George Weston took the hand of Captain Sedley, and in fit terms expressed his gratitude.
"And we have to thank him for a thousand other favors since your poor father's death. I don't know what would have become of us without him."
George renewed his thanks, and called down the blessing of Heaven on the benefactor of his mother.
"Come, boys, we had better go," said Captain Sedley.
The boat club withdrew, with the exception of Tony.
"Mrs. Weston, I shall be happy to see you and all your family at my house at tea this evening," continued Captain Sedley.
"Thank you, sir; we shall certainly come," replied the widow.
"And, Captain Sedley, my mother shall soon have a house to which she can invite her friends," said George Weston, with a smile.
The little front room of the widow Weston's cottage was the scene of a joyful reunion on that eventful day. George related his adventures to his mother, and shed many a tear when he heard her tell of the trials through which she had passed during his absence. The future was still open to him, and he determined to fill it with joys for her which should in some measure compensate her for the sorrow and suffering of the past; for George regarded poverty and want as misery, and did not see how his mother could have been contented, as she professed to have been.
After dinner the site for a new house was selected, plans were matured for sending Mary to the Rippleton Academy, and Tony was to be kept at the grammar school till he was qualified for the high school.