So saying and offering his arm to Mrs Gilmour, who was feeling faint after all the anxiety she had gone through, the brisk old gentleman led the way round the castle. He insisted that Bob and Dick should run races across the common on their way towards the south parade, in which gymnastic display Miss Nellie and Rover both joined, for company sake as well as to set a good example; the big black retriever going over more ground than either of the competitors ere they reached `The Moorings,' as Mrs Gilmour's house was christened. "Won't you come in?" said Mrs Gilmour on their getting to the door, when the Captain raised his hat in token of adieu. "Do come in and have a rest, me dear Captain?" "No, thanks, not up to cribbage to-night," he replied, shaking his head and chuckling. "Feel my old bones too sore from sliding down that confounded rampart. I mustn't keep you chattering here, however, for you've got to see about those youngsters. You are sure you don't mind the trouble of putting up my foundling Dick for the night, eh?" "I should think not, especially after his jumping into the sea so nobly after Bob; and the poor boy, sure, not able to swim either!" said she warmly. "Dick shall not only stop in my house to-night, but as long as you please to let him, I tell you; and sure it's always grateful I'll be to him." "Well, then," cried the Captain, "there's no use my stopping yarning here like an old woman now that point is settled. You'd better go and see after the boys at once." "Oh, I'll say after them," she answered, laughing at his impatience, as he almost pushed her within the doorway and rushed down the steps towards the gate--"I'll say after them, never fear!" "Mind you put them between the blankets, and give them each something hot to drink when they turn in," he shouted back over the railings. "I'll come round in the morning and give them a lecture to wake 'em up!" With these last words, off he went; his malacca cane coming down with a thump on the pavement at every third step he took, until the sound died away in the distance--"Stump, Stump, Thump!--Stump, stump, Thump!-- Stump, stump, Thump!" CHAPTER FIVE. BOTH "SUITED." Dick was now "in clover!" Running away from a poor home and the tyranny of a cruel step-father, he had, in the first instance, providentially succeeded in getting `a free passage,' as the Captain expressed it, to Portsmouth, the goal of his fondest ambition. Then, after thus successfully overcoming the obstacles that lay in the way of his going to sea, so far as this initial stage to that ultimate end was concerned, the lucky fellow, in addition to gaining the Captain's favour and making the acquaintance of Bob and Nellie, put the finishing-touch to his good fortune by winning over Mrs Gilmour to his side--a lady who, as a friend, was worth perhaps all the rest, she being true as steel and thoughtful and considerate in every way.