A COMMUNICATION. 247 for us. Thanks to her, we shall be easily able to get to the settle- ment of Fort Michael on Norton Sound, perhaps even to New Arch- angel, a good deal farther south, where we can pass the rest of the winter." " Poor Fort Hope ! " exclaimed Mrs Barnett, " it goes to my heart to think of abandoning it on this island. It has been built at the cost of so much trouble and fatigue, everything about it has been so admirably arranged by you, Lieutenant ! . I feel as if my heart would break when we leave it finally." " You will not suffer more than I shall, madam," replied Hobson, " and perhaps not so much. It is the chief work of my life ; I have devoted all my powers to the foundation of Fort Hope, so imfortu- nately named, and I shall never cease to regret having to leave it. And what will the Company say which confided this task to me, for . after all I am but its humble agent." "It will say," cried Mrs Barnett with enthusiasm, "it will say that you have done your duty, that you are not responsible for the caprices of nature, which is ever more powerful than man. It will understand that you could not foresee what has happened, for it was beyond the penetration of the most far-sighted man, and it will know that it owes the preservation of the whole party to your prudence ^ and moral courage." "Thank you, madam," replied the Lieutenant, pressing Mr^ Barnett's hand, " thank you for your warm-hearted words. But I have had some experience of men, and I know that success is always admired and failure condemned. But the wiU of Heaven be done ! " Sergeant Long, anxious to turn the Lieutenant from his melan- choly thoughts, now began to talk about the preparations for the approaching departure, and asked if it was not time to tell his comrades the truth. " Let us wait a little longer,'* replied Hobson. " We have saved the poor fellows much anxiety and worry already, let us keep silent until the day is fixed for the start, and then we will reveal the whole truth." This point being decided, the ordinary occupations of the factory went on for a few weeks longer. o How different was the situation of the colonists a year ago, when they were all looking forward to the future in happy unconscious- ness !
