SAFELY HOME AT LAST.
Yes, after all their tales and adventures, our heroes are once more
safe on British ground. What says Dibdin?
"No more of winds and waves the sport,
Our vessel is arrived in port;
At anchor, see, she safely rides,
And gay red ropes adorn her sides.
The sails are furl'd, the sheets belay'd;
The flag that floats astern display'd,
Deserted are the useless shrouds,
The lasses row aboard by crowds.
Then come, my lads, let joy abound,
We're safely moor'd on English ground!"
* * * * * * * * * * *
It only remains for me to "muster by open list", as we say in the
Royal Navy.
Let me say a word or two, then, about my _dramatis personæ_, and so
clue up.
There are always a few surprises awaiting the sailor when he returns
home after a long cruise. Jack looks forward to these with some
anxiety, as the ship is getting nearer and still more near to the
chalky cliffs of Old England. He thinks himself a very happy man
indeed if these surprises turn out to be pleasant ones; which, alas!
they are not always. Some dear one,--father, mother, wife, sister,
or sweetheart, who ought to have come out in a shore-boat to meet
him, is missing.
But there are friends alongside to bear him the sad tidings.
She is dead! He is dead!
And poor Jack had been so expectantly happy for days and weeks before
this! He had entirely forgotten that there was any such thing as
death in the world.
Look at his sadly bewildered face now.
"Courage, Jack, courage!" says some brave mess-mate with a tear in
his eye. Jack returns the pressure of the hard yet friendly hand,
but--goes down below to weep.
* * * * * * * * * * *
As soon as the _Osprey_ was paid off, and he had bade farewell to his
mess-mates, Creggan, accompanied by his dearest friend the Ugly
Duckling, took train for Torquay.
He did not even telegraph to say he was coming. The two arm in arm,
after paying off the hansom they had chartered, sauntered up the
terraced garden and rang the great hall bell.
Ah! but Matty herself had been watching. A lovely girl she was now
of sweet seventeen.
The meeting of the lovers, for lovers I now may call them, was
heartfelt and cordial; but Creggan did not venture to kiss her.
Then she spied the empty sleeve, and, girl-like, burst into tears.
"Ah, never mind, dear!" said Creggan soothingly. "See what it has
brought me--honour and glory, and the Victoria Cross."
"Oh, Creggan, Creggan," cried Matty, "the poor arm was worth a
thousand Victoria Crosses!"
"Oh, it wasn't for that I got the Cross! But how do you come to be
here, Matty?"
"Oh, I've been living here for months. Just keeping your dear mother
company."
"And where is mother?"
"She has gone into the town. She will be home soon. You will have
time to tell me quite a deal before she comes."
The Ugly Duckling, with Admiral Jacko in full uniform, had been
standing at some little distance, but now Creggan beckoned him
forward and introduced him.
"My dearest friend and shipmate, Matty."
The Duckling bowed, ship-shape and sailor-fashion; so did the Admiral.
Matty was laughing now right merrily.
"I'm sure," said his master, "Admiral Jacko would make a speech if he
could. I must make one in his stead. Well, Miss Matty, I can't help
saying what I think, you're just about the sweetest, all-tautest
little craft I've seen since I left Venezuela, and if I were not
engaged to be married, why--I'd--I'd run my friend aboard, cut him
out, and marry you myself."
Matty bent down over Oscar to caress him, but at the same time to
hide her blushes.
"Well, I'm going to take Jacko inside," said the Duckling. "I'm sure
I shall find something for him to eat, and something to drink."
And away he marched, which was really very kind and thoughtful of him.
Then hand in hand down through the shrubbery and rose lawns went
Creggan and Matty. Ah!--
"There's nothing half so sweet in life
As love's young dream".
Creggan felt almost too happy to speak. But he did speak at last,
and from all I know he told the old, old, but ever new tale.
"Now tell me, Matty," he said after this, "how your father is. You
have said my mother is well."
"Yes, and dear old father too. But he is much in London now."
"And Willie?"
"Oh, that is why Daddy is in London. Willie, you know, stood for the
borough of Blankham, and was duly elected. Weren't we all so happy
just? And I've been to the strangers' gallery myself, and saw Willie
in his place. And really he looked by far the nicest there. I only
wonder that--"
She paused.
"That what, Matty?"
"That when he rose to make a speech they coughed him down."
"Exceedingly rude!"
"Yes, but they did; and Willie got so red in the face, and I thought
he was going to cry. But he just took up his hat and was going to
leave, when a kind-faced gentleman with long white hair put a hand on
his shoulder. I don't know what he said, but Willie went straight
back to his seat and sat down again."
* * * * * * * * * * *
"But you haven't said a word about my Daddy the hermit, and I hope he
lives."
"Not only does he live, Creggan, but he has left Skye and his lonely
island, and has come to settle down close beside us here. He dines
with us every night."
"How delightful!"
"The minister says he is clothed and in his right mind."
"Poor old Daddy, he always was in his right mind."
"Ah! but you should see how nicely he dresses now. You would take
him for some reverend old professor. You will see him to-night."
"And Archie M'Lean?"
"Still in America, and I think will remain there for years. They say
he is making money, and that he means to come back and marry Maggie."
"What, Maggie M'Ian?"
"Yes."
"Heigh-ho!" sighed Creggan. "I feel getting very old."
Matty laughed right merrily. "Poor old sailor!" she said roguishly.
"But, oh, look, here comes Daddy himself!" And so it was.
Matty might well have said he looked like an old professor. His hair
was long and gray, and he was dressed in broadcloth. Yet there was
no sign of age about him as the glad smile of surprise brightened his
face, and he hurried up with both hands extended to greet and welcome
Creggan home.
"My own dear sailor boy!"
He could say no more just then, and like Matty took refuge in the
caresses he bestowed on Oscar.
Yes, Oscar knew him well after all these years, for dogs never, never
do forget the dear ones they love.
Need I add that the meeting betwixt Creggan and his mother was a
happy one? Surely that is unnecessary.
The Ugly Duckling and Admiral Jacko were declared to be prisoners for
three weeks.
"But my sister, madam!" was all the former urged against his
imprisonment.
That objection was quickly set aside, for Creggan's mother sent for
her, and she joined the jolly party at "The Pines".
* * * * * * * * * * *
Years have gone since then.
Creggan has retired, of course. One-armed sailors are not considered
available for active service.
But it is only a few months since our hero led Matty to the altar, a
bonnie, bonnie young bride indeed.
And the Ugly Duckling, who has also retired, having come into some
money, is now master of a beautiful barque (clipper), and she is all
his own.
He took the newly-wedded couple down the Mediterranean on a long
honeymoon. This was all the more jolly because the hermit himself,
with Oscar and Admiral Jacko, were of the party.
And so the story ends.
Oh no, not quite; I must let the Ugly Duckling have the very last
word.
He and Creggan were sitting together on the quarter-deck while
sailing down the blue Levant, and while the stars, so lustreful,
shone above them and were reflected from the sea, it was in answer to
a remark of Creggan's that he spoke.
"Yes, dear boy," he said, "I'm going out to Venezuela soon, and if
Natina still loves me, she shall be my bride. For who but romantic
Natina could think of giving her heart and hand to so ugly a duckling
as poor me?"
THE BOYS' LIBRARY
Uniform with this Volume
Silas Verney. Edgar Pickering.
The Missing Merchantman. Harry Collingwood.
Brothers in Arms. F. Bayford Harrison.
The Lost Explorers. Alex. Macdonald.
The Great White Chief. R. M. Macdonald.
Brownsmith's Boy. G. Manville Fenn.
Nat the Naturalist. G. Manville Fenn.
Bunyip Land. G. Manville Fenn.
The Pirate Island. Harry Collingwood.
Dick o' the Fens. G. Manville Fenn.
Devon Boys. G. Manville Fenn.
In the King's Name. G. Manville Fenn.
The Golden Magnet. G. Manville Fenn.
The Log of the "Flying Fish". Harry Collingwood.
Across the Spanish Main. Harry Collingwood.
The Pilots of Pomona. Robert Leighton.
The Golden Galleon. Robert Leighton.
The Naval Cadet. Dr. Gordon Stables.
Grit Will Tell. R. Stead.
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