In his letter the captain dwelt on many kindnesses which he had received from its bearer, and of the bravery which he had seen him evince on the field; informing them also that his pockets would be but ill provided with cash, and regretting his own inability to replenish them.

The kindness of Mrs. Paling and her family towards him knew no limits.  She asked him a hundred questions respecting her son, her daughters concerning their brother; and they imagined wants for him, that they might show him a kindness.  Now, however, twelve miles was all that lay between him and his home.  They entreated him to remain until next day; but he refused, for

  “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.”

It is true, he could hardly give the name of home to the house of those whom he called his parents, for it had ever been to him the habitation of oppressors; yet it was his home, as the mountain covered with eternal snow is the home of the Greenlander, and he knew no other.  The usual road to it was by crossing the Dart at a ferry about a hundred yards above the house of Mrs. Paling.  Any other road caused a circuit of many miles.

“If you will not remain with us to-night,” said the brother of Captain Paling, who had conducted him from the vessel to his mother’s house, “I shall accompany you to the ferry.”

“No, I thank you—­I thank you,” said George, confusedly; “there is no occasion for it—­none whatever.  I shall not forget your kindness.”

He did not intend to go by the ferry; for though the charge of the boatman was but a halfpenny, that halfpenny he had not in his possession; and he wished to conceal his poverty.

But women have sharp eyes in these matters.  They see where men are blind; and a sister of Captain Paling named Caroline read the meaning of their guest’s confusion, and of his refusing to permit her brother to accompany him to the shore; and, with a delicacy which spoke to the heart of him to whom the words were addressed, she said—­

“Mr. Prescot, you have only now arrived from the Continent, and it is most likely that you have no small change in your pocket.  The ferrymen are unreasonable people to deal with.  If you give them a crown, they will row away and thank you, forgetting to return the change.  The regular charge is but a halfpenny; therefore you had better take coppers with you;” and as she spoke, she held a halfpenny in her fingers towards him.

“Well, well,” stammered out George, with his hand in his pocket, “I believe I have no coppers;” and he accepted the halfpenny from the hand of Caroline Paling; and while he did so, he could not conceal the tears that rose to his eyes.

But, trifling as the amount of her offer was, it must be understood that the person to whom it was tendered was one who would not have accepted more—­who was ashamed of his poverty, and strove to conceal it; and there was a soul, there was a delicacy, in her manner of tendering it which I can speak of, but not describe.  It saved him also from having to wander weary and solitary miles at midnight.