On the former occasion when the family ties were on the eve of being rent asunder, the case was very different.  It is true, Frank and Ernest were about to leave for an indefinite period of time; but then, every comfort that the most fastidious voyager could desire was awaiting them on board the Nelson; for a well-appointed ship is like a well-appointed inn on shore, all your wants are ministered to with the utmost celerity.  Besides, Captain Littlestone had taken the young men under his special protection, and had promised to see them properly introduced and cared for in Europe.  How dissimilar was the position of Fritz and his brother; they were about to tumble into the old world should they be so fortunate as to reach it, much as if they had dropped from the skies, without a guide and without a friend.  They were about to entrust themselves to the ocean, separated from its treacherous floods by a few wretched planks; to be exposed for months, almost unsheltered, to wind, rain, and the mercy of pitiless storms.

“If God in His mercy preserves you, my sons,” said Becker, breaking at last the silence, “you will find yourselves launched in an ocean still more turbulent than that you have escaped—­an ocean where falsehood and cunning assume the names of policy and tact; where results always justify the means, whatever these may be; where everything is sacrificed to personal interest and ambition; where fortune is honored as a virtue that dispenses with all others, and where profligacies of the most odious kinds are decorated with gay and seductive colors.  It is difficult for me to foresee the various circumstances amidst which you may be placed; but there are certain rules of conduct that provide for nearly every emergency.  I have no need to urge loyalty or courage—­these qualities are inseparable from your hearts.  Strive only for what is just and honest.  Submit to be cheated rather than be cheats yourselves; ill-gotten gains never made any one rich.  Put your trust in Providence.  Seek aid from on high, when you find yourselves surrounded with difficulties.  Never forget that there is no corner on the earth’s surface, however obscure, that the eyes of the Lord are not there to behold your actions.  Act promptly and with energy.  Bear in mind that every moment lost will be to your mother an age of suffering, and that her life is suspended on the fragile thread of your return.”

The party had now reached the banks of the Jackal River, where the pinnace was moored.  Fritz and Jack were shedding tears unrestrainedly, and had dropped on their knees at their father’s feet.

“I call,” said Becker, in a trembling voice, “the benediction of Heaven upon your heads, my sons.”

“Oh, but they must not go!” cried Mrs. Becker, rushing out from behind some tall brushwood that hid her from their view; “they shall not go!”

Fritz and Jack were instantly inclosed within their mother’s arms.