Page:Augusta Seaman--Jacqueline of the carrier pigeons.djvu/199

Rh As luck would have it, I failed to encounter my friend Alonzo de Rova, but did meet right face to face with the same captain  who had arrested me before. He made short work of laying hands on me and delivered me  over to the charge of about six or eight soldiers in a big tent. I tried again my scheme of drawing pictures, and they all became  very much interested, hanging over me with  laughter and much admiration as I drew the  portrait of each one. I was hoping Alonzo would happen along, but he didn’t.

“I cannot tell how my plan would have worked, nor whether the soldiers would have  released me, for just as I was finishing the  last one, I happened to look up and there  was the evil face of Dirk Willumhoog in the  door of the tent, staring down at me. I thought perhaps he would not recognize me  in my disguise, but he did somehow. Disappearing for a moment, he came back with the captain and pointed to me, saying:

“‘That is the boy I want, and I’ve been