It was settled at last that we was all to go together, an'
so, one bright mornin' we stood on the deck of the ship that was
carryin' us far away from home an' all we loved, far away to the strange
land across the sea. With the tears runnin' down our faces, we waved
farewell to the shores of Ireland, an' Mona, though she didn't know it,
was wavin' farewell to happiness in this world. Poor girl, it's little
she knew from that day on but grief an' trouble an' sufferin'.
"Well, child, as I was sayin', it was the fine, bright mornin' that we
left Ireland, but the good weather held for only a few days after. Then,
there blew up such a storm as I never see before an' hope never to see
again. It was fearful, fearful. I couldn't describe it to you if I
tried. We just lay in our berths, every one of us, our backs agin the
wall, our knees braced agin the board in front, an' we holdin' on for
dear life expectin' every moment to be dashed out on to the floor an'
have all our bones broken. We was too frightened to say a word, but we
prayed, oh, my! how we did pray, every mother's son of us. For nigh onto
three days that poor boat struggled on bravely agin the ragin' storm,
but the ship wasn't built that could live in that sea, an' the end was
bound to come sooner or later. Come, it did, at last. An officer stood
on the stairs orderin' us all up onto the deck; the ship had sprung a
leak, the water was pourin' in faster than they could pump it out, an'
we must take to the boats at once.
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