Page:Frank Stockton--Adventures of Captain Horn.djvu/287

ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN fellow, for he trembled from head to foot, and his face had the hue of a black horse recently clipped. But he thought it best not to treat the matter seriously. "Come along," said he. "I am not going to give you any whiskey." And then, struck by a sudden thought, he asked, "Are you afraid that you have got to go into that cave?"

"Yes, sir," said Maka, who had risen to his feet. "It make me pretty near die dead to think that."

"Well, don't die any more," said the captain. "You sha'n't go anywhere that you have not been before."

The pupils of Maka's eyes, which had been turned up nearly out of sight, were now lowered. "All right, cap'n," said he. "I lot better now."

This little incident was not unpleasant to the captain. If the negroes were afraid to go into the black ness of the caves, it would make fewer complications in this matter. 273