Octavia's Pride; or, The Missing Witness — page 21: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Bi Wein bet Ba i Ne } | | COmMmIcbDoOo e OCTAVIA’S PRIDE. 11 that the person’s desires and: opinions are not to be con- sidered. You are not the man I take you to be, if you cannot invent an excuse to go alittle out of your track to visit Trinidad, and having anchored off the island, surely common curiosity will induce your passenger to go ashore, and you may manage, as you choose, to make it seem an accident, or deliberate purpose, but your boat must slip back to the ship, and leave the passenger to a few weeks’, or days’, solitude, whichever the case may be. You can see for yourself that no real harm is intended. I would recom- mend you to leave, accidentally, a bag of provisions, and a few books which I will send aboard, with a trunk of wearing apparel for your passenger. Now, sir, will you give me your word of honor to do this thing, because I am willing to abide by that, though I have taken pains to secure the proofs of this little affair of your son’s, to hold as security to fulfill your part of the contract?” ‘Yes; I will do it,” said Captain Lo. “<“Very well. Now let us talk about the rest. Your pas- senger will naturally be surprised and disturbed upon dis- covering that this voyage has been so unconsciously under- taken, and will demand of you an explanation. What are you going to say?” “Upon my word, I don’t know what I could say,” re- plied the skipper, frankly. ‘J will tell you, then. You are just to tell the truth, although not exactly the whole truth. Answer frankly that it isall a puzzle. Say that a stranger—you can describe what you see—came and engaged and paid for a passage, and that you received what came, and know no further.” _**T will do it,” repeated the captain of the Sea Foam, nodding his head energetically, and feeling his heart lighten as he heard the chink of the gold in the bag the stranger drew forth.” - “ Perform your part faithfully, and the matter for you <s) G 0