"Let me beg of you," he wrote,
"to lie in wait for me here till I come back."
When he had been gone two days, I felt that I ought to tell my wife the
cause of our trip, as it might ease her mind, and she now had some fear
lest her son should not be safe. She heard me to the end, and then said
that she was sure he would not fail, but soon bring back good news.
As we were all on the look-out for Fritz, we saw his boat a long way
off.
"There is no one with him in the boat," said I to my wife; "that does
not say much for our hopes."
"Oh, where have you been?" said the boys, all at once, as he came on
board. But they scarce got a word from him. He then drew me on one
side, and said, with a smile of joy, "What do you think is the news I
bring?"
"Let me hear it," said I.
"Then I have found what I went forth to seek, and our search has not
been in vain."
"And who is it that you have found?"
"Not a man," he said, "but a girl. The dress she wears is that of a
man, and she does not wish at first that her sex should be known to
more that we can help, for she would not like to meet Ernest and the
rest in that state, if they knew that she was a girl. And, strange to
tell," said Fritz, "she has been on shore three years."
While I went to tell the news to my wife, Fritz had gone down to his
berth to change his clothes, and I must say that he took more care to
look neat in his dress than was his wont at home.
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