"
"Unfortunately this is not a malady that can be cured by such means;
and, unless its progress be checked in time, it may ultimately assume
a form that will render a cure impossible."
"Is death, then, inevitable?"
"A patient may retain a languishing life under such circumstances for
some time; but if the disease be cancer, a cure is hopeless without
instruments and scientific skill."
"I thought I was the only wretched being in the colony," said Willis,
sighing, "but I find I am not alone."
"There are no hopes of the _Nelson_, are there?" inquired Becker.
"None now; for some time Mr. Wolston and yourself almost persuaded me
that she had escaped; but had she reached the Cape, we should have
heard of her ere now."
"The probabilities of another vessel touching here are small, are they
not?"
"We are not in the direct track to anywhere; therefore, unless a ship
has been driven out of her course by a gale, there is not a chance."
"Unfortunate that I am!" exclaimed Becker, covering his face with his
hands. "Brutus, Manlius Torquatus, and Peter the Great, condemned
their sons to death, but they were guilty; still the sacrifice must be
made."
Here Willis stared aghast, and began to fear Becker's intellect had
been affected by his troubles.
"I do not exactly understand you, Mr.
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