"That's a trim, handsome little lad," he said to himself; "I wonder what the mate is so attentive to him for. There's some deviltry in the wind, as sure as my name is Bill Sturdy. I hope, for the boy's sake, he isn't going to ship with us. If he does. I must do what I can for him, for I mistrust he'll want a friend."
XI.
OFF TO SEA.
The thoughts of our young hero as he lay helpless, gagged and bound, were hardly of the most cheerful character. The blow had been so sudden, that he was quite unprepared for it. Added to this, his apprehensions were vague and indefinite. There seemed something mysterious about the manner in which he had been spirited away, and this thought increased his feeling of discomfort. A danger which can be measured and comprehended in its full extent may be boldly faced, however great, but when we are ignorant of its nature and extent that is not so easy.
Charlie understood as much as this, that it was the intention of Randall to carry him off to sea. But why he should have taken such pains to ensnare him, when there are always plenty of boys glad to obtain such a situation, he could not conceive.
Charlie was no coward. He was no stranger to the bold spirit of adventure by which boys of his age are apt to be animated. Indeed, under different circumstances, and if the arrangement had been of his own free choice, it is quite possible that he might have looked forward with pleasurable anticipations to the life that awaited him. But there was one thought uppermost in his mind that gave him no little pain and anxiety, the thought of his mother. He was her all. In the large and busy city she knew but very few; she had none whom she could call friends. Her hopes were all centred in him. Still farther, it was in a great measure owing to his activity and industry that she had been able to live with a degree of comfort, for though she was always at work, the avenues of industry open to women are few, and toil at the needle is so unsatisfactorily compensated that Charlie, though working fewer hours, was able to contribute considerably more than half of the sum required for their joint support.
How would his mother get along during his absence, the length of which he could not estimate? Would she suffer not only in mind but in bodily discomfort? Well he remembered how pleasantly the evenings had passed when they were together. Now there must be a long separation. Would he ever see his mother again? She would not be able to retain their present lodging, now that the entire rent would fall to her to pay. Perhaps when he did he should be unable to obtain any clew to her whereabouts. This was indeed a terrible thought to poor Charlie, who chafed like a caged lion in his confinement. He endeavored to unloose the cords which bound him, but with little prospect of success; for no one better than a sailor understands the art of tying a knot securely.
While Charlie was doing his utmost to free himself from the cords that bound him, having already removed the gag, he was startled by a low laugh of triumphant malice.
Looking up, he saw the mate, the author of all his misfortunes, watching him with great apparent enjoyment.