hat morning
received from him. In this letter I summarily disposed of the mutiny
and my subsequent adventures in half a dozen brief sentences, feeling
that such a matter could well wait until my father was in a more
congenial mood for the communication of particulars; devoting my entire
energies to the combating of those doubts which I now saw had been for
years insidiously sapping his happiness, ay, and his very intellect as
well I thanked him for taking me into his confidence, fully entered into
my reasons for regarding his suspicions as groundless, and besought him
first to communicate to me fully all the facts of the case--which, I
pointed out to him, I ought to be made acquainted with, in order that I
might be enabled to take the fullest advantage of any opportunity which
might offer, in my wanderings, to sift the matter to the bottom--and
then to dismiss all thought of it from his mind. This letter cost me
three or four hours of severe study; but I contrived to bring it to a
satisfactory conclusion at last; and then, with a considerably lighter
heart, I began and finished a letter to Inez, in which, mingled with the
usual lover-like protestations, I gave her full details of our adventure
from the parting moment on the beach to our arrival in Port Royal
harbour. I further told her that I found myself at that moment
possessed of a tidy little sum in prize-money, and that, inspired by my
love for her, I had resolved to fight my way to the top of the ladder
with the utmost possible expedition, with a great deal more of the same
sort, which would no doubt appear the most arrant nonsense to _you_,
dear reader, so I will not inflict it upon you.

These two important tasks completed, I felt very much more easy in my
mind, and was able to sit down to my dinner, which was shortly
afterwards served, with a tolerable appetite. Whilst I was engaged in
discussing the meal Courtenay came in. He informed me that he had
accepted an invitation for himself and me to spend a week with Mr
Thomson (the admiral's, and also our own, agent) at his country house,
some fifteen miles off in the heart of the Blue Mountain range; and
that, as he had been unable to find me in time for us to go out there
that evening, our host had promised to send in a couple of saddle-horses
and a negro guide for our accommodation next morning, and that we should
find them awaiting us at Mr Thomson's store at nine o'clock. This was
good news, for though I