attention, for her square-rigged petticoat, she
thought best to be content with the excited prattle of her maid, a
young bond-servant bought off the Nancy Jane the year before.

"Here, Jocko," said Browne, standing in front of his house and calling
to the Adamite negro lad, "you go and call Bob, and get the sloop
ready. I'm going down to the ship."

"Get sloop, massa?" said the negro, speaking English with difficulty.
"Massa say sloop?"

Sanford Browne looked at the black figure inquiringly. It was not often
that poor, cringing Jocko ventured to question him. "Yes, sloop," he
said with an emphasis born of his irritating disappointment.

"Much great big wind blow--blow right up river. Tack, tack, all day,"
muttered the black boy timidly.

"You're right," said the planter, who had not observed that the strong
wind would be dead ahead all the way to the anchorage. "Tell Bob to put
the canoe in the water." And then to himself: "The negro is no fool."

"Bob, Bob, massa him want can-noo go see great big ship mighty quick."

"Come, Sanford; you may go too," said the planter to his son. "We'll
carry the fowling piece: there'll be ducks on the water."

SCENE II.

The time is the same day, and the place the deck of the Nancy Jane, at
anchor. The captain is giving orders to the cook: "I want a good bowl
of bumbo set here on deck against the planters come aboard." Then
turning to the mate: "Have the decks squeegeed clean, an' everything
shipshape. Put the rogues in as good garb as you can. You'll find a few
wigs in a box in my cabin. But these on the likeliest, and make 'em say
they're mechanics, or merchants' clerks, and housemaids. Tell 'em if
they don't put out a good foot and get off our hands soon we'll tie 'em
up and make 'em understand that it's better to lie to a planter than to
stick on shipboard too long. Make the women clean themselves up and
look tidy like ancient housemaids, and don't allow any nonsense. Tell
'em if they swear or quarrel while the planters are aboard they'll get
a cat-o'-nine-tails well laid on. We've got to make 'em more afraid of
the ship than they are of the plantations."

The convicts were in the course of an hour or two ranged up against the
bulwarks forward, and they were with much effort sufficiently
browbeaten to bring them into some kind of order.

"They're a sorry lot of Newgate birds," said the captain to the mate.
"I'm afraid we'll have a time of it before we change 'em off fo