heir son Oliver, happily escaping, having been left with his grandame
in England when they went to the colony. Oliver Dane, a boy of spirit
and intelligence some years younger than Gilbert, was a frequent visitor
at the house of Mistress Audley and a great favourite of hers. She
pitied him also, for his grandfather could but ill manage him or afford
him the amusements suited to his age. He, like many boys of those days,
was longing to go to sea--to visit strange countries, and to engage in
the adventures of which he often heard from the mariners he met with in
Dartmouth. The result of her conversation with Captain White
strengthened the resolution of Mistress Audley to proceed to Virginia.
When young Dane heard of it, he was mad to go also. He begged Vaughan,
who had a great liking for the lad, to take him. He had no need to ask
Gilbert, who declared that they would not leave him behind.

Mistress Audley and Lettice were pleased at the thoughts of having him
with them.

Strange to say, the old man was willing to part with him. He must ere
long go into the world to seek his fortune, and he could not be placed
under better superintendence than that of Vaughan Audley, for whom he
had a high esteem, and who would afford him instruction and watch over
his interests. It was thus settled, to the great delight of Oliver
Dane, after much more had been said than need be repeated, that he
should accompany Mistress Audley and her family to Virginia.

Such of their goods as they considered likely to be of use, were packed
up in fitting packages for stowage on board ship, and such other
arrangements for the disposal of their property as were deemed necessary
were made with the help of a trustworthy lawyer at Dartmouth. Seeing
that the task was new to all of them, it was only just accomplished when
Roger Layton arrived from London, accompanied by two men, Ben Tarbox and
Nicholas Flowers by name, who had belonged to the _Sally Rose_, in which
Richard Batten had escaped from Virginia. They were both willing to
return to the country, and gave so circumstantial an account of the part
they had visited, and were so certain that they could find their way to
it again, that Roger had no doubt about the matter. Vaughan, who
examined them much as a lawyer would a witness, was well satisfied on
that score, but not so in other respects with one of the men, Nicholas
Flowers, whom he set down in his mind from the first as an arrant rogue