His mind was full of his son as he sat this[Pg 53] day at his dinner, which was put every afternoon punctually at half-past one upon the table whether Mr Lawrence was at home or whether he was not. The window at which the Admiral was wont of a pleasant evening to sit with his pipe was open; the room was small, with a low ceiling, but one should say a very dream of comfort to a nautical man. Its walls were embellished with pictures of sea-fights, of frigates engaging forts, of encounters between line-of-battle ships. A handsome telescope, a gift for some deed of valour, lay in brackets over the small, richly-carved sideboard.,
Out in the shed he found Moll, anxious over one of her pups which seemed stupid and sick. Billy picked up the pup and cuddled it. He found himself crying over its sniffling whimpers of pain. Love is a grand thing if only because of the softening influence it exerts in the savage breast of man. Billy could not remember ever having actually cried over a sick puppy before. It was as though she stood there, white hands clasped, blue eyes filled with commiseration, the gold of her hair forming a halo above her bent head. He could almost hear her voice saying: "Great, tender heart, cease thy tears. Am I not close beside thee to help thee bear thy sorrow?" That's what Avilee Rochaw had said to Trigger Finger, in the book.,
But the essential object of Captain Weaver and the very first desire of Captain Acton and the Admiral was the overtaking of the Minorca, her capture, and the rescue of Lucy. To this end it was extremely necessary that they should speak ships to ascertain if the barque whose rig would make her remarkable had been sighted or spoken, and if so when and where? They had fallen in with two or three vessels which after very careful inspection they had considered safe to speak. But they could obtain no information. Nothing answering to a ship rigged as the Minorca was had been sighted. So Captain Weaver stuck as best he could to his course for Rio, though much hindered by opposing winds. It was to be hoped if the Aurora lay fair in the wake[Pg 346] of the Minorca that the winds which had delayed the schooner had also baffled the barque..
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