Chapter III.

                I charge you by the law,
  Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar,
  Proceed to judgment:  by my soul I swear
  There is no power in the tongue of man
  To alter me:  I stay here on my bond.

  Shylock.

It is not easy to describe the immediate effect of this discovery on either of the parties most concerned.  Not a doubt remained on the mind of either, after the facts were explained, of the reality of the relationship; for that was so simply proved, as to place the circumstance beyond all dispute.  Mrs. Wetmore thought of her lost son as of an innocent smiling babe; and here she found him a red-faced, hard-featured, weather-beaten tar, already verging towards age, and a man of manners that were rough, if not rude.  She could not at first possess any knowledge of the better points in his character, and was compelled to receive this boon from Providence as it was offered.  Nevertheless, a mother’s love is not easily dissatisfied, or smothered; and, ere I left the house, I could see the old woman’s eyes fixed on Marble with an expression of interest and tenderness they had not manifested previously to the revelations.

As for the mate himself, now that the fondest wish of his life was so unexpectedly gratified, he was taken so much by surprise that he appeared to think something was wanting.  He found his mother the reputable widow of a reputable man, of a class in life quite equal to his own, living on a property that was small, certainly, and involved, but property that had been long in her family.  The truth was, Marble felt so much at this unlooked-for appeal to his gentler feelings, that one of his stern nature did not know how to answer it on the emergency; and the obstinacy of his temperament rather induced him to resist, than to yield to such unwonted sentiments, I could see he was satisfied with his mother, while he was scarcely satisfied with himself; and, with a view to place both parties in truer positions, I desired Moses to walk down and look at the boat, while I remained alone with his new-found parent.  This was not done, however, until all the explanations had been made, and the mother had both blessed and wept over her child.  It was done, indeed, principally to relieve Marble from the oppression of feeling created by this very scene.

As soon as alone with Mrs. Wetmore, I explained to her my own connection with Marble, and gave her a sort of apologetic account of his life and character, keeping down the weak points, and dwelling on the strong.  I set her mind at ease, at once, on the subject of the farm; for, should the worst happen, her son had double the amount of money that would be necessary to discharge the mortgage.

“The debt was incurred, my dear Mrs. Wetmore, in his behalf; and he will be happy to discharge it on the spot.  I would advise you to pay the money at once.  Should the receipt ever be found, this Van Tassel will be obliged to refund; for, though the law winks at many wrongs, it will not wink at one so atrocious as this, provided you can satisfy it with proof.  I shall leave Moses——­”