he Commodore was a little purgy, [3] bustious [4] sort o' man, sir,
wi' a squinny eye an' mottles upon hes face pretty near so thick as
the Milky Way; an' he skeered Sam a bit, settin' up there an'
glazin'.

"Th' ould man had no more sproil [5] nor a babby, an' had pretty nigh
lost hes mouth-speech, but he beckons Sam to the bed, and whispers--

"' Sam, you've a-been a gude sarvent to me.'

"'Gude maasters makes gude sarvents,' says Sam, an' falls to cryin'
bitterly.

"'You'm down i' my will,' says the Commodore, 'so you've no call to
take on so. But look 'ee here, Sam; there's wan thing more I wants
'ee to do for your old maaster. I've a-been a Wanderin' Jewel all my
life,' says he, '--wanderer 'pon the face o' the earth, like--like--'

"'Cain,' says Sam.

"'Well, not azackly. Hows'ever, you an' me, Sam, have a-been like
Jan Tresize's geese, never happy unless they be where they bain't,
an' that's the truth. An' now,' says he, 'I've a-tuk a consait I'd
like my ould bones to be carr'd home to Carne, an' laid to rest 'long
wi' my haveage. [6] All the Trounces have a-been berried in Carne
Churchyard, Sam, an' I'm thinkin' I'd like to go back to mun, like
the Prodigious Son. So what I wants 'ee to do es this:--When I be
dead an' gone, you mus' get a handy box made, so's I shall carry
aisy, an' take me back to England. You'll find plenty o' money for
the way i' the skivet [7] o' my chest there, i' the corner.'

"''Tes a brave long way from here to England,' says Sam.

"'I knaws what you be thinkin' 'bout,' says the Commodore.
'You'm reckonin' I'll spile on the way. But I don't mean 'ee to go
by say. You mus' take me 'cross the bay an' then ship aboard a
train, as'll take 'ee dro Seville, an' Madrid, an' Paris, to Dover.
'Tes a fast train,' says he, 'as trains go i' these parts; but I'm
doubtin' ef et starts ivery day or only dree times a week. I reckon,
tho', ef you finds out, I can manage so's my dyin' shan't interfere
wi' that.'

"Well, Sam was forced to promise, an' the Commodore seemed mighty
relieved, an' lay still while Sam read to 'n out o' the books that
th' ould man had by 'n. There was the Bible, and the Pellican's
Progress, an' Philip Quarles, an' Hannah Snell, the female sodger.
Sam read a bit from each, an' when he comes to that part about
Christ'n crossing the river, th' ould man sets up sudden an' calls,
'Land, Sam, land! Fetch a glass, lad!'--just like that, sir; an' wi'
that falls ba