Fair play : $b a novelSouthworth, Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte
General
Fair play : $b a novel
Southworth, Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte
American fiction -- 19th century
The captain of the _Xyphias_ thought the ship would be ready to sail on
the following Monday.
When Justin heard this, he invited the captain and all the officers to
come and spend Sunday—the last Sunday and the last day on the island—at
this house, to hold divine service there.
And early on Sunday morning, the parlor, now dismantled of half its
furniture, was converted into a temporary chapel, and hymns were sung
and prayers said and sermons preached, both in the morning and in the
afternoon. The sermon in the morning was preached by the ship’s
chaplain; and in the afternoon by Mr. Rosenthal; and the officers and
the crew attended both services, and the captain of the _Xyphias_ slept
comfortably in his seat through both sermons; but let this be said for
him—that he would not have slept, or even winked, during a sea fight,
though it had lasted day and night.
When the afternoon service was over, the crew and some of the officers
returned to the ship; but the captain and others remained and spent the
evening, and only left at a late hour.
Wind and tide favoring, they were to sail early in the morning.
The jolly boat was to be at the landing by sunrise to take the last load
of our friends’ effects to the ship. It was then to return for Justin,
Britomarte, Judith, Crummie and the little dog.
And though this was their last night on the lonely island that they
might never expect to revisit again, and they were on the eve of
embarking for their dear, native land, and thoughts and feelings were
busy alike with tender regrets and joyful anticipations, yet—in
consequence of the bodily fatigue they had endured that day, they fell
asleep as soon as their heads had touched their pillows, and slept
profoundly until morning.
The daylight, creeping in at the windows, woke Justin first.
When breakfast was over they went to work at their final preparations
for departure.
I said that they intended to leave the house with a portion of the
furniture, clothing and books, for the benefit of any future shipwrecked
sufferers who might possibly be cast away upon the island.
So Britomarte went into the bedroom, and made up the beds, and tidied
the washstands, and set the chairs straight and closed the windows, and
fastened the doors.
And while she was doing that, Judith washed up all the crockeryware and
cooking utensils, and put them away in the cupboards, and then she
cleaned up the kitchen, and put out the fire, and shut the windows and
doors.
In the meantime, Justin went into the parlor and set the chairs, tables,
lamps and vases straight, and laid a Bible, a hymn book, an old copy of
Shakespeare and an old almanac, a slate-pencil and some paper, pens and
ink upon the book shelves. Then he fastened the windows and doors.
Finally, the three friends, having completed their work, met in the
front passage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account