It was not until two days later, however, that the gossip in Sunwich received a pleasant fillip by the arrival of the injured captain.  He came down from London by the midday train, and, disdaining the privacy of a cab, prepared to run the gauntlet of his fellow-townsmen.

A weaker man would have made a detour, but he held a direct course, and with a curt nod to acquaintances who would have stopped him walked swiftly in the direction of home.  Tradesmen ran to their shop-doors to see him, and smoking amphibians lounging at street corners broke out into sunny smiles as he passed.  He met these annoyances with a set face and a cold eye, but his views concerning children were not improved by the crowd of small creatures which fluttered along the road ahead of him and, hopeful of developments, clustered round the gate as he passed in.

[Illustration:  “He met these annoyances with a set face.”]

It is the pride and privilege of most returned wanderers to hold forth at great length concerning their adventures, but Captain Nugent was commendably brief.  At first he could hardly be induced to speak of them at all, but the necessity of contradicting stories which Bella had gleaned for Mrs. Kingdom from friends in town proved too strong for him.  He ground his teeth with suppressed fury as he listened to some of them.  The truth was bad enough, and his daughter, sitting by his side with her hand in his, was trembling with indignation.

“Poor father,” she said, tenderly; “what a time you must have had.”  “It won’t bear thinking of,” said Mrs. Kingdom, not to be outdone in sympathy.

“He met these annoyances with a set face.”

“Well, don’t think of it,” said the captain, shortly.

Mrs. Kingdom sighed as though to indicate that her feelings were not to be suppressed in that simple fashion.

“The anxiety has been very great,” she said, shaking her head, “but everybody’s been very kind.  I’m sure all our friends have been most sympathetic.  I couldn’t go outside the house without somebody stopping me and asking whether there was any news of you.  I’d no idea you were so popular; even the milkman——­”

“I’d like some tea,” interrupted the captain, roughly; “that is, when you have finished your very interesting information.”

Mrs. Kingdom pursed her lips together to suppress the words she was afraid to utter, and rang the bell.

“Your master would like some tea,” she said, primly, as Bella appeared.  “He has had a long journey.”  The captain started and eyed her fiercely; Mrs. Kingdom, her good temper quite restored by this little retort, folded her hands in her lap and gazed at him with renewed sympathy.

“We all missed you very much,” said Kate, softly.  “But we had no fears once we knew that you were at sea.”

“And I suppose some of the sailors were kind to you?” suggested the unfortunate Mrs. Kingdom.  “They are rough fellows, but I suppose some of them have got their hearts in the right place.  I daresay they were sorry to see you in such a position.”