Brydell, choking with emotion, held out his hand and, for the first time in the lives of the two young men, they met in mutual goodwill.
It was now time for the Naiad to sail for home, and Esdaile had to be taken back in her before he was consigned to prison. He was kept in solitary confinement and treated rigorously but not unkindly.
Brydell asked permission of the admiral to go to Esdaile’s cell every day for a few minutes. They would talk together, and Brydell began to see that Esdaile was indeed a changed man. These visits became the one bright spot in Esdaile’s hard life, and when at last the ship reached New York he felt that he had at least one friend in the world.
* * * * * * * *
One night some years after that Brydell, now one of the brightest lieutenants in the navy, sat in his pleasant quarters writing. His wife sat near him under a softly shaded lamp, reading. After a long silence, broken only by the scratching of Brydell’s pen, he turned to her and handed her a paper.
“Read that, Minna,” he said. “Esdaile, I believe, is a reformed man. These people will give him a place as bookkeeper, but as he told them frankly his past history, they write me that if I will go on Esdaile’s bond for five thousand dollars they will take him. I don’t believe there is the slightest danger; his fault, you know, was not connected with money; but I don’t think it right for any man to assume this sort of responsibility without his wife’s consent. So it rests with you whether I shall guarantee Esdaile or not.”
Minna took the letter and read it carefully. Then handing it back said softly: “Of course you must sign it. Didn’t you promise the poor marine when he was dying that you would befriend his boy?”
“It is you who are befriending him now,” answered Brydell. “Whenever a man is saved there is always a good woman who has a share in it. Between us we will redeem my promise to dear old Grubb. Here goes!” And Brydell signed the letter.
A FOK’SLE STORY.
