"
"And right glad I am they did, Joe. But surely Captain Benbow did
not send you in charge of the party?"
"Well, no, if you put it so, he didn't. We was in command of
Lieutenant Curtis."
"And is he here, too?"
"No. He happened to have a pocketful o' money, and so they let him
sling his hammock in the town, where he could spend it. When it is
gone, belike they will send him to join us."
"And let us hope that we'll be gone as soon as his money, Joe. I am
mighty glad you are here; for if we put our heads together we can
surely find some way of getting free."
"Bless your eyes, don't I wish we may. Maybe there's a fate in it,
sir. Fate jined you and me when it made me set Vetch a-rolling in
the barrel, and 'tis fate has jined us all three here. Ay, please
God, sir, one day we'll slip our cables, clap on all canvas, and
steer for the north, though how, whereby, and by what means we can
do it beats Joe Punchard."
The companionship of Joe, at a time when I was weak from my
sickness, mightily cheered me, and we spent much of each day
together. Our longing to be free did but increase as the days
passed. The monotony of prison life fretted us, Joe perhaps less
than me, for his life had been harder than mine, and as the days
grew shorter, and the nipping cold of winter by degrees overtook
us, we began to know what real wretchedness is. By day we could
warm ourselves with exercise and active sports in the courtyard,
but at night we shivered under our thin coverlets, and I found
myself by and by wishing that my bedfellow Runnles had a little
more flesh on his bones, for a lean man is no comfort in bed on a
bitter night.
Pages:
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163