Transcribed form the 1911 W. Foulsham & Co. Ltd. edition by DavidPrice, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk
To my friend Bertha Nicoll with affectionate esteem.
Adam Salton sauntered into the Empire Club, Sydney, and found awaitinghim a letter from his grand-uncle. He had first heard from theold gentleman less than a year before, when Richard Salton had claimedkinship, stating that he had been unable to write earlier, as he hadfound it very difficult to trace his grand-nephew’s address. Adam was delighted and replied cordially; he had often heard his fatherspeak of the older branch of the family with whom his people had longlost touch. Some interesting correspondence had ensued. Adam eagerly opened the letter which had only just arrived, and conveyeda cordial invitation to stop with his grand-uncle at Lesser Hill, foras long a time as he could spare.
“Indeed,” Richard Salton went on, “I am in hopesthat you will make your permanent home here. You see, my dearboy, you and I are all that remain of our race, and it is but fittingthat you should succeed me when the time comes. In this year ofgrace, 1860, I am close on eighty years of age, and though we have beena long-lived race, the span of life cannot be prolonged beyond reasonablebounds. I am prepared to like you, and to make your home withme as happy as you could wish. So do come at once on receipt ofthis, and find the welcome I am waiting to give you. I send, incase such may make matters easy for you, a banker’s draft for£200. Come soon, so that we may both of us enjoy many happydays together. If you are able to give me the pleasure of seeingyou, send me as soon as you can a letter telling me when to expect you. Then when you arrive at Plymouth or Southampton or whatever port youare bound for, wait on board, and I will meet you at the earliest hourpossible.”
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Old Mr. Salton was delighted when Adam’s reply arrived andsent a groom hot-foot to his crony, Sir Nathaniel de Salis, to informhim that his grand-nephew was due at Southampton on the twelfth of June.
Mr. Salton gave instructions to have ready a carriage early on theimportant day, to start for Stafford, where he would catch the 11.40a.m. train. He would stay that night with his grand-nephew, eitheron the ship, which would be a new experience for him, or, if his guestshould prefer it, at a hotel. In either case they would startin the early morning for home. He had given instructions to hisbailiff to send the postillion carriage on to Southampton, to be readyfor their journey home, and to arrange for relays of his own horsesto be sent on at once. He intended that his grand-nephew, whohad been all his life in Australia, should see something of rural Englandon the drive. He had plenty of young horses of his own breedingand breaking, and could depend on a journey memorable to the young man. The luggage would be sent on by rail to Stafford, where one of his cartswould meet it. Mr. Salton, during the journey to Southampton,often wondered if his grand-nephew was as much excited as he was atthe idea of meeting so near a relation for the first time; and it waswith an effort that he controlled himself. The endless railwaylines and switches round the Southampton Docks fired his anxiety afresh.
As the train drew up on the dockside, he was getting his hand trapstogether, when the carriage door was wrenched open and a young man jumpedin.
“How are you, uncle? I recognised you from the photoyou sent me! I wanted to meet you as soon as I could, but everythingis so strange to me that I didn’t quite know what to do. However, here I am. I am glad to see you, sir. I have beendreaming of this happiness for thousands of miles; now I fi