And what he saw distressed him greatly.

Captain Sam Hunniwell was his life-long friend.

Maud had been his pet since her babyhood; she and he had had many confidential chats together, over troubles at school, over petty disagreements with her father, over all sorts of minor troubles and joys.

Captain Sam had mentioned to him, more than once, the probability of his daughter's falling in love and marrying some time or other, but they both had treated the idea as vague and far off, almost as a joke.
And now it was no longer far off, the falling in love at least.
And as for its being a joke--Jed shuddered at the thought.

He was very fond of Charlie Phillips; he had made up his mind at first to like him because he was Ruth's brother, but now he liked him for himself.