r," said the boy, "but we was afraid to--feared you'd fire at
us."

"But you see now, you came the wrong way."

"Yes, sir," said the boy, glancing at the carpenter; "we did come the
wrong way."

"Well, what is it? Did we leave anything behind? Very good of the
captain to send you."

"Didn't send us, sir," said the boy, looking down.

"Not send you?" cried Uncle Dick, staring. "How is it you came, then?"

The boy shifted his weight from one foot to the other, scooping up the
dry sand with his toes, and turned to his companion, who gave me a
peculiar look and stood frowning.

"Why don't you speak out and tell the gentleman, Bill Cross?"

"I left it to you, boy. You've got a tongue in your head."

"Yes; but you're bigger and older than me. But I don't mind telling.
You see, Mr Nat, sir," he said, suddenly turning to me, "I couldn't
stand it any longer. They was killing of me, and as soon as you was
gone, sir, it seemed so much worse that I went and shook hands with Bill
Cross, who was the only one who ever said a kind word to me, and I
telled him what I was going to do."

"Told him you were going to run away?" said my uncle.

"No, sir," said the boy promptly. "I telled him I'd come to say
good-bye, for as soon as it was too dark for them to see to save me I
was going to--"

"Run away?" said my uncle sternly, for the boy had stopped short.

"No, sir," he resumed; "I was going to jump overboard."

"Why, you miserable, wicked young rascal, how dare you tell me such a
thing as that?" cried my uncle.

The boy gave a loud sniff.

"That's just what Bill Cross said, sir: and that he'd knock my blessed
young head off if I dared to do such a thing."

"Did you say that?" asked my uncle.

"Yes, sir, I did, sir," said the man gruffly; "and a very stupid thing
too."

"How stupid?" said my uncle.

"If he drowned himself and went to the bottom, how was I ever to get the
chance to hit him, sir?"

"Humph! I see," said my uncle; "but you meant right. And what then?"
he continued, turning back to the boy.

"Bill Cross said, sir, that if I'd got the spirit of a cockroach I
wouldn't do that. `Cut and run,' he says."

"Quite right," said my uncle. "I mean, get to another ship."

"`Where am I to run to?' I says. `I can't run atop of the water.'

"`No,' he says; `but you could get in a boat when it was dark and row
away.' `I dursen't,' I says; `it would be stealing the boat.' `You
could borrow it,' h