“We must think the matter over, and consider what can be done,” said the lieutenant. “Ask your father, Charley, to come here and give me the benefit of his advice, and I will write to Hanson, they’ll have his address at the Admiralty, and he will come down here and tell us what he thinks best, or I’ll go up to London myself and see their lordships. They would not wish a promising young officer to be lost without taking all possible steps for his recovery.”
Charley’s spirits rose as he found his friends even more sanguine than himself as to the finding of Ned. They talked on and on without any material alteration in their proposed plan. The lieutenant said that he would write to Mr Farrance, as in duty bound, to tell him of Ned’s disappearance, and to ask his advice. “He has the means of helping us, and judging from the generous way in which he has acted towards Ned, I feel sure that we can rely on him,” he observed.
Charley went back with a message to his father, who came over that evening, and the subject was again discussed in all its bearings, indeed the old lieutenant could think and talk of nothing else. He had, in the meantime, despatched his letters to Mr Farrance and the late first lieutenant of the “Ione,” and determined, by the advice of Mr Meadows, to take no steps until he heard from them.
The next day Charley again came over, and greatly interested Mary and her aunt by the account he gave of their adventures in the Indian Ocean. He inspired Mary with a strong wish to see the horrible traffic in slaves put an end to.
“If I had a fortune I would devote it to that object,” she exclaimed enthusiastically. “What sufferings the poor little children have to endure; and then the agony of their parents as they are dragged off from their homes to die on their way to the sea, or on board those horrible dhows, or to be carried into slavery, which must be worse than death.”
Her remarks had greater influence on Charley than even the miserable state of the slaves on board the dhows had produced. “I will do all I can to try and get back to the coast as soon as possible, or if an expedition is formed to go up the country to look for Ned I’ll get my father to allow me to join it; I am pretty well seasoned to the climate by this time—never had an hour’s illness while I was away.”
By return of post a letter was received from Mr Farrance. He sympathised with the lieutenant and his sister in their anxiety about their nephew; said that he would be glad to defray the expenses should any plan be formed for discovering him, and begged to see Mr Pack in town as soon as possible.
The old lieutenant accordingly at once made preparations for his journey. Fortunately, before he started, he received a letter from Mr Hanson, saying that in the course of three or four days he would come down.
“I shall be in time to stop him,” observed the lieutenant, “and to talk the matter over with him before I see Mr Farrance, who will, of course, want all the information I can give him. I’ll take Tom with me; he knows his own country, and his woolly pate contains as much good sense as many a white man’s skull.”
Tom could scarcely restrain the delight he felt on hearing of his master’s decision.