Page:The Story of Manon Lescaut and of the Chevalier des Grieux.pdf/278

282 dences of which we received during the whole voyage. He took care that we had good food; and the marked attentions which he showed us resulted in our being treated with the utmost respect by our companions in misery.

I made it my constant study to save Manon from suffering the slightest discomfort. My efforts to this end did not escape her observation; and her recognition of them, together with her deep sense of the extraordinary sacrifices which I had made for her sake, rendered her so tender and devoted, so full of solicitude on her side concerning my most trifling wants, that there grew up between us an incessant emulation in kindly offices and loving attentions to one another.

I felt no regret at having left Europe. On the contrary, the nearer we drew to America the more did I feel my heart expand and fill with a sense of peace. Could I have been certain that when we arrived there, we should not lack the absolute necessaries of life, I should have thanked Fortune for having given so happy a turn to all our troubles.

After a voyage of two months' duration, we at last came in sight of the long-looked-for shores.

The aspect of the country, as we gazed upon it for the first time, presented no inviting features to our eyes. Nothing was to be seen but a wide sweep of barren and uninhabited plain, dotted here and there with a scanty growth of reeds and a few trees, with branches stripped bare by the wind. There was not a trace of either animals or human beings.

However, the Captain ordered several of the ship's cannon to be discharged, and shortly afterwards we descried a number of the citizens of New Orleans running towards us with lively demonstrations of joy. We had