A fierce gale began to blow, and during the
furious storm that never abated for many an hour to come, the captain
had to remain, drenched to the skin, on deck, working and directing with
all his might, in order to save his ship. They never saw him again until
they landed at the Brill. That night the two girls set out on foot to
tramp the weary miles to Rotterdam, a gentleman refugee from Scotland,
who had come over in the same boat, acting as their escort. The stormy
weather of the North Sea had followed them to land. It was a cold, wet,
dirty night, and Julian Home, still frail from illness, soon lost her
shoes in the mud. There was but one solution to the difficulty. The
gentleman shouldered their baggage along with his own; Grisell
shouldered her sister, and carried her all the rest of those weary
miles. At Rotterdam they found Sir Patrick Home and his eldest son
awaiting them, to take them on to their new home in Utrecht, and wet and
cold and tiredness were all forgotten at the sight of those dear faces,
and Grisell "felt nothing but happiness and contentment."
For three years and a half they lived in Utrecht, and once again during
that time Grisell voyaged to Scotland to see to her father's business
affairs. It is difficult to discover what, during the rest of that time,
she did not do for her parents and family.
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