"Of course I am astonished, surprised, astounded, as I ought to be on an occasion like this. About the last I knew of you, you had just got married. Have you become so accustomed to married life that you are ready to leave your wife on shore while you wander over the ocean again?" asked the visitor in a good-humored, rallying tone.
"Not a bit of it, my dear Captain. My wife is worth more to me than all the money she brought me, though she is as much of a millionaire as young Mr. Belgrave, we find. She is on board of the Blanche at this moment; and Ruth will be delighted to see you and all your people."
"I am glad all is so happy with you, and I may be tempted to marry myself," laughed the commander.
"You are already tempted, and you will yield to the temptation."
"I have not been tempted like Adam in the garden; if I had been, I should have swallowed the apple whole," replied Captain Ringgold, who had never said so much before on this delicate subject to any person. "It will have to be Adam this time that does all the tempting. But I wish you would explain to me how you happen to be fixed up here like Aladdin in one of his fairy palaces. I suppose, of course, you are sailing in your own steamer?"
"Not at all; for though we have money enough now, we are not disposed to throw it away upon a ship with so much style about her as the Blanche carries over the ocean. But I have not asked you about your party on board of the Guardian-Mother. I like that title, and if I had had the naming of the Blanche, I should have called her the Protecting Grandmother, or something of that sort."
"The company on board of my ship are all in excellent health and spirits. By the way, we have a dinner party at six, and you and your wife must assist; and it will be a most unexpected pleasure."
"I will go; but it is four now, and we haven't half time enough to do our talking. But come to my cabin; and then, if you will excuse me for a moment, I will notify Mrs. Sharp, so that she may be ready for the dinner."
Captain Sharp sent the sailor at the gangway to show the visitor to his cabin, while he went aft on his errand. Captain Ringgold found the cabin consisted of two apartments, one of which was evidently his wife's boudoir; and nothing could have been more elegant or convenient. In fact, it was Oriental magnificence, though the portion appropriated to the commander was fitted up with the usual nautical appliances. The occupant of the cabin soon appeared; and he acted as though he wanted to hug his visitor, though he satisfied himself by taking his hand again. He evidently credited the captain of the Guardian-Mother with both his wife and his fortune.
"Now take this arm-chair, Captain Ringgold, and we will have it out," said the commander of the Blanche. "My wife will be ready in an hour, and she will be delighted to see Mrs. Belgrave and the rest of the party; for she is particularly fond of that lady, though they have both been in the same relation to Scoble."