‘Well, you’ll be safe in trusting in God,’ said he, ‘but someone to trust in on this earth wouldn’t be out of the way either. You see, miss, it may come to this: the ship arrives in dock and you’ve got to go ashore; where will ye go to? You don’t know. There may be scores of friends of yours within hail, but owing to your memory being at fault ne’er a one of them can be of more use to you than if they were in their graves. It seems cruel to talk of the Union; but my notion is, that whenever one’s in a mess the first thing to do is to take a good look round. I believe there are homes for destitute females, but for my part I’d rather go to the workhouse if I was a lonely girl. So you see, miss, it comes to this: you must have a friend....’ I could bear this talk no longer, and walked in the direction of one of the ladders in order to return to the steerage. ‘One minute,’ he cried, accompanying me, and so contriving to walk as to oblige me to halt. ‘I’ve brought tears to your eyes, and I ask your forgiveness. There’s been no rudeness intended in what I’ve said, God knows. You’ll find that out before long, I hope. You’ll be discovering that I wish you well. Though my parents were gentle folks, my college was a ship’s forecastle and I’m without polish, and, what’s more, I don’t want any. I’m a plain seaman, but I hope I can feel for another as well as the best, and I want to be your friend, and perhaps more than your friend.’ ‘I am sure you mean nothing but kindness,’ said I, ‘but your words have distressed me. You make my future appear hopeless and dreadful.’ ‘That’s how I want you to view it,’ said he, ‘by correctly realising it you’ll be able to deal with it.’ ‘Good-night,’ I exclaimed; and without another word I left him and returned to my berth. * * * * * As I have before said, I considered Mr. Harris eccentric, unpleasantly well meaning, and not a man to be angry with because he spoke bluntly and said things which were disagreeable and even offensive to hear. But the language he had held destroyed my night’s rest. I could not sleep for thinking of his miserable talk about the workhouse and asylums for destitute females. What he meant by saying that he wished to be something more than a friend to me did not trouble my head. All that I could think of was the picture he had drawn of the arrival of the _Deal Castle_ in dock, of my being without memory, and stepping ashore unable to recollect the name of a friend likely to help me. Many to whom my story is known have since that miserable time expressed wonder that Captain Ladmore did not put me on board a homeward-bound ship--that is to say, a ship proceeding to England--with a request to her captain to inform the owners of the _Deal Castle_ in what manner their vessel had fallen in with me, and to beg them to make my case public in the newspapers, so that if I had friends in England they could come forward and claim me.