He could not
speak nor move, but he grasped my hand, and tears gushed from his
eyes. 'Is my wife alive?' I asked. He said nothing. Then I wished
that I had perished with my ship, for I thought my wife was dead;
but he very soon said, 'She is alive.' Then it was my turn to cry
for joy. He clung to me and said, 'Your funeral sermon has been
preached, for we have thought you dead for a long time.' He said
that my wife was living in our little cottage in the interior of the
state. It was then three o'clock in the afternoon, and I took a
train of cars that would carry me within twenty-five miles of my
wife. Upon leaving the cars I hired a boy, though it was night, to
drive me home. It was about two o'clock in the morning when that
sweet little cottage of mine appeared in sight. It was a warm
moonlight night, and I remember how like a heaven it looked to me. I
got out of the carriage and went to the window of the room where the
servant girl slept, and gently knocked. She opened the window and
asked, 'Who is there?' 'Sarah, do you not know me?' said I. She
screamed with fright, for she thought me a ghost; but I told her to
unfasten the door and let me in, for I wished to see my wife. She
let me in and gave me a light, and I went up stairs to my wife's
room. She lay sleeping quietly. Upon her bosom lay her child, whom I
had never seen. She was as beautiful as when I left her; but I could
see a mournful expression upon her face.
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