Jim Travers, as he lay in his hammock, overheard every word which the twomen had said, and considerable more to the same effect.
Unusually bright and mentally strong as he was, he comprehended it all,and read the scheme as if in a printed book.
Hornblower, seeing him making his way along the wharf in New York, hadformed the plan of abducting him, and then securing a large reward fromthe parents or guardian for his return. Accordingly he stole and placedhim in charge of his gang on the schooner, and then began negotiationswith the guardians for his return.
Here a strange combination of circumstances came about.
One of the most pathetic facts that came to light regarding the abductionof Charley Ross, was the great number of other children that have beenfound who had been lost for months and years.
There can be no doubt that a regularly organized system of child-stealingprevails in this country, and there are at this hour hundreds of mothersand fathers separated from their beloved offspring through the deviltryof these kidnappers.
Hornblower must have supposed, from the appearance of Jim Travers, that hewas the son of well-to-do parents, who would "come down" handsomely forhis return. The extraordinary part of the business was, that, on themorning succeeding Jim's abduction, there appeared in the papers anaccount of the disappearance of a boy from Philadelphia, with the promiseof a liberal reward for any information that would lead to his return.This account did not correspond entirely with the circumstances underwhich Jim was taken, but the main facts were such that Hornblower wassatisfied he had the right lad in his keeping.
When Hornblower questioned Jim so closely in the cabin and took down hisreplies, he had not a particle of doubt that the boy was telling him atissue of falsehoods from beginning to end. Toward the close of theexamination, however, it began to dawn on the abductor that possibly hehad made an error. Be that as it might, he was none the less convincedthat he had a bonanza in his hands, and one which could be made to servehim as well as the original himself.
His captive corresponded so closely to the one advertised that he could bemade to pass muster as such, and the reward secured. This, it would seem,was almost an impossible task, but Hornblower was confident of success.
This explanation will serve to show why he took the precautions which hadexcited the impatience of his confederate, Bob.
Jim Travers did not know all this, but he easily understood from theconversation of the two conspirators that he had been stolen for the sakeof making money out of his return.
"What a great mistake they have made," he thought; "there isn't any one inthe wide world that would give three cents to have me returned."
He concluded to stay quietly on board the schooner and let matters taketheir course, as it did not occur to him that any personal danger mightarise from future complications. Could he have dreamed of what was coming,he would have jumped overboard and risked drowning in his attempt to reachland.
Jim had learned enough from the conversation in the cabin to keep himawake until midnight. It was near morning when he dropped off intoslumber, which was not broken until the forenoon of the succeeding day washalf gone.
When he went on deck, he saw that the schooner was far below the city, andstanding straight toward the ocean. The weather was again cold, so he keptwithin the cabin most of the time.
That night the negro Sam complained of feeling unwell, and threw hismassive form into his hammock, in the hope of becoming better after ashort rest. His sickness was not of a serious nature; but when such a bigman falls ill there is a great deal of it, and the African instantlyformed the belief that he was going to die, certain sure.
He groaned, and cried, until Jim himself became frightened, and went ondeck to ask the others to look after him. They replied that there wasnothing the matter with Sam, and that he would soon come around all right.
Jim did his best to relieve the negro, giving him the few simple remediesat hand, in the hope that he would drop off to sleep. Sure enough, in thecourse of half an hour Sam did fall asleep, and when he awoke, an hourlater, was well; and, fully appreciating Jim's kind attentions, said tohim, leaning on his enormous elbow in the hammock,--
"Tell you what, sonny, yous been mighty kind to me, and _I'll rememberyou_, dat's what I'll do."
"You would have done the same for me, Sam."
"S'pose I would; but dar ain't many dat would hab done it for me, and I_won't forget you_. But wasn't I 'bout de sickest coon dat you eber seen?"
"You seemed to feel very bad," replied Jim.
"Feel bad? you'd better beleib I did! Do you know what de matter wid me?"
"No."
"I had de Norf American cholera; dat's worse dan de African. I also hadthe pneumonia, and de bronchitis, and de measles, and de small-pox, andthe cholly-wampus--all at the same time. Do you wonder dat I groaned?"
"I shouldn't think you could groan at all, if you had so many diseases asthat."
"Dar's war my toughness and wrastling powers show themselves. I justwrastled and wrastled, and I frowed 'em all."
Sam swung his huge legs out of the hammock, took a seat near Jim, and,reaching out, he gently closed his immense fist around the little whitehand of the boy. Then leaning forward until his black face, as broad asthe moon, was almost against Jim's, he whispered,--
"Yous been mighty kind to me, sonny, and, as I obsarved befor', I ain't deone to forget it. Now, don't you disremember what I toles you. You tinkit's all nice and pleasant here on de boat, and so it am jis' now, butdar's _breakers ahead!_ Dat boss ob mine am one ob de biggest debbils datam runnin' loose. Ef I should tell yous all dat I know 'bout him, yourhair would rose up and stick frough de roof wid horror. Can you swim,sonny?"
"I am a good swimmer."
"Berry well; I'm mighty glad to hear dat; it's likely dat you'll hab toswim for your life one ob dese days. Don't roll your eyes so--I don'tmean dat we's going to be wracked. But what I want to say am dat you mustkeep mum, and don't let on dat you don't know nuffin. Don't act as thoughyou and me was much friends when de rest am 'bout, but you know dat I'mjis' de best one dat you'll eber find."
"I understand all that," said Jim, who saw that the plan was only a simpleprecaution against drawing suspicion to them; "but I had no thought thatany one would want to hurt me."
"Yous young, and don't understand dem tings like us better eddycatedgem'man. Old Hornblower am trying to sell you; and if he can't do it, andtinks dat de ossifers am coming down on him, why he'll jis' chuck youoberboard and dar'll be de end ob it. You see, yous a purty big boy tosteal, and if he lets you go, he'll be likely to hear from you again."
Jim thanked his new friend from the bottom of his heart, and asked himwhat was the best thing to do.
"_Run away!_" was the emphatic reply.
"But I don't get any chance when they're close to shore. I am watched allthe while, and they are so far off at other times that I hardly dare tryit."
"I'll tell yous what to do; jis' wait till I lets you know dat de time amcome."
Jim agreed to this, and the African shortly after went on deck, while theboy turned in for the night.
From this time forth the captive lost his reckoning altogether, and couldform no definite idea of the part of the world in which they werecruising. He supposed they were somewhere along the Virginia or NorthCarolina coast. At intervals of a day or two they ran in within sight ofsome town, and the sailor known as Bob went ashore in the boat.
On these occasions there could be no doubt that he met Hornblower, andthat the schooner was playing her part in a drama which was likely to endin a tragedy.
Fortified by the presence of such a friend as the negro Sam, Jimdetermined to write a note to Tom, telling him what had happened, andpromising to return to him as soon as possible.
He had no trouble securing paper and the occasion; and when finished, heintrusted the missive to Sam, with the strictest injunctions to drop itinto the office at the first town where he landed.
The negro did
his best, and a week later, when he went ashore, he inquiredfor the post-office, which he found after much trouble and delay. But hehad lost the letter, and truth compelled him to report the sad fact to hisyoung friend.
After that Jim did not run the risk of a second attempt.
"Providence will bring me out all right some day," was his conclusion;"and then Tom and I will talk it all over."
The schooner coasted up and down for weeks and months, until spring.
During this period she had spent days in ports where Jim could not gainthe chance to find out the name of the town even.
Sam's ignorance was so dense that even if he heard the place called out,he could not remember it ten minutes.
Several times Hornblower had appeared on board the vessel; but he held nocommunication with Jim, nor could the latter gain any additional knowledgeof how he was progressing with his negotiations.
In the presence of others there was always a coolness between Sam and theboy, and it was impossible that either of the sailors should havesuspected the strong friendship that bound the two together.
The fact that the vessel was working her way northward again made Jimuneasy; for it convinced him that a crisis was at hand, and his fate waslikely to be determined one way or the other very soon.
Sam was of the same belief, as he took occasion to say when the chanceoffered. Adding that he would keep his eyes and ears open.
On a beautiful day in spring the Simoon entered New York Bay, and Jimresolved to seize the first opportunity to escape. The sight of the greatcity filled him with such longings to see his old friend Tom, that hecould scarcely conceal his impatience from the others.
A grievous disappointment awaited him.
So strict a surveillance was kept over him, that no artifice wassufficient to secure the coveted chance.
That night Hornblower was on board, and a long and angry conference tookplace forward between him and Bob.
Jim would have given the world could he have learned what it was; butneither he nor Sam was allowed to catch a single expression.
The next morning the Simoon left the wharf and started up the Hudson. Mr.Hornblower had decided to effect a "change of venue."
Chapter XVI.