A TRIP TO BAR HARBOR.
"Are you engaged to-day, Bobtail?" asked Mr. Hines, who was accompanied
by Mr. Brooks, the deputy sheriff.
"Not exactly, sir. Two gentlemen at the Bay View wished me to take them
out in the Skylark, but I told them I didn't think I could."
"If you are not engaged, I want you and your boat for two days," added
the custom-house official.
"Another party wanted me to-morrow; but of course I couldn't say
anything when I expected to be sent to the state prison by this time."
"I must have the boat for a couple of days, Bobtail. I won't say where
we are bound, and you need not mention that I am going with you,"
continued Mr. Hines, as he discovered Squire Gilfilian and Captain
Chinks talking together on the sidewalk. "You shall be paid for the use
of the boat at your usual rate, and I shall be ready in about an hour.
Mr. Brooks will go with us."
Little Bobtail wondered what was going to be done now, as Mr. Hines
sheered off and hastened to the hotel; but he had no time to consider
before Squire Gilfilian called him. He was not quite willing to believe
that the distinguished lawyer wished to convict him of a crime, but he
thought he was very zealous in his work.
"Bobtail, I am not quite satisfied about this business," said the
squire.
"I am, sir," replied the young skipper.
"I suppose so," added the lawyer, with a smile. "You ought to be. There
seems to be some connection between the boat you say you picked up and
the bill which was stolen from my letter."
"I don't know anything about that," said Bobtail.
"Do you mean to say that you picked that boat up?" asked Captain Chinks,
sharply.
"I do mean to say so."
"I'll bet a hundred dollars she is the boat that was bought with that
money."
"I think it's very likely; but I didn't buy her with it," replied
Bobtail.
"But you got some man to do it for you. The boat didn't turn up in
Camden harbor till a week after the money was lost."
"I don't know anything about that; but if you want to take me up again,
I'm ready," answered Bobtail, smartly.
"We don't want to take you up. We only want to know who stole that
letter. Your bringing that boat here, and no one claiming her, look a
little suspicious--that's all," added Squire Gilfilian.
"But I never was in Bar Harbor, where the boat was bought, in my life,"
pleaded Bobtail.
"You might have got some man to buy her for you."
"I might, but I didn't."
"You seem to be using the boat just as if she were your own."
"I told Captain Chinks I was ready to give her up whenever the owner
came for her; and she is advertised in the Camden Herald and the
Rockland Gazette."
"That's a blind," said Captain Chinks. "But I'm going to look the thing
up. I was in the squire's office when that letter came, and by and by
somebody will say I took it."
"Well, I don't know but you did," added Bobtail, though the suspicion
had never before entered his mind.
"What!" exclaimed the man with a doubtful reputation, his face flushing.
"I don't say you did; and I don't know anything at all about it."
"Don't be saucy, Bobtail," interposed Squire Gilfilian.
"I have just as much right to say he took the letter, as he has to say I
took it. He had just as much to do with it as I had; and he was in the
office when I left it."
"But you went back again, you rascal!" said Captain Chinks, angrily.
"No, I didn't go back again."
"You left the office before I did, but you overtook me on the road to
the Portland steamer wharf. You went back again; I know you did!"
stormed the captain.
"I didn't go back."
"Well, where were you all that time?"
"I went into a shop and bought some gingerbread and cheese, and I can
prove it, too."
"Didn't you hear me tell the post-master that I expected a letter with
some money in it, the day that letter came?" asked the squire.
"No, sir; I did not."
"I told the post-master what I expected when I asked him to send me the
letter. You were in the office then, Bobtail."
"No, sir; I didn't see you at all that day. I wasn't in the post-office
half a minute before the letter was given to me," answered Bobtail,
decidedly.
Squire Gilfilian wished to make it out that the boy knew there was money
in the letter, to account for his stealing it; but he made no progress
in his effort.
"I'm going to look this business up, anyhow," said Captain Chinks,
savagely. "I want your boat for two days, Bobtail."
"You can't have her," replied the young skipper, decidedly.
"I suppose not," sneered the captain. "You don't want this business
looked up."
"Whether I do or not, you can't have the boat."
"What's the reason I can't?"
"She is engaged; but if she was not engaged, I wouldn't let you have
her."
"Steady, Bobtail," interposed the squire. "You are a little too crank
for a boy."
"I can't help it. The last time Captain Chinks was in the boat, he
pitched into me; and that's where he got that black eye. I don't want
anything more to do with him."
"I'll pay for the boat," said the captain, who seemed desirous at this
point to change the subject of the conversation.
"You can't have her. She is engaged."
"Who is to have her?"
"Two or three parties want her. I'm going off for two days."
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know. The folks didn't tell me where."
"Who are the folks?" demanded Captain Chinks.
"It don't make any difference who they are. But I haven't time to stand
here talking all day. If you want anything of me, I'm ready to face the
music."
"Captain Chinks wants your boat to investigate the matter of the
letter," said Squire Gilfilian. "He is going to Bar Harbor, and wants
the boat so as to find the person who bought her, for of course she will
be known there. You had better let him have her."
"I can't let him have her. She is engaged."
"But this is a case that will warrant you in breaking your engagement."
"I don't think so."
"Your character is involved in this matter; and it is for your interest
to have the case cleared up."
"I don't believe Captain Chinks will clear it up. I know more about him
than some other fellows do, and I don't want him to whitewash my
character. I can't stop any longer, sir," said Bobtail, as he saw Mr.
Hines and the deputy-sheriff watching his movements.
Captain Chinks was very angry at the boy's last remarks, and began to
storm at him. Squire Gilfilian tried to calm him, and Bobtail walked off
while he was doing so.
"What's the matter, Bobtail?" asked Mr. Hines, when the boy joined him
in the office of the hotel.
"They are trying to make it out now that I bought the Skylark with the
money taken from the letter," answered the skipper, as he proceeded to
give the substance of the conversation with the squire and Captain
Chinks.
"Then the captain is going to Bar Harbor--is he?" laughed Mr. Hines. "I
hope he will go. I may want to use him there."
"Are you going to Bar Harbor, sir?" asked Bobtail.
"That's where we are bound."
"But I am not a pilot beyond Sedgwick. I have been there, but never to
Mount Desert," said the skipper.
"No matter, my lad; I'm a pilot to Bar Harbor, and it's quite time you
learned the way there," replied Mr. Hines. "Now get ready as fast as you
can, Bobtail, and don't say where you are going or who is going with
you; for I don't believe Captain Chinks would go to Bar Harbor if he
expected to meet me there."
The skipper purchased some provisions and stores for the yacht, which
Monkey had sailed up to the wharf at the head of the harbor, as he had
been instructed to do. Bobtail sent word to his mother that he should
be gone two or three days, and went on board. But his passengers did not
appear, and he waited impatiently for them. Captain Chinks was loafing
about the wharf, and Bobtail concluded that this was the reason they did
not come. The captain was evidently curious to know who were to go in
the Skylark. After waiting half an hour, a boy brought a note to the
skipper. It was from Mr. Hines, desiring him to sail at once, and to
stand up towards North-East Point. He obeyed his written order, and
beyond the point, a boat with his passengers came off from the shore.
Mr. Hines and the deputy sheriff went below, so as not to be recognized
by any persons in the boats which were sailing about in the vicinity.
The skipper laid his course for the northern point of Deer Island, and
the Skylark went off flying on her cruise.
"I began to think you were not coming," said Bobtail to Mr. Hines, who
sat near the cabin door.
"We couldn't get on board at that wharf without being seen by everybody;
and Captain Chinks was watching us," replied the custom-house official.
"Mr. Philbrook drove us round to the point, where we got a boy to bring
us off. Are there any boats near you, Bobtail?"
"Not a single one, sir. There is a lot of mackerel catchers half a mile
to the southward of us, and the Portland steamer is coming round the
point."
"All right," said Mr. Hines, taking a seat in the standing-room opposite
the skipper. "Has Captain Chinks any boat fit to go to Mount Desert in?"
"He had one a while ago, but I haven't seen her lately. I don't know
where she is now."
"Do you know the boat?"
"Yes; I should know her a mile off."
"I think we shall find her at Bar Harbor," laughed Mr. Hines.
"I shouldn't be surprised, for I begin to see the daylight sinning
through this business," added Bobtail, his eyes flashing.
"What do you see?"
"I think I know who stole that letter, and how the five hundred dollar
bill happened to go down to Bar Harbor."
"We shall know before we get back."
"What do you suppose Captain Chinks wanted to go to Bar Harbor in the
Skylark for?" asked Bobtail.
"I don't know, but I am afraid if you had gone with him you would never
have come back again; for you have spoiled all his plans. He will take
the steamer to-morrow morning at Rockland for Bar Harbor. But we shall
have time to look the matter up before he arrives, if the breeze holds."
Fortunately the wind did hold, and at eight o'clock in the evening the
Skylark reached her destination. The breeze was steady, but light, and
the passage was a delightful one through the narrow channels among the
islands. The skipper got up a nice dinner of beefsteak, green corn, and
tomatoes, which Mr. Hines declared was equal to the table at the Bay
View; and this was no equivocal compliment.
"That is Captain Chinks's boat," said Bobtail, as he pointed to a craft
at anchor near the steamboat wharf.
"I thought we should find her here," replied Mr. Hines. "He doesn't sail
that boat alone--does he?"
"No, sir; he has a nephew that lives with him; but he has gone to
Boston."
"Are you sure of that?"
"Captain Chinks says he has; that's all I know about it."
"How old is the nephew?"
"Almost twenty-one."
"In my opinion that nephew is here," added the custom-house official.
"That's so!" exclaimed Bobtail, as the Skylark passed the captain's
boat. "There he is now.--Hallo, Ben!"
"Is that you, Bobtail? Where did you pick up that boat?"
"Don't let on," interposed Mr. Hines; and the skipper did not answer the
question.
"Say! Where d'ye get her?" shouted Ben.
"She isn't mine."
"He knows all about her. Keep out of sight, Mr. Brooks. He knows you,
but not me," continued Mr. Hines.
The Skylark passed out of hearing of Ben's voice, but he immediately
jumped into his dory and pulled for the wharf. Bobtail ran the yacht up
to the landing-steps, and Mr. Brooks hastened on shore, so that Ben
Chinks should not recognize him.
"Say, Bob, where'd ye get this boat?" asked Ben, stepping upon the deck
of the Skylark.
"She don't belong to me," replied Bobtail.
"Don't you know the boat?" inquired Mr. Hines.
"Don't I know her?" repeated Ben.
"That's the question I asked."
"I cal'late I've seen her before; because she came into Bar Harbor about
ten days ago," replied Ben, cautiously.
"Exactly so," added the custom-house detective; "she was sold, and your
uncle or father bought her."
"Who told you all that?" asked Ben; and he did not seem to know whether
or not to admit the truth of the statement.
The detective whistled and looked about him as though he did not care
whether Captain Chinks bought her or not.
"Your uncle bought her dog cheap, too. I think Captain Chinks is a smart
man," added Mr. Hines.
"He's some," grinned Ben.
"But you and he drank a little too much of that liquor."
[Illustration]
"What liquor? I don't drink liquor."
"You might as well own up. Captain Chinks and you were a little boozy
that day."
"What day?"
"Why, that day you sailed this boat up the bay."
"I didn't drink a drop," protested Ben, warmly.
"Then your uncle drank enough for both of you."
"No, he didn't, nuther. I didn't see him drink anything."
"Ah, it's no use to deny it," laughed Mr. Hines, as though he was only
indulging in a pleasantry.
"I wouldn't deny it if it was true; but it ain't."
"How did the boat get adrift, then?" queried Mr. Hines. "Both of you
must have been a little set up."
"Not a bit."
"The boat wouldn't have got adrift if you had either of you been all
right."
"Both of us were as straight as a gun."
"How did it happen, then?"
"It was blowing like Sam Hill, that day, you see--didn't Captain Chinks
tell you about it?"
"He didn't say you were both sober."
"Well, I was; and if he drank anything that day, I didn't see him do
it,' persisted Ben.
"But what in the world did you want to land your stuff in that place
for?"
"What place? What stuff?" demanded Ben.
"Those cases of brandy, of course. It's all right, my man. Captain
Chinks will be down here to-morrow. Little Bobtail here picked up the
yacht, and took her into Camden. The stuff was all landed in the night,
so that only two or three persons know anything about it--Little
Bobtail, myself, and a friend of mine."
"Who is he?"
"He's a friend of mine. We were on the lookout for this lot of brandy,
and we took it off Captain Chinks's hands, so that he won't have any
trouble in getting rid of it."
"Is that so? Who's the other man?"
"We don't call names in this business, you know," answered the
detective, mysteriously. "But I can't see what you wanted to land the
stuff in that place for. You would have been trapped if you had; for
there is a sharp detective over at Camden, looking out for cases of this
sort."
"Sho! Who is he?"
"His name's Hines."
"Hines? I never heard on him before."
"He's sharp."
Bobtail had to look overboard to keep from laughing.
"Ketch a weasel asleep!" grinned Ben. "Me'n my uncle's sharp enough to
whittle skewers with him. When he ketches Cap'n Chinks, he'll ketch a
weasel asleep, you bet! It was the cap'n's notion to land the stuff on
that island, and take it over, a little at a time, when we went out
fishing. We run the boat aground on a beach. You see, I found a hole in
the rocks--a kind of cave--that would hold the hull lot on't. We could
kiver up the mouth of the hole with rocks, so't no one'd ever think
anything was in it. The boat was on so hard we couldn't stir her, and we
went up to take a look at the hole. While we were gone, the tide riz,
and the wind blowed the boat off. The cap'n did some tall swearin' about
that time, you'd better believe; but it didn't do no good. The boat was
gone, and we couldn't git her. It was just dark, and I cal'lated the
wind would drive her on the rocks, and smash her all to pieces. It was
lucky Bob picked her up, for she might 'a been found by some feller
who'd made mischief out of that stuff in the cabin."
Bobtail had to tell the story of the picking up of the Skylark.
"She must have drifted up the bay, and then down, for the tide turned
not long after we lost her," said Ben. "We walked up to Islesboro', but
we didn't dare to say a word. The cap'n went over to Camden in the
packet, and I came down here. I took our boat here, and with a man to
help me, cruised all round Deer Island and Vinal Haven, to see if I
could find the Skylark; but I couldn't hear nothin' on her."
"What did the captain give for this boat?" asked Mr. Hines.
"Five hundred dollars."
"Didn't pay for her--did he?"
"Yes, he did; cash down. The man he bought her of 's up at one of the
hotels now."
"Is he?"
"Yes, he is;" and Ben described the house.
"If he has any more such boats to sell, I should like to buy one like
this at the same price. But when are you going out again?"
"Out where?"
"O, I understand all about this business; you needn't roll your eyes at
me," laughed the detective. "I know all about it; and when Captain
Chinks runs in another lot of brandy, I intend to take it off his hands,
if he isn't too sharp; and I want to know when to be on the lookout for
it."
"O, you do?" grinned Ben.
"When do you go?"
"I donno; you must ask the cap'n. When he gets a letter he will be off."
The conversation was continued till it was quite dark, and then Ben went
back to his boat. Little Bobtail laughed till his sides ached at the
tactics of Mr. Hines, as they walked up to the hotel, or boarding-house,
where the late owner of the Skylark lodged.