er's clothes. Miss Hicks immediately rose, and wishing our hero a
pleasant voyage, as had been agreed, said that she should retire for the
night, as she had a bad headache--she wished her brother good-night, and
went into her room to wait another hour, when our hero, having shoved
off the boat to deceive the vice-consul, was to return, meet her in the
garden, and take her off to the brig. Our hero then went into the
office and assisted the vice-consul, who took off all his own clothes
and tied them up in a handkerchief, intending to resume them after he
had gone into the cabin.

As soon as he was ready, Jack carried his bundle and led the supposed
Miss Hicks down to the boat. They shoved off in a great hurry, and Jack
took an opportunity of dropping Mr Hicks's bundle overboard. As soon
as they arrived alongside, Mr Hicks ascended, and was handed by Jack
down into the Cabin: he squeezed Jack's hand as he entered, saying in a
whisper, "To-morrow morning what a laugh we shall have!" and then he
locked the door. In the meantime the boat was hooked on and hoisted up,
and Jack took the precaution to have the dead-lights lowered that Mr
Hicks might not be able to ascertain what was going on. Gascoigne came
up to our hero and squeezed his hand.

"I'm so much obliged to you, Jack. I say, tomorrow morning what a laugh
we shall have!"

As soon as the boat was up, and the mainyard filled, Captain Hogg also
came up to our hero, shaking him by the hand and thanking him; and he,
too, concluded by saying, "I say, Mr Easy, to-morrow morning what a
laugh we shall have!"

"Let those laugh who win," thought Jack.

The wind was fair, the watch was set, the course was steered, and all
went down to their hammocks, and went to sleep, waiting for to-morrow
morning. Mr Hicks, also, having nothing better to do, went to sleep,
and by the morning dawn, the transport _Mary Ann_ was more than a
hundred miles from the African shore.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

OUR HERO PLAYS THE VERY DEVIL.

We must leave the reader to imagine the effect of the next morning's
_denouement_. Every one was in a fury except Jack, who did nothing but
laugh. The captain wanted to return to obtain Miss Hicks, Gascoigne to
obtain Azar, and the vice-consul to obtain his liberty--but the wind was
foul for their return, and Jack soon gained the captain on his side. He
pointed out to him that, in the first place, if he presumed to return,
he would forfeit his