“Don’t be crying so, my dear young lady,” said the pretended chief. “I promise you that both he and you are safe enough for the present; my pretty boys here won’t hurt any of those whom I say are my friends.”
“Indeed, sir, whoever you are, I am most grateful for your succour,” I observed. “You have saved this dear young girl’s life as well as my own.”
“Oh, but Mark came just in time to save mine,” interrupted Eva.
“Mark! Is that your name? I had a friend once of that name, but you are not a bit like him,” exclaimed the stranger.
“The name I have always borne is that of Mark Seaworth,” I answered, remembering that I had good reason to suppose that it was not my real one.
“Mark Seaworth! The very same; I ought to have known you at once; and I am delighted to find you, old fellow. I am, by Jerico, Seaworth!” exclaimed the stranger, grasping me by the arm, and wringing it till he almost dislocated my shoulder in the warmth of his feelings.
“I also am indeed delighted to meet an old friend,” I returned; “but, for the life of me, in your present costume I cannot recall your features.”
“Ah! I quite forgot; this rather uncommon rig for an English gentleman must somewhat have puzzled you,” he answered, laughing. “Well, then, you remember Blount, at old Liston’s. I am the same, I can assure you, Seaworth; rather transmogrified as to my outward man, I own.” The voice and turn of expression instantly recalled my old friend Walter Blount to my recollection, and I returned his grasp with as hearty a shake as he had given me.
We had, however, as he observed, very little time for explanations, as it was necessary to beat a retreat before the allies of the tribe his friends had attacked were aroused and able to follow them. The warriors were now collecting from all parts, their work of vengeance being accomplished; and under the escort of Blount, who assisted me in supporting Eva, we proceeded towards the north in company with the advanced body. As we skirted the borders of the lake we found a canoe sufficiently large to contain three persons. As it would save Eva much fatigue, I proposed to Blount to take it and to pull to the end of the lake, where we might again place ourselves under the escort of the warriors. As we were paddling swiftly along, he gave me a brief outline of his history, after I had told him how I came to be in the position in which I was.
“You know, Seaworth, I was always a very wild fellow, and you used to get me out of numbers of scrapes,” he begun. “Well, at last I became tired of school, and I did nothing but bother my friends to send me to sea. I used to write round to every friend and relation I possessed, once a fortnight at least—to the more influential ones oftener; till, either to save their pockets the expense of postage, or because they saw that my heart was set on the life, they all met and consulted together, and agreed that I should be sent on board an Indiaman, where I should be more likely to make a fortune than in the Royal Navy, and should have no occasion to repeat the trick I had played them when I wanted my promotion. So I was fitted out with the proper number of shirts and socks, and sent on board the Hooghly.