I was, however, too ill to be moved; so the kindly baker, hearing my story, and being informed of my rank, had me put to bed in his own house, where later in the day a magistrate attended to take down my depositions as to the gang of smugglers. That night I got worse, and for three weeks I lay betwixt life and death with an ague brought about by the cold and exposure. Then one morning I awoke to find my Uncle George sitting by my bedside. The kindly little man had heard of my being ill at Wareham, and had immediately travelled posthaste to my side. From that day my recovery became rapid, and in less than a fortnight I could sit up. One afternoon, as the late autumnal sun was sinking in the west, I heard the tramping of feet and the clanking of fetters. My uncle helped me to the window, and on looking out I saw the whole gang of smugglers, save two who had preferred death to capture, being led through the town on the way to Dorchester Jail. Fortunately I was spared the ordeal of attending the trial, but I heard that the gallows or transportation to the West Indies accounted for the whole of the rascally crew, against whom the barbaric crime of wrecking, as well as smuggling, was proved right up to the hilt. It was late in December, in clear, frosty weather, that we started on our homeward journey, proceeding by easy stages through Wimborne, Ringwood, and the New Forest to Southampton, and on the last day of December of the year 1663 I arrived at Portsmouth again, after an absence of over three years. CHAPTER XIV--I Set Out to Fight the Dutch I must now pass over a space of a year, there being but little of interest to record. All this time it must not be imagined that I had given up the quest for my father’s murderer; indeed, as I grew older, my thoughts of bringing the villain to justice waxed hotter instead of waning. My uncle, Sir George Lee, and Lawyer Whitehead had each prosecuted vigorous enquiries, but all attempts to run the felon to earth had proved fruitless. The loss of the mysterious metal box also caused me considerable misgivings, and the vague hints thrown out by my uncle at sundry times did much to increase my uneasiness on that score. Meanwhile it seemed as if the earth had opened and swallowed both Increase Joyce and the box (for in my mind the two were inseparably associated), though I had a presentiment that I should obtain satisfaction in the end. But to resume my story. Twelve months sped swiftly by ere my physical condition became as good as before my malady, and with the lengthening days of January I entertained great hopes of going again to sea. Rumours of a rupture with the States of Holland were in the air, and, taking the aggressive action of the Dutchmen in mercantile matters into consideration, the prospect of a war was hailed with delight. One day early in February I went to call on my benefactor, Sir Thomas Middleton, in the hope that he would get me appointed to a ship.