d slept like a rock till morning, for he had worked hard
all day. At sunrise the next morning he was on his feet again. The
Darwinian had more talent for sleeping than the skipper of the Skylark,
and did not turn out till half an hour later. Bobtail had scarcely shown
himself on deck before Ben Chinks pulled to the yacht.

"Say, Bob, who is that man with you?" asked he.

"You must ask him who he is?"

"Don't you know?"

"I never saw him till a few days ago. In his kind of business, he don't
always tell who he is. No doubt he will tell you before night who he is.
What have you been doing down here so long?" asked the skipper, wishing
to divert the conversation into some other channel.

"I have made a pile of money taking out parties to sail, while I'm
waiting."

"What are you waiting for?"

"Waiting for the old man. Didn't he tell you?"

"No; he didn't say much to me."

"What did he give you for picking up the boat?"

"He hasn't given me anything yet," replied Bobtail. "How much do you
charge a day for your boat and two hands?"

"Five dollars."

"I've taken some parties out in the boat, and I have been charging seven
and eight dollars a day."

"That's a better boat than the Eagle. If I had her I should charge eight
dollars a day. But how did you get that stuff out of the Skylark?"

"I ran over in the night, and landed it between one and two o'clock in
the morning, when no one was stirring in our part of the town. I hid it
away in the attic, and this man took it away in the night," replied
Bobtail, confining himself strictly to the facts, though of course he
was no less guilty of deception than if he had told a number of square
lies, except that the deception was in the interest of justice.

"It was lucky for the old man that you picked that boat up; but he's
mean if he don't give you something handsome," added Ben.

"I have had the use of the boat ever since I picked her up."

"Well, that's somethin'. There comes Monkey. Does he know anything about
this business?" whispered Ben.

"Not a thing."

This was a sufficient reason for saying nothing more about it, and Ben
soon returned to the Eagle. After breakfast, Bobtail went up to the
hotel, where his passengers lodged. In the course of the forenoon, the
deputy sheriff "interviewed" Mr. Gordon, the gentleman who had sold the
Skylark. He was sure he could identify the man who had paid him the five
hundred dollar bill. When the steamer from Portland, w