er to Blank Island, he hardly
thought of the disagreeable circumstances connected with it. He found
the squire in his office, with a stranger, a flashy-looking and
ill-visaged fellow.

"I hear you want to see me," said Little Bobtail.

"I do," replied the lawyer, sternly and decidedly. "Come in here;" and
he led the way to his private office in the rear. "Now, boy, I want to
know what you did with that letter."

"I told you before what I did with it. I put it on your desk," answered
Bobtail, promptly; and it is not strange that his brown cheek flushed a
little, but it was with indignation, not guilt.

"So you told me before; but I don't believe it," added the squire, with
a terrible frown, and in a very loud tone, doubtless involuntarily
resorting to one of the tricks of his trade to intimidate the youth.

"Do you think I would lie about a letter?" demanded Bobtail, warmly.

"Do you know what was in that letter?"

"How should I know?"

"Because you opened it," sharply retorted the lawyer, as though he
intended to overwhelm a contumacious and guilty witness.

"I didn't open it," protested the boy, stoutly. "I put it on your desk;
and that's all I know about it."

"It is easier for you to say that than it is for me to believe it."

"I can't help it, if you don't believe me. I have told the truth. I had
a letter for you, and another for Captain Chinks. I gave him his here in
your office, and chucked yours on your desk. That's the whole truth, and
all I know about the letters. If Captain Chinks was here he would tell
you the same thing, for he said you was busy in here, and told me to put
the letter on the desk; and that's just what I did, and just all I did."

"Captain Chinks isn't here, and has been gone a week."

"He'll come back some time, I suppose."

"I don't know whether he will or not. He's mixed up with a smuggling
case, and he may not deem it prudent to come back."

"Whether he does or not, I never saw the letter after I put it on your
desk."

The lawyer bit his lips. There was nothing in the tones or the manner of
the youth to excite suspicion, and Little Bobtail's reputation for
honesty was first class. A year before, he had found the wallet of a
stranger, which he might have kept, but had taken great pains to find
the owner. In fact, everybody that knew him knew that he was honest.

"Now, Little Bobtail, you stand very well in the village," continued
Squire Gilfilian, with a smile, as he sud