human
Four years ago I left the port of Boston, the master of a fine ship bound for China. I was worth ten thousand dollars, and was the husband of a young and handsome wife, whom I married but six months before. When I left her, I promised to return to her in less than a twelvemonth. I took all my money with me, save enough to support my wife in my absence, for the purpose of trading when in China, on my own account. For a long time we were favored with prosperous winds; but when in the China seas a terrible storm came upon us, so that in a short time I saw the vessel must be lost, for we were drifting on the rocks of an unknown shore. I ordered the men to provide each for himself in the best possible manner, and forget the ship, as it was an impossibility to save her. We struck: a sea laid me upon the rocks senseless; and the next would have carried me back to a watery grave, had not one of the sailors dragged me further up the rocks. There were only four of us alive; and when morning came, we found that we were on a small uninhabited island, with nothing to eat but the wild fruit common to that portion of the earth; and there we remained sixty days before we could make ourselves known to any ship. We were at length taken to Canton; and there I had to beg, for my money was at the bottom of the sea, and I had not taken the precaution to have it insured. It was nearly a year before I had an opportunity of coming home; and then I, _a captain_, was obliged to ship as a common sailor. It was two years from the time I left America that I landed in Boston. I was walking in a hurried manner up one of its streets, when I met my brother-in-law. He could not speak nor move, but he grasped my hand, and tears gushed from his eyes. 'Is my wife alive?' I asked. He said nothing. Then I wished that I had perished with my ship, for I thought my wife was dead; but he very soon said, 'She is alive.' Then it was my turn to cry for joy. He clung to me and said, 'Your funeral sermon has been preached, for we have thought you dead for a long time.' He said that my wife was living in our little cottage in the interior of the state. It was then three o'clock in the afternoon, and I took a train of cars that would carry me within twenty-five miles of my wife. Upon leaving the cars I hired a boy, though it was night, to drive me home. It was about two o'clock in the morning when that sweet little cottage of mine appeared in sight. It was a warm moonlight night, and I remember how like a heaven it looked to me. I got out of the carriage and went to the window of the room where the servant girl slept, and gently knocked. She opened the window and asked, 'Who is there?' 'Sarah, do you not know me?' said I. She screamed with fright, for she thought me a ghost; but I told her to unfasten the door and let me in, for I wished to see my wife. She let me in and gave me a light, and I went up stairs to my wife's room. She lay sleeping quietly. Upon her bosom lay her child, whom I had never seen. She was as beautiful as when I left her; but I could see a mournful expression upon her face. Perhaps she was dreaming of me. I gazed for a long time; I did not make any noise, for I dared not wake her. At length I imprinted a soft kiss upon the cheek of my little child. While doing it a tear dropped from my eye and fell upon her cheek. Her eyes opened as clearly as though she had not been sleeping. I saw that she began to be frightened, and I said, 'Mary, it is your husband!' and she clasped me about my neck, and fainted. But I will not describe that scene. She is now the happy wife of a poor man. I am endeavoring to accumulate a little property, and then I will leave the sea forever.
gpt
A vote of thanks for Grandy. That little narrative has agreeably refreshed our minds, while the wine and cake has had the like effect on our bodies. Now, voyage the last!
human
Oh, papa! that sounds so strangely. I cannot bear the last of anything; and now particularly, it reminds us how soon our happy evening meetings will be at an end, and naught left but the bare recollection of them.
gpt
Well, my dear, I will not distress you by repeating the obnoxious word. We will start anew, and sail round the coast of Africa. We are a goodly party, and I dare venture to say, shall not lack for amusement during the voyage.
human
Then we are not to go so far south as Victoria Land, and see all the wonderful things Sir James Ross saw?