I was not left long to my reflections. Presently Vetch returned
with two villainous-looking ruffians, seamen by their build, who at
his orders bound my hands behind me and then conveyed me across a
stretch of pasture land to a wooden house that stood in the angle
of a field. They took me up a flight of steps on to a veranda,
through one room into another, furnished with a table, a chair, and
a bed, and there left me.
"I warn you once more," I said to Vetch before he went. "You are
dealing with a king's officer, and if you think this outrage will
go unpunished you are mistaken, and very grievously. And I tell
you, Vetch, that if Mistress Lucy suffer a jot at your hands,
either in herself, or in her property, you shall hang for it, as
sure as my name is Humphrey Bold."
He smiled, swept me a bow and was gone.
The chamber in which I was left was an inner apartment, such as are
common in the houses in Jamaica, enclosed by other rooms, to defend
it from the heat. It had but one door, and was illuminated by a
little window high up in the partition wall. Escape was impossible
save through the door, and I knew by the sound of voices from
without that the two men had been stationed there to keep guard
over me. They brought me some food by and by, one of them carrying
it into the room, the other standing at the door with a musket in
his hand, and I perceived that he had a hanger at his belt. To
attempt to overpower them and escape would be madness; but I
thought it might not be impossible to prevail on them by means of a
bribe to help me, and with that ultimate design I resolved to open
friendly communications with them.
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