"Heave to, an' lay alongside until daylight."
"Very well, sir," the old man cried, and then he let fly a lot of orders to us of the crew which would have shamed a landsman to utter, for of a verity no sailor could have understood them.
However, by giving no heed to what he said, we brought the Avenger into position; but I soon saw that the tide was setting us away from the Britisher, and suggested that we let go the anchor.
To this the old man would not agree.
"Obey orders if you break owners," he said with a grin, and I knew he had some reason for thus being so foolish.
However, to make a long story short, we remained hove to until day dawned, and then we were within a cable's length of a large ship, while a mile or more further up the bay was the vessel that had first hailed.
"Ahoy on the sloop!" came from the second ship, and Darius replied in the tone of a countryman:
"Ay, ay, sir."
"Why are you loafing around here?"
"We came down to sell some oysters; but the chap on t'other craft told us to heave to, an' we've been driftin' 'round here ever since. I dunno whether we ought'er go back to him, or try to sell you what few bushels we've got."