It was
then, with a really patriotic feeling, that he took the plant under
his care, promising to devote himself to it as he would to his
country, and to all the duties of his profession. And when the skiff,
after having quitted the vessel, returned again to renew the charge,
and to remind Desclieux once more that the plant must be watered
every day, and that copiously, he pledged his honour that, rather
than fail in this, he would himself die of thirst.
The ship sailed; the crew was composed of about one hundred men, and
of some passengers about to settle in the Antilles, amongst whom was
an amiable family, consisting of father, mother, and their only
daughter Louisa, a beautiful and accomplished girl of eighteen. In a
vessel where people are so much thrown together, meeting constantly
for a length of time, destined perhaps to share the same death, but
little time is required to form an intimacy which often ripens into
lasting friendship; and thus it proved in the case of the parents of
Louisa and Desclieux.
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