"Sold him! What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that he sold him into slavery."
"The villain! I never should have thought of that. And was you a party to it?"
"No."
"Well, how was it managed?"
"It came about after this fashion. I don't think the cap'n thought himself about selling him, but it was kind of flung in his way, and he jumped at it like a dolphin at a flying-fish. Perhaps you know Peterson was a first-rate calker?"
"Yes."
"Well, there was a planter that lived on the other side of the island, somewhere, who had a lot of drogers that brought sugar and coffee. One day he was lying with his droger right under our stern, and Peterson was on a stage, over the stem, calking. After that the planter came on board, and I heard him say to Aldrich, 'Cap'n, I'll give you two thousand in gold for that nigger.' The cap'n laughed, but said nothing."
"The planter was joking," said Captain Rhines; "I have had planters in Cuba and Antigua say so to me a hundred times, when I've had Peterson and other darkies with me."
"I've no doubt he was, when he first spoke; but it put an idea into Aldrich's head, and he carried it out. For some days after that, I saw him and the planter Henri Lemaire always with their heads together on the piles of boards, and saw them look at Peterson. Then they would be together a long time in the cabin of his droger; and they had no business with each other, for we hauled in to the government wharf, because we sold our lumber to the government. This set me on the lookout. I tried to listen, but couldn't get a chance to hear anything. One night the cap'n sent Peterson ashore with letters, and he never came back. Then I know he had sold him."