Edgar made many attempts to induce Captain Manton to return to England with him.
The captain, however, was firm in his determination not to leave Sydney.
‘I want to end my days here in peace,’ he said to Edgar; ‘I have only Eva to live for, and I feel we shall be happy here with our good friends the Jessops. You will tell your father how much I thank him for all his kindness to me and mine.’
‘I am sorry you have decided to remain here,’ said Edgar; ‘we should all be so pleased to welcome you home.’
‘I feel I must remain, my lad,’ said Captain Manton. ‘I want to be near the place where I lost my wife and my ship, and all the poor souls who went down with her. God knows I did my best to save them, but it was not to be. I feel it to be my duty to stay here—a duty I owe to the dead who lie buried fathoms deep off this spot. At Watson’s Bay I hope to end my days, and I am thankful Eva has been restored to me to keep me from being lonely in my declining years.’
Wal Jessop became more reconciled to parting with Edgar Foster when he heard that Captain Manton had decided to remain and take a small cottage at Watson’s Bay.
‘I should have been lost without one of you,’ he said, ‘and I don’t know what the wife would have done without Eva. She loves that bairn as much as if she were her own.’
The day that Edgar sailed for home Captain Manton and Eva stood on the cliffs at Watson’s Bay, and watched the great steamer pass slowly through the Heads. They waved their handkerchiefs, and Captain Manton, looking through his glasses, spied Edgar leaning over the rails of the upper-deck also waving a farewell.
As he saw those two figures on the cliffs, Edgar Foster felt a sadness creep over him at the thought that he might never see them again. He watched them as the steamer ploughed its way south, until they were mere specks against the sky-line.
As for Captain Manton and Eva, they stood there until the steamer had disappeared, and only a faint line of smoke denoted where she had sunk below the horizon. Then the captain took Eva by the hand, and led her gently down the rough, steep, pathway to Wal Jessop’s cottage. He did not feel lonely, for he had his child to comfort him, and he knew the remainder of his life would be quiet, uneventful, and peaceful. He had determined to devote his life to his child, and to try and teach her how to be a brave, good woman.