Seite:Marsh Hallig 1856.djvu/199

199

THE EBB-WALKERS.

panions in suffering, was to make them give free vent
to their own sighs and complaints.
  But onward and onward came the rolling water ;
wave piled itself on wave, each one cutting off a mo-
ment from the brief hour of life that remained.
  The fog finally disappeared entirely, burying its damp
mists in the sea. Only a few stars were visible in the
sky, and on the sea they who were standing nearly breast
high in the water could see nothing except, here and
there, the reflection of the star-light on the crest of a
curling billow. The darkness concealed the boat. But
there ! there ! and there again ! there are the lights of
the hallig. Close up your accounts the more quickly,
ye unhappy ones ! the light of your homes will serve for
your funeral tapers. How you have gone astray! These
lights show that you are three times further from the
hallig than when you first left the vessel. No cry of
yours can reach that distant coast ; and even if it could,
the swiftest boat could not come in time to save you.
There sit your loved ones waiting for you ! "He will
come soon !" say father and mother, wife and child,
brother and sister, and your place will be left vacant in
their midst till you come. For your warm reception,
for your refreshment after the journey, every thing is
ready ; all will seem familiar and friendly ; hearty and
sincere will be the welcome that greets you. You shall
tell the listening circle what you have seen, and praise
again your pleasant fireside. But no ! your place will
remain empty in the midst of that circle ; for onward
and onward rolls the tide, wave heaps itself on wave,
each snatching a moment from the short half hour
which still remains to you.