BESIEGED. 197

The door was locked, and, peeping through the keyhole,
he saw that the key was on the inside.

“Come out of there, uncle! It’s all right, and nobody
down here but friends.”

Twice did Sam repeat this statement without receiving
any reply, and then he cried, angrily :

«See here, Eliphalet, the captain has sent for you! All
hands of us are locked in the cabin, an’ it’s your business
to turn out so’s to help the thing along! There isn’t
any time for foolin’, an’, if the word comes to break this
door open, my idea is the steward of this craft will suffer
considerably.”

This threat was sufficient to bring the old darkey to
terms, and an instant later the door was opened cau-
tiously.

Uncle Eliphalet’s face was of an ashen - gray hue, and,
if his hair had not been kinked quite so tightly, it is only
reasonable to suppose it would have stood straight on end.

« Wha — wha — wha’s—”

His teeth were chattering with fear so severely that it
was impossible to utter an intelligible sound, and Sam
said, impatiently, as, seizing the old fellow by the shoulder,
he dragged him toward the saloon:

“Don’t wag your jaw like a bloomin’ idjut; but come
in here an’ see what can be done. This is a time when
every mother’s son below has got to do his full share of
work, an’ you among the rest.”

Eliphalet was still in the same daze of fear when the
sailor dragged him into the cabin; but the sight of Miss