. Bobtail came into your office that day with the two letters in his
hand, one for you and one for me. He gave me one of them, and I tore it
open without looking at the address."

"Did I give you the wrong one?" asked the skipper.

"You did; and that was what made all the mischief," answered the
captain, wishing to lessen his guilt if possible.

"I didn't know I gave you the wrong one. I had no reason for doing so. I
put the other on the desk, as you told me to do," explained Bobtail.

"Yes; you tossed it on the desk, and it fell with the address down. You
went out then, and I found the letter I had opened was for Squire
Gilfilian, and had a five hundred dollar bill in it."

"There was no harm done even then," said the lawyer. "If you had given
it to me and explained the mistake, it would have been all right."

"That's where I made my mistake, squire. I was afraid you would think I
meant to steal your money, or pry into your business, and I put the
letter into my pocket. It came from the bank robbers, and I didn't
suppose you would believe any such letter had been sent to you."

"I didn't till the man identified the bill," replied the squire. "Mrs.
Taylor gave me the bill in the morning, and while I was writing her
release, Mr. Slipwing came into the office. When the woman paid me the
money, I couldn't help wondering where she got so large a bill.
Happening to think of her son's connection with the letter, it occurred
to me that he had opened that letter. Slipwing described the bill before
he saw it, so as fully to identify it. Of course I was entirely
satisfied then that Bobtail had stolen the letter."

"I don't blame you for thinking so," said the skipper.

"It looked like a plain case; but it is singular how that bill came back
to me. You went off to Mount Desert that day, Captain Chinks."

"Yes; I expected a lot of stuff from the provinces. I went to Bar
Harbor, and bought the boat."

"And you paid the bill from the letter for the boat? Now, that brings up
another question. The bill belonged to me, and I claim it. What Mrs.
Taylor paid me amounts to nothing."

"I don't believe you can make that go, Squire Gilfilian," said Mr.
Hines. "If I mistake not, there's a decision the other way."

"I shall try it, at any rate," added the squire.

"No, you needn't," interposed Captain Chinks. "I will make it good
myself."

"That will settle the case," replied the squire, who knew that his
client had the means t