Page:The Wreck of a World - Grove - 1890.djvu/121

Rh Dana called his coast-guard, that his vessel was in sight far down on the Eastern horizon. What should have taken him so far in that direction I could not guess, nor why he should be concluding his cruise before the allotted time, which was by no means his habit. An hour later the same messenger came with the news, that the vessel was approaching, but that Mr. Dana had rigged up some very queer gear on board; and soon after came the further intelligence that the vessel in sight was not the "Hope," and that the smoke of a second steamer was just visible toward the same point of the compass.

What did this mean? As I hastened to the nearest look-out place I found the whole population, as it appeared, hurrying in anxious silence, broken only by confused murmurs, to the same spot. Arrived I took the glass from the old sailor and gazed long at the distant vessel. No, it was not the Hope. And sure enough, on the horizon was plainly seen the smoke of a second vessel; and as I thought, of a third. Had Europe then escaped the ruin of America, and was this some squadron of her many fleets exploring the seas in search of the remnant of the American people?