Mrs. Jessop had been a mother to Eva, and she felt it would be hard to part with her.
‘Try and persuade Captain Manton to stay with us,’ she said to Wal. ‘We have room for him, and then I shall not lose Eva.’
Wal Jessop broached the subject to Captain Manton, who was easily persuaded to fall in with Mrs. Jessop’s wishes.
‘It will be better for Eva,’ he said, ‘for your wife has taken her mother’s place. I shall not want much attention. We old sailors are accustomed to looking after ourselves and taking things easily, eh, Wal?’
‘I guess we are,’ replied Wal; ‘I’m right glad you have decided to stay with us, skipper. I believe the wife would have broken her heart if you had taken Eva away from her.’
So Captain Manton and Eva remained at Wal Jessop’s cottage, and a happy united family they were.
Leaving Captain Manton and the Jessops, we must now return to Edgar Foster, who, after a safe passage home, was once more at his father’s house at Elm Lodge.
He related how Captain Manton was found, and excited interest by displaying a number of curiosities he had secured in the South Seas.
‘I wish Manton had come home with you,’ said his father; ‘I wanted to see him again.’
‘After all, I think he decided rightly to remain in Sydney,’ said Edgar. ‘Eva was much attached to Mrs. Jessop, and Wal will be a good companion for the captain.’