Page:Harris Dickson--Old Reliable in Africa.djvu/92

 you." The negro sank hopelessly on the covered hatchway. When he caught his breath again he asked, "What makes 'em fumigate black folks, and don't meddle wid white folks?"

Guinea whispered ominously, "This ship sailed out o' the Black Sea."

"My Gawd! my Gawd! Mister, what is we gwine to do?"

Then Guinea whispered, "When I see 'em dumpin' bed clothes in them barges, I'm going to hide."

"Whar at?" To Old Reliable the vessel was a labyrinth of hiding places.

"Come along, I'll show you. Don't sneak like that; walk straight." The Irishman went strolling across the open space and dived into a dark hatch. Like a big black child Old Reliable followed his new Moses.

Leaning over the rail, the Bloodhound and his subordinate watched the performance on the lower deck.

"Shall I arrest the negro?" his subordinate asked.

"No, he is perhaps an American citizen. Watch him, and we'll deal with him—the other way."

Far below in the third-class sleeping spaces, Old Reliable eyed those bunks ranged against the wails, and running in double rows down the