"And so you want to see your friends," said the Captain, very kindly. Every feature of his face showed that his sympathies were keen. "They are very far away, or will be when they get to their journey's end--too far, I should think, for a little boy to travel." "Maybe so," said Cephas, "but Gabriel had to go." "I see," said the Captain; "wherever Gabriel goes, you are willing to go?" "Yes, sir," replied Cephas very simply. "I hope Gabriel appreciates it," remarked Sarah Clopton. "Oh, he does!" exclaimed Cephas. "Gabriel knows. Why, one day----" Then, remembering the company he was in, he blushed, and refused to go on with what he intended to say. Seeing his embarrassment, Mr. Sanders came to his rescue. "What I want to know, Captain, is this: if that little chap comes down to Savannah, will you allow him to see Gabriel and talk to him?" Again the Captain looked at the boy, and Cephas, catching a certain humourous gleam in the gentleman's eye, began to smile. "Now, then," said Captain Falconer, with an answering smile, "how would you like to go with me?" "I think I would like it," replied Cephas, with a broad grin; "I think that would be fine." "And what does Mr. Sanders think of it?" the Captain asked. "Well, I hadn't looked at it from that p'int of view," said Mr. Sanders. "I 'lowed maybe that the best an' cheapest plan would be for me to take the little chap down an' fetch him back." "My opinion may not be worth much, Mr. Sanders," said Sarah Clopton, "but I think it would be a shame to take that child so far away from home. I don't believe his mother will allow him to go." "That is a matter that was jest fixin' for to worry me," remarked Mr. Sanders. "I could feel it kinder fermentin' in my mind, like molasses turnin' to vinegar, an' now that you've fetched it to the top, Sarah, we'll settle it before we go any furder. Come, Cephas; we'll go an' see your mammy, an' see ef we can't coax her into lettin' you go. You'll have to do your best, my son; I'll coax, an' you must wheedle." As they went out, Cephas was laughing at Mr. Sanders's remark about wheedling. The youngster was an expert in that business. He was his mother's only child, and he had learned at a very early age just how to manage her. "What troubles me, Cephas," said Mr. Sanders, "is how you can git a message to Gabriel wi'out lettin' the cat out'n the bag. He'll be surrounder'd in sech a way that you can't git a word wi' 'im wi'out tellin' the whole caboodle." At that moment, Mr. Sanders heard a small voice cry out something like this: "Phazasee! Phazasee! arawa ooya ingagog?" To which jabbering Cephas made prompt reply: "Iya ingagog ota annysavvy ota eesa gibbleable!" "Ooya ibfa! Ooya ibfa!" jeered the small voice. Mr. Sanders looked at Cephas in astonishment. "What kinder lingo is that?" he asked.