ppling down on his nose, which he would have done had not Owen
caught him by the hand, he exclaimed--

"Bless my heart! Can you be Owen Hartley? We had given you up for lost
long ago. But are you really yourself? Yes, I see you are, only double
as big, and a naval officer to boot. Well, it will put new life into
the old man, for he grieved sorely for you. Well, I am glad, that I
am."

Here Mr Tarwig wrung Owen's hand in a way very unwonted with him when
greeting a fellow-mortal.

"Mr Fluke will be pleased," he continued; "but he went home to-day an
hour earlier than usual. He did not feel quite well, and he wanted
Kezia Crump to give him something to do him good."

"I will follow him at once then," said Owen. "I can easily get to his
house before dark, and I should not like to let another day pass without
seeing him."

Owen, however, found it difficult to get away before he had answered the
numerous questions which Mr Tarwig put to him. None of his letters had
been received, and it was therefore supposed that he had been lost in
the "Druid," which ship had never been heard of since she had sailed.

"You may depend upon having your old berth here as soon as you like,"
said Mr Tarwig; "but I am afraid, Mr Owen, seeing you have become an
officer in the navy, that you will not be so willing as formerly to take
it, though your hand, I'll warrant, has not lost its cunning."

"I intend to act as Mr Fluke wishes, and therefore cannot say what I
may do," answered Owen, feeling, however, that he should be very
unwilling to go back to his old occupation.

For once in a way all the clerks in the office were idle, as Owen went
round to shake hands with them. He then hurried off, and walked at a
quick pace through the well-known streets. As he passed the spot where
he had first met Reginald Ashurst the whole scene came vividly before
his mind, he could even picture the countenance of the elder brother,
whom he now knew to have been Lord Arlingford.

On reaching Mr Fluke's house he hesitated for a moment to consider
whether his unexpected appearance might not injuriously agitate his old
friend. "I must leave it to Kezia to tell him. I can safely do that,"
he thought. "She is a strong-minded woman, and glad as she will be to
see me, she, at all events, will not go into hysterics."

He rapped at the door, hoping that Kezia would answer the summons
herself. He was not mistaken. She opened it and stood gazing at