Those who
possess a garden--and he who has not, were it only a box of
mignionette at the window--will often have observed, in consequence of
absence or forgetfulness, that their flowers have begun to droop; they
hasten to sprinkle them with water, then watch anxiously for signs of
their revival. So both families continued unceasingly during these
eight days to note the ever-varying modifications of the clouds.
At length the much wished-for day arrived; the morning broke with a
blaze of sunshine, and though hidden with a dense mist, the ground was
sufficiently hardened to bear their weight. Wolston awaited his guests
at a bridge of planks that had been thrown across the Jackal River,
where he and Willis had erected a sort of triumphal arch of mangoe
leaves and palm branches. Here Becker and his family were welcomed, as
if the one party had just arrived from Tobolsk, and the other from
Chandernagor, after an absence of ten years.
Another warm reception awaited them at Rockhouse, where an abundant
repast was already spread in the gallery. Mrs. Becker had often
intended to work herself a pair of gloves, but the increasing demand
for stockings had hitherto prevented her. She was pleased, therefore,
on sitting down to dinner, to discover a couple of pairs under her
plate, with her own initials embroidered upon them.
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