CHAPTER XXV
HOME AGAIN
Mrs. Hamilton sat on the broad veranda of her cottage looking wistfullyout to sea. She was pale and languid from the weight of many anxiousdays and sleepless nights. Before her lay the treacherous ocean, nowcalm and peaceful, rippling laughingly in the summer sunshine. The whitesails of tiny pleasure craft skimmed lightly over its placid surface,and in striking contrast to her unhappy mood, nature and the worldseemed to show their cheeriest faces. The laughing voices of merryyoungsters, the twitter of the sparrows in the trees, the soft notes ofa girl's happy song wafted to her from a passing yacht, all gratedharshly on her overwrought nerves. Day in and day out, in sunshine andstorm, since Harry's disappearance, she had sat in a sheltered corner ofthe veranda and--waited.
Mr. Hamilton stepped out of the cottage, and drawing a chair beside her,took her hand gently in his and caressed it silently.
"There is no word yet?" she said, finally, without taking her eyes fromthe dancing water.
"None."
"And you have been unable to learn anything of the steamer,--the_Mariella_?"
"All that my agents can find out is that she is apparently a tramp, andthat she cleared from Boston for southern ports with a cargo of generalmerchandise."
"And she has not been reported since?"
"No."
"There can be little hope then?"
"We must not despair yet."
"There could have been no mistake in the name of the steamer that pickedthem up?"
"I hardly think so. I saw the captain of the steamer that reported themand he is positive that he could have made no mistake in reading thesignal."
"Then she should have arrived at some port long ago."
"Yes; but these tramp steamers are sometimes very slow and it is notunusual for them to be many days overdue and turn up all right. I think,Mary, it is best that you should go home. This anxiety is killing youand the surroundings here keep you constantly overwrought. I have everypoint covered from which a report of the steamer might be received, andthen, who knows, if Harry should land in the South, he might go West atonce."
Mrs. Hamilton shook her head and pointed out over the sea.
"No, Edward, that is the way he went and I shall wait for him here."
A boy on a bicycle rode up to the house.
"Telegram for Mr. Hamilton," he called, as he jumped from his wheel.
"Quick, Edward, it may be news from Harry," said Mrs. Hamilton, risingeagerly as her husband took the yellow envelope from the boy and brokethe seal hastily.
"The _Mariella_ is bound in," he almost shouted, as he passed the paperto his wife. She took it in her trembling hands and read:
EDWARD HAMILTON,Cliff Cottage,Cottage City, Mass.
Tramp steamer _Mariella_ just reported passing in. Bound for Boston.
WILLIAM COFFIN, Nantucket.
Mrs. Hamilton sank back into her chair, an expression of eager hopelighting up her wan face.
"Do you suppose that Harry is on board, Edward? Can it be that he iscoming home at last?"
"I hope so, Mary, but I cannot understand it. Where has the steamer beenand why has she not been reported out?"
"Can this be a mistake?" asked the woman plaintively, holding out thetelegram.
"No, I think not."
"Then let us go to Boston at once and meet him."
"That would be unwise. By the time we could reach there, Harry--if he isaboard--might be on his way here. It is best to wait, Mary, and hope forthe best. In the meantime, I will wire to my agent in Boston to meet thesteamer."
With a sigh of resignation, Mrs. Hamilton resumed her weary vigil.Suddenly she started up with a new idea.
"Edward," she said, "if she is coming in she will pass out there."
"Yes, but too far out for you to see her, Mary."
"Never mind; bring me the glasses. It will help to pass the weary hoursof waiting."
Mr. Hamilton brought her a pair of marine glasses, and rearranging thecushions behind her head with a tender hand, he left her eagerlyscanning the horizon for some sign of a passing steamer.
When he returned from the telegraph office she called to him eagerly:
"Look, Edward, just off the point. There is a steamer."
"Yes, probably a collier."
"But she seems to be headed this way."
"They go up the sound to New York."
"But might she not be the--the----"
"No, Mary; she would have to head out around Cape Cod to make Boston."
"I know, I know, but perhaps she may land him here."
"That would take her out of her course and mean the loss of time. Hercaptain would not do that."
For fifteen minutes more, Mrs. Hamilton watched the steamer in silenceand then she turned again to her husband, and said:
"She is not going up the sound, Edward; she is headed in here." Mr.Hamilton took the glasses and scanned the steamer.
"She does seem to be headed this way."
"It is the _Mariella_, Edward."
Mrs. Hamilton spoke in a low tone of deep conviction. Her husband lookedat her anxiously.
"You are trying to make coincidences fit your wishes, Mary," he said."Do not build up false hopes; the disappointment will be too much foryour worn nerves."
"I shall not be disappointed, Edward; see, she is headed straight innow."
"It is strange," said Mr. Hamilton, beginning himself to take aninterest in the steamer, which was now certainly headed almost for thecottage.
"Quick, Edward, the glasses; I can see people on her decks."
Mrs. Hamilton rose from her chair as she spoke and almost snatched theglasses from her husband's hands in her eagerness. For a long time shestood like a statue with the glasses trained on the steamer, and thensuddenly she took a white shawl from her shoulders and waved it wildlyabove her head.
"It is Harry," she cried, sobbing with excitement, as she thrust theglasses into her husband's hands. "See, they have seen us, too, andHarry is waving his hat."
Her overwrought nerves could not stand the excess of joy and she sankinto her husband's arms.
Mr. Hamilton carried her into a big room that overlooked the water andplaced her gently on a lounge. When she recovered consciousness andopened her eyes, she looked up into the face of her son, who bentanxiously over her.
"Harry," she whispered, her happiness sending the warm blood back intoher face again.
"Mother," he cried, seizing her in his strong young arms.
When she was stronger they led her out to her seat on the veranda whereshe had kept her weary vigil, and she warmly greeted Bert and theMidget, who had just returned from the telegraph office, where they hadsent word at once to their homes telling of their safe arrival inAmerica. O'Connor who had come ashore at Harry's earnest solicitation,stood in the background talking with Mr. Hamilton, to whom he hadbriefly outlined the adventures of the three boys since they had beenhis guests on the _Mariella_.
Harry took the big man by the hand and led him over to his mother.
"Mother," he said, proudly, "I want you to know my friend, CaptainDynamite."
"Captain Dynamite?" repeated Mrs. Hamilton, in wonder.
"Captain O'Connor, I mean; they call him Dynamite because when you touchhim off there's sure to be something doing. He saved our livestwice--once from the sea, and once from the Spaniards."
"The Spaniards--my son, what are you talking about?"
"That's a long story, mother. I will tell you that to-night."
After much persuasion, O'Connor was induced to remain overnight oncondition that all hands would dine on the _Mariella_. He went back tothe steamer and sent a large boat ashore for his guests and no happierparty could have been found that night than those who gathered aroundthe table in the cabin of the old _Mariella_. Miss Juanita made Mrs.Hamilton's heart glow with the pride of a mother as she told of Harry'ssacrifice to save her, and after dinner, as they all gathered on theafter deck under the starlit sky, Mr.
and Mrs. Hamilton listened withbreathless interest as the various actors told the story of theiradventures during the voyage with Captain Dynamite.
It was long after midnight when all the farewells had been said and theboat that was to put the departing guests ashore left the side of the_Mariella_. As the sailors pushed off, O'Connor and Juanita stood at therail, his big hand resting gently on hers.
"Say, Cap," shouted the Midget, as they moved away, "count us in whenyou cut that wedding cake."
[THE END.]
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