"'Well, then, I am going below. You get him up and keep him with you
till I come back on deck. Mind! Don't let him go below till I return.'
"I could not help asking why he told me to rouse a sleeping man, when
we wanted everybody on board to sleep sweetly till we got clear of the
schooner. He laughs a little and says that I didn't see all the bearings
of this business.
"'Mind,' he says, 'don't let him leave you till you see me come up
again.' He puts his eyes close to mine. 'Keep him with you at all
costs.'
"'And that means?' says I.
"'All costs to him--by every possible or impossible means. I don't want
to be interrupted in my business down below. He would give me lots
of trouble. I take you with me to save myself trouble in various
circumstances; and you've got to enter on your work right away.'
"'Just so, sir,' says I; and he slips down the companion.
"With a gentleman you know at once where you are; but it was a ticklish
job. The skipper was nothing to me one way or another, any more than you
are at this moment, Mr. Schomberg. You may light your cigar or blow your
brains out this minute, and I don't care a hang which you do, both or
neither. To bring the skipper up was easy enough. I had only to stamp on
the deck a few times over his head. I stamped hard. But how to keep him
up when he got there?
"'Anything the matter; Mr.
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