him injure the _May_ so he would be sure to win the second time, and
instead of that fate intervened, sent you on the cargo voyage, and
killed his father. Now it is perfectly plain to me why he is charging
you with all these crimes."

"Why?"

"Nat is a weak nature, because uncontrolled, and when weak natures do
wrong they suffer agonies of fear that they will be found out. Nat
committed this double crime in a momentary passion. Then as the weeks
passed by and the village talked of nothing else, he finally began to
fear that he would be found out.

"There was no one who _could_ have found him out, but there was that
haunting terror of the weak nature.

"Somebody spoke a word, perhaps in jest, that you must have wanted a
new schooner since the _May's_ policy was to run out so soon, and he
seized the thought in a frenzy of joy and began to spread rumors. This
grip on you gave him courage. He remembered that his revenge against
you was still unsatisfied and it became clear to him that perhaps,
after all, he could get one much more complete.

"Code, the picture of that man's mind is a terrible one to me. He may
have hated you before, but just think how he must have hated you after
knowing how he had wronged and was going to ruin you. It is only the
one of two people who _does_ the injury whose hatred grows. An injured
person who is sensible in regard to such matters, as you have been
with Nat all your life, throws them off and thinks nothing more about
them.

"So Nat's hatred of you and the fear of discovery, preying on his
mind, finally urged him into the course he has taken."

"And he went into it with open eyes," rejoined Code, "for his plans
were perfect. He pays his crew double wages and they ask no questions.
Had it not been for you on two occasions I should have been in jail
long before this."

"Yes, but now that is past--"

"No," interrupted Code, "it isn't, Elsa. He has just as much power
over me as he ever had. I am still a criminal at large to be arrested,
and you can wager your last dollar that if he can bring it about I
will be picked up by the first gunboat that finds me."

"But after all this?"

"Yes, after all this. We have made a beautiful case against him and it
fits, but, Elsa, there's one thing we haven't got, and that is a
single word of proof! We haven't enough to even bring a charge against
him. Do you realize that?"

The girl sat back, unable to reply. Code had expressed the situation