Orders from the king had already been received that the company was to be conveyed direct to Gottenburg, and they entered the port on the fifth day after sailing.
The change, the sea air, and the prospect of seeing his father again greatly benefited Charlie, and, while the company was marched to a large building assigned to their use, he was able to make his way on foot to his father's, assisted by his soldier servant, Jock Armstrong.
"Why, Charlie," Sir Marmaduke Carstairs exclaimed as he entered, "who would have thought of seeing you?
You are looking ill, lad; ill and weak.

What has happened to you ?" Charlie briefly related the events that had brought about his return to Gottenburg, of which Sir Marmaduke was entirely ignorant.
Postal communications were rare and uncertain, and Captain Jervoise had not taken advantage of the one opportunity that offered, after Charlie had been wounded, thinking it better to delay till the lad could write and give a good account of himself.
"So Jervoise, and his son, and that good fellow Jamieson are all back again?
That is good news, Charlie; and you have been promoted?
That is capital too, after only a year in the service.

And you have been wounded, and a prisoner among the Russians?
You have had adventures, indeed! I was terribly uneasy when the first news of that wonderful victory at Narva came, for we generally have to wait for the arrival of the despatches giving the lists of the killed and wounded.

I saw that the regiment had not been in the thick of it, as the lists contained none of your names.

I would have given a limb to have taken part in that wonderful battle.