164 ! THE BOY CAPTAIN.

“Dem yeller ones wha’ you call Manilermen, an’ I lays
dey’s ’bout de same as de pirates wha’ tried to cum aboard,
but could n’t.”

“The Manilamen fooling around the casks, eh?’’ Ben
said, half to himself, and then added in a louder tone:
«Did you see what they were doing?”

“No, sah. Fust off I lowed dey was layin’ dere sojerin,

an’ den it kinder struck me all in a heap dat dey mought
be wastin’ ob it, so bout dinner time I made de ’vestiga-
tion, an’ its trufe I’se tellin’ ob you, sah, dere ain’t more’n
er hun’red an’ fifty gallons.”
. “Keep this thing to yourself, Eliphalet, until I decide
what is to be done. There won’t be any harm if you have
an eye out on those Manilamen. Don’t go to following
them around, of course, but just make it your business
to see what they do while on deck, and there must be
no report made to me in the cabin where Miss Dunham
might hear you.”

«“Dere’s no danger ob dat, sah. De missy nebber’s
gwine to git it frum me dat dere’s any wrong goin’.”

« But there isn’t, uncle,” and now Ben realized that it
was quite as necessary to allay the fears of the steward, as
to prevent the men from understanding the true condition
of affairs. ‘We shall run in for water, of course, as soon
as possible, and it will only result in our being delayed a
little, that’s all.”

“It’s gwine to be a mighty quick run we’se boun’ to
make, sah, ‘less we goes on short ’lowance,” Eliphalet
replied, gravely.