by Adrien Paul
CONCLUSION.
Three months after leaving the Cape, the coast of New Switzerland wastelegraphed from the mast head by Bill Stubbs. A gun was immediatelyfired, and towards evening the _Nelson_ entered Safety Bay. Fritz,Jack, Captain Littlestone, the missionary, and Willis, were allstanding on deck, eagerly scanning the shore.
"There is father!" cried Jack, "armed with a telescope; and now I seeFrank and Mrs. Wolston."
"There comes Mr. Wolston and Master Ernest," cried Willis, "as usual,a little behind."
"But I see nothing of my mother and the young ladies!" said Fritz.
"Very odd," said Captain Littlestone, sweeping the horizon with hisglass "I can see nothing of them either."
A horrible apprehension here glided into the hearts of the young men.They knew well that, had their mother been able, she would have beenthe first to welcome them home. Perhaps, under the inspiration ofdespair, their lips were opening to deny the mercy of that Providencewhich had hitherto so remarkably befriended them, when at a greatdistance, and scarcely perceptible to the naked eye, they descriedthree figures advancing slowly towards the shore.
One of these forms was Mrs. Becker, who was leaning upon the arms ofMary and Sophia Wolston.
"God be thanked, we are still in time," cried Fritz and Jack.
A loud cheer, led by Willis, then rent the air. Half an hour after,the two young men leaped on shore; they did not stay to shake handswith their father and brothers, but ran on to where their motherstood. It was a long time before they could utter a syllable; thegreeting of the mother and her children was too affectionate to beexpressed in words.
Next morning, at daybreak, preparations for a serious operation weremade in Mrs. Becker's room. The entire colony was in a state ofintense excitement, and an air of anxiety was imprinted on everycountenance. In the room itself the wing of a fly could have beenheard, so breathless was the silence that prevailed. The patient'seyes had been bandaged, under pretext of concealing from her sight thesurgical instruments and preparations for the operation. The realdesign, however, was to hide the operator, whom Mrs. Becker supposedto be an expert practitioner from Europe; for it was not thoughtadvisable that a mother's anxieties should be superadded to thepatient's sufferings.
At the moment of trial the few persons present had sunk on theirknees; Jack alone remained standing at the bedside of his mother. TheJack of the past had entirely disappeared; he was somewhat pale, verygrave, but collected, firm, and resolute. It was, perhaps, the firstinstance on record of a son being called upon to lacerate the body ofhis mother. But the moment that God imposed such a task upon one ofHis creatures, it is God himself that becomes the operator.
When, some days after, Mrs. Becker--calm, radiant, andsaved--requested to see and thank her deliverer, it was Jack whopresented himself. If she had known this sooner, it would, mostundoubtedly, have augmented her terror, and increased the fever. As itwas, it redoubled her thankfulness, and hastened her recovery.
Frank and Ernest embarked on board the _Nelson_ when she returned toNew Switzerland on her way to Europe. Two years afterwards, the formerreturned in the capacity of a minister of the Church of England,bringing with him a sufficient number of men, women, and children tofurnish a respectable congregation; and it was rumored, though withwhat degree of truth I will not venture to say, that one of the younglady passengers in the ship was his destined bride. Ernest remainedsome years in Europe, partly to consolidate relations between thecolony and the mother country, and partly with a view to realize hispet project of establishing an observatory in New Switzerland.
Willis, instead of being suspended at the yard-arm as he had insistedon prognosticating, received his lieutenancy in due course,accompanied by a highly flattering letter from the Lords of theAdmiralty, thanking him, in the name of the captain and crew of the_Nelson_, for his exertions in their behalf. As soon, however, aspeace was proclaimed, he retired on half-pay, and, with his wife anddaughter, emigrated to Oceania. He assumed his old post of admiral onShark's Island, where a commodious house had been erected. We mustpremise, at the same time, that to his honorary duties as admiral,conjoined the humbler, but not less useful, offices of lighthousekeeper, manager of the fisheries, and harbor-master.
As a country grows rich, and advances in prosperity, it rarely, ifever, happens that the sum of human life becomes happier or better. Itis, therefore, not without regret we learn that gold has beendiscovered in a land so highly favored by nature in other respects;for, if such be the case, then adieu to the peace and tranquillity itsinhabitants have hitherto enjoyed. The colony will soon be overrunwith Chinamen, American adventurers, and ticket-of-leave convicts.Farewell to the kindliness and hospitality of the community, for theywill inevitably be deluged with the refuse of the old, and also, alas!of the new world.
THE END.
