aptain was too much
confounded and distressed to think of anything but the letter itself;
and even when his thoughts began to glance upon the various attendant
facts, they might, perhaps, as well have occupied themselves with their
former theme, for any light they reflected on them. In this state of
mind, Captain Cuttle having the Grinder before the court, and no one
else, found it a great relief to decide, generally, that he was an
object of suspicion: which the Captain so clearly expressed in his
visage, that Rob remonstrated.

'Oh, don't, Captain!' cried the Grinder. 'I wonder how you can! what
have I done to be looked at, like that?'

'My lad,' said Captain Cuttle, 'don't you sing out afore you're hurt.
And don't you commit yourself, whatever you do.'

'I haven't been and committed nothing, Captain!' answered Rob.

'Keep her free, then,' said the Captain, impressively, 'and ride easy.

With a deep sense of the responsibility imposed upon him' and the
necessity of thoroughly fathoming this mysterious affair as became a man
in his relations with the parties, Captain Cuttle resolved to go down
and examine the premises, and to keep the Grinder with him. Considering
that youth as under arrest at present, the Captain was in some doubt
whether it might not be expedient to handcuff him, or tie his ankles
together, or attach a weight to his legs; but not being clear as to the
legality of such formalities, the Captain decided merely to hold him by
the shoulder all the way, and knock him down if he made any objection.

However, he made none, and consequently got to the Instrument-maker's
house without being placed under any more stringent restraint. As the
shutters were not yet taken down, the Captain's first care was to
have the shop opened; and when the daylight was freely admitted, he
proceeded, with its aid, to further investigation.

The Captain's first care was to establish himself in a chair in the
shop, as President of the solemn tribunal that was sitting within
him; and to require Rob to lie down in his bed under the counter, show
exactly where he discovered the keys and packet when he awoke, how
he found the door when he went to try it, how he started off to Brig
Place--cautiously preventing the latter imitation from being carried
farther than the threshold--and so on to the end of the chapter. When
all this had been done several times, the Captain shook his head and
seemed to think the matter had a bad look.