"Oh no! he was picked up and carried on shore."
Frank began to cry again.
"It is a misfortune, certainly," said the good mans his eyes becoming dewy with sympathizing tears; "but we will try to make it as easy for you as we can. In the first place, you must write a letter to your parents, which I will enclose in one to my owners, that it may be delivered with due caution, and have them ready for the first vessel we meet. I am sorry to say, though, it is an uncommon circumstance to speak vessels in the latitude to which we are going; and therefore you must not be disappointed if we do not have an opportunity to send home until near the end of our voyage." This proved to be the case; but in the mean time Frank, with the natural buoyancy of youth, had recovered his spirits, and had rendered himself almost as much beloved on board the Josephine as during his former voyage. With the captain his influence was almost unbounded. He regarded the sad catastrophe which had brought him in close proximity to such a youth as one of the greatest blessings of his life. He had been blessed with a pious mother, and he had a praying wife; but the influence of worldly cares had gradually dissipated whatever seriousness he might once have had, though he still entertained a great respect for religion.
The first thing that particularly interested him in Frank was observing the soothing effect which prayer had upon him. During the early part of the voyage, the boy would often give way to bursts of irrepressible sorrow that he could not have seen his parents and sister before going again on so long a voyage. In vain his friend tried to soothe him by promises of presents they would purchase in Calcutta for the absent ones; his tears would flow like a river. At length he would go into his little cabin, next to the captain's, and pour out his griefs before his sympathizing Saviour. In a few minutes he would return, with a calm, serious air, certainly, but with his sorrow quite subdued.
On one occasion, Captain Monroe, curious to know the secret of such an influence, followed the boy and listened at the door of his room.
It was a touching picture: the child upon his knees, wrestling with his heavenly Father for more submission to his holy will, for the cheerful acquiescence in his lot, which should prove him to be following the example of him who drank, without murmuring, the cup of sorrow to the dregs; for grace to live so humbly that all who saw him might be won to his Saviour; for the dear ones who were mourning his loss at home. The officer also appeared, wiping the fast-flowing tears, at the half-open door.
Frank was not slow to notice the change in the captain's deportment; and his sorrow for himself decreased as he began to plead with God for a blessing upon his friend.
Nor was it long before the answer came. One day Captain Monroe called Frank into his cabin and said, "I have found out why you were subjected to so bitter a disappointment. God sent you to me, as a means of leading me to a knowledge of my Saviour's love."
"I was sure," answered the boy, in his simple, trusting manner, "that God did it for the best; and that was why I tried so hard to say, 'Thy will be done.'"