ut ceremony I hurried aft, but when he saw Dick, he started, and
then looked inquiringly at me.

"What, are you Dick Driver?" he exclaimed, as Dick, not forgetting his
manners, touched his hat to him.

"Yes, sir. I am myself, and I am right glad to see you alive and well;
and this is Charley Laurel, who, may be, you remember."

"Indeed I do," said Mr Falconer, shaking me warmly by the hand, and
inviting us down in his cabin. "I feared that you had been both killed
by the savages."

I briefly narrated how we had escaped, and when I told him that we had
visited Mr Newton, and left Miss Kitty well, only a few months before,
I judged by the agitation and interest he showed that she had not
misplaced her confidence in him.

"I am bound out to the South Seas, where I have hitherto in vain
attempted to go," he observed. "As soon as I reached England, I
obtained a berth on board a ship bound for the Pacific, but she was
unhappily wrecked not far from Cape Horn. I, with some of the crew who
had reached the land, was taken off by a homeward-bound ship, in which I
returned to England. I should immediately have again sailed, but
hearing that my father was ill, I went to visit him. I had the
happiness of being reconciled to him before he died, when I found myself
the possessor of a small fortune. It is not, however, sufficient to
enable me to live without a profession, and through the recommendation
of the late captain of the _Harmony_, which her owners were about to
send again to the Pacific, I obtained command of her, and trust before
long of again having the happiness of seeing Miss Raglan."

"I am sure, sir, she will be very glad to see you," I could not help
saying; and I told him that none of his letters had been received.

Captain Falconer kept me on board all day, and nearly the whole time was
spent by him in asking me questions, and hearing all I could tell him
about Miss Kitty. In the evening, he sent me and Dick back to the
_Phoebe_ in one of the _Harmony's_ boats.

Next morning a westerly breeze sprang up, and the two ships stood on
their respective courses.

After this we had a quick run to England, and, arriving in the Thames,
Captain Renton took me with him to the owners, Messrs. Dear and Ashe, to
whom he gave an account of my adventures. Mr Dear, the head of the
firm, was a mild-looking pleasant old gentleman. He called me into his
room, and asked me a number of questions, and then desired Captain