“You will be able to go to bed comfortably without fear of having the roof taken from over your head by a hurricane.”
“Ah! that is indeed a matter to which I have not given sufficient consideration, but it is certainly a very substantial advantage, as we have all good reason to know.”
“I never think of it without shuddering,” Alice said. “It was awful! It seemed as if there was an end of everything! I think it was the memory of that night that first set me thinking of going to England.”
“Then I cannot but feel grateful to that hurricane, for if you had remained out there it is probable that I should never have met you again.”
“I am having a large conservatory built so that we can have greenness and flowers all the year,” Mr. Palethorpe remarked presently.
“I should think that would be charming. I hope you will be settled at Dulwich long before I come back from my next cruise.”
“Well, I don’t know that I can say the same, Will. I hope your next cruise will be a short one.”
When dinner was over, the chairs were drawn up to the fire, and Will related his adventures since his return from the West Indies.
“Have you heard of your two favourite sailors?” Alice interrupted.
“Dimchurch and Tom Stevens? No, I have not. I shall feel lost without them at sea, and sincerely hope that I may some day run against them, in which case I am sure, if they are free, they will join my ship.”