“If all danger were over, wife, the enterprise would do us little credit.  It is our duty to do the best we can, according to the strength and means at our command.  Fritz, Ernest, and Jack, go and put on your life-preservers—­we shall take up Willis in passing.”

“I must not insist,” said Mrs. Becker; “the sacrifice would, indeed, be no sacrifice, if it could be easily borne; and yet—­”

“Remember the time, wife, when I was obliged, in order to secure the precious remains of our ship, to venture with our eldest sons on a float of tubs, leaving you exposed, alone with a child of seven, to the chance of eternal isolation!”

“That is very true, husband:  I am unjust towards Providence, which has never ceased blessing us; but I am only a weak woman, and my heart often gets the better of my head.”

“To-day I leave Frank with you; but, instead of your being his protector, as was the case fifteen years ago, he will be yours.  Then there is Mrs. Wolston, her daughters, and husband, quite a new world of sympathies and consolations, by which our island has been so miraculously peopled.”

“Go then, husband, and may God bring back in safety both the pinnace and the Nelson!”

“By the way, Mrs. Wolston, how does our worthy invalid get on?  We live in such a turmoil of events and consternations, that I must beg a thousand pardons for not having asked after him before.”

“His sleep appears untroubled; and, notwithstanding all the terrors of the last few days, I entertain sanguine hopes of his immediate recovery.”

“You will at least return before night?” said Mrs. Becker to her husband.

“Rely upon my not prolonging my stay beyond what the exigencies of the expedition imperiously require.”

“Good gracious! what are these?” exclaimed Mrs. Wolston as the three brothers entered, equipped in seal-gut trowsers, floating stays of the same material, and Greenland caps.

“The Knights of the Ocean,” replied Jack gravely, “who, like the heroes of Cervantes, go forth to redress the wrongs done by the tempest, and to break lances—­oars, I mean—­in favor of persecuted sloops.”

Mrs. Becker herself could scarcely refrain from smiling.

Such is the power of the smile that, in season or out of season, it often finds its way to the most pallid lips, in the midst of the greatest disasters and the deepest grief.  It appears as if always listening at the door ready to take its place on the slightest notice.  This diversion had the good effect of mixing a little honey with—­if the expression may be used—­the bitterness of the parting adieus.  Becker took the lead in hiding his sorrow; the three young Greenlanders tore themselves from the maternal embrace, and affectionately kissed the hand held out to them by Mrs. Wolston.

Then, between those that departed and those that remained behind, there was nothing more than the ties of recollection, the common sadness, and the endless links of mutual affection.