In consequence of this
deluge, the proposed excursion was indefinitely postponed. The
provisions, the marvellous kits, the waggon, were all ready; but
Nature, as often happens under such circumstances, had assumed a
menacing attitude, and for the present forbade the execution of the
project.
A sort of vague sadness, that generally accompanies a gloomy
atmosphere, weighed upon the spirits of the colonists. Recollections
of the _Nelson_ and her sudden disappearance thrust themselves more
vividly than ever upon their memory; and Willis was observed to throw
his sou'-wester unconsciously on the ground--a proof that remembrances
of the past occupied his thoughts.
One of the ladies was occupied in the needful domestic operations of
the household, whilst the other sat with a stocking on her left arm,
busily occupied in repairing the ravages of tear and wear upon that
useful though humble garment. The two young ladies spun, as used to do
the great ladies of the court of King Alfred, and as Hercules himself
is said to have done when he changed his club and lion's skin for a
spindle and distaff with the Queen of Lybia; Jack was apparently
sketching, Fritz had a collection of hunting apparatus before him, and
the other two young men, each with a book, were deeply immersed in
study.
This state of things was by no means cheerful, and Wolston determined
to break up the monotony by introducing a subject of conversation
likely to interest them all, the old as well as the young.
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