," said the poor woman, troubled as she had
never been troubled before.

"I think I shall call on Colonel Montague, if I get a chance. He told me
I should hear from him again," said Bobtail, as he put on his cap, for
he intended to sleep on board of the Skylark.

"I wouldn't bother him with the matter, Robert."

"Why not? He told me to send for him if I ever wanted a friend; and I
want one now, if ever I did."

"It will look as though you wanted to make too much of what you did for
him to-day."

"I don't think so, mother. He is a great man, and has influence. If I
can get a chance to run up to Belfast in the Skylark, I will do so."

"Don't tell him that I sent you, Robert," said Mrs. Taylor, actually
trembling with emotion.

"Of course I won't; but I don't see why you are so particular about not
calling on him. I know he would be glad to help me."

Mrs. Taylor made no reply, and her son, bidding her good night, left the
house. He went on board of the Skylark, and after he had told the
Darwinian the whole story of his misfortune, he turned in. He did not
sleep as well as usual. He could not help thinking half the night of his
troubles. They worried him, and he wondered if people were ever really
punished for crimes they did not commit.

Ezekiel Taylor left the cottage hardly less disturbed than his wife was.
He had a strong suspicion that he was not the head of the family; that
Mrs. Taylor had actually usurped his powers and prerogatives; that she
dared to think and act for herself and her son without much, if any,
regard to him. He felt belittled and degraded; not because he was a
drunkard, and neglected to provide for his family, but because he was
not in fact, as he was in name, the head of the house. He was thirsty
and hankering for rum, and this condition made him ugly. He had not a
cent in his pocket, and his credit at the saloon was not good even for a
single dram. But he went to the saloon, for it was possible that some
one might treat him. The first person he saw when he entered was Captain
Chinks.

Almost everybody seemed to be troubled that night, and Captain Chinks
was among the number. Things did not work to suit him; and every time he
viewed himself in the glass he saw that black eye which Bobtail had
given him, and every time he touched that eye there was a soreness there
to remind him of that affair in the cabin of the Skylark. He did not
love Little Bobtail, and the event of the day that had