"Why, old Mr. Montague."

"He isn't dead."

"Yes, he is. The telegram came this forenoon."

"But I helped him on sh.o.r.e myself at seven o'clock this morning."

"He died at half past seven, the despatch says. And you didn't know it?"

"No, I didn't. That's strange. But I started for home as soon as I saw him in the carriage, and slept all the way down."

Mrs. Taylor had not seen her son since the examination at the office of Squire Norwood, but she had heard that he returned from Mount Desert late at night, and had gone to Belfast early in the morning. Bobtail had begun to relate his adventures at Mount Desert, when Squire Gilfilian presented himself at the door. It was known now that the Skylark had been to Bar Harbor, with Mr. Hines and the deputy sheriff as pa.s.sengers.

The young skipper had told this the night before, but nothing more--not even that his pa.s.sengers had not returned with him. The squire had heard this report, and he was anxious to know the result of the visit.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Taylor," said the lawyer. "I am glad to find your son here, for I want to talk with him. But I wish to say to you, in the first place, that I don't consider that mortgage fairly cancelled."

"Why not? Didn't I pay you the money?" asked Mrs. Taylor, very much alarmed.

"You did, but that bill was already mine. Mr. Slipwing sent me five hundred dollars, and I have received it--the very bill he sent. From you and from him I ought to have a thousand dollars, but I have only half that amount."

"Am I to lose that money?" demanded the poor woman.

"Well, am I?" echoed the squire, with a bland smile. "If my horse is stolen, I take him wherever I find him, and whoever has bought or sold him."

The lawyer was talking to a woman knowing but little of law and business, and he was doubtful himself whether he could claim that bill after it had pa.s.sed, in good faith, through the hands of several persons.

"I don't think it's right," protested Mrs. Taylor.

"Nor I, either," added Bobtail. "My mother didn't steal it, and I didn't steal it."

"No one knows who did steal it," said the squire. "Captain c.h.i.n.ks still contends that you took the letter, my boy; and he has gone down to Bar Harbor to ascertain how the bill got there. He thinks you heard of that boat, and sent some one down to buy her. He means to look up the case."

"He'll look it up with a vengeance," replied Bobtail. "It is already looked up."

"What do you mean? I hear that you have been to Bar Harbor."

"I have."

"Did you see Captain c.h.i.n.ks?"

"I haven't anything to say about it," answered Bobtail.

"Can't you tell me whether you saw him or not?" asked the squire, in his cross-examination style.

"I can, but I would rather not. Mr. Brooks told me to keep still about it, and I'm going to do so."

The squire coaxed and threatened, but without effect.

"You will know all about it to-day or to-morrow. There comes the Eagle,--Captain c.h.i.n.ks's boat, Squire Gilfilian. He's in her, and he will tell you all you want to know, and more too, perhaps."

The lawyer was not in good humor, though he was, in the main, a very good sort of man. He did not like to have a boy like Little Bobtail say no to him.

"I must say, Mrs. Taylor, it looks rather black for your son. Colonel Montague testifies that the bill which was stolen with the letter was paid for a boat to a gentleman at Bar Harbor. Your son comes home one night with a boat, and no one knows where he got it," said Squire Gilfilian, sharply.

"He told where he got it, and he was discharged at the examination yesterday," replied Mrs. Taylor, smartly.

"We shall see when Captain c.h.i.n.ks gets back."

"I think you will see," added Bobtail.

"In the mean time, Mrs. Taylor, I shall expect you to pay the mortgage note," said the squire, as he walked towards the railroad wharf, where the Eagle appeared to be headed.

Bobtail soon followed him, and was at the wharf when the Eagle came up at the steps.

"So you have arrived, Bobtail," said Mr. Hines.

"I got in at eleven o'clock last night, and should have been here sooner if I hadn't stopped to pick up the Pen.o.bscot's people," replied the skipper of the Skylark, as he proceeded to describe his cruise, and tell the news of the wreck, and of the death of the Hon. Mr. Montague.

"And so you have been to Belfast since?"

"Yes; and been back some time. Where's Captain c.h.i.n.ks? Squire Gilfilian wants to see him," added Bobtail, as the lawyer came down the steps.

"The captain is below. He is all used up, and willing to confess everything. But we must take him down to Rockland at once, and we will go in the Skylark. For we want her there."

"She's all ready, sir."

"Where's Captain c.h.i.n.ks?" demanded the squire.

The captain came on deck when he heard the lawyer's voice. He was pale and dejected. The Eagle had anch.o.r.ed under the lee of an island during the storm, and Mr. Hines had explained to him both the law and the nature of the testimony. The detective told him he would probably get off easier if he pleaded guilty, and made all the rest.i.tution in his power. The captain had about concluded to do so, but he desired to consult his counsel.

"It's a light wind, and we must be off at once," said Mr. Hines, impatiently. "You can go with us, if you like, Squire Gilfilian, but I can't wait for you to discuss the case."

The squire was willing to go to Rockland, and in half an hour the Skylark was standing down the bay.

CHAPTER XVIII.

ROBERT BARKESDALE MONTAGUE.

"Well, Captain c.h.i.n.ks, did you find the man who paid that five hundred dollar bill to Colonel Montague?" asked Squire Gilfilian, as he seated himself in the standing-room, opposite his client.

"I didn't look for him," replied the captain, studying the seams in the deck.

"I thought that was what you went down there for. You told me that, in your opinion, Bobtail here had sent some one down to Bar Harbor to buy this boat with the money taken from the letter," added the squire, whose "fine judicial mind" had not yet grasped the truth. "I don't see any other way that this bill could have got to Bar Harbor."

"Mr. Hines and I saw the man that received the bill for the boat," added the deputy sheriff.