CHAPTER VI
AMANDA’S CONSCIENCE
Amos Cary and Jimmy Starkweather lay on the warm sand in the narrow shadow cast by a fishing dory pulled up on the beach. No chief returning from far-off islands could have been more a hero than was Amos among the boys and girls of the settlement. They followed him about, and listened eagerly to all that he had to tell them of the Indians. Then, too, he was to go in the “Sea Gull” with Captain Nash, the swiftest schooner and the smartest captain sailing out of the harbor, and Jimmie Starkweather felt that Amos was having greater good fortune than any boy could hope for.
“Maybe the ‘Sea Gull’ can’t get out of port,” said Jimmie, digging his bare toes in the soft sand. “The English ships keep a sharp outlook for a schooner loaded down with salt fish. I’ll bet Captain Nash won’t get beyond Chatham.”
“Pooh!” responded Amos scornfully. “We can sail right away from their old tubs. But ’twill be great if they do follow us.”
“’Twould be just your good fortune,” said Jimmie. “I do wish my father would let me go with you, Amos. Who knows what adventures you may have!”
For a few moments the two boys did not speak; they lay looking out over the beautiful harbor, and their minds were full of vague hopes of adventure. Jimmie was the first to break the silence.
“You won’t see Shining Fish again, will you, Amos?”
“No; did I show you what he gave me?” And Amos pulled out a stout deerskin thong from inside his flannel blouse. The claw of a bird was fastened to the thong. “See! It’s a hawk’s claw,” exclaimed Amos; “and as long as I wear it no enemy can touch me. I gave Shining Fish my jack-knife,” continued Amos. “You’d like him, Jimmie; he knew stories about chiefs and warriors, and he had killed a fox with his bow and arrow. He told me about a chief of their tribe who lived long ago and was the strongest man that ever lived. He used to go on long journeys, way beyond Cape Cod, with his band of warriors, and once he met an unfriendly tribe, and they laughed when the braves told how strong their chief was. ‘Can he conquer a wild bull?’ one of them asked, and the brave answered, ’Aye, or two wild bulls.’