f darkness, Bonnet resumed his role of sober merchantman
and sailed the _James_ up the Chesapeake under the British flag, with a
fine air of honesty.

Jeremy and Bob regained their spirits as the low shores unrolled ahead
and passed astern, with an occasional glimpse of a plantation house or a
village at the water's edge. As every fresh estuary and arm of the bay
opened on the bow, the lads hoped and expected that the sloop would
enter. Bob thought the chances for escape or rescue would be much
increased if they came to anchor in some harbor. Jeremy remembered the
Captain's half-promise to free him when they reached the Chesapeake, and
although he would have been loth to part from his new friend, he felt
that he might render him better service ashore than in his company
aboard the pirate.

It was two full days before the order was finally given to anchor. They
had put into the mouth of a wide inlet far up on the Eastern shore, and
Bonnet had her brought into the wind at a good distance from either
side. The banks were high and wooded, and as far as the boys could see
there was no sign of habitation anywhere about. Their minds were both
busy planning some way of getting to land when Dave Herriot came up
behind them and put a huge hand into the collar of each. "Come along
below, lads," he said gruffly. They went, completely mystified, until
the big sailing-master thrust them before him into the port gun deck.
Then Jeremy understood. The old-fashioned arrangement of iron bars
called the "bilboes" was fastened to the bulkhead at the bow end of the
alleyway. It had two or three sets of iron shackles chained to it and
into the smallest pair of these, meant for the wrists of a grown victim,
he locked an ankle of each of the boys.

"Ye'll stay _there_ a while, till we sail again," Herriot remarked as he
departed. The lads stared at each other, too glum to speak. Bob was pale
with rage at what he considered a dishonor, while the Yankee boy's heart
was heavy as he thought of the opportunities for flight he had let slip
on the voyage up the bay. Within half an hour after the anchor was
dropped the young prisoners heard the creak of the davit blocks, and a
moment later the splash of a boat taking water close to the nearest
gun-port. Jeremy stretched as far as his chain would allow, and through
a crevice saw four men start to row toward shore. There was some coarse
jesting and laughter on deck, then one of the crew sent a "Fare ye