IT was a cold rainy night, the wind was howling dismally, not a star to be seen in the sky, only heavy black clouds all around.
Illustration
A lady and gentleman, wrapped in dark cloaks, were walking up and down the quay of a small seaport of France. " Is it not almost time they were here?" asked the lady, " Patience, dear," said her husband, " the ship does not sail till 11 o'clock, and the captain wished them to stay on shore till it is almost time to start."
"I feel almost afraid to let them go alone. Suppose any harm should happen to them, what should I do?"
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart," was the low reply. “Hark! here they are."
A man came along with two little muffled figures who were, as you will guess, our little friends Louise and Eugène. Mde. Clément sprang forward to meet them with a cry of joy, but M. Clément said they must go on the boat now, as it would be ready to start in a quarter of an hour. They met the captain at the top of the ladder, and all went on board together.
The ship did not carry passengers, and there was not a woman on board; Mde. Clément felt as if she were only letting them go out of one danger into another.
When the children had been comfortably settled in their berths the father and mother came away; they thanked the good-natured captain again and again for his kindness, for he was running a great risk, for if he were discovered he was liable to severe punishment. Many, many children were separated from their parents in this way, and sometimes it was months or even years before they met again.
The captain to whom the children were entrusted was an Englishman, who for years had traveled between England and France, carrying goods to and from the two countries. He was rather a rough man, who had braved many a storm and saved more than one man from a watery grave; he had neither wife nor children of his own, and was more at home on the sea than on the land. When the storm of persecution arose he showed his true colors, and often ran a great risk for the sake of helping those who dared not remain in their native country.
When the father and mother left, the captain went down to the children, and in his kind rough way did all he could to comfort and console the little ones, for at the last they were greatly distressed at being left alone with strangers.
He would not let any of the sailors come near them, but shut them comfortably in the cabin while he went up on deck.
The boat with our little friends on board began its journey, and the dashing of the waves, the creaking of the ropes, and the shouting of the sailors frightened poor little Louise and Eugène so much that it was a long time before they fell asleep.
The morning broke fine and lovely, and the children's spirits rose considerably when the captain took them on deck, for now that they were out in the open sea there was no more need of hiding. The wind continued fair, and in two days they could see the shores of that happy land of freedom, England.
Many hundreds of poor people, driven from their homes, found a home in this more favored country.