“‘So it be! I had forgot that same.’
“‘And now if the bairn bides wi’ us there’ll be two Joseph Wyvils in the one house.’
“‘Well, then, and there cannot be too many Joseph Wyvils anywhere, if they be one and all as good as the first of the name! And, moreover, to distinguish the lads apart, we may even call the elder Joseph, and the younger Joe,’ concluded Zebedee.
“And as he carried the purse, his will was law in that little household, and so the point was settled. His nephew was known as Joseph Wyvil, and his little treasure trove as Joe.
“Joseph was a fine, strong, red-haired and freckle-faced youth of ten, Joe an ugly little black-a-vizzed monkey of four, and Elizabeth, or ‘Lil,’ a pretty baby of two years.
“Uncle Zeb left all his pay with his sister and shipped for another long voyage.
“The three children were brought up together and in due time sent to school.
“Joe, as the adopted son of Uncle Zeb, was taught to call the Widow Wyvil ‘Aunt’ and her children each ‘Cousin.’
“Years went by with but little of incident to the humble household, except in the periodical home-coming and sea-going of Uncle Zeb.
“When Joseph Wyvil, the widow’s son, was fifteen years of age, he was taken from school and apprenticed to a house carpenter, and in time he became a very skilful workman.