Fritz and Eric | Page 5

off.
CHAPTER TWO.
A THUNDERCLAP!
It was late in the autumn when Eric left Lubeck on his way to
Rotterdam, where he was to go on board the good ship Gustav Barentz,
bound on a trading voyage to the eastern isles of the Indian Ocean;
and, as the year rolled on, bringing winter in its train--a season which
the Dort family had hitherto always hailed with pleasure on account of
its festive associations--the hours lagged with the now sadly diminished
little household in the Gulden Strasse; for, the merry Christmas-tide
reminded them more than ever of the absent sailor boy, who had
always been the very life and soul of the home circle, and the eagerly
sought- for guest at every neighbourly gathering.
"It does not seem at all the same now the dear lad is away on the seas,"
said old Lorischen, the whilom nurse, and now part servant, part
companion of Madame Dort. "Indeed, I cannot fancy him far-distant at
all. I feel as if he were only just gone out skating on the canal, and that
we might expect him in again at any moment!"
"Ah, I miss him every minute of the day," replied Madame Dort, who
was sitting on one side of the white porcelain stove that occupied a
cosy corner of the sitting-room, facing the old nurse, who was busily
engaged knitting a pair of lambs-wool stockings on the other.
"It is now--aye, just two months since the dear lad left us," continued

Lorischen, "and we've never had a line from him yet. I hope no evil has
befallen the ship!"
"Oh, don't say such a thing as that," said Madame Dort nervously.
"The vessel has a long voyage to make, and would only touch at the
Cape of Good Hope on her way; so we cannot expect to hear yet. I
wonder at you, Lorischen, alarming me with your misgivings! I am sure
I am anxious enough already about poor Eric."
"Ach himmel! I meant no harm, dear lady," rejoined the other; "but,
when one has thoughts, you know, they must find vent, and I've been
dreaming of him the last three nights. I do wish he were safe back
again. The house is not itself without him."
"You are not the only one that thinks that," said Madame Dort. "Why,
even the very birds that come to be fed at the gallery window miss him!
They won't take their bread crumbs from my hand as they used to do
last winter from his; you remember how tame they were, and how they
would hop on his shoulder when he opened the window and called
them?"
"Aye, that do I, well! He was a kind lad to bird and beast alike. There is
my old cat, which another boy would have tormented according to the
nature of all boys where poor cats are concerned; but Eric loved it, and
petted it like myself! Many a time I see Mouser looking up at that model
of his ship there, blinking his eyes as if he knew well where the young
master is, for cats have deeper penetration than human folk give them
credit for. I heard him miaow-wowing this morning; and, when I went
to look for him, there he was on the top of the stove, if you please,
gazing up at the little ship, with his tail up in the air as stiff as a
hair-brush! I couldn't make it out at all, and that's what made me so
thoughtful to-day about the dear lad, especially as I'd dreamt of him,
too."
"My dear Lorischen, you absurd creature," laughed out Madame Dort.
"I'm glad you said that. Don't you know what was old Mouser's
grievance? Was I not close behind you at the time the cat was making
the noise, and did not Burgher Jans' dog rush out of the room as the

door was opened? Of course, Mouser got on the stove to be out of his
way, and that was why you thought he was speaking in cat language to
poor Eric's little model ship. What a superstitious old lady you are, to
be sure!"
"Ah well, you may think so, and explain it away, madame," said
Lorischen, in no way convinced; "but I have my beliefs all the same;
and I think that cat knows more than you and I do. Dear, dear! There, I
declare it is snowing again. What a Christmas we will have, and how
the dear lad would have enjoyed it, eh?"
"Yes, that he would," rejoined the other. "He did love to watch the
snowflakes come down, and talk of longing to see an Arctic winter; but
I hope it will not fall so heavily as to block the railway, and prevent us
from getting any