Deeply did that loving household rejoice to receive back their lost
child. At once they procured him a proper dress, and a warm bath, and
tended him with every gentle office of female ministering hands. And in
the evening, when he told them his story in a broken voice of penitence
and remorse, their love came to him like a sweet balsam, and he rested
by them, "seated, and clothed, and in his right mind."
The pretty little room, fragrant with sweet flowers from the greenhouse,
was decorated with all the refinement of womanly taste, and its glass
doors opened on the pleasant garden. It was long, long since Eric had
ever seen anything like it, and he had never hoped to see it again. "Oh
dearest aunty," he murmured, as he rested his weary head upon her lap,
while he sat on a low stool at her feet, "Oh aunty, you will never know
how different this is from the foul, horrible hold of the 'Stormy
Petrel,' and its detestable inmates."
When Eric was dressed once more as a gentleman, and once more fed on
nourishing and wholesome food, and was able to move once more about the
garden by Fanny's side, he began to recover his old appearance, and the
soft bloom came back to his cheek again, and the light to his blue eye.
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