“No, sir; no, sir, only a bit bothered.”
“What about—the darkness?”
“Nay, sir; that’s getting easier. It’s twice as light as it was. I meant about what game’s up. We seem to be going on some expedition or another, and I’ve been trying to settle it down in my mind. Don’t think it’s a coon hunt, do you, sir?”
“No, Tom; they are all too grave and serious for that.”
“Yes, sir, but that might be ’cause they don’t want to scare the game.”
“No; this is no hunt, Tom.”
“P’raps not, sir, and I only fancied that’s what it might be. No, sir, I don’t feel much worried about it—oneasy, you may say. Do you, sir?”
“Well, to be honest, Tom, I don’t like to be shut up like this among these blacks. Why, they’re growing thicker and thicker!”
“That’s so, sir. They’re hundreds upon hundreds strong. What does the chief officer think of it?”
“He doesn’t say, Tom, but I could see that he felt the need of caution by the order he gave me about keeping close together.”