"What! are you the midshipmen I thought lost, with so many other poor people?" exclaimed the captain, starting back with astonishment, and then holding out his hands towards them. "Yes, I am surely not mistaken; and have the rest, too, escaped?"
"Yes, sir; Mrs and the Miss Morleys, Harry Shafto, Mrs Rumbelow, and the boatswain are all safe, though they would be very glad if you would run down to the Auckland Islands, where we left them a fortnight ago, and take them away. They are very hard up for food, I am afraid, and it is not the pleasantest of countries to live in."
w.i.l.l.y and his companions received the warmest congratulations from all the officers; and the news soon ran round the ship that those whom they supposed had long been numbered with the dead were still alive and well.
"It will do the sergeant"s heart good when he hears that that first-rate wife of his is all right and well," observed the quarter-master, who was one of the first to catch the news.
w.i.l.l.y and Peter felt great satisfaction on hearing that Colonel Morley, with his regiment, was at New Zealand, and though grieving at the supposed loss of his wife and daughters, had been greatly supported in his affliction, and enabled to perform his duty like a true soldier.
"But how, sir, did the "Ranger" escape?" asked w.i.l.l.y. "We thought we saw her go down."
"She was well-nigh doing so, my lad," answered Commander Newcombe; "but by the courage and perseverance of the men, through G.o.d"s mercy, she was kept afloat till we could get an additional sail under her bottom, when, as we steered to the northward, we fell in with a ship which towed us to the Mauritius. There the ship being repaired, we were sent on to New Zealand to land the troops. So confident were all on board that the boats had gone down, it was at first deemed hopeless to look for you.
At length, however, from the representations of Colonel Morley, I was despatched to visit the islands at which you might possibly have touched, on the merest chance of gaining some tidings of your fate."
As soon as the commander heard of the requirements of the schooner, he sent a supply of provisions and water on board. The "Young Crusader"
then steered for Auckland, near which Colonel Morley was stationed, to convey to him the glad tidings of the safety of his wife and daughters, while the "Ranger" proceeded to the Auckland Islands. She quickly arrived at Charnley Sound, and brought up in the deep bay near its entrance, on the north side. Hence, with w.i.l.l.y Dicey as pilot, her boats were sent up to the inner harbour. As they approached, w.i.l.l.y"s heart beat high at the thought of the joyful intelligence he was bringing. The first person he met was Harry Shafto who, on seeing the boats approach, had hurried down to the bay. Harry recognised several well-known faces of his old shipmates. A few words served to tell how the "Ranger" had escaped. The two friends hurried to communicate the intelligence to Mrs Morley and her daughters. On their way they met Mrs Rumbelow, who had seen the arrival of the boats. She, too, had recognised the faces of their crews. w.i.l.l.y took her hand, and shook it warmly.
"Happy news, Mrs Rumbelow," he exclaimed; "the sergeant is alive and well. I heard of him on board; and I hope in a few days you will see him in New Zealand."
"You are a good angel, Mr Dicey, to bring me such tidings," she exclaimed, putting her arms round his neck, and bursting into tears.
"My good brave husband! I"ll never forget who it was that told me I should meet him again down here on earth, for I felt sure we should be joined up aloft there." And the strong-minded energetic woman, who had held out so bravely, never allowing a tear or complaint to escape, sobbed for very joy.
They found Mrs Morley, with f.a.n.n.y and Emma, just leaving their cottage.
"G.o.d has indeed been merciful to me," were the only words Mrs Morley could utter. f.a.n.n.y unconsciously gave Harry Shafto her hand. "How my dear father will thank you for all the care you have taken of us," she said. "We can never sufficiently show our grat.i.tude." Harry kept the hand thus offered him. What Harry said in return it is not necessary to repeat.
As there was but little property to carry away, in a few minutes every individual was ready to embark. Harry Shafto was the last person to leave the sh.o.r.e. The boats, laden with pa.s.sengers, pulled down the harbour. The sea was smooth, and without accident they, before nightfall, got alongside the "Ranger."
A bright moon enabled them to put to sea that night, and, the weather continuing unusually fine, within a week they landed in New Zealand.
Harry Shafto gained his well-earned promotion, and in two years became a commander and the husband of f.a.n.n.y Morley.
A remittance sent out by Mr Nicholas Steady, when he heard of the loss which the Diceys had suffered from the wreck of the "Crusader," enabled Charles to commence his career as an emigrant. His nearest neighbour was Mr Paget, who, it surprised few to hear, became the husband of his sister Emily. Sergeant Rumbelow got his discharge, and he and his wife settled near them; while Mrs Clagget, who took up her abode with her relatives in the town, paid them frequent visits, and never failed to tell all the news of the place, which she detailed with her accustomed volubility. Charles won the heart of Emma Morley, and, when his sister May married Tom Loftus, she became the mistress of his house. Dr Davis settled in their neighbourhood, and was a very constant visitor at the houses of his old friends, not only in cases of sickness, which were rare, but on all festive and other interesting occasions.
Little Bessy, left an orphan, was adopted by Sergeant and Mrs Rumbelow, and, growing up a good, steady girl, married young Broke, who, become a warrant officer, found his way at length to New Zealand, where he ultimately settled.
w.i.l.l.y Dicey is now a post-captain, and Harry Shafto, though still young, an admiral. Ensign Holt sold out of the army, and forming a partnership with Peter Patch, who had got tired of a seafaring life, they became successful settlers at no great distance from their former friends.
The old "Ranger" has long since been laid up in ordinary, and the "Young Crusader," under the command of Bill Windy, to whom Captain Westerway presented her, traded for many years between the settlements and Australia, till she had gained a comfortable fortune for her owner, who at length settled on sh.o.r.e near the friends his courage and kind heart had gained for him.
The former pa.s.sengers of the two ships often met at the gatherings of the settlements; and a new generation, which sprang up in their midst, delighted to hear them recount the adventures they met with during their voyages in the "Ranger" and "Crusader."
THE END.