Up the River; or, Yachting on the MississippiOptic, Oliver
General
Up the River; or, Yachting on the Mississippi
Optic, Oliver
Mississippi River -- Juvenile fiction; Yachts -- Juvenile fiction
The captain went to the head of the companion-way, and called the
steward. Mr. Lonsdale had not spent much time in the cabin, though he
slept in one of the berths abaft the state-rooms. He confirmed the
statement of the captain that there had been a great deal of earnest
conversation between the Floridian and the "young swell." He never
listened to private conversation, and he had not the remotest idea what
they were talking about. Perhaps Gibbs, the waiter, might know more
about the matter than he did.
Gibbs was found to be fast asleep on a sofa in the after part of the
cabin. He knew nothing at all about what had happened since the
Islander came into the river, and appeared to be not a little surprised
when he saw the owner and myself. He was a light Mulatto, a very
good-looking fellow, and I judged that he was intelligent.
"Where are the passengers, Gibbs?" asked Captain Blastblow.
"I don't know, sir; somewhere about the vessel, I suppose; most likely
asleep in the staterooms," replied the waiter.
"Where do they spend their time when they are below?" continued the
captain, in an easy and indifferent tone.
Gibbs answered the question in a very indefinite manner. The passengers
were mostly in their state-rooms, on the sofa, or sitting in the
chairs.
"Have you noticed them in any particular place in the cabin, except in
their state-rooms, in the chairs, or on the sofas?" I asked, with
considerable energy, for the waiter seemed to be rather stupid and
bewildered, and I thought he needed something to wake him up.
"Yes, sir; I seen them both on the cabin floor this morning," answered
Gibbs, with more life in his tones and manner than I had seen before.
"On the floor!" exclaimed Colonel Shepard. "What were they doing on the
floor?"
"I don't know, sir. I had cleared away the breakfast-dishes, and went
on deck to smoke. I found it a little cool, and I came down again for
my coat," replied Gibbs, talking quite glibly now. "As soon as I came
down stairs, they got up."
"Where were they at the time?" I inquired.
"Right under the companion-way, sir."
"And you could not tell what they were doing on the floor?"
"No, sir; they were crawling out from under the companion-way when I
saw them."
We questioned the steward and the waiter for some time longer, but we
got nothing more out of them. We asked the captain to send them on
deck, and to direct Captain Cayo and Buck Lingley not to allow any
person to communicate with their prisoners.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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