"I have heard there is a mortgage on the farm which is the home of Tom Jones and his mother," said the Captain. "I will pay that off as my gift to Tom, in recognition of his bravery and kindness in risking his own life in the effort to save that of our little son."
"Do," said Violet, joyfully; "he certainly deserves it, and probably there is nothing he would like better."
"He is certainly entitled to the largest reward I give," said the Captain, "though I daresay almost any of the others would have acted just as he did, if they had had the same opportunity."
Ned slept well under his uncle's care that night, and the next morning appeared at the breakfast table looking much as usual, and saying, in answer to loving inquiries, that he felt as if nothing had happened to him; not a bit the worse for his bath in the sea.
Nor was he disposed to blame Tee-tee for his involuntary plunge into the water; the two were evidently as fast friends as ever.
After breakfast the Captain had a talk, first with Jones, then with the other men, in which each learned what his reward was to be. Jones was almost too much moved for speech when told of his, but expressed his gratitude more fully afterward, saying, "It is a blessed thing to have a home of one's own; especially when it can be shared with one's mother. Dear me, but won't she be glad!"
And the others were highly pleased with the ten dollars apiece which fell to their shares.