The Two Destinies

by Wilkie Collins

called to him to stop, when I saw the figure of thechild pause on its airy course. I looked upward again. The child's handpointed toward the river. I paid the postilion and left the carriage.Floating on before me, the child led the way to a wharf crowded withtravelers and their luggage. A vessel lay along-side of the wharf readyto sail. The child led me on board the vessel and paused again, hoveringover me in the smoky air.

  I looked up. The child looked back at me with its radiant smile, andpointed eastward down the river toward the distant sea. While my eyeswere still fixed on the softly glowing figure, I saw it fade away upwardand upward into the higher light, as the lark vanishes upward andupward in the morning sky. I was alone again with my earthlyfellow-beings--left with no clew to guide me but the remembrance of thechild's hand pointing eastward to the distant sea.

  A sailor was near me coiling the loosened mooring-rope on the deck. Iasked him to what port the vessel was bound. The man looked at me insurly amazement, and answered:

  "To Rotterdam."

  CHAPTER XXXIV. BY LAND AND SEA.

  IT mattered little to me to what port the vessel was bound. Go where Imight, I knew that I was on my way to Mrs. Van Brandt. She had needof me again; she had claimed me again. Where the visionary hand of thechild had pointed, thither I was destined to go. Abroad or at home,it mattered nothing: when I next set my foot on the land, I should befurther directed on the journey which lay before me. I believed this asfirmly as I believed that I had been guided, thus far, by the vision ofthe child.

  For two nights I had not slept--my weariness overpowered me. I descendedto the cabin, and found an unoccupied corner in which I could lie downto rest. When I awoke, it was night already, and the vessel was at sea.

  I went on deck to breathe the fresh air. Before long the sensation ofdrowsiness returned; I slept again for hours together. My friend, thephysician, would no doubt have attributed this prolonged need of reposeto the exhausted condition of my brain, previously excited by delusionswhich had lasted uninterruptedly for many hours together. Let the causebe what it might, during the greater part of the voyage I was awake atintervals only. The rest of the time I lay like a weary animal, lost insleep.

  When I stepped on shore at Rotterdam, my first proceeding was to ask myway to the English Consulate. I had but a small sum of money with me;and, for all I knew to the contrary, it might be well, before I didanything else, to take the necessary measures for replenishing my purse.

  I had my traveling-bag with me. On the journey to Greenwater Broad I hadleft it at the inn in the market-town, and the waiter had placed it inthe carriage when I started on my return to London. The bag contained mycheckbook, and certain letters which assisted me in proving my identityto the consul. He kindly gave me the necessary introduction to thecorrespondents at Rotterdam of my bankers in London.

  Having obtained my money, and having purchased certain necessaries ofwhich I stood in need, I walked slowly along the street, knowing nothingof what my next proceeding was to be, and waiting confidently for theevent which was to guide me. I had not walked a hundred yards beforeI noticed the name of "Van Brandt" inscribed on the window-blinds of ahouse which appeared to be devoted to mercantile purposes.

  The street door stood open. A second door, on one side of the passage,led into the office. I entered the room and inquired for Mr. Van Brandt.A clerk who spoke English was sent for to communicate with me. He toldme there were three partners of that name in the business, and inquiredwhich of them I wished to see. I remembered Van Brandt's Christian name,and mentioned it. No such person as "Mr. Ernest Van Brandt" was known atthe office.

  "We are only the branch house of the firm of Van Brandt here," the clerkexplained. "The head office is at Amsterdam. They may know where Mr.Ernest Van Brandt is to be found, if you inquire there."

  It mattered nothing to me where I went, so long as I was on my way toMrs. Van Brandt. It was too late to travel that day; I slept at a hotel.The night passed quietly and uneventfully. The next morning I set forthby the public conveyance for Amsterdam.

  Repeating my inquiries at the head office on my arrival, I was referredto one of the partners in the firm. He spoke English perfectly; andhe received me with an appearance of interest which I was at a loss toaccount for at first.

  "Mr. Ernest Van Brandt is well known to me," he said. "May I ask if youare a relative or friend of the English lady who has been introducedhere as his wife?"

  I answered in the affirmative; adding, "I am here to give any assistanceto the lady of which she may stand in need."

  The merchant's next words explained the appearance of interest withwhich he had received me.

  "You are most welcome," he said. "You relieve my partners and myselfof a great anxiety. I can only explain what I mean by referring fora moment to the business affairs of my firm. We have a fishingestablishment in the ancient city of Enkhuizen, on the shores of theZuyder Zee. Mr. Ernest Van Brandt had a share in it at one time, whichhe afterward sold. Of late years our profits from this source have beendiminishing; and we think of giving up the fishery, unless our prospectsin that quarter improve after a further trial. In the meantime, havinga vacant situation in the counting-house at Enkhuizen, we thought ofMr. Ernest Van Brandt, and offered him the opportunity of renewing hisconnection with us, in the capacity of a clerk. He is related to one ofmy partners; but I am bound in truth to tell you that he is a very badman. He has awarded us for our kindness to him by embezzling ourmoney; and he has taken to flight--in what direction we have notyet discovered. The English lady and her child are left deserted atEnkhuizen; and until you came here to-day we were quite at a loss toknow what to do with them. I don't know whether you are already awareof it, sir; but the lady's position is made doubly distressing by doubtswhich we entertain of her being really Mr. Ernest Van Brandt's wife. Toour certain knowledge, he was privately married to another woman someyears since; and we have no evidence whatever that the first wifeis dead. If we can help you in any way to assist your unfortunatecountry-woman, pray believe that our services are at your disposal."

  With what breathless interest I listened to these words it is needlessto say. Van Brandt had deserted her! Surely (as my poor mother had oncesaid) "she must turn to me now." The hopes that had abandoned me filledmy heart once more; the future which I had so long feared to contemplateshowed itself again bright with the promise of coming happiness to myview. I thanked the good merchant with a fervor that surprised him."Only help me to find my way to Enkhuizen," I said, "and I will answerfor the rest."

  "The journey will put you to some expense," the merchant replied."Pardon me if I ask the question bluntly. Have you money?"

  "Plenty of money."

  "Very good. The rest will be easy enough. I will place you under thecare of a countryman of yours, who has been employed in our office formany years. The easiest way for you, as a stranger, will be to go bysea; and the Englishman will show you where to hire a boat."

  In a few minutes more the clerk and I were on our way to the harbor.

  Difficulties which I had not anticipated occurred in finding the boatand in engaging a crew. This done, it was next necessary to purchaseprovisions for the voyage. Thanks to the experience of my companion, andto the hearty good-will with which he exerted it, my preparations werecompleted before night-fall. I was able to set sail for my destinationon the next day.

  The boat had the double advantage, in navigating the Zuyder Zee, ofbeing large, and of drawing very little water; the captain's cabin wasat the stern; and the two or three men who formed his crew were berthedforward, in the bows. The whole middle of the boat, partitioned offon the one side and on the other from the captain and the crew, wasassigned to me for my cabin. Under these circumstances, I had no reasonto complain of want of space; the vessel measuring between fifty andsixty tons. I had a comfortable bed, a table, and chairs. The kitchenwas well away from me, in the forward part of the boat. At my ownrequest, I set forth on the voyage without servant or interpreter. Ipreferred being alone. The Dutch cap
tain had been employed, at a formerperiod of his life, in the mercantile navy of France; and we couldcommunicate, whenever it was necessary or desirable, in the Frenchlanguage.

  We left the spires of Amsterdam behind us, and sailed over the smoothwaters of the lake on our way to the Zuyder Zee.

  The history of this remarkable sea is a romance in itself. In the dayswhen Rome was mistress of the world, it had no existence. Where thewaves now roll, vast tracts of forest surrounded a great inland lake,with but one river to serve it as an outlet to the sea. Swelled by asuccession of tempests, the lake overflowed its boundaries: its furiouswaters, destroying every obstacle in their course, rested only when theyreached the furthest limits of the land.

  The Northern Ocean beyond burst its way in through the gaps of ruin;and from that time the Zuyder Zee existed as we know it now. The yearsadvanced,