Freaks of Fortune Part 31

"Do you mean to say that I stole your uncle's money?"

"I didn't say anything of the kind. You and Dock Vincent conveyed Miss Watson on board of the Caribbee. That's a state-prison offence, to say nothing of stealing the money."

"Don't be hard on me, Levi."

"Hard on you! I'm not half so hard on you as you are on yourself. You were employed as a hand on board of this vessel, and you used your position to deceive Miss Watson, and get her on board of the Caribbee.

You then came to me, with your mouth full of lies, and told me she had gone to Portland with her father, by railroad. I trusted you, and you betrayed me. I can forgive you, but I can never respect you again,"

said Levi, warmly.

"Don't be too hard on me, Levi," pleaded Mat. "I got into a sc.r.a.pe, and Dock helped me out; but he made me do everything he said after that."

"You needn't commit yourself to me. I don't ask you to make any confessions. Dock Vincent is in jail now, and the whole truth will come out in due time."

"What's the use!" exclaimed Mat, in despair. "I'm ruined now. If you'll let me go ash.o.r.e here, I'll try to be an honest man."

"It is not for me to let you go, though I have no doubt you were the tool of Dock Vincent. I have no right to let you escape."

"I'll tell you all about it, Levi; and you will see what a bad sc.r.a.pe I was in," said Mat, fixing his eyes on the planks of the deck. "Your uncle borrowed a screw-driver in the shop----"

"Levi! Levi!" shouted Bessie Watson, who was in the standing-room, looking at the shipping in the vicinity.

The young skipper sprang towards her, fearful that some terrible event was about to happen; for Bessie was waving her handkerchief, and dancing about the deck like an insane person. A boat, with two gentlemen in the stern-sheets, was approaching the yacht, and at this Bessie was gazing with intense earnestness.

"What is the matter, Bessie?" asked he, looking at her, rather than the boat, to a.s.sure himself that her trials had not affected her reason.

"Why, don't you see, Levi?"

"I don't see anything. What is it?"

"My father! My father!" cried she, laughing, almost in hysterics.

Levi glanced at the boat. One of the gentlemen was certainly Mr.

Watson, though he was not quite willing to believe the evidence of his own senses. The boat had approached near enough to enable him to be sure of the fact.

"It is my father!" repeated Bessie, as the boat ran up to the accommodation ladder, and Mr. Watson leaped on board of the yacht.

"My child! My child!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the fond father, as he folded her in his arms.

"O, father!" exclaimed she, as she hugged him in a transport of joy.

Twined in each other's arms, they wept and laughed, in the exuberance of delight, at this happy reunion. Levi could hardly restrain his own tears as he gazed upon the affecting scene, and in the depths of his heart he thanked G.o.d, who had guided his little bark over the stormy ocean, half round the world, and enabled him to save Bessie from the hands of her grasping enemies.

"Levi!" said Mr. Watson, gently disengaging himself from his daughter's embrace, and giving the young captain his hand.

"I am glad to see you, Mr. Watson," replied Levi, grasping the offered hand.

"If Levi hadn't followed me, you would never have seen me again," added Bessie, throwing herself upon her father's breast again.

"G.o.d bless you, Levi!" exclaimed the delighted father, wringing the young man's hand again.

Mr. Watson seemed to be bewildered by the ecstasy of his joy. He grasped the hand of Augustus, who was so pleased that he forgot to use any high-flown speech. The gentleman who had come in the boat with Bessie's father was introduced to the party as the American consul.

"We did not expect to see you, Mr. Watson," said Levi.

"I have been in Melbourne for three weeks," replied he. "This is the port for which the Caribbee cleared at the Custom House. But where is the Caribbee?"

"She struck on a rock to the southward of King's Island, in the gale, yesterday morning. She has broken up before this time."

"And I was on board of her at the time," said Bessie.

"Though the Caribbee was twenty tons larger than The Starry Flag, we were just a match for her in sailing," added Levi. "We lost her a week out of New York, saw her again at the Cape of Good Hope, and then lost sight of her three or four times; but we arrived at the entrance of Ba.s.s Strait about the same time."

"I think I will not stop to hear the story now. Bessie, there is some one on sh.o.r.e who wishes to see you," replied Mr. Watson.

"Who? O, I know, father! It is mother! Come, let us go on sh.o.r.e, this minute!" exclaimed the bewildered girl, dancing about again, as this new joy dawned upon her.

Levi informed the consul that one of the conspirators had been saved from the wreck, and this gentleman promised to attend to the matter.

The life boat was lowered; and leaving his mate in charge of the vessel, with strict injunctions not to let Mat Mogmore escape, Levi went on sh.o.r.e with Bessie and her father.

"My mother in Australia!" exclaimed Bessie.

"And Mrs. McGilvery, too!" added Mr. Watson.

"Why, then the whole family are here! Only think of it! I didn't expect to see you or mother for months yet."

"We could not do anything but come, for every hour seemed like an age to us," replied Mr. Watson. "When I received Levi's letter, I saw that nothing more could be done on our side of the world, and I decided to follow you. Dock Vincent a.s.sured me I should never see my daughter again; and I was satisfied by the confidence he exhibited, and the persistency with which he urged me to pay his demand, that the Caribbee had indeed sailed upon her long voyage. Levi's letter, written when he had been three days at sea, with the Caribbee in sight, fully confirmed my view. I was sorry Levi did not return to New York, instead of following the vessel."

"Why so?" asked Levi, blushing under the implied censure.

"If I had known the result in season, I might have sent a steamer in pursuit of the Caribbee. As it was, I did not get the letter till a week after her departure."

"The chances of a steamer finding the Caribbee were not more than one in fifty," replied Levi.

"I was sorry then, Levi; but I am not now. You have achieved almost a miracle, and I am willing to believe now that your course was the best and the safest. I decided at once to be in Melbourne when the Caribbee arrived. I sailed for England in the steamer with your mother and your aunt. We came from there by the way of Egypt, and landed here three weeks ago. I have an agent in every princ.i.p.al port in Australia on the lookout for the Caribbee. When any fore-and-aft vessel came into this harbor I was informed of the fact, and you may judge my surprise when I saw The Starry Flag. I will not tell you what I feared when I recognized her, for all that pa.s.sed away when I saw Bessie on the deck;" and the devoted father clasped her in his arms again.

The party landed. In a few moments they reached the hotel, and Bessie was folded in the embrace of her mother.

CHAPTER XXVI.

CONCLUSION.

Mrs. Watson wept tears of joy over her lost child, now restored to her.

Mrs. McGilvery declared that the pleasure of witnessing such a joyful meeting was worth a voyage half round the world, or, indeed, all the way round the world.

"Well, Levi, what shall we do next?" asked Mr. Watson, when the young skipper had been thanked and extolled by the ladies till his cheeks burned with blushes.