"He did not give his name," I answered; "but he said he was an old
friend of yours."
"An old friend of mine out here? Can it possibly be--and yet I think it
must. Beg him to come down. Oh! how I wish I was able to go on shore
and help him to get off his valuables! Strange! that is strange!" I
heard him say as I left the cabin.
I found the stranger in conversation with Emily and Grace, with whom he
seemed greatly interested. He was patting Emily's cheek, and looking
with an inquiring glance into her face, when I appeared.
Mr Hooker endeavoured to rise from his chair when the stranger entered.
"Is it possible?" he exclaimed, holding out both his hands.
"Hooker," exclaimed the stranger, "I know you!"
"And Sedgwick," answered the other, "in your somewhat out-of-the-way
garb, I know you still, my friend--my master in science--my instructor
in knowledge--"
The two friends eagerly shook hands, the stranger sinking down into a
chair, and looking eagerly into Mr Hooker's face.
"You will recover, never fear--you will recover," he exclaimed. "You
have had a touch of jungle fever; and if you can get on shore for a few
days, and live in the open air, instead of in this confined cabin, you
will quickly pick up your strength. But, Hooker, I had no idea you were
married. Are these young people on board your children? and the lady on
deck there, is she your wife?"
"No, no, no," answered Mr Hooker. "The old Dutchwoman is the young
girls' governante. And it is extraordinary! Can you think who those
children are?"
"Had I not seen the girl I might have been puzzled; for I cannot
conjecture what has brought them out here," and he turned round and
looked at me. "Yes; I recognise his father too.--Is your father out in
these parts?" he asked.
"No, sir," I answered. "They are both dead."
"Both dead, did you say? Your mother dead? For her sake I chiefly
longed to return to England; and she gone, boy! Do you know who I am?
I am your uncle! Did you ever hear of your uncle, Tom Sedgwick, the
naturalist?"
"Indeed I have," I answered. "And I heard that he had gone away, long
ago, to the Eastern Seas, and was supposed to have lost his life."
"That was but natural enough, as I did not appear," answered Mr
Sedgwick. "But it is very wonderful that you should have come to the
very place where I have been so long living apart from my
fellow-creatures. And your sister, what is her name?"