“And do you mean to tell me, sir, do you mean to tell me, that that infernal little rascal, after cheating Frank out of his place here, induced him to go down to Yorkshire, kept him doing nothing until he had spent the little money he took down, and then kept him at work like a common foreman on two pounds a week?”
“Yes, sir, that is all Frank got.”
“I wonder Frank did not break his neck for him. I wonder how he stood it a single day.”
“How could he help it, sir? He had not a penny at the time; both he and his wife were too proud to write to her relations. I know from what he has told me, that over and over again he was on the edge of breaking out, but with his wife and children what could he do? As he told me, he ground his teeth and bore it. But it has a little changed Frank, Captain Bradshaw. It has made him rather sore, and I think you must prepare yourself for a little difficulty when you first meet him. Frank would have cheerfully borne anything himself, but it has tried him very much to see his wife suffer; and I can assure you, from what he has told me, that she has actually suffered. Katie was as bright as ever when she came up to London before starting, but there was no mistaking from her face that she has had a great deal to go through. Frank never told even me, to whom he told nearly everything, the shifts to which they were reduced; but there was a look of sharp pain came across his face when he spoke of those times, which told me more than any details could have done.”
There was silence for a short time, and then Prescott, desirous of changing the subject, said, “I may not see you to-morrow morning before I start for town, Captain Bradshaw; but I hope you will telegraph to me the instant the ship is signalled. I will come down by the next train.”
“Go up to town, Mr. Prescott! Quite impossible, my dear sir; we cannot spare you. I shall want you above all things to explain matters to Frank; because it’s as likely as not that he will not listen to me for a moment. Come, Mr. Prescott, it is Friday to-day; you cannot get up to town until to-morrow afternoon. The next day is Sunday, and the ship will very likely come in on Monday. Pooh, pooh! my dear boy; it is out of the question.”
“I really have a good deal to do,” Prescott said; “I told the clerk I should be sure to return by to-night’s mail; but, as you say, I should not gain much by it, and I would very much rather stay here. So, if you really think my presence is at all essential at the meeting between yourself and Frank——”
“I do think it most essential, my dear Prescott; he knows anyhow that you are his sincere friend, while he looks upon me as a despotic, savage, half-insane old man.”
And so Prescott remained, and was very happy for the next three days. It was so pleasant being with Alice, walking beside her, sitting with her, and having long quiet tête-à-têtes, while Captain Bradshaw read the paper or dozed in his chair. The wind still held to the south with a little west, and was very light and uncertain, and it was not until the morning of Tuesday, as they were at breakfast, that the messenger came in to say that a vessel was just coming into the roads, with the “Tasmania’s” number flying.
“Thank God!” Captain Bradshaw ejaculated, fervently; “now, Alice, finish your breakfast, my dear, and let us be off as soon as we can. The sooner we get it over the better; for I can tell you I feel as nervous as a schoolboy going up to confess a fault to his master.”