A happy dream
placed me in the midst of my family in our dear island; but a shout from
Ernest awoke me, he was calling on Jack to leave the helm, as he was
contriving to run the vessel among the breakers on the coast. I seized
the helm, and soon set all right, determined not to trust my giddy
son again.
Jack, of all my sons, was the one who evinced most taste for the sea;
but being so young when we made our voyage, his knowledge of nautical
affairs was very scanty. My elder sons had learnt more. Ernest, who had
a great thirst for knowledge of every kind, had questioned the pilot on
all he had seen him do. He had learned a great deal in theory, but of
practical knowledge he had none. The mechanical genius of Fritz had
drawn conclusions from what he saw; this would have induced me to place
much trust in him in case of that danger which I prayed Heaven might be
averted. What a situation was mine for a father! Wandering through
unknown and dangerous seas with my three sons, my only hope, in search
of a fourth, and of my beloved helpmate; utterly ignorant which way we
should direct our course, or where to find a trace of those we sought.
How often do we allay the happiness granted us below by vain wishes! I
had at one time regretted that we had no means of leaving our island;
now we had left it, and our sole wish was to recover those we had lost,
to bring them back to it, and never to leave it more.
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