n
the deck of his vessel, when the lightning fell into the sea so near
to me that I lost my breath. Instantly I felt an acute pain in the
back, as if a burning torch had been laid between my shoulders. The
pain was so violent, that the moment I recovered myself I uttered a
sharp scream. Malvilain, who was within a few paces of me, felt very
sensibly the electric shock which had struck me, and, on hearing my
cry, imagined that I was dangerously hurt. He rushed towards me and
held me in his arms until I was able to give every assurance of my
recovery. The electric fluid had grazed me, but without causing any
positive injury.

I have related these two slight anecdotes to show the intimacy that
subsisted between us, and how I afterwards suffered in my dearest
affections.

My existence has to this day, when I write these lines, been filled
with such extraordinary facts, that I have been naturally led to
believe that the destiny of man is regulated by an order of things
which must infallibly be accomplished. This idea has had great
influence over me, and taught me to endure all the evils which have
afflicted me. Was it, then, my destiny which bound me to Malvilain,
and bound him to me in the same manner? I have no doubt of it.

Some days before the terrible scourge of the cholera broke out in
the Philippines, Malvilain's ship set sail for France. With hearts
oppressed with grief we separated, after promising each that we should
meet again; but, alas! fate had ordained it otherwise. Malvilain
returned home, went to Nantes to take the command of a ship, and there
became acquainted with my eldest sister, and married her. This news,
which reached me while I resided in Manilla, gave me the greatest
satisfaction, for if I had had to choose a husband for my dear sister
Emilie, this marriage was the only one to satisfy the wishes I had
formed for the happiness of both.

After his marriage Malvilain continued to sail from the port of
Nantes. His noble disposition and his accurate knowledge of his
duties caused him to be highly esteemed by the leading merchants. His
affairs were in a state sufficiently good as not to require him to
expose himself longer to the dangers of the sea, and he was on his
last voyage, when, at the Mauritius, he was attacked by an illness,
which carried him off, leaving my sister inconsolable, and with three
very young girls to lament him.

This fresh and irreparable loss, the news of which had then reac