CHAPTER TEN.
A WELCOME GUEST.
The little hall, or passage way, opening out of the porch, in which I now found myself, was like the vestibule to a museum.
It was crammed full, from floor to ceiling, with all sorts of curios, brought from foreign parts, evidently by the worthy owner of the dwelling, when returning home after his many cruisings in strange waters--conch shells from the Congo and cowries from Zanzibar; a swordfish's broken spear from the Pacific, and a Fijian war-club; cases of stuffed humming-birds from Rio, and calabashes from the Caribbean Sea; a beautiful model, in the finest ivory work, of a Chinese junk on one side, _vis-a-vis_ with a full-rigged English man-of-war on the other; and, above all, in the place of honour, the hideous body of a shark, displaying its systematic rows of triangularly arranged saw-like teeth, now harmless, but once ready to mangle the unwary! All these objects, of course, immediately attracted my attention, but I had not much time for glancing round the collection; for, almost as soon as we got inside the little hall, a bright-faced middle-aged woman, with jet-black hair and eyes, the very image of my new friend, only much more comely in feature, stepped forward from a room opening out of the other end of the passage.
"Dear me, Sam, is that you ?" she cried out in a voice closely resembling his in its cheery accents, although more musical by reason of its feminine ring; "I'm just dishing up, and dinner'll be ready as soon as the pasty's done." Her brother did not apparently pay any attention to this highly important announcement for the moment.
"Come here, Jane," he said, "I've brought home a visitor." With this she advanced, courtesying, her face changing as soon as she came nearer and saw who the stranger was.
"My, Sam!" she exclaimed, "who is he?
Why, he's the very image of poor Ted!" and she raised the corner of her apron to her eyes as she spoke, as if to stop the ready-starting tears.
"Whoever do you think he is ?" said Sam Pengelly, triumphantly; "look at him carefully, now.

No, Jane, my woman, I don't believe you'd ever guess!" "Who ?" "Why, the son of my good old commander, Lieutenant Leigh, of the _Swallow_, him as I've spun you so many yarns about! Why, Jane, my woman, I found the poor little laddie a desarted young orphan on the Hoe just now.

He's friendless, with never a home to go to; and so I asked him to come along o' me, saying as how you'd welcome him to `Old Calabar' the same as I." "And so I will, too, Sam," replied the other, coming up to me and speaking; "I'm main glad to see you here, young gentleman, for I've often heard Sam talk of your father, saying how good and kind he was to him.

You're heartily welcome to our little home.

My gracious, Sam!" she added, turning aside and using her apron again; "he's as like my Ted as two peas! I can't help it!" and so saying, she threw her arms round my neck and kissed me.
The action somewhat confused me; for, it was the first motherly caress I had ever experienced in my life.