titude for what he had done the evening before, and Sheriff Riley
moved towards Winn with the intention of arresting him. At this Bim,
recognizing the Sheriff, stationed himself in front of his preoccupied
master, erected the bristles on the back of his neck, and growled.

CHAPTER XXI.

EVERY ONE EXPLAINS.

At Bim's growl, Billy Brackett said "Be quiet, sir!" and looked up. He
wondered somewhat at the number of persons advancing towards him, and
was also surprised to note that, with one exception, they were all
people whom he knew. He recognized Sabella and her uncle, the
wharf-boat man, the printer, and even the Sheriff of Dubuque County.
The only one of the group whom he had not seen before was the
gentlemanly and thoroughly honest-looking young fellow upon whose
shoulder the Sheriff had just laid his hand, saying,

"I want you, my boy."

"I expect I want him more than you do, Sheriff," remarked Billy
Brackett, quietly, stepping forward and laying a hand on Winn's other
shoulder. "You take him to be a thief, while I take him to be my
nephew; and, of course, if he is the one, he can't be the other. Isn't
your name Winn Caspar? Answer me that, you young rascal!"

"Yes," replied Winn, slowly, "that is my name. But what a stupid I
have been!"

"You mean in allowing yourself to be carried off by the raft, and then
losing it, and getting arrested, and running off with the Sheriff's
skiff, and letting it go adrift with your coat in it, and shipping
aboard some craft that your dear mother calls the _Mantel-piece_ for a
cruise down the river, instead of getting along home and relieving the
anxiety of your distressed parents, to say nothing of that of your aged
uncle. Yes, it does seem to me that in this instance the general
brilliancy of the family is somewhat clouded."

"I don't mean anything of the kind," answered Winn, stoutly. "All
these things might have happened to any one, even to an uncle of your
advanced years and wisdom. So I am sure I don't consider them proofs
of stupidity. The only stupid thing that I am willing to acknowledge
is that I didn't recognize Bim, after I'd been told there was a dog of
that name here, too. That's the thing I can't get over."

"But you had never seen him!" exclaimed Billy Brackett.

"That makes no difference," was the calm reply. "I'd heard so much
about him that I ought to have known him, and I can't forgive myself
that I didn't."

"How about running off