“You may do this—you may ask Mr. Bentley if he will take you, and if he consents, you must tell him that your mother will see Mr. Higgins, who used to live in that neighborhood, and that she will probably send you down to-morrow. I know where the “Emma Jones” lands, and Mr. Higgins will know all about it. I will see him this evening.”
Benny went off highly pleased with this concession.
Long before two o’clock he was waiting eagerly by the gangway of the “Emma Jones” for Mr. Bentley to appear.
Passengers began to straggle along; here a man with a huge basket, there a woman, followed by two or three hot, tired children, next two or three negroes, ragged and happy, shuffled lazily on board. Presently the captain came up. “Who are you waiting for, sonny?”
“Mr. Bentley.”
“Jim Bentley? I reckon he’s on the upper deck. I saw Welch up there, and they generally hunt up one another. You go up there and look for him. You might get in the way here.” Benny found his way on deck and began looking along the row of passengers for Mr. Bentley, but not seeing him, he sat down and began to watch the big excursion steamer which lay in the next dock. She was dressed with flags, and the music of the band on her deck made her seem a very gay sort of an affair to Benny.
He was so busy watching the crowds of people gathering aboard this big steamer, that he did not notice the warning sound of a bell, nor the slow movement of paddles, till presently he perceived the dock gliding from sight and found that the “Emma Jones” was actually on her way to Big Creek.
CHAPTER II
BENNY FINDS A FRIEND
For a moment Benny was bewildered. He could not tell what he ought to do. He had not been on a steamboat since he was quite a little fellow, and that it was possible to send him ashore was out of the question. “What will mother think?” was his first thought. “How shall I get back?” was his second. He stood looking around him, each moment increasing the distance between the steamboat and the shore.