When I woke up in darkness，my head was hurting badly，and I was unable to move my hands or feet．I could hear the sailors’ shouts and the sound of the wind and the waves．The whole world seemed to go up，up，up，and then down again．I felt very ill，and at first could not under stand what was happening．After a while I realized that I must be somewhere inside the ship，which was moving very fast through the water．‘I've been kidnapped！’I thought angrily．It was clear that my uncle and the captain had planned it together．I began to feel frightened and hopeless，as I lay there in the dark．

Some hours later，a light shone in my face．Mr Riach，one of the ship's officers，stood looking down at me．He washed the cut on my head，gave me some water，and told me kindly to go to sleep．The next time he came，I was feeling very hot and ill．He had brought Captain Hoseason with him．

‘Now，sir，see for yourself，’ said Mr Riach．‘The lad's seriously ill．We must take him out of this unhealthy hole at once．

‘That's none of your business，’answered the captain．‘Ye're paid to do your job，not to worry about the by．He's staying down here．’

‘I'm only paid to be an officer on this ship，’ replied Mr Riach sharply．He looked hard at the captain．‘I'm not paid，like you，to kidnap and murder—’

Hoseason turned on him angrily．‘What did ye say？’be cried．‘What do ye mean？’

‘You understand，’ said Mr Riach，looking calmly at him．

‘You should know me by now，Mr Riach．I'm a hard man．But if ye say the lad will die—’

‘Aye，he will！’ said Mr Riach．

‘Well，sir，put him where ye like！’

So I was carried up into the sunlight a few minutes later，and put in a cabin where some of the sailors were sleeping．It was a wonderful feeling to see the daylight and to be able to talk to people again．I lay in the cabin for several days，and after a while began to feel better．The sailors were kind to me in their way．They brought me food and drink， and told me about their families at home．I discovered from them that the ship was sailing to the Carolinas，in North America．There the captain was planning to sell me as a slave，to work in a rich man's house or on a farm．

I also learnt that both the ship's officers，Mr Riach and Mr Shuan，enjoyed drinking far too much．The sailors liked Mr Shuan，but said that he was sometimes violent when he had drunk a lot．One of the sailors was a young boy， called Ransome．His job was to bring meals to the captain and officers in the round-house，a big cabin on the top of the ship，where the officers slept and ate．When Ransome dropped something or did something wrong，Mr Shuan used to hit him，and I often saw the poor boy crying．

One night，about nine o’clock，I heard one of the sailors in the cabin saying quietly to the others，‘Shuan's killed him at last！’We all knew who he meant．Just then the captain came in．I was surprised to see him walk towards me and say kindly，‘My man，We Want ye to help us in the round-house．From now on，ye'll sleep there instead of Ransome．’As he spoke，two sailors carried Ransome into the cabin His face was as white as a sheet，and he did not move．My blood ran cold when I saw him．

I obeyed the captain，and ran to the round-house．It was a large room，with a table，a bench and locked cupboards All the best food and drink was kept there，under the captain's eyes，as well as the guns．When I entered，I saw Mr Shuan sitting at the table，with a bottle of whisky in front of him．He did not seem to notice what was happening around him，and was looking fixedly at the table．

Mr Riach soon joined the captain and me．He looked at Hoseason meaningfully，and I understood from his look that Ransome was dead．We three all stood silently looking down at Mr Shuan．

Suddenly the captain stepped forward．‘Do ye know what ye've done？’he cried．‘Ye've murdered the boy！’

Mr Shuan put a hand to his head．‘Well，’he said，‘he brought me a dirty glass！’

The captain and Mr Riach and I looked at each other，almost frightened．Then Hoseason took Mr Shuan by the arm，and told him to go to bed．The murderer cried a little at first，but he took off his boots and lay down，like a small child．

‘Mr Riach，’ said the captain，when we could see that Mr Shuan was asleep，‘nobody on land must know what happened tonight．We'll say that the boy fell into the sea．Get us a drink，David，we both need one，’and he gave me the key to the cupboards．

In the next few days I was very busy，running here and there with the officers’food and drink．Mr Riach and the cap tain were surprisingly patient with me when I made mistakes．Perhaps they were thinking of the poor boy who had died．But Mr Shuan was very strange after Ransome's death． He did not seem to know what he had done，or to recognize me．On my second day in the round-house，he looked at me with a white face and fear in his eyes．‘You weren't here before？’he asked．

‘No，sir，’I replied．

‘There was another boy？’he asked．‘Ah！Yes，I thought so，’and sitting down，he called for some more whisky．

It wasn't a hard life for me．I was able to eat well，and talk to Mr Riach，who spoke to me like a friend．But I could not forget poor Ransome．As the days passed，I became more and more worried．I knew that，when the ship arrived in the Carolinas，I would no longer be a free man，but a slave．I thought hard，but there did not seem to be any way of escaping．

About a week later，we were sailing round the rocky coast of northern Scotland in very bad weather．It was difficult to see anything because of the thick fog．One evening there was a great crash，and the officers ran out to see what had happened．I thought we had hit a rock，but in fact it was a small boat As we watched，the boat broke in two，and went to the bottom with all its men，except the one passenger．At the moment of the crash，this man managed to jump up and catch the side of the ship and pull himself up．

The captain brought him into the round-house He was smallish but well-built，with an open，sunburnt face，and bright，amused eyes When he took off his long coat，I could see that he had a pair of pistols and was wearing a sword at his side．Although his life had clearly been in great danger，he seemed very calm，and spoke politely to the captain Hoseason was looking with interest at ............