Chapter XXVII
Ready for the Voyage
"Like unto ships far off at sea,
Outward or homeward bound, are we.
Ah! if our souls but poise and swing
Like the compass in its brazen ring,
Ever level and ever true
To the toil and task we have to do
We shall sail securely, and safely reach
The Fortunate Isles with their shining beach."
—Longfellow.
The crystalline air, sparkling with the salt of the Atlantic, swept up the bay and stirred the waters of the North River into restlessness, causing the great steamer to tug impatiently at her moorings as though anxious to begin the voyage. Upon the promenade deck of the vessel stood Mr. and Mrs. Henry Raymond, Doctor Raymond, and the two cousins, Adele and Beatrice; for the time of departure had come.
It still lacked some time of the hour for sailing, and Adele called excited directions to Bee as they waited, or made hurried little excursions to the other side of the boat to see what was taking place there.
"You must keep my roses until the very last, Bee," she said. "And there is a box of chocolates in the top of your steamer trunk. I put them there myself. Be sure you think of me when you eat them. Don't you want to try your new rug? I don't believe that it will be half warm enough. And, oh, Bee! do write every day, and tell me everything. Everything! Do you hear? I wish I were going."