t
where I was," he said. "Yes, the ship's under weigh, no doubt about
that, and we shall be out at sea in the course of a few hours if we have
the tide and wind with us, and don't ground on the bar and get knocked
to pieces."

After some time Harry awoke. I told him that the ship was running down
the river.

"Our chance of escape for the present is over, then," he said with a
deep sigh.

He had naturally been thinking of home and Lucy and his blighted
prospects; so indeed had I. Tubbs, as before, tried to cheer us up by
talking on various subjects.

"There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip," he observed.
"Although the captain fancies his craft faster than anything afloat, he
may catch a tartar in the shape of a British man-of-war before we cross
the Atlantic. As to selling us into slavery, I don't believe he'll
attempt it. He must know that before long we would find means of
communicating with a British consul or some other authority, and make
our cases known. If he had talked of selling us to the Moors or Turks,
the case would have been different. Once among those fellows, we should
have found it a hard matter to escape."

"Still he may sell us," observed Harry; "and perhaps months and years
will pass before we can let our friends know where we are."

"Well, well, that'll be better than having to walk the plank or being
run up at the yard-arm," said Tubbs. "We must not cry out until we are
hurt, although I'll own that I'd rather have more room to stretch my
legs in than this place affords. I hope Master Pikehead won't forget to
send us the food he promised; I'm getting rather sharp set already."

Harry and I confessed that we were also feeling very hungry. Even the
talking about food gave a new turn to our thoughts. At last we heard
the hatch above our heads lifted, and the black steward came down with a
bowl of farina and a jug of water. It was the same food the slaves were
fed on, but we thought it wise to make no complaint.

"It shows that the captain has no intention to starve us," observed
Harry. "However, this is better than mouldy biscuit and rancid pork,
such as I have heard say seamen are too often fed upon."

"You've heard say the truth, sir," observed Tubbs. "Often and often
I've known the whole ship's company get no better fare than that, with
little better than bilge water to drink. If we get enough stuff like
this, we shall grow fat, at all events."

The steward, leaving