"
"Well, I will take you in to see her, and I think you will like her.
"No; I am only joking," he broke off, as he saw tears start into her
eyes. "It is not another girl. But you shall see for yourself."
He took her hand, and led her to his father's room.
"There, Annie, this is the gentleman who has come back with me this
time."
Annie looked at Captain Holland in surprise, and then turned her eyes
to Dick for an explanation.
"He is a respectable-looking old native, isn't he, Annie?"
"Yes, he looks respectable," Annie said gravely; "but he doesn't look
very old. Why has he come down with you, Dick? He can't have been a
slave."
"But I have, lass," the captain said, in English, to Annie's intense
astonishment. "I have been in their hands a year or so longer than you
were."
Annie turned impulsively to Dick, and grasped his arm.
"Oh, Dick," she said, in an excited whisper. "Is it--is it your
father, after all?"
"Ay, lass," the captain answered for him. "I am the boy's father, and
a happy father, too, as you may guess, at finding I have such a son.
And I hear he has been a good friend to you, too."
"Oh, he has, he has indeed!" Annie cried, running forward and seizing
his hands in both of hers.
Pages:
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551