bowed silently, and, taking her hat from George, who was stillstanding by, holding it in his hand, thanked him very civilly. She thenexpressed her intention of going down to her brother, to see if shecould render him any help.
"I think you had better not," said George. "The surgeon has just goneto him, and will do all that is necessary. Mr Moritz, too, is withhim, and there is hardly room for more in the cabin. But I will go downand inquire."
He went below accordingly, and presently returned with the informationthat the surgeon said there was a severe sprain. But he had bandagedand fomented the ankle, and it would be better for the patient to remainfor the present quite quiet. Moritz also returned on deck with the samereport, at the same time thanking Rivers with much courtesy for hisservices. George replied; and a conversation ensued, which altogetherdispelled the awkwardness which had hitherto prevailed. Vander Heyden'ssprain was found to be worse than it was at first apprehended. Itbecame evident that for a week at least he would be a prisoner in hiscabin, thus rendering the captain's sentence altogether needless. Hisabsence from the deck and the daily meals, made an entire alteration inthe relation of the passengers to one another. Annchen passed aconsiderable part of her time in her brother's cabin, but she was stillfrequently on deck, and when there showed no disposition to repel thecivilities of her fellow-passengers, and the whole party soon becameextremely friendly with one another.
One evening Captain Ranken announced that they were now within a day'ssail of Saint Helena, and that he intended to make up a party, which hehoped all the passengers would join, to visit Longwood and Napoleon'sgrave.
"I am afraid your brother will still be a prisoner, Miss Annchen," hesaid. "But that need not deprive us of your and Mr Moritz's company."
Annchen made no reply, unless a slight tinge of colour which overspreadher cheek might be regarded as one. She knew that her brother would inall likelihood insist on her remaining in the ship; but that she wasvery unwilling to do. She was very fond of him, and always sided withhim, so far as she was able; but she was not blind to his faults, andknew that in the quarrel which had recently taken place he was almostentirely to blame. She had saved him from the indignity of giving thepromise required by Captain Ranken, by assuring the captain privatelythat her brother would not repeat the offence, though he was too proudto say so; and Captain Ranken, taking into consideration the confinementwhich Vander Heyden had already undergone, and influenced doubtless, asall men are apt to be, by appeals from bright eyes and arguments fromrosy lips, had agreed to make no further mention of the matter. But shewas not disposed to submit to her brother's dictation respecting herfellow-passengers, whom she had found extremely agreeable and friendly;against whom, too, there seemed to be no other objection than that theywere Englishmen. George Rivers in particular was a very agreeablecompanion, and she was greatly diverted with the humorous sallies ofRedgy Margetts and young Walters, who kept the whole party in a state ofcontinual amusement. Mr Whittaker, again, was an agreeablefellow-passenger, though graver and less communicative than the others.She was more frank and easy with the young men, because it was generallyknown that there was an engagement between her and Mynheer Moritz,--oneof those family compacts, with which both parties seemed to besatisfied, though there was no display of ardent affection on eitherside. On the whole, the party in the cabin and on the deck was apleasant one, Moritz appearing to enjoy it as well as herself. ButAnnchen felt sure that if her brother should be told of the proposedexpedition to visit the interior of Saint Helena, he would object to herjoining it; and she was not disposed to forego the pleasure she promisedherself, to gratify his fancy. She therefore said nothing on thesubject until the captain's boat, which was to convey the party onshore, had been made ready. Then she told Captain Ranken that she hadresolved to go on the party with the others.
"Delighted to hear it, Miss Vander Heyden?" answered the captain; "and Ithink I can promise you that you will not regret your determination. Ihave already sent a message on shore to order a carriage, which willtake us to Longwood. Now then for the detested residence, and the emptygrave, of the _ci-devant_ conqueror of Europe!"
CHAPTER THREE.
"Nature must have intended this island for a prison," remarked MissVander Heyden, as she looked up at the inaccessible precipices by whichSaint Helena is environed. "Nothing but a bird could make its way intothe interior, except by the landing-places, and the narrow paths whichlead up the mountain-sides from them."
"True," asserted the captain; "and there are only four landing-placeswhich it is possible for a boat to approach, and three of them are moreor less dangerous. This one which we are now drawing near to is theonly one in the island which deserves the name of a landing-place."
"And it would be difficult for an enemy to assail that," remarkedRivers, as he glanced at the fortified lines, bristling with cannon,which commanded the quay. "It would take a great many ships of the lineto silence those batteries. Even then, from the tops of those cliffs,any force that attempted a landing might be destroyed without thepossibility of retaliation. Yes, I agree with you, Miss Vander Heyden;Napoleon's heart, if he ever really contemplated an escape from hiscaptivity, must have died within him when he came within sight of theseprecipices."
"You are right, sir," said Captain Ranken. "That was his real ground ofcomplaint against Saint Helena. He talked of the unhealthiness of theclimate, and the badness of his accommodation, and the rudeness of theofficials in charge of him. But the true grievance was that escape wasimpossible."
"Ay," said Mr Moritz; "your countrymen made better jailors than thosewho had charge of him at Elba. Small blame to you, too. If he had beenshut up in any place, which he could have got out of, he would havelived long enough to turn Europe upside down once more."
"Is the climate unhealthy?" inquired Mr Walters.
"Unhealthy! no, not a bit of it," replied the captain. "I resided hereonce for two years, as one of the Company's agents. I should say it wasa particularly healthy country for Europeans. It is both mild anduniform in its temperature, never excessively hot, and never very cold.An English August and an English January would both of them astonish thenatives of Saint Helena. The trade wind gives a succession of steadyand equable breezes, and tropical storms are almost unknown."
"It is very bare and ungenial in its appearance, any way," remarkedAnnchen.
"Ah, Miss Annchen, that comes of trusting to first appearances," saidCaptain Ranken. "You will find it greatly improve on neareracquaintance. But here we are, and here are our conveyances waiting forus."
They landed accordingly, and, after crossing the drawbridge, passedunder the arched gateway, and entered the principal street of the town.This was not very long, not containing more than fifty or sixty houses,but these were mostly of a handsome appearance, resembling Englishhouses for the most part, two storeys in height, and whitewashed. Thepopulation seemed to be almost entirely negro; but a bronzed oldsoldier, who told them that he had in his youth kept guard at Napoleon'sgrave, offered himself as their guide, and his services were accepted.Under his guidance they began their ascent, which had been constructedwith enormous labour along the side of the almost perpendicularprecipices, and which tried the nerves of some of the party, who werenot accustomed to climbing. For a long way the ascent exhibited nothingbut the spectacle of naked and barren rocks, but after the first twomiles were passed, the eyes of the travellers were relieved by thesudden sight of wooded heights, diversified by picturesque villas andcultivated gardens. Trees which were quite new to some of the partygrew on either side of the pathway. The Indian banyan and bamboo, themimosa, the aloe, and the prickly pear of Southern Africa, were to befound side by side with Australian gum trees, and the mulberries ofSouthern Europe. There appeared also to be a variety of tropicalfruits; figs, limes, mangoes, guavas, citrons, bananas, and pomegranatesgrew and throve, apparently, in the gardens which they passed. Thetemperature altered sensibly as they approached Longwood, which indeedis nearly eighteen
hundred feet above the level of the sea.
"This seems a comfortable house enough," remarked Redgy, as they enteredthe grounds,--"not an imperial palace, to be sure, but that was hardlyto be expected."
"He was comfortable enough, I expect," said Captain Ranken,--"ascomfortable as he would have been anywhere. Indeed, he wouldn't go intothe big house which the English Ministry had built for him. No, it wasthe being shut up at all that he didn't like."
"You are right, sir," remarked the old sergeant with a smile. "If theyhad taken the palace of Versailles over for him, he wouldn't have likedit any better."
"Did you ever see him?" inquired Rivers.
"No, sir; I