"Then why do we go alongside? It wouldn't take many minutes to run out of range," I said excitedly.
"They'd sink us in a twinkling, an' even though I knew we might give 'em the slip, it shouldn't be done, 'cause we couldn't come here again, which never'd suit the commodore."
The possibility that any of our crew might be pressed into service on board the ship frightened me, as may be imagined; but I understood even while making the suggestion, that we could not hope to escape, and the fate of poor Tom Sackett was pictured before me.
There was no way out of it, however, but my knees were very weak when we ranged up under the starboard guns, waiting like criminals until his majesty's officers should work their will regardless of right or wrong.
Darius was the one who stood in the most danger, for it could readily be seen that he was an old sailor; but he never turned a hair. One would have said to see him that nothing was more pleasant than to thus be overhauled, and he made a most awkward flourish by way of a bow when we were come into position.
Jim Freeman passed a hawser, and when it was made fast a midshipman, who acted as if he owned the whole of Chesapeake Bay, came aboard with two marines.
The little whipper-snapper poked his nose into the cuddy, and pretended to be nearly overcome by the odor of the place, therefore he sent the marines below to overturn everything in the bunks, as if believing we had somebody hidden there.
The soldiers came up with our three old muskets, and the little whifflet demanded in a tone of authority to be told why we went so well armed.
"We carry 'em, sir, so's we can get a mess of ducks now an' then," Darius replied as respectfully as if he had been speaking to the king. "They ain't any great shakes of guns, seein's how all of 'em are rusted pretty bad; but we oystermen can't afford anythin' better."
One would have thought the little ape had found three or four thirty-two pounders, by the way he passed them up over the rail for the inspection of the officers on the quarter-deck, and then he turned his attention to the hold.