"So would I. Melbourne is a nice city, but I"d rather be on dad"s farm, eatin" supper in the old kitchen, than in the best hotel here."
"After all, there"s no place like home, Obed."
"That"s a fact, but perhaps Jack doesn"t feel so."
"My home isn"t what it was once," said Jack soberly. "If mother hadn"t married again it would have been different, but I never can like or respect my step-father."
"There"s one place you ought to visit before you start for home, Harry,"
suggested Obed.
"I mean to see the city pretty thoroughly before I go, as I don"t imagine I shall ever come this way again."
"That"s all right, but it isn"t what I mean."
"What then?"
"Do you remember the old gentleman you saved from a ruffian the night before you started for the mines?"
"Mr. Woolson, yes."
"You ought to call, you and Jack."
"I"ll go this morning. Will you come too, Jack?"
"I"ll go with you anywhere, Harry," said the young sailor, whose affection and admiration for Harry were very strong.
About ten o"clock the boys entered the office of Mr. Woolson. It was situated in one of the handsomest blocks in Little Collins Street, and they learned that he was a wholesale merchant and importer.
"Is Mr. Woolson in?" Harry asked of a clerk.
"He is in the inner office. Have you business with him?"
"Yes."
Admitted into the inner office, the boys saw the old gentleman seated at a large desk with a pile of papers and letters before him. They were by no means certain that he would recognize them, but he did so instantly.
"I am glad to see you, my young friends," he said, rising and shaking hands with them. "I have thought of you often, and of the great service you did me. Have you just returned from the mines?"
"Yes, sir."
"I hope you have had good luck."
"Wonderful luck. Jack and I are worth over five thousand dollars apiece."
"Bless my soul! Why it only seems a week since you went away."
"It is nearly three months, and seems longer to us, for we have pa.s.sed through a great deal."
"I shall be glad to hear a full account, but I have not time in business hours. Will you do me the favor to dine with me at my house to-night and spend the evening?"
"With pleasure, sir."
"Then I shall expect you. The hour is six o"clock sharp."
The boys met the engagement, and pa.s.sed the time most agreeably. Jack felt a little bashful, for Mr. Woolson lived in fine style, and Jack was not used to an elegant house or table.
When the cloth was removed, Mr. Woolson asked the boys their plans.
"We intend to sail for New York next Sat.u.r.day," said Harry. "That is as far as we have got."
"If you were willing to stay in Melbourne, I would give you a place in my counting-room."
"Thank you, sir, but I prefer to live in America."
"Then I will give you a letter to my nephew and business correspondent in New York. He will further any business views you may have."
"Thank you, sir."
"And I will do the same for your friend, if he desires."
"Thank you, sir," said Jack, "but I mean to keep on as a sailor; I hope some day to be a captain."
"I will give you a place on one of our ships, and you shall be promoted as rapidly as you are qualified to rise."
Jack looked gratified, for he knew the value of so powerful a friend.
Late in the evening the boys took leave of the hospitable merchant, and three days afterward they embarked for New York.
CHAPTER x.x.xV.
SOME OLD ACQUAINTANCES.
We will now return to America, and for the benefit of those readers who are not familiar with Harry"s early adventures, as narrated in the story of "Facing the World," I will give a brief account of his story before setting out on the voyage to Australia.
Left an orphan, with a scanty patrimony amounting to three hundred dollars, Harry left it all in the hands of his father"s friend, Mr.
Benjamin Howard of Ferguson, and set out, not in quest of a fortune, but of a livelihood. He had been recommended by his father to seek a cousin of his, John Fox of Colebrook, and place himself under his guardianship.
He visited Mr. Fox, but found him so mean and grasping that he left him after a brief stay, preparing to face the world without a.s.sistance. Mr.
Fox, who had two children, Joel and Sally, was greatly disappointed, as he bad hoped to get control of the boy"s slender property, and convert it to his own use. He pursued Harry, but was unable to overtake and capture him.
Months pa.s.sed, and John Fox heard nothing of his wandering relative.
One day, however, he came home triumphant.
"Well, Maria," he said, addressing his wife, "I"ve heard of Harry Vane."
"You don"t say!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Joel, his face screwed up into an expression of curiosity. "What did you hear? Where is he?"