"Well, Enoch's ship sailed off--out to the South Seas it was. The summer and the autumn passed and then the winter came. An entire year went by, and in that time, not one letter came home from Enoch. You can imagine Sabrina's anxiety and excitement when the ship finally sailed back into the harbor, but I don't think any of us can imagine her disappointment when all the other sailors disembarked from the ship, yet no Enoch appeared.

"One young man on the ship was a couple years older than Enoch and had known him since their schooldays. When Enoch's brother had died, this young man had taken it upon himself to look after Enoch; it was said when one of the other boys at school had called Enoch a murderer because of his dead brother, this older boy had thrashed the accuser so hard no one else ever dared whisper such a rumor again. This young man was the last to come off the ship that day, and when he saw Sabrina standing on the dock, her eyes welling up with tears, he hated to be the one to tell her, but he felt it was his duty.

"'Enoch decided to leave us,' he told Sabrina, 'in a foreign port'--I forget the name of it now--'he--' and then the man paused, trying to find words to soften the blow, but Sabrina could not bear the silence, and suddenly everyone on the dock heard her shout out, 'Why? Why? Where's my Enoch?'

"So the young man quickly put his arm around her and led her from the crowd, and then to calm her, he said, 'Enoch has great prospects. He believes he can make his fortune in that place, and--'

"'How?' she demanded, for in her heart, Sabrina had begun to doubt Enoch's fidelity.

"'He has a plan,' said the young man. 'He thought he'd start up a plantation there--pineapples and bananas--and he'll make a great deal of money. He's just starting out now, so he told me to give you all his love, and to ask you to be patient. He's going to send for you to come to him just as soon as he can. He kept asking me to tell you that he loves you very much.'