CARRIED TO SEA.
When Van Vincent returned to consciousness he felt so stiff and sore that he was scarcely able to hold up his head.
His throat and tongue were dry and parched, and he was so badly dazed that it took him several minutes to recollect what had happened.
As it gradually came to him he opened his eyes, expecting to find himself in the hallway where he had lost his senses.
But imagine the boy's surprise when he beheld a dirty lantern swinging back and forth from the ceiling of a seven-by-nine room.
Then it occurred to Van that the building he was in appeared to be moving in a violent manner.
He rose to a sitting posture and found himself in a narrow bunk, instead of being upon the floor, as he expected.
"I must have been moved," he muttered. "Doc Clancy must certainly have had a hand in this. I wonder where I am, anyhow? This looks like a bunk on a ship. Great heavens! can it be possible that I have been drugged and shipped to sea?"
The thought no sooner struck our hero than he glanced at his clothes.
An exclamation of dismay escaped his lips.