“This, my son, was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!”
Only a word more.
The terrible experiences Teddy had had, and the sense of discipline inculcated in him during his short training at sea, made such a change in his character that henceforth he lost his former justly-earned titles, being never more called either “pickle” or “scapegrace.”
He has not, however, abandoned the profession he originally adopted, in spite of its many perils and dangers, and the fact that a sailor’s life is not altogether of that rose-coloured nature which story-writers usually make out.
No, he still sails under his old captain in the same line, and voyages backwards and forwards between Melbourne and London with praiseworthy punctuality, in the new ship Captain Lennard commands in place of the old Greenock. The vessel, too, is a regular clipper in her way, beating everything that tries to compete with her, whether outwards or inwards bound.
Teddy looks forward some day to taking his skipper’s place when he retires from active life afloat, and following the example of Uncle Jack, who is already a captain too in his own right; for he is as steady and trustworthy now as he was formerly impetuous and headstrong.
But, mind you, he has lost none of his pluck or fearless spirit, and is the same genial, good-tempered, and happy-dispositioned boy he was in earliest childhood—knowing now the difference between true courage and mere bravado, and the value of obedience to those in authority over him.
As for Miss Conny, in spite of her ordinary sedateness of demeanour and constant asseveration that she would only marry a clergyman like her father, she is, to use Teddy’s expressive diction, “spliced to a sodger,” having become engaged some time since to a gallant captain in a marching regiment that was quartered for a while at Bigton, within easy access of Endleigh.
Cissy and Liz are both growing up nice girls; while the vicar is still hale and hearty, giving his parishioners the benefit every Sunday of a “thirdly” and sometimes “fourthly, brethren,” in addition to the first and second divisions of his sermon; and never omitting his favourite “lastly” with “a word in conclusion” to wind up with.
Doctor Jolly, to complete our list of characters, is yet to the fore with his catching laugh, as “jolly” as ever; and, Jupp and Mary have likewise been so tenderly dealt with by time that they hardly look a day older than on that memorable occasion when Master Teddy introduced himself to public notice.