"Well, youngster," he exclaimed, "I am very glad to see you back again, all alive and kicking; for to tell you the truth you have been absent so long that I had given you and the _Wasp_ up for lost.  Well, and what luck have you had?  Strange that I did not notice the little schooner at anchor as I came down; for I have been on the lookout for her now a long while."