Ralph's adventures were now at an end; Mr. Gilchrist gave up his wanderings, and went down to Rangoon with him, under the escort of Mr. Brudenel, when that gentleman went to give evidence against the tiger dacoit. He went the more willingly inasmuch as Ralph's little orchids proved to be of a hitherto unknown species, and very valuable.
Sunshine, plentifully rewarded, was restored safely to her friends, and all the houses were rebuilt better and stronger than before.
Great treasures of English manufacture reached the place from time to time; for Ralph never forgot the children with whom he had played, the women who had tended him, the men who had fought by his side, or the grave of him who had been his worst enemy and his greatest friend.
To that man's father he wrote, making light of his failings, but detailing his gallantry at every point.
In course of time he received an answer, which ran as follows:—
"Sir,—I thank you for the comfort which you have given me regarding my dear son. Your letter, with his confession, and attempt to redeem his past, are an old man's greatest treasures, and shall lie on his breast when life shall be no more."
Ralph rose to wealth and repute in Rangoon, and was always a comfort to his mother, the joy of her heart.
Mr. Gilchrist became a great scientific botanist, and published many a volume upon the jungles of Burma.