he'll be as good as his word."

So it was that my father came home to us, and a better or kinder no
lad could wish for. Though my parents had been married so long,
they had really seen very little of each other, and their affection
was as warm and as fresh as if they were two newly-wedded lovers. I
have learned since that sailors can be coarse and foul, but never
did I know it from my father; for, although he had seen as much
rough work as the wildest could wish for, he was always the same
patient, good-humoured man, with a smile and a jolly word for all
the village. He could suit himself to his company, too, for on the
one hand he could take his wine with the vicar, or with Sir James
Ovington, the squire of the parish; while on the other he would sit
by the hour amongst my humble friends down in the smithy, with
Champion Harrison, Boy Jim, and the rest of them, telling them such
stories of Nelson and his men that I have seen the Champion knot his
great hands together, while Jim's eyes have smouldered like the
forge embers as he listened.

My father had been placed on half-pay, like so many others of the
old war officers, and so, for nearly two years, he was able to
remain with us. During all this time I can only once remember that
there was the slightest disagreement between him and my mother. It
chanced that I was the cause of it, and as great events sprang out
of it, I must tell you how it came about. It was indeed the first
of a series of events which affected not only my fortunes, but those
of very much more important people.

The spring of 1803 was an early one, and the middle of April saw the
leaves thick upon the chestnut trees. One evening we were all