by Oliver Optic
The rest of the family shook hands with him again, and spoke many kind words to him. Bobtail leaped lightly into Monkey's boat, and they returned to the Skylark. The skipper spoke in glowing terms of the experience of the day; but somehow the Darwinian did not seem to relish the narrative. He was nervous, and did not laugh as usual; but it was some time before Bobtail's enthusiasm permitted him to notice the change which had come over his companion's spirits. They went on board the Skylark.
"Has any one been after the boat, Monkey?" asked the skipper.
"No one after the boat," replied the Darwinian, gloomily; "but somebody has been after you."
"After me? Who?"
Monkey was silent, and studied the seams in the deck.
"Who has been after me?"
"Mr. Brooks."
This gentleman was a deputy sheriff; but his name had no terror to Robert Taylor.
"Say, Bob, don't you think we had better get under way, and run for it?" added Monkey, his face brightening for a moment.
"What for?"
"Mr. Brooks said he had a warrant to take you up, and I s'pose he's on the lookout for you now."
"Take me up!" exclaimed Bobtail. "What for?"
"Something about a letter—I don't know what."
"I know," replied Bobtail, musing, for he could not think how, after he had been fully exonerated from the charge of taking that letter, he should again be accused.
The jib of the Penobscot was hoisted while he was musing, and she stood away towards the Spindles off North-east Point.
CHAPTER XI.
THE FIVE HUNDRED DOLLAR BILL.
Little Bobtail watched the beautiful yacht as she piled on her "kites" and gradually increased her speed in the light breeze. He felt that he had a powerful friend on board of her, and he was tempted to call in his aid in meeting the difficulties that seemed to be gathering before him.
"Don't you think we'd better run for it, Bob?" asked Monkey. "We can keep out of the way of any boat in Camden. We can run over among them islands, and spend the summer there without being caught."
"I don't run away from anything of this sort," replied Bobtail, proudly. "I'm going to face the music, whatever comes of it."
"But they'll put you in jail," suggested Monkey, opening his eyes as wide as they would go.
"I don't care if they do. I haven't done anything wrong, and I'm not going to run away. If Mr. Brooks wants me, here I am."
"There he comes; and Captain Chinks is with him. We can hoist the mainsail, and be out of the way before they get here, if you say the word," added the crew of the Skylark, nervously.
"I don't say the word. I'm all right, and I'm ready to look any of them square in the face."
"But what's it all about, Bob?"
"Squire Gilfilian says I stole a letter with money in it, which was sent to him."
"You!" exclaimed the Darwinian. "Well, I know better'n that myself."
"So do I," laughed Bobtail, pleased with the enthusiasm of his friend.
"Here they come. Captain Chinks looks as ugly as sin itself. He is at the bottom of this business. You stay by, and take care of the boat, Monkey, whatever happens to me. If any one attempts to get her away from you, send for Squire Simonton."
"I'll stick to her as long as there's a chip left of her, Bob; but I don't like to have them take you out of her in this kind of style, and send you off to jail."
"You needn't be concerned about me. I have some strong friends, and I'm rather sorry I didn't stop the Penobscot, and tell Colonel Montague what's up. I would, if I had known exactly what was going to happen."
A boat with Captain Chinks at the oars, and Mr. Brooks in the stern-sheets, came alongside the Skylark.
"You are here—are you?" said Captain Chinks, with an ugly look.
"Of course I'm here," replied Bobtail, quietly. "I ain't nowhere else."
"I want you to go on shore with me," added the deputy sheriff.
"Monkey says you want to take me up."
"I don't want to do so, but I must discharge my duty. I have a warrant for your arrest," replied Mr. Brooks.
"What for?"
"For stealing a letter with money in it."
"Captain Chinks here knows that I didn't do it."
"No, I don't."
"You saw the letter in Squire Gilfilian's office after I left."
"That's so; but I can't say that you didn't go back after I went off. I didn't believe you took the letter till the squire proved it; and then I couldn't help believing it. I don't see how you can help believing it yourself."
"I didn't take the letter."
"We will talk this matter over at the squire's office," interposed the deputy sheriff. "You had better not say much about it here."
"I'm going to speak the truth right straight through, and I don't care who hears me."
"You are not obliged to say anything to commit yourself, Bobtail. I want you to understand that," said Mr. Brooks, kindly.
"I shall not say anything to commit myself, you had better believe, for I didn't take the letter."
"The less you say about it, the better," added the officer.
"Does my mother know anything about this business?" asked Bobtail.
"I reckon she knows more about it than anybody else except yourself," answered Captain Chinks.
"I have talked with your mother about it," said Mr. Brooks. "She feels very bad, of course; and she says she can't explain the matter at all."
"She don't know anything about it," replied Bobtail.
"I will send for her when we get on shore," added the deputy sheriff.
Captain Chinks pulled to one of the wharves up the harbor, where the party landed, and then proceeded to the office of Squire Gilfilian. The lawyer was there, and so was the ill-visaged man who took care of the case of the bank robbers. Mr. Brooks had sent a boy for Mrs. Taylor as soon as they landed, and she and her husband arrived at the office almost as soon as Bobtail.
"O, Robert," exclaimed the poor woman, her eyes filling with tears, as she hugged her boy.
"Don't be scared, mother. I didn't do this thing, and I shall come out all right," replied Bobtail. "Don't fret about it."
"I can't help it, Robert. I wish—"
Mrs. Taylor suddenly checked herself. "What do you wish, mother?" asked Bobtail, who thought there was something very strange in her conduct.
"I wish they hadn't arrested you," added she; but this was evidently not what she had intended to say.
"So do I; but you needn't be frightened. I didn't take the letter, nor the money."
"I know you didn't, Robert, but the case looks very bad against us."
"I think so, Mrs. Taylor," said Squire Gilfilian, who had been occupied in looking over some papers when the party entered, and was now ready to give his attention to the case. "I should like to hear what you have to say."
"This is not an examination," said the deputy sheriff to Mrs. Taylor and her son. "If you don't wish to answer any questions here, you needn't do so. The case will come on to-morrow, before Squire Norwood."
"I am ready to answer any questions that can be asked," said Bobtail, stoutly, "whether it is an examination or not."
"Do as you please about it. If you want any help—any lawyer—I will send for one," added Mr. Brooks.
"I don't want any lawyers. I can tell the truth without any help," answered Bobtail.
"Did you come back to the office after you put that letter on my desk?" asked the squire.
"No, sir; I did not," replied Bobtail, squarely.
The lawyer took from his pocket-book a five hundred dollar bill, and spread it out on the desk at his side.
"Did you ever see that bill before, Robert Taylor?" demanded he, sternly.
"No, sir."
"Think before you answer."
"Think! I don't want to think. I never saw a five hundred dollar bill before in my life," answered Bobtail, with no little indignation in his tones.
"I am sorry to see y
ou persist so stoutly in a lie," said the squire, shaking his head, as he glanced at Mrs. Taylor.
"It isn't a lie; it's the truth, and I'll stick to it as long as I have breath in my body," replied Bobtail, warmly.
"You are not under oath now, Robert Taylor."
"I'll say just the same under oath, and before all the lawyers and judges in the State of Maine."
"Mr. Slipwing, do you know this bill?" added the squire, addressing the ill-visaged man.
"I do. I will swear in any court that this is the bill I sent you in the letter from Portland," replied the man.
"You are very sure?"
"Positively so. I remember the bank, and there are three things on the bill which enable me to identify it. The cashier's pen snapped when he wrote his name on the left, and blotted the bill. The corner was torn off, and it was mended in another place with a piece of paper from the edge of a sheet of six-cent postage stamps."
The ill-visaged man spoke confidently, and whatever his character, his testimony was very clear.
"What has all this to do with me?" asked Bobtail, who did not yet understand the situation.
The lawyer smiled, and perhaps he thought that the boy was playing his part extremely well for a novice.
"My testimony will come in next," added Squire Gilfilian. "This afternoon, Mrs. Taylor, who is the mother of this boy, paid me five hundred dollars, for I had foreclosed the mortgage on her husband's house. Now, Mrs. Taylor, where did you get the bill?"
"Robert didn't give it to me," she replied; and she seemed to be very much troubled and very much embarrassed; so much so, that her looks and actions were the worst possible evidence against her.
"So you say, Mrs. Taylor; but you don't answer my question."
"I can't tell you now where I got it," stammered the poor woman.
Ezekiel Taylor and Little Bobtail were more astonished at this answer than any other person in the room. Both of them wondered where she had obtained so much money, while the others in the office believed that her answer was merely a subterfuge to conceal the guilt of her son. Ezekiel could not help thinking, just then, that his wife always had money; that, while she had no visible means of obtaining it, she always had enough to feed and clothe the family. He had considered this subject, and wondered over it before; and the only solution of the mystery he could suggest was, that her first husband had left her more money than she ever acknowledged he did, and she had concealed it to prevent him from spending it. As to her son, he had never thought of the matter at all. All that confused and confounded him was, his mother's refusal to answer what seemed to him a very simple question.
"Mrs. Taylor, you will be a witness, and the most important one in the case, when it comes up before Squire Norwood to-morrow," added the lawyer.
"I suppose I shall," replied Mrs. Taylor, with a gasp.
"You will be put under oath, and compelled to testify."
"But you are not under oath now, and you need not say anything, if you don't wish to," said Mr. Brooks.
"As the matter looks now, you are a party to the theft, and I can cause your arrest," added the squire, vexed at the officiousness of the deputy sheriff.
"O, dear me!" groaned Mrs. Taylor.
"Don't be frightened, mother," interposed Bobtail. "You know, and I know, that you did not obtain the money from me."
"And the Lord knows I did not, and that I came honestly by it, too," sobbed the poor woman, who had a mortal terror of courts and the law.
"If you came honestly by the money, why don't you tell where you obtained it?" added Squire Gilfilian.
"I have my reasons."
"If your son did not give you this bill—"
"He did not! I'm sure he never saw it before," protested Mrs. Taylor.
"Whoever gave you this bill must have stolen it," said the squire, sternly.
"That don't follow," replied Mr. Brooks. "It may have passed through the hands of half a dozen persons after it was taken from the letter."
"Are you the counsel for these parties, Mr. Brooks?" demanded the squire, smartly.
"I am not; but the prisoner is in my keeping, and shall have fair play. I'll take him away if you are not satisfied, for I brought him here to oblige you," answered the deputy sheriff, who was certainly very considerate towards his charge.
"All I want is, to get at the truth," added the squire, in a milder tone. "If Mrs. Taylor did not receive this bill from her son, and will tell us where she got it, we can trace out the thief."
"That's the point," said Captain Chinks. "We want to find the guilty party."
Captain Chinks winked rapidly for an instant, as though his brain was fearfully exercised to discover the thief. He had one black eye, which winked faster than the other—it was the result of his interview with Little Bobtail the day before, for the boy struck hard when he was assailed.
"I can't tell you where I got the bill," said Mrs. Taylor; "but I came honestly by it."
"It's no use of saying anything more, then," added the lawyer. "Under these circumstances, I am compelled to regard you as a party to your son's guilt, Mrs. Taylor; and I must cause your arrest."
"Don't do that, Squire Gilfilian," pleaded Bobtail.
"I must do it. It becomes my duty to do it."
"Let him do it," whispered Mr. Brooks.
"I can't help it if you do," sobbed the poor woman. "If I have to go to jail, I can't tell."
"Nothing more can be done, and I shall procure a warrant for the arrest of Mrs. Taylor," said the lawyer, gathering up the papers on his desk, and restoring the five hundred dollar bill to his pocket-book.
Mr. Brooks and Bobtail left the office, followed by Mrs. Taylor and her husband.
"I am responsible for you, Bobtail," said the officer.
"I won't run away, sir. You have been very kind to me, Mr. Brooks, and I won't go back on you," replied Bobtail.
"But I must not lose sight of you; and I don't want to send you to jail. I'll take you to my house."
"Just as you say, sir; but I should like to go home and have a talk with mother. I want to see Squire Simonton, too."
"Very well; I will go home with you. I saw Squire Simonton walking towards his house just now. There he is, in front of the hotel, talking with Mr. Hines."
They walked towards the Bay View House. It was nearly tea time, and the guests of the house were seated on the platform, under the shade of the trees which surround the hotel. There was an excited group there, for the particulars of the cruise of the Penobscot that day had just been related by the Walkers and others.
"I want to see you, Squire Simonton," said Bobtail.
"There he is. Three cheers for Little Bobtail!" shouted Mr. Walker, as he pointed to the hero of the day.
There were gentlemen enough who had heard the story to give the cheers, and the ladies clapped their hands.
"That's for you, Bobtail," said Mr. Hines. "We have heard of your brave deeds, and all the people in the hotel are talking about you."
Little Bobtail blushed like a beet, and while Mr. Hines was telling the deputy sheriff how the boy had saved Grace Montague from the waves and the rocks, the hero related his own troubles to Mr. Simonton. Mr. Walker and Emily came out, and insisted that Bobtail should go into the hotel, and see the ladies. Ever so many of them shook his brown hand, and he blushed and stammered, and thought the scene was ten times as trying as that off Blank Island. Then he must take tea with the Walkers. He could not be excused.
"I can't, sir," protested Bobtail. "I have been taken up for stealing since I came a shore. But I didn't do it."
"For stealing!" exclaimed Emily Walker, with horror.
"I didn't do it."
"I know you didn't, Captain Bobtail," replied Emily.
"This is Mr. Brooks, the deputy sheriff, and he is responsible for me," added Bobtail. "So you see I can't leave him."
"Then Mr. Brooks must come too," said Mr. Walker.
The officer was very obliging, and went too. Bobtail wa
s a first-class lion, though under arrest for stealing. The gentlemen patted him on the head, and the ladies petted him. A party wanted the Skylark for the next day, another for Monday, and a third for Tuesday. The hero could not go the next day, for he had to be examined before Squire Norwood for stealing the letter. It was dark when he escaped from the hotel, and went home attended by Mr. Brooks. Squire Simonton was there waiting to see him.
After the scene at the office, Ezekiel and his wife had walked to the cottage together. Neither of them was in a pleasant frame of mind. The tippler was sober, because he had neither rum nor money. He wanted both, for he was thirsting and hankering for a dram.
"So it seems you've got money somewhere," said Ezekiel to his troubled wife.
"No, I haven't," replied Mrs. Taylor, who was only thinking how she could extricate herself from the difficulties of her situation, and not at all troubled about the thoughts or suspicions of her worthless husband.
"Yes, you have! When I don't have a dollar, you always have somethin'," persisted Ezekiel. "You've kept money hid away from me ever since we was married. Your first husband left more'n you told on."
"All that my first husband left me was gone years ago," added Mrs. Taylor, indifferently.
"You've got money somewhere."
"If I have, I shall keep it."
"You hain't no right to do so."
"Yes, I have. If I had any money, I would not let you have it to spend for rum. Every dollar you get goes for that, and you would have starved to death if I hadn't taken care of you."
"If you've got any money, I wan't some on't; and I'm go'n to have it, too."
"I haven't any money; at least not much of any; and what I have I mean to keep."
Ezekiel was mad. He was fully convinced that his wife had money concealed somewhere, or in the hands of some friend, who gave it to her as she wanted it. She always paid the bills of the house very promptly, and had enough to buy a dress for herself, or a suit of clothes for Robert, and even for him. He felt that he had a right to his wife's property, even if he spent it for rum. But Mrs. Taylor was too much for him; for whatever secret she had, she kept it. This was not the first time that Ezekiel had been vexed by these suspicions, and he had searched the house several times, when she was absent, for the hidden treasure, but without finding it. The debate on this question was continued long after they returned to the cottage, but the husband was no wiser at the end of it than at the beginning.
