Fritz and Eric | Page 4

with his father's blood--he would, he
must be a sailor!
Being the youngest, he naturally was her pet; and thus, although the
recollection of her husband's fate was ever before her, and Madame
Dort had a dread of the sea which only those who have suffered a
similar bereavement can fully understand, she could not resist the boy's
continual pleadings, backed up as they were by his evident and
unaffected bias of mind towards everything connected with ships and
shipping; for, Eric never seemed so happy as when frequenting the
quays and talking with the sailors and sea-captains who came to the old
port of Lubeck, where of late years the mother had taken up her
residence, in order to be near Fritz, who had obtained a clerkship in a
merchant's house there, through the friendly offices of the parents of
one of the music-teacher's pupils.
Eric had already received his `sea-baptism,' so to speak, having been on
a trip to England in a Hamburgh cattle-boat, and on a cruise up the
Baltic in a timber-ship; but he was now going away in a Dutch vessel to
the East Indies, the voyage promising to occupy more than a year, so
there is no wonder that his mother was anxious on his account, thinking
she would never live to see him again. It seemed so terrible to her as
she stood on the railway platform, surrounded by all the bustle and
preparation of the train about to depart, to fancy, as she gazed with
longing eyes at her brave and gallant Eric, with his lion-like head and
curling locks of golden hair, that she might never look on her sailor
laddie's merry, loving face any more; and, tears dropped from the
widow's eyes as she drew him towards her, clasping him to her, as if
she could not bear to let him go.
"Come, mother," said Fritz, after a moment's interval. "Time is up! The
guard is calling out for the passengers to take their seats. Eric, old
fellow, good-bye, and God bless you! You will write to the mother and
me from every port you touch at?"

"Aye, surely," said the boy, a sob breaking his voice and banishing the
mannish composure which he had tried to maintain to the last. "Good-
bye, Fritz; you'll take care of mother?"
"Don't you fear, that will I, brother!" was the answer in those earnest
tones which Fritz always used when he was making a promise and
giving his word to anything he undertook--a word which he never
broke.
"And now, good-bye, mutterchen, my own darling little mother," said
Eric, clasping his mother in a last clinging hug; "you'll never forget me,
but will keep strong and well till I come back."
"I will try, my child, with God's help," sobbed out the poor lady. "But,
may He preserve you and bring you back safe to my arms! Good-bye,
my darling. You must never forget Him or me; my consolation in your
absence will be that your prayers will ascend to heaven along with
mine."
"You may trust me, mother, indeed you may. Good-bye, little mother!
God bless you, mutterchen! Good-bye!" cried out the sailor lad from
the carriage window; and then, the train moved off, puffing and panting
out of the station, leaving Fritz and his mother standing on the platform,
and waving their handkerchiefs in farewell to Eric, who was as busily
engaged gesticulating, with his hat in one hand and in the other a
newspaper that his brother had brought him, shouting out,
`Lebewohl!'--a sobbing farewell it was--for the last time, and still
waving adieux when his voice failed him!
"Never mind, my mother," said Fritz softly, giving his arm to the heart-
stricken lady, and leading her away with tender care from the railway
station to their now sadly bereaved home. "Cheer up, and hope,
mutterchen! You have a son still left you, who will never desert you or
quit his post of looking after you, till Eric, the dear boy, comes back."
"I know, my son, I know your love and affection," replied Madame
Dort, pressing his arm to her side affectionately; "but, who can tell
what the future may have in store for us? Ah, it's a wise proverb that,

dear son, which reminds us that `man proposes, but God disposes!'"
"It is so," murmured Fritz, more to himself than to her; "still, I trust
we'll all meet again beneath the old roof-tree."
"And I the same, from the bottom of my heart!" said his mother, in
cordial sympathy with his wish, as she began to ascend the steps
leading up to her dwelling; while Fritz returned to the counting-house
of his employer, Herr Grosschnapper, to finish those duties which had
been interrupted by his having to see Eric