Chapter 8

Lee now began to feel hungry and tired, so he let the boat drift while he sat down and ate the lunch which the old woman had provided with such very different intentions; and after that was finished, he fell sound asleep in the stern-sheets, only to be awakened by the chill of the dawn. Sitting up, he saw that the Sound was covered by a dense mist, and all around him were flocks of wild ducks, settled upon the water, but which flew off as soon as he moved.

While he sat looking at the sky, growing brighter in the east, and trying to make up his mind in what direction Plymouth lay, he heard the dip of a paddle, and then he saw coming up through the mist a dug-out canoe, in which sat a venerable-looking old negro.

"Hillo!" said Lee.

The old fellow started as if he had been shot and peered about until he saw the boat.

"Hillo, sah! hillo!" he answered, and then paddled nearer. "Now I can't say as I rightly knows you, sah; an' I knows most everybody round here. Duck-shootin' maybe? Is you one o' de Talbots?"

"No; I'm not duck-shooting, and I'm not one of the Talbots."

"What you doin' out here in de cold mornin', den, boy? Dat boat come from some wessel, I see. An' dear knows it would be quare if you _was_ a Talbot, an' I didn't know you. I belonged to old man Talbot onst."

"No, no, old man! I tell you I'm no Talbot. I've run away from a schooner above here, and I want to get to Plymouth."

"Laws a massy! Why, I runned away myself, afore de wah. Was fo' year in de Dismal Swamp, an' had a good time dere, too, honey. We had plenty o' possum an' chickens an' corn-meal toted by colored folks we knowed, an' put whar we could find it. An' we had sweet potatoes, an' simlins, an' water-millions, an' berries, an' grapes, an' wild plums, an' wild hogs, an' fish. Don't know as ever I'd 'a come out ef it hadn't 'a be'n de wah freed de slaves, an' I wanted to see de ole place."

By this time the old negro was alongside, and took out a cob-pipe, filled it, struck a light, and settled himself for a good talk, first telling Lee that he was going fishing, at which he made his living.

Before he could begin talking again, Lee asked him in what direction he ought to go to reach Plymouth.

"Why, honey, I'se a-goin' right dat way. My place for fishin' lays right in dat direction. You come along o' me."

And with that the old fellow made fast his canoe to the schooner's boat, and got in with Lee, taking one of the oars, so that they gave way together.

After pulling for some time, the old man sounded.

"Now here I is," he then said, "in my place for fishin'. Now you see de sun is scoffin' de fog, don't you? Well, you jus' keep de sun right in your eyes, an' pull away, an' in less dan two hours you'll be in Plymouth, for de tide is fa'r for you. I wish you well, honey! I done run away onst myself, but I believe I tole you about dat. Take some o' dis corn pone, and a piece o' dis cold bacon; you must want sumfin' in your stumic. So-long!"

"Can't you give me a drink of water?" said Lee. "I want that more than anything to eat."

"Yes, 'deed I kin!"

And then the old fellow rummaged in his canoe and brought out a black jug, stoppered with a corn-cob, pulled the latter out, wiped the mouth of the jug with his sleeve, and presented it to Lee, who took a good drink, thanked his black friend, and then settled down at the oars for a long pull.

Belts of fog and mist continued to lie upon the water, and after a time, and having taken several breathing spells, he was shut in by one of them, when he began to hear, carried over the water from a distance, the creaking of blocks and tinkling of iron, and the cries of drivers shouting at mules or horses, and other noises of a seaport.

Then the fog suddenly lifted, and he saw, quite a distance above him, the wharves and some houses and vessels, mostly big, three-masted schooners, loading lumber and tar and turpentine, just as he had been told by old Jake.

Then, for the first time, it occurred to Lee that if he appeared there alone, in possession of a ship's boat, he might be looked upon with suspicion and might have hard work to explain how he came there, and even might be held until he could clear the matter up.

So, rather than be suspected and detained, he determined to make his appearance by land, instead of by water, and ran the boat on shore, some way below the town.

Jumping out, he was about to give her a shove out into the stream, when he reflected that the tide was still flood and an empty boat would be sure to be seen and secured and his sudden appearance connected with her in some way; so he hauled her under a clump of bushes, made her well fast and walked up a marshy cattle-path toward the town.

In about twenty minutes he came out close to a wharf, where the work of the day was in full blast. A large schooner lay there, with "Traveler, of Boston," on her broad stern. She was taking, as a deck-load, some large, squared timbers, and just then had a big one hung by chains from a patent crane, which stood upon the dock.

A number of negroes were at work lowering it down, when suddenly something cracked and the most of them let go the winch.

The great timber must have come down on the deck with damaging effect if Lee, who had often seen such cranes used before, had not jumped to the safety-break, at the risk of being killed by the whirling winch-handles, and brought the beam to a stand before it could do any damage.

"Well done, my lad!" shouted a stout, bronzed man, from the vessel. "You just stay there and work those other three timbers down on deck, and I'll pay you for it. I'm short handed. But, stop; maybe you belong to some of these other vessels? No? Well, I'll be as good as my word. My mate's sick with this confounded North Carolina fever, and the second-mate's got some kind of 'fantods,' too, and is laid up, and I want to get away to-day."

"Send me out a drink of water and a piece of hard tack, sir, and I'll stop here till the timbers are on board."

"Steward," called the captain, "there's a boy out there on the dock; I want you to take him something to eat and drink. He's the one at the break. Now, bear a hand and sling another one."

While they were slinging it Lee managed to eat something, and in an hour the whole were safely on deck and securely chocked. Then the captain saw Lee still on the dock and beckoned him on board.

"Now, here's a half-dollar for you, my lad. Do you belong about these parts? Don't look as if you did. But, no matter; I s'pose you've run away from some vessel. Now, I'm bound to Havana with this load of lumber, and I'll ship you, if you like."

"I would rather ship in some vessel going north, sir."

"Well, maybe you can and maybe you can't. I'm going to haul out, right away. Go, or not go? What do you say?"

"Are you going home from Havana, captain?"

"I can't say. I will, if I get a charter. But, being short handed, I'd like to have a good, active, stout lad, like you, and will give you ordinary seamen's wages. Haven't been much to sea, have you?"

"No, sir; but I'm not a bad schooner sailor, and can reef and steer."

"Well, I don't want any shilly-shally! Say yes or no. I have my clearance, and here comes the tug to take me down the Sound."

"Well, yes, then."

And so it came about that Lee found himself, within half an hour, bound down for Hatteras Inlet and thence for Havana, when he had only started from home to go halibut fishing!