CHAPTER XXXIIIA HAPPY MEETING—CONCLUSION
Theletter from Hockley read, they waited patiently until some mail matter which had just come in should be sorted out. This took the best part of an hour—a wait which to Mark and Frank seemed an age.
But at last the little window was opened once more and the crowd surged forward. Professor Strong was well to the front and presently they saw him turn from the window with half a dozen communications held aloft.
“Letters!” cried Frank. “Oh, if only they bring good news!”
The professor was soon beside them. There were letters for all, but just then the interest was concentrated on a communication addressed to Mark and another addressed to Frank. Both bore the postmark of Kingstown, St. Vincent.
“My father’s handwriting!” cried Mark, in a trembling voice.
“And this is in my father’s hand!” came from Frank, falteringly. His hand shook so he could not open the envelope. “Yo—you read it, professor.”
Professor Strong did so. The communication had been written the day before and ran in this wise:
“My dear son Frank:“I am writing this in the hope that you are safe despite the fearful volcano eruptions which have taken place in this quarter of the globe. I know you were bound for St. Pierre, but I have learned that by the goodness of an all-wise Providence theVendeeescaped the eruption that destroyed St. Pierre and all the shipping in that harbor.“Mr. Robertson and myself have had a narrow escape from death, and we do not yet know if we are entirely safe, for the volcano on this island is now as active as that on Martinique. We were within four miles of Mont Pelee when the eruption of May 8th occurred. We escaped by what was little short of a miracle, and were lucky enough to get on a trading vessel bound for this port. I had my lower limbs and feet considerably burnt, and Mr. Robertson suffered from burns on his feet and on his left arm. But none of the burns are serious,and we are resting here quite comfortably. If we were well enough we would set out in search of you, but as it is neither of us can do any walking at present.“I am sending this letter in duplicate to half a dozen ports in this territory, and Mr. Robertson is sending similar letters addressed to Mark. As soon as you receive a letter let me hear from you, as both of us are anxious for news. And also send word home if you are safe. Address me at the Windsor Hotel, Kingstown, Island of St. Vincent.”
“My dear son Frank:
“I am writing this in the hope that you are safe despite the fearful volcano eruptions which have taken place in this quarter of the globe. I know you were bound for St. Pierre, but I have learned that by the goodness of an all-wise Providence theVendeeescaped the eruption that destroyed St. Pierre and all the shipping in that harbor.
“Mr. Robertson and myself have had a narrow escape from death, and we do not yet know if we are entirely safe, for the volcano on this island is now as active as that on Martinique. We were within four miles of Mont Pelee when the eruption of May 8th occurred. We escaped by what was little short of a miracle, and were lucky enough to get on a trading vessel bound for this port. I had my lower limbs and feet considerably burnt, and Mr. Robertson suffered from burns on his feet and on his left arm. But none of the burns are serious,and we are resting here quite comfortably. If we were well enough we would set out in search of you, but as it is neither of us can do any walking at present.
“I am sending this letter in duplicate to half a dozen ports in this territory, and Mr. Robertson is sending similar letters addressed to Mark. As soon as you receive a letter let me hear from you, as both of us are anxious for news. And also send word home if you are safe. Address me at the Windsor Hotel, Kingstown, Island of St. Vincent.”
“Oh, how glad I am that they are safe!” murmured Frank, and then he looked at Mark, who had been reading his own letter. There were tears in the eyes of both and that look meant more than any words of mine can tell.
“I must go to Kingstown at once,” said Mark. “I can’t be satisfied until I see for myself just how they are faring.”
“And I will go with you,” answered Frank. “Perhaps the burns are worse than we imagine. I know father. He wouldn’t want to worry me.”
The matter was talked over by all, and in the end Professor Strong agreed to see about passage toSt. Vincent. Darry and Sam wanted to keep with Frank and Mark, and the whole party sailed southward the next morning at sunrise.
The run to St. Vincent, past the Island of St. Lucia, which, strange to say, had entirely escaped the eruptions on both sides of it, was made without anything unusual occurring. While still some miles north of the island for which they were bound they could see the smoke of La Soufriere and through the marine glasses took note of some of the terrible damage done.
“It is very fortunate that no large city was located near this volcano,” said Professor Strong. “No living thing could have escaped such an outburst as has taken place here.”
When the vessel reached Kingstown harbor the boys could scarcely wait to get ashore. They learned that the Windsor Hotel was in a suburb, and hired a carriage to take them to the hostelry.
“There is father now!” cried Frank, as they entered the beautiful grounds, and he pointed to a figure reclining in an invalid chair on the veranda.
“And my father is there, too!” exclaimed Mark.
In another moment they were out of the carriage and rushing up the veranda steps. As they camecloser both Mr. Newton and Mr. Robertson sat up to greet them.
“My boy!” cried Mr. Newton, and flung his arms around Frank. “My own boy!”
“Mark!” came from Mr. Robertson, and his face broke out into a warm smile of welcome. “We were just talking about you and wondering if we would get a letter.”
“You don’t know how glad I am to see you, even like this, father,” answered Mark. “We were afraid you had been burnt up.”
“Yes, and we went on a regular search for both of you,” broke in Frank.
“And they came pretty close to losing their own lives in that search,” came from the professor, as he shook hands.
“Then you went ashore—” began Mr. Newton, in wonder.
“Yes, we went volcano exploring,” said Darry.
“And we climbed Mont Pelee,” finished Sam. “I don’t believe we’ll ever want to do it again.”
“No,” finished Mark. “Once was enough. Now we are all safe away from it, I never want to see the island of Martinique again.”
And the others agreed with him.
Let me add a few words more, and then we will bring to a close this tale of sight-seeing and adventures in the West Indies.
What Mr. Newton and Mr. Robertson had written in their letters concerning their injuries was true. Although painful, none of the burns were serious, and they were both doing as well as could be expected. In a few days each was able to walk a little, and inside of a month both were practically as well as ever.
For the time being all business in Martinique, and a good part of that in St. Vincent, came to a standstill, and this being so nothing could be done regarding the dyewood scheme the two gentlemen had had in mind. Consequently the pair returned to the United States at the first available opportunity.
“Take good care of yourselves in the future, boys,” said Mr. Robertson, on leaving.
“And let the active volcanoes alone,” added Mr. Newton.
And all of the party agreed to heed the advice.
During the time spent in St. Vincent the boys made one trip northward toward La Soufriere. But though they inspected the great volcano from a distancethey took good care to keep out of the zone of fire.
“It’s a fearful spot,” said Mark. “Worse even than around Mont Pelee. It’s a regular Inferno on earth,” and the others said the same.
At last came the day for the young explorers to leave St. Vincent. Anxious to learn what had become of Hockley, who had not answered a letter sent to Trinidad by him, Professor Strong engaged passage on a vessel bound for Port-of-Spain.
“Hurrah, we are off at last!” cried Darry, as they set sail. “Good-bye to the West Indies.”
“After all, the trip through the islands wasn’t so bad,” said Sam. “We saw lots of interesting things.”
“I guess we shall see even more interesting things in the future,” came from Mark.
“Of course, our sight-seeing isn’t half over yet,” added Frank. He was right, and what the immediate future held in store for our young friends will be told in the next volume of this “Pan-American Series.” In that book we shall meet all our boys and the professor once more, and learn of many things as interesting, curious, or exciting as those related in these pages.
But for the present we will leave them, and also these ill-fated islands of the Lesser Antilles, the fate of which even to-day seems uncertain. Our friends made a happy group as they steamed rapidly southward, and here let us say good-bye.
THE END