"Where did you say the house stood?"
"Yonder, on the edge of the town; you can see its white walls in the sunset behind the mango trees."
"What, that house? I know it, I have passed its gardens a hundred times."
"Oh, I shall never pass them again," said Jube, with tears in his eyes.
"Oh yes; papa will come after us, don't say that, Jube," whispered the boy.
The mate, who had taken so much interest in them both, now turned abruptly away, and began to pace the deck, with the quick, heavy tread of a man who thinks excitedly. At last he paused, stood looking over the bulwarks awhile, and then went below.
The captain was in his cabin when the mate entered rather abruptly.
"Captain Mason," he said, "you had the luck to do some good on shore last night, what if I take a turn with three or four of the men? The black rascals will be at their work again, no doubt."
The captain looked up surprised. It was the first instance of humanity he had ever known in his mate.
"Go by all means," he said; "pick your men and God speed you!"