y--he would have done so, if he had not been afraid
the liquor would destroy the fish, or drive them away to prohibition
waters. The problem of the yacht had become intricate, and he was
puzzled to determine what to do with her. If he had been properly
instructed in regard to the duty of the citizens to his government, and
properly inspired to discharge this duty, he would have sailed the yacht
and her cargo over to Camden, and delivered her to the deputy collector
in charge of the port. He knew what smuggling meant; but his views were
very indefinite. According to the fishermen, and most of the traders, to
whose conversation on this subject he had listened, smuggling was hardly
to be regarded as a sin, or, if a sin, it was one of the most trivial
character.

It is a melancholy truth, becoming more and more familiar to us every
year, that cheating the government is hardly considered a crime; that
respectable men, as the world measures them, and even members of the
church, defraud the revenues of the government without compunction.

We are sorry to acknowledge that Little Bobtail did not think of such a
thing as handing over the yacht and her contraband cargo--as he was
fully satisfied it was--to the custom-house officials. He had not been
educated up to a point which compelled him to do so. His conscience was
not sensitive on this point above the average of the town's people. He
was afraid, if he did so, that the government would coolly ignore him
because he was a boy, and he should lose his ten dollars. Perhaps he
thought he could make better terms with the smugglers than he could with
the honorable and high-minded deputy-collector. While he was thinking of
the matter, the moon rose in the clear sky, and shed a welcome light
over the bay. It occurred to him that those who had lost the yacht might
be in search of her. They might blunder upon him in the morning, and,
being reckless smugglers, might even kill him to prevent his bearing
testimony against them. He did not like the idea of meeting any such men
alone. He preferred that the interview should take place in Camden
harbor. The wind was still fresh, and in the yacht he could beat over to
Camden in three or four hours; but he thought the breeze was hauling to
the southward, which would give him a slant so that he could run over
without tacking.

Moved by these considerations, he hoisted the mainsail of the yacht,
which required all his strength and skill. He then