All her hopes, her future, and
her life were in him. For herself, she had
ceased to hope.
"I can give thee no fatherland, my child," she
said to him. "Thou shalt never know the name
of him who gave thee life. Thou and I, we
shall struggle together, and, as true as there is
a God above, who sees us, He will not leave either
of us to perish. But let us ask no questions,
child, about that which is past. Thou shalt
grow and be strong, and thy mother must grow
with thee."
During the third week of the voyage, the
English clergyman baptized the boy, and she
called him Thomas, after the day in the almanac
on which he was born. He should never
know that Norway had been his mother's home;
therefore she would give him no name which
might betray his race. One morning, early in
the month of June, they hailed land, and the
great New World lay before them.
III.
Why should I speak of the ceaseless care, the
suffering, and the hard toil, which made the
first few months of Brita's life on this continent
a mere continued struggle for existence? They
are familiar to every emigrant who has come
here with a brave heart and an empty purse.
Suffice it to say that at the end of the second
month, she succeeded in obtaining service as
milkmaid with a family in the neighborhood of
New York. With the linguistic talent peculiar
to her people, she soon learned the English
language and even spoke it well. From her
countrymen, she kept as far away as possible, not
for her own sake, but for that of her boy; for
he was to grow great and strong, and the knowledge
of his birth might shatter his strength and
break his courage.
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