u do, send him to me, and he shall have his boat,
and--and--everything that belongs to her," replied Bobtail, who was
still full of wrath towards his late assailant.

"But, you see, if she had any smuggled goods on board of her--"

"I didn't say she had."

"You won't understand me! I say _if_ she had. Now, perhaps I can make a
trade with the owner for you."

"I don't want you to make any trade for me. Send him to me, and he shall
have his boat. That's all."

"But he will be afraid to expose himself. Now, suppose he should offer
to let you keep the boat, if you would give up the goods, if you found
any goods in her. If I should happen to find him, or to hear of him,
shall I tell him you will make this sort of a trade with him?"

"No! Tell him he can have his boat and everything that belongs to her.
I've learned more about smugglers to-day than I ever knew before, and I
wouldn't touch one with a ten-foot pole; and I wouldn't make a trade
with him to cheat the government. I don't want to talk any more about
it. I've got a sore throat now."

Having thus delivered himself, Bobtail went on deck, and ordered the
crew to help him get up the anchor. In a few minutes the Skylark was
headed towards the town. Captain Chinks remained in the cabin, full of
wrath and disappointment.

CHAPTER VIII.

A CHANCE FOR BUSINESS.

Possibly, if Captain Chinks had not resorted to violent argument in
carrying his point, he might have succeeded better. As Little Bobtail
sat at the helm of the Skylark, he thought of the proposition which the
captain had made to him. It simply meant that, if he would give up the
cases of brandy, he might keep the boat. It was a very tempting offer,
and if he had not been smarting under the double injury to his throat
and his feelings, inflicted by his visitor, he might have considered it.
As it was, his only impulse was to have nothing further to do with such
a bad man, a man who could be sorry that he had spoken the simple truth,
and thus saved him from arrest for purloining the valuable letter.

Though Captain Chinks had resolutely denied the ownership of the
Skylark, and all knowledge of her cargo, Little Bobtail could not help
believing that the captain was the owner of both. He began to think that
he had not acted wisely in removing the cargo to the garret of the
cottage. His interview with the "gentleman of doubtful reputation"
convinced him that it was dangerous for him to have anything t