"Maybe so," said Cephas, "but Gabriel had to go."
"I see," said the Captain; "wherever Gabriel goes, you are willing to go?"
"Yes, sir," replied Cephas very simply.
"I hope Gabriel appreciates it," remarked Sarah Clopton.
"Oh, he does!" exclaimed Cephas. "Gabriel knows. Why, one day——" Then, remembering the company he was in, he blushed, and refused to go on with what he intended to say.
Seeing his embarrassment, Mr. Sanders came to his rescue. "What I want to know, Captain, is this: if that little chap comes down to Savannah, will you allow him to see Gabriel and talk to him?"
Again the Captain looked at the boy, and Cephas, catching a certain humourous gleam in the gentleman's eye, began to smile. "Now, then," said Captain Falconer, with an answering smile, "how would you like to go with me?"
"I think I would like it," replied Cephas, with a broad grin; "I think that would be fine."
"And what does Mr. Sanders think of it?" the Captain asked.
"Well, I hadn't looked at it from that p'int of view," said Mr. Sanders. "I 'lowed maybe that the best an' cheapest plan would be for me to take the little chap down an' fetch him back."