Far from being angry Mr Croft was a genial man, with abundant moustaches and twinkling eyes, and Gus quickly found himself recounting the story of how he had come to be aboard the Shenandoah. He skated over the reason why he had run away, but he was not pressed for any further explanation.

‘You say your father and mother both died. So who brought you up?’

‘I grew up in the workhouse.’

‘You poor boy!’ was Mrs Croft’s reaction and Victoria looked at him with tears in her eyes.

‘It must be horrible growing up with no mother or father.’

Gus shrugged, and Mr Croft said, ‘Under the circumstances, I think Gus is to be admired for having the courage and initiative to carve out a career for himself.’

Conversation turned to the Shenandoah, but when it came to explaining the ship’s objective Gus found himself in difficulties.

‘Beg pardon, sir, but I’m not supposed to talk about that.’

‘Your discretion does you credit. But there’s no need to worry. There have been plenty of reports in the papers, so we have a pretty good idea of what you’ve been up to. Now, that’s the gong for dinner. I expect you’re hungry, aren’t you?’

Gus had never sat at a family dinner table, but he had watched the way the officers on board the ship behaved and he managed to get through the meal without disgracing himself.

Towards the end he felt able to ask a question himself.

‘Have you always lived here, in Melbourne, sir?’

‘No. We came over from Van Dieman’s Land – what they are calling Tasmania now. I had a small hotel there, but when we heard about the gold rush here we thought there might be more opportunities in Melbourne. And we were proved right.’

‘Gold rush, sir?’

‘You didn’t know? Near on fifteen years ago, gold was discovered near here at Clunes and then at Ballarat. It brought thousands of men here to dig. Most of the easily got stuff has gone now; it’s all deep mining. But it made this city what it is today: one of the busiest and most prosperous places in Australia.’

‘I wish I could have been here then,’ Gus said.

‘Oh, there were fortunes made and lost. But there were plenty who went home empty-handed too. Now, if you have to be back on board you had better get going. I’ll get one of my people to walk you back to the docks.’

‘Mama, can Gus come and visit us again?’ Victoria asked.

‘If he is allowed ashore, of course. We’ll be glad to see you any time, Gus.’