Oh, my word, an' the ship that broaches
him!"
Bill Adams opened and shut his mouth quickly, like a fish ashore.
"They'll reckon they've got a lucky-bag," he said weakly.
"An' Wilkins paid off with the rest, an' no address, even if he could
help--which I doubt."
"Eh? I got a note from Wilkins, as it happens." Bill Adams took off
his tarpaulin hat, and extracted a paper from the lining of the
crown. "He passed it down to me this mornin' as I pushed off from
the ship. Said I was to keep it, an' maybe I'd find it useful.
I wondered what he meant at the time, me takin' no particular truck
with pursers ashore. . . . It crossed my mind as I'd heard he meant
to get married, and maybe he wanted me to stand best man at the
weddin'. W'ich I didn' open the note at the time; not likin' to
refuse him, after he'd behaved so well to me."
"Pass it over," commanded Mr. Jope. He took the paper and unfolded
it, but either the light was dim within the store, or the handwriting
hard to decipher. "Would your Reverence read it out for us?"
Parson Spettigew carried the paper to the doorway. He read its
contents aloud, and slowly:
To Mr.
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