e're roundabout here, the
Britishers will count it for certain that we had a hand in the
desertion, an' the Avenger may be taken from us before we've got well
into our work. The king's officers ain't noways easy in handlin' them
as tries to get the best of 'em."

"But if the man swims for the islands expectin' to find us, and we're
not there, he'll be retaken."

"Ay, lad, an' most likely dance at the yard-arm for desertion."

"Then of course we must help him," and I beckoned to Jerry, knowing
full well he would fall into my way of thinking.

Before anything could be said between my partner and me, however, the
Avenger had come off the Severn, and we received peremptory orders to
heave to.

"Why didn't you remain alongside, as you were told?" an officer asked
angrily when the pungy was at a standstill, and Darius replied:

"The current carried us down the bay durin' the night, an' when
mornin' came the captain of that other ship ordered us alongside, sir.
He bought our cargo an' agreed to take more, so if you'd like to
trade with us, we can have fifteen or twenty bushels here by to-morrow
night, in case the wind holds."

I could see that two or three of the gentlemen on the quarter-deck put
their heads together, as if talking about us, and then the one who had
first spoken ordered us to lay alongside.

"They're goin' to search us, an' it may be I'll have an invite to stop
aboard quite a spell." Darius said half to himself as he swung the
pungy around preparatory to obeying orders.

"Then why do we go alongside? It wouldn't take many minutes to run out
of range," I said excitedly.

"They'd sink us in a twinkling, an' even though I knew we might give
'em the slip, it shouldn't be done, 'cause we couldn't come here
again, which never'd suit the commodore."

The possibility that any of our crew might be pressed into service on
board the ship frightened me, as may be imagined; but I understood
even while making the suggestion, that we could not hope to escape,
and the fate of poor Tom Sackett was pictured before me.

There was no way out of it, however, but my knees were very weak when
we ranged up under the starboard guns, waiting like criminals until
his majesty's officers should work their will regardless of right or
wrong.

Darius was the one who stood in the most danger, for it could readily
be seen that he was an old sailor; but he never turned a hair. One
would have said to see him that nothing was mor