The two men shook hands warmly, and then the stranger was invited in.
"Where do you come from?" asked Mrs. Bradley after she had welcomed the man to the home. "You are an unexpected visitor, forsooth!"
"From the good ship 'Hope,' which is in the harbor," the man explained. "I could not wait till tomorrow, and so I prevailed upon the captain set me ashore. I just had to see my old mate this evening."
"So the good ship 'Hope' arrived?" Mr. Brad asked. "That is fine, for the colonists are eagerly waiting for supplies; and I know there is a shipment for me."
"Yes, so the captain tells me," the stranger said and he at once began to relate why he had come America.
This he did upon the urgent request of Mr. Bradley who was much surprised at so unexpected a visit.
"Well, it was this way," the stranger began, after he had lighted his pipe and taken a few draughts of the tea which Mrs. Bradley set before him. "In England they are all talking about the wonderful success of the Colony, and there are thousands of people ready to come over, if only they could pay their fare."
"I hope they do not come over without funds" Mr. Bradley said, "for we have difficulties of our own; and I hope, too, that they will not send us worthless and lazy fellows. We cannot use them here."
"I understand, I understand," John Rawlins said; "well, when you sold the business and came over here, Mrs. Bradley, I stayed over in the old, country, and this, as you know, for Mrs. Rawlins sake, who was an invalid. But the days of her earthly pilgrimage are over, and she rests under the flowers of old England. What should I do, a widower and a lonely man? So I bethought myself of you, and lo, here I am seeking work, as in the days of yore."
"And you are exceedingly welcome," Mr. Bradley said warmly; "your faithful services are worth gold to me. If you seek employment, you are hired at your own price this very evening."