“Yes,” said a voice close to him; and his brother’s hand was laid upon his arm. “Yes, Ned, and we are going to make the best of it.”
“You think so, Jack?” said the captain, eagerly.
“Yes. I was dead against it at first.”
“You were.”
“Horribly. It meant giving up my club—our clubs, and at our time of life working like niggers, plunging into all kinds of discomforts and worries; but, please God, Ned, it’s right. It will be a healthy, natural life for us all, and the making of those three boys in this new land.”
Captain Bedford grasped his brother’s hand; but he could not speak. The comfort given by those words, though, was delightful and his face lit up directly with a happy smile, as he saw the excitement of the three boys, all eager to begin the new life.
He looked a little more serious though, as his eyes lit on the party of ladies fresh from a life of ease; but his countenance brightened again as he thought of how they would lighten the loads of those ill able to bear them. “And it will be a happy, natural life for us all. Free from care, and with only the troubles of labour in making the new home.”
But Captain Bedford was letting his imagination run. More troubles were ahead than his mind conceived, and directly after he began making plans for their start.