CHAPTER VIII.
A DISAGREEABLE ROOM-MATE.
I had not seen Mrs. Boomsby for several years; and though I had noreason to expect anything but abuse from her, my curiosity induced meto see her. If anything, she was more of a tyrant than her brutalhusband, and I had no occasion to thank her for anything she had donefor me. She was the more plucky of the pair, and it had surprised me,years before, to learn that she "ruled the roost." At that time thecaptain was actually afraid of her.
"You have got pretty well up in the world, Captain Boomsby," I saidwhen we had gone up two flights of stairs and were about to ascend athird.
"Well, you see, I let all these lower rooms; and the folks is jest aswell off up three pair of stairs as up one," he replied, almost out ofbreath, for the stairs told more heavily on him than on me. "Besides, Ilike to have the old woman as far as I can from the business; she don'tinterfere so much then."
The old reprobate chuckled then as though he had said something smart;but I would have given a quarter to have had his wife overhear theremark, for the fun of the scene that would have ensued.
"Parker Boomsby! where on earth air you goin'?" shouted a shrill, butvery familiar voice on the floor below us.
"All right," replied the captain, evidently much disturbed by the call."I thought she was up here; but she always turns up just where youdon't want her. But come up, Sandy; I want to show you a room I'vefixed up."
"No, I thank you; as Mrs. Boomsby is not up here, I think I will godown," I replied, beginning to retrace my steps.
"What are you doin' with strangers up gerret, Parker Boomsby?" demandedthe lady on the floor below.
"I've got sunthin' up here that belongs to you, Sandy; I want to giveit to you," pleaded the captain. "I fetched you up here to give it toyou afore I took you in to see the old woman."
I concluded that he had some reason for taking me to the attic of thehouse, and I was curious to know what it was. It is true he had led meto believe that his wife was in this part of the house; but that mighthave been one of his huge jokes. I followed him up the last flight ofstairs. I was then on the fourth floor of the house. There were twolarge and two small chambers in this attic, none of which appeared tobe furnished.
"It is in this room," said Captain Boomsby, leading me into the rearhall chamber. "It's a little grain dark in here."
I saw that the window that looked out on the river-side of the househad been boarded up. He led the way into the room, and I followed him.
"I've got a picter of you when you wasn't more'n four year old. It wastaken when you was in the poor-house, by a feller that come alongtaking picters, to show what he could do. It hangs on the wall overhere," continued the captain, passing between me and the door. "You canlook at it all the rest of the day, if you like."
Suddenly he dodged out of the door, and I heard the bolt spring as helocked the door behind him. I had not expected that he would resort toany trick to get possession of me; and I had been as unsuspicious asthough I were on board of the Sylvania. In fact, I was amazed at thehardihood of the man in attempting to make a prisoner of me in thismanner. For some reason or other, I was not at all alarmed at mysituation. I did not consider the door absolutely invulnerable; and Iwas confident that I had strength enough to remove the boards that hadbeen nailed up before the window.
When I had been in the room a few minutes, there was light enough whichcame through the cracks in the boards before the window to enable me tosee where I was. There was not an article of furniture of any kind inthe apartment. The boards appeared to be securely fastened, not withnails, as I had supposed, but with screws. The boards were of hardpine, and about as strong as oak. My prison was stronger than it seemedat first.
I came to the conclusion before I had been in the room ten minutes,that this apartment had been prepared for my reception. Captain Boomsbyknew that the Sylvania was to return to Jacksonville, as others did. Itwas plain that he had not yet given up the idea of possessing thesteamer. He claimed to be my guardian, and to have the legal right topossess whatever belonged to me. Carrington had told him my father wasdead, and he believed he could carry his point. I had certainly beenbound out to him until I was of age; but he had surrendered all hisclaims to me in writing to my father, though this document had beendestroyed in the fire.
The fact that I had a father, rendered his claim upon me of no value. Iwas satisfied that no lawyer would undertake the case he proposed tomake out against me. I learned that he had tried in Charleston toemploy a legal gentleman to assist him in his work of gettingpossession of the steamer; but no one could furnish any warrant of lawfor the proceeding. I was not disposed to bother my head with the legalaspect of the case, for my ancient enemy certainly had no legal rightto kidnap me, and make me a prisoner in his own house. I was aprisoner; and when I came to a realizing sense of the fact, I was readyfor business.
"What on airth are you doin' up here, Parker Boomsby?" snarled the wifeof that worthy; and as I stood at the door of my prison, I could hearher pant from the violence of her exertions in ascending the stairs,for, like her liege lord, she had greatly increased her avoirdupoissince I lived with the family at Glossenbury. Possibly she drank toomuch whiskey, like the companion of her joys and sorrows, though I hadno information on this point. I only knew that she used to take alittle when she was too hot or too cold, when she was wet or when shewas dry.
"Hush, Nancy! Don't cut up now!" pleaded the master of the house, asperhaps he supposed he was.
"Don't talk to me, Parker Boomsby! What are you a-doin' up here? Whatsort of a con-spy-racy be you gittin' up at this blessed moment? Don'ttalk to me about cuttin' up! It is you that is allus cuttin' up, andnever tellin' your peaceful, sufferin' wife what you are doin',"replied Mrs. Boomsby; and I was confident she had been drinking to someextent, from her maudlin tones.
"Hush, Nancy! I've got Sandy Duddleton, with all his fine sodjer'sclothes on, in that room," said the captain, in a tone of triumph. "Ishall make him give up that steam-yachet; and I shall run her as areg'lar line up to Green Cove Springs, stoppin' at our orange farm bothways," replied Captain Boomsby, using his best efforts to appease theanger of his spouse.
"Hev you got him in there?" demanded the lady, evidently entirelymollified by the announcement of her husband. "I want to see him. Ihain't sot eyes on him sence I see him in Michigan."
"It won't do to open the door: he'll git away if I do. Wait till hegits tamed down a little, and then you shall see him. Good gracious! Iforgot all about the bar! Jest as like as not some nigger will come inand help hisself to the best liquor behind the counter. Run down,Nancy, and tell Nicholas to tend to the bar," said the captain.
"Run down yourself, you old fool!" replied the amiable lady. "Do youthink I come clear up here for nothin'? I want to see Sandy Duddletonin his sodjer's clothes."
"It won't do to open that door: he will git out if you do. But I mustgo down and look out for the bar. I shouldn't wonder if I had lost tencents by this time," replied Captain Boomsby; and I heard his heavystep on the stairs as he went down.
A moment later I heard a hand applied to the handle of the door, and Ihad no doubt it was Mrs. Boomsby trying to open it in order to obtain aview of "Sandy Duddleton," which was the name by which I was known whenan inmate of the poor-house. But the door was locked, and the key wasin the pocket of the proprietor of the saloon. The lady seemed to beangry because she could not get into the room where I was; and I mustadd that I was also sorry she could not, for if she could get in, Icould get out.
She tried the door several times, but she could not get in. She saidnothing to me; and as I expected no assistance from her, I saidnothing. Presently I heard her step on the stairs, hardly less heavythan that of her husband. I concluded that it must be five o'clock bythis time; and looking at my watch, I found it was half an hour later.I wanted to get out before dark; and so far, I had not matured any planto accomplish this purpose. I went to the window, and examined theboards which had been screwed up befo
re it.
I had a large jack-knife in my pocket, which I had carried for severalyears. It had a kind of scimitar-shaped blade I had used when at workon rigging. But I had little hope of being able to remove the screwsfrom the hard pine, which was as hard to work as oak. I struck a matchI had in my pocket, and by the light of it made a careful examinationof the screw-heads in the boards. I saw that holes had been bored inthe wood to admit the screws: indeed, it would have been impossible toget them through without boring. Of course this would make it easier toremove the screws.
But what was the use of taking down the boards in front of the window?I could not jump down from the attic floor of the building. Yet I couldgo to the next window, come into the house again, and then godown-stairs, the same as anybody would. I noticed that the lowest boardwas not more than two inches wide: it had been cut to fit what remaineduncovered of the window. I applied my knife to the screws in thisnarrow strip. Though they were hard to move, I succeeded in gettingthem out. But the labor of taking down the rest of the boards, orenough of them to enable me to pass out, was so great that I wasdiscouraged in the attempt to accomplish it. The end of the knife-bladedid not fit the slit of the screw.
The removal of the narrow board admitted light enough to enable me tosee all about the room. Next to the door which opened into the hall wasanother, which I concluded led into a closet. There was no picture ofme when I was a small child; and I wondered if Captain Boomsby hadinvented that fable on the spot. I was not willing to believe it. Itwould have required too great an exercise of imaginative power for him;and it was not unlikely that he had spent weeks in evolving thebrilliant fiction.
I did not expect to be left alone and unguarded for any great length oftime. My persecutor knew that I had some enterprise about me, and thatI would not tamely submit to my imprisonment. Perhaps he noticed that Iwore light shoes, and should not be likely to kick the door down withthem, as I might if I had on thick cowhide boots. I picked up thenarrow strip of board I had removed from the window; it was very heavyfor its size. If I had got a purchase on the door of the room, I couldhave pried it down; but there was no chance to get hold of it.
Possibly there was something in the closet that would aid me. I openedthe door. As I did so, an ugly-looking snake darted out into the room.He coiled himself up in one corner of the room and showed fight, whileI fled to the opposite corner.