“Ah! then he is gentle and kind. You are very happy, Roderick.”
“I—happy, Madam!”
“I speak plainly, and in English—happy.”
“Oh! yes, we are all very happy here.”
“It is well. A discontented ship is no paradise. And you are often in port, Roderick, to taste the sweets of the land?”
“I care but little for the land, Madam, could I only have friends in the ship that love me.”
“And have you not? Is not Mr Wilder your friend?”
“I know but little of him; I never saw him before”—
“When, Roderick?”
“Before we met in Newport.”