It was a letter with a great black seal.

Chapter Twenty-One—­In Which I Leave Rivermouth

A letter with a great black seal!

I knew then what had happened as well as I know it now.  But which was it, father or mother?  I do not like to look back to the agony and suspense of that moment.

My father had died at New Orleans during one of his weekly visits to the city.  The letter bearing these tidings had reached Rivermouth the evening of my flight—­had passed me on the road by the down train.

I must turn back for a moment to that eventful evening.  When I failed to make my appearance at supper, the Captain began to suspect that I had really started on my wild tour southward—­a conjecture which Sailor Ben’s absence helped to confirm.  I had evidently got off by the train and Sailor Ben had followed me.

There was no telegraphic communication between Boston and Rivermouth in those days; so my grandfather could do nothing but await the result.  Even if there had been another mail to Boston, he could not have availed himself of it, not knowing how to address a message to the fugitives.  The post-office was naturally the last place either I or the Admiral would think of visiting.

My grandfather, however, was too full of trouble to allow this to add to his distress.  He knew that the faithful old sailor would not let me come to any harm, and even if I had managed for the time being to elude him, was sure to bring me back sooner or later.

Our return, therefore, by the first train on the following day did not surprise him.

I was greatly puzzled, as I have said, by the gentle manner of his reception; but when we were alone together in the sitting-room, and he began slowly to unfold the letter, I understood it all.  I caught a sight of my mother’s handwriting in the superscription, and there was nothing left to tell me.

My grandfather held the letter a few seconds irresolutely, and then commenced reading it aloud; but he could get no further than the date.

“I can’t read it, Tom,” said the old gentleman, breaking down.  “I thought I could.”

He handed it to me.  I took the letter mechanically, and hurried away with it to my little room, where I had passed so many happy hours.

The week that followed the receipt of this letter is nearly a blank in my memory.  I remember that the days appeared endless; that at times I could not realize the misfortune that had befallen us, and my heart upbraided me for not feeling a deeper grief; that a full sense of my loss would now and then sweep over me like an inspiration, and I would steal away to my chamber or wander forlornly about the gardens.  I remember this, but little more.

As the days went by my first grief subsided, and in its place grew up a want which I have experienced at every step in life from boyhood to manhood.  Often, even now, after all these years, when I see a lad of twelve or fourteen walking by his father’s side, and glancing merrily up at his face, I turn and look after them, and am conscious that I have missed companionship most sweet and sacred.