g to deny the mercy of that Providence
which had hitherto so remarkably befriended them, when at a great
distance, and scarcely perceptible to the naked eye, they descried
three figures advancing slowly towards the shore.

One of these forms was Mrs. Becker, who was leaning upon the arms of
Mary and Sophia Wolston.

"God be thanked, we are still in time," cried Fritz and Jack.

A loud cheer, led by Willis, then rent the air. Half an hour after,
the two young men leaped on shore; they did not stay to shake hands
with their father and brothers, but ran on to where their mother
stood. It was a long time before they could utter a syllable; the
greeting of the mother and her children was too affectionate to be
expressed in words.

Next morning, at daybreak, preparations for a serious operation were
made in Mrs. Becker's room. The entire colony was in a state of
intense excitement, and an air of anxiety was imprinted on every
countenance. In the room itself the wing of a fly could have been
heard, so breathless was the silence that prevailed. The patient's
eyes had been bandaged, under pretext of concealing from her sight the
surgical instruments and preparations for the operation. The real
design, however, was to hide the operator, whom Mrs. Becker supposed
to be an expert practitioner from Europe; for it was not thought
advisable that a mother's anxieties should be superadded to the
patient's sufferings.

At the moment of trial the few persons present had sunk on their
knees; Jack alone remained standing at the bedside of his mother. The
Jack of the past had entirely disappeared; he was somewhat pale, very
grave, but collected, firm, and resolute. It was, perhaps, the first
instance on record of a son being called upon to lacerate the body of
his mother. But the moment that God imposed such a task upon one of
His creatures, it is God himself that becomes the operator.

When, some days after, Mrs. Becker--calm, radiant, and
saved--requested to see and thank her deliverer, it was Jack who
presented himself. If she had known this sooner, it would, most
undoubtedly, have augmented her terror, and increased the fever. As it
was, it redoubled her thankfulness, and hastened her recovery.

Frank and Ernest embarked on board the _Nelson_ when she returned to
New Switzerland on her way to Europe. Two years afterwards, the former
returned in the capacity of a minister of the Church of England,
bringing with him a sufficient n