BOB A PRISONER IN THE CAVE. [Page 180.
"Gentlemen will come to order agin," said Sam, assuming a very solemn air, and looking savagely at the fisher-boy. "Of all the things that have happened since I got to be governor, this yere is the beat! It don't need a smart man to tell what would happen to us if this yere feller should get a chance to tell Mr. Grimes of what he has seed here; so the best thing we can do is to take care that he don't get back to the village in a hurry. Bobby Jennings, we shall keep you prisoner here until we get ready to start for our island. Friday, you an' Jack Spaniard tie that ar dog right here in front of the door; an' then, even if he does get his hands an' feet loose, he can't get out!"
"O, now, I object to this way of doing business!" drawled Tom, as Friday and Jack untied the dog and began to drag him toward the door. "We don't want to keep Bob a prisoner here! How long do you suppose it will be before his absence will be discovered, and search made for him?"
"Well, let 'em search!" returned Sam. "They won't find him, an' mebbe they'll think he is drownded, or that he has run away."
"If we don't keep him here, what will we do with him?" demanded Will Atkins. "Haint you got no sense at all?"
"O, now, I want you to quit asking me if I haven't got any sense!" drawled Tom. "I know as much about managing affairs of this kind as you or any one else in the band."
"I don't see it!" said the chief. "A purty captain you would make now! If we should let him go, he'd have us all in jail in less than an hour: wouldn't you, Bobby?"
"Indeed I would," replied the fisher-boy, promptly. "That would be the best place in the world for you."
"O, now, you wouldn't put me in jail, Bob Jennings," drawled Tom. "I haven't done any thing."
"You haven't?" exclaimed Sam. "That's a purty story, aint it, fellers? You're jest as deep in the mud as we are. Aint you a member of our band, an' didn't the band steal the skiff? The meetin's out, now."