Beyond the Black Waters

“You’ll see it, Mr. Lawrence, you’ll see it――everything will be changed in England now that the old king is dead and the sailor William on the throne. The people are mad for cha...

“Coldstream planted every one of these with his own hand,” observed the doctor, as his companion stopped for a moment to admire a specially magnificent creeper. “His lady-love a...

The conversation was interrupted by the return of Thud, who seemed to be slightly excited, though his visage usually expressed nothing but self-satisfaction, the solemn look bef...

“I’ll wait and see Io and have a talk with her,” said Dr. Pinfold, as he again made himself comfortable in the easy-chair, after possessing himself of a newspaper which happened...

Io had been obliged in her interview with a medical adviser to give a detailed account of occurrences which had caused her the keenest pain; she had had to draw back a curtain t...

On that day the dinner of the Coldstreams, partaken of an hour or two before sunset, was shared by the chaplain and the doctor. Conversation flowed freely before the party sat d...

The Coldstreams and their guest now adjourned into the veranda to enjoy the evening air, and the golden glow on foliage and flower which gives such a charm to the sunset hour in...

The conversation was here interrupted by the return of Thucydides Thorn, who came hastily into the veranda. It needed a good deal to disturb the calm self-assurance which his ro...

“My first Sabbath in this land of the East!” thought Io, as her eyes first unclosed on Sunday morning. “This is a Communion Sabbath too. Oh, shall I to-day be granted the pricel...

“Where have you been, Thud?” inquired Io, as, a few hours after her return from church, her brother sauntered into the drawing-room, smelling of tobacco, and with his thumbs in...

As may be imagined, the dinner which was soon afterwards partaken of by the family was anything but a cheerful meal. For the first time Io sat opposite to her husband gloomy and...

Earnestly did Coldstream strive to impart cheerfulness to his young wife, but he could not give what he himself did not possess. He read aloud to her lively books, brought Shake...

“I have been adding to my Oscar’s troubles,” she said to herself, “instead of trying to lighten his burden. If he has indeed made a painful sacrifice to honour and duty, shall I...

Monday came. The huge bulk of the elephant, with its howdah outside, darkened the veranda; servants were busy lading mules; there were boxes of provisions, the small tent, trunk...

“Ha! ha! Master Thucydides Thorn, you are evidently a second Don Quixote, bent on adventures, or you would not start with a square yard of black sticking-plaster, bound ‘with re...

Thud could not be persuaded to mount Ma Ping again. Io pleaded to be allowed to walk, at least for a part of the stage; so she and Maha descended the elephant ladder, and for an...

Again the little cavalcade moved forward, and again Oscar heard a sweet voice warbling from the height of the howdah. Well he knew that the song was meant for his ear.

The question was decided in a startling manner. First, there was the sound of crashing of boughs, as if wild beasts were forcing their way through the thicket; then a burst of y...

“What are your wishes, my love?” asked Oscar, as he helped his wife out of the litter. “Shall we to-morrow proceed again towards Tavoy, or return to Moulmein?” Coldstream had to...

The mules having returned and had some hours’ rest, there was nothing now which need delay the travellers’ departure from the village; but Oscar wished to see a little more of t...

“What would Oscar do but for Io? is it Io who keeps him from peace?” A white trembling hand was on Coldstream’s arm, and he turned to meet the wistful, pleading gaze of his wife...

Io’s yearning was for quietness and solitude, but in the village neither was now to be found. The Karens, smiling, and with little offerings in their hands, came to see the whit...

Oscar arose very early, before his wife was awake. He went to his study, and, after long fervent prayer, took out the large sealed letter and carried it himself to the post. The...

The mail came, but not the comfort. The only letter was a black-edged one addressed to Oscar. He came to his wife with the letter open in his hand, and sadly and tenderly broke...

It need not be said that the Coldstreams awaited with more than interest the important reply to Oscar’s letter, though they never spoke about it. There were but two mails in the...

“This is the last day of the year,” observed Io to her husband, when they stood together on the deck as the vessel, sailing up the muddy Hoogly after a very rapid voyage, neared...

No one had expressed more indignation at Coldstream’s crime than did Thud when the news of it reached him. The lad had never liked his brother-in-law, of whom he had stood in so...

The confession of Oscar Coldstream received in London, and published in all the papers, did indeed excite a great deal of interest in England. It was the subject of articles in...

Banishment for life to the Andaman Islands――to the place which the natives of India speak of as “beyond the black waters,” a kind of Stygian pit into which the foul drains of gu...

As soon as Io quitted the prison cell of her husband, Oscar gave vent to the anguish which he had hardly been able to restrain in her presence. Leaving the loathed food untouche...

Away, away over the wide waters; farewell, a long, a last farewell to the civilized world! Coldstream’s parting with Lawrence is over; both felt that they should never look on e...

“O Oscar! this can be no penal settlement; it is a paradise, a perfect paradise of beauty!” was Io’s delighted exclamation as, aided by her husband, she stepped on shore. Imagin...