“S’pose I would; but dar ain’t many dat would hab done it for me, and I won’t forget you.  But wasn’t I ’bout de sickest coon dat you eber seen?”

“You seemed to feel very bad,” replied Jim.

“Feel bad? you’d better beleib I did!  Do you know what de matter wid me?”

“No.”

“I had de Norf American cholera; dat’s worse dan de African.  I also had the pneumonia, and de bronchitis, and de measles, and de small-pox, and the cholly-wampus—­all at the same time.  Do you wonder dat I groaned?”

“I shouldn’t think you could groan at all, if you had so many diseases as that.”

“Dar’s war my toughness and wrastling powers show themselves.  I just wrastled and wrastled, and I frowed ’em all.”

Sam swung his huge legs out of the hammock, took a seat near Jim, and, reaching out, he gently closed his immense fist around the little white hand of the boy.  Then leaning forward until his black face, as broad as the moon, was almost against Jim’s, he whispered,—­

“Yous been mighty kind to me, sonny, and, as I obsarved befor’, I ain’t de one to forget it.  Now, don’t you disremember what I toles you.  You tink it’s all nice and pleasant here on de boat, and so it am jis’ now, but dar’s breakers ahead! Dat boss ob mine am one ob de biggest debbils dat am runnin’ loose.  Ef I should tell yous all dat I know ’bout him, your hair would rose up and stick frough de roof wid horror.  Can you swim, sonny?”

“I am a good swimmer.”

“Berry well; I’m mighty glad to hear dat; it’s likely dat you’ll hab to swim for your life one ob dese days.  Don’t roll your eyes so—­I don’t mean dat we’s going to be wracked.  But what I want to say am dat you must keep mum, and don’t let on dat you don’t know nuffin.  Don’t act as though you and me was much friends when de rest am ’bout, but you know dat I’m jis’ de best one dat you’ll eber find.”

“I understand all that,” said Jim, who saw that the plan was only a simple precaution against drawing suspicion to them; “but I had no thought that any one would want to hurt me.”

“Yous young, and don’t understand dem tings like us better eddycated gem’man.  Old Hornblower am trying to sell you; and if he can’t do it, and tinks dat de ossifers am coming down on him, why he’ll jis’ chuck you oberboard and dar’ll be de end ob it.  You see, yous a purty big boy to steal, and if he lets you go, he’ll be likely to hear from you again.”

Jim thanked his new friend from the bottom of his heart, and asked him what was the best thing to do.

“Run away!” was the emphatic reply.

“But I don’t get any chance when they’re close to shore.  I am watched all the while, and they are so far off at other times that I hardly dare try it.”

“I’ll tell yous what to do; jis’ wait till I lets you know dat de time am come.”

Jim agreed to this, and the African shortly after went on deck, while the boy turned in for the night.