"Beg pardon, sir; may I be so bold as to ask if you are Mr Gray?"
"Gray is my name, young man," he answered, looking somewhat surprised,
"Who art thou?"
"Peter Trawl, sir; and this Jim Pulley, and here is my brother Jack."
If the kind Quaker had ever been addicted to uttering exclamations of
surprise he would have done so on this occasion, I suspect, judging from
the expression of astonishment which came over his countenance.
"Peter Trawl! James Pulley! Why, it was reported that those two lads
were lost in the North Sea years ago," he said.
"We are the lads, sir, notwithstanding," I answered; and I briefly
narrated to him how we had been picked up by the _Intrepid_ and carried
off to the Pacific, and how I had there found my brother Jack.
"Verily, this is good news, and will cheer the heart of thy young
sister, who has never ceased to believe that thou wouldst turn up again
some day or other," he said.
"Is Mary well, sir? Is she still with you?" I inquired, eagerly.
"Yes, Peter, thy sister is as one of my family. Though greatly pressed
by her newly-found relatives in Shetland to go there and reside with
them, she has always replied that she was sure thou wast alive, and that
thou wouldst come back to Portsmouth to look for her and that it would
grieve thee much not to find her."
"How kind and thoughtful!" I exclaimed. "Do let me go on, sir, at once
to see my young sister."
"Stay, lad, stay," he answered. "The surprise might be too great for
her. I will go back to my house and tell her that thou hast returned
home safe. Thou art so changed that she would not know thee, and
therefore thou and thy companions may follow close behind."
We saw Mr Gray go to his door and knock. It was opened by a
woman-servant, who I was sure, when I caught sight of her countenance,
was Nancy herself. She saw me at the same moment, and directly Mr Gray
had entered, came out on the doorstep, and regarded me intently.
"Yes, I'm sure it is!" she exclaimed. "Peter, Peter, aren't you Peter,
now? I have not forgotten thy face, though thee be grown into a young
man!" and she stretched out her arms, quite regardless of the
passers-by, ready to give me such another embrace as she had bestowed on
me when I went away. I could not restrain myself any longer, but,
giving the things I was carrying to Jack, sprang up the steps.
"Here he is, Miss Mary, here he is!" cried Nancy, and I saw close behind
her a tall, fair girl.
Nancy, however, had time to give me a kiss and a hug before I could
disengage myself, and the next moment my sweet sister Mary had her arms
round my neck, and, half crying, half laughing, was exclaiming--
"I knew you would come, I knew you would, Peter; I was sure you were not
lost!"
My brother Jack and Jim were, meantime, staying outside, not liking to
come in till they were summoned. Nancy did not recognise them, and
thought that they were two shipmates who had accompanied me to carry my
things.
At last, when I told Mary that I had not only come myself, but had
brought back our brother Jack, she was eager to see him, though she was
so young when he went away that she had no recollection of his
countenance, and scarcely knew him from Jim.
Mary had let me into the parlour. I now went and beckoned them in.
Nancy, when she knew who they were, welcomed them warmly, but did not
bestow so affectionate a greeting on them as she had done on me. Jim
stood outside the door while I brought Jack in. Though Mary kissed him,
and told him how glad she was to see him, it was easy to see that she at
first felt almost as if he were a stranger.
Mr Gray left us to ourselves for some time, and then all the family
came in and welcomed us kindly, insisting that Jack should remain with
me in the parlour, while Nancy took care of Jim in the kitchen, where he
was much more it his ease than he would have been with strangers. Jack,
indeed, looked, as he afterwards confessed to me he felt, like a fish
out of water in the presence of so many young ladies.
Though I had twice written to Mary, and had directed my letters
properly, neither had reached her; yet for all these fears she had not
lost hope of seeing me.
After supper, Jack and I were going away, but Mr Gray insisted that we
should remain, as he had had beds arranged for us in the house.
"I must not let you lads be exposed to the dangers and temptations of
the town," he said in a kind tone. "You must stay here till you go to
sea again."
Mary at once wrote to Mr Troil to tell him of my return, and of my
having brought my brother Jack back with me.
While waiting for an answer, one day Jack and Jim and I were walking
down the High Street, when we saw a large placard stating that the
_Thisbe_ frigate, commissioned by Captain Rogers, was in want of hands.
"I shouldn't wonder but what he was my old skipper," observed Jack.
"And you fine young fellows couldn't do better than join her," exclaimed
a petty officer, who was standing near, clapping Jack on the back.
"Why I think I know your face," he added.
"Maybe. I'm Jack Trawl. I'm not ashamed of my name," said my brother.
"Jack Trawl!" exclaimed the man-of-war's man; "then you belong to the
_Lapwing_. We all thought you were lost with the rest of the boat's
crew."
"No, I wasn't; Miles Soper and I escaped. Now I look at you, ain't you
Bill Bolton?"
"The same," was the answer. "Tell us how it all happened."
Jack in a few words told his old shipmate what is already known to the
reader. While he was speaking, who should come up but Miles Soper
himself, come down to Portsmouth to look out for a berth, accompanied by
Sam Coal. The long and the short of it was that they all three agreed
to enter aboard the _Thisbe_, and did their best to persuade Jim to
follow their example.
I had no notion of doing so myself, for I knew that it would break
Mary's heart to part with me again so soon, and I feared, indeed, that
she would not like Jack's going. Still, taking all things into
consideration, he could not do better I thought--for having been so long
at sea, he felt, as he said, like a fish out of water among so many fine
folks.