by Oliver Optic
"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."
"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."
Bobt
ail 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.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE CHASE.
Mr. Hines and Little Bobtail walked up to the hotel. The former had possessed himself of sufficient evidence to convict Captain Chinks of smuggling, and also of intense stupidity in employing a simpleton like Ben Chinks in such a dangerous business, though rogues and villains almost always leave a screw loose somewhere.
"We shall make a good case of it, Bobtail," said Mr. Hines.
"I could hardly keep from laughing while you were pumping Ben Chinks," replied the skipper. "The idea of your taking the stuff off Captain Chinks's hands!"
"I did take it off his hands, and he will have no trouble now in getting rid of it."
