It was then
that Clotelle felt that there was hope of escaping. She had
hitherto kept in the cabin, but now she expressed a wish to come
on deck. The hanging clouds were narrowing the horizon to a span,
and gloomily mingling with the rising surges. The old and
grave-looking seamen shook their weather-wise heads as if
foretelling a storm.
As Clotelle came on deck, she strained her eyes in vain to catch a
farewell view of her native land. With a smile on her countenance,
but with her eyes filled with tears, she said,--
"Farewell, farewell to the land of my birth, and welcome, welcome,
ye dark blue waves. I care not where I go, so it is
'Where a tyrant never trod,
Where a slave was never known,
But where nature worships God,
If in the wilderness alone.'"
Devenant stood by her side, seeming proud of his future wife, with
his face in a glow at his success, while over his noble brow
clustering locks of glossy black hair were hanging in careless
ringlets. His finely-cut, classic features wore the aspect of one
possessed with a large and noble heart.
Once more the beautiful Clotelle whispered in the ear of her
lover,--
"Away, away, o'er land and sea, America is now no home for me."
The winds increased with nightfall, and impenetrable gloom
surrounded the ship. The prospect was too uncheering, even to
persons in love. The attention which Devenant paid to Clotelle,
although she had been registered on the ship's passenger list as
his sister, caused more than one to look upon his as an agreeable
travelling companion.
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