But even while Tom lay writing his letter, occasionally muttering,
"They'll have a devilish hard time of it!" or "Poor young un!" or "She's
one in a million!" or some such sentence which marked his feeling and
care,--these two of whom he thought, to whose future he looked with such
loving anxiety, were beyond the reach of human help or hindrance,--done
alike with the sorrows and joys of time.
From a distance, with the help of a glass, and absorbing interest, he
had followed the movements of the flag and its bearer, and had cheered,
till he fainted from weakness and exhaustion, as he saw them safe at
last. It was with delight that he found himself on the same transport
with Ercildoune, and discovered in him the brother of the young girl for
whom, in the past, he had had so pleasing and deep a regard, and whose
present and future were so full of interest for him, in their new and
nearer relations.
These two young men, unlike as they were in most particulars, were drawn
together by an irresistible attraction. They had that common bond,
always felt and recognized by those who possess it, of the gentle
blood,--tastes and instincts in common, and a fine, chivalrous
sentiment which each felt and thoroughly appreciated in the other. The
friendship thus begun grew with the passing years, and was intensified a
hundred fold by a portion of the past to which they rarely referred, but
which lay always at the bottom of their hearts.
Pages:
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254