by Kirk Munroe
CHAPTER XXI.
EVERY ONE EXPLAINS.
At Bim's growl, Billy Brackett said "Be quiet, sir!" and looked up. Hewondered somewhat at the number of persons advancing towards him, andwas also surprised to note that, with one exception, they were allpeople whom he knew. He recognized Sabella and her uncle, thewharf-boat man, the printer, and even the Sheriff of Dubuque County.The only one of the group whom he had not seen before was thegentlemanly and thoroughly honest-looking young fellow upon whoseshoulder the Sheriff had just laid his hand, saying,
"I want you, my boy."
"I expect I want him more than you do, Sheriff," remarked BillyBrackett, quietly, stepping forward and laying a hand on Winn's othershoulder. "You take him to be a thief, while I take him to be mynephew; and, of course, if he is the one, he can't be the other. Isn'tyour name Winn Caspar? Answer me that, you young rascal!"
"Yes," replied Winn, slowly, "that is my name. But what a stupid Ihave been!"
"You mean in allowing yourself to be carried off by the raft, and thenlosing it, and getting arrested, and running off with the Sheriff'sskiff, and letting it go adrift with your coat in it, and shippingaboard some craft that your dear mother calls the _Mantel-piece_ for acruise down the river, instead of getting along home and relieving theanxiety of your distressed parents, to say nothing of that of your ageduncle. Yes, it does seem to me that in this instance the generalbrilliancy of the family is somewhat clouded."
"I don't mean anything of the kind," answered Winn, stoutly. "Allthese things might have happened to any one, even to an uncle of youradvanced years and wisdom. So I am sure I don't consider them proofsof stupidity. The only stupid thing that I am willing to acknowledgeis that I didn't recognize Bim, after I'd been told there was a dog ofthat name here, too. That's the thing I can't get over."
"But you had never seen him!" exclaimed Billy Brackett.
"That makes no difference," was the calm reply. "I'd heard so muchabout him that I ought to have known him, and I can't forgive myselfthat I didn't."
"How about running off with my boat?" queried the Sheriff, who did notat all understand the situation.
"I didn't run off with your boat. It ran off with me first, and ranaway from me afterwards. If you hadn't taken the oars out I shouldhave rowed into Dubuque and sent some one back to the island with her.As it was, I had to go wherever she chose to take me, until she set meashore on a tow-head, and went on down the river by herself. I'm gladof it, though, for if she hadn't, I should never have found the_Whatnot_."
"The _Whatnot_!" exclaimed Billy Brackett. "Are you living on boardthe _Whatnot_?"
"Yes, sir, this young gentleman is a guest on board of my boat," saidCap'n Cod, who now found his first chance to speak; "and glad as I havebeen to have him, it would have made me many times happier to know thathe was the son of my old friend and commander. Why didn't you tell methe truth in the first place, boy?" And the veteran gazedreproachfully at Winn.
"I did tell you the truth so far as I told you anything. I didn't daretell you any more, because I heard you say you were a friend of SheriffRiley, and knew his skiff. So I was afraid you would have me arrestedfor running off with it, and in that way delay me so that I would neverfind the raft. Besides, I wanted to wait until I could get a letterfrom home to prove who I am, and I hadn't a chance to write until wegot here."
"With me, the simple word of Major Caspar's son would have beenstronger than all the proof in the world," said the loyal old soldier;"and though you did, as you say, tell the truth so far as you toldanything, you did not tell the whole truth, as your father certainlywould have done had he been in your place."
"The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," quoted theSheriff, in his most official tone. "But look here, Cap'n Cod," hecontinued, "you haven't yet explained what you know of this youngfellow, and his suspicious, or, to say the least, queer performances onthe river."
"Cap'n Cod!" interrupted Winn. "Is your name Cap'n Cod?"
"It is a name that I have been known to answer to," replied the ownerof the _Whatnot_; "and after my performance of last evening I don'tsuppose I shall ever be allowed to claim any other."
"If you had only told me all your names in the first place," said Winn,with a sly twinkle in his eyes, "I should probably have done the same.I have so often heard my father speak of Cap'n Cod's goodness andhonesty and bravery, that I should have been perfectly willing to trusthim; though I was a bit suspicious of the Sheriff's friend, Mr. AleckFifield."
"It's not the Sheriff's friends you need be suspicious of, my lad, buthis enemies," interrupted Mr. Riley; "and I wonder if you haven'tfallen in with them already. As I now understand this case, you camedown the river on a raft until you reached the island near which Ifound you. What became of your raft at that point?"
"That is what I would like to know," replied the boy.
"What!" cried Billy Brackett. "Do you mean to say that you don't knowwhere the raft is?"
"No more than I know how you happen to be here instead of out inCalifornia, where I supposed you were until five minutes ago. Ihaven't set eyes on the _Venture_, nor found a trace of her, since thefirst morning out from home."
"Well, if that doesn't beat everything!" said the young engineer, witha comical tone of despair. "I thought that after finding you thediscovery of the raft would follow as a matter of course; but now itbegins to look farther away than ever."
"But in finding me," said Winn, "you have found some one to help youfind the raft."
"You?" said the other, quizzically. "Why, I was thinking of sendingyou home to your mother; that is, if the Sheriff here will allow you togo."
"I don't know about that," said the officer. "It seems to me that Istill know very little about this young man. Who is to prove to methat he is the son of Major Caspar?"
"Oh, I can speak for that," replied Billy Brackett.
"And I suppose he is ready to vouch for you; but that won't do. Yousee, you are both suspicious characters, and unless some one whom Iknow as well as I do Cap'n Cod here can identify you, I must take youboth back to Dubuque."
"Captain Cod," repeated Billy Brackett, thoughtfully. "I seem to haveheard that name before. Why, yes, I have a note of introduction fromMajor Caspar to a Captain Cod, and I shouldn't wonder if you were thevery man. Here it is now."
"I am proud to make your acquaintance, sir," said the veteran,heartily, after glancing over the note thus handed to him. "It's allright, Sheriff. This is certainly the Major's handwriting, for I knowit as I do my own, and I don't want any better proof that thisgentleman is the person he claims to be."
"Would you be willing to go on his bond for a thousand dollars?" askedMr. Riley.
"I would, and for as much more as my own property, together with what Ihold in trust for my niece, would bring," answered the old man,earnestly.
"And would you be willing that your money should be risked on any sucha venture?" asked the Sheriff, turning to Sabella with a smile.
"Indeed I would," answered the girl, promptly. "After the splendid wayMr. Brackett helped us last evening, I know whatever he says must beso."
"That will do," said Mr. Riley. "With such sureties I am well content,and am willing to make public acknowledgment that these gentlemen arewhat they represent themselves to be. Now, for their future guidance,I will tell them what I have not yet hinted to a living soul. It isthat their raft has probably been stolen and taken down the river bythe most noted gang of counterfeiters that has ever operated in thispart of the country. There are three of them, and I thought I hadsurely run them to earth when I traced them to the island just aboveDubuque. You must have seen them there, didn't you?"
"No, sir," replied Winn, to whom this question was addressed. "I onlysaw one man on the island. He said he was a river-trader, and wouldhelp me float the raft. We went to look for his partners, and when Icame back, it and he were both gone. After that I did not see a souluntil you came along and arreste
d me."
"That confirms my belief that they have appropriated your raft to theirown uses," said the Sheriff; "and it is a mighty good scheme on theirpart, too. We were watching all the steamboats, and even the tradingscows, but never thought of finding them on a raft. They have probablydisguised it, and themselves too, long before this, so that to trailthem will be very difficult. I suppose you will try to follow them,though?"
"Certainly I shall," answered Billy Brackett, promptly. "I haven'tundertaken this job only to give it up after a week's trial. As forWinn, though, I don't know but what I really ought to send him home."
"Now look here, Uncle Billy. You know you don't mean that. You knowthat, much as I want to see mother and Elta, I simply _must_ find thatraft, or, at any rate, help you do it. You couldn't send me home,either, unless you borrowed a pair of handcuffs from the Sheriff andput me in irons. Anyway, I don't believe you'd have the heart. If Ithought for a moment that you had, I'd--well, I'd disappear again,that's all."
"All right," laughed Billy Brackett. "I'm willing you should go withus if Bim is. What do you say, old dog? Speak, sir!"
And Bim spoke till the echoes rang again.
