In Search of the Castaways / A Romantic Narrative of the Loss of Captain Grant of the Brig Britannia and of the Adventures of His Children and Friends in His Discovery and Rescue

by Jules Verne

"My lord, will your ladies, your companions, and yourself do us the honor to accompany us to our house?"

"May I ask, gentlemen, whom I have the honor of addressing?" inquired Glenarvan.

"Michael and Alexander Patterson, proprietors of Hottam Station. You are already on the grounds of the establishment, and have but a quarter of a mile to go."

"Gentlemen," replied Glenarvan, "I should be unwilling to slight a hospitality so graciously offered——"

"My lord," interrupted Michael Patterson, "by accepting you will confer a favor upon two poor colonists, who will be only too happy to extend to you the honors of the desert."

Glenarvan bowed in token of assent.

"Sir," said Paganel, addressing Michael Patterson, "should I be too inquisitive were I to ask if it was you who sang that divine air of Mozart last night?"

"It was I, sir," replied the gentleman; "and my brother accompanied me."

"Well, sir," continued Paganel, extending his hand, "accept the sincere compliments of a Frenchman, who is an ardent admirer of Mozart's music."