THE SLAVER. 99

life very cheap, and they are not likely to stand
on ceremony should you interfere with their pro-
ceedings.”

I replied that I was very grateful to him and
the other officers for treating me kindly, and that
I only desired to be put on board an English trader,
in which I could work a passage home, ‘and I
hope,’ I added, ‘that my black companion will be
allowed to accompany me.’

‘As to that I can make no promise,’ he an-
' swered. ‘ The captain will decide the matter; but,
I have no doubt, that if we fall in with an English
trader you will be allowed to go on board her.

A bright look out was kept from the mast
head, and twice the schooner altered her course
to avoid a sail seen in the distance. At length we
came off the mouth of a river. <A signal was made
from the shore. With a fair breeze we ran in, and
proceeding up some distance, dropped anchor in a
creek, where the schooner lay concealed by the tall
trees which grew on its banks.