THE PROMISE OF THE SKIES.
I had no room-fellow that night. The Captain had gone on board, to
sleep, leaving word that he would fire his signal-gun very early in the
morning. I should have been ready for it, if it had come at dawn.
The day was but just breaking, when I heard someone stirring in the
next room. I ran in, with I know not what wild hope, but only to find
the old man.
He was standing near the recess that formed her bed-chamber, with the
sliding panel in his hand, and staring helplessly at the empty bed. It
had not been used that night.
The glance he turned on me was enough; I did not wait for his words,
but rushed out of the house.
That horror, thank God, was a false alarm. The child who was her
favourite was running towards our cottage with a message that should
have been delivered the night before. She had passed the night under a
neighbour’s roof.
As I hurried back with the news to the old man, I heard the signal gun.
A week has passed, yet I cannot clearly recall what followed. I am
dimly aware of a last look at the cottage and the settlement, of a
crowd of weeping villagers, of the grasp of the Ancient’s hand. There
is an almost absolute void of perception between the boat at the
landing-stage, and the ship, with her solitary passenger, flying at
full speed from the shore. Active consciousness seems to have been
suspended between these two decisive facts. Memory is resumed, with one
ineffaceable impression that it must hold for life--Victoria stretching
her arms towards the ship, from the summit of the Peak. As she stood
there, with her background of fleecy cloud, she seemed rather of heaven
than of earth, and her gesture was a promise of the skies. Then, I knew
that it was well with me; and I turned my face from the Island with a
joyful heart.
_Spottiswoode & Co. Printers, New-street Square, London._
Transcriber’s Notes
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Small capitals are changed to all capitals.
New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the
public domain.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected
after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and
consultation of external sources. Except for those changes noted below,
all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have
been retained.
The following corrections have been applied to the text (before/after):
(p. 6)
... and to night’s snug Company ...
... and to-night’s snug Company ...
(p. 63)
... down Bond Srteet, and ...
... down Bond Street, and ...
(p. 64)
... its spiritual charm,
... its spiritual charm.
(p. 100)
... forth in mod st pride ...
... forth in modest pride ...
(p. 156)
... with al the deep liquid ...
... with all the deep liquid ...
(p. 164)
... of the farmyard, or after ...
... of the farm-yard, or after ...
(p. 188)
... had subse quently removed ...
... had subsequently removed ...
(p. 197)
... in the same way?’
... in the same way?”
(p. 214)
... at the school-house, followed ...
... at the schoolhouse, followed ...
(p. 251)
... few hours,until I ...
... few hours, until I ...
(p. 257)
... just heartbreaking, if you ...
... just heart-breaking, if you ...