madam, you never saw such a boy
before. Mark my words, he will do more in the world than ever his father
did, and his father was pretty well known in his time, in the Royal
Navy, ma'am. To have stuck to his horse all that way in the dark was
wonderful, perfectly wonderful. And the horse blows more than the rider,
ma'am, which is quite beyond my experience. Now, Tom, ride home very
carefully and slowly, if you feel quite equal to it. The Lord has
watched over you, and He will continue, as He does with brave folk that
do their duty. Half a crown you shall have, all for yourself, and the
sixpenny boat that you longed for in the shops. Keep out of the way of
the smugglers, Tom; don't let them even clap eyes on you. Kiss me, my
son; I am proud of you."

Little Tom long remembered this; and his mother cried over it hundreds
of times.

Although it was getting on for midnight now, Master Gristhorp and his
wife came out into the road before their house, to see the departure of
their guests. And this they could do well, because the moon had cleared
all the fog away, and was standing in a good part of the sky for
throwing clear light upon Filey. Along the uncovered ridge of shore,
which served for a road, and was better than a road, the boy and the
pony grew smaller; while upon the silvery sea the same thing happened to
the pinnace, with her white sails bending, and her six oars glistening.

"The world goeth up, and the world goeth down," said the lady, with her
arms akimbo; "and the moon goeth over the whole of us, John; but to my
heart I do pity poor folk as canna count the time to have the sniff of
their own blankets."

"Margery, I loikes the moon, as young as ever ye da. But I sooner see
the snuff of our own taller, a-going out, fra the bed-curtings."

Shaking their heads with concrete wisdom, they managed to bar the door
again, and blessing their stars that they did not often want them, took
shelter beneath the quiet canopy of bed. And when they heard by-and-by
what had happened, it cost them a week apiece to believe it; because
with their own eyes they had seen everything so peaceable, and had such
a good night afterward.

When a thing is least expected, then it loves to come to pass, and then
it is enjoyed the most, whatever good there is of it. After the fog and
the slur of the day, to see the sky at all was joyful, although there
was but a white moon upon it, and faint stars gliding hazily. And it was
a great point