The gentler portion of the party were seated on the edge of the roof,
watching the setting sun, and engaged in a discourse with feelings more
attempered to their actual condition than had been the case immediately
after their escape. The evening had a little of that wild and watery
aspect which, about the same hour, had given Captain Truck so much
concern, but the sun dipped gorgeously into the liquid world of the West,
and the whole scene, including the endless desert, the black reef, the
stranded ship, and the movements of the bustling Arabs, was one of
gloomy grandeur.
"Could we foretell the events of a month," said John Effingham, "with what
different feelings from the present would life be chequered! When we left
London, the twenty days since, our eyes and minds were filled with the
movements, cares, refinements, and interest of a great and polished
capital, and here we sit, houseless wanderers, gazing at an eventide on
the coast of Africa! In this way, young men, and young ladies too, will
you find, as life glides away that the future will disappoint the
expectations of the present moment!"
"All futures are not gloomy, cousin Jack," said Eve; "nor is all hope
doomed to meet with disappointment. A merciful God cares for us when we
are reduced to despair on our own account, and throws a ray of unexpected
light on our darkest hours.
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