“There’s no danger of that,” Ned replied cheerily, perfectly contented in mind since having spoken on the subject to the man whom he felt certain was his friend.
Mr. Stout was so attentive as to go with the boy to the door of his room, and when Ned was inside, the mate turned the key without the knowledge of the young occupant.
Then Mr. Stout visited the pantry once more, poured out another glass of liquor for the purpose of steadying his nerves, and muttered to himself as he went on deck:
“The skipper must hear of this before morning. It won’t do to let that kid run around the craft with such a secret as he has got; but the question is how we can put him out of the way?”
Meanwhile Ned was positive that everything had been arranged satisfactorily.
It never came into his mind that Mr. Stout might think it in the highest degree unsafe for a boy to be possessed of a secret which could send him and the captain to prison for a long term. His only idea was that in case the brig was scuttled he would be in no danger, and this was sufficient for the time being.
There was no occasion for him to leave his room, therefore he had no intimation he had been made a prisoner, and lay down to sleep with not a care on his mind, save, possibly, whether he should succeed in pleasing the captain as well on the following day as during the one just passed.
Matters would have worn a very different complexion to him had it been possible to have overheard the conversation which Mr. Stout had with the captain in the latter’s room about midnight, when the second mate went on deck.
The master of the Evening Star was wrapped in a slumber superinduced by frequent draughts from the liquor bottle, and his chief officer had some difficulty in awakening him.
“What’s the matter?” he cried in alarm when finally it was possible for the visitor to make his presence known. “Anything wrong?”
“Not with the brig; but there’s some one aboard who must be attended to mighty quick if you count on carrying out the plan we spoke about the other night.”
“There was a listener while we were talkin’ in the pantry.”
“Who?” and now fear caused the captain to be very wide awake.
“The boy. He can hear even a whisper from the pantry while lying in his berth. I tried the experiment a little while ago, an’ know that not a word could have escaped him.”