Who were they? Listen and I shall tell you.
There was Roland, d.i.c.k, Roland"s sweet-faced mother, Peggy; and last, but certainly not least in size at all events, there was dark-skinned jolly-looking Burly Bill himself.
But Burly Bill did not obtrude his company too much on the younger folks. He was fond of walking on the bridge and talking to the officer on duty. Fond, too, of blowing a cloud from his lips as they dallied with his great meerschaum. Fond of telling a good story, but fonder still of listening to one, and often chuckling over it till he appeared quite apoplectic.
There was someone else on board who must be mentioned. And this was Dixie, the pony!
Did he remain on the banks of the Madeira? Not he. For by some means or other he found his way--so marvellous is the homing instinct in animals--back to the old plantation long before Roland and his little army, and was the first to run out to meet Peggy and get a kiss on his soft warm snout.
Need I add that Brawn was one of the pa.s.sengers? And a happy dog he was, and always ready for a lark when the sailors chose to throw a belaying-pin for him.
d.i.c.k had had a grief to face when he returned.
His uncle was dead. So he determined--as did Roland with his plantation--to sell off and return to England, for a time at all events.
The two estates are now worked by a "Company Ltd.", but Jake Solomons is head overseer.
Benee, who has married his "moon-dream", little Weenah, is second in command, and right merry of a morning is the boom and the song of the old buzz-saw.
So happy, then, were Roland and d.i.c.k and Peggy that they concluded they would not be too hard on wicked Uncle John.
This wicked Uncle John went into retirement after the arrival of our heroes and heroine. He might have been sent into retirement of quite a different sort if Roland had cared to press matters.
Peggy got all her own again. She is now Mrs. Temple, and d.i.c.k and she are beloved by all the tenantry--yes, and by all the county gentry and farmer folks round and round.
I had almost forgotten to say a last word about Beeboo. She is Mrs.
Temple"s chief servant, and a right happy body is Beeboo, and Burly Billy is estate manager.
Now, if any of my readers want a special treat, let him or her try to get an invitation to spend Christmas at Burnley Old Hall.