“No doubt about it. That is what I know my officers and seamen always do,” observed the king.
The captain then told him of the way Harry had behaved.
“I am pleased to hear it, my lad,” said the king; “and I hope some day that I shall have the pleasure of placing the flat of my sword on your shoulders. What’s your name?” asked the king.
The captain told him, and mentioned how he had been saved from the Royal George.
“What! are you the ‘Child of the Wreck’ I have been told of?” asked the king. “I wish that more like you had been saved; you have begun well, and will prove an honour to the service, no doubt about that.”
The king spoke in a like fashion to several others. As may be supposed, I felt prouder than ever of Harry, and was sure that if his life was preserved he would not disappoint the good king or anyone else.
Chapter Seven.
The grass did not grow in the streets of Portsmouth in those busy times; I managed, however, to get leave to run over to Ryde for a couple of days, and took Harry and Reginald Leslie with me. The youngsters got a hearty welcome; and when I told the captain how Harry had behaved, he complimented him greatly. The youngsters were made much of by the ladies, and they ran no small risk of being spoilt, so it seemed to me. Miss Fanny especially, the captain’s youngest daughter, seemed never tired of talking to Harry, and asking him questions which he was well pleased to answer. She was a pretty, fair-haired, blue-eyed little girl, about three years younger than him. Neither the captain nor his lady troubled themselves about the matter, looking upon them as children; of course they were not much more. Harry, however, came home in the evening to Susan and me, and I was pleased to see that he was not a bit set up, but just as affectionate to my wife as he had ever been.