Leaving Mrs. Codman thus comfortably provided for, we must now follow the fortunes of our young hero, Charlie, whom we left securely bound in the forecastle of the Bouncing Betsey.
XVI.
THE BEGINNING OF CHARLIE'S SEA-LIFE.
When the Bouncing Betsey was fairly out to sea, Captain Brace, anticipating, with the malicious delight which a petty tyrant feels in the sufferings of those subject to him, the grief and terror of our young hero, ordered Charlie to be released from his bonds and brought before him.
This order the mate chose to execute in person.
The pressure of the cords, with which he had been bound, had chafed his limbs, and the constraint of his position had made them ache.
As the mate busied himself in unbinding him, Charlie inquired, with a glimmering of hope, "Are you going to let me go?"
"Where?" asked Randall.
"On shore."