“Thank you,” said Fritz, shaking the hand of the good-natured woman cordially. “I can’t express how grateful we both are to you and your husband for all your kindness to us, strangers in a foreign land!”
“What, do you leave me out?” put in Miss Celia saucily.
“I should think not,” returned Fritz gallantly. “I included you, of course, when thanking your mother. I’m sure words would fail to give you any idea of my feelings on the subject; but I dare say Eric spoke on my behalf this morning.”
“Indeed, he had too much to say for himself,” retorted the girl; “and, instead of his behaving like a quiet German lad, as I thought him, he was more of a saucy American sailor boy! Not that I minded that much,” she added demurely. “It made him more sparkish-like and all the pleasanter.”
“Really?” said Fritz, smiling. “I think I shall have to talk to Master Eric when I get on board the ship.”
“No, nary you mind that,” pleaded Miss Celia most magnanimously. “I forgive him this time; but you can tell him, though, I’ll pay him out when he comes back to our shanty, that I will!”
“All right, I will give him your message,” replied Fritz, as he shook hands with the fair little Rhode Islander, whose eyes were full of tears as she said good-bye, in spite of her sprightly manner and off-hand way. “And now, ladies,” he added, addressing them both collectively, “I must say farewell, hoping to have the pleasure of seeing you again on our return from Inaccessible Island, somewhere about two years hence.”
“I’m sure I hope so, too,” said the lady of the house kindly, Celia joining cordially in the wish; and Fritz then left the shanty, directing his steps down to the quay, where he expected to find the Pilot’s Bride still moored.
She was not here, however; but, after a moment, he could discern the vessel lying out in the river some little distance from the shore. There, anchored almost in mid-stream and with a blue peter flying at the fore as well as the American stars and stripes trailing over her stern, she looked even more picturesque than when Fritz had seen her lying along the wharf on his first view of her.
It was much earlier in the month than Captain Brown had stated was his usual time for starting on his annual voyage to the South Atlantic; but the skipper had accelerated his departure in order to have time to go to Tristan d’Acunha on his outward trip, instead of calling there as he usually did just before returning to Providence—so as to allow the brothers to pick up a little information that might be of use to them from the little colony at Tristan, before proceeding to their own selected settlement on Inaccessible Island.