The captain made a few inquiries respecting his friends, his home, and his past modes of life, and then engaged him for the cruise.  David, in a state of high, joyous excitement, hurried back to the wagoner, to get his seven dollars of money and some clothes he had left with him.  But Myers put a very prompt veto upon the lad’s procedure, assuming that he was the boy’s master, he declared that he should not go to sea.  He refused to let him have either his clothes or his money, asserting that it was his duty to take him back to his parents in Tennessee.  David would gladly have fled from him, and embarked without money and without clothes; but the wagoner watched him so closely that escape was impossible.

David was greatly down-hearted at this disappointment, and watched eagerly for an opportunity to obtain deliverance from his bondage.  But Myers was a burly teamster who swung a very heavy wagon-whip, threatening the boy with a heavy punishment if he should make any attempt to run away.

After a few days, Myers loaded his team for Tennessee, and with his reluctant boy set out on his long journey.  David was exceedingly restless.  He now hated the man who was so tyranically domineering over him.  He had no desire to return to his home, and he dreaded the hickory stick with which he feared his brutal father would assail him.  One dark night, an hour or two before the morning, David carefully took his little bundle of clothes, and creeping noiselessly from the cabin, rushed forward as rapidly as his nimble feet could carry him.  He soon felt quite easy in reference to his escape.  He knew that the wagoner slept soundly, and that two hours at least must elapse before he would open his eyes.  He then would not know with certainty in what direction the boy had fled.  He could not safely leave his horses and wagon alone in the wilderness, to pursue him; and even should he unharness one of the horses and gallop forward in search of the fugitive, David, by keeping a vigilant watch, would see him in the distance and could easily plunge into the thickets of the forest, and thus elude pursuit.

He had run along five or six miles, when just as the sun was rising he overtook another wagon.  He had already begun to feel very lonely and disconsolate.  He had naturally an affectionate heart and a strong mind; traits of character which gleamed through all the dark clouds that obscured his life.  He was alone in the wilderness, without a penny; and he knew not what to do, or which way to turn.  The moment he caught sight of the teamster his heart yearned for sympathy.  Tears moistened his eyes, and hastening to the stranger, the friendless boy of but thirteen years frankly told his whole story.  The wagoner was a rough, profane, burly man, of generous feelings.  There was an air of sincerity in the boy, which convinced him of the entire truth of his statements.  His indignation was aroused, and he gave expression to that indignation in unmeasured terms.  Cracking his whip in his anger, he declared that Myers was a scoundrel, thus to rob a friendless boy, and that he would lash the money out of him.