Poor child! he was the darling and the plaything of all the crew."
She wept bitterly for a few moments, and then resumed her narration.
"He was as fair as your own Francis, and greatly resembled him. We
proceeded first to Bourdeaux, where my husband had a correspondent, with
whom he had large dealings; by his means my husband was enabled to raise
large sums for his new undertaking. We carried with us, in fact, nearly
his whole fortune. We re-embarked under the most favourable
auspices--the weather delightful, and the wind fair; but we very soon
had a change; we were met by a terrible storm and hurricane, such as the
sailors had never witnessed. For a week our ship was tossed about by
contrary winds, driven into unknown seas, lost all its rigging, and was
at last so broken, that the water poured in on all sides. All was lost,
apparently; but, in this extremity, my husband made a last attempt to
save us. He tied my daughters and myself firmly to a plank, taking the
charge of my boy himself, as he feared the additional weight would be
too much for our raft. His intention was to tie himself to another
plank, to fasten this to ours, and, taking his son in his arms, to give
us a chance of being carried to the shore, which did not appear far off.
Whilst he was occupied in placing us, he gave Alfred to the care of a
sailor who was particularly attached to him.
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