Willis was likewise a great favorite with
his captain--they had served in the same ship together when boys;
Willis was known to be a first-rate seaman; so great, indeed, was his
skill in steering amongst reefs and shoals, that he was familiarly
styled the "Pilot," by which cognomen he was better known on board
than any other. At the particular request of Wolston, who had some
communications to make to him respecting his son, Willis remained on
shore, the captain promising to send his gig for him and his two
passengers the following morning.
Whilst Wolston was busy charging the pilot with a multitude of
messages for his son, Mrs. Becker was invoking the blessings of Heaven
upon the heads of her two boys; praying that the hour might be
deferred that was to separate her from these idols of her soul. Becker
himself, upon whom his position, as head of the family, imposed the
obligation of exhibiting, at least outwardly, more courage, instilled
into their minds such principles of truth and rules of conduct as the
solemnity of the moment was calculated to engrave on their hearts.
The dial now marked three o'clock, tropical time. Willis, wiping, with
the cuff of his jacket, a drop that trickled from the corner of his
eye, laid hold of his seal-skin sou'-wester as a signal of immediate
departure.
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