The Whipping Boy

Billy and Cutwater share some food with Jemmy and Prince Horace; the prince is disgusted because it’s not the fine food he’s used to. Cutwater begins to worry that Jemmy might have written something different in the ransom note than what he claimed to be writing; Jemmy pretends to be indignant and says insulting things to Cutwater. Cutwater threatens to beat Jemmy, but Billy points out that they aren’t allowed to hit the prince—they’d have to beat his whipping boy instead. This possibility is upsetting for Prince Horace, since “the prospect of taking a whipping himself had never occurred to him” (28).

After Jemmy reads the ransom note out loud backwards, the criminals are satisfied that he is not deceiving them. They wonder about the best way to get the letter to the king, and Jemmy suggests that they send the prince (whom they still believe to be his whipping boy) to deliver it.

Billy rejects the suggestion to send Prince Horace, arguing that the boy will tell the king where they’re hiding. Cutwater suggests that Billy go himself, but Billy protests that, since he is a famous criminal, he would be recognized and arrested.