Summoned by his brother, he now hastened to assure his mother of his safety.
“My dear boy, we have been very anxious about you,” exclaimed Mrs Castleton, as he came up; “and I do hope that you will not go off again in one of those horrible little fishing-boats; you run dangers enough when on board ship in your professional duty without exposing yourself to unnecessary risk.”
“I assure you I have been in no danger whatever, except, perhaps, when the boat was running in for the beach,” answered Harry, laughing. “When we went off we did not expect to have to do that, and I am very sorry that you should have been anxious about me. However, I promise to remain quietly on shore till I am summoned to join my ship, and as I am somewhat damp, I will get my pony, which I left at the Castleton Arms in the village, and ride home with Algernon.” The ladies accordingly, re-entering the carriage, drove towards Texford, and Harry and his brother followed soon afterwards.
Chapter Ten.
May’s New Friends.
Harry refrained from making another trip in the Nancy, though he told Adam Halliburt that he had hoped to do so. He seldom, however, caught sight of the blue sea in his rides without wishing to be upon it.
One day he and Algernon, on a ride over the downs, passed near the old mill. Miles Gaffin was standing at the door, while behind him, tugging at a sack, was his man, whose countenance appeared to Harry, as he caught sight of it for a moment, one of the most surly and ill-favoured he had ever set eyes on. “No wonder the farmers prefer sending their corn to a distance to having it ground by such a couple,” he thought. The miller took off his hat as he saw the lads. Algernon scarcely noticed the salute.
“I am sorry, young gentlemen, not to have had the pleasure of giving you a trip in my lugger,” said the miller, in a frank, off-hand tone. “If, however, you and your brother are disposed to come, we will run down the coast to Harwich, or to any other place you would like to visit, and I will guarantee not to get you into such a mess as old Halliburt did, I understand, the other day.”