CAPTAIN CHINKS.
"I'm very glad to see you, Captain Chinks," said Squire Gilfilian, as he
conducted the gentleman of doubtful reputation into his private office.
"Is my case likely to come up soon?" asked the captain.
"No, I don't think it will ever come up," answered the lawyer.
"Well, you have changed your tune since I was here before," added
Captain Chinks, with a satisfied smile. "Then everything was going to be
proved against me; now, nothing."
"I have sifted down all the evidence the government has; and you needn't
trouble yourself any more about that matter."
"I suppose an innocent man never need fear," said the captain.
Squire Gilfilian looked at the gentleman of doubtful reputation, opened
his eyes with a jerk, and a faint smile played about the corners of his
mouth. But professionally he dealt with evidence and questions of law,
rather than with truth itself. He did not ask what was true, only what
could be proved.
Little Bobtail listened attentively to this conversation, though he had
very little interest in it. But he could not help indorsing, in his own
mind, the remark of Captain Chinks, that the innocent never need fear.
He was under suspicion himself; but he was not afraid.
"Ah, Bobtail! are you a witness for the prosecution?" said the captain,
appearing now to see the youth for the first time.
"No, sir. I'm the defendant myself," replied Bobtail, pleasantly; for
the arrival of the captain seemed to settle all his trouble. "I am in
stays just now, caught in going about, and there I hang. If you will
just give me a pull on the lee side, I shall go about handsomely."
"Certainly, my lad. If you miss stay in this law business, there's
always a lee shore to drift on to, and no room to wear round."
"Captain Chinks," interposed the lawyer, who did not so clearly
comprehend the nautical view of the case, "I lost a letter the day you
went away."
"And Bobtail found it," suggested the captain.
"Not exactly. I never received it."
"Then I don't see how you lost it."
"Little Bobtail and the post-master agree perfectly on one point--that
two letters were given him, one to carry to you and the other to me, on
the day you went away."
"And I perfectly agree with Little Bobtail and the post-master. He gave
me my letter in your front office, only two minutes after you told me
that I was certain to be arrested in less than twenty-four hours for
being concerned in that smuggling case, when it was as plain as the nose
on a man's face that I had nothing whatever to do with it. He gave me
that letter, and that letter called me on business down to Mount Desert.
You see, squire, when a man is innocent--"
"Exactly so," interposed Squire Gilfilian. "We will grant that you are
entirely innocent. But the smuggling case is not before the court just
now. We were speaking of the letters. We will grant that Bobtail
delivered your letter to you all right. Do you happen to know anything
about the other letter?"
The squire glanced at Little Bobtail, to discover any evidences of guilt
or confusion in his face. Certainly he was deeply interested, and even
anxious; but, being young and inexperienced, he had an undoubting
confidence in the ultimate triumph of truth and innocence.
"I do happen to know all about it," replied Captain Chinks, after he
also had glanced at the boy.
"Well, what do you know about it?" demanded the lawyer, rather
impatiently, as the captain paused, and looked again at the alleged
culprit.
"Bobtail gave me my letter, and I opened it at once, for I was expecting
that letter, and had asked for it at the post-office, for it was getting
rather late for the steamer, and I had some business in Rockland. I was
expecting to meet a man down to Bar Harbor."
"We will grant that your letter was all right, captain. We were speaking
of the other letter."
"I thought we were speaking of both of them," laughed the captain.
[Illustration]
"It is all settled in regard to your letter; and you have been to
Rockland, Bar Harbor, and down into the provinces, for aught I know."
"No, I haven't. I was in St. John--let me see--two years ago; and I
haven't been there since. You seem to think I have business down in the
provinces, squire."
"I don't know anything at all about your business, captain. But they say
that a great deal of brandy finds its way into the States without paying
any duties," chuckled the squire.
"You don't mean to say that I have anything to do with bringing it
in--do you, Squire Gilfilian?" demanded the captain, who seemed to be
damaged in his feelings by the lawyer's thrust.
"Certainly not."
"Because you have just proved that I have not."
"Hardly; only failed to prove that you have. But the letter, captain.
Bobtail says you were here when he brought it into the office."
"I was here, squire," answered the captain, dropping into an arm-chair.
"I asked you, Captain Chinks--" Little Bobtail began.
"Never mind what you asked him," interposed the squire, sharply. "I have
heard your story, and now I want to hear the captain's, without any
leading questions."
"Don't be so snappy with the boy, squire. I'll tell you all about the
letter without any questions at all," added Captain Chinks.
"Well, I really wish you would. I have been trying for some time to get
at the facts, and you have talked about everything except the one thing
I wish to know," said the lawyer, impatiently.
"Steady as she is, squire, and I'll tell you all about it. When I came
out of this office, the day I went away, I met Little Bobtail coming
into the front one with two letters in his hand, he gave me mine, and
then asked where you were, squire. I told him you were in this office,
and that you were busy. Then Bobtail said he had a letter for you, and I
told him to put it on your desk. He tossed it on your desk, and then
left. I can tell you just where it lay on the cover."
"So can I," said the boy, as cheerful as a lark now, for the captain had
precisely confirmed all his story.
"Can you? Come and show me, then.--Stay here a moment, captain," said
the squire, as he conducted the boy to the front office, closing the
door behind him.
Little Bobtail indicated the precise spot where the letter lay when he
had thrown it upon the desk. Captain Chinks was called in, and pointed
to exactly the same place. There was not a variation of two inches
between them.
"I can swear that the letter lay on the desk after Bobtail went out of
the office," said Captain Chinks, decidedly.
"I am willing to grant that Little Bobtail has told the truth, and that
he is entirely exculpated from the charge; for if either or both of you
have been lying, your testimony would have conflicted in some point, as
it does not now."
"That's handsome, squire," added the captain.
"By the way, when did you see Bobtail last, captain?" asked the lawyer.
"I haven't seen him since the day I went away."
"You may go, Bobtail," added the squire.
"I'm in no hurry, sir. Perhaps you will want to ask me some more
questions," replied the boy.
"If the letter was left on my desk, I ought to have found it there,"
continued the lawyer.
"That's so. But you don't always find things where you put them," said
Captain Chinks, sagely.
A long conversation about the missing letter followed; but no clew to it
was obtained. The ill-visaged man, who wished to save the Buckingham
Bank robbers from a long term in the state prison, thought it was very
hard that his friends should suffer because somebody had stolen the
letter, or the squire had lost it by his carelessness. But the lawyer
thought his correspondent was to blame for not sending a check or draft;
to which the ill-visaged replied that a check or draft would have been
lost in the same manner the money had been.
Finally Squire Gilfilian agreed to defend the bank robbers, and their
friend agreed to raise the money to pay him before the trial came on. He
did defend them; but even he was not smart enough to save them from a
long term in the state prison.
Little Bobtail was entirely satisfied with the result of the
examination, so far as he was personally concerned, though, as the
squire seemed to be very fair about it, he was sorry that he should lose
so large a sum of money. More than this, he had more respect than ever
before for Captain Chinks, who, he was quite sure, had told the truth in
this instance. He might have given him a world of trouble if he had
simply declined to tell the truth, or had distorted it even a little.
Bobtail was, therefore, very grateful to him for doing what it was
plainly his duty to do. Still our hero could not help wondering, as
hundreds of others wondered, whether or not the captain really smuggled
goods into the state. Perhaps he would not have thought much the worse
of him if he had known that such was the fact; for, as we have before
stated, Bobtail's views of smuggling were not very definite. He had
never considered the subject enough to have any fixed opinions.
Captain Chinks was a thriving, driving, enterprising man, who did any
kind of business which promised an adequate remuneration. He went a
fishing, he traded horses, traded boats, traded vehicles. He had been in
the salmon business, importing it from the provinces, and sending it to
Boston; he had been in the pogy oil business; he had been in the
staging business; he had been in the hotel business in a small way. He
owned a farm, and was a mechanic besides. He sometimes built a boat
during the winter season, and ran it during the summer, or sold it, if
an opportunity presented. If there was a camp-meeting, he carried
passengers in his craft to and from the grounds. He was, or had been, in
all these occupations. They were visible and tangible; and some people
insisted that he was engaged in other occupations which were not so
visible and tangible.
Little Bobtail left Captain Chinks in the lawyer's office, and walked
down the shore road to the cottage. He went in and found Ezekiel drunk
on the bed. He did not disturb him, but went up stairs to see if the
boxes he had removed from the Skylark were still securely hidden from
the observation of any one who might visit the upper part of the house.
He adjusted the rubbish which covered them, and then left the cottage.
Monkey was paddling about the harbor in the old dory, which he had
borrowed at the head of the bay. The moment his grateful friend saw him,
he pulled to the rocks where he stood, and they went on board of the
yacht together. Little Bobtail looked her over again, and began to
wonder that no one appeared to claim her. He could not help asking if
any one would ever appear to claim her. Whoever did so would have to
account for the presence of those cases of brandy in her cabin. If the
owner had any regard for his reputation, he might choose rather to
sacrifice the boat and her cargo, than to subject himself to the penalty
of his transgression. If he claimed the boat, he was reasonably sure
that both would be confiscated, and he would make nothing by doing so,
pecuniarily, and was liable to punishment besides. Bobtail thought it
would be a fine thing to own the Skylark, or even to have the use of her
for a season or two; and hoped the legal owner of her would have a
proper regard for his reputation, and not risk it by putting forward his
claim to her.
Certainly for the present Bobtail was in charge of her, and there was no
one to dictate what he should or should not do with her. He was willing
that everybody should see the boat; and, to enable any one who might
possibly throw light upon her ownership to do so, he thought it best to
sail her about the harbor. The tide was up now, and, with the
assistance of Monkey, he hoisted the mainsail and got up the anchor.
"Now, stand by the jib-halyards, Monkey," shouted the skipper, as he
took the helm.
"All clear, Bob," replied the hand before the mast.
"Hoist the jib."
Monkey knew all about a boat, and did his work well. The Skylark went
off with the fresh breeze on her quarter, and Bobtail felt like a lord
at the helm.
"Don't she spin!" said Monkey, as he seated himself in the
standing-room, and fixed his gaze on the swelling sails.
"She goes it like a locomotive," replied the skipper. "Now haul in on
the main sheet, and we will run up the harbor."
The Skylark, close-hauled, ran up to the head of the little bay, and
coming about, stood over close to the wharf, at the head of which the
fish market and several stores were located.
"Hollo, Bobtail!" shouted the skipper of the Islesboro' packet, which
had come in that morning, and lay alongside the wharf. "What boat's
that?"
"The Skylark," replied the skipper.
"Where did she come from?"
"I don't know. I picked her up yesterday, and want to find the owner,"
replied Bobtail, who, while he was looking for an owner, did not really
wish to find one, though he was prepared to do all that was fair and
right in the premises.
"Where did you pick her up?" asked the skipper of the packet.
As the Skylark was now almost out of hailing distance, Bobtail came
about, and ran up alongside the packet, skilfully spilling the sail at
the right moment, so that she hardly bumped against the other vessel,
though Monkey stood ready with the fenders.
"I picked her up near Blank Island," replied Bobtail.
"I seen a boat like her just about sundown last night. I couldn't make
her out, but I cal'late that's the craft I see," added the skipper. "But
how on airth came she adrift?"
"That's more than I know."
"Don't Captain Chinks know nothin' about her? He come over with me from
Isleboro' this mornin'."
"I saw him up in town this morning, but he didn't say anything about
her," answered Bobtail.
"I don't know's he knows anything about her; but he's pooty well
acquainted with all the boats in these parts. Was there anything on
board of her?"
"She's a pleasure craft. Come on board and look at her," replied
Bobtail, evasively.
The skipper of the packet accepted the invitation, and looked over the
Skylark. He was critical in his observations, and did not believe that
any of these fancy craft amounted to much in heavy weather. She was
"fixed up smart," and was "handsome's a picture;" but "he'd rather have
his homely boat when it blowed than a thousand sech highflyers." They
could "chalk a line up in to the wind in light weather, but they wan't
nothin' in a sea."
Bobtail did not indorse these critical remarks, for he had tried the
Skylark in a sea, and knew that she was equal to anything.
"I hope you'll find the owner, and I ca'late you'll make somethin' out
of the job," said the skipper, as he returned to his vessel.
Bobtail did not particularly hope so, for even if he made something out
of the job, he was afraid he should never be satisfied with the old tub
in which he had sailed the day before, if he bought her, now that he had
realized the glories of the Skylark.
"Shove her off, Monkey," said he, as he resumed his place at the helm.
Running along close to the wharves, he answered several hails of persons
who wished to know about the boat. It would soon be all over town that
he had picked up the yacht; and having in this manner sufficiently
advertised her, he stood off towards the open bay, passing between the
Spindles off the point.
"Where are you going to now, Bob?" asked Monkey.
"We will take a little sail, just to see how the boat works."
"She works fust rate, and no mistake," added Monkey, with admiration.
"I'd give more to own this boat than I would to be one of the
selectmen," continued Bobtail. "She's a tip-top sea boat. Take the helm,
Monkey, and see how nice she steers."
The Darwinian opened his mouth from ear to ear with pleasure as he
complied with the request. Of course he fully agreed with all the
skipper said. Bobtail walked forward, and then went below. It was about
time to be thinking of dinner, though he was not very hungry yet. He
looked over the stores of the yacht, to see if there was anything
besides bacon for the meal. In a small tub he found some salt pork. One
of the lockers under the transom was half full of potatoes; but he
discovered no other meat. After this survey he concluded to dine on
fish, for he had his lines and salt clams on deck. Returning to the
helm, he put the yacht about, and stood up to one of the best of the
fishing-grounds.
"Lower the jib," he called to his crew; and when this was done, he
directed him to throw over the anchor. "Now, Monkey, catch some fish
while I go below and make a fire."
In a few moments Bobtail had a fire in the stove. Washing some potatoes,
he pared and sliced them. Three big slices of salt pork in the pan soon
produced fat enough to fry them. By this time there was a movement on
deck. The Darwinian was pulling in a fish.
"A cod!" shouted Monkey. "He's a nice one, too."
"How big is he?" asked Bobtail.
"Five or six pounds."
"That's enough. Dress him, and cut him up to fry."
By the time the potatoes were cooked the fish was ready for the pan. The
cook covered the pieces with Indian meal, and the dinner was soon ready.
Bobtail had already set the table. He had put on plates, knives and
forks, and glasses for two, a pitcher of water, a plate of pickles, and
a dish of hard bread. The fish was placed on the casing of the
centre-board, in the middle of the table, consisting of two leaves,
which could be dropped down when not in use. Monkey was called, and the
dinner proceeded in due form. The Darwinian did not seem to be quite so
enthusiastic as at breakfast, perhaps because his table at home was
oftener garnished with fish and salt pork than with any other food.
However, he did ample justice to the bill of fare, and liberally praised
the cook for his skill in the art.
While they were thus pleasantly engaged, they heard a slight bump
against the side of the yacht, followed by the sound of voices. With the
instinct of a genuine boatman, Bobtail rushed upon deck to assure
himself that no harm befell the Skylark, when the other boat came
alongside. He found that Prince, in the white sloop, had just put
Captain Chinks on board, and had already shoved off. Bobtail looked at
the captain, and thought he had taken a great deal of trouble to pay him
this visit, for Prince had come about, and was standing up to the
village. He felt as though he should now be called upon to give up the
Skylark to her rightful owner.
"I'm glad to see you, Captain Chinks," exclaimed he; but what he said
was rather complimentary than strictly true--a society fib.
"Won't you come below, and take some dinner with us?"
The captain had been to dinner, for it was now two o'clock in the
afternoon, and he began to ask about the Skylark.