“Yo’ tak mah bible word fo’ it O’Brien,� responded Pompey’s voice, “dat ghostesses has taken dat lad. Dey took mah puddin’ one night, now dey take one ob mah deputised cooks.�
“Great snakes, are there ghosts aboard this craft?� gasped O’Brien.
“De surest ting dat yo’ know. Didn’ dep apparitionise demselves to me one night when I was steering dis wessel?�
“Real ghosts?�
“Yas, sah. Dey had green faces all flamin’ an’ red eyes an’—an’ green hair an’ dey was mo’ dan nineteen feet tall.â€�
“Ochone! This is no place for me,� declared O’Brien. “I guess I’ll go and report to the captain.�
“Yo’ all better tell him dat ghostesses done it same as dey stole de puddin’,� said Pompey in parting.
“Garn wid ye. D’ye think I want ter be hanging on the yard arrum like a string of onions on a beam?� flung back O’Brien, as he hurried off.
“So they have discovered my disappearance,� thought Raynor, “and so far they have got no clew to my whereabouts. This is just the opportunity to escape I was looking for. I’ll sneak out of here to-night and get a boat and make off. Hold on though, would that be fair to Noddy?�
After some cogitation the lad decided that it would not do to leave the good-hearted Bowery boy behind.