1859.
CONTENTS.
| THE CHARMED SEA. | |
| PAGE | |
| Song in a Strange Land | [1] |
| To each Heart its own Bitterness | [14] |
| A wounded Spirit | [25] |
| A Lodge in the Wilderness | [43] |
| Traffic in the Wilds | [73] |
| The Patriot’s Altar | [89] |
| Wisdom from the Simple | [106] |
| The Patriot’s Martyrdom | [120] |
| The Patriot’s Vow | [129] |
| BERKELEY THE BANKER.—Part I. | |
| PAGE | |
| The Haleham People | [1] |
| The Pride of Haleham | [24] |
| The Haleham Riot | [37] |
| Wine and Wisdom | [64] |
| Husbands and Wives | [97] |
| Suspense | [119] |
| Certainty | [131] |
| Market-day | [152] |
| A Future Day | [168] |
| BERKELEY THE BANKER.—Part II. | |
| PAGE | |
| The Wife’s Journey | [1] |
| The Wife’s Holiday | [24] |
| Suspicion | [50] |
| The Wife’s Return | [66] |
| The Wife’s Obedience | [83] |
| An Arrangement | [100] |
| The Wife’s Recompense | [123] |
| Arrangements completed | [132] |
THE CHARMED SEA.
Chapter I.
SONG IN A STRANGE LAND.
“These[“These], then, are the mountains,” said a Russian officer to one of a band of armed Siberian peasants, appointed to guard a company of exiles who were on their way, some to the mines of Nertchinsk, and others to be attached to the soil as serfs, wheresoever the governor of Irkutsk should please. “These, then, are the mountains, and here they cross the frontier, to give work to the Emperor’s enemies, in digging out their gold and silver.”
“Yes, those are the mountains, and within them lies the Charmed Sea,” replied the peasant, who, however, did not trouble himself so much as even to look up towards the peaks, now beginning to wax dim in the long northern twilight. This man lived in the next hamlet, and traversed this road almost every day, as did his companions; for, though the Russian officer had accompanied the exiles all the way from Poland, the peasant guard was changed from village to village.
“Call the prisoners forward, and make way,” ordered the officer office, and[office, and] the peasants, who had not felt it necessary to trouble themselves much about their charge in a region where escape was next to impossible, now began to look how far off the prisoners might be, and ran to urge the men on foot to greater speed, and to lash the tired horse of the kibitka in which the women were seated.