The weather was very cold, and we felt its severity very much. The rigging of the ship was hung with icicles, and, without fire or warmth of any sort, it is no wonder that we all were soon hardly able to move from cold and sickness.
In the midst of my trouble I was told of an ancient Scotch sister—a maiden lady, sharp and shrewd—who, like the miser in Scott’s “Fortunes of Nigel,” was willing to help us “for a consideration.” It was agreed that she should give me her services for the remainder of the voyage; and the “consideration” was to be two pounds English. Small as was our stock of money, and much as I knew we should need it upon our arrival, I felt that I could do no better than engage her. There was no saying upon whom she might chance to set her maiden fancy, but there was not the remotest chance of any of the brethren falling in love with her; so I considered her a safe investment, and, besides, I must have somebody—there was no alternative.
It was now Christmas time—a season sacred to joyous memories and festivities; but to us, exiles and wanderers, seeking a land of which we knew nothing, and which to us was a new and untried world, it was far from being a happy time. In the midst of the wild, dreary ocean there was nothing to recall the pleasant reminiscences of the past, or to inspire us with hope and courage as we thought of the future.
The captain told us that we might prepare to eat our Christmas dinner in New York; but he was mistaken in his calculations. We did not eat our Christmas dinner in New York, as he had promised. A storm came on, which compelled us to stand out to sea again, and then a dead calm followed, and it was not until New Year’s eve that we set foot upon the shore of the New World.
CHAPTER XII.
LIFE IN NEW YORK:—CONDUCTING A MORMON PAPER.
Very cold, and dark, and dreary, were the first days which we spent in the New World. That faith which once had led me to hope, and believe, and “endure all things,” was now powerless to nerve me to any new course of action for my religion’s sake; for the dark shadow of Polygamy had come across my way; hope had fled, and my love, with the love of many other faithful Saints, had waxed cold.
To my husband and children I was, of course, devotedly attached, and was willing to combat any difficulty or endure any trial with them, or for their sake; and it was not long before my constancy was put to the test.
The Mormon emigrants have always a Captain and two “Counsellors” to every company. The Captain on board the “Emerald Isle,”—the vessel in which we came—was a returning Utah Elder;—one of his Counsellors was also a returning Elder, and my husband was the other. As soon as the Mormon Captain had come on shore, and had reported to the Apostle in charge of the New York Saints, he left to visit his friends. The Utah Counsellor had a young lady in the company to whom he had become very much attached, and who afterwards became one of his wives. I was not, therefore, surprised that, as soon as he could get his baggage, he also should disappear; but my husband—the other Counsellor—being encumbered with a wife and family, was obliged to remain, and the whole charge of seeing to the company devolved upon him.