“You are tired, now, old fellow. A little rest, and the pleasant care of the villa will soon set you up again.”
“Perhaps so. At all events, I have strength enough for what I am called on to bear. How are they all?”
“Well and hearty. I 'd say jollier than I ever saw them before.”
“What a noble girl is Nelly!”
“Ay, and her companion, too. I tell you, Gusty, there's the same comrade spirit amongst girls that there is in a ship's company; and where good ones come together they make each other better. But tell me now of yourself. What's your news?”
“Not good; far from it. I believe, indeed, our cause is 'up.' He—Pracontal, I mean—intends to behave handsomely by us. There will be no severity used. Indeed, he means to go further; but I 'll have time enough for all this later on. I 'm so glad to see you again, my poor dear fellow, that I have no mind to think of anything else.”
“How did you get rid of Cutbill?”
“I have n't got rid of him; he is on board there. I don't think he means to land. I suspect he 'll go on with the steamer to-night; and he is so ashamed to show, that he is snug in his berth all this time.”
“But what does he mean by that?”
“He 's in a scrape, Jack, and had to get away from England to save himself from a jail; but I 'll tell you the story this evening,—or, better still, I 'll make him tell you, if you can manage to persuade him to come on shore.”