“I want to atone for past selfishness, and follow your father’s example in doing what little I can to help those poorer than myself. It’s but little I can do, to be sure, but I mean to do that little cheerfully, and I trust ‘twill be accepted. There is the mother of poor James Watts, who was on the raft, and died. She is poor, and bereft of all her dependence, for he was a good boy, and gave her all his earnings, while my child was spared, and friends raised up to help me; and I mean to do all I can to help and comfort her. I mean to act on your father’s principle, ‘Harriet, we were put into this world to help each other.’”
“At any rate, mother, you need not have so large a family and work so hard; you can keep more help; you must gratify me in that.”
“Well, I will, my son.”
At this period of the conversation, the servant announced that a young man wanted to see Arthur.
“It is Ned; tell him to come in here. Good evening, Edward; sit down beside me; this is more comfortable than the raft.”
“Indeed it is, sir.”
“I suppose you hardly care to sail salt water any more, you’ve had such bad luck this time.”
“O, yes, sir; old Captain Osborne tells me some people have all their bad luck at once, and that it’s a good sign when a man falls overboard before the vessel leaves the wharf, or is wrecked at the first going off. He says that ship was cursed.”
“Was cursed!” said Mrs. Brown; “what did he mean by that?”