“Ho-ho-ho! I shall die a-laughing!” exclaimed another voice at this juncture, interrupting Sam’s terrified appeal to the spiritual powers. “Ho-ho-ho! I shall die a-laughing!”
The voice sounded like that of Tom Bullover; but, before I could look up to see if it were really he, Sam and I, the negro cook still clutching me tightly in his frantic grasp as we rolled down the little declivity on to the beach below the entrance to the cave, fetched up against Hiram; who, only just recovering from the shock he had received, was then in the act of rising from the ground, where he had dropped at the sight of Sam and his banjo—still dazed with the fright, and hardly yet knowing where he was or what had happened.
“My golly!” cried Sam, thinking him another ghost. “Lor’ sakes! Massa Duppy, do forgib me! I’ll nebbah do so moah, I’se swarr I’ll nebbah do so no moah!”
“Wa-all, I’m jiggered!” ejaculated Hiram, on the two of us coming against him with a thump, nearly knocking him again off his legs, as we scrambled to ours. “What in thunder dew this air muss mean? Jee-rusalem—it beats creation, it dew!”
Neither Sam nor I could get out a word; but, while we all stared, out of breath and speechless with astonishment, at each other, another wild shout of laughter came right over our heads from within the cave above, and I heard Tom’s voice exclaiming, as before—
“Ho-ho-ho! you’ll be the death o’ me sure, sonnies! I never seed sich a go in my life! Hang it all—Charley and Hiram, and you, Sambo—why, it’s only me! Ho-ho-ho! I shall bust meself, if you go staring round and wool-gathering like that any longer! Ho-ho-ho! this is a game, and no mistake!”
With that, the three of us looked up, and now saw Tom Bullover standing on top of the plateau in front of the cave, with a sort of long white sheet like a piece of sailcloth round him, and Sam’s banjo in one hand.
Then, the real facts of the case flashed on my mind in a moment, and I could not help joining in the carpenter’s hearty merriment at the way in which he had humbugged us all.
“Oh, Tom!” I cried; “so it was you, after all?”
“Yes; ho-ho! Charley; yes, my lad. Ho-ho-ho!”