|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 24
"Well, has the doctor discovered anything?" she asked, anxiously.
Instead of answering, Mr. Hersebom took the letter from his pocket, and
read it aloud, but not without hesitating over some words which were
strange to him:
"MY DEAR HERSEBOM," wrote the doctor, "it is now two years since
you intrusted your dear child to my care, and every day I have had
renewed pleasure in watching his progress in all the studies that
he has undertaken. His intelligence is as remarkable as his heart
is generous. Erik is truly one of nature's nobleman, and the
parents who have lost such a son, if they knew the extent of their
misfortune, would be objects of pity. But it is very doubtful
whether his parents are still living. As we agreed, I have spared
no efforts to discover them. I have written to several persons in
England who have an agency for making special researches. I have
had advertisements inserted in twenty different newspapers,
English, Irish, and Scotch. Not the least ray of light has been
thrown upon this mystery, and I have to confess that all the
information which I have succeeded in procuring has rather tended
to deepen the mystery.
"The name 'Cynthia,' I find in very common use in the English navy.
From Lloyd's office, they inform me, that there are seventeen
ships, of different tonnage, bearing this name. Some of these ships
belong to English ports, and some to Scotland and Ireland. My
supposition concerning the nationality of the child is therefore
confirmed, and it becomes more and more evident to me that Erik is
of Irish parentage. I do not know whether you agree with me on this
point, but I have already mentioned it to two of my most intimate
friends in Stockholm, and everything seems to confirm it.
"Whether this Irish family are all dead, or whether they have some
interest in remaining unknown, I have not been able to discover any
trace of them.
"Another singular circumstance, and which I also think looks still
more suspicious, is the fact that no shipwreck registered at
Lloyd's, or at any of the marine insurance companies, corresponds
with the date of the infant's arrival on your coast. Two vessels
named 'Cynthia' have been lost, it is true, during this century;
but one was in the Indian Ocean, thirty-two years ago, and the
other was in sight of Portsmouth eighteen years ago.
"We are therefore obliged to conclude that the infant was not the
victim of a shipwreck.
"Doubtless he was intentionally exposed to the mercy of the waves.
This would explain why all my inquiries have been fruitless.
"Be this as it may, after having questioned successively all the
proprietors of the vessels bearing the name of 'Cynthia,' without
obtaining any information, and after exhausting all known means of
pursuing my investigations, I have been compelled to conclude that
there is no hope of discovering Erik's family.
"The question that arises for us to decide, my dear Hersebom, and
particularly for you, is what we ought to say to the boy, and what
we ought to do for him.
"If I were in your place, I should now tell him all the facts about
himself which affect him so nearly, and leave him free to choose
his own path in life. You know we agreed to adopt this course if my
efforts should prove unsuccessful. The time has come for you to
keep your word. I have wished to leave it to you to relate all this
to Erik. He is returning to Noroe still ignorant that he is not
your son, and he does not know whether he is to return to Stockholm
or remain with you. It is for you to tell him.
"Remember, if you refuse to fulfill this duty, Erik would have the
right some day, perhaps, to be astonished at you. Recall to mind
also that he is a boy of too remarkable abilities to be condemned
to an obscure and illiterate life. Such a sentence would have been
unmerited two years ago, and now, after his brilliant career at
Stockholm, it would be positively unjustifiable.
"I therefore renew my offer: let him return to me and finish his
studies, and take at Upsal the degree of Doctor of Medicine. I will
continue to provide for him as if he were my own son, and he has
only to go on and win honors and a fortune.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|