Sam saw it too, for he grunted; but I give him a kick, and down we came, our vessel feeling the breeze now, and careening over as the water began to rattle under her bows.
I felt more comfortable after that, for though I did not for a moment think that the ship I had seen would overhaul us, still I felt pretty sure that she’d pick up those poor creatures in the boats, and save them from a horrible death. There was no doubt about having seen the bark, but from the deck never a glimpse was got of it; and we went bowling along in capital style, just, in fact, as if we had been a honest ship on a good cruise.
Having nothing particular to do, I went below, and the first place I came to was the cabin that had been fitted up for Mr Butterwell’s birds; and on getting to ’em, there they were, poor little things, fluttering and chirping about with their feathers all rough, for they’d got no water and seed. Quite a score of ’em were lying dead in the bottom amongst the sand; and after giving the pretty little things water, and seed, and paste, I fished out the dead ones in a quiet, methodical sort of way, turning over something in my mind that I couldn’t get to fit, when I feels a hand on my shoulder.
“Going to wring their necks?” says Van, for it was him come down to watch me.
“Not I,” I says. “They’ll do first-rate to turn out on the island we stops at. Sing like fun.”
“Look ye here, Roberts,” he says, “we’re playing a dangerous game, and you’ve joined us in it. Don’t play any tricks, or—” He didn’t say any more, but looked hard at me.
“Tricks!” I grumbled out; “I’m not for playing anything. I’m for real earnest, and no favour to nobody.”
“I only said don’t,” says Van; and he went up again.
“A suspicious hound,” I says to myself; and then I began to turn over in my own mind what I had been thinking of before; and then having, as I thought, hit upon a bright idea, I hugged it up, and began to rub it a little more shiny.
You see what I wanted to do was to get a word with Mr Ward, and how to do it was the question. I knew well enough that I should be watched pretty closely, and any attempt at speaking would be put an end to most likely with a bullet.