heard Sam chaunt often and
often in the galley of an evening, why, then, I puts up the darkey to
keep on the rig, so as to punish our brute of a skipper for his
cold-blooded attempt at murdering poor Sam--which, but for the
interposition of Providence, would have succeeded!"

Before Tom could proceed any further, however, consternation fell upon
us all, as if a bombshell had burst in our midst; for, Sam, who was
looking the opposite way to us and could see over our heads, suddenly
sprang upon his feet, his mouth open from ear to ear and his teeth
chattering with fear, while his short, woolly hair seemed literally to
crinkle up and stand on end.

"O Lor'! O Lor'!" he exclaimed. "Look dere! Look dere!"

And there, right before us, stood the skipper himself, snorting and
sniffing and foaming with rage, his keen, ferrety eyes piercing us
through and through--so close, that his long nose almost touched me, and
his billy-goat beard seemed to bristle right into my face, I being the
nearest to him.

I felt a cold shiver run through me that froze the very marrow of my
bones!

Captain Snaggs had, no doubt, overheard all our conversation, listening
quietly, hidden behind the bushes that grew up close to the entrance to
the cave, until Tom's last words proved too much for his equanimity,
when his indignation forced him to come out from his retreat. He was
certainly in an awful rage, for he was so angry that he could hardly
speak at first, but fairly sputtered with wrath; and, if a look would
have annihilated us, we mast all have been killed on the spot.

He was a terrible sight!

"Oh, thet's yer little game, my jokers!" he yelled out convulsively, as
soon as he could articulate his words, glaring at us each in turn. "So,
thet durned nigger ain't dead, arter all, hey? Snakes an' alligators!
Why, it's a reg'ler con-spiracy all round--rank mutiny, by thunder! I
guess I'll hev ye all hung at the yard-arm, ev'ry man Jack of ye, fur
it, ez sure ez my name's Ephraim O Snaggs!"

His passion was so intense that we were spellbound for the moment, not
one of us venturing to speak or reply to his threats--he staring at us
as if he could `eat us without salt,' as the saying goes, while we
remained stock-still and silent before him.

As for Sam, he wallowed on the ground in terror, for the captain looked
and acted like a madman.

Hiram Bangs alone had the pluck to open his mouth and confront the
skipper.

CHAPTER SEVEN