"SHE COULD OBTAIN AT TIMES, WHEN SHE LOOKED BACK, AN Engraved by H Rolls. Published November 1 188 by James Robins, & C Ivy Lane London. THE boisterous winds and the unruly waves were roaring hastily in concert, threatening demolition not only to the little cabins of the industrious fishermen, which were scattered along the pebbly coast, but even to the craggy cliffs that overhung them with a fostering care. But the hardy and adventurous habitants of these humble retreats were too much accustomed to behold the ravages and contemplate the terrors of the raging element to experience the least apprehension. Their smacks were safely moored upland in secure creeks, and their nets and tackle housed. The wild yellings of the wind and the beating of the foaming waters against the strand, like claps of distant thunder, would have had no other effect than lulling them to repose. But on this stormy night there was not one among the fishermen that sought his lowly pallet. They were all, to the number of eight, assembled round the death-bed of Erust van Eick, the venerable patriarch of the whole crew. The icy hand of remorseVOL. 1. March, 1828. M less death had seized upon him. His long, white, and straggling locks hung like flakes of winter snow about his shoulders. His eyes were dim, and the flaccid muscles of his weather-beaten, hard-featured visage appeared to have lost all power of motion. Some twenty hours before had beheld him a hale and hearty man of eighty, in the full possession of all his faculties. But he was suddenly and mortally stricken, and looked like a pitiable object of fast declining nature. Hendrik van Eick, his only son, supported his listless form with his left arm, while his right hand administered a cordial. For a single moment the flickering and dying flame of life appeared re-illumined in his breast. His eyes were lit up with all the light of returning animation, and he gazed with a fond, but sorrowful, expression upon Hendrik. His spirit was struggling for utterance. His lips moved, but no audible accents fell from them. Dearest father,' cried Hendrik affectionately, why dost thou gaze so steadfastly upon me? What would'st thou say?' Big drops of perspiration burst from the old man's wrinkled brow, and with a great effort he motioned his friends to leave him. They instantly obeyed his silent mandate. Hendrik alone remained with him. The old fisherman gazed ardently upon Hendrik, and tears filled his eyes. Open-open-yon cabinet,' said he, in a low and tremulous voice. Hendrik did his bidding with trem ling hands;-that cabinet had ever been a forbidden thing-a sealed mystery to him. That casket!' continued the dying man anxiously-, 'tis thine-keep it.' "Oh! father!' cried Hendrik, with emotion, 'at this awful moment take no care upon thee of worldly things.' 'Just heaven! mercy!' exclaimed the old man in agony; worldliness and gold have conspired to ruin me: I am lost, Hendrik; I am lost.' 'Dearest father!' interposed Hendrik, deeply affected but ere he could proceed, the fisherman, by a violent exertion, raised himself in the bed. Call me not father!' cried he, with a frantic look: 'I am no father! I am thine enemy! Thou art-thou art! O! my soul!' He could articulate no more. His hoary head dropped upon his breast. Hendrik's arm encircled him; but Erust van Eick was a lifeless corpse ! On the morrow, at early dawn, the sorrowing Hendrik was surprised by a visit from Alwyn, the lord of the castle which reared its proud and impregnable battlements menacingly above the craggy cliff. The fishermen were the poorest among his numerous dependents, but the venerable Erust van Eick had always enjoyed the favour and countenance of the noble lord. Nor did any envy this flattering preference; for had they a favour to ask, or petition to prefer, Ernest van Eick was their ready and willing mediator. 'My lord!' cried Hendrik, rising. 'No ceremony, Hendrik,' interrupted Alwyn: 'I seek it not in the house of mourning. Yonder,' pointing to the bier, 'lies a cold lesson of humility. But tell me, Hendrik, how did his spirit part from its mortal tenement?' The young fisherman was agitated. The dying words of Erust were fresh upon his memory. Their mysterious import troubled him, but he was resolved to confine the secret to his own breast. Death struck him so suddenly, my lord,' replied he, that it almost bereft him of the power of speech.' 'Did he make no bequests?' asked Alwyn earnestly; no 'Nothing, my lord,' replied Hendrik, wondering at the interest Alwyn took in his concerns. The lord of the castle clasped his hands together; a smile flitted across his wrinkled brow, and murmuring something to himself, he appeared for an instant entirely absorbed by the intensity of his thoughts. I am satisfied!' at last he exclaimed. 6 Satisfied, my lord?' said Hendrik, inquiringly. Ay-with this old man's (thy worthy father's) fidelity and services,' continued Alwyn. Be thou, |