"Ay, ay," cried Jack, and taking from his pocket a boatswain's whistle,
he blew a blast so long, and loud, and shrill, that George was fain to
cover his ears with his hands to shut out the brain-piercing, and, to
him unusual sound. "And are you, then, a relative," said Marchdale, "of Mr. Holland's, sir,
may I ask?" "I'm his uncle, and be d----d to him, if you must know, and some one has
told me that the young scamp thinks of marrying a mermaid, or a ghost,
or a vampyre, or some such thing, so, for the sake of the memory of his
poor mother, I've come to say no to the bargain, and d--n me, who
cares." "Come in, sir," said George, "I will conduct you to Mr. Holland. I
presume this is your servant?" "Why, not exactly. That's Jack Pringle, he was my boatswain, you see,
and now he's a kind o' something betwixt and between. Not exactly a
servant." "Ay, ay, sir," said Jack. "Have it all your own way, though we is paid
off." "Hold your tongue, you audacious scoundrel, will you." "Oh, I forgot, you don't like anything said about paying off, cos it
puts you in mind of--"

"Now, d--n you, I'll have you strung up to the yard-arm, you dog, if you
don't belay there." "I'm done. All's right." By this time the party, including the admiral, Jack, George Bannerworth,
and Marchdale, had got more than half-way across the garden, and were
observed by Charles Holland and Henry, who had come to the steps of the
hall to see what was going on. The moment Charles saw the admiral a
change of colour came over his face, and he exclaimed,--

"By all that's surprising, there is my uncle!" "Your uncle!" said Henry. "Yes, as good a hearted a man as ever drew breath, and yet, withal, as
full of prejudices, and as ignorant of life, as a child." Without waiting for any reply from Henry, Charles Holland rushed
forward, and seizing his uncle by the hand, he cried, in tones of
genuine affection,--

"Uncle, dear uncle, how came you to find me out?" "Charley, my boy," cried the old man, "bless you; I mean, confound your
d----d impudence; you rascal, I'm glad to see you; no, I ain't, you
young mutineer. What do you mean by it, you ugly, ill-looking, d----d
fine fellow--my dear boy. Oh, you infernal scoundrel." All this was accompanied by a shaking of the hand, which was enough to
dislocate anybody's shoulder, and which Charles was compelled to bear as
well as he could. It quite prevented him from speaking, however, for a few moments, for it
nearly shook the breath out of him. When, then, he could get in a word,
he said,--

"Uncle, I dare say you are surprised." "Surprised! D--n me, I am surprised." "Well, I shall be able to explain all to your satisfaction, I am sure. Allow me now to introduce you to my friends." Turning then to Henry, Charles said,--

"This is Mr. Henry Bannerworth, uncle; and this Mr. George Bannerworth,
both good friends of mine; and this is Mr. Marchdale, a friend of
theirs, uncle." "Oh, indeed!" "And here you see Admiral Bell, my most worthy, but rather eccentric
uncle." "Confound your impudence." "What brought him here I cannot tell; but he is a brave officer, and a
gentleman." "None of your nonsense," said the admiral. "And here you sees Jack Pringle," said that individual, introducing
himself, since no one appeared inclined to do that office for him, "a
tar for all weathers. One as hates the French, and is never so happy as
when he's alongside o' some o' those lubberly craft blazing away." "That's uncommonly true," remarked the admiral. "Will you walk in, sir?" said Henry, courteously. "Any friend of Charles
Holland's is most welcome here. You will have much to excuse us for,
because we are deficient in servants at present, in consequence of come
occurrences in our family, which your nephew has our full permission to
explain to you in full." "Oh, very good, I tell you what it is, all of you, what I've seen of
you, d----e, I like, so here goes. Come along, Jack." The admiral walked into the house, and as he went, Charles Holland said
to him,--

"How came you to know I was here, uncle?" "Some fellow wrote me a despatch." "Indeed!" "Yes, saying at you was a going to marry some odd sort of fish as it
wasn't at all the thing to introduce into the family." "Was--was a vampyre mentioned?" "That's the very thing." "Hush, uncle--hush." "What for?" "Do not, I implore, hint at such a thing before these kind friends of
mine. I will take an opportunity within the next hour of explaining all
to you, and you shall form your own kind and generous judgement upon
circumstances in which my honour and my happiness are so nearly
concerned." "Gammon," said the admiral. "What, uncle?" "Oh, I know you want to palaver me into saying it's all right. I suppose
if my judgment and generosity don't like it, I shall be an old fool, and
a cursed goose?" "Now, uncle." "Now, _nevey_." "Well, well--no more at present. We will talk over this at leisure. You
promise me to say nothing about it until you have heard my explanation,
uncle?" "Very good. Make it as soon as you can, and as short as you can, that's
all I ask of you." "I will, I will." Charles was to the full as anxious as his uncle could be to enter upon
the subject, some remote information of which, he felt convinced, had
brought the old man down to the Hall. Who it could have been that so far
intermeddled with his affairs as to write to him, he could not possibly
conceive. A very few words will suffice to explain the precise position in which
Charles Holland was. A considerable sum of money had been left to him,
but it was saddled with the condition that he should not come into
possession of it until he was one year beyond the age which is usually
denominated that of discretion, namely, twenty-one. His uncle, the
admiral, was the trustee of his fortune, and he, with rare discretion,
had got the active and zealous assistance of a professional gentleman of
great honour and eminence to conduct the business for him. This gentleman had advised that for the two years between the ages of
twenty and twenty-two, Charles Holland should travel, inasmuch as in
English society he would find himself in an awkward position, being for
one whole year of age, and yet waiting for his property. Under such circumstances, reasoned the lawyer, a young man, unless he is
possessed of very rare discretion indeed, is almost sure to get
fearfully involved with money-lenders. Being of age, his notes, and
bills, and bonds would all be good, and he would be in a ten times worse
situation than a wealthy minor. All this was duly explained to Charles, who, rather eagerly than
otherwise, caught at the idea of a two years wander on the continent,
where he could visit so many places, which to a well read young man like
himself, and one of a lively imagination, were full of the most
delightful associations. But the acquaintance with Flora Bannerworth effected a great revolution
in his feelings. The dearest, sweetest spot on earth became that which
she inhabited.