244 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
“We have passed through no small trouble since my last 
by the ‘Dance,’” wrote Mr. Danks. “Death has cast a 
shadow over our home, and our hearts are sore. Mr. 
Brown’s youngest son, Wallis, has been taken away from 
this life, and there is a void in our hearts and home. He 
was such a bright, hearty little fellow, so pretty, both in 
appearance and manner, that all who saw him could not 
but love him. Mrs. Brown is broken-hearted. I need not 
enlarge upon her sorrow in order to secure for her the sym- 
pathy of God’s people, for J am sure the prayers of all our 
churches will go up as that of one man, that the ‘God of all 
comfort’ would comfort her in her tribulation when they 
hear of this sad event. You will understand the darkness 
which has surrounded us better if I give you an account of 
the events as they occurred. 
“On Tuesday, September 30, Geoffrey, Mr. Brown’s eld- 
est son here, was taken ill. Fever ran very high, and the 
poor boy suffered much. We managed that case very well, 
and in a few days he began to recover. On Wednesday, 
October 1, Wallis became very restless; we could not make 
out what was wrong with him, but supposed that teething 
was the cause, and treated him accordingly. On Thursday 
afternoon, as Mrs. Danks was nursing him, he gave a sud- 
den start, and was at once seized with convulsions. We 
did all we could for the poor child, and at last had the sat- 
isfaction of seeing him recover from the attack. After a 
few days he seemed to be making rapid progress toward 
complete recovery. 
“On Friday night Mrs. Danks was suddenly seized with 
a fainting fit as she was nursing Wallis, and I was only just 
in time to save her from a severe fall. Fever set in, and for 
three days and nights she was continually vomiting, and dur- 
ing all that time she was in dreadful pain. She is only now 
beginning to recover strength. : 
“On Wednesday, October 8, I was taken ill with fever, 
and passed through twenty-four hours of misery. I recoy- | 
ee ae 
