the wharf was Uncle Peter Forbes and Governor
Johnson and a concourse of townspeople drawn by the joyous signals flown
from the brigantine. Jack looked in vain for Dorothy Stuart and was
thankful that her welcome was deferred. Shears and a razor and
Christian raiment would make him look less like a savage from the coast
of Barbary.

Uncle Peter wasted a vast deal of pity, thinking the castaways too weak
and wasted to walk. Jack strode along with him, the crowd at their
heels, and soon had the plump Councilor puffing for breath. They
insisted on taking Joe Hawkridge with them although he was for seeking
lodgings at the tavern. He was one of the household, declared Mr.
Forbes, while Jack warned him to beware of impertinence lest he be
sentenced to chop wood for the kitchen fire.

The neighbors and friends, as curious as they were joyful, were barred
from the house while the lads talked and Uncle Peter carefully made
notes of it all. It was too much for him to realize that Jack was
sitting there lusty and laughing and with the dutifully respectful
manner as of yore, in spite of the man's part he had played to the hilt.
Of all the exploits, that which most fascinated Mr. Peter Forbes was the
chase after Blackbeard's sea-chest weighty with treasure and the
discovery of the knoll in the Cherokee swamp where he might have buried
other booty. Here was a picaresque romance which allured the methodical
barrister and Councilor and he was as boyishly excited as his nephew. He
examined the chart which Jack had copied from his rude sketch made on a
piece of bark and this raised a question which he was quick to ask:

"What of Bill Saxby and this old bloodhound of a Trimble Rogers? As
soon as Stede Bonnet could get the _Revenge_ to sea, I have no doubt he
sailed to Cape Fear River to get these pirate comrades of yours and the
seamen he left to find them. Once aboard, they would urge Bonnet to
return to Cherokee Inlet and let them go hunt the treasure."

"That may be, but we can trust them to deal fair by us," replied Jack.

"Possibly," was the skeptical comment. Mr. Forbes was not too ready to
believe in honest pirates.

"I'm not sure Cap'n Bonnet had a mind to bother with this treasure
hunting," suggested Joe Hawkridge. "Leastwise, he may ha' put it off to
an easier day. He has friends that keep him well informed, such as the
Governor of North Carolina at Bath Town. And all this flurry against
piratin', here and in Virginia, 'u