It was the early summer when one evening I came in sight of my home.
The windows and doors were open. Without hesitation I walked up the
steps, forgetting the effect which my sudden appearance might produce on
my family. One of my youngest sisters was in the passage. I beckoned
to her.
"What do you want?" she asked; "you must not stop here; go away."
"What! don't you know me?" I asked.
"No," she answered; "who are you?"
"Jack--your brother Jack," I answered. On this she ran off into the
drawing-room, and I heard her exclaim, "There's a great big beggar boy,
and he says he is Jack--our brother Jack."
"Oh no, that cannot be!" I heard one of my other sisters reply. "Poor
Jack was drowned long ago in the _Naiad_."
"No, he was not," I couldn't help exclaiming; and without more ado I ran
forward. My appearance created no small commotion among three or four
young ladies who were seated in the room.
"Go away; how dare you venture in here?" exclaimed one or two of them.
"Will you not believe me?" I cried. "I am Jack, I assure you, and I
hope soon to convince you of the fact."
"It is Jack, I know it is!" exclaimed one of them, jumping up and coming
forward. I knew her in an instant to be Grace Goldie, though grown
almost into a young woman. "It is Jack, I am sure it is," she added,
taking my hand and leading me forward. "Oh, how strange that you do not
know him!"
My sisters now came about me, examining me with surprised looks. "How
strange, Grace," said one; "surely you must be mistaken?"
"No, I am sure I am not," answered Grace, looking into my face, and
putting back the hair from my forehead. "Are you not Jack?"
"Yes, I believe I am," I answered, "though if you did not say so I
should begin to doubt the fact, since Ann, and Mary, and Jane, do not
seem to know me."
"Well, I do believe it is Jack," cried Jane, coming up and taking my
other hand, though I was so dirty that she did not, I fancy, like to
kiss me.
"So he is--he must be!" cried the others; and now, in spite of my
tattered dress, their sisterly affection got the better of all other
considerations, and they threw their arms about me like kind girls as
they really were, and I returned their salutes, in which Grace Goldie
came in for a share, with long unaccustomed tears in my eyes.
Just then a shriek of astonishment was heard, and there stood Aunt
Martha at the door. "Who have you got there?" she exclaimed.
"It's Jack come back," answered my sisters and Grace in chorus.
"Jack come back! impossible!" cried out Aunt Martha, in what I thought
sounded a tone of dismay.
"Yes, I am Jack, I assure you," I said, going up to her; "and I hope to
be your very dutiful and affectionate nephew, whatever you may once have
thought me;" and I took her hand and raised it to my lips.
"If you are Jack I am glad to see you," she said, her feelings
softening; "and it will at all events be a comfort to your poor mother
to know that you are not drowned."
"My mother! where is she?" I asked--"I trust she is not ill."
"Yes, she is, I am sorry to say, and up-stairs in bed," replied my aunt;
"but I'll go and break the news to her, lest the sound of all this
hubbub should reach her ears, and make her inquire what is the matter."
I had now time to ask about the rest of my family. My father was out,
but was soon expected home, and in the meantime, while Aunt Martha had
gone to tell my mother, by my sisters' advice I went into the bedroom of
one of my brothers, and washed, and dressed myself in his clothes. By
the time Aunt Martha came to look for me I was in a more presentable
condition than when I entered the house.
I need not dwell on my interview with my mother. She had no doubts
about my identity, but drawing me to her, kissed me again and again, as
most mothers would do, I suspect, under similar circumstances. She was
unwilling to let me go, but at length Aunt Martha, suggesting that I
might be hungry, a fact that I could not deny, as I was almost ravenous,
I quickly joined the merry party round the tea-table, when I astonished
them not a little by the number of slices of ham and bread which I
shortly devoured. My father soon arrived. He was not much given to
sentiment, but he wrung my hand warmly, and his mind was evidently
greatly relieved on finding that his plan for breaking me of my desire
for a sea life had not ended by consigning me to a watery grave. He was
considerably astonished, and evidently highly pleased, when I put into
his hands the box and case which old Tom had given into my care; and I
told him how I had fallen in, on board the _Naiad_, with the boy I fully
believed to be Mr Clement Leslie's heir.
"This is indeed strange," he muttered, "very strange, and we must do our
best to find him out, Jack. It's a handsome estate, and it will be a
pity if the young fellow is not alive to enjoy it. I must set Simon
Munch to work at once."
"Perhaps if the Russian frigate has returned home, we may learn from her
officers what has become of him," I suggested. "We will think the
matter over. Would you like a trip to Russia, Jack?"
"Above all things, sir," I answered. "I could start to-morrow if it
were necessary;" though I confess I felt very unwilling to run away
again so soon from home, especially as my mother was so ill. Perhaps,
also, Grace Goldie entered somewhat into my considerations.
Next morning while we were at breakfast, and my father was looking over
the newspaper, he exclaimed. "We are in luck, Jack! Did you not say
that the name of the Russian frigate which picked you up was the
_Alexander_? I see that she has just arrived at Spithead, from China
and the Western Pacific. If so, there is not a moment to be lost, for
she will probably be off again in a few days. You must start at once.
Get your sisters to pack up such of your brother's things as will fit
you, and I'll order a post-chaise to the door immediately."
"I shall be ready, sir, directly I have swallowed another egg or two,
and a few more slices of toast," I answered. "Munch must go with you,
that there may be no mistake about the matter," said my father. "He
will be of great assistance."
All seemed like a dream. In a quarter of an hour I was rattling away as
fast as a couple of posters could go, along the road to London. I sat
in a dignified and luxurious manner, feeling myself a person of no
little consequence--remembering that, at the same hour on the previous
day, I had been trudging along the road ragged and hungry, with some
doubt as to the reception I was to meet with at home. My tongue was
kept going all the time, for Munch wished to hear all about my
adventures. "Well, Master Jack, I am glad to have you back," he said.
"To tell the truth, my conscience was a little uncomfortable at the part
I had taken in shipping you off on board the collier, though I might
have known--" he cast a quizzical look at me--"that those are never
drowned who--"
"Born to end their lives comfortably in bed," I added, interrupting him.
"You needn't finish the sentence in the way you were about to do; I was
never much of a favourite of yours, Mr Munch, I know."
"I hope we shall be better friends in future, Master Jack," he remarked.
"You used, you know, to try my temper not a little sometimes."
As the old clerk was accustomed to long and sudden journeys, we stopped
nowhere, except for a few minutes to get refreshments, till we rattled
up to the George Inn at Portsmouth.
Much to our satisfaction, we heard from the waiter that the Russian
frigate was still at Spithead, and as the weather was fine, we hurried
down the High Street, intending at once to engage a wherry and go off to
her. As we reached the point a man-of-war's boat pulled up, and several
officers stepped on shore. "That is not the English uniform," observed
Munch; "perhaps they have come from the Russian frigate." He was right,
I was sure, for I thought that I recognised the countenances of several
I had known on board the _Alexander_. Among them was a tall, slight
young man, dressed as a sub-lieutenant. I looked at him earnestly,
scanning his features. It might be Clement, yet I should not under
other circumstances have thought it possible. The young man stopped,
observing the way I was regarding him, and I began to doubt that he
could be Clement, as he did not appear to know me. I could bear the
uncertainty no longer, so, walking up to him, I said, "I am Happy Jack!
Don't you know me?" His whole countenance lighted up. With a cry of
pleasure he seized both my hands, gazing earnestly in my face. "Jack,
my dear fellow, Jack!" he exclaimed. "You alive, and here! Happy you
may be, but not so happy as I am to see you. I mourned you as lost, for
I could not hope that you had escaped a second time." His surprise was
great indeed when I told him I came especially to search for him, and we
at once agreed to repair to the "George," that I might give him the
important information I had to afford, and settle, with the aid of Mr
Munch, what course it would be advisable for him to pursue.
He was overwhelmed, as may be supposed, with astonishment and
thankfulness when I told him of the wonderful way in which I had become
possessed of the title-deeds and jewels, which would, I hoped, establish
his claims to a fair estate.
This matter occupied some time. "With regard to quitting the ship," he
observed, "there will, I trust, be no difficulty. I am but a
supernumerary on board, and as I could not regularly enter the service
till the frigate returned to Russia, the captain will be able to give me
my discharge when I explain the circumstances in which I am placed."
Having settled our plans, Mr Munch and I went on board with Clement.
The captain at once agreed to what Clement wished, though he expressed
his regret at losing him. My friend the doctor recognised me, and
treated me, as did several of the other officers, with much kindness and
politeness. I was, however, too anxious to get Clement home to accept
their courtesy, and the next morning we were again on the road
northward.
Clement had studied hard while on board the Russian frigate, and had
become a polished and gentlemanly young man, in every way qualified for
the position he was destined to hold. He was made not a little of by my
family, and though at one time I felt a touch of jealousy at the
preference I fancied he showed to Grace Goldie, he soon relieved my
fears by telling me that he hoped to become the husband of one of my
sisters.
My father, after a considerable amount of labour, proved his identity
with the son of Mr Clement Leslie, who perished with his wife at sea,
and established his claims to the property.
I had had quite enough of a "life on the ocean wave," and though I had
no great fancy for working all day at a desk, I agreed to enter my
father's office and tackle to in earnest, my incentive to labour, I
confess, being the hope of one day becoming the husband of Grace Goldie.
We married, and I have every reason still to call myself "Happy Jack."