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．