it was broad daylight when the boys waked again, cold and cramped from their uncomfortable position, and they found the men beginning to stir about on the vessels at the wharf, washing the decks and overhauling rigging.
it was some time before ralph and ben could find courage to venture forth from their hiding-place.
"but it is no use to wait. we must go. unless we can get away before the steamboat comes, we will have to skulk off and try another plan. come on; i'll ask."
dire necessity gave ralph courage; and motioning ben to follow, he went on the wharf and hailed the first man he saw: "are you the captain of that ship?"
"it ain't a ship, sonny, and i ain't the cap'n by a long chalk. why?"
"i wanted to know when you expect to sail."
"sail! we are just in; cargo all in the hold," said the sailor good-naturedly, relighting his pipe, and looking curiously at the two boys. "what d'ye want to know for? don't want to ship, do you?"
"not exactly; we want to go as passengers on a sea-voyage."
"where do you want to go?"
"oh, nowhere in particular."
"i never sailed to that port," said the sailor, laughing as well as he could and still hold on to his pipe with his teeth.
"is there any vessel going to sail from here to-day?" asked ben.
"well, now, there isn't a very big fleet here. if any of 'em was going to start soon, you'd be likely to see some stirring about. there's a little smack over the other side, just goin' out; but that ain't your style, i reckon."
the boys looked in the direction indicated by the sailor's tar-stained thumb, and saw the sails going up.
"let's go over there, ben," said ralph, pulling his companion's arm.
they were soon at the vessel's side, and as the crew only numbered two, and only one of these was a full-grown man, it was not difficult to know who was the captain.
ralph, cap in hand, asked politely, "captain, can you take two passengers?"
"two what?" roared the captain as he gave a final pull, and fastened the sheets around a belaying-pin.
"passengers," answered ralph meekly, feeling very much like retreating before the roar.
"do you take this for a cunarder?"
ralph and ben laughed, and said, "no; we see it is nothing but a fishing-smack."
"nothing but--humph, you little land-lubbers, don't you know this craft will beat anything else afloat?"
"will it?" asked ralph, eying the craft narrowly. "it looks as if it might. will you take us?"
"humph! you want to go fishing, do you? your clothes look like that business. got any overalls anywhere about you?"
"no, but we have thick old things in our valises."
"if you'll take us, captain, we will pay you just what you ask. we'll give you ten pounds," said ben recklessly, with his hand in his pocket grasping the little red pocket-book that contained just that sum, sent by his father to defray his part of the camp expenses.
the captain whistled, and said, "money's plenty! i ain't quite such a highway robber as to take ten pounds. what do you want to go for?"
"oh, for fun, and for our health! the doctors have ordered a sea-voyage for us, we've been studying so hard."
"there now, ben! what did you say last night about lying?" interrupted ralph.
"no, captain, we want to go on a voyage, and we've got the money to pay for the trip. won't you take us?"
"well, now, i don't know about that. you are running away from home, you two chaps; i know you be."
"no, honest!" said ben. "we are hundreds of miles away from home now, and our fathers don't expect us back for over a month yet. it's vacation now, and we want to go somewhere: that's what father sent me the money for."
"i don't know whether you are tellin' the truth or lyin', boys."
"that's the truth," said ben, "every word of it."
"you ain't used to quarters like mine. look down in that cabin!"
the boys looked down, and felt that he was right; but ralph answered bravely,--
"oh, pooh, we don't mind! we can stand anything you can."
"you can now--eh? ha, ha, ha!---marcus, they can stand anything i can--ha, ha, ha!"
it was very aggravating to hear the two men laughing at their expense, but the boys joined in the laugh, and insisted that they could.
"how about fare? like pretty good food, i reckon; don't you now?"
"oh, we don't care what it is, if we only get enough. we expect to rough it."
"oh, you do! well, now, you ain't never sea-sick nor nothin'; are you?"
"oh, sea-sick! no; i've been on the lake many a time when it was rough enough," said ben loftily.
"oh, the lake! yes, i see.--then of course they won't be sea-sick in a chop sea here, marcus; will they?"
marcus only answered with a provoking chuckle.
"i declare i've a good mind to take you, just to take the conceit out of you."
"we don't care what you do it for, if you only say we can go," said ben laughing.
"have you got pork and potatoes aboard, enough to keep two more, marcus?"
"ye-es," drawled marcus; "they won't draw very heavy on the food."
"no; that's so, poor wretches!--i tell you, boys, it won't be fun going in a fishing-smack. rough seas like enough, and rough quarters, and rough fare."
"we know that--we expect that; we'll promise not to grumble," said ralph.
"and we'll pay you well, captain," added ben.
"well, now, wait till we see how much trouble you make before you talk about the pay. i don't believe i ought to take you; but i'd like to have you get enough of it for once."
"then we may come! wait till we get our luggage."
"luggage!" cried the captain in alarm; "how much have you got?"
"oh, only two valises;" and away darted the boys toward the sail-loft, and a minute later leaped on to the dingy little vessel; and with some misgivings, but a feeling of relief, they sat down forward of the cabin, and watched the men push off.
"my native land, farewell,--farewell," hummed ben as they moved away from the wharf.
"oh, hush, ben!" said ralph dolefully.
the men were too busy, as they tacked about to get before the wind, to notice their passengers, and they talked together about the boys and the commotion there would be when their absence was discovered.
the una was bound outside for mackerel, and her deck was covered with empty barrels for their reception.
she was, as the captain had boasted, a swift sailer, and once before the wind she fairly flew through the waves, throwing the spray over her deck in a shower; and, excited by the novelty of their situation, ralph and ben quite enjoyed the sail.
they had followed the captain's advice, and changed their clothes, putting on the heaviest and warmest garments they owned.
marcus, they found, was man-of-all-work on board, and captain dare was a host in himself--more at home on the sea than on the land, and needing little help during the summer months in the management of the little craft, of which he was sole owner.
the breakfast consisted of fried pork, fried potatoes, and biscuits; and it tasted good to the boys with their keen appetites.
after a while ralph and ben both began to feel like keeping quiet; and the captain, who was watching them as he smoked and tended the sails, saw that ralph was growing pale.
"there it comes!" he thought. "now won't they wish themselves high and dry on the shore?--how do you like it, boys?"
"splendid!" cried ben, who was wiping the spray from his face.
ralph said nothing, but smiled a ghastly smile.
"what's your names, boys? i haven't heard yet."
"i'm ben carver; my folks live in--why, what's the matter, ralph? you look like a ghost!"
"he feels like one too, i'll be bound!" exclaimed marcus, who was scraping the breakfast refuse over the side of the vessel.
"are you sick, ralph?" asked ben, putting his hand on him.
"a little, but it will soon be gone," said ralph, trying to brace himself against the terrible feeling that had seized upon him.
"p'raps it will, and p'raps it won't," said marcus with a laugh.
"get rid o' them potatoes and things, and then you'll feel better," said the captain kindly.--"marcus, mix him some hot ginger."
ben was feeling very well still, or he forgot himself in waiting upon his friend, making him as comfortable as possible in the bow of the boat, where the breeze would blow over him, and where he was out of the way.
it was so cool that ben brought their blankets and tucked them around ralph, who was shivering.
"cheer up, comrade! we are miles away from saint bernard and his cherubs; and after you get over this bad turn we'll have a jolly time, and no thanks to them!"
ralph nodded, and rewarded him with a dismal smile.
ben had hardly got his friend snugly tucked away in the blankets, when he glanced back shoreward and saw the steamboat making straight toward them apparently.
"ralph drayton, there's the steamboat covered with our boys! let's get out of this as quick as we can. they'll see us!"
ralph forgot his misery, and throwing off his blankets, he looked quickly in the direction indicated by ben.
sure enough! the boat was coming with its crowd of merry boys, and the band playing gaily.
without a word the two boys crept along the side of the cabin away from the steamboat, and disappeared in the depths below.
the captain saw them, and being keen at noting signs, he guessed at once that his passengers were runaways from the party on the boat. "but it beats me what they wanted to run away from a good time for! i ain't got to the core of that apple yet," he soliloquized with a puzzled look.
ralph and ben remained in close confinement until long after the boat had passed the smack, not daring to look out themselves, nor to ask either of the men on deck, fearing that they in turn might ask questions that would be disagreeable to answer. at length ralph gasped, "o ben, just look out; i can't stay in this horrid place any longer!"
ben went up the steps and peeped around the end of the cabin.
"good! they are away off where they can't see us. come on; i'll help you up."
"i'd like to know what you two fellows ran down below for just then?" said the captain.
the boys pretended not to hear the remark; and just then marcus shouted, "there's a school!"
the boys turned in alarm, thinking only of their own affairs and the only school that interested them; but the captain, turning the vessel's bow, quickly answered, "good! bring the lines and bait."
the lines were soon ready, the bait thrown overboard, and the vessel brought-to before the wind.
as they drew near the "school," and could see the countless multitudes fairly leaping, ben forgot his disgust over the ill-smelling bait, and eagerly watched the fishermen as they dexterously tended the lines and landed their flapping prey on the deck.
ralph was too sick to give any more than a passing glance at the work; but ben cried, "that's the fun!--give me some hooks, marcus, and let me help."
"help yourself! there's plenty there. one will be all you can manage though," said marcus, snapping a fish from one of the hooks with a jerk.
"come on, ralph! perhaps you'll feel better to stir about. shan't i get you a line? i tell you it looks lively out here! the water is all alive with fish, just jumping and turning somersaults--regular acrobats!"
a groan from under the blankets was the only reply, and ben proceeded to use his hook and line as he saw the others do.
it was rare sport, and in his excitement he forgot that he had felt at all sea-sick.
as soon, however, as the "school" had passed, and the last fish had been pulled in, ben felt some of the disgust returning. there lay the slippery fish scattered over the deck, flapping still, and refusing to die. beautiful fish they were, banded and mottled with green and blue and purple; but ben turned away from them with a shudder, which was changed into a groan as the two men began to dress them for packing.
"want to help, boys?" asked the captain, with a wink at marcus.
"not much, captain."
"ralph, this is going to be horrid," he whispered, as he threw himself down by his friend, and put his head under the blanket with him.
"going to be? isn't it already? i hope it won't get any worse," groaned ralph. "how long do you suppose the voyage will last?"
"oh, i don't know; how long do you?"
"and where are we going?"
"sure enough, we didn't ask."
"well, wherever it is, we are in for it now, and have got to make the best of it."
a prolonged groan was the only answer.
