Stump seized the end of his pigtail with his left fingers, and bringing it over his shoulder, placed his right hand upon it.
“It’s an honest pigtail—Miss Howard, and I always swear by it on occasions of this kind, when a Bible isn’t handy. And now,” he added, in a solemn voice, “here goes my oath, which is that them fellows forward are a-plotting and hatching to do harm—though what harm exactly I can’t tell, but I think it’s as well to be prepared!”
“Why Jack! how you talk. What ground can you have for these strange suspicions? My father, with all his officers and the greater part of the crew, away, too,” added the young girl, with a shudder.
“Ay, ay,” responded the shipkeeper, allowing his pigtail to drop to its original position, “and that’s why we must be on our guard. Them devils forward were all laid up with the rheumatiz a while ago, so that they couldn’t go in the boats, and now look at ’em, a-standin’ up as well and hearty as you and I. That’s suspicious to begin with. Then again I overheard one of ’em talking about freeing that quarrelsome mutineer, Tom Lark, who, you know, the skipper put in irons a week ago—because he refused duty—and shut up in the run. They said something about his understanding navigation; and I couldn’t hear any more because they saw that I was near them a-listening and they closed their mouths all of a sudden.”
“What shall we do? What can we do?” cried Alice, in considerable alarm.
“That’s a hard question to answer, seeing as I’m all alone without any man to help me. But you may be sartain that Jack Stump will stick to you and do what he can. You had better go below now, and lock the door of your room while I dodge around and find out something about the plans of the rascals. Of one thing, hows’ever, you may be assured, and it is that the plotters can’t do anything just now, seeing as the wind has gone down and there isn’t a breath of air stirring, and—ay, ay, Miss Alice, a beautiful morning!” he suddenly added, in a louder tone. “I’ve sailed the sea in every kind of a craft for thirty years, and never knew a finer mornin’ than this! What do you think of that?”
Alice opened her blue eyes upon the speaker, surprised by this abrupt change in the thread of his discourse. But in a few moments she understood the cause, for a light footstep suddenly saluted her ear, and she divined that a third person had passed behind them and taken his position near the rail, not far from the spot they occupied. With woman’s ready tact, she refrained from turning her head even to get a glimpse of the intruder, and proceeded at once to reply to her companion’s remark.
“I am surprised to hear you say so. The weather is not as a general thing very clear in the Ochotsk sea, I believe.”
“Not a bit of it, Miss Alice. There ain’t many heavy gales here at this season of the year, it’s true, but there’s plenty of fogs. If I hadn’t such a good paunch in me,” added Jack, placing his hand upon that protuberant portion of his body, “I should have died with the rheumatiz long ago. But this has presarved my soul as a good purse presarves the money in it. Just give a sly look at that blue devil, will you—a-listening with all his ears,” continued the speaker, partially turning his head under the pretense of shaking his pigtail.
Alice moved closer to the rail, and directing her glances toward the water, contrived to obtain a good view from beneath the corners of her eyes of the individual who stood upon the other side of her.