They rowed on, in silence. The mother laid her head on a roll of bedding and closed her eyes. Her face wore a strange expression. After a while she opened her eyes again, and casting a glance full of happiness on her children, she said:
"Sing and be merry. Sing the song that father and I so often sang together; that one verse, the good one."
Hansei and Walpurga plied the oars while they sang:
"Ah, blissful is the tender tie
That binds me, love, to thee;
And swiftly speed the hours by,
When thou art near to me."
They repeated the verse again, although, at times, the joyous shouting of the child and the neighing of the foal bade fair to interrupt it.
The singing and shouting was suddenly interrupted by a young sailor, who cried out:
"There's some one floating there! it's a human being--there! the head's over water! don't you see it? there's the long, coal-black hair floating on the water. Some woman's drowned herself, or has fallen overboard."