“We were but just in time to save you, my lad,” said the captain, turning to the boy, whose hand Merlin was licking, as if to congratulate him on his escape.
“Indeed you were, sir,” answered the boy; “and we are very, very grateful to you, and to that brave sailor who carried my father and Emily out of the ship, and helped me into the boat. I want to thank him more particularly, and so would my father; but oh, sir, do you think he will soon recover out of that fearful swoon? Or do, do tell me, for I did not like to ask you before my sister, is he—is he really—dead?”
The boy’s voice dropped as he spoke.
“I fear, Walter, that he is dead,” answered the captain. “But we will do our best to comfort your little sister; and so, I am sure, will you. You have reason to be thankful that he was permitted thus to die quietly in bed, and to know that your lives were spared.”
“Oh yes, yes! I know,” answered the boy, hiding his face in his hands.
It was some hours before Emily could understand that her father could never again speak to her or caress her. Her brother’s anxiety to console her probably prevented him from so poignantly feeling his own loss.
The captain and all on board treated the young orphans with the greatest kindness and consideration. The following day their father’s body was committed to its ocean grave; and Walter and Emily felt that for the future they must be all in all to each other.
“Yes,” thought Walter, as he gazed at his sister’s fair and gentle countenance, “I will watch over her—and die for her, if needs be—to protect her from harm.”