he was just a little more earnest in her
uncalled-for defence of the young man than was necessary, and for the
first time in his life it occurred to him that she was more interested
in him than he wished her to be; for, as Donald was only the son of a
poor boat-builder, such a strong friendship might be embarrassing in the
future. However, this was only the shadow of a passing thought, which
divided his attention only for a moment. The loss of the tin box was the
question of the hour, and "society" topics were not just then in order.

"I have no idea that Don John took the box," replied Captain Patterdale.
"I am more willing to believe either of the other two who were in the
library took it than that he did. But he was the last of the three who
went out through this room. He may be able to give me some information,
and I will go down and see him. He and his father were going off in the
new yacht--were they not?"

"Yes, sir."

"You need not say a word about the box to any one, Nellie, nor even that
it is lost," added the captain. "If I do not find it, I shall employ a
skilful detective to look it up, and he may prefer to work in the dark."

"I will not mention it, father," replied Nellie. "What was in the box?
Was it money?"

"I put thirteen hundred and fifty dollars into it, but I took out twenty
to pay the bill that Laud brought. It contains my deeds, leases,
policies of insurance, and my notes, and these papers are really more
valuable to me than the money. Luckily, my bonds and securities are in
another box, in the vault of the bank."

"Then you will lose over thirteen hundred dollars if you don't find the
box?"

"More than that, I am afraid, for I shall hardly be able to collect all
the money due on the notes if I lose them," replied the captain, as he
left the house.

He walked down to the boat shop of Mr. Ramsay. It was on the shore, and
near it was the house in which the boat-builder lived. Neither Don John
nor his father was at the shop, but a sloop yacht, half a mile out in
the bay, seemed to be the Sea Foam. She was headed towards the shore,
however, and Captain Patterdale seated himself in the shade of the shop
to await its arrival, though he hardly expected to obtain any
information in regard to the box from Donald. While he was sitting
there, Mr. Laud Cavendish appeared with a large basket in his hand. The
counter-jumper started when he turned the corner of the shop, and saw
the nabob seated there