Part 22 (1/2)
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
A HURRICANE
As soon as the anchor was dropped and the sails furled, I conveyed ht see theed as soon as possible I had offered to supply the me cordially, assured etown, and that he should have no difficulty in obtaining money
”I should be very thankful, however, if you could convey us to Saint Lucia, as we should prefer sailing in your shi+p to any other,” he observed; ”and as I ae the matter with thelad if this could be done, though I could not venture on o there
”Oh, but e it,” observed Emilie, ”so ill consider it settled I should not like to trust my dear brother on board any other shi+p”
Sophie seeave me, I fancied, showed that she hoped I would not decline
”Oh, you must colad to pay any expenses of extra insurance and that sort of thing, so that the interest of your owners will not suffer”
Having seen ed at a comfortable hotel, I had to return on board to attend to my duties connected with the shi+p
I lost no tio, and was not sorry to find that there would be soar and other produce I was to receive in return would be ready
I of course visitedon, and spent as ularly onEvery day that I saw the young ladies, I liked theun to feel htened when I entered, and her , that I could not help fancying that the feelings I had for her were returned Then I began to ask myself the question, Have I, with the precarious profession I have to depend on, without a name or faht to atteirl accustomed to all the luxuries of a rich planter's establishment? or is it indeed likely that her father would allow her to hts occupied my mind; and I determined, the next time I went to the house, to be very cautious insuch attentions to her and her cousin as common courtesy demanded, to devote myself rather to her uncle and aunt, or to Henri, who had now sufficiently recovered to be able to join the party in the drawing-room
The next day, however, when I went to call on the ned, they inquired whether I should have any objection to carry Monsieur de Villereine and his faements with us, so that, if the shi+p is ready, you can sail the day after to-morrow”
I tried to look unconcerned, and replied that I should be very glad to do anything to accommodate them
”We will consider the et ready for sea”
I own that I had had my cabins burnished up, and had procured a new dinner and tea service, while I directed the et the shi+p in as tried, the painters had been busy in all directions about her; while dick, who suspected the truth, got the decks holy-stoned and scrubbed till they looked als were ready by the day I had been directed to sail, and early in the forenoon I went on shore to escort uise to that when they came on board after their shi+pwreck Sophie looked ht costume which the heat of the climate required, while E her utmost to keep up her brother's spirits I was sorry to see less improveh he declared that he had recovered froainst the rocks
The weather was fine, and I did not expect to be long in running across to Saint Lucia, which is one of the nearest islands in the Caribbean Sea to Barbadoes The wind, however, headed us soon after we got clear of the land, and a few hours afterwards it fell a dead callass-like sea I cannot say that forthe wishes of my friends, I felt anxious torigged, so that the ladies could spend the day on deck, where they sat busy with their needles; for, unlike the Creoles generally, they were evidently good housewives
”As you s, we have plenty of work before us to h as we intended to get rigged out, as you would call it, in Paris, fortunately our loss was not so severe as it would have been on our hohtly, when I speak of that terrible event Still, you understand, that we fancy we can s better than anybody else can make the, like other young ladies, with our hands before us”
Sophie, however, was not so diligent as her cousin, and did not object to coe creatures of the deep as they swaht came on, and the stars shone forth from the clear sky, each reflected in the deep as in a mirror, she stood with me while I told her their names I was scarcely aware how time had passed by, when I heard Monsieur de Villereine's voice su her that it was time for her to retire to her cabin
I was never addicted to whistling for a wind, and certainly should not have done so on that occasion A breeze, however, ca swiftly over the calht of that most beautiful and picturesque island of Saint Lucia
Two lofty heights of a sugar-loaf for up from the sea, and feathered froe, were the first objects which attracted our attention Beyond these rose a range of h the island, and broken into thethe round, here and there appeared the ed with luxuriant cane-fields, and enlivened by the neatly laid-outand passage boats, with their long lightover the calm waters
”I used to tell you, Laurel, that our island was one of the most beautiful in the world--don't you think so?” said Henri, as, while standing near his sister and cousin, I atching the shore, and every now and then addressing them
”Indeed it is I am not surprised that you are so fond of it, and, could I leave the sea, I should be content to spendas I felt