He had often, indeed, watched the young officer and Miss Hudson together, and had guessed that they were more than mere acquaintances.
The passengers were, with the exception of the three ladies, all gathered on the poop.

But Frances had proposed to her mother that they should see Reuben in the cabin alone, as she felt that it would be a severe ordeal, to the lad, to be publicly thanked.
Captain Wilson ascended to the poop and joined the others there, while Mr.Hudson went alone into the cabin.
The three ladies were awaiting him there.

Frances came forward first.

The tears were standing in her eyes.
"You have saved my life," she said softly, "at the risk of your own; and I thank you with all my heart, not only for my own sake, but for that of my father and mother; who would have been childless, today, had it not been for you." "I need no thanks, Miss Hudson," Reuben said quietly.
His shyness had left him, as he entered the cabin.
"It will, all my life, be a source of pleasure and gratification to me, that I have been able to have been of service to so bright and kind a lady." "I am not less grateful," Miss Furley said, advancing also.

"I shall never forget that dreadful moment, and the feeling which darted through my mind, as you rushed past us and threw yourself upon him, and I felt that I was saved almost by a miracle." "And you must accept my thanks also," Mrs.Hudson said; "the thanks of a mother, whose child you have saved from so dreadful a death.
Believe me that there is nothing that my husband or myself would not do, to show how deeply and sincerely we are grateful to you." Mrs.Hudson, indeed, felt rather aggrieved that she could not, at once, take some active steps towards rewarding the young man for saving her daughter's life; and she had been unable to understand the scruples of her husband and daughter on the subject.