e are you going, Daniel?" his wife asked, in surprise.

"I must see Captain Josh," was the reply. "I want to hear the whole
story of to-day's transactions, and to thank him for what he did for
our boy. I have never known Rodney to deceive us. But this is such a
serious affair, that I must hear the story from some one else who
knows."

He was about to open the door when a loud knock sounded on the outside.
When it was opened, great was his astonishment to see the very person
they had been talking about standing before him.

"Captain Josh! This is a surprise," and the clergyman held out his
hand.

"Evenin', parson," was the gruff reply. "Thought I'd make a little
call on you and the missus," and he thumped his stick heavily upon the
floor as he entered.

Mrs. Royal came quickly forward, shook hands, and offered the visitor a
big comfortable chair.

"My, that feels good," the captain exclaimed. "I ain't as young as I
used to be, and that walk has puffed me a good deal."

"How would a smoke suit you?" the parson suggested, knowing the
captain's fondness for his pipe. "I have some good tobacco here, sent
from the city by an old friend of mine."

"He certainly is a good judge of baccy," the captain remarked, after he
had filled and lighted his pipe. "A friend like that is worth knowin',
eh?" and he slyly winked at Mrs. Royal.

"We have many such friends, I am thankful to say," Mrs. Royal replied,
"and we don't have to go to the city for them, either."

"No? Well, I'm real glad to hear that," and the captain blew a big
cloud of smoke into the air. "I never made many friends in my life.
Guess I was too cranky; at any rate, that's what Betsey says, and I
guess she must understand me by this time, ha, ha!"

"You must not judge yourself too harshly, captain," Parson Dan replied.
"Anyway, if you don't make many friends, you are able at times to be a
friend to others. I wish to thank you for what you did for our little
boy to-day."

"So ye've heard all about it, eh?" and the captain fixed his keen eyes
upon the parson's face.

"Only partly, captain. Rodney told Mrs. Royal some of the story this
evening, and I was just going over to hear it all from you as you
entered."

"It was a mean trick that Tom Dunker tried on him to-day," the visitor
returned, "and I'm sorry that I didn't give the coward a bigger dose
than I did. Oh, how he did squawk when I got both of my hands upon his
measly carcass. I guess