CHAPTER XIII
The "salt horse" which was served out for breakfast aboard the _RoyalJames_ made scant appeal to the Delaware boy's appetite. He hardlytouched the portion which Jeremy offered him and kept up his pose ofproud aloofness all the morning. It is scarcely a matter for wonder thathe did not at once make friends with Jeremy. The latter's buckskinbreeches and moccasins had been taken from him when he came aboard andhe was now clad in his old leather tunic, a pair of seaman's trousers,which bagged nearly to his ankles, wrinkled, garterless wool socks andan old pair of buckled shoes, stuffed with rags to make them fit. Hishair, never very manageable, had received little attention during thevoyage and now was as wild and rough as that of a savage. It would haverequired a long second glance for one to see the fine qualities of gritand self-reliance in the boy's keen face.
The sloop was making great speed down the middle channel of the Bay, hercanvas straining in a fine west breeze, and her deck canted far toleeward. No boy could long withstand the pleasure of sailing on such aday, and before noon the young stranger had given in to a consumingdesire to know the names of things. Jeremy now had the whole ship byheart and was filled with joy at the opportunity of talking about her toone more ignorant than himself. Of course, he was as proud of the _RoyalJames_ as if he owned her. How he glowed over his account of the battlewith the brig! Nothing on the coast could outsail the sloop, he wassure. Indeed, it was with some regret that he admitted a hope of herbeing overtaken by the Delaware boy's friends, and he was dividedbetween pride and despair as the day went on and no sail appeared to thenorth. By noon his new acquaintance was ravenously hungry, as was to beexpected, and over their pannikins of soup the last reserve between themwent by the board.
Bob]
"Are you his son?" asked the dark-haired lad, nodding toward Herriot.Jeremy laughed and described his adventure from the beginning while theother marveled open-mouthed. "Are they holding you for ransom, too?"asked he, as the story ended. "No," replied Jeremy, "I reckon they knewas soon as they saw me that there wasn't much money to be gotten in mycase. As I figure it, they didn't dare leave me on the island for fearI'ld have those three ships-of-war after them." Both boys laughed asthey thought of the head-long flight of Stede Bonnet's company from agarrison of fifteen sheep.
"Well," said the Delaware boy, still chuckling, "you know most of mystory already. My father is Clarke Curtis of New Castle. My own name isBob. Father owns some ships in the East India trade and has a plantationup on the Brandywine creek. Last night I was at our warehouse by thewharves. Father was inside talking to one of his captains who had justcome to port. I wanted to see the ship--she's a full-rigger, three orfour times as big as this, and fast too for her burden. Well, I wentdown on the dock where she was moored. There was nobody around and nolights and she stood up above the wharf-side all dark and big--hermainmast is as high as our church steeple, you know--and I was justlooking up at her and wondering where the watchman was, when four mencame along down the wharf. I thought perhaps 'twas Father and some ofhis men. When they were quite close that biggest one, Herriot, steppedup to me and before I could shout he put his hand over my mouth and heldme. They gagged me fast and then one of them gave a whistle, long andlow. Pretty soon a boat came up to the dock and they grabbed me and putme in, spite of all I could do. They paddled along to another wharf andtook aboard some more men and then started to row out as fast as theycould. I guess those boats that came after us were from Father's ship.He must have missed me right away. So now old Bonnet or Thomas orwhatever his name is thinks he's going to get a fat sum out of me.That's all of my story, so far. But there'll be another chapter yet!"Jeremy, for both their sakes, sincerely hoped that there might.
At sunset of that day the _Royal James_ cleared Cape Henlopen and heldher course for the open sea, while behind her in the gathering dusk thecoast grew hazy--faded out--was gone. The two boys, sitting late intothe first watch, shivered with that fine ecstasy of adventure that cancome only in the shadowy mystery of star-lit decks and the long,whispering ripple of a following sea.
Jeremy, who twenty-four hours before had thought of the ship as a placeof utter desolation, would not now have changed places with any boyalive. He knew, perhaps for the first time, the fulness of joy thatcomes into life with human companionship. That night two lads at leasthad golden dreams of a youthful kind. Ducats and doubloons, princessesand plum-cake, swords awave and cannon blazing, great galleons withcrimson sails--no wonder that they were smiling in their sleep whenGeorge Dunkin held a lantern over the bunk at the change of the watch.