58 GENEROSITY 



to get home, and proceeding to the DoAvns in the ship 

 would take me considerably beyond it. 



To this he politely gave his assent, and wished me 

 good-bye. Turning from him to take leave of the naval 

 captain I have already spoken of, he took me on one 

 side, and casting an eye at the shabby state of my 

 uniform, he said, — 



" I am afraid you are not sufficiently prepared for 

 any immediate expense, as, from your knocking about 

 from port to jiort in India, your unexpected return, and 

 our long stay at St. Helena, you cannot have heard from 

 your friends, therefore take this," he added, slipping four 

 dollars into my hand ; " you can pay me when you see 

 me, and if we do not meet I shall be no loser." 



Now, considering that I had not seen the face of 

 any coin since I left China it was not to be wondered 

 at that I should be overcome by this act of disinterested 

 generosity from a stranger to my family and connections. 

 Remembering at the same time the kindness and 

 attention I had received from one so much my superior 

 in rank and attainments, I burst into tears ; this was 

 not unobserved by my liberal benefactor, when he again 

 pressed my hand and bade me farewell. " Good-bye, 

 Gramp ! " hallooed the sixth mate from the port-hole, 

 making use of the epithet by which he always addressed 

 me, as I lowered myself down in the pilot-boat, when 

 she almost immediately sheered off. 



Now left alone on the deck, the reader would suppose I 

 should have indulged in those pleasing anticipations that 

 generally absorb the mind on such auspicious occasions. 

 Not so with me ; for however I might rejoice at once 



