Читать книгу The Captain from Connecticut онлайн

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He drank off his glass without winking an eyelid, and stood up, submissive to any orders which Peabody might give him. On deck in the darkness he shook hands with his captor before hobbling stiffly off to the ship's side. Peabody lingered on deck; Mason, his youngest lieutenant, had fifty men and all the skilled hands of the Delaware repairing the tattered rigging of the Princess Augusta, and when the work was finished Mason would retain six of them and make an attempt to reach Charleston--or Georgetown of Wilmington, or any other port where he could slip past the British cruisers.

Peabody suddenly became aware of Jonathan at his side, whispering urgently in the darkness.

"Jos," he was saying, "Jos, is it true that ship's going back to America?"

"Yes, I'm sending the brig in with a prize crew."

"Jos, send me back in it, too."

"What's that?" said Peabody, quite unable to believe his ears.

"Send me back in that ship--brig, I mean. Please, Jos. Let me."

"What in God's name are you saying?"