CHAPTER XXIV.

UNWELCOME PASSENGERS.

We left Lon Trustleton and Matt Swikes at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. They had counted out and divided their ill-gotten treasure. The sudden appearance of Wade Brooks had disturbed them very much. He had been a stumbling-block to them, and they were afraid of him. As soon as he had departed, after he had refused to take any of the stolen money, Lon tried to put a bold face on the matter; but it was no use.

“He will tell the clerks in the office that we are here,” said Matt, when the door had closed behind the intruder.

“The clerks already know we are here, and he won’t tell them any news,” replied Lon.

“Wade will tell them who you are, and they know your father,” continued Matt. “I think we had better get out of this house as soon as we can.”

“The people here certainly know my father,” added Lon, musing. “I don’t know but the clerk would telegraph to my father if Wade told him that I was here, and that I had left home without his knowledge.”

“Then we are fools to stop here another minute,” protested Matt warmly. “I have no doubt that your father knows where you are by this time.”

“We will go down and get some dinner before we leave; for we have paid five dollars, and haven’t had any thing yet. My father can’t get here before eleven o’clock; and we have time enough to keep out of his way. Let us have one good dinner, if nothing else, before we leave this big city.”

“But we shall be caught if we fool with dinners,” Matt objected.

“We shall be more likely to be caught if we stay in this room. We don’t have to go down to the office to get to the dining-room.”

Matt was controlled, as usual, by his friend; and they went to the dining-room, where they dined upon the best the house afforded; and this was all they got for the five dollars they had advanced to pay their bills. They thought it was a dear dinner, but then it was a very nice one: at least Matt thought so, for he had never eaten a stylish dinner before; and Lon had to post him in regard to some things.

When the dinner was finished, Lon led the way down stairs; and, giving the office a wide berth, they got out of the house without attracting the attention of any of the clerks. They walked briskly till they had placed a good distance between themselves and the hotel.

“Where are we going now?” asked Lon.

“I’m sure I don’t know. I don’t think we shall be safe in this city, if we intend to stay here,” replied Matt.

“We are safe enough. This is a big city, and nobody could find us here.”

“But we may blunder upon some one that knows us, the next minute. There are plenty of people from Midhampton in the city every day in the week.”

“Well, where do you want to go?”

“I don’t care where I go, if I only get where we are not in danger all the time.”

“I’ll tell you what I should like first-rate,” added Lon, musing, as though he were not sure it was safe to tell what he would like.

“What is it?” asked Matt, who was ready for any thing that would take them out of the city, where he did not feel safe a single minute.

“I should like to go to sea.”

“To sea!” exclaimed Matt; and this was certainly a bigger idea than he had ever harbored in connection with the runaway enterprise.

“That’s the idea.”

“Do you mean as sailors?”

“Of course not: I mean as passengers. We have the money to pay for the voyage. Then, if we are gone two or three months, the folks at home will be all the more glad to see us; and we shall get off easy.”

“Where do you think of going?”

“I don’t know. I heard that the ship ‘Housatonic’ was going to sea very soon. You know Capt. Crogick, Matt?”

“I only know that such a man lives in Midhampton when he is at home,” replied Matt, who was rather pleased with the idea of sailing in a ship on the ocean.

“I saw him at his house this week; and he told me he should sail in a few days. You know he is the brother-in-law of the cashier of my father’s bank.”

“Where is he going to?” asked Matt, his interest increasing as Lon proceeded.

“He told me, but I have forgotten where it was: it was to some place in Europe.”

“Will he take us on board?”

“I am afraid not; but we must provide for that in some way.”

“I don’t see how you can provide for it, if he is not willing to take us.”

“We needn’t let him see us till we have been out a day or two. We can do as Wade Brooks did with us. He got into the boat, and went to sleep there; and when he woke the boat was miles from Midhampton.”

“Where is his ship? I should like to see it.”

“I don’t know where she is; but we can easily find her. She is called the ‘Housatonic.’”

“Let us find her,” said Matt. “Then if we like the looks of her, and we find a good chance, we will get on board of her.”

They went down to the East River, and asked a great many men where the ship “Housatonic” was; and they soon found her. She was a large and noble-looking vessel. A steam-tug was waiting to tow her down the harbor, but she was not quite ready to go.

“What do you say, Matt? Shall we go on board of her?” asked Lon.

“I am ready to do so,” replied Matt.

“We can hide in her, and no one will see us until we are willing to be seen. But we must have something to eat during the time we hide on board of her,” said Lon. “The captain knows me; and he will give us a berth in his cabin, and we shall be all right. He said he should not be gone more than three months.”

Matt agreed to every thing that Lon suggested. They went up to a shop near the pier, and bought as much to eat as would last them a couple of days, consisting mostly of cakes and crackers. Matt took the bundle; and without much difficulty, for the officers were busy getting the ship ready for sea, and took no notice of them, they got on board. They found the house on deck where the sailors were lodged; and they slipped into it, and stowed themselves away. They found room enough to coil up their bodies under the berths where the sailors slept.

In the course of an hour, the ship was hauled out of the dock, and proceeded down the harbor, towed by the tug. About dark, the steamer cast her off; and she continued her course along the south shore of Long Island. The runaways were not very comfortable in their narrow quarters; and, as soon as the ship left the pier, some of the sailors came into the forecastle, and began to stow away their luggage. About the only place for it was under the bunks; and they jammed in their bags without regard to the bones of the stowaways. But the latter braced themselves up, and stood it till a second lot of the crew, released from duty, came into the house to stow away their effects. But by this time the tug had left the ship, and she was proceeding under sail. When the men came to crowd in another lot of bags under the bunks, Matt could not stand the pressure; and he yelled out like a good fellow.

“What’s all this?” cried a half-drunken sailor, as he pulled out all the bags; and then, seizing Matt by the leg, hauled him out.

“Let me alone!” screamed Matt, half frightened out of his wits; for he was afraid the seaman would knock his brains out.

“What are you doing in there, my little biscuit-nibbler?” demanded the old salt, as he tossed him rather roughly upon the deck.

“I’m not doing any thing,” cried Matt.

“You want to go to sea without paying your passage, do you? Well, my hearty, we always drown such youngsters; and overboard you shall go,” said the sailor. But it was plain enough to his companions that he was only trying to frighten the boy; and he was succeeding very well in his attempt.

In a few moments more, Lon was dragged out in the same way; but he did not yell as Matt had done. He was more disposed to show fight; and he put the toe of his shoe into the shin of the man who held him. The seaman dropped him like a hot potato, and Lon rushed out of the house to the deck. Matt followed his example as soon as he could. They went forward, and then stowed themselves away under the topgallant forecastle. Matt had held on to his bundle of provision. The watch on deck did not see them, and they soon found a safe place. They ate their supper, and after a while went to sleep on the hard planks of the deck; for both of them were very tired after the fatigues of the day and the preceding night. The last lot of sailors who had come into the house were the mate’s watch; and, as they had to be on duty from twelve at night, and were all more or less tipsy, they turned in without troubling themselves any further about the boys.

It was too cold for boys who had been used to a good bed in the house to sleep out in the open air, without even an overcoat to cover them. Before it was time for the mid-watch to come on deck, both of them were awake and shivering with the cold, though it was an August night. Matt declared that he could not stand it any longer, and he was going out on deck, even if they had to be sent on shore for it. Lon was glad enough to do the same thing, though he was not willing to be the first to propose it. The sailors of the captain’s watch saw them as soon as they appeared; and they were reported to the second mate, who had charge of the captain’s watch.

“I know the captain, and it will be all right,” said Lon, as soon as they had told their story to the second mate.

“He was out on deck a few moments ago, and I am sure he hasn’t turned in yet. You will find him in the cabin. By the way, are you some of the passengers that are expected to come on board off here somewhere?”

“I didn’t know we were expected,” replied Lon.

The second mate showed them into the cabin. Of course Capt. Crogick was intensely astonished, and not at all delighted, to see them. The son of Capt. Trustleton must not see Mr. Wallgood when he came on board. But he gave them a state-room, and left the matter for the morning to decide.