"Yes, my lad," said Granger. "You see your grandfather and I didn"t get on together somehow, so one day I tripped anchor and made sail, as I thought, for the West; but the sight of salt water was too much for me. I drifted into a sailor"s life, got into the navy, was promoted during the war, and--here I am.
"Meeting up with you, however, is about the strangest streak of luck I have happened with yet. But I am none the less glad to fall in with one of my own kin. You"re as welcome to me, lad, as I reckon we were to you and Duff, the morning we sighted you off the Cape Verdes. When he told me who you were I was all broke up. You were pretty well done for."
"I guess I must have given you some trouble since then," returned Ralph, reaching for his uncle"s hand. "We did have rather a tough time in that old boat."
"You did that. As soon as you were hoisted aboard, Dr. Barker p.r.o.nounced you down with coast fever. That trip up the river Duff tells me about, probably planted the seeds, and exposure did the rest--eh, Doc."
The surgeon nodded, then the chief quartermaster added: "But we will be at Norfolk in a week, then I"ll apply for sh.o.r.e leave and you and I will go down and see the old man."
"He won"t want to see me," remarked Ralph, who then briefly related the circ.u.mstances under which he had been driven from home, his encounter with Shard, and the latter"s mode of placing him at Gary"s mercy.
The old warrant officer laughed over the silly feud, while sympathizing with the boy over its sad results.
"You shall take me home," he concluded. "Father will forgive us both and we"ll liven the old gent up a bit. Perhaps we can get him down where he can taste a whiff of salt air, especially if I make a man-"o-war"s man out of his grandson."
The doctor now interposed, and said that Ralph had talked, and been talked to, enough that day. So the boy was left to another refreshing sleep, after enjoying his bowl of chicken broth.
Two days later he was out on deck, where the neatness, precision, and martial splendor of everything he saw, quite captivated his young imagination. When they entered the harbor at Fortress Monroe and salutes were fired, yards manned, and flags dipped by the Adams and the friendly foreign war ships anch.o.r.ed there, Ralph felt more than ever that his vocation was that of a sailor.
True to his word, Uncle Gideon soon started with his nephew for the old mountain home that he had not seen for more than thirty years. When Ralph stood aside, and the stern old man gazed upon his first born, the meeting and recognition were touching in the extreme.
Ralph was forgiven for outliving the feud, and the final result was that son and grandson carried the lonely old man with them back to Norfolk, where he was made comfortable in the "Old People"s Home," his own means, supplemented by Gideon"s savings, paying all expenses.
One day the quartermaster came into their boarding-house, and on entering Ralph"s room slapped the lad heartily on the back.
"I"ve fixed it, nephew," said he jovially. "My ship sails in three days, and I was afraid I might not pull you through in time. But our captain gave us a lift. You know he stands in with some of the big bugs in the navy department at Washington.
"What!" exclaimed Ralph enthusiastically, his eyes glowing, "am I really to get a berth on the training ship as a naval apprentice?"
"Better than that. When I made known that your share of the Wanderer prize money, and what I could spare would pay your way, captain wrote to his friend at Washington, and the upshot of it all is you"re to go to Annapolis. Think of that! One year to prepare for your examination--four years as a cadet--then an ensign. Ah, lad! If I"d had your chance at your age I might have been at least a lieutenant.
During the war there was more than one such rose to be commodore. But bear in mind: I can renew my youth in watching you. So bear a hand, lad, and do your best. You may live to walk your own quarter-deck yet."
"If I do," replied Ralph, seizing his uncle"s hard and weather beaten hand, "it will all be owing to you."
The old veteran grinned, then seemed to remember something.
"Put on your hat, lad," said he. "We will lay a course for the old man over at the Home. You must ask him if fighting for Uncle Sam on sea isn"t better than bushwhacking your neighbors in the mountains."