“Anyhow, Jenny,” said Fritz to his wife, who had taken his place by her side again, “we must be a long way—hundreds of miles—from New Switzerland.”
“No doubt,” Jenny answered, “but it is something that land is there! What your family did in your island, and what I did on the Burning Rock, we can do again, can’t we? After being tried as we have been, we have a right to have confidence in our own energy. Two of Jean Zermatt’s sons can’t lose heart.”
“My dear wife,” Fritz replied, “if ever I were to falter I should only have to listen to you! No; we will not fail, and we shall be splendidly backed up. The boatswain is a man on whom to rely utterly. As for the poor captain——”
“He will get over it, he will get well, Fritz, dear,” Jenny said confidently. “The fever will drop. When we get him to land he will be better attended to, and will pick up his strength, and we shall find our leader in him once more.”
“Ah, Jenny, dear,” exclaimed Fritz, pressing her to his heart, “may God grant that this land can offer us the resources that we need! I don’t ask for as much as we found in New Switzerland; we cannot expect that. The worst of all would be to encounter savages, against whom we have no defence, and to be obliged to put to sea again without getting fresh provisions. It would be better to land upon a desert shore even only an island. There will be fish in its waters and shells on its beaches, and perhaps flocks of birds, as we found when we got to the shore at Rock Castle. We shall contrive to revictual, and after a week or two, when we have had a rest and the captain has recovered his strength, we could set out to discover a more hospitable coast. This boat is sound and we have an excellent sailor to manage her. The rainy season is not nearly due yet. We have lived through some storms already, and we should live through more. Let this land, whatever it is, only give us some fresh provisions, and then, with the help of God——”
“Fritz, dear,” Jenny answered, clasping her husband’s hands in her own, “you must say all that to our companions. Let them hear you, and they will not lose heart.”
“They never have, for a moment, dear wife,” said Fritz; “and if they ever should falter, it is you, bravest and most capable of women, the English girl of Burning Rock, who would give them hope once more!”
All thought as Fritz did of this brave Jenny. While they had been shut up in their cabins it was from her that Dolly and Susan had been encouraged to resist despair.
One advantage this land seemed to have. It was not like New Switzerland, through whose waters merchant vessels never passed. On the contrary, whether it were the southern coast of Australia or Tasmania, or even an island in the archipelagoes of the Pacific, its position would be marked in the naval charts.
But even if Captain Gould and his companions could entertain some hope of being picked up there, they could not be otherwise than profoundly distressed by the thought of the distance that separated them from New Switzerland—hundreds of miles, no doubt, since the Flag had sailed steadily eastwards for a whole week.