. He had come to the conclusion that Pearl was worse than his
companions. He had done all he could to save him, and had failed. He
was going into a new and sparsely settled region himself, and he had
hoped to take his son there; but Pearl would not go.

"He wanted to buy the boat I have," said Dory. "He thinks you furnished
the money, or at least induced me to buy her, to prevent him from
getting her."

"I knew he wanted to buy the Goldwing; for he had a long talk with me
about her the evening I first saw you, just as I was starting for
Plattsburgh," continued Mr. Hawlinshed. "I think boating has been the
ruin of him. He used to go off with young men of dissolute habits, and I
think this was what first led him astray. He insisted that I should give
him fifty dollars to buy the Goldwing. I refused to do it, and after
much violent talk he rushed away from me. You were present the next time
we met, Dory," said Mr. Hawlinshed.

"Perhaps it would have been better if you had given him the money,"
suggested Dory. "He took one hundred and fifty dollars from Mr. Moody's
room, and I suppose he did it so that he could buy the boat."

"I am afraid it would have made no difference," replied the sad father
with a sigh. "He said he could earn his living, and make some money with
her; but it would only have been a career of dissipation for him. I hope
you will not permit yourself to be led away while you are running the
Goldwing."

"I can't see for the life of me why Pearl did not buy the boat if he
wanted her so badly," added Dory. "She is worth ten times what I paid
for her."

"He expected to buy the boat for twenty or twenty-five dollars; and,
when she went above that, he was mad. He did not believe you could pay
for her, and that she would be put up for sale again, and he could get
her at his own price. If you had told me you meant to buy a boat, I
should have tried to dissuade you from it; but you would not tell me.
You said it was your secret."

"I was afraid you might object."

"I should certainly. I should have sent the hundred dollars I gave you
to your mother if I had known you meant to buy the Goldwing. You kept
your secret, and you have kept mine I suppose; for that terrible scene
in the woods appears not to be known to any one but the three who were
present at the time."

"But my uncle and my mother believe there was something wrong about that
money," added Dory. "I think they believe I stole it, or took it for