With lighted cigar, dressed in his best apparel, and his eatables tied up in a towel, Charley was soon seen hastily leaving the boat.
Stepping out from his hiding-place, the Captain seized the negro by the collar and led him back to the steamer, exclaiming, “Where are you going, what’s that you’ve got in that bundle?”
“Only some washin’ I is takin’ out to get done,” replied the surprised and frightened negro.
As they reached the lighted deck, “Open that bundle,” said the Captain.
Charley began to obey the command, and at the the same time to give an explanation.
“Shut your mouth, you scoundrel,” vociferously shouted the Captain.
As the man slowly undid the parcel, and the contents began to be seen, “There,” said the Captain, “there’s the pies, cake, sandwiches, bread and butter that Cato told me you had put up to eat while running away. Yes, there’s the pumps, too, that you got to dance in when you reached Canada.”
Here the frightened Charley attempted again to explain, “I was jess gwine to—”
“Shut your mouth, you villain; you were going to escape to Canada.”
“No, Marser Price, afoe God I was only—”