster,--"ask Dan who it was bought his birds to -keep you when you were starving, and when no one else would look upon -you. But it serves me right for noticing you and helping you, instead -of treating you as all your neighbors did. I ought to have known what -return I might expect."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And I dare say you got your return," says George Marvel, "when you -sold Dan's birds at a good profit. As for Dan selling his birds to -keep us from starving, that was no business of yours, so long as you -got value for your money. That is a matter between Dan and me; and -Dan's satisfied with the way that account stands, or I'm mistaken in -him." Dan presses George Marvel's hand. "Thank you, Dan. Now, as to -lowering yourself, Mr. Fewster. Do you mean to tell me that you would -be lowering yourself if Ellen here was free to marry you, and would -accept you? You mean-spirited dog! I'm a good deal older than you are; -but if you were not in my house, I would thrash you for speaking as -you have done, as I've thrashed others in Stepney when they let loose -their lying tongues at us. Get out of the place, and never set foot in -it again!" Attracted by the loud voices, Susan and Mrs. Marvel, with -Ellen's child, have come into the room; and Mrs. Marvel now goes to -her husband's side and lays her hand upon his arm. "Nay, Maggie--let -be; I'm not going to hurt him; I wouldn't lay a finger upon him here; -and I don't want to anywhere else; only, don't let him cross me if he -says a word against us out of this house.--Dan!" he cries, "do you -want to see Mr. Fewster here again?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, sir; I think it will be best if Mr. Fewster will keep away from -us."</p> - -<p class="normal">"And you, Ellen? what do you say?</p> - -<p class="normal">"I never wish to see him again. For the sake of what is past, I would -have been content to see him, if he would have ceased from persecuting -me; but after what he has said to you, I hope he will leave us in -peace."</p> - -<p class="normal">"You hear," exclaims George Marvel; "we are happy enough without you. -Go, and never darken this door again!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Solomon Fewster looks round, almost savagely; his face is white with -passion, and all the vindictiveness of his bad nature comes into play.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You are happy enough without me!" he sneers, with his knuckles to his -mouth.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Don't make too sure of that. I have been your friend hitherto. What -if I now make myself your enemy? What if, when I go from this house, I -spread about <i>my</i> version of your reason for leaving London? What if I -tell your neighbors here of the real character of your sailor-hero, -and how, because of his villainy, all your friends turned their backs -upon you"--</p> - -<p class="normal">But he has no time to say more; for the door, which has been partly -open, swings on its hinges, and Joshua enters.</p> - -<p class="normal">Not one of them recognizes him. In his strange garb, with his fur-cap -pulled over his eyes, and with his face covered with hair, no trace of -Joshua is discernible; and yet they look at him spell-bound, waiting -for him to speak. He gazes at the forms of all the dear ones and -grasps the back of a chair to steady himself. He takes them all in at -a glance, and sees in one brief moment the changes in them that time -has made. His mother's white hair; the deepened wrinkles in his -father's face; Ellen more matronly than she was, but fair and pleasant -to look at as when she was a girl; Susan, like an old woman; Dan grown -a little stouter, and with the same dear boyish light in his eyes and -on his face--but the child, clinging to Ellen's apron and looking at -him wonderingly with Ellen's eyes and his!--</p> - -<p class="normal">He had thought, before he entered, that he would be strong, but he has -no more control over himself for a few moments than a straw in a -fierce wind. Then muttering, "Justice first!" he turns upon Solomon -Fewster a glance of hate and scorn, and grasps him by the shoulder -with so powerful a grasp, that Fewster writhes with pain.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I heard your last words," he says.</p> - -<p class="normal">But directly he speaks, a thrill runs through them, and they are -running towards him with outstretched arms, when he cries,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Stand off! By what strange chance I find you, I can scarcely imagine. -But do not come nearer to me for a little while, or I shall fall dead -at your feet!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Awe-struck and trembling they obey him.</p> - -<p class="normal">"I would not touch one of your dear hands till you have heard me and -judged me, though death were the penalty for depriving myself of the -joy! I would not receive one kiss from your honored lips upon my cheek -till you have heard me and judged me, though I were sure that my -tongue would be paralyzed in the utterance of what I have to say! Some -part of your sufferings, some part of your pain, I know from my own -suffering and pain, and I will clear myself before your eyes, so help -me Thou! or go forever from my sight!"</p> - -<p class="normal">Susan is running to him with cries of "Justice! justice!" and is about -to throw herself upon him, when George Marvel's arm restrains and -keeps her back. "Be still, madwoman!" he mutters sternly, and stands -by her side, watchful of her, and no less watchful and attentive of -every word that falls from his son's lips.</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua takes the cap from his head, and lets it fall to the ground, -still keeping his strong grasp upon Solomon Fewster, whose cowardly -blood grows thin as he writhes and listens.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Justice!" echoes Joshua. "You shall have it, and so shall this base -dog, whose presence pollutes the air I breathe. Listen well. Of -another matter that we must speak of presently, and which is near and -dear to all our hearts, I will say nothing before him. But in the -'Merry Andrew' in which I sailed from Gravesend, and which is now at -the bottom of the sea, with many dear brave souls that were aboard -her, was a villanous sailor--a Lascar, from whose hands I once rescued -the woman who calls for justice, and who struck me down on that -dreadful Christmas-eve when I first came home from sea. He shrinks and -trembles beneath my grasp, this false friend, of whose bad heart I -warned my brother Dan before the 'Merry Andrew' sailed. At one time -during the voyage, when we were in danger, there was an attempt at -mutiny, and this Lascar was one of the cowardly wretches who -endeavored to spread dissatisfaction. When we were in dread peril, -this Lascar sailor and a mutinous mate, whom we had to put in irons, -strove hard to injure me and the captain--Heaven rest his soul--and, -happily, failed. The ship was wrecked, and we had to abandon her, and -take to a raft which we had made; and on that raft we suffered more -than six weeks hunger and thirst, and every species of misery. Out of -the entire crew and passengers only seven were saved, among them being -myself and this Lascar sailor and his confederate, the mutinous mate. -Before the captain died, he appointed me to succeed in the command, -and I have the record from the log-book about me now. We got ashore. -How we lived, you shall hear from me by and by; but once the Lascar -(whom we suspected of having killed his confederate) stole upon me, -and but that I turned my head in time, I should not be here now to -expose the villainy of this cowardly wretch. Foiled in his devilish -design, he told me then that he had been set to trap me, and was paid -for it. Some time after that, I found the Lascar dead in the forest; -and before I buried him--not wishing to leave a human creature -however vile, to be eaten by birds and beasts--I obtained evidence -which proved to me that the wretch who writhes now within my grasp was -the master who paid him to ruin, and perhaps to murder me."</p> - -<p class="normal">"A clever lie," Solomon Fewster manages to say, though he is shaking -from terror.</p> - -<p class="normal">"A lie! have the proofs. Be thankful that I have met you here among -those who are all that the world holds dear for ma. If I had met you -in the forest, in the midst of such scenes as I have witnessed lately, -I would not have answered for your life."</p> - -<p class="normal">Joshua hurls Solomon Fewster from him with such force that he falls, -almost stunned, in the corner of the room. Then Joshua takes from his -neck the bag containing; his relics, and selects from them the silver -watch and the document which Fewster had given the Lascar, and after -reading aloud the document and the inscription on the watch, lays them -upon the table.</p> - -<p class="normal">"Here are the proofs of your crime and your villainy," he says to -Fewster. "Be thankful if you are allowed to escape punishment. Go and -go quickly, and without a word!" He stands aside to let the man pass; -and Solomon Fewster, without a word or a look to any one there, passes -out of the room, and out of the village. And is never seen in it -again.</p> - -<p class="normal">When they are alone, Joshua turns to Susan, and, in a softer voice, -says,--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Susan, you cried for justice. Upon me!"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, upon you. Where is Minnie? What have you done with Minnie?"</p> - -<p class="normal">The big tears roll down Joshua's beard at the mention of her name.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You think I took her away?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"You know you did."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Then truly, if all of you believe as Susan believes, my life is -darker than the darkest night." With upraised hand he checks them, -from speaking; but he sees in their faces what gives him precious -comfort. "When I went away from Gravesend," he says in a soft and -gentle voice, "I had no knowledge that Minnie was aboard. When we got -to Sydney I did not know it. My duties occupied all my time. We sailed -from Sydney, and I was still in ignorance. But on the night the 'Merry -Andrew' struck on the rocks I heard her voice for the first time. I -suppose she thought that we were lost, and in her agony she made -herself known to me; but I did not see her--the night was too dark. -When I saw her the next day, I saw to my amazement that she had -stained her face, and that her hair was not so long as she used to -wear it. We were together on the raft. We were together on the shore. -She was one of the seven who were saved. We lived together like -brother and sister. When the savages discovered us, they had a strange -fancy respecting her, and she obtained great influence over them. She -used all her influence to protect me, and but for her I should have -lived and died where the tribe we fell amongst chiefly wandered--in -the north, many hundreds of miles from here." He takes from his bag -Ellen's portrait, the lock of her hair he had cut before he left -Gravesend, and Dan's Bible. He places these on one side. "What is -left, Dan, is yours. This tress, cut not many weeks ago; this paper, -which she desired me to give you, and which I have never read; this -earth, which I gathered from her grave Before she died, she sent you -all her dearest love, and a kiss for mother, Dan, and Ellen. She died -pure as she had lived, dear, faithful, mistaken heart! As I hope for -redemption, I speak the truth. If you believe me, take me to your -hearts again, and let me live in them as I know I once lived!"</p> - -<p class="normal">As he once lived! as he had always lived! They cluster round him, and -kiss him, and sob over him. Had he not been saved from the deep--ay, -and from greater perils--to comfort them? And they put his little -daughter in his arms, who asks, hearing that he was her father, "Has -God sent my father back? God is very good."</p> - -<p class="normal">O good faithful mother! can this great bearded man be your son? Not -often can such a cluster of loving hearts be seen--faithful to each -other, believing in each other's goodness and purity, in face of -terrible adverse circumstance. Their faithfulness is a proof of their -own worth. To the pure all things are pure. But hush! for Minnie's -last words; Dan is reading them aloud.</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">"I have learned, too late, the consequences of my fault. But -I, and I -alone, am to blame. No one knew it; no one suspected it; no one aided -me in it. I am writing this upon a page of Dan's Bible, and it seems -to me like an oath. I cannot live long. I am dying. But a long-life's -devotion could not repay Joshua's brotherly care. All good angels -guard him and you! If Joshua is preserved to give you this--and I -believe he will be--think, while you read it, that my spirit is near; -and forgive me, dear Dan and Ellen. My love to you both, and to good -Mrs. Marvel and Joshua's father; and to Susan, who must have no bad -thoughts of Joshua. God bless you, and send you happiness!</p> - -<p style="text-indent:60%">"<span class="sc">Minnie</span>."</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">Dan and Joshua sit talking together until late in the night. -Ellen and -Mr. and Mrs. Marvel are sitting up also, but in another part of the -house. They know that Dan wants to speak to Joshua of Minnie, and they -leave the friends undisturbed.</p> - -<p class="normal">What is said to each other by the two faithful friends cannot be -written here; but it may be easily understood by those who have read -these pages. Joshua tells Dan as much as time will allow of his and -Minnie's lives, and is tender and indignant in turns, as Dan relates -to him the history of the family in Stepney after the sailing of the -"Merry Andrew." Be sure that the Old Sailor is not forgotten. I650f -tender speech and loving thought are worth any thing, the Old Sailor -is rich indeed.</p> - -<p class="normal">Their eyes are wet with tears, and their hands are in each other's -clasp. Joshua has just finished his relation of Minnie's death, and of -her words about the river--"So restless there, so quiet here!"--when a -knock comes at the door and Ellen enters. He takes her in his arms, -and they sit, the three of them, and talk in a state of wondering -happiness.</p> - -<p class="normal">Another knock at the door.--Mr. and Mrs. Marvel. The magnetism of love -has drawn them all together.</p> - -<p class="normal">"It reminds me of the night before you first went to see, Jo," says -Dan. "Do you remember? The knocks at the door one after another."</p> -<br> - -<p class="normal">"Josh," said George Marvel to his son, a fortnight afterwards, -"what -are you going to do?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do you mean, daddy?" asked Joshua in return.</p> - -<p class="normal">"What do I mean? Well, you don't want to go to sea again?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"No, I shouldn't like to leave Ellen and Dan and all of you again."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, then, what are you going to do? You must do something."</p> - -<p class="normal">Mrs. Marvel sat silent, and smiled a little smile, but very slyly, so -that no one should see it.</p> - -<p class="normal">"You can get plenty of work as a wood-turner, daddy?"</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Josh, a good deal more than I can do--and well paid for it too."</p> - -<p class="normal">"Well, daddy, I think"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"Yes, Josh, you think"--</p> - -<p class="normal">"I think I'll learn wood-turning, if you'll teach me."</p> - -<p class="normal">Whereupon George Marvel, after the slightest amount of hesitation, -rose and kissed his wife.</p> -<br> -<br> -<br> -<br> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Joshua Marvel, by B. L. 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