"No, sah; de captain he nebber done tol' me, sah, nothing 'bout his
personal plans. All he done said wus fer me to hustle sum grub in
yere."

"But surely," I Insisted warmly, "you know what voyage you signed on
for?"

"Wal, boss, I did n't sign on fer no vige. I 'se de steward, sah, an'
I just naturally goes 'long where ebber de ship does. 'T ain't rightly
none o' my business what de white folks 'cides to do. Good Lor', dey
don't never ask dis nigger nuthin' 'bout dat. All I got ter do is just
go 'long with 'em--dat's all."

The shadow of a man blocked the doorway. He was one of those who had
been in the small boat, and I noticed a revolver at his waist.

"That's enough, boy. Come, now, out with you," he commanded gruffly.
"Never you mind the door; I 'll attend to that."

He pulled the door to after the retreating form of the negro, and I
heard the sharp click of the latch, and then his voice, muffled by
intervening wood, ordering the steward aft. There was no appearance of
any lock on the door; probably there was none, as otherwise it would
not have been necessary to post a guard. However, this was clearly no
time to experiment and I was hungry enough to forget all else in the
appetizing fragrance of the meal waiting. I fell to eagerly, convinced
there was a good cook on board, and enjoying every morsel. This did
not look as though I was destined to suffer, and merely being confined
in these narrow quarters for a few hours was no great hardship.
Probably the girl was receiving very similar treatment, and, as soon as