And the small mound, blooming with
flowers, under which his child slept, how much power had that over him!
He paced restlessly up and down beneath the solemn yew-trees, his heart
breaking over them all. To-morrow by this time he would have left them
far behind him; and never more would his eyes behold them, or his feet
tread the path he had so often trod. They seemed to cry to him like
living, sentient things. To and fro he wandered, while the silent stars
and the waning moon, lying low in the sky above the church, looked down
upon him with a pale and mournful light. At last the morning came; and
he remembered that to-day he must quit them all, and sail for a far-off
country.
The vessel Mr. Chantrey had chosen for the long voyage was a merchant
ship, sailing for Melbourne, under a captain who had been an early
friend of his own, and who knew the reason for his leaving England. No
other cabin passengers had taken berths on board her, though there were
a few emigrants in the steerage. Captain Scott, himself a water-drinker,
had arranged that no intoxicating beverages, in any form, should appear
in the saloon.
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