as as happy as a king those
weeks, roaming about Garthowen slopes, dancing in the mill, and
whistling at the plough, and Morva at my side always. Dei anwl! When
I came to myself, and saw the bare, whitewashed walls of the hospital,
the foreign nurses moving about--very kind and tender they were, too,
but 'twasn't Morva--Garthowen slopes, Morva, the mill and the moor had
all gone, and when I saw where I was, what will you think of me, Sara,
when I tell you I cried like a little child, like I did the day when I
tore myself away from little Morva long ago, when I ran away from home,
and heard her calling after me, 'Gethin! Gethin!'

"The nurse was very kind to me. She saw my tears were falling like the
rain. ''Tis weak you are, poor fellow,' says she, for she could speak
English. God bless her! I will never forget her. And she did her
best to strengthen me with good food and cheering words; and in time I
got well, but 'twas many months before I felt like myself again.

"Well, in the next bed to mine was a man, brought in when I was at my
worst, or my best, having that jolly time on Garthowen slopes with
Morva. When I came to myself, he was there, poor fellow, as yellow as
a guinea, with black shadows under his eyes, and the parched lips that
showed he was having a hard fight for his life. But singing he was all
through the long nights in that strange place, though his voice was so
weak and husky you could scarcely hear him; but the words, Sara fach!
I almost rose up in my bed when I heard them. What d'ye think they
were but, 'Yn y dyfroedd mawr a'r tonau'?[1] My heart leapt out to him
at once, and I tried hard to speak to him, but he couldn't hear me; and
when I was getting better he was getting worse, till one day the black
vomit came on, and then I thought 'twas all over with him. But instead
of that, it seemed to do him good, for he got better after that, and
very soon I was able to sit a bit by his bedside, and to talk to him
about the old country. His name was Jacob Ellis, and he had been
captain of the _Albatross_ trading between Swansea and Cardiff and
Monte Video. He hadn't a relation in the world that he knew of. He
had got on well, and had saved five hundred pounds. They were safe in
the bank at Cardiff, and when he found he was not going to get better
after all--for he hadn't the same healthy constitution that I
had--well, nothing would do for him but he must make his will and leave
all he had