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FREAKS OF FORTUNE 
 
 HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 BY 
 
 OLIVER OPTIC, t)*<j 
 
 AUTHOR OF " YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD," " THE ARMY AND NAVY STORIES, 
 
 "THE WOODVILLE STORIES," "THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES," 
 
 " THE RIVERDALE STORIES," ETC 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 LEE AND SHEPAED, 
 
 1868. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by 
 
 WILLIAM T. ADAMS, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 ELECTROTYPED AT THE 
 BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, 
 
 No. 19 Spring Lane. 
 
TO 
 
 My Young Friend, 
 
 THOMAS POWELL, JR., 
 
 %\n $oah 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. 
 
THE STARRY FLAG SERIES, 
 
 BY OLIVER OPTIC. 
 
 I. THE STARRY FLAG; or, The Young Fisherman of 
 
 Cape Ann. 
 
 II. FREAKS OF FORTUNE ; or, Half Round the World. 
 
 III. BREAKING AWAY ; or, The Fortunes op a Student. 
 
 IV. SEEK AND FIND ; or, The Adventures op a Smart 
 
 Boy. 
 
 V. MAKE OR BREAK; or, The Rich Man's Daughter. 
 
 VI. DOWN THE RIVER; or, Buck Bradford and his 
 Tyrants. (Ingress.} 
 
PREFACE 
 
 " Freaks or Fortune " is the fourth of the serial stories 
 published in " Our Boys and Girls." It was written in re- 
 sponse to a great number of calls for a sequel to " The 
 Starry Flag." The author was pleased to learn that Levi 
 Fairfield had made so pleasant an impression upon his young 
 friends, and the gratifying reception extended to him in the 
 present story, as it appeared in the Magazine, was quite as 
 flattering to the writer as to Levi himself. When a good 
 boy, like the hero of " The Starry Flag," is regarded with 
 so much kindly interest by our boys and girls, it is convin- 
 cing evidence that they have the capacity to appreciate noble 
 conduct, daring deeds, and a true life. 
 
 The author is not disposed to apologize for the " exciting " 
 element — as some have been pleased to denominate it — of 
 this and others of his stories. If goodness and truth have 
 been cast down, if vice and sin have been raised up, in the 
 
 (5) 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 story, an explanation would not, and ought not to, atone for 
 the crime. The writer degrades no saints, he canonizes no 
 villains. He believes that his young friends admire and love 
 the youthful heroes of the story because they are good and 
 true, because they are noble and self-sacrificing, and because 
 they are generous and courageous, and not merely because 
 they engage in stirring adventures. Exciting the youthful 
 mind in the right direction is one thing; exciting it in the 
 wrong direction is quite another thing. 
 
 Once more it becomes the writer's pleasant duty to ac- 
 knowledge the kindness of his young friends, as well as of 
 very many parents and guardians, who have so often and so 
 freely expressed their approbation of his efforts to please his 
 readers. He has been continually cheered by their kind 
 letters, and by their constant favor, however manifested ; 
 and he cannot help wondering that one who deserves so little 
 should receive so much. 
 
 William T. Adams. 
 
 Harrison Square, Mass., 
 July 27, 1808. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Three Years after . .... 11 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Fire 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Hole in the Wall 31 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Plank over the Chasm 42 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 An Inductive Argument. . . . . . . . . . . 53 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Starry Elag „ . 64 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Grave Charges. , 75 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Constable Cooke. „ . , 86 
 
 (?) 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 The Examination 97 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier 108 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 The Result of the Examination 119 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Hotel de Poisson „...<,.. o . 130 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 " Opt from apparent Ills." 141 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 "Lose his own Soul." . . 151 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Another Little Plan. . . . . „ 161 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Pistols for Two 173 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 The Gold Restored 184 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Mat Mo&more 195 
 
CONTENTS. 9 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 The Caribbee . 207 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Dock Vincent's Letter 219 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 The Caribbee sails for Australia 230 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 The Traveller who lost his Way 241 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Off Sandy Hook 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 Half round the World 264 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 A happy Reunion 275 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 Conclusion 287 
 
FREAKS OF FORTUNE; 
 
 OR, 
 
 HALF ROUND THE WOULD. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THREE TEAES AFTER. 
 
 THIS is the spot, Bessie," said Levi Fairfield, as 
 he paused on the bank of the brook which flows 
 into the bay near Mike's Point. 
 
 " But what was the thing you made ? " asked Bes- 
 sie Watson, as she looked with interest at the place 
 indicated, though she could not see anything very 
 remarkable, or even strange. 
 
 " It was a young saw-mill," laughed Levi. " It 
 rested on those flat stones you see there; but the 
 dam is entirely washed away. I made it in Mr. Mog- 
 more's carpenter's shop, near uncle Nathan's house. 
 After a deal of fussing and tinkering, I got it so that 
 
 (") 
 
12 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 it sawed through a board two feet long from one 
 end to the other. It was the proudest day of my 
 life when I showed Mr. Mogmore the two parts, 
 separated by my machine; and he declared I should 
 make a good machinist." 
 
 " Where is the saw-mill now ? " inquired Bessie, 
 interested in the machine because it had been made 
 by Levi, rather than because she had a taste for 
 mechanics. 
 
 "It is up in the attic of uncle Nathan's house; 
 at least it was there three years ago, when I went 
 to live with Mr. Gayles." 
 
 "I should really like to see it." 
 
 " Should you ? Well, you shall, if the thing is still 
 in being. I will go down to uncle Nathan's and get 
 it, and then I will set it up, and you shall see it go," 
 answered Levi, as he led the way towards the house 
 of his uncle. 
 
 The water privilege which Levi Fairfield, as a boy 
 of thirteen, had improved, was located on the brook 
 behind the cottage of Mr. Mogmore. Bessie did not 
 care to meet uncle Nathan ; so she decided to call 
 upon the carpenter's family; for, having spent three 
 
HALF HOUND THE WOULD. 13 
 
 seasons at Rockport, she was well acquainted in sev- 
 eral families near her father's new house, which was 
 on the shore, not far from Mike's Point. 
 
 Bessie — or, as we ought to call her now, Miss 
 Watson, though it doe3 not sound half so pleasant 
 to the ear, and Levi had been several times reproved 
 for addressing her in this formal manner — Miss 
 Watson was " sweet sixteen," or so near it that we 
 give her the full benefit of the majority fraction. If 
 she was pretty at twelve, she was beautiful at sixteen. 
 She was rather tall for her age, but exceedingly well 
 formed. She had spent much of her time in the 
 open air, and on her cheeks glowed the roses of 
 health. 
 
 Mrs. McGilvery, a widowed sister of Mr. Watson, 
 who had been the principal of a young ladies' sem- 
 inary before her marriage, was intrusted with the care 
 of her niece's education. Though Bessie attended 
 school while in the city, yet she was absent ^four 
 months in the year, during three of which she studied 
 with her governess, on the sea-shore. Fortunately 
 for Bessie, Mrs. McGilvery was an amphibious lady, 
 and was always ready for a trip in The Starry Flag, 
 
14 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 Levi Fairfield's well-tried craft. She had a taste for 
 yachts, not only in pleasant weather, and on' a smooth 
 sea, but when the wind blew anything short of a 
 gale, and the white caps whipped over the gunwale 
 of the boat. Bessie, therefore, was frequently on the 
 salt water with her duenna, and her constitution had 
 been wonderfully strengthened by this healthful exer- 
 cise. 
 
 Levi Fairfield and The Starry Flag were in de- 
 mand almost every day; and we need not add that 
 the young skipper did not regard himself as a martyr 
 in the cause. Though the excursions to Halibut 
 Point, Straitsmouth, the Selvages, and other places 
 in the vicinity, were frequently repeated, he was never 
 happier than when at the helm with Bessie and Mrs. 
 McGilvery on board; not particularly on account of 
 the latter, though he was quite a favorite with her. 
 
 Levi left Miss Watson at the door of Mr. Mog- 
 more's cottage, and walked over to uncle Nathan's 
 house. Three years had not improved the appear- 
 ance of the miser's house, for he spent no money 
 upon it in paint and repairs. When anything about 
 the . building caved in, as it frequently did, he tink- 
 
nALF ROUND THE WORLD. 15 
 
 ered it himself. If time had not improved uncle 
 Nathan or his house, it had improved Levi. He was 
 nearly eighteen, was "man grown," strong as a lion, 
 and agile as a deer. Within the preceding three 
 years he had made two fishing trips, though most of 
 his time had been spent at the academy. 
 
 He entered his uncle's house. Though his visits, 
 like angels', had been few and far between, they were 
 not so because Levi cherished any ill will towards 
 his former guardian, but because he had been made to 
 feel that he was not a welcome guest. Uncle Nathan 
 never felt right after his removal from the position 
 of guardian of his nephew. The care of the money 
 was taken from him, and he was deprived of the 
 profits he derived from boarding and clothing his 
 ward. He realized that money had been taken out 
 of his pocket by the spirited conduct of Levi; and 
 taking money out of the miser's pocket was the sorest 
 injury that could be inflicted upon him. 
 
 But Levi behaved like a Christian. He did not 
 forget that his uncle and aunt lived in that old and 
 dilapidated house, and he did his best to keep the 
 peace with them. In the most literal manner he re- 
 
16 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 turned good for evil. It is true he could not respect 
 his uncle, or get up a very warm regard for him, — he 
 was too mean, selfish, and unprincipled to win the 
 respect and regard of any decent person, — but he 
 could treat him with Christian kindness. 
 
 Mr. Gayles, since he had been Levi's guardian, had, 
 by the advice of Mr. Watson, given his ward a reg- 
 ular allowance of five dollars a week for pocket money, 
 independent of his actual expenses for clothing him- 
 self. This money was spent in books, in improve- 
 ments on The Starry Flag, in charity, and for other 
 proper purposes. Not a cent of it ever went to the 
 keeper of a grog-shop, billiard-saloon, or other place 
 which a young man should avoid ; but not a little 
 of it, in one way. and another, found its way into 
 the comfortless abode of uncle Nathan. 
 
 Though his aunt, by the force of circumstances, had 
 become almost as mean as her husband, she was not 
 a bad woman in other respects, and Levi had consid- 
 erable regard for her. She had but few joys in this 
 world, and one of them was reading the newspaper, 
 when she was so fortunate as to procure one, which 
 was but seldom. Levi subscribed for the Boston 
 
HALF BOUND THE WORLD. 17 
 
 Journal for her, which came every clay, and for a 
 weekly religious newspaper. The old lady had a 
 splendid time every afternoon reading her paper, and 
 enjoyed a " rich season " every " Sabba' day " over her 
 Sunday paper. 
 
 Levi did more than this. He not only carried to 
 the house a great many fish he caught himself, but 
 a leg of veal or lamb, a roasting-piece of beef, a pair 
 of chickens, or a turkey was not unfrequently laid 
 upon the kitchen table by him. Uncle Nathan ate 
 the roast beef, the turkeys, and the chickens, but he 
 hated the giver none the less. It was a shameful 
 waste of money to buy such things ; and these deli- 
 cacies reminded him of the dollars and half dollars 
 that had slipped away from him when he lost Levi, 
 rather than the kindness and Christian charity of tht? 
 young man in presenting them. 
 
 It was not so with Mrs. Fairfield, though the sa\ 
 age flings and unkind allusions of her husband to his 
 nephew were not without their influence upon her.. 
 She could not help feeling a great regard for the donor 
 of the newspapers, and the substantiate which gave the 
 table such an unwonted attractiveness. As far as her 
 2 
 
18 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 dull nature- would permit, she appreciated the kind- 
 ness and good will of Levi. It is true that on several 
 occasions uncle Nathan had sold the turkeys, chickens, 
 and roasting-pieces his late ward had given him; yet 
 it had never been without a protest on the part of 
 aunt Susan. It was an awful waste for him to eat 
 these luxuries ; but selling the gifts of Levi was mon- 
 strous to her, and her protest was so energetic that 
 she carried her point, and the miser was compelled 
 to eat food which was so costly that it almost choked 
 him. 
 
 Uncle Nathan did not get fat on the bounty of his 
 liberal nephew. He had too many corroding cares, 
 too many financial terrors, too many fears that the 
 banks would break, his creditors fail, his stocks depre- 
 ciate, to eat and sleej) like a Christian. Misers never 
 grow liberal as they grow old, and he was no excep- 
 tion to the rule. A financial panic had just swept 
 over the land, and though he had lost nothing- by it, 
 it caused him more anguish than thousands who had 
 lost their all. He was afraid of banks, afraid of men, 
 afraid even of good mortgages on productive real 
 estate. He dreaded some calamity he could not de- 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 19 
 
 fine, which would wrest from him every dollar he 
 had in the world. 
 
 To guard against this horrible event, he had actu- 
 ally converted some of the less reliable of his securi- 
 
 * ... . 
 
 ties into gold, and concealed it in his house, preferring 
 
 to sacrifice the interest to the safety of the principal, 
 
 bitter as the necessity seemed to be. 
 
 For two months uncle Nathan had kept four thou- 
 sand dollars in gold in the house, groaning at the 
 loss of sixty-six and Xwo thirds cents a day in inter- 
 est; but a bank somewhere in the state had failed, 
 and he dared not trust the money out of his own 
 possession. It had been hidden in the cellar, hidden 
 in the parlor, hidden in the kitchen, and hidden in 
 his chamber; but no place seemed to be safe, and 
 the miser trembled when awake, and trembled when 
 asleep, in his dreams, lest the figurative description 
 of riches should be realized, and his gold should take 
 to itself wings and fly away. 
 
 Ruin and decay had invaded the sleeping-room of 
 the miser, as it had every other part of his house. 
 There was many a hole in the plastering, and many 
 a hole in the floor ; but there was one particular hole 
 
20 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 in the wall, about a foot above the floor, in a corner 
 behind the bed. This particular hole was selected as 
 the receptacle for the gold. He had cut away the 
 laths, so that he could thrust his arm down into the 
 aperture, and deposit the bag on the sill of the 
 house. 
 
 He had begged a piece of board of Mr. Mogmore 
 to cover this hole, and had fastened it over the plas- 
 tering with four screws. While he was thus engaged, 
 Mat Mogmore, the carpenter's son, had come for the 
 screw-driver uncle Nathan had borrowed at the shop. 
 Mrs. Fairfield, not knowing what her husband was 
 doing, sent him into the chamber for it. 
 
 "Stoppin' up the cracks to keep the cold out," 
 whined the miser. "I cal'late I got the rheumatiz 
 out of this hole." 
 
 Mat wanted the screw-driver, but he helped fasten 
 up the board before he took it, and wondered what 
 the old man had cut away the laths for. The board 
 was put up, and the money was safe ; but the miser 
 hardly dared to go out of sight of the house. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOULD. 21 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FIRE. 
 
 LEVI entered the house. Uncle Nathan was 
 not at home, but he was probably somewhere 
 in the vicinity. Aunt Susan was in the kitchen 
 baking her weekly batch of brown bread, the staple 
 article of food in the family, because it was cheaper 
 than white bread. 
 
 " Aunt, I want to go up in the garret and get that 
 little saw-mill I made four or five years ago," said 
 Levi. 
 
 "Well, I s'pose you can," replied she, filling up 
 the old brick oven with pine wood, which cracked 
 and snapped furiously in the fierce flames. 
 
 "It's up there now — isn't it?" 
 
 " I s'pose 'tis, if you put it there ; I hain't teched it." 
 
 " Will you give me a little piece of candle, too, if 
 you please?" 
 
22 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR , 
 
 " You can take that piece in the candlestick on 
 the mantel-tree piece, if it's long enough." 
 
 " That will clo just as well as if it were a foot 
 long," replied Levi, taking the piece of candle, and 
 rolling it up in a bit of newspaper. 
 
 He went up into the attic, found the saw-mill just 
 as he had left it, though it was covered with half an 
 inch of dust and cobwebs. When he came down, he 
 heard uncle Nathan's voice in the kitchen. He was 
 growling because his wife used so much wood to heat 
 the oven, and Levi concluded not to see him that 
 day, for he seemed to be in a more than usually 
 unamiable frame of mind. He went out at the front 
 door, and Bessie "joined him as he passed Mr. Mog- 
 more's house. The saw-mill was taken to the spot 
 where it had stood before. The dam w T as reconstruct- 
 ed much more readily than the rebel states. 
 
 Taking the candle from his pocket, Levi greased 
 the running parts of the machine, hoisted the gate, 
 and away went the saw as briskly as a bee after its 
 years of rest in the attic, to the intense delight of 
 Bessie, who was quite ready to vote another feather 
 for the cap of the hero. A piece of board was ad- 
 
HALF BOUND THE WORLD. 23 
 
 justed on the carnage, and the saw began to whisk, 
 whisk, whisk through it, when a scries of yells in the 
 direction of the road attracted the attention of the 
 engineer of the structure. 
 
 "Why, what's that smoke?" exclaimed Bessie. 
 
 " Fire ! Fire ! Fire ! " shouted several persons in 
 the road. 
 
 "It's uncle Nathan's house," said Levi; and, with- 
 out waiting to extend any further courtesies to his 
 fair companion, he bounded through the field, and 
 over the fence, to the imperilled dwelling. 
 
 Around the north chimney the smoke was pouring 
 out in a dense volume. Uncle Nathan had raised a 
 ladder to the roof, and was drawing up pails of water 
 to throw on the fire. Aunt Susan and Mat Mogmore 
 were assisting him, and in a few moments several 
 other persons arrived at the house. Levi ran up the 
 ladder, and went to work with a decision and vigor 
 which promised the best results. 
 
 "I'm ruined! I'm ruined, as true as you live!" 
 groaned the miser. " The house will burn up ! " 
 
 " No, it won't, uncle Nathan. We csn put the fire 
 out if we stick to it," replied Levi, in encouraging 
 
24 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OE 
 
 tones, as he clashed a bucket of water on a volume 
 of name that rushed* up at the side of the chimney. 
 
 " Tain't no use ! It's jest my luck." 
 
 "Pass up the buckets, uncle Nathan, and we shall 
 be all right in a few minutes. We are gaining on it." 
 
 " O, my money ! " groaned the miser, as he dropped 
 the empty bucket he was carrying. 
 
 Levi glanced at him. His uncle was as pale as a 
 sheet, and seemed to have wilted as though the flames 
 had blasted him. He sank down upon the roof, and 
 would have rolled off if the strong arm of his nephew 
 had not saved him. His eyes were closed, his lips 
 were blue and ashy, and his frame was motionless. 
 Levi was alarmed by his appearance. He was either 
 dead or had fainted, and the young man saw that he 
 must be removed. Lying down by the side of the 
 senseless form, he clasped his arms around it, and 
 rose to his feet with the burden on his back. Like all 
 misers, uncle Nathan was nothing but skin and bones, 
 which do not weigh heavily, and Levi walked along 
 the ridge-pole to the other end of the house with 
 the nerveless body on his back. 
 
 It was not an easy matter to descend the ladder 
 
 1 
 
IIALF BOUND THE WOBLD. 25 . 
 
 with sucli a load, though Levi would have carried 
 his uncle down alone if no help had arrived. Before 
 he reached the ladder, two men had mounted the 
 roof, and while one of them was directed to pour 
 water on the fire, the other assisted in bearing the * 
 miser down the ladder. He was carried to Mr. 
 Mogmore's house, and aunt Susan followed, having 
 satisfied herself that her husband was not dead, but 
 had fainted. , 
 
 Having deposited the form of the miser on the 
 bed, Levi hastened back to assist in saving the house. 
 His j>ost was in the midst of danger, and he went up 
 on the roof. A plentiful supply of water soon 
 drowned out the fire, and before the engine arrived 
 the last spark had been extinguished. 
 
 " O, my money ! " had been the last words of Mr. 
 Fairfield before he fainted. Levi did not understand 
 the force of this expression, for he was not aware 
 that his uncle had four thousand dollars in gold con- 
 cealed in the house. The miser had worked with 
 the energy of desperation to put' out the fire, until 
 the fiames appeared to be gaining upon him, and 
 then he was in despair. At this point the thought 
 
26 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 of his gold flashed upon him with such stunning 
 force that it had taken away his senses. Doubtless 
 the smoke and the heat, as well as the violence of 
 his exertions, had contributed in some measure to 
 this result. 
 
 The house would be burned, and the four thou- 
 sand dollars would be lost ! This was the reflection 
 which overwhelmed the miser. Even death seemed 
 preferable to losing such a vast sum of money. His 
 god appeared to be riven from him, and the revul- 
 sion in his mind was terrible. If his hair had not 
 already been gray, the shock was heavy enough to 
 have bleached it out in a single instant. 
 
 "When the fire had been put out, Levi hastened 
 over to the carpenter's house to ascertain the condi- 
 tion of his uncle. The patient, under the skilful 
 treatment of the old ladies who had ministered to 
 him, was just regaining his consciousness, but had 
 not yet sufficiently recovered to know what had hap- 
 pened to him. The house was not much injured. 
 A hole in the roof, about six feet in diameter, had 
 been burned out, and the water poured upon the fire 
 had found its way into the rooms below. 
 
HALF ROUXD THE WORLD. 27 
 
 The neighbors had worked with energy in extin- 
 guishing the fire, and some of them had gone into 
 the house, and were removing the bedding and other 
 furniture, so that the water should not drip down 
 upon it from above. When Levi came back, he 
 found Dock Vincent and Mat Mogmore removing 
 the bed from his uncle's chamber. Others were car- 
 rying out the bureau and chairs. The work was 
 about finished, and he joined Bessie in the road, 
 where she had been observing the exciting scene. 
 
 "How did it take fire, Levi?" she asked. 
 
 "I don't know. Aunt had a tremendous fire in 
 the oven." 
 
 "There comes your uncle," added Bessie, pointing 
 to the poor old man, as he reeled up the road in 
 his weakness, like a drunken man. "How awful he 
 looks ! " 
 
 "He feels badly about it, I suppose," replied Levi. 
 
 Uncle Nathan's face did indeed present an aspect 
 which was almost hideous. It was still as pale and 
 ghastly as death itself; and upon it there was an 
 expression of the most intense agony. His wife was 
 following him, hardly able to keep pace with the 
 long strides he made. 
 
28' FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " It's all right, uncle Nathan ; we saved the house, 
 and not much damage has been done to it," said 
 Levi, as the old man passed him. 
 
 Uncle Nathan took no notice of him; perhaps he 
 did not even hear him, so deejDly was he absorbed 
 in thinking about the gold. Levi and Bessie fol- 
 lowed him into the house. The wretched miser 
 rushed into his chamber. Mat Mogmore was there, 
 and seemed to be busy in wiping the water from the 
 floor. Dock Vincent was in the next room, appar- 
 ently as busy as the carpenter's son. 
 
 The miser, with all the powers of his being con- 
 centrated in his eyes, gazed tremblingly at the board 
 which covered the hiding-place of his money. That 
 dark hole was the temple of his god, and all his hopes 
 seemed to be shrouded in its gloom. But the board 
 was where he left it, and as he left it, and the miser 
 breathed a little easier. 
 
 "It was rather hard on you, Mr. Fairfield ; but it's 
 lucky it ain't no worse," said Dock Vincent. 
 
 "It's bad enough," groaned the miser. 
 
 "That's so; but 'tain't so bad as it might be. I 
 was just coming down from the ledges when I saw 
 
HALF ROTTXD THE WORLD. 29 
 
 the smoke; and I've been to work like a good one 
 ever since," added Dock. 
 
 " If I can do anything more for you, I'm willing to 
 help as much as I can," said Mat Mogrnore. 
 
 "There ain't nothing more to do," replied Mr. 
 Fairfield, who only desired that the neighbors would 
 leave, so that he could assure himself of the safety 
 of his gold. 
 
 They did go, without even the thanks of the miser. 
 Levi was in the kitchen with Mrs. Fairfield, trying 
 to make out how the fire had caught. 
 
 " Sech a piece of work, massy knows ! " exclaimed 
 the old lady, as she looked about her in dismay at 
 the water which was still dripping down from above. 
 " It'll take a whole month to put things to rights 
 agin. I can't tell, for the life of me, how it ketched." 
 
 "You had a large fire in the oven, aunt," suggest- 
 ed Levi. 
 
 " But the fire in the oven didn't set the ruff afire ! 
 Sunthin was the matter with that chimbly, and your 
 uncle fixed it e'enamost a month ago. I don't know 
 nothin' what he did to it. Mebbe there was a hole 
 in that chimbly — For massy sake ! What's comin' 
 
30 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 This exclamation had been brought from her by 
 a loud, despairing howl from her husband, who at 
 this moment rushed into the kitchen, with such a 
 look of anguish on his face that it frightened Bessie^ 
 
 "O, my money!" groaned the wretched man. 
 
 "For pity's sake, husband, what's the matter?" 
 cried Mrs. Fairfield. 
 
 " It's all gone ! " gasped uncle Nathan. 
 
 "What's all gone?" 
 
 " The money ! " - he replied in a whisper. 
 
 His nature could endure no more. He tottered on 
 his legs, and Levi sprang to his assistance just as he 
 dropped senseless on the floor. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 31 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE HOLE IN THE WALL. 
 
 AS soon as Dock Vincent and Mat Mogmore had 
 left the house, Mr. Fairfield procured a case- 
 knife, — for he was not the owner of so useful an 
 implement as a screw-driver, — and, with trembling 
 anxiety, removed the board that covered the hole in 
 the wall. Thrusting his hand down into the aper- 
 ture, a cold chill swept through his frame when he 
 failed to touch the bags in which the gold was con- 
 tained. With convulsive energy, he felt in every 
 part of the cavity ; but the money had surely taken 
 to itself wings and flown away. 
 
 Had all the human beings upon the earth been 
 suddenly destroyed before his eyes, the effect uj)on 
 the miser could not have been more deplorable. He 
 loved his money; he did not love his fellow-beings. 
 His heart almost ceased to beat beneath the shock, 
 
32 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 his lip quivered, and the tears started in his eyes. 
 His brain began to reel before the blow; he uttered 
 a prolonged howl, and rushed out into the kitchen 
 rather from impulse than because he desired or ex- 
 pected human sympathy. 
 
 Bessie "Watson was terrified by the fearful aspect 
 of Mr. Fairfield when he entered the room, and for 
 weeks the awful expression upon his face haunted 
 her like the vision of a midnight ghost. Levi was 
 startled, and Mrs. Fairfield, accustomed as she was to 
 the ways of her husband, was deeply moved by his 
 singular conduct. When he was ailing, he was sub- 
 ject to fainting fits ; but he had never appeared so 
 badly as on the present occasion. 
 
 The miser trusted no person, had no confidence in 
 any one, not even in his wife. He had not told her 
 that he had four thousand dollars in gold in the 
 house, for he feared that she might be tempted to 
 rob him of his treasure. Mrs. Fairfield, therefore, did 
 not comprehend his despairing utterances when he 
 announced the loss of his money. 
 
 Levi and his aunt conveyed the senseless form to 
 the front room, and after working over him nearly 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 33 
 
 half an hour, he came out of the fit, but only to suf- 
 fer the most intense agonies at the loss of his money, 
 
 " What on airth is the matter with you, Nathan ? " 
 asked his wife, when, after another examination of 
 the hole in the wall, he appeared in the kitchen 
 again. 
 
 Bessie had gone home ; but Levi remained, to ren- 
 der any assistance in his power in putting the house 
 to rights. 
 
 " O ! " groaned the miser, heavily, as he paced the 
 room with furious strides. 
 
 " Can't you tell what ails you ? " continued Mrs. 
 Fairfield. 
 
 "It's all gone," gasped he, with a prolonged sigh. 
 
 "What is it? What's all gone? Why don't you 
 tell a body what has happened?" 
 
 "My money is all gone! Somebody has stolen 
 it — robbed me, ruined me!" 
 
 "Who on airth stole it?" 
 
 "I donno," replied Mr. Fairfield* glancing at Levi. 
 
 "How much was stole?" 
 
 "Four thousand dollars," sighed the miser. 
 
 " For massy sake ! " exclaimed Mrs. Fairfield j and 
 3 
 
84 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 it was a question whether she would not faint, for 
 such a sum of money was beyond her comprehension. 
 
 "Where was it, uncle Nathan?" asked Levi, who 
 pitied the sufferings of the old man. 
 
 The miser looked at his nephew. People always 
 suspect those whom they hate. If any wicked deed 
 is done, they charge it upon those they love the 
 least, regardless of circumstances. 
 
 " Levi Fairfield, you stole my money ! " continued 
 the old man, fiercely. 
 
 "Nonsense, Nathan!" interposed Mrs. Fairfield. 
 " Levi didn't do nothin' of the sort." 
 
 " Didn't you tell me he went up in the attic before 
 the fire? Didn't you tell me you gave him a piece 
 of candle?" demanded Mr. Fairfield, earnestly; and 
 doubtless he felt that Levi was guilty, for his impul- 
 sive charge was made on the strength of a course 
 of reasoning he had followed out. 
 
 "What if I did tell you so? Levi didn't steal 
 no four thousand dollars. There's no sense nor rea- 
 son in sayin' so," added aunt Susan. 
 
 "I say he did steal it. I know he did now," per- 
 sisted the miser. "He set the house afire, and then 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 35 
 
 took the money. That boy hates me, and he's bad 
 enough to do anything, if he is go'n' to jine the 
 church." 
 
 "Levi has money enough," argued Mrs. Fairfield. 
 " Why should he steal your money ? " 
 
 " Cause he hates me." 
 
 " Uncle Nathan, I don't hate you, and I didn't steal 
 your money," said Levi, who had calmly listened to 
 the debate between his uncle and aunt. 
 
 " Yes, you did ; you set the house afire, so's to git 
 a chance to git the money. It's all plain enough to 
 me," continued the old man^.striding up and down 
 the room more rapidly than before. 
 
 "I suppose it will be useless for me to say any- 
 thing," added Levi, more in pity than in anger. "I 
 am willing to do anything I can to help you find 
 the money, if it is lost, or catch the thief, if it was 
 stolen." 
 
 " 'Tain't no use for you to talk no more, Levi Fair- 
 field," said the old man, stopping in front of him. 
 "You know all about it, and you took the money. 
 If you're a mind to give it all back to me, I won't 
 say a word to nobody about it." 
 
36 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " I did not take it, and I know nothing about it. 
 I was not aware that you had so much money in 
 the house," replied Levi. 
 
 " What did you want of the candle, then, if you 
 didn't steal the money?" 
 
 "I wanted it to grease the saw-mill, and the can- 
 dle lies on a rock by the brook now." 
 
 "Didn't you set the house afire when you went 
 up in the garret?" 
 
 " I did not. I had no light, and not even a match 
 in my pocket." 
 
 "Who did steal it, then, if you didn't?" 
 
 " I don't know. Where did you keep the money ? " 
 
 The old man led the way to his chamber, and 
 pointed out the hole. 
 
 "That's a bad place to keep money," said Levi. 
 
 " 'Tain't no use to keep money in the bank now ; 
 they're all failin', and folks is failin'; and a man 
 that's got a little money is wus off than them that 
 hain't got none." 
 
 Levi asked a great many questions about the money, 
 and the hole, which uncle Nathan, hoping to find 
 his money, answered. There was no evidence to 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 37 
 
 fasten the crime upon any one. The facts that ap- 
 peared were, that the money, in four bags, had been 
 deposited in the cavity; that an hour before the fire, 
 the miser had assured himself the gold was safe; 
 that, after the fire, the board had been found in its 
 place as before, but the gold was gone. A dozen of 
 the neighbors, at least, had been into the room, and 
 Dock Vincent and Mat Mogmore had been the last 
 to leave. Mr. Fairfield was sure that neither Dock nor 
 Mat knew he had any money in the house. There 
 was no good reason for supposing they, any more 
 than any other of the neighbors, had taken the gold. 
 After a long and careful examination of the prem- 
 ises, and a patient inquiry into all the circumstances, 
 nothing could be brought forward to implicate any 
 person in the robbery. Levi was not willing to be- 
 lieve yet that the gold had been stolen. He went 
 down cellar, and surveyed the timbers under the 
 hole, hoping that the bags had dropped through ; but 
 he could not find them. He could not determine 
 whether or not there was any connection between the 
 fire and the robbery; but Mr. Fairfield insisted that 
 some one — he did not say Levi now — intended to 
 
38 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 burn the house, so as to cover up the crime, or at 
 least afford an opportunity to commit the theft. 
 
 " How could any one set the fire in the roof? " 
 asked Levi. 
 
 " They might have gone up there, as you did," re- 
 plied the old man, rather malignantly. 
 
 "Let us go up and see how the fire took," added 
 Levi. "Aunt Susan had a big fire in the oven." 
 
 "It couldn't ketch afire up there if she did," re- 
 plied uncle Nathan, as he followed his nephew up 
 the ladder. 
 
 Some of the boards and shingles had been burned 
 through, but the rafters were only charred. Levi 
 went up to the chimney and examined the wood- 
 work near it. The house was a very old one, and 
 had been built upon until its present proportions had 
 been reached. The chimney, where the fire had 
 taken, was in the most ancient part, and the bricks 
 were laid in clay. Levi found that three or four of 
 them, on one of the inside corners, had dropped 
 out. This was the defect which the owner had re- 
 paired. 
 
 " There is a great hole in the chimney," said Levi. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 39 
 
 « I know there is ; but I stopped that up a month 
 ago. I hadn't no mortar nor nothin', and I just 
 nailed a board over the hole." 
 
 " That's the way the fire took," added Levi, won- 
 dering at the carelessness of his uncle. 
 
 " I didn't suppose there was any heat up here, 
 twenty foot from the fire," replied the old man, sheep- 
 ishly. 
 
 " Aunt Susan had a rousing fire in the oven. The 
 wind was pretty fresh, and I suppose the sparks 
 caught on the dry board. It is clear enough to me 
 that no one set the house on fire." 
 
 " I suppose they didn't, then ; but somebody stole 
 my money. Mebbe you'll prove that nobody didn't 
 steal it." 
 
 "I am willing to take your word for that;" and 
 the miser's visible sufferings were all-sufficient to con- 
 vince any person that the money was gone, whether 
 any one had stolen it or not. 
 
 Levi tried in vain to obtain a clew to the lost 
 treasure. He knew of no one that had visited the 
 house during the fire who was bad enough to steal, 
 unless it was Dock Vincent ; but it was not right to 
 
40 FEEAKS OF FOETTTNE, OB 
 
 suspect even him of the crime without some evi- 
 dence. Neither Levi nor his uncle saw how Dock 
 could have taken off the board, removed the bags, 
 and then restored the covering, while there were so 
 many people in the house. 
 
 Dock Vincent, after his discharge from the state 
 prison, had gone to New York, where he had been 
 employed as the mate of a steamer. Six months 
 before the story opens, his brother, residing in Bos- 
 ton, had died, and as the deceased had no femily, 
 his property, amounting to twenty-one thousand dol- 
 lars, had been equally divided among his two broth- 
 ers and one sister. Dock fully believed that seven 
 thousand dollars on Cape Ann would entirely wipe 
 out the disgrace of having served a term in the state 
 prison, and he returned to Rockport, dressed in a 
 nice suit of black. 
 
 Dock was mistaken; seven thousand dollars would 
 not varnish his character so that good men would 
 associate with him. He blustered and swelled, and 
 declared that he had been taken up for nothing; 
 that this was not a free country; and that he was a 
 better man than thousands in town who had never 
 
HALF ROUND TIIE WOELD. 41 
 
 been to the state prison. He never forgave Levi 
 for thwarting his plans, and swore roundly that he 
 would be the ruin of him and of Mr. Watson. 
 
 The best friend Dock had was Nathan Fairfield, 
 and the miser was not willing to believe that Dock 
 had robbed him of his gold. After Levi went home 
 that day, his uncle persisted that he had stolen the 
 money. 
 
42 FEEAKS OF FOETTJNE, OE 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PLANK OVEE THE CHASM. 
 
 A WEEK of indescribable misery to Nathan Fair- 
 field, passed away; but no trace of the robber 
 or the money had been obtained. The constables 
 and the deputy sheriff had visited the premises, and 
 carefully considered all the facts, without affording the 
 miserable man a particle of consolation. He groaned 
 fi'om morning till night, forlorn and desolate, declar- 
 ing that he should come to want, and die in the 
 poorhouse. 
 
 Probably the money the wretch had lost was not 
 a fifth part of his fortune, and he was in no more 
 danger of coming to want than the sea was of being 
 dried up. But he felt as though he had lost all ; and 
 if he had been stripped of everything, he could hard- 
 ly have suffered more. He felt poor, and wanted to 
 earn money in some way. The dog-fish season had 
 
HALtf ROUND THE WORLD. 43 
 
 Opened favorably, and he was actually preparing to 
 go into the business of catching them. Dock Yin- 
 cent had promised him the use of a dory, — for he 
 could not afford to buy one, — and he had taken 
 Levi's old lines and repaired them for use. 
 
 Mr. Fairfield groaned and sighed all day long while 
 he worked upon his fishing-lines and his trolls. He 
 could not tell who had stolen his money, and in his 
 hatred of his nephew, he still persisted in suspecting 
 him. There was no proof, and he could do nothing 
 but believe that Levi was the thief. It was useless to 
 say anything or do anything, for Levi was so popular 
 that justice could not be had. 
 
 The lines, the troll, and the bait were all ready, 
 and the old man carried them down to the landing- 
 place where Dock had left the dory. Along the 
 shore of this part of Cape Ann there is a succession 
 of rocky peninsulas, extending out into the sea. Be- 
 tween these are the beaches, stretching in semicircles 
 from bluff to bluff, as they have been fashioned by 
 the mighty waves which roll in from the open ocean. 
 On these sandy shores the billows chant their sol- 
 emn melody all day and all night long, and break 
 
44 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OE 
 
 with sharper pitch and fiercer swell upon the jagged 
 rocks that form the headlands. 
 
 On the road, but a few rods from Mr. Fairfield's, 
 and near one of these peninsulas, was the house of 
 Dock Vincent, where his family had always lived, 
 even when he was in New York. The end of the' 
 headland curved round so as to leave a portion of 
 the water behind it protected from the force of the 
 sea, thus forming a sheltered landing-place. Off this 
 point lay The Starry Flag, and on the rocks where 
 the boatmen usually embarked were several skiffs, 
 and among them Dock Vincent's dory, which Mr. 
 Fairfield was to use. 
 
 Across the end of the headland, a few rods from 
 the extreme point, was a natural chasm in the rocks, 
 through which the water flowed at high tide. It 
 was about ten feet wide, and rather more than this 
 in depth. Across it a plank had been placed for the 
 convenience of fishermen and others. 
 
 On the next headland, which terminated in Mike's 
 Point, was the new summer residence of Mr. Watson. 
 He had made a landing-pier, which was available at 
 half tide 5 but Levi kept his boat at the olcf moor- 
 
HALF BOUND THE WORLD. 45 
 
 ings, because the place was sheltered from the vio- 
 lence of the north-east winds, and it was less than 
 half a mile across to the house where he usually took 
 in his passengers. 
 
 Mr. Fairfield went down to the dory, and put his 
 fishing-gear on board. He did it as a man goes to a 
 funeral. He had been a fisherman in his younger days, 
 but it was a bitter necessity, in his view, which now 
 compelled him to resume it when he was old and 
 stiff. While he was stowing the bait and lines in 
 the skiff, Dock Yincent came down to see him. He 
 had laid aside his suit of black, and now wore a full 
 seaman's rig. 
 
 "Well, Squire Fairfield, have you heard anything 
 from your money yet ? " demanded Dock, as he seat- 
 ed himself on a rock. 
 
 " Not a • thing ; and 'tain't likely I ever shall, 
 nuther," replied Mr. Fairfield, with a most distress- 
 ing expression on his face. 
 
 " Haven't you any idea what has become of it ? " 
 
 "Not the leastest grain in the world. It's gone, 
 and that's all I know about it. I did think Levi 
 took it, and I hain't got done thinkin' so yet." 
 
46 FEEAKS OF FOETUTCE, OR 
 
 "What made you think he took it?" asked Dock, 
 with no little interest manifested on his ugly face. 
 
 "Well, he come to the house when I wan't in, 
 though I was close by and see him go in. He 
 went up garret and got a little saw-mill he made. 
 I went up to the house, and was just goin' to see 
 where he was ; but I stopped a minute in the 
 kitchen to tell my wife she was wastin' the wood, 
 and Levi went out afore I see him. A little while 
 arter, the fire bruk out, and arter that my money 
 was gone. Levi's most eighteen, and it stands to 
 reason he don't want no little saw-mill to play 
 with." 
 
 " Of course he don't," added Dock, encouragingly. 
 
 "He said arterwards that he wanted to show it to 
 the Watson gal. But what does a city gal like her 
 keer about a saw-mill ? and nuther on 'em hain't been 
 near it sence." 
 
 "That shows how much they care about it," said 
 Dock, who was evidently prepared to indorse the 
 old man's philosophy. 
 
 "I can't help thinkin' Levi set the house afire, 
 and then took the money," continued Mr. Fairfield, 
 
HALF ROUND TIIE WORLD. 47 
 
 ignoring the current explanation of the cause of the 
 fire. "My wife says 'tain't so, because the boy has 
 all the money he wants, and don't have no occasion 
 to steal; but Levi hain't no more idee of the vally 
 of money than he has of flyin', and he throws it 
 away as reckless as a sailor arter he comes home 
 from a Cape Horn v'y'ge." 
 
 " I know he does ; if he had to earn it, he wouldn't 
 be quite so free with it." 
 
 "Levi hates me, 'f I am his uncle, and never did 
 nothing but take good keer of his money for him — 
 he hates me like destruction; and that's what makes 
 me think he done it. He's a bad boy, if he is goV 
 to jine the church. Folks will find him out one of 
 these days, and then they'll know I told the truth 
 about him." 
 
 " Could anybody else have taken the money ? 
 That's the p'int." 
 
 "Not's I know on — least ways nobody but you 
 and Mat Mogmore." 
 
 "You don't think I took it— do you?" 
 
 " I hain't been able to think so," replied the miser, 
 
48 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR: 
 
 looking up into the face of Dock. "I allers thought 
 you set too much by me to sarve me sech a trick 
 as that. I've lent you a good deal of money one 
 time 'n another." 
 
 "But I paid you ten per cent, for it. I didn't 
 take your money, and I know Mat Mogmore didn't. 
 I was with him all the time he was in the house. 
 We worked together." 
 
 "It stands to reason, then, that Levi took it; I 
 can't help thinkin' so." 
 
 "They say he carries a good many things to your 
 house," suggested Dock. 
 
 " Kerries a good many things to my house ! " re- 
 peated the miser with a sneer. "Mebbe he does. 
 What sort of things does he kerry there ? Chickens 
 and turkeys, and surlines and ribs of beef, and sech 
 truck! He knows I don't want sech things, and he 
 does it jest to aggravate me. If he wants to do any- 
 thing for me, why don't he gim me the money he 
 pays out for 'em? That's what I want to know." 
 
 "I don't think you've hit the nail on the head 
 this time, Mr. Fairfield," added Dock, who evidently 
 
HALF BOUND THE WORLD. 40 
 
 had a theory of his own to propose. " They say 
 you are worth some thirty or forty thousand dollars, 
 Mr. Fairfield." 
 
 " Bless ye ! I ain't wuth no sech money. I've 
 got a little or sunthin, but I expect to lose it all." 
 
 "Well, call it twenty thousand, then." 
 
 "I ain't wuth that," added Mr. Fairfield, testily; 
 for, like all misers, he desired to conceal his posses- 
 sions, as much to blind the assessors as to avoid the 
 peril of robbery. 
 
 "Well, you are worth something." 
 
 "A little or sunthin," answered Mr. Fairfield, con- 
 ceding this for the sake of argument. 
 
 "Have you made a will, Squire Fairfield?" 
 
 "ISTo, I hain't made no will I hain't got nothin' 
 to leave wuth makin' a will for." 
 
 Dock did not believe this statement, but he took 
 no notice of it. 
 
 "You haven't any children, and if you should die, 
 half of your money would go to Levi, and half to 
 your wife. If you should die, Levi would make ten 
 or fifteen thousand dollars by it. Don't you see now 
 what he gives you chickens and turkeys for? He 
 4 
 
50 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OB 
 
 means to keep things smooth till you step out. If 
 you shouldn't come back, when you go out after dog- 
 fish to-morrow morning, Levi wouldn't feel half so bad 
 about it as I should." 
 
 This was a disagreeable topic to the miser, and he 
 cut it short; but the idea that Levi was ready to 
 have him die took fast hold of his shattered mind. 
 Dock Vincent had produced the impression he de- 
 sired; he had added fresh fuel to the flame of the 
 old man's hatred; and he was content to let the 
 subject drop for the present. 
 
 Dock, finding himself a person of no consequence at 
 the Cape, had already announced his intention to emi- 
 grate to Australia with his family ; and he appeared 
 to be waiting only to wreak his vengeance upon Levi 
 Fairfield, who had defeated his plan to swindle Mr. 
 Watson out of twenty thousand dollars. The young 
 man had exposed and ruined him, in his estimation 
 — not the crime ; and he could not leave the country 
 till he had "paid him off," though he was not so 
 particular about his honest debts. 
 
 The next morning Dock went down to the land- 
 ing-place. When he reached the chasm, he saw 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 51 
 
 Levi coming across the" beach. His eyes glowed with 
 hatred, as they always did when he looked upon the 
 author of his misfortunes, the one whose testimony 
 had sent him to the state prison. He did not care 
 to meet him, and it was evident that Levi was com- 
 ing for his boat. Stooping down, he adjusted the 
 plank over the chasm in such a way that his victim 
 would be pitched down upon the sharp rocks beneath, 
 the instant he stepped upon it. The fall would not 
 kill him — it would only bruise and maim him. Levi 
 was beneath the rocky precipice, and could not see 
 him. 
 
 There was a smile on the villain's countenance as 
 he retreated to a place of concealment near the spot, 
 to wait for the disaster that should lay his victim 
 upon the bed of pain and suffering. 
 
 He waited ten minutes for the crash of the falling 
 plank; but it did not come. Rising from his seat, 
 he moved to a position where, looking through the 
 chasm, he saw The Starry Flag standing over to- 
 wards Mr. Watson's house. Levi had walked on 
 the shelving rocks, and reached the landing without 
 
52 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OE 
 
 crossing the bridge. Dock was disappointed, and 
 began to climb the rocks to readjust the plank. As 
 he ascended, he discovered Mr. Fairfield, just step- 
 ping on the bridge. He shouted, but it was too 
 late; the end of the plank slipped off, the old man 
 danced ^upon nothing, and sank in the abyss below. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 53 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AN INDUCTIVE ARGUMENT. 
 
 DOCK VINCENT was appalled to find that he 
 had tumbled Mr. Fairfield into the chasm; 
 not that he was disturbed by any compunctions of 
 conscience, but because he wished to keep on the 
 right side of the old man, from prudential motives. 
 He was in doubt whether to exhibit himself to the 
 injured man or not. If he showed himself, he might 
 be suspected of setting the trap into which the miser 
 had fallen. 
 
 The old man might be dead, and curiosity, if no 
 stronger motive, induced him to inquire into his con- 
 dition ; but he took the precaution to reach the path 
 by a roundabout way, and approach the chasm as 
 though he had just come from his house. When 
 he reached the abyss, he found Mr. Fairfield had 
 risen, and was trying to climb up the rocks. He 
 
54 FREAKS OP FORTUNE, OR 
 
 was groaning and taking on as though he had been 
 badly hurt. 
 
 "What's the matter, Squire Fairfield?" demanded' 
 Dock. "What you doing down there?" 
 
 " O ! O ! " groaned the miser. 
 
 "Looking for your money in there?" 
 
 "O! No! O! I fell in," said the sufferer, in 
 gasps. 
 
 "Fell in! Why, how did that happen?" asked 
 Dock, with well-feigned astonishment. 
 
 " I donno. O ! that plank gin away, O, and let 
 me down." 
 
 "Are you hurt?" 
 
 "Most killed," replied Mr. Fairfield, holding his 
 breath, and then exploding the words. 
 
 Dock walked clown the shelving bank above the 
 water, and then entered the chasm. 
 
 "Where are you hurt?" he asked. 
 
 " My hips is both broke, and I'm jarred e'enamost 
 to pieces." 
 
 " I guess your hips aren't broke ; you couldn't 
 stand up if they were," suggested Dock. 
 
 "Sunthin's broke, I know." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOULD. 55 
 
 "Sit down on this rock, and let me see what is 
 
 broke." 
 
 Mr. Fairfield complied, and Dock, who, as the 
 master of a vessel, had had some experience with 
 sickness and injuries, carefully examined the old man's 
 limbs. He was badly bruised in several places, on 
 the legs and arms, but no bones appeared to be 
 broken, so far as Dock's surgical skill could discern. 
 The jar of the fall had doubtless racked his frame 
 severely ; but the miser was still a strong man, phys- 
 ically, and could bear a pretty hard rap. 
 
 After resting a while, and rubbing his limbs, the 
 sufferer was able, with the assistance of Dock, to 
 walk home. He went to bed, and his wife bathed 
 his limbs, and dressed the bruises on his legs and 
 arms. 
 
 " Shall I go for the doctor, Squire Fairfield?" asked 
 Dock, when he had assisted the patient into his bed. 
 
 " The doctor ? No ; he charges a dollar a visit," 
 replied the old man, fearfully ; for the idea of paying 
 a physician's bill filled him with horror. "You say 
 there ain't no bones broke; so I don't need no 
 doctor." 
 
56 
 
 " He don't need no doctor," added Mrs. Fairfield. 
 
 "I don't think you do myself. I've had worse 
 cases than this aboard my vessel, and I got along 
 without any doctors. You'll be all right in a week 
 or two, Squire Fairfield." 
 
 "It's jest my luck" sighed the miser. " Every- 
 thing's goin' wrong with me. I shouldn't be a grain 
 surprised if the house burned down over my head 
 afore I got out agin. I shan't ketch no dog-fish 
 to-day, that's sartain. There's ten dollars out o' my 
 pocket, as sure's you live!" 
 
 Dock was a rough comforter; but he spoke such 
 words of consolation as the occasion required and his 
 vocabulary contained. 
 
 "It's jest my luck," rej^eated the miser. "Every 
 other man in town might have walked over that 
 plank, and it wouldn't gin away. I walked over 
 that plank last night, and airly this morning. I see, 
 when I stepped on to it, that somebody had been 
 a movin' on it; but I didn't know the 'tother eend 
 was only just ketched on to the rock." 
 
 " Who moved it ? " asked Dock, rather disturbed 
 by this suggestion of a suspicion. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOELD. 57 
 
 "I don't know nothin' about it; but somebody's 
 been a movin' on it, or it wouldn't a gin away under 
 me, and let me down." 
 
 " But who could have moved the plank ? " per- 
 sisted Dock. 
 
 " I donno ; the eend I stepped on was kinder 
 hauled up." 
 
 " You say the plank was all right in the morning, 
 when you went down ? " 
 
 " Sartin it was. I went over it, and fixed the dory, 
 ready to go arter dog-fish, arter breakfast." 
 
 "Well, the question is, Who has been down to 
 the P'int since you went?" 
 
 " I donno ; but I believe somebody's tryin' to kill 
 me — that's what I believe." 
 
 " O, nonsense! who should want to kill you?" 
 
 "I donno," replied Mr. Fairfield, hastily, and in a 
 tone which implied that he knew very well who in- 
 tended to kill him, but he did not wish to name the 
 person. " If I hadn't been as tough as an old black- 
 fish, it would have killed me, as sure as fate; that's 
 the whole truth on't ! " 
 
 "But who could have set such a trap?" persisted 
 Dock. 
 
58 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " You didn't — did you ? " added the old man, 
 innocently. 
 
 " Of course I didn't. You don't think I'd do such 
 a thing as that," said Dock, laughing. 
 
 "My wife didn't — did she?" 
 
 " Massy sakes ! What's got into your head, Na- 
 than ? " interposed the old lady. " Goodness knows 
 I didn't do no sech thing." 
 
 Mrs. Fairfield was a simple-minded woman, and she 
 did not comprehend that her disabled lord was only 
 reasoning by an interrogatory and inductive method. 
 
 " Certainly Mrs. Fairfield didn't meddle with the 
 plank," added Dock. 
 
 "'Twan't Mr. Watson — was it? nor the Watson 
 gal, nuther?" 
 
 " No," answered Dock. 
 
 "Who was it, then — don't you see?" 
 
 Dock did not choose to see yet, though his mental 
 visuals had perceived from the beginning what the 
 old man was driving at; and he was greatly re- 
 joiced to have the suspicion turned away from him- 
 self. 
 
 "Who else goes down on to that P'int, almost 
 
HALF HOUND TIIE WORLD. 59 
 
 every day of the week, 'cept Sunday ? — and he don't 
 go then 'cause he's go'n' to jine the church," contin- 
 ued the miser, excited by the topic he was discussing. 
 
 " You don't mean Levi — do you ? " said Dock, 
 opening his eyes as wide as the hawse-holes of a 
 man-of-war. 
 
 "I see The Starry Flag a standin' over to Mr. 
 Watson's new house when I was goin' down to the 
 Pint." 
 
 " Did you ? " asked Dock, when the old man 
 paused to note the effect of the climax of the induc- 
 tive argument upon the listener. 
 
 "I sartainly did. That proves that Levi went 
 down to the P'int afore I did — don't it?" 
 
 " Well — yes ; he went down there, of course," add- 
 ed Dock, in rather deprecating tones. "He couldn't 
 have got his boat if he hadn't gone down there." 
 
 " Then of course Levi done it ! " exclaimed the 
 old man. " 'Tain't no use o' beating round the bush 
 no more. Levi done it, and he meant to kill me." 
 
 "'Tain't so!" protested Mrs. Fairfield, warmly. 
 "There ain't no sense nor reason in savin' Levi done 
 it. Levi wouldn't do seek a thing." 
 
60 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " He may jine all the churches in town, but I tell 
 you he's a bad boy, and he's go'n' as straight to the 
 gallows as a chicken goes to her dough. Don't you 
 know how he used me? how he fit me, and found 
 fault with his victuals ; and then got all the property 
 took away from me, jest because I wouldn't let him 
 spend it all ? Don't tell me ! I know what Levi 
 Fairfield is better 'n any other man." 
 
 "What on airth should the boy wan't to break 
 your bones for, let alone killin' on you?" demanded 
 Mrs. Fairfield. 
 
 " O, well, Susan, you're nothm' but a woman ; and 
 we can't expect women folks to see through every- 
 thing — can we, Dock ? " 
 
 "Your wife has excellent judgment about things 
 in general, Squire Fairfield," replied Dock, smoothly. 
 
 "There now! Tell me I don't know!" retorted 
 the irate helpmate, somewhat appeased by the deli- 
 cate compliment. "'Tain't in reason that boy meant 
 to do sech a thing." 
 
 Mr. Fairfield groaned, and changed his position in 
 the bed. His bones ached, and his bruises smarted ; 
 but the task of showing that Levi was wicked 
 
HALF BOUND THE WORLD. 61 
 
 enough even to plan a deliberate murder was too 
 pleasing a one to be abandoned, though the twinges 
 of pain that darted through the miser's limbs indi- 
 cated rest both for body and mind. The sufferer 
 rehearsed all the points bearing ^gainst his nephew 
 in the heinous act under consideration, and he suc- 
 ceeded in satisfying himself and his visitor that the 
 young man intended to shorten his uncle's life. Mrs. 
 Fairfield, — grateful for the newspapers, which had 
 given her a new joy in the desolate world, and for 
 the chickens, turkeys, and roasting-pieces, which af- 
 orded her an occasional respite from salt fish and 
 fresh fish, — Mrs. Fairfield was obstinate, and refused 
 to "believe that Levi — who, by the way, had just 
 added the " Cape Ann Light " to his aunt's sum 
 total of earthly joys — was capable of doing a wick- 
 ed act. 
 
 " Women folks don't see through things," said Mr. 
 Fairfield, disgusted at his wife's want of perception. 
 " I've been thinkin' o' what you said last night," he 
 added, turning to Dock. " I never thought of sech a 
 thing before ; but, I vow, it's just as you said." 
 
 "Well, Squire Fairfield, I didn't say that to set 
 
62 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OK 
 
 you against the boy; only to have you keep your 
 eyes open," replied Dock. 
 
 " When I fell into that hole, it opened my eyes so 
 wide, I shan't shet 'em agin very soon." 
 
 Mrs. Fairfield w%nted to know "what on airth all 
 this talk meant ; " and the relations of Levi to his 
 uncle's post-mortem estate were explained, so that 
 " women folks " could understand them. She did not 
 believe Levi cared for the property, what there was 
 of it, and she was not yet willing to believe that he 
 set the trap to destroy his uncle. 
 
 "I believe it; and what's more, I know it," per- 
 sisted the miser. " But I'll cheat him out of it ; I'll 
 make a will this very day! I'll give what little I 
 have to Susan — I will, by gracious!" 
 
 " It's very proper for you to do so," replied Dock, 
 mildly. 
 
 "Can't you write a will, Dock?" 
 
 "Me! No. I don't know how. You must make 
 it strong, or they'll break it, you know. Better send 
 for Squire Saunders, and have it done right." 
 
 "Squire Saunders !" exclaimed the invalid. "What'll 
 he charge?" 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOELD. 63 
 
 "O, five dollars, perhaps." 
 
 "Five dollars! What, jest for writin' a little or 
 sunthin ? " 
 
 "Perhaps he won't charge you more than three." 
 
 "I shan't give no three dollars, nuther. I can't 
 afford it. I'm e'enamost stripped of everything now." 
 
 The will was not made, and Dock left the house, 
 promising to call again in the afternoon. 
 
64 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE STARRY FLAG. 
 
 LEVI FAIRFIELD, in happy ignorance of the 
 misfortune which had befallen his uncle, headed 
 The Starry Flag towards the mansion of Mr. Wat- 
 son. This was to be a great day with him, and he 
 was filled . with hope and exultation. 
 
 The Starry Flag was a capital boat, but Levi had 
 long been beset by an ambition to sail something 
 larger. This desire was about to be realized, for Mr. 
 "Watson, always a lover of the sea, had contracted 
 for a yacht of eighty tons, at the establishment of a 
 celebrated builder in the city. She was to be ready 
 by the 1st of June, but she was not completely 
 stored and furnished ti!$ the 10th. 
 
 Mr. Watson had remained i# the city over t night, 
 and was to sail in the yacht for his summer home 
 the next morniug — on the day that Levi missed 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 65 
 
 falling into the chasm. As the wind was fair, and 
 tolerably fresh, the young skipper thought she would 
 arrive by noon, and he was to take the ladies round 
 as far as Eastern Point, to give her a welcome to 
 the waters of the Cape, 
 
 Levi was to be the commander of the yacht, and 
 he»was every way qualified for the position. He had 
 studied navigation, could take an observation, and do 
 all the problems required of a thorough sailing mas- 
 ter. On the deck of a vessel he was in his element, 
 and there was not a point in navigation or seaman- 
 ship with which he was not familiar. He could not 
 only hand, ree^ and steer, but he could knot and 
 splice, parcel and serve, as neatly and as skilfully as 
 a veteran man-of-war's man. He was interested in 
 such matters, and had spent hours and hours in mak- 
 ing short and long splices, eye splices, Turk's heads, 
 and other parts of rigging, until he was an adept 
 in the art. 
 
 Bessie had been the prime mover in this enter- 
 prise. She insisted upon having a craft in which the 
 whole family could go off for a month, and be almost 
 as comfortable as in their own home. She prevailed 
 i 
 
66 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OB 
 
 in this, as she did in nearly everything which involved 
 only the will of her father to gratify her. 
 
 Bessie and Mrs. McGilvery were handed into the 
 boat at the pier behind the house, and The Starry 
 Flag was soon dancing over the long waves that roll 
 into Sandy Bay from the broad ocean. All the party 
 were excited; for to see a splendid, new yacht, in 
 which they hoped to have many good times, was 
 enough to kindle a glowing enthusiasm in such lov- 
 ers of the art of boating. 
 
 "You don't know her name yet — do you, Levi?" 
 said Bessie, in a kind of taunting tone. 
 
 " I do not, but I shall soon find out if this breeze 
 holds," replied the skipper, who had been wilfully 
 kept in ignorance on this important matter. 
 
 « "Wouldn't you like to know ? " added Bessie, teas- 
 ing him. 
 
 "Of course I would; but I am willing to wait a 
 few hours longer." 
 
 " Why don't you manifest a little impatience about 
 it?" pouted she. 
 
 "It wouldn't do any good; besides, I am a Yan- 
 kee, and I think I can guess what her name is. In- 
 deed, I feel almost sure I know it." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 67 
 
 "What do you think it is?" 
 
 "That's telling," laughed Levi. 
 
 "But won't you tell me?" said Bessie, assuming 
 an imploring look. 
 
 " I thitfk I will pay you off by keeping still." 
 
 "Do tell me what you think it is. I shall not 
 like it if you don't." 
 
 Levi would have dived down among the fishes if 
 such had been her will, and he was compelled to 
 answer, — 
 
 " Of course there is only one name for her, and 
 your father must have chosen that." 
 
 "Perhaps not. But why don't you say what you 
 think the name is?" 
 
 " Will you tell me if I guess right ? " 
 
 " I will if you guess right the first time." 
 
 " Very well ; here goes, then ! Her name is the 
 Bessie Watson, to be sure. There is no other name 
 fit for her." 
 
 "No! How absurd you are, Levi Fairfield!" re- 
 plied Bessie, blushing up to the eyes. 
 
 "No? Why, that ought to be her name, if it 
 isn't. It's the Bessie, the Bessie Watson, or some- 
 
68 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 thing of that kind. I know it is. Of course your 
 father wouldn't think of calling her by any other 
 name." 
 
 " It isn't anything of the kind, Levi. I am will- 
 ing to confess that father wanted to name her after 
 me, but I wouldn't let him. I wanted another name." 
 
 " I'm sorry you did, for I wanted that name ; and 
 I shall not enjoy her half so much as I should if she 
 had been called after you," replied Levi, not at all in 
 the tones of gallantry, but in those of simple truth 
 and sincerity. 
 
 "It is very kind of you to say so, and to think 
 so, Levi; but I believe she has received a better 
 name," added Bessie, not unmoved by the devotion 
 of the gallant skipper. 
 
 " There isn't any better name. I'm really disap- 
 pointed." 
 
 "You will not be when you read her name." 
 
 " But what is the name ? " asked Levi, seriously. 
 
 "The — why, I almost told you!" laughed Bessie. 
 
 " I hope it is not a hard name, for sailors make 
 such a fuss about jaw-breaking words. An old coast- 
 er meant to name his vessel the Amphitrite, but he 
 
HALF KOUND THE WORLD. 69 
 
 gave the name of Anthracite to the painter, and it 
 was duly lettered upon the stern. However, it an- 
 swered just as well, as the craft went into the coal 
 trade." 
 
 " It isn't a long name, nor a hard one, and I know 
 it will suit you." 
 
 " Well, Bessie, if it suits you, it will suit me," add- 
 ed Levi; "though I did ho-pa she would be called 
 the Bessie." 
 
 The Starry Flag sped on her way, and before noon 
 was off Eastern Point. There were several coasters 
 ajyproaching, but Levi could not make out the yacht 
 till he examined every craft with the spy-glass. 
 
 "I see her!" exclaimed he, as he headed his boat 
 so as to intercept her. 
 
 "Is she handsome?" asked Bessie. 
 
 "I can't make her out very well at this distance; 
 but we shall be up with her in half an hour or so." 
 
 Bessie looked through the glass, and so did Mrs. 
 McGilvery, but they did not obtain much satisfaction. 
 The yacht was making her ten knots, and in the 
 time Levi had named they were within hailing dis- 
 tance of her. 
 
70 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " She is a beauty, and no mistake ! " exclaimed the 
 skipper, warmly. " She is pretty enough to be called 
 the Bessie Watson." 
 
 " You mustn't say such things, Levi. They are 
 not pretty," said Bessie, very seriously. 
 
 " The yacht is pretty enough, and so is the one 
 she ought to have been named after," persisted the 
 gallant skipper. 
 
 " There it is again ! You are real naughty, Levi," 
 pouted she; and probably, like all pretty girls, she 
 had a distaste for compliments. 
 
 " Yacht ahoy ! " shouted Levi. 
 
 But Mr. Watson had already recognized The Starry 
 Flag, and the yacht was thrown up into the wind. 
 Levi hauled in his sheet, and sailed in a graceful 
 curve around the stern of the vessel, intent upon 
 reading the secret which had been so persistently 
 kept from him. 
 
 "Now you will know!" exclaimed Bessie, gazing 
 anxiously into his face to observe the effect of the 
 discovery upon him. 
 
 " Dog-fish and dunderfunk ! " ejaculated Levi, as he 
 read the name, " Tiie Starry Flag!" 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 71 
 
 " There now, Mr. Skipper ! Isn't that the name 
 of all names for her.?" 
 
 " The Starry Flag ! " repeated Levi, as he gazed at 
 the golden letters on the stern of the yacht. 
 
 "Why don't you say something, you absurd skip- 
 per ? I'm dying to know what you think of it, and 
 you don't say a word." 
 
 "I like it first-rate; but if I had read 'Bessie' 
 there, I should have liked it better, much as I like 
 it now." 
 
 " I couldn't have her named after me ! How ridic- 
 ulous ! I'm sorry you don't like the name." 
 
 " But I do like it, Bessie ; though you couldn't 
 expect me to like any other name as well as yours." 
 
 " Why, how absurd you are ! " replied Bessie, as 
 Levi ran the boat up to the yacht. 
 
 The gangway had been rigged so that the passage 
 from one craft to the other was an easy matter, even 
 for ladies. Mr. Watson assisted them on* board. One 
 of the hands, who knew the coast, was deputed to 
 take charge of The Starry Flag, and Levi went on 
 board of the beautiful vessel he was to command. 
 
 "Well, Levi, what do you think of her?" asked 
 
72 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 Mr. Watson, after they had walked around the deck, 
 and inspected the cabin and cook-room of the yacht* 
 
 " She is magnificent, sir f " replied Levi. " She is, 
 without exception, the finest yacht I ever saw, and I 
 have examined a great many." 
 
 "I am glad she suits you. How do you like the 
 name ? " 
 
 " Very much, sir, though if it had been the Bessie, 
 I should have liked it better." 
 
 " I intended to give her that name, but Bessie was 
 contrary, and insisted that she should be called The 
 Starry Flag, in grateful remembrance of her trip from 
 the Penobscot. I really appreciate her motives, and 
 both of us desire to perpetuate the name of your 
 boat by giving it to the finest yacht that could be 
 built." 
 
 " Since it pleases both you and her, I ought to 
 be satisfied with it — and I am. We have two 
 Starry Flags now, and we may get them mixed." 
 
 "The name of your boat shall henceforth be The 
 Starry Flag, Jr.," laughed Mr. Watson. " When we 
 say The Starry Flag, we mean the yacht, and when 
 we say The Starry Flag, Jr., we mean your boat " 
 
HALF EOUND THE WORLD. 73 
 
 The Starry Flag, then, cut her way through the 
 long billows at a rate which was highly gratifying to 
 the embryo captain, who, prompt to his instincts, had 
 taken the helm, when he had examined her. He 
 declared that she steered splendidly, and he was sure 
 she would prove to be a good sea-boat. In a short 
 time she came to anchor off Mike's Point. The 
 steward had prepared a lunch for the party,, and they 
 sat clown at the table as soon as the yacht swung 
 round to her cable. 
 
 " Now, Levi, you must get a crew for your vessel. 
 These men, with the exception of the cook and stew- 
 ard, will return to Boston this afternoon," said Mr. 
 Watson. 
 
 " Are the crew to leave her ? " 
 
 " I only engaged them to bring her down, for I 
 thought that you would prefer to select your own 
 hands." 
 
 " I should," replied Levi, thinking what young men 
 he could procure. 
 
 "We shall be ready to start on our cruise to the 
 eastward in three or four days " added Mr. Watson. 
 
 "I will be ready, sir" 
 
74 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 By the time the lunch was disposed of, The Starry- 
 Flag, Jr. had arrived, and Levi landed the party. 
 He was anxious to engage his crew, and he ran tho 
 boat over to her moorings; On the rocks he found 
 Dock Vincent, who had been observing the yacht. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 75 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GRATE CHARGES. 
 
 WHAT vessel's that, Levi?" asked Dock Vin- 
 cent, as the young skipper landed on the 
 rocks. 
 
 "It's The Starry Flag," replied Levi, smiling. 
 
 " No, I mean the large yacht, off the Point." 
 
 « So do I." 
 
 " You don't mean to tell me that vessel 's called 
 The Starry Flag ! " 
 
 "Yes, I do; that's her name. My boat is now 
 called The Starry Flag, Jr.," answered Levi, begin- 
 ning to move off, for he was not disposed to hold 
 any intercourse with such a person as Dock Vincent. 
 
 "Hold on a minute, Levi; tell us about her," said 
 Dock. "What is she for?" 
 
 " A yacht ; but I am in a hurry now." 
 
 •"Wait a minute. I have some bad news to tell 
 you." 
 
76 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OE 
 
 "Bad news?" 
 
 "Your uncle had an ugly fall this morning, just 
 after you went off in the boat," added Dock. 
 
 "Where did he fall?" asked the young skipper, 
 interested now, and troubled by the information. 
 
 " He fell into the cut, where the plank crosses it," 
 replied Dock, jwinting to the place where the acci- 
 dent had occurred. 
 
 "Is he much hurt?" 
 
 "Yes; I think the old man is putty badly dam- 
 aged in his timbers. He has taken to his bed, and 
 I shouldn't wonder if he had to stay there a 
 month." 
 
 " I am sorry for it," said Levi, with entire sincerity. 
 "How did it happen?" 
 
 Dock exj:>lained how it happened, taking care to 
 locate himself at a considerable distance from "the 
 scene of the catastrophe. 
 
 " The old man thinks somebody fixed the plank so 
 as to make him fall," added he, finishing his narrative. 
 
 " To make him fall ! " exclaimed the attentive lis- 
 tener. "Who does he think did it?" 
 
 " Well, Levi, he thinks you did it," answered Dock, 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 77 
 
 softening his tones, so as not to commit himself to 
 this view. 
 
 " I ! " 
 
 "The old man thinks so, but that don't make it 
 so, you know." 
 
 "What makes him think I did it?" 
 
 " Because you were the last person that went down 
 to the P'int before he did. You were running over 
 to Watson's new house, in the Flag, when the thing 
 happened." 
 
 "I haven't been over the plank to-day," said Levi. 
 
 "You went to your boat just before the old man 
 come down here; and he don't see who else could 
 have done it." 
 
 "I did not cross on the plank; I went along on 
 the rocks, as I always do when I come across the 
 second beach," protested the young skipper. 
 
 "Well, I don't know anything about it, you see, 
 Levi," added Dock, in deprecatory tones. " I only tell 
 you what the old man told me. He knows you 
 hate him." 
 
 " But 1 don't hate him." 
 
 "Don't you?" asked Dock, with a sceptical grin. 
 
78 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 "I'm sure I do not," answered Levi, with em- 
 phasis. 
 
 " Perhaps you don't ; but after all the trouble there's 
 been between you and the old mau, it wouldn't be 
 strange if you hated him and he hated you." 
 
 Probably Dock was as sincere as Levi; for there 
 was not a Christian idea in his head, or a Christian 
 purpose in his heart. He had no keener perception 
 of. the sublime doctrine of forgiving one's enemies, 
 than the beasts of the field or the fowls of the air. 
 In his view it was the most natural thing in the 
 world for the uncle to hate the nephew, and for the 
 nephew to hate the uncle ; and he did not believe it 
 possible for either of them to banish the foul impulse 
 from his heart. 
 
 "I don't hate my uncle; I would do anything in 
 the world for him," continued Levi, earnestly, but 
 thoughtfully, for he was deeply pained by the suspi- 
 cions of his uncle. 
 
 "I'm going up to see the old man, by and by, 
 and I'll tell him what you say about it," added 
 Dock. 
 
 " I have a great deal to do, but I shall go and see 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 79 
 
 him myself," said Levi, as he began to move up the 
 rocks again. 
 
 "What's your hurry, Levi? I want to talk with 
 you about that vessel. She is a fine schooner." 
 
 " She is all that. I have to find a crew for her, 
 for we are going off on a cruise in three or four 
 days. Do you know of any young fellows who want 
 to make good wages without working very hard?" 
 
 " Yes ; there's Mat Mogmore," replied Dock, after 
 a little reflection. " He'll make a first-rate hand for 
 you. I rather think he'll go off to Australia with 
 me in the Caribbee." 
 
 "In the what?" 
 
 " In the Caribbee — that's my vessel. She's a 
 schooner, rather larger than that yacht, and she'll 
 outsail anything of her inches that ever floated. If 
 you want Mat Mogmore, he'll be glad of a lay in 
 that yacht, for I shan't get off for three weeks yet. 
 I'll speak to him about it." 
 
 Levi preferred to do his own speaking, not wish- 
 ing to place himself under any obligation, however 
 slight, to a man of Dock's character and antecedents. 
 He decided to visit his uncle at once, and call at 
 
80 EEEAKS OP FOETUNE, OE 
 
 Mr. Mogmore's house on his way home. With some 
 difficulty he escajDed from his ancient enemy, and 
 crossing the plank, which had been placed in its 
 original j^osition by Dock after the accident, he 
 walked up the tongue of land, dreading the scene 
 at his uncle's which the information he had received 
 led him to exj>ect. 
 
 He found his aunt in the kitchen, and inquired 
 particularly into the condition of uncle Nathan. She 
 thought he was " a leetle more comfortable," and 
 told Levi to go in and see him if he wanted to, for 
 she was confident that the young man could clear 
 himself from the grave charge preferred against him. 
 
 "How do you feel, uncle Nathan?" asked Levi, 
 kindly, as he entered the bed-room. 
 
 The old man looked at him with a* savage stare, 
 but made no rej)ly. 
 
 "I a/n sorry you have had such a fall," continued 
 Levi. 
 
 "No, you ain't sorry, nuther! What do you want 
 to say that for, Levi Fairfield? It's all your work, 
 and 'tain't likely you keer how much I suffer," growled 
 the injured man, his words interspersed with many a 
 groan. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 81 
 
 " What is my work, uncle ? " asked Levi, mildly. 
 
 " Didn't you fix that plank over tlie cut so's to 
 gim me this fall?" 
 
 " No, sir, I'm sure I did not/' protested Levi. 
 
 "Don't tell me!" groaned the old man, suffering 
 as much from passion as from pain. 
 
 " I can only say, uncle, that I have not touched 
 the plank; and I did not go near it this morning." 
 
 "'Tain't no use; I know you did! You went 
 down to your boat afore I did, for I see you standin 1 
 over to Watson's new house jest afore I fell. You 
 want to kill me — that's what you're tryin' to do ; 
 and you e'enamost done it this mornin'." 
 
 " I'm sorry you have such an opinion of me, uncle," 
 replied Levi, more in sorrow and pity than in anger. 
 
 " You've got most of my money afore I'm dead, 
 and you mean to have the rest on't arter I'm gone," 
 continued the old man, in angry, whining tones. 
 
 "Do you still think I took the gold, uncle Na- 
 than?" 
 
 " Do I think so ! I know you did ! Nobody else 
 took it, and nobody could done it but you! What 
 liave you done with it?" 
 6 
 
82 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " I know nothing about it, uncle. I am sorry you 
 think so hard of me. I'm ready and willing to do 
 anything I can for you." 
 
 "Then gim me back my money I" 
 
 " I haven't it." 
 
 "Yes, you have!" 
 
 It was useless to talk with the sufferer, and Levi's 
 presence only excited him. After repeating, in the 
 gentlest of tones, his desire to serve him, the young 
 skipper turned to depart. 
 
 "You'll be found out, Levi Fairfield, and you'll 
 have to give that money up. 'Tain't no use to try 
 to git red on me, for I'm go'n' to make a will, and 
 leave what little I've got to your aunt," said Mr. 
 Fairfield. 
 
 "Uncle Nathan, do you really think I want your 
 money?" asked Levi, beginning to be indignant at 
 the foul suspicions of the old man. 
 
 " That's what you want to kill me for," whined 
 the miser. 
 
 "I don't want to kill you, or hurt you." 
 
 "Fm go'n' to make a will ; so 'tain't no use to try 
 to git red of me any more." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 83 
 
 Levi pitied the sufferer, as much for his moral as 
 his mental obtuseness, and fearful that his indignation 
 might get the better of his pity, he left the room. 
 His uncle threatened him with all the terrors of the 
 courts and the prisons as he withdrew. In the kitch- 
 en he found Dock Vincent, who had come to make 
 his promised afternoon visit. Levi left immediately, 
 and called at the house of the carpenter. Mat Mog- 
 more, after some haggling, consented to become one 
 of the crew of the yacht. He was a young man of 
 eighteen, who had made two or three fishing voy- 
 ages, and was a smart, active fellow. He had been 
 rather intimate with Dock since the return of the 
 latter; and this was all Levi had against him. Be- 
 fore night, the young captain of The Starry Flag had 
 engaged three other hands. The crew were to go 
 on board the next morning, when Levi intended to 
 start on a trial trip, for the purpose of training his 
 men, and becoming more familiar himself with the 
 working of the yacht. 
 
 Dock Vincent entered the chamber of Mr. Fair- 
 field. He found the old man agitated, and almost 
 crying with anger and vexation. 
 
84 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " So Levi 's been to see you," said the visitor, seat- 
 ing himself at the bedside. 
 
 "Yes, he has! Sunthin must be done, Cap'n Vin- 
 cent," replied the old man, trying to rise on the bed, 
 but sinking back with a groan. 
 
 "Don't try to git up; keep still, Squire Fairfield, 
 and don't hurt yourself," interposed Dock. 
 
 "I can't stand this no longer!" howled the miser- 
 able man, the tears starting in his eyes. " Sunthin 
 must be done." 
 
 "What shall it be, squire?" asked the comforter, 
 coolly. 
 
 "I can't stand it no longer, and I won't, nuther," 
 repeated the sufferer. " Somebody 's got my money, 
 and I must git it back, or it'll kill me. That boy 
 must be took up, and sarched till the money's found. 
 I know he's got it. Nobody else couldn't have took 
 it. He must have kerried it off in that little saw- 
 mill. That's what he come arter the saw-mill for — 
 to kerry off the money in." 
 
 "Do you want to have Levi arrested?" asked 
 Dock, musing. 
 
 "Yes; he must be took up. As soon as he sees 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOULD. 85 
 
 Fm in airnest, he'll git scared, and give up the 
 money." 
 
 " Musn't be too hasty, squire. If you be, it'll dam- 
 age you." 
 
 " No 'twon't ; nothin' can damage me now. I'll 
 resk it. Git a constable ; but don't git Gayles." 
 
 Dock counselled moderation, and thought it would 
 be better to wait till they had more proof, before 
 taking any decisive steps. Pie finally quieted the old 
 man by promising to "hunt up the evidence," and 
 have Levi arrested as soon as there was any proof 
 to work with. 
 
86 FKEAKS OF FOKTUNE, OE 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CONSTABLE COOKE. 
 
 LEVI went on his experimental trip in The 
 Starry Flag the next day. The wind was very 
 fresh, and he had an excellent opportunity to test 
 the weatherly qualities of the yacht, and she proved 
 to be all he had anticipated or desired. She would 
 sail almost into the wind's eye, and went through 
 a chop sea as steadily as a judge through a trial. 
 Captain Fairfield, as all hands on board called him, 
 was proud and happy in his new situation. He was 
 in his element ; and it was not likely that the pos- 
 session of any sum of money could long keep him 
 from the position he was bom to fill — the command 
 of a vessel. 
 
 The yacht was fitted up below with special refer- 
 ence to the wants of her owner's family and friends. 
 Her trunk extended nearly the whole length of her, 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 87 
 
 affording a high and s]:>acious cabin for a vessel of 
 her size. On each side of the companion-way, lead- 
 ing down from the cockpit, or standing-room, was a 
 small state-room, one of which was appropriated to 
 the nse of the captain. It contained a single berth, 
 a writing-desk, a plentiful supply of lockers, drawers, 
 shelves, and brackets for clothing, charts, and nautical 
 instruments. Levi had installed himself in this little 
 apartment, and felt like a lord, as he sat in its cush- 
 ioned arm-chair at the desk, glancing at his tasty 
 and convenient surroundings. 
 
 This state-room, and its fellow on the oj)posite side 
 of the ladder, opened into the main cabin, which 
 contained four berths, with curtains extending out in 
 front, so as to form an enclosure for each occupant, 
 securing entire privacy. Opening from the forward 
 part of the cabin were two large and airy rooms, each 
 having two berths, for the accommodation of Mr. 
 Watson's family. They contained every convenience 
 belonging to a first-class hotel, with a curious econo- 
 my of space, which would have excited the admira- 
 tion of those who have a taste for overcoming im- 
 possibilities. 
 
88 FREAKS OF FOETTTNE, OE 
 
 Between these state-rooms was a narrow passage- 
 way leading to the forecastle, which occupied about 
 half the length of the vessel, and contained the pan- 
 try, ice-house, cook-room, store-room, and six berths 
 in the forward part for the hands. 
 
 The cook and steward were colored men. The 
 former had served for years in a packet ship, and the 
 latter was a steamboat waiter, who never failed to 
 put on a white jacket at meal times. The four hands 
 who had been employed on the Cape were young 
 men, the oldest not over twenty, all of whom had 
 made several fishing voyages, and were hardy, active, 
 and accomplished seamen for a small craft. 
 
 On her trial trip Levi took the yacht as far as 
 Boone Island, on the coast of Maine. He dined in 
 state, all alone in the cabin, — he had no passengers 
 on this cruise, — and Augustus, the cabin steward, 
 wore his white jacket, and stood behind his chair. 
 In fact, Levi was Captain Fairfield on this occasion ; 
 and he wore his dignity with becoming modesty and 
 grace. 
 
 In the evening, after his return, he made a full 
 and enthusiastic report to Mr. Watson and the ladies 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 89 
 
 of the good behavior of the yacht, and declared that 
 he was ready at once to go round the world in her. 
 
 "We don't care about going round the world in 
 her, Levi," laughed Mr. "Watson ; " but on Monday 
 morning we will start for Mount Desert, if you are 
 ready at that time." 
 
 " I am ready now, sir." 
 
 "I cannot leave before Monday. If we enjoy this 
 trip, we will spend the whole of the month of Au- 
 gust on board of The Starry Flag. I should like to 
 go as far as the Bermudas, if you think it is safe to 
 take so long a voyage in her." 
 
 " Safe ! " exclaimed Levi. " You can cross the At- 
 lantic in her as safely as in a steamship. For my 
 part, I should feel safer in her than in any steamer 
 that ever went to sea. She would shake you up 
 more, perhaps, but she will take you through all right 
 if she is well handled." 
 
 "No doubt of it. I told the builder to have her 
 as strong as wood and iron could make her. My 
 directions were, first, strength, second, comfort, and 
 third, speed." 
 
 "I think he has got the speed in first, for we 
 
90 FEEAKS OP FORTUNE, OE 
 
 logged twelve knots to-day, with the wind free in 
 a choj>ping sea. But she can't be excelled for com- 
 fort and safety. I know by the feeling of her in a 
 sea just how she would behave in a gale." 
 
 "Have you seen Mr. Gayles since your return, 
 Levi?" asked Mr. Watson, suddenly changing the 
 subject, and wearing a look of anxiety. 
 
 "No, sir; he was not at home when I went to 
 supper," replied Levi, satisfied something unpleasant 
 had occurred ; and he had not much difficulty in 
 surmising its nature. 
 
 "Have you heard anything about a search-war- 
 rant ? " 
 
 "Not a word, sir; but I almost expected some- 
 thing of the kind. My uncle charged me with tak- 
 ing the money he lost; but I did not even know 
 that he had any money in his house," answered Levi, 
 grieved and mortified at the necessity of again de- 
 fending himself from such an assault. 
 
 "Mr, Gayles told me that your room at his house, 
 and indeed all his premises, had been searched by 
 Constable Cooke, in your absence, to-day, for the 
 missing gold." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 91 
 
 " Of course they did not find anything," replied 
 Levi, blushing. 
 
 «Nb, they did not; but perhaps they would if 
 your affairs had been managed by a less discreet per- 
 son than Mr. Gayles. It seems that Dock Vincent 
 went to the house, with the constable, about dinner 
 time. Your uncle appears to have employed Vin- 
 cent to look up the money for him. Mr. Gayles was 
 willing to admit the officer, but he positively refused 
 to allow Vincent to enter his house. Levi, that vil- 
 lain is the worst enemy a man ever had. You must 
 beware of him; have nothing to do with him, and 
 nothing to say to him." 
 
 "I do not, any more than I can help." 
 
 " The story now is, that you took your uncle's 
 money, and set a trap to kill or severely injure him 
 at the cut, because you are his legal heir." 
 ' " How absurd ! " interposed Bessie, indignantly, as 
 she rose from her chair, and seated herself by the 
 side of Levi on the sofa, her mild eyes beaming with 
 unwonted fire. 
 
 « Very absurd, my dear ; but there aru people who 
 are foolish enough to believe such absurd stories even 
 
92 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 of their own minister. Of course, Levi, there is no 
 real danger, but you may be seriously annoyed." 
 
 Levi was smart. He had done great deeds.' He 
 was known to be worth thirty-five or forty thousand 
 dollars, in the hands of his guardian ; and his inti- 
 mate relations with the family of Mr. Watson ren- 
 dered it exceedingly probable that he would eventu- 
 ally roll in wealth, to be counted by hundreds of 
 thousands. Most of the people were generous enough 
 to congratulate the young man, in their hearts, on 
 his brilliant prospects, especially as he did not put 
 on any airs, or cut any of his old friends. 
 
 But there were weak and evil-minded men and 
 women who envied his good fortune, and were ready 
 to seize upon any rumor which tended to bring dis- 
 credit upon him. Among these was Constable Cooke, 
 whom Dock Yincent had employed to search for Mr. 
 Fairfield's money. He could not help thinking that, 
 if he had been intrusted with the warrant for the 
 arrest of Levi, on the charge, three years before, of 
 purloining Kuel Belcher's money, instead of Mr. 
 Gayles, he would have done precisely as that worthy 
 man had, and in the end would have been appoint- 
 
HALF BOUND THE WOKLD. 93 
 
 ed the young man's guardian, making a few hundred 
 dollars every year in commissions on the care of the 
 property. He could not exactly forgive Mr. Gayles 
 for being so fortunate ; nor was he so exclusive as 
 to confine his dislike to the guardian, but extended 
 it to the ward. 
 
 Constable Cooke, therefore, was a fit person to do 
 the dirty work of Nathan Fairfield and his coadju- 
 tor. He adopted the miser's theory in full, that Levi 
 had set the house on fire with the candle, in order to 
 cover up the loss of the money, which he had con- 
 veyed from the house in the little, saw-mill. Since the 
 arrival of the yacht, it had even been conjectured 
 that she was the property of Levi, who had paid for 
 her with the ill-gotten gold. This theory, explained 
 and bolstered up with specious argument and sophis- 
 tical evidence by the constable, rather staggered many 
 people who believed in Levi. If the young man's 
 character had been doubtful, the theory would have 
 been plausible ; for, after all, a person's good character 
 is the best testimony in his favor. 
 
 Mr. Watson and Levi discussed the situation coolly, 
 though the ladies, with their warmer sympathies, were 
 
94 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 indignant, and disposed to be violent in their meas- 
 ures. Nothing could be done but to wait the issue of 
 events; and Levi walked as proudly as ever through 
 the streets of the town. The next day he took the 
 ladies out to sail in the yacht; but before he- went 
 he called at his uncle's house, carrying a nice tender- 
 loin steak and a jar of jelly for the sufferer, who was 
 improving, in spite of the heat and excitement to 
 which he agitated himself. 
 
 "Don't tell him, aunt Susan, that I brought these 
 things," said Levi. " I pity him, and I don't hate 
 him. I shall try to be a Christian towards him now, 
 whatever he does." 
 
 The old lady burst into tears. Such a spirit amazed 
 and overwhelmed her. The reading of her religious 
 paper had prepared her, in some measure, to appre- 
 ciate such conduct. The next day, which was Sun- 
 day, Levi carried some other luxuries for the invalid ; 
 but he did not venture to see his uncle after the vio- 
 lent scene which had attended his first visit to the 
 sick room. 
 
 On Monday morning Mr. and Mrs. Watson, Mrs. 
 McGilvery, and Bessie were conveyed on board of 
 
HALF EOUND THE WORLD. 95 
 
 The Starry Flag. The foresail and the mainsail had 
 been hoisted, and the hands were heaving up the 
 anchor, when a boat from the shore was discovered 
 approaching the yacht. 
 
 " Hold on ! " shouted Constable Cooke ; when the 
 boat came nearer, and was found to contain, besides 
 the officer, Dock Vincent and two other men. 
 
 " Belay, all ! " said Captain Fairfield ; and the oper- 
 ations at the cable were susj)ended. 
 
 "I've come to search this vessel," said Constable 
 Cooke, when he and his party had reached the deck. 
 "I have a warrant." 
 
 "I will afford you every facility for the discharge 
 of your duty," replied Levi, as he led the way to the 
 cabin. 
 
 "Don't let Vincent go into the cabin," said Mr. 
 "Watson, in a whisper. 
 
 Levi promptly informed the officer that Captain 
 Vincent must not go below. 
 
 "I want him to help me," persisted Constable 
 Cooke. 
 
 " Captain Vincent can't go into my cabin. If he 
 attempts to do so, I'll throw him overboard ! " added 
 Levi, rolling up his coat sleeves. 
 
96 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 "I've a right to call in aid accordin' to /aw," said 
 the officer, angrily. 
 
 "You shall not call him in," protested Levi. 
 
 Mr. Watson spoke, — he had money, and the con- 
 stable was afraid of him, — and the matter was com- 
 promised. One of the other men went with the 
 officer, who proceeded directly to Levi's state-room. 
 The desk was opened, the lockers examined, and the 
 drawers searched. In one of the latter, a shot-bag, 
 with ten half eagles in it, was found. 
 
 " That's one of the bags ! " almost yelled the con- 
 stable, in the fury of his malignity. 
 
 "X never saw it before," said Levi, quietly, "nor 
 the gold it contains." 
 
 " I have a warrant for your arrest, Levi Fairfield ; 
 and sence you showed fight on deck, I shall put the 
 handcuffs on you." 
 
 Mr. Watson and the ladies were shocked and 
 alarmed ; but not one of them for a moment doubted 
 the innocence of Levi, who suffered himself to be 
 ironed without resistance. 
 
HALF HOUND THE WOULD. 97 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE EXAMINATION". 
 
 CONSTABLE COOKE put the irons on the 
 wrists of Levi Fairfield, not from a sense of 
 duty, but with a keen relish for the act itself. It is 
 but justice to the officer, prejudiced though he was, 
 to say that he was entirely sincere in the belief that 
 his prisoner had stolen the miser's gold. He was 
 needlessly rough and severe in the discharge of his 
 duty, and the irons were a gratuitous indignity. Mr. 
 Watson protested vigorously against the constable's 
 useless display of authority. Bessie was frightened 
 and terribly grieved by the harsh treatment bestowed 
 upon her ideal of a hero. 
 
 Levi himself was the only person in the cabin who 
 was calm. His quiet dignity was unruffled by the 
 insults heaped upon him, and he looked proudly con- 
 scious of his innocence. 
 7 
 
98 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OR 
 
 "What does all this mean?" demanded Mr. Wat- 
 son, when Levi had been effectually ironed, so that 
 he could not tear the constable and his assistant to 
 pieces, as they seemed to fear he would. 
 
 "I do not know, sir," replied Levi, shaking his 
 head, with a smile. 
 
 " I think it is all clear enough, Mr. Watson," inter- 
 posed Constable Cooke. 
 
 " I don't think it is," replied Mr. Watson, sharply. 
 " You have found a shot-bag with ten five-dollar gold 
 pieces in it. What does that prove?" 
 
 " It proves that Levi stole the money just as clear 
 as the sun proves it's day." 
 
 " Is it anything surprising that the captain of a 
 yacht has fifty dollars in gold in his state-room?" 
 
 "I don't know's 'tis, but it's sunthin surprisin' 
 that he should have one of the bags the old man 
 kept his money in, in his state-room," said the officer, 
 with a sneer. 
 
 "How do you know that is one of the bags?" 
 
 " How do I know ? " repeated the constable, taking 
 the bag from his pocket. "Mr. Fairfield told me he 
 writ his name on all the bags. There it is." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 9 ( J 
 
 The bag was exhibited, and over the imprint of 
 the manufacturers of the shot it had originally con- 
 tained was the name, "1ST. Fairfield," rudely traced 
 in large, awkward characters, in pencil, on the cloth. 
 Levi saw it, and the formation of the two capital 
 letters assured him it had been written by his uncle. 
 The bag was found in one of his drawers ; but it was 
 plain that " an enemy had done this." 
 
 " If that don't satisfy you, Mr. Watson, I don't 
 know what will. This ain't pleasant business, but I 
 can't help it," added Constable Cooke, who perhaps 
 had begun to think it was imprudent to offend a rich 
 man. 
 
 "That doesn't satisfy me," replied the obstinate 
 merchant. "Do you suppose Levi put that bag and 
 the gold into the drawer?" 
 
 "I suppose he did, sir. That's his state-room — 
 isn't it?" 
 
 "There are half a dozen places there with locks 
 on them. Do you think he would put his money into 
 a drawer without any lock upon it?" 
 
 "I don't know anything about that," answered the 
 constable, who could not help seeing that the argu- 
 
100 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OE 
 
 ment was a good one. "I've got a warrant for his 
 arrest." 
 
 "Did you know the money was there before you 
 came on board?" demanded Mr. Watson, warmly. 
 
 "I supposed it was there." 
 
 "What made you suppose so?" 
 
 "I was told it was there." 
 
 " Who told you so ? " 
 
 " I don't know as I'm obliged to tell you who told 
 me," replied the officer. 
 
 "I don't know that you are, either; but some of 
 you shall be indicted for conspiracy if you don't an- 
 swer. You came on board with a warrant in your 
 pocket for the arrest of Cajotain Fairfield. You ex- 
 pected to find the gold here, you say. Somebody 
 told you it was here, and that somebody .knows more 
 about it than the person you have arrested and put 
 in irons," continued the merchant, indignantly. 
 
 "You know why I put him in irons. Didn't he 
 threaten to throw one of us overboard ? " replied the 
 constable. 
 
 " When officers take graduates of the state prison 
 to assist them in the discharge of their duties, they 
 must expect some opposition." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 101 
 
 " But Captain Vincent is acting for Mr. Fairfield, 
 who's too sick to do anything himself," pleaded the 
 officer, who could not help seeing that Dock was not 
 a proper person to aid him in the performance of his 
 duty. " I'll take the bracelets off, if you say so." 
 
 " I do say so, most emphatically ! " added Mr. 
 Watson. 
 
 Constable Cooke removed the irons, stepping be- 
 tween Levi and. Bessie to do so. 
 
 " So long as you and your father do not believe 
 I am guilty of any crime, I don't care for the irons 
 or the prison," said Levi, cheerfully. "I am rather 
 glad of an opportunity to vindicate myself, for I have 
 no doubt there are some people who think I took my 
 uncle's money." 
 
 "But it fe so terrible to be sent to prison, and to 
 be ironed ! " added Bessie, her pretty face full of ten- 
 der sympathy. 
 
 "Not at all. As I view it, the guilt is the only 
 thing that is terrible. This may lead to the discov- 
 ery of the real thief." 
 
 "Levi, have you any idea how that bag came in 
 your state-room?" asked Mr. Watson. 
 
102 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OK 
 
 " Not the least, sir. It must have been put there 
 by the thief, or by some one acting for him." 
 
 "We shall not make our trip to-day — that is 
 clear enough. Come, Mr. Cooke, we will go on shore, 
 and inquire into this matter at once," continued Mr. 
 Watson. "Levi, you must send all hands to the 
 office of Squire Saunders, for probably we shall want 
 their evidence." 
 
 The four young men who constituted the crew of 
 the yacht lived in Rockport, and knew all about the 
 relations of Levi with his uncle. They were directed 
 to go ashore, with the cook and steward, and appear 
 at the office of the trial justice. Levi was taken in 
 charge by Constable Cooke, and went in his boat, 
 with Dock Vincent, much against his will. 
 
 "We are likely to have a sharp time on't," said 
 the officer, when they had pushed off from the yacht. 
 
 " Why so ? What's up now ? " demanded Dock. 
 
 " Mr. Watson has sent all hands ashore, and I sup- 
 pose he'll have Squire Cleaves, who's as sharp as a 
 razor new set, and he'll rake us all over the coals." 
 
 "What's going to be done, Levi?" asked Dock, 
 turning to the prisoner. 
 
IIALF BOUND THE WORLD. 103 
 
 " I have nothing to say about it," replied Levi. 
 
 " What did you send all hands on shore for ? " 
 
 "I shall answer no questions." 
 
 " Afraid of committing yourself, I suppose," said 
 Dock, with a sneer, which did not wholly conceal 
 his anxiety. # 
 
 Levi made no reply. Without being willing, in the 
 absence of some evidence, even to suspect Dock of 
 stealing his uncle's money, he could not help feeling 
 that the antecedents of his old enemy warranted him 
 in thinking that he had something to do with the 
 robbery, or, at least, with fastening the charge upon 
 him, and causing the shot-bag to be placed in his 
 state-room. The party landed, and while Constable 
 Cooke conveyed his prisoner to the office of the jus- 
 tice, Dock called at Mr. Fairfield's to inform him of 
 the arrest. 
 
 The old man was somewhat better, and able to sit 
 up in his rocking-chair; but his bones still ached, 
 though he suffered less in body than in mind. Dock 
 called upon him every day, and assured him he would 
 find his gold in time. On the present occasion he 
 had encouraging news, and related the particulars 
 
104 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 of the events which had occurred on board of the 
 yacht. 
 
 " I knowed it ! " exclaimed Mr. Fairfield, when he 
 had listened to -Dock's story. " I was sartain that 
 hoy took the money " 
 
 "I suppose it's a clear eas£ enough now," added 
 Dock. "Finding the bag with your name on it set- 
 tles the matter " 
 
 " But did you find all the money, Cap'n Yincent ? "" 
 asked the old man, nervously. 
 
 " ~No ; only about fifty dollars of it." 
 
 " Didn't find no more ? " added Mr. Fairfield, with 
 a blank stare. 
 
 " No, but we shall find the rest of it. Mr. Wat- 
 son 's going to make an awful fuss about it" 
 
 "About what?" 
 
 "About taking Levi up. I suppose they'll want 
 you to swear to the bag " 
 
 "But I can't go out," said the old man with a 
 grunt, when reminded of the pains in his frame. 
 
 " Then the squire must come here, as he did when 
 you swore before. I'll go up, and see about it. But, 
 Squire Fairfield, I shan't be able to do much more 
 
DJALF ROUND THE WOULD. 105 
 
 for you, for I expect my vessel round here soon, and 
 I shall be busy fixing her up for the voyage to Aus- 
 tralia." 
 
 "I hope I shall find the money afore you go," 
 added the old man, with a gloomy look. 
 
 "I hope so too, and I expect you will," replied 
 Dock, as he left the room to attend the examina- 
 tion. 
 
 In -the mean time Levi had been conveyed to the 
 office of Squire Saunders,- who, deeming the evidence 
 of Mr. Fairfield absolutely necessary, had 'decided to 
 hold his court at the house of the miser; and the 
 old man was soon astonished by the appearance of 
 the whole crowd of officers, counsel, justice, and wit- 
 nesses in his chamber. 
 
 Mr. Fairfield was examined first. He testified, 
 with many a sigh and groan, that he had deposited 
 the four bags, each containing one thousand dollars 
 in gold, in the hole in the wall, which was pointed 
 out to the justice. He had marked his name on 
 each bag, and he identified that produced by Consta- 
 ble Cooke as one of the four. He was asked if the 
 ten half eagles were his property. He was disposed 
 
106 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 to swear to them also ; he had no doubt they were 
 part of the money he had lost ; but when asked to 
 state by what marks he recognized them, he was 
 unable to show wherein they differed from other coins 
 of the same value. 
 
 The officer then swore that he found the bag in 
 a locker in the state-room, with the money in it. 
 Squire Cleaves, who had already been fully instructed 
 in the case by Mr. Watson, began to put disagreeable 
 questions to him, which appeared to make him nervous. 
 
 " You went off to the yacht with a search-warrant 
 — did you, Mr. Cooke ? " asked the lawyer. 
 
 "I did, sir." 
 
 " Did you expect to find the money or the bag on 
 board?" 
 
 "I did." 
 
 " Had any one told you the bag was there ? " 
 
 "Well, I can't say any one told me it was there," 
 replied Cooke, with some embarrassment. 
 
 " You can't ? " 
 
 "No, sir; I can't." 
 
 "What induced you to look for the money on 
 board of the yacht?" 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOULD. 107 
 
 "I was pretty well satisfied that Levi stole that 
 money, and being he was goin' off on a cruise, I 
 thought likely he would put some on't on board to 
 use. That's what made me expect to find it there," 
 added Constable Cooke, with a more satisfied expres- 
 sion on his face, for the explanation he had given 
 appeared to meet the exigencies of the case. 
 
 " Did you reason this out yourself, or did some one 
 suggest the idea to you?" 
 
 "Well, some one spoke to me about it, but — " 
 " Precisely so ! Who spoke to you about it ? " 
 "No one said much to me, and I — " 
 "But who said anything?" interposed the squire. 
 " Well, Captain Vincent said I might find the bag 
 — he didn't say I should find it." 
 
108 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OE 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ME. C. AUGUSTUS EBENIEE. 
 
 SQUIRE CLEAVES had brought out from the 
 unwilling witness the fact that he wanted, and 
 Dock Vincent was put upon the stand. The learned 
 counsel adroitly conveyed the information that the 
 witness had been convicted of crime, and had served 
 a term in the state prison — which, though it did not 
 exclude him from giving evidence, might affect his 
 credibility. This statement roused the ire of Dock, 
 and he was cross and sullen, which is a very bad 
 state of mind to be in when subjected to the torture 
 of a skilful lawyer. 
 
 Dock described the manner in which he had as- 
 sisted Mr. Fairfield in finding his money. He had 
 done all that an honest man and a good neighbor 
 should do to help a feeble old man ; and it wasn't 
 right for "one-horse lawyers" to insult him. 
 
HALF HOUND THE WOULD. 109 
 
 " Do you consider yourself insulted, Caj^tain Vin- 
 cent ? " asked the squire. 
 
 "Yes, sir; I do!" 
 
 " Have you been convicted of a crime ? " 
 
 "What if I have? There was no justice in it," 
 growled Dock. 
 
 " Have you served a term in the state prison ? " 
 
 * 
 
 "If I have, it wasn't a fair thing; and a good 
 many better men than you or me have spent years 
 in prison." 
 
 "Undoubtedly, but our best men don't, usually 
 graduate at the state prison. You admit the facts as 
 I stated them. Now, Captain Vincent, you were em- 
 ployed by Mr. Fairfield in finding the money he lost." 
 
 " I said so ; I was." 
 
 "Did you tell the constable he would find the 
 bag on board of the yacht ? " 
 
 "No, sir; I did not." 
 
 "What did you tell him?" 
 
 " In my opinion, Levi stole that money. I didn't 
 think so at first, but his uncle convinced me he must 
 have done it. I told the constable to look for the 
 money and the bags on board that vessel." 
 
110 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 "Didn't you tell him he would find this bag in 
 Levi's state-room?" * 
 
 "No, sir; I did no^." 
 
 " Didn't you tell him he might expect to find it 
 there?" 
 
 " Perhaps I did ; whether I did or not, I expected 
 he would find it there," answered Dock, casting a 
 malicious glance at Levi. 
 
 " Why did you expect he would find it there ? " 
 
 "Because I was satisfied Levi stole the money, 
 and would use some of it while he was gone on the 
 cruise." 
 
 "Was that the only reason?" 
 
 "It was." 
 
 " Captain Vincent, do you know how that bag 
 came in Levi's state-room?" asked the lawyer, look- 
 ing upon the floor, as though he considered the ques- 
 tion of little consequence. 
 
 "Yes, sir; I do." 
 
 "Please to state how it came there." 
 
 "Levi put it there." 
 
 "You are willing to swear that Levi put it there 
 — are you?" 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. Ill 
 
 "Yes, sir; I am," replied Dock, promptly. 
 
 " Did you see him put it there ?<" 
 
 "Of course I didn't. I never was aboard of that 
 yacht till this morning." 
 
 "How can you swear that he put it there, then?" 
 
 "Because Constable Cooke found it there." 
 
 " Is that the only ground on which you swear Levi 
 put it there himself? " 
 
 " That's ground enough." 
 
 " Answer my question, if you please." 
 
 "Yes, it is; and my belief that Levi robbed his 
 uncle of his money." 
 
 "That will do; we shall give you the little end 
 of the horn to crawl out of before we get through," 
 added Squire Cleaves. 
 
 Dock, sour and crabbed, sat down near the rock- 
 ing-chair of Mr. Fairfield ; and Mr. Caesar Augustus 
 Ebenier, cabin steward of The Starry Flag, Sr., was 
 politely invited to take the stand. He appeared in his 
 best clothes, and his name, quality, and position on 
 board of the yacht were duly elicited by the magistrate. 
 
 "What do you know about the money or the 
 bag?" asked Squire Saunders. 
 
112 PEEAKS OP POETTTNE, OE 
 
 " I know all about it, your honor," replied the wit- 
 ness, with a radiant smile. 
 
 "Who put them in the locker, where they were 
 found ? " 
 
 "I did, your honor." 
 
 " That nigger 's been bribed to say that," inter- 
 posed Dock, savagely. 
 
 "Who do you call a nigger?" demanded Mr. Cae- 
 sar Augustus Ebenier, stepping briskly up to Dock, 
 with his fists doubled up for use. "I never was 
 convicted of crime and sent to the state prison." 
 
 " Order ! " called the justice. 
 
 Dock was the more disturbed of the two ; but the 
 constable quieted him, while Mr. Watson patched up 
 the wounded dignity of the cabin steward, who was 
 doubtless a much better man than Dock. He had 
 formerly been the body servant of a French gentle- 
 man in Louisiana, and he could read and write, and 
 spoke French fluently. He wrote his name " C. Au- 
 gustus Ebenier," and he insisted that his surname 
 should be pronounced A-ba-ne-a. He was a person 
 of no little importance in. his own estimation, and 
 had a southern negro's contempt for mean whites, 
 
HALF BOUND THE WOULD. 113 
 
 of whom Dock Vincent seemed to be the meanest 
 specimen he had yet seen. 
 
 "Now, Mr. Ebony, we will proceed with this ex- 
 amination." 
 
 " A-ba-ne-a, if you please, your honor," suggested 
 the witness, with the politest of bows. 
 
 "I beg your pardon, Mr. Ebenier," said the justice, 
 with a smile. "You placed the bag and the money 
 in the locker — did you ? " 
 
 " I did, your honor ; in the captain's locker : but I 
 didn't comprehend what was in the bag at the par- 
 ticular moment when it was in my possession." 
 
 "Exactly so." 
 
 "I was not precisely informed in regard to the 
 nature of the contents of the bag, which was agglom- 
 erated in a mass, and exceedingly heavy for the bulk 
 of the parcel, appearing to consist only of a portion 
 of tow cloth." 
 
 "Just so, Mr. Ebenier; we are fortunate in being 
 able to understand you." 
 
 " I beg your honor's pardon, but the initial E in 
 my surname should be pronounced like long a." 
 
 "Excuse me, monsieur," laughed the justice; "but 
 8 
 
114 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 my French is rather rusty. Will you do me the 
 favor to indicate in what manner the bag and its 
 contents came into your possession." 
 
 "With pleasure, your honor. Yesterday afternoon, 
 just previous to Captain Fairfield's going on shore — " 
 
 "Who?" asked Squire Saunders, who was not fa- 
 miliar with Levi's new title. 
 
 " Captain Fairfield, your honor." 
 
 " You mean Levi ? " 
 
 " No, your honor ; far be it from me to commit 
 the gross disrespect of calling the captain of the 
 yacht in which I sail by his Christian name. Cap- 
 tain Levi Fairfield, your honor" 
 
 " Go on, then. I know whom you mean." 
 
 " Yesterday afternoon, just as Captain Fairfield was 
 going on shore — I disremember the precise time, 
 but it was about five o'clock, post meridian." 
 
 " That is sufficiently accurate, Mr. Ebenier. Do me 
 the favor to proceed." 
 
 "I beg your honor's pardon, but these interrup- 
 tions have a tendency to prevent me from follow- 
 ing accurately and succinctly the thread of my nar- 
 rative." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 115 
 
 The magistrate bowed, and laughed, as all in the 
 room were doing except Dock and Mr. Fairfield. 
 The witness commenced his story again, repeating 
 everything he had said before ; and the squire did 
 not deem it prudent to interrupt him again. 
 
 "I was located in a standing position near the 
 entrance to the main cabin ; and your honor is aware 
 that, in first-class yachts, the descent commences in 
 the standing-room, which in ISTew York yachts is 
 more frequently called the cockpit. At a distance 
 of not more than a quarter of a marine league from 
 our yacht lay a fishing schooner, which I was in- 
 formed by those who probably j^ossessed an accurate 
 knowledge of the intended movements of the schoon- 
 er, though I really could not now state to your honor 
 the names of the parties from whom I received this 
 intimation — " 
 
 "Not material," interposed the squire. 
 
 "The information I received may prove to be ma- 
 terial, your honor. I was credibly informed that the 
 vessel intended to sail for the Grand Banks or the 
 coast of Labrador, I cannot now swear which, or, 
 indeed, if it was either of these localities. Possibly 
 
116 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OR 
 
 it was either, possibly it was neither, or j^ossibly it 
 was both. I wish it particularly understood that, 
 under the solemnity of an oath, I do not state pos- 
 itively where the vessel was going. Suffice it to say 
 that she was going on a fishing voyage ; but whether 
 for cod, haddock, mackerel, or halibut, or either, or 
 all, or a portion of these piscatorial inhabitants of the 
 mighty deep, I am entirely unable to say." 
 
 The court, counsel, and witnesses, with the excep- 
 tions before noted, roared with laughter; and the 
 cabin steward smiled complacently, as though he was 
 conscious of having made a point. 
 
 "I can only observe, under oath, that I was in- 
 formed that the vessel intended to depart in search, 
 of some of the numerous ichthyological specimens that 
 roam in finny herds through the boundless depths of 
 the sea — as soon as the tide turned." 
 
 " Excuse me, Mr. Ebenier, but what has all this to 
 do with the money and the bag?" asked the justice, 
 choking down his laughter. 
 
 " I trust I shall be able to demonstrate, to the entire 
 satisfaction of your honor, that there is an intimate 
 connection between these circumstances «and the sus- 
 
HALF EOUND THE WOELD. 117 
 
 picious articles discovered in the state-room of Captain 
 Fairfield." 
 
 " Go on, then. It is almost dinner time." 
 
 "A doray — an exceedingly anomalous craft to a 
 resident of New York, where I have had the honor 
 to reside for several seasons — a doray — " 
 
 " You mean a dory — don't you ? " 
 
 " I am really unable to pronounce the word accord- 
 ing to any authorized orthography, as it was never 
 my good fortune to see the word in print. I am 
 not informed whether or not the acute accent is 
 placed over the final e." 
 
 " There is no e in the word. D-o-r-y." 
 
 " Ah, excuse me ! It is not a French word, then, 
 and it is quite proper to call it a dory." 
 
 " Precisely so ; and now, having settled this im- 
 portant point, that it is a dory, and not a doray, will 
 you inform the court where you got the bag and the 
 money?" said Squire Saunders, beginning to be a 
 little impatient. 
 
 But he might as well have attempted to make 
 water run up hill as to induce Mr. C. Augustus Ebe- 
 nier to relate his story in any other than his own 
 way. 
 
118 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OE 
 
 "A dory from the fishing vessel, about to depart 
 on her voyage, paid a visit of courtesy to the Starry 
 Flag. The party which came in the dory consisted 
 of three persons, all of them fishermen, and all of 
 them young men. All, or a portion of them, were 
 evidently personal friends of the four worthy young 
 men who collectively constitute the crew of the yacht, 
 of which I have the honor to be cabin steward. The 
 persons who came on board were not cabin visitors ; 
 I am not even aware that they paid then- respects to 
 our excellent captain; but I feel compelled to add 
 that, while on board, they behaved with the utmost 
 propriety. I was located — " 
 
 "Avast there!" exclaimed the justice. "The court 
 is adjourned till after dinner. I hope the distinguished 
 gentleman will be able to spin out his yarn before bed 
 time." 
 
HALF ROUND TILE WORLD. 119 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE RESULT OF THE EXAMINATION. 
 
 THE dignity of the court had been effectually 
 swamped by the grandiloquence of Mr. C. Au- 
 gustus Ebenier, though it was evident that he was a 
 very important witness. Of course no one was invit- 
 ed to dine at the miser's, and the court and witnesses 
 went home to dinner. As a compromise, Constable 
 Cooke was asked to dine with his prisoner at Mr. 
 "Watson's. ,At the appointed hour in the afternoon 
 the court again assembled in the house of the miser. 
 " Mr. Ebenier," said Squire Saunders, " you had pro- 
 ceeded in your narrative, when the court adjourned, 
 to the point where four of the crew of the fishing 
 vessel, about to depart in search of ichthyological 
 specimens, came on board of the yacht, which has 
 the honor to have your valuable services as stew- 
 ard." 
 
120 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " I beg your honor's pardon ; I had the honor, not 
 the yacht," interposed Mr. Ebernier, bowing. 
 
 " Well, I should say that the honors were divided," 
 replied the justice ; and his remark was regarded as 
 a judicial joke. " If you could commence where you 
 left off, and go on, I should be under very great ob- 
 ligations to you." 
 
 "I will make a persistent effort to do so, your 
 honor," added the obliging Mr. C Augustus Ebenier. 
 " As I had the honor to hear your honor remark, the 
 three young men from the fishing vessel, about to 
 depart, as aforesaid, were on board of our yacht, as 
 aforesaid, and as I was standing near the cabin door, 
 as aforesaid, — now my narrative jn'ogresses, your hon- 
 or, — one of the young men from the fishing schooner 
 aforesaid, as Captain Fairfield was about to go over 
 the side into his boat, rushed up to me with the 
 bag in his hand." 
 
 "You mean the shot-bag containing the gold — 
 do you ? " asked the squire, now deeply interested in 
 the substance of the story. 
 
 " I do, your honor ; perhaps I should have said the 
 bag aforesaid, which I thought I" had described with 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 121 
 
 sufficient minuteness. The bag had originally con- 
 tained shot, if the words printed on it can be relied 
 upon — " 
 
 "In the name of the Constitution of the United 
 States, don't repeat the description of the bag ! " pro- 
 tested the squire. " One of the young men rushed 
 up to you with the bag in his hand." 
 
 " The bag aforesaid, then, your honor. I affirm 
 that he rushed up to me, meaning that he walked 
 briskly and rapidly towards me. He placed the bag 
 — the bag aforesaid, your honor — in my hand, ex- 
 tended for the purpose of receiving it when I under- 
 stood that he wished to commit it to my keeping." 
 
 " Precisely so ; wliat did he say ? " 
 
 " He observed that the captain desired me to place 
 the parcel — by which I mean the bag aforesaid, with 
 its contents, not then known to me — in one of the 
 lockers in his state-room. As nearly as I. can remem- 
 ber, though I should not be willing to swear to the 
 precise phraseology of the language he used, his 
 words were, ' The captain wants you to put this into 
 the locker in his state-room.' " 
 
 "Didn't you ask him what it was?" 
 
122 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 "No, your honor; I never ask any questions when 
 the captain's orders come to me. It is my duty to 
 obey, without knowing the reasons for the action I 
 am directed to take. I went immediately to the cap- 
 tain's state-room, and deposited the parcel — the bag 
 aforesaid — in one of the empty lockers. I supposed 
 from its weight that it contained nails, hinges, screws, 
 or some other species of hardware." 
 
 "Did you see the captain hand it to the person 
 who gave it to you?" 
 
 " No, your honor, I did not. Under the painfully 
 disagreeable circumstances which have followed the 
 denouement of the depositing of the bag aforesaid in 
 the locker, I wish to add, if my humble opinion is 
 of any value to this honorable court, that I do not 
 believe the captain gave the bag aforesaid to the 
 person of whom I received it." 
 
 "Do you know the name of the man who gave it 
 to you?" asked Squire Cleaves. 
 
 "I can only reply that I heard him called Ben, — 
 which I presume is an abbreviation of Benjamin, — 
 when addressed by his companions." 
 
 " It was Ben Seaver," said Levi. " He was on 
 board at the time mentioned." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 123 
 
 "I have no knowledge whatever in regard to his 
 patronymic," added the cabin steward. 
 
 "Why do you say you don't believe the captain 
 handed it to Ben ? " continued the justice. 
 
 "Because, your honor, the circumstances do not 
 justify such a conclusion on my part. It is not rea- 
 sonable to suppose — " 
 
 " Confine yourself to the facts, Mr. Ebenier. We 
 do not care to listen to an argument," interposed the 
 justice. 
 
 " I beg your honor's pardon ; to facts, then, will I 
 confine myself. The captain went directly from the 
 cabin to his boat, and the person whom his compan- 
 ions called Ben came to me directly from the fore- 
 castle. I did not see him hold any communication 
 with the captain, though he paused for a moment at 
 the gangway, and looked over the rail into the 
 boat." 
 
 " Might not the captain have handed him the pack- 
 age then ? " 
 
 "I don't think it was possible, your honor." 
 
 " What were the men on the forecastle doing ? " 
 
 " They were coiling away a spare cable — all but 
 
124 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OE 
 
 Bob Thomas, who was to pull the captain ashore ; 
 and the visitors were assisting them." 
 
 " That will do, Mr. Ebenier ; we are much obliged 
 to you for the lucid manner in which you have given 
 your testimony, which is very important," said Squire 
 Saunders. 
 
 Bob Thomas, who had pulled the captain ashore, 
 and who had been in the boat with him at the time 
 when he was alleged to have sent the bag to the 
 steward, was next questioned. He had neither seen 
 the bag, nor seen Levi speak to Ben Seaver. The 
 rest of the crew were examined, but nothing was 
 elicited from them. Each of them was asked what 
 had passed between Ben and himself, but the conver- 
 sation related entirely to fish and fishing. Mat Mog- 
 more seemed to be slightly confused, which was at- 
 tributed to bashfulness, for his statements were as 
 square as those of his shipmates. 
 
 Ben Seaver, who appeared to be the only person 
 that could solve the mystery, had gone on a fishing 
 voyage, and might not return for two months or 
 more. No one had seen him at the fire, when the 
 money was stolen; and it was not probable that he 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 125 
 
 was the original thief, whatever part he might have 
 been employed to perform by the guilty party. 
 
 Levi himself was then examined at great length. 
 His statements, covering the time from the fire down 
 to the present moment, were clear and positive. He 
 knew nothing about the money; he had not given the 
 bag to Ben Seaver ; had not spoken to him, except to 
 pass the time of day with him as an old acquaintance. 
 When Dock and Mr. Fairfield declared that Levi 
 hated his uncle, Mrs. Fairfield disproved the state- 
 ment by adducing all the kind acts he had performed. 
 
 Squire Cleaves, for the defendant, then reviewed 
 the testimony for and against his client. 
 
 "It certainly has not been shown that Levi stole 
 this money," said he. "Nor has sufficient evidence 
 been brought against him to render it probable that 
 he is guilty ; not enough to justify your honor in 
 committing him for trial. This investigation has led 
 us to follow the bag from the captain's state-room 
 to the hands of Ben Seaver. There we are blocked, 
 and can go no farther till this person's return from 
 his voyage. Mr. Watson proposes to charter a steam- 
 er, send her after the fishing vessel, and bring back 
 
126 FKEAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 Ben Seaver. Then we can follow the bag until it 
 leads us to the fact of a conspiracy against my 
 client." 
 
 " It is not necessary to send any steamer after the 
 witness," said the justice. " The only evidence, in 
 this long examination, which has been brought against 
 the prisoner, is, that the bag was found in his state- 
 room. It has been shown, conclusively, that he did 
 not place it there, and probably did not cause it to 
 be placed there. The defendant is discharged." And 
 Squire Saunders rose from his seat at the table. 
 
 The decision, though it had not been unexj)ected, 
 caused a decided sensation in the little audience 
 assembled in the miser's chamber. Dock Vincent 
 was mad, Mr. Fairfield was in despair, and the con- 
 stable was disappointed. The victim had escaped, 
 and the miser had obtained no clew to the lost treas- 
 ure. The justice took possession of the bag and its 
 contents, to be used when Ben Seaver returned. The 
 audience dispersed to talk over the event among 
 themselves. 
 
 Levi's friends, including Mr. Gayles, who had lis- 
 tened with the deepest interest to the proceedings, 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOELD. 127 
 
 were satisfied that the whole affair was a conspiracy. 
 Mr. Watson's theory was, that Dock Vincent had 
 robbed the miser himself, and had employed the ab- 
 sentee to place the bag in Levi's room, intending 
 himself to be on the way to Australia before Seaver 
 returned. As the matter stood, nothing could be 
 proved. But Mr. Gayles declared that he should 
 watch Dock Vincent and a "certain other person," 
 whose name he declined to mention, by night and 
 by day, until some evidence was obtained. It was 
 not enough to vindicate the innocent ; the guilty 
 must be exposed and punished. 
 
 " Then Levi didn't steal my money, arter all," said 
 Mr. Fairfield to Dock Vincent, after the other people 
 had gone. 
 
 " Yes, he did. Levi 's smart, and knows how to 
 cover up his work." 
 
 "We don't know no more'n nothin' in the world 
 what's come on't," sighed Mr. Fairfield. 
 
 "Levi's got it; and it will come to light yet," 
 repeated Dock. 
 
 "I donno whether he has or not." 
 
 "That nigger lied all the way through. Folks 
 
128 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OE 
 
 that tell the truth don't spin no sich yarns as he 
 did. If I catch that nigger in the right j^lace, I'll 
 pound him till he tells the truth, for Levi certainly 
 bribed him to tell that story. He didn't say a word 
 about Ben Seaver on board the vessel. He only 
 did it to get his master out of a scrape — that's 
 all, you may depend upon it." 
 
 "All I* want's my money, and I don't keer much 
 whether Levi took it or not, if I only git it," groaned 
 Mr. Fairfield. 
 
 "Don't be alarmed, Squire Fairfield. You'll get 
 your money one of these days — every dollar of it, 
 for Levi's got money enough to make up for what 
 he spends. I've got some one in a situation to keep 
 watch of him, and something '11 leak out before long. 
 "You keep a stiff upper lij), Squire Fairfield, and it'll 
 all come out right in the end," added Dock, as he 
 turned to leave. 
 
 "I don't feel quite so sartain as I did that Levi 
 done it," replied Mr. Fairfield. 
 
 " Yes, he did, and that nigger got him out of the 
 scrape. Levi 's smart, and so 's the nigger. Wasn't 
 it cunning for him to say the bag was given him by 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOULD. 129 
 
 a man who has gone off on a fishing voyage ? I can 
 see through that trick with, my eyes shut, I shall 
 keep an eye on Levi, and on that nigger too," said 
 the comforter, as he left the room. 
 
 Dock was sorely vexed at the result of the exami- 
 nation. He had been confident that his victim would 
 be committed for trial, but the steward's testimony 
 had saved him. He walked down towards his own 
 house ; but he had not gone far before he discovered 
 Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier, going in the direction of 
 the Point. With a little contrivance on Dock's part, 
 they came together out of sight and hearing of every- 
 body. 
 
 9 
 
130 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 HOTEL DE POISSON. 
 
 IF Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier had *been a prudent 
 colored man, he would have avoided the meeting 
 which Captain Dock Vincent contrived to bring about, 
 by dodging around the rocks, and again apj)earing in 
 the principal path. But he was not a prudent col- 
 ored man ; and when he saw the dangerous individ- 
 ual before him, though he might easily have turned 
 aside so as to avoid him, he did not do so. 
 
 The steward was a very peaceable and well-dis- 
 posed person on board the yacht, and elsewhere, but 
 under certain circumstances he was a belligerent col- 
 ored man. He had a very reasonable and decided 
 objection to being called a " nigger." He claimed 
 that he was a gentleman, and while he behaved like 
 a gentleman, he declined to be insulted with impu- 
 nity. Mr. Ebenier saw the person who had applied 
 
HALF ROUND THE "WOULD. 131 
 
 this obnoxious epithet to him during the examination. 
 It is possible that his heart beat a little quicker when 
 he discovered the blackguard, as he regarded him; 
 but it is certain that he did not turn to the right 
 or the left, but proceeded on his way as though Dock 
 had been a pygmy, instead of the heavy, stout man he 
 was. 
 
 " See here, you nigger," Dock began, when the 
 steward was within hailing distance. 
 
 " What do you want of me, you state-prison bird ? " 
 replied the colored man. 
 
 "What's that you say?" demanded Dock, an- 
 grily. 
 
 "I asked you what you wanted of me, you state- 
 prison bird," repeated the steward. 
 
 " We'll settle that here," said Dock, rolling up his 
 sleeves. "I don't allow any man, white or black, to 
 insult me." 
 
 "That's just my position exactly," added Mr. Ebe- 
 nier, throwing off his coat. " I don't allow any man, 
 big or little, black or white, to insult me." 
 
 The unexpected readiness of the steward to settle 
 the question on the spot rather startled and perplexed 
 
132 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 Dock, and lie did not appear to be quite so ready to 
 "pitch in" as he supposed he was. It is sometimes 
 true of individuals, as it is of nations, that a readiness 
 to fight is the surest guarantee of peace. 
 
 " What do you mean by calling me a state-prison 
 bird?" demanded Dock, in less confident tones. 
 
 "What do you mean by calling me a nigger?'" 
 retorted the steward. 
 
 " Well, you are one — arn't you ? " 
 
 "Well, you are a state-prison bird — arn't you?" 
 
 " Don't say that again ! " said Dock, shaking his head. 
 
 "Fll say it twenty-five times more, if you call me 
 a nigger as many times as that." 
 
 "Arn't you a black man?" 
 
 " I am ; but my heart isn't half so black as yours. 
 I'm not a nigger," protested the colored man, stoutly ; 
 and it was evident in this instance that the negro 
 would fight, which was just the thing Dock didn't 
 wish him to do. 
 
 "Whatever you are, I won't dirty my hands lick- 
 ing a nigger," added the bully. 
 
 "But I'll dirty mine by licking a state-prison bird, 
 and you shall have the satisfaction of being licked 
 
HALS' KOUXD THE WOBLD. 133 
 
 by a black man," said the steward, stepping up to- 
 wards his burly antagonist. 
 
 " Cool off, cuffee ; I was only joking with you," 
 continued Dock, with a mighty effort to laugh. 
 
 ^ Don't call me cuffee. My name is C. Augustus 
 Ebenier, and I am ready to teach you good manners, 
 without fee or reward." 
 
 "Never mind, Mr. What's-your-name." 
 
 " If you wish to apologize, do so, or I'll soil my 
 boot by kicking you." 
 
 " Apologize to a nigger ! " exclaimed Dock. 
 
 The steward kicked him. This was more than 
 Dock could stand, and he levelled a blow at the 
 spunky assailant, which was parried. Dock was 
 heavy, but he was clumsy, and before he could re- 
 peat the stroke, the hard fist of the colored man had 
 settled under one of his eyes, leaving its mark there 
 — a black eye. The bully retreated under the stun- 
 ning force of the blow, and picked up a stone, which 
 he hurled at his opponent, but fortunately without 
 hitting him. Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier appeared to 
 be satisfied with what he had done, and he did not 
 follow up his advantage, but picked up a stone, to 
 
134 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OE 
 
 intimate that two could play at that game as well 
 as one. 
 
 " We'll settle this another time," said Dock, wiping 
 his black eye. 
 
 " You wanted to settle it now, and you have," re- 
 plied the steward. " If I can do anything more for 
 you, all you have to do is to call me a nigger, and 
 I'll put your other eye into mourning." 
 
 " I'll see you again," said Dock, in threatening tones, 
 as he turned and walked away towards his house. 
 
 The steward put on his coat, and moved towards 
 the landing-place, beyond the chasm. Since the ex- 
 amination, he had been promenading the town to 
 see the place, or, what is quite as likely, to permit 
 the inhabitants to see him ; for Mr. Ebenier was 
 human, and his weak point was a large estimate of 
 his own consequence. He was on his way to the 
 Point to hail the yacht for a boat. 
 
 He followed the path better satisfied with himself 
 than we are with him, for it is not the part of a 
 gentleman to fight unless attacked, or to return epi- 
 thet for epithet. But he had hardly taken half a 
 dozen steps, before a stone, as big as a man's fist, 
 
HALF HOUND THE WOULD. 135 
 
 struck him on the back of the head, and he dropped 
 senseless upon the rocks, not killed, or even badly- 
 hurt, b^t effectually stunned. This was Dock Yin- 
 cent's mode of warfare — to hit a man behind his 
 back. 
 
 " >Tow you'll keep a civil tongue in your head for 
 a while," said the ruffian to himself, as he hastened 
 towards his house. 
 
 The steward lay still upon his bed of rocks. The 
 sun had gone down, and the darkness gathered over 
 him ; but no one appeared to render him any assist- 
 ance. The blow had been a heavy one, and the 
 blood ran down the back of his head from the flesh 
 wound it had produced. 
 
 . When it was quite dark, Augustus, as he was 
 called on board the yacht, began to move and ex- 
 hibit some signs of life ; but a few minutes elapsed 
 before he had sufficiently recovered to rise. He got 
 tip, rubbed his head, looked around him, and collect- 
 ed his ideas enough to know where he was. He 
 felt the blood on his head, but he was a strong- 
 minded man, and did not believe he was killed. He 
 walked down to the landing-place, and hailed the 
 
136 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OB 
 
 yacht without obtaining any response. He repeated 
 the call a dozen times with no better success. Either 
 the crew were not on board, or they had turned in 
 for the night. 
 
 Augustus was a man of the world, and his philos- 
 ophy was equal to almost any occasion. He could 
 not get on board, and therefore he decided to remain 
 on shore, which exhibited a nicety of judgment wor- 
 thy of commendation and imitation. Removing his 
 collar, he bathed his head and neck in cold salt 
 water, and was satisfied that his wound was not a 
 dangerous one. He congratulated himself that the 
 stone had not hit him in "the face, and thus marred 
 his personal beauty ; for, being an exquisite in hi& 
 own wayy this would have been the most fearful 
 calamity that could possibly have haj^pened to him. 
 
 After making himself presentable, so far as he 
 could in the darkness, and in the absence of a mirror, 
 his first impulse was to find his treacherous enemy, 
 and punish him for his dastardly attack; for Mr. 
 Ebenier did not purpose to trouble Squire Saunders 
 or the courts with his affair. But he did not know 
 where to find Dock, and was not aware that he 
 
HALF ROTJXD TIIE WORLD. 137 
 
 lived in the house nearest to the landing-place. He 
 did not exactly like the idea of passing the night 
 in the open air, and it would not be etiquette for 
 him to apply to Mr. Watson or the captain for a 
 lodging. 
 
 The steward was not only a philosopher, but a 
 man of expedients. On his way up to the town in 
 the morning he had noticed a dilapidated fish-house, 
 at the head of a little inlet. This building would 
 afford him a shelter, if nothing more, for the night, 
 and he repaired to its friendly but inhospitable roof. 
 Entering the fish-house, he groped about for a suita- 
 ble place to lie down, and blundered against a rick- 
 ety flight of stairs in one corner. Hoping to find 
 better sleeping accommodation in the loft than on 
 the ground floor, — as literally it was, being com- 
 posed of earth and rocks, — he ascended the steps. 
 The stairs creaked and groaned, and it required some 
 nerve to go up in the dark; but the steward's cour- 
 age was equal to the emergency. 
 
 He found that it was not safe to walk about on 
 the floor of the loft in the dark, for the timbers 
 groaned under his weight, and the boards were full 
 
138 F&EAKS CF FOETUSE, OR 
 
 of holes and traps; but near the head of the stairs 
 was an old sail, which seemed to have been rjlaeed 
 there for his especial accommodation. Lying down 
 on this, he wooed the slumber which his head, still 
 dizzy from the effects of the blow, required. 
 
 " I'm all right now," said he to himself. " It 
 smells fishy; I will call it Hotel de Poisson, and go 
 to sleep." 
 
 While the steward was seeking a resting-place for 
 his weary head, Dock Vincent walked down to the 
 Point to ascertain whether or not he had killed his 
 victim. He was gone, and the ruffian went home 
 again. 
 
 Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier could not go to sleep in 
 his hotel as readily as he desired; but, just as he 
 was dropping off, he was startled by the sound of 
 voices, in low, suppressed tones, hardly above a whis- 
 per. He heard footsteps, and then the dim light of 
 a lantern shed its rays up through the holes and 
 cracks in the floor. In vain he tried to identify the 
 voices ; the whispers did not enable him to do so. 
 He dared not move lest the creaking of the timbers 
 should alarm the nocturnal visitors. 
 
HALF E0I7ND THE WOULD. 139 
 
 He was satisfied that the persons below were en- 
 gaged in some kind of mischief, and it was his busi- 
 ness to know what it was, and who tbe men were. 
 Near the centre of the loft there was a large hole in 
 the floor, and he commenced working himself by hun- 
 dredth parts of an inch towards it; but every time 
 he moved, however slightly, the creaking joist threat- 
 ened to betray his presence, and he decided to satisfy 
 himself at once. One glance might inform him who 
 the men were, and perhaps the mystery of the stolen 
 gold would be solved. 
 
 The steward made a spring towards the aperture, 
 throwing himself forward upon his hands, so as to 
 look down through the hole. He had forgotten the 
 ruinous condition of the Hotel de Poisson. His weight 
 and the force of his movement were too much for 
 the strength of the rotten wood ; a timber gave way, 
 and Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier was precipitated, head 
 first, through the hole he had made, and struck be- 
 tween the two men, who sat each on a rock facing 
 the other, with the light on the ground between 
 them. The lantern was smashed, and the two men 
 uttered a howl of terror. 
 
140 FKEAKS OF FOBTU5TB, Oli 
 
 If the steward's head had struck one of the rocks 
 it must have split it open — the head, not the rock ! 
 He hit the ground, and, as it was, he was again 
 stunned, the men making a hasty escape without 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 141 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 « OFT FROM APPARENT ILLS." 
 
 OUBTLESS a person with Mr. C. Augustus 
 Ebenier's pretensions to gentility should have 
 sent down his card to the individuals engaged in 
 conference below before he went down himself; but 
 the circumstances did not permit the exercise of this 
 degree of courtesy. In fact the steward had no in- 
 tention forcibly to intrude himself upon the persons 
 below; only to obtain a glance at them. He was a 
 man of intelligence, and the arrest of his captain, in 
 whose character he had a becoming interest, was 
 enough to assure him that something was wrong. 
 He had listened patiently to the details of the exam- 
 ination, and while he was willing to admit that the 
 old man had been robbed of his gold, it never en- 
 tered his head that Levi was guilty of the crime. 
 The muffled speech of the two men in the Hotel 
 
142 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OE 
 
 de Poisson, and the unseemly hour they had chosen 
 for their conference, suggested to the steward that 
 they had something to do with this robbery. He 
 had vainly endeavored to identify their voices, and 
 as a last resort, failing to obtain any information by 
 other means, he decided to obtain one glance at them 
 at all hazards. Perhaps it was well for him that the 
 timbers broke beneath his weight, for the men, not 
 relishing the intrusion, might have subjected him to 
 much bodily harm. 
 
 As it was, they bolted as though an evil spirit had 
 suddenly dropped down between them from the upper 
 regions. They were terribly frightened, as indicated 
 by their rapid flight. The steward had not even 
 obtained his coveted view of their faces and forms, 
 and was no wiser in the end than he was in the be- 
 ginning. The treacherous timbers had defeated his 
 purpose, while, perhaps, they* had saved him from a 
 greater calamity than his fall. 
 
 For the second time that day, the steward lay 
 senseless on the ground. Though Mr. C. Augustus 
 Ebenier was not wanting in intelligence, his skull 
 seemed to have a capability for enduring hard knocks 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 143 
 
 which was really surprising. Doubtless his head was 
 his strong place ; if it had not been, his brains must 
 have been dashed out. According to the tradition, it 
 was safer for him to strike on his head than on his 
 shins. Certainly he was not badly injured, and if 
 reduced to extremity he might have let out his head 
 for use as a blacksmith's anvil. 
 
 Before the two men who had been conferring to- 
 gether in the Hotel de Poisson could muster courage 
 to return, the steward had in a great measure recov- 
 ered from the effects of the fall. Perhaps the super- 
 abundance of stars "which dawned uj)on his vision 
 had not all ceased to shine ; and perhaps his ideas, 
 which had all been thrown into a confused mass, 
 were not altogether detached and restored to their 
 original channels; but Augustus was practically him- 
 self again. His first thought was one of regret that 
 he had failed to obtain a sight of the two men ; 
 that he had not even learned whether they were 
 black or white, old or young, seamen or landsmen. 
 
 He rubbed his head to relieve the pressure on his 
 brain, and to vivify his ideas. The incident which 
 had occurred seemed to render the Hotel de Poisson 
 
144 FREAKS OF FOKTin&TE, OR 
 
 an unfit place for him to remain during the balance 
 of the night ; but he was not willing to leave till he 
 had examined the locality, and obtained whatever 
 evidence it might afford him in regard to the mys- 
 terious couple who had met there. Kicking about 
 the ground, he disturbed the fractured glass of the 
 lantern. The globe had been broken, but the lamp 
 was still whole. 
 
 Though Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier had a great many 
 bright parts, he was inclined to be a " swell." He 
 smoked a pipe on the forecastle of the yacht, but 
 when he walked through the principal streets of 
 Rockport, in his plaid pants and bobtail sack, he 
 smoked an Havana cigar, with a meerschaum mouth- 
 piece, in deference to his huge mustache — it was 
 more genteel to smoke a cigar than a pipe. The 
 steward carried a cigar case, which always contained 
 two or three of the choicest brand, and he claimed 
 to have brought them from Havana himself. In this 
 case he also carried matches, which now promised to 
 serve him a better turn than for the lighting of his 
 cigar. 
 
 In a moment he had the lamp from the lantern 
 
HALF EOUND THE WOULD. 145 
 
 burning, and was looking curiously and eagerly about 
 the premises. The steward had an idea ; perhaps 
 not a very brilliant one, but as brilliant as could be 
 expected of a man whose intellect had been so rudely 
 jarred, twice within a brief period. The conduct of 
 the two transient guests at the Hotel de Poisson had 
 been suspicious, to say the least. That afternoon the 
 robbery had been fully discussed, and he was confi- 
 dent that the visitors were in some manner connect- 
 ed with that affair. His idea was, that the fish-house 
 had been used as a place of concealment for the 
 plunder. He made a hasty examination of the ground 
 and the rocks which formed the first floor of the 
 Hotel de Poisson, but discovered nothing to confirm, 
 his impression. 
 
 The steward crossed the place to examine under 
 the rickety stairs. On his way he hit his head 
 against a splintered board, which was hanging from 
 the floor above, partly detached by his movement 
 through the structure. It scratched the top of his 
 head, already tender from rough usage, and thereby 
 vexed and angered him, as slight accidents often ruf- 
 fle even great minds. With a gesture of impatience, 
 10 
 
146 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OE 
 
 and a petulant word not in good taste for a drawing- 
 room, he seized the projecting board, and gave it a 
 savage wrench. 
 
 Mr. Ebenier was not a poet himself but he was 
 fond of the poets, and had perused Milton, Shak- 
 speare, Beattie, Cowper, and Keats with real pleasure, 
 to say nothing of having read Corneille and Racine 
 in the original. The steward, therefore, was prepared 
 to appreciate the poet's sentiment, "Oft from appar- 
 ent ills our blessings rise." His impatient gesture and 
 his petulant exclamation when the board scratched 
 his head, indicated that he regarded the accident as 
 " an apparent ill ; " but, as he wrenched the board, a 
 shot-bag, plethoric with gold coin, tumbled, with a 
 clinking clang, uj)on the ground at his feet, narrowly 
 avoiding his head, and thus saving him from being 
 knocked senseless a third time. 
 
 The steward opened his eyes, and regarded the bag 
 as the blessing. He shook the board again, and an- 
 other bag came this time. Then be pulled it away, 
 and the sail which had formed his bed in the loft 
 rolled down. Overhauling this, he found a third 
 bag; and this was the last he could find. Picking 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 147 
 
 up the lamp till it blazed like a torch, he renewed 
 the search; but no more of these heavy blessings 
 were available. 
 
 Mr. Ebenier was satisfied, and he set his lamp 
 down on the ground, intending to open one of the 
 bags, and ascertain the nature of its contents. Under 
 ordinary circumstances the steward would have been 
 too careful to set his lamp down so near a pile of 
 dry seaweed as he did on the present occasion. But 
 his mind was, probably, so confused by the hard 
 knocks his head had received, and by the excitement 
 of finding the gold, that he took little note of his sur- 
 roundings. His thought was concentrated ujDon the 
 bags of gold. He did not even think of the two men 
 whose conference he had disturbed, and did not seem 
 to fear that they would return and deprive him of 
 his booty. 
 
 He was about to untie the string of one of the 
 heavy bags, when a bright glare overspread the space 
 before him. The pile of dry seaweed, which had been 
 used to cover a sail-boat in the winter, was all in a 
 light blaze. The steward tried to quench the flames 
 with his feet, but his efforts were unavailing. The dry 
 
148 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 stuff burned like shavings, and the more he kicked, 
 the more the fire leaped up and spit at him. He 
 fought the flames as long as his courage held out, 
 and then he " allowed " that the Hotel de Poisson 
 was a doomed structure. 
 
 Taking the money-bags, he retreated down the 
 peninsula towards the landing-place at the Point, 
 lighted on his way by the burning building. Cross- 
 ing the plank, he reached the shore. There was a 
 dory there, and putting the three bags into it, the 
 steward launched it, and pulled off to the yacht. 
 The treasure was conveyed to the cabin, and depos- 
 ited temporarily in a locker under a berth. The dory 
 was towed back to the shore, and placed where the 
 steward had found it, that no early fisherman might 
 be deprived of his morning trip. Augustus was in a 
 flurry of excitement all this time, and had not even 
 considered what he should do with the bags. His 
 present object was to secure the plunder so that it 
 could not be recovered by the robbers; and, having 
 done this, he was entirely satisfied with himself, and 
 everybody else, except Dock Vincent, to whom he 
 owed a balance on account, for that night's business. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 149 
 
 There was an alarm of fire on shore. The bright 
 glare of the flames from the Hotel de Poisson pene- 
 trated the windows of a house near Dock Vincent's, 
 and lighted up the bed-chamber of a sleeping stone- 
 cutter. He gave the alarm ; the bells rang, the en- 
 gines rattled, and the whole town was aroused from 
 its peaceful slumbers. Hundreds of men, who had 
 worked hard all day, lost two hours of sleep for an 
 old shanty which was not worth five dollars. 
 
 The Hotel de Poisson was burned to the ground 
 before many people had gathered. Some good men 
 thanked God that it had not been a poor man's 
 house ; young men enjoyed the excitement of " run- 
 ning with the machine," and those with an eye for the 
 picturesque were thankful that the unsightly shanty 
 had been removed from a place where it disfigured 
 the landscape. No one appeared to be sorry; but 
 every one wondered how the fire had caught. Va- 
 rious conjectures were suggested; but, after all, no 
 one knew anything about it. Some thought a strag- 
 gler had used it as a lodging, and set it on fire in 
 lighting his pipe. Others thought some bad boys 
 had set the fire for fun. 
 
150 FREAKS OP FORTUNE, OR 
 
 If the two men who had met there to confer 
 about their ill-gotten gold were in the crowd, doubt- 
 less they were sadder and wiser men. Probably they 
 thought that the breaking of the lantern had com- 
 municated the flame to the shanty. The people 
 present knew nothing of the event in the Hotel de 
 Poisson wherein Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier had been 
 the principal actor. The finding of the half-melted 
 remains of a lantern had no significance or sugges- 
 tiveness to them. The building burned up clean, and 
 there was nothing left of it but a few smoking tim- 
 bers, and a thin sprinkling of ashes on the ground 
 and the rocks. 
 
 If the robbers, whoever they were, went -to the fire, 
 it is more than likely that they searched eagerly 
 among the ruins for the gold. If they did, they saw 
 nothing which looked like the fused coins of the 
 treasure. The old sail, in which the gold appeared 
 to have been concealed, or which had been thrown 
 over its place of concealment, was burned to tinder, 
 and there was not a vestige of the bags or the 
 money. 
 
HALF BOUND THE WOJJLD. 151 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 "lose his own soul!" 
 
 THE steward of The Starry Flag, after he had 
 returned the dory to the rocks, and secured 
 the jolly-boat of the yacht, had an opportunity to 
 rest his fevered, mixed-up brain, and to consider his 
 next step. The four seamen of the schooner sle]3t on 
 shore, at their own homes, and there was no one on 
 board but the cook, who slumbered heavily in the 
 forecastle, and did not hear Augustus when he con- 
 veyed the bags to the cabin. 
 
 Mr. Ebenier lighted a lamp, closed the cabin doors, 
 and drew the silken curtains over the ports in the 
 upper part of the trunk, so that no one could see 
 what he was doing. Though it was not lawful for the 
 steward to use the w'ash-bowl in Mr. Watson's state- 
 room, he considered that the present emergency would 
 justify him in doing so. He performed his ablutions 
 
152 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OK 
 
 with the utmost care, paying particular attention to his 
 wounded head. He then changed his clothing through- 
 out, and devoted half an hour to cleansing his plaid 
 pants, which had been somewhat soiled by contact 
 with the burning seaweed. He even polished his boots 
 before he jmt them away. 
 
 So far as cleanliness was concerned, the steward 
 was a gentleman, which no unclean person can be. 
 Having completed his toilet, and removed all signs 
 of the operation from the state-room, he sat down on 
 a locker in the cabin. He was thinking of the ex- 
 traordinary incidents of the night. He was fully sat- 
 isfied that he had found Mr. Fairfield's treasure, and 
 that the opportunity entirely to free his young cap- 
 tain from suspicion was within his grasp. It was a 
 pleasant thought; but, after all, who was Captain 
 Fairfield ? Only a young fellow behind whose chair 
 at dinner he was privileged to stand. He had seen 
 him for the first time but a few days before, and he 
 did not feel under any peculiar obligations to him. 
 
 Mr. Ebenier took the three bags of gold from the 
 locker, and laid them on the cabin table. It was 
 midnight by the clock which hung in the cabin — 
 
HALF ROUND TIIE WORLD. 153 
 
 
 
 the dead hour of night, when all were sleeping. The 
 fire on shore had burned out, and all was still save 
 the rolling sea. The steward went to the door, opened 
 it, passed up to the deck ; there was no one in sight, 
 and hardly a light to be seen on the land. Return- 
 ing to the cabin, he poured out the contents of one 
 of the bags on the table, and proceeded to count 
 the gold. It was a long job, and there was more 
 money than the steward had ever before seen togeth- 
 er. On a piece of p$per he noted each hundred dol- 
 lars with a tally-mark. His last pile contained but 
 fifty dollars. Counting up his marks, he made thirty- 
 eight of them ; and the whole sum, according to 
 his reckoning, was thirty-eight hundred and fifty dol- 
 lars. 
 
 The old man had lost four thousand dollars, and 
 the steward, concluding he had made a mistake, per- 
 formed the agreeable task of counting the gold a 
 second time, but with the same result as before. Af- 
 ter making the allowance for the fifty dollars found 
 in the captain's state-room, the amount was one hun- 
 dred dollars short. Mr. Ebenier had the impudence 
 to ask himself if this could be the miser's money, 
 
154 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OB 
 
 since it did not hold out in the sum he had lost. 
 But the bags were plainly marked, as the fourth had 
 been, "N. Fairfield," in the cramped handwriting of 
 the miser. Of course there could be no doubt in 
 regard to the ownership of the treasure, and Mr. 
 Ebenier could not but wonder at the stupidity of the 
 thieves in hiding it in or under the old sail in the 
 Hotel de Poisson. But he did them the justice to 
 conclude that it had only been placed there for a 
 short time, perhaps for but a few hours ; at any rate, 
 their presence in the shanty indicated that it was to 
 have been removed during the night.' 
 
 It had been removed during the night ! The 
 steward chuckled when he thought of it, but his 
 capacious intellect was agitated by a great moral 
 question. Thirty-eight hundred and fifty dollars was 
 an immense sum to a person in his station, who had 
 never had even a hundred dollars in his possession 
 at one time. Honesty was a precious jewel, but it 
 was not possible for him to make thirty-eight hundred 
 and fifty dollars, at one stupendous haul, by being 
 honest. He did not steal the money. He did not 
 rob the old man. If the steward had not suffered 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 155 
 
 the perils and discomforts of two broken heads, or 
 rather one head broken twice, the robbers, whoever 
 they were, would doubtless have divided the money 
 between them, and the old man would never know 
 what had become of his cherished gold. 
 
 Mr. Ebenier asked himself if this was not a freak 
 of fortune in his favor; if the money was not a 
 providential compensation for his twice-broken head. 
 Thirty-eight hundred and fifty dollars would be a 
 very handsome atonement for two such raps as he 
 had received, and he was Mammon-worshipper enough 
 to feel willing that his head should be pounded to 
 a jelly at this rate, so long as the germ of his mighty 
 intellect was not extinguished. 
 
 The steward was a man of exquisite tastes, and 
 was ambitious for social recognition and distinction. 
 In Paris a colored man was just as good as, if not a 
 little better than, a white man. His former master, 
 in Louisiana, had believed in Paris, and seeing with 
 his eyes, he had been fully converted to his master's 
 faith. Mr. Ebenier wanted to go to Paris, wanted 
 to live there, even as a waiter in a cafe, if no bet- 
 ter situation presented itself. With the money before 
 
156 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 him, he could realize his dream of luxury and splen- 
 dor. He could convert these half eagles into napo- 
 leons, and revel like a prince in the gay metropolis 
 of France. He would wear the finest of broadcloth, 
 eat the most sumptuous of dinners, and saunter up 
 and down the Champs Elysees like a gentleman. In 
 short, thirty-eight hundred and fifty dollars, or nearly 
 twenty thousand francs in the currency of France, 
 would make a gentleman of him. 
 
 Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier was sorely tempted. It 
 might be only once in his lifetime that such a chance 
 to be a gentleman would be presented to him. He 
 could put the gold into his carj)et-bag, walk over to 
 Gloucester, and take the first train for Boston. No 
 one would know what had become of him ; or, if they 
 did, he would not be suspected of having the gold. 
 But he would be missed, and his absence might cause 
 a commotion. It would be better not to leave at 
 present. The money could be concealed on board of 
 the yacht, and when he was disposed to abandon the 
 vessel it would be within his reach. 
 
 After more reflection on this important matter, the 
 steward became convinced that it would be safer and 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 157 
 
 better to hide the gold on board. At the stern of 
 the vessel, under the standing-room, there was a sj:>ace 
 not available for cabin use, which formed a kind of 
 store-room for extra supplies. It was reached by re- 
 moving the cabin steps. The tempted man entered 
 this contracted and low aj:>artment with the lamp in 
 his hand. He found a narrow aperture, which led to 
 the space under the cabin floor, where the ballast was 
 deposited, and over which a board had been nailed 
 to prevent the odor of bilge water from penetrating 
 the apartment of the passengers. He removed this 
 board, and reaching clown into the hold, placed the 
 bags in a position where they were not likely to be 
 discovered, even by a person searching for them. 
 Nailing on the board again, he covered it with various 
 articles, and returned to the cabin. 
 
 On the table lay a Bible, which the steward occa- 
 sionally read. Though it was now two o'clock in 
 the morning, he was not sleepy; he was too much 
 excited to think of slumber. He opened the good 
 book mechanically, turned its leaves, and read a verse 
 here and there; but he was thinking all the time of 
 the luxurious gayety of the French capital, and the 
 
158 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 pleasures which thirty-eight hundred and fifty dollars 
 would purchase. 
 
 " For what is a man profited if he shall gain the 
 whole world and lose his own soul?" 
 
 This was the last verse he read, and he closed the 
 book, as though this appeal of Holy Writ grated 
 harshly on his feelings. 
 
 "Lose his own soul," repeated he, almost in spite 
 of himself. 
 
 He tried to think of the Boulevards and the gar- 
 dens of the Tuileries again ; but " lose his own soul " 
 came up to his lips still, as though some invisible 
 power compelled him to whisper the impressive sen- 
 tence. He attempted to whistle, and then to sing an 
 air ; but " lose his own soul " came up to his- lips, 
 and he could not help whispering the sentence again. 
 
 "This money don't belong to me," said he, in au- 
 dible words. " I am not the happy owner of this 
 princely sum. Unto but few is it appointed to be 
 both rich and good-looking, and I am not of the 
 number. I must be contented with my good looks." 
 
 It was no use to say it ; he did not mean it, and 
 the idea of Paris and its luxuries still haunted his 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 159 
 
 imagination. He turned in, but it was only to think 
 what thirty-eight hundred and fifty dollars would 
 purchase ; and " lose his own soul " not only came 
 to his lips, but the solemn sentence seemed to be 
 printed, in sombre-hued capitals, all over the cabin. 
 He went to sleep at last; but "lose his own soul" 
 followed him into his dreams, yelled in the distance 
 and muttered in his ears by grinning demons, such as 
 those with which his fancy peopled the realms of the 
 lost. But he slumbered uneasily till the sun was far 
 up on his day-journey. When he went on deck, he 
 saw The Starry Flag, Jr. almost alongside. Caj)tain 
 Fairfield and the four seamen came on board. 
 
 The young skipper announced that the trip to the 
 eastward, which had been postponed from the day 
 before, would be commenced at once, and the party 
 would be on board at eight o'clock. The steward 
 had enough to do to keep his hands, if not his mind, 
 engaged in making preparations for the occupants of 
 the cabin. At the time appointed the party came on 
 board, and the yacht sailed on her cruise. 
 
 Our story need not follow them during the ten 
 days to which the trip was prolonged. It is enough 
 
160 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 to say that the party enjoyed every moment of the 
 time. Even Mrs. Watson, who had no taste for the 
 sea, was delighted ; for Levi, at her request, was care- 
 ful to bring the yacht to anchor in smooth water 
 every night, and to stay in j^ort when the sea was 
 very rough. 
 
 During those ten days Mr. Ebenier considered and 
 reconsidered, and then considered again, what he 
 should do with the money that had so strangely come 
 into his possession. He was disj)Osed to use it; but 
 the gospel sentence thundered in his ears, and trem- 
 bled upon his lips, and rolled like the chariot of an 
 avenger through his mind. Once or twice he was on 
 the jDoint of telling the captain all about the gold, 
 but the vision of Parisian luxury checked him. 
 
 When the yacht entered Sandy Bay, the Caribbee 
 lay anchored off the Point, and The Starry Flag 
 moored a couple of cables' length from her. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 161 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ANOTHER LITTLE PLAN. 
 
 WHEN The Starry Flag returned from her 
 pleasant excursion to the eastward, 31r. Fair- 
 field had so far recovered from the effects of his fall 
 as to be out, and to be making his preparations again 
 to catch dog-fish. It seemed to him to be absolutely 
 necessary that he should make some more money. 
 He felt like a poor man, and his stocks and bonds, 
 notes and mortgages, afforded him but little comfort. 
 His heart seemed to have been lost with the four 
 thousand in gold. 
 
 When the yacht made her moorings, the old man 
 was at the landing-place, getting ready to go dog- 
 fishing the next day. His bones still ached, and 
 nothing but bitter necessity could have induced one 
 so feeble as he was to think of going off in a dory, 
 miles from the shore, braving the perils of ocv:m and 
 11 
 
162 FKEAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 storm. He believed that poverty and want stared 
 him in the face, and that he must go to the poor- 
 house if he did not make an effort to retrieve his 
 great misfortune. 
 
 Dock Vincent was never far off when a vessel came 
 into port ; and, though he was very busy in making 
 the preparations for his departure, he hastened down 
 to the Point when The Starry Flag hove in sight. 
 
 "That's Levi's vessel, Squire Fairfield," said he. 
 
 "I s'pose 'tis," replied the old man, casting an in- 
 different glance to seaward. 
 
 "I sold my house to-day, Squire Fairfield," con- 
 tinued Dock, seating himself by the shore. 
 
 "Did ye? What d'ye git for't?" 
 
 "Fifteen hundred dollars. It was worth two thou- 
 sand ; but, as I'm going to Australia right off, I 
 couldn't afford to hold it for a better price." 
 
 "You'll have a good deal of money to kerry off 
 with you." 
 
 "Not much. I paid six thousand for that vessel, 
 and she's dog-cheap at that; but I shall make my 
 fortune in her, carrying passengers." 
 
 "I hope you will, for you've done well by me, 
 
HALF HOUND THE WORLD. 163 
 
 though you didn't find my money;" and the old 
 man sighed heavily. "I reckon I shall never see 
 nothin' more on't." 
 
 " I'm afraid you never will, Squire Fairfield. That 
 nigger lied so like all possessed that Levi got clear, 
 and then we couldn't do anything. I'm afraid it's 
 too late to do anything more. I calculate that nig- 
 ger and Levi understand one another pretty well. 
 They fixed things between them, and I'm just as sure 
 as I can be that your money went off in that vessel." 
 
 "In the yack?" 
 
 " Yes, in the yacht," replied Dock, warmly. " It 
 was stowed away somewhere in her; but I suppose 
 they have got rid of it by this time." 
 
 "You think I shan't never see it again," groaned 
 the old man, with a piteous expression on his thin 
 face. 
 
 "I'm sorry to say I don't think you ever will, 
 Squire Fairfield." 
 
 " Then I'm a ruined man ! I can't afford to lose 
 four thousand dollars. It was e'enamost all I had, 
 and I don't see but I must go to the poorhouse." 
 
 Dock Vincent took off his hat, rubbed his head, 
 
164 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 gazed upon the ground, and seemed to be in deep 
 thought for several minutes. So was the miser in 
 deep thought — brooding over his lost treasure. 
 
 " Squire Fairfield, when I begin to do a thing I 
 always do it, sooner or later," said Dock, glancing 
 doubtfully at the old man. 
 
 "You didn't find my money," added Mr. Fairfield. 
 
 " ~No ; but I'm going to find it, or some more just 
 like it. Squire Fairfield, I can put you in the way 
 of making tv/enty thousand dollars just as easy as 
 you lost that four thousand." 
 
 " You don't say ! " exclaimed the old man, his sunk- 
 en eyes glowing at the suggestion. 
 
 "I can; there isn't any doubt about it." 
 
 " You don't mean to steal it — do you ? " 
 
 "Steal it! You don't think I'd steal — do you? 
 If you do, I won't say anything more about my 
 little plan." 
 
 Another little plan ! 
 
 " Well, no ; I never know'd you to steal nothin'." 
 
 " Twenty thousand dollars is a good deal of 
 money, Squire Fairfield." 
 
 " So 'tis — more 'n I ever expect to see." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 165 
 
 " But you shall see it, and have it, if you will take 
 hold of my little plan." 
 
 " What v is't ? " asked the old man, curiously and 
 eagerly. 
 
 "It's something we must keejD* still about. I'm 
 going to make my fortune out of it, and yours too." 
 
 " What do you want to keej) still for, ef you ain't 
 go'n' to steal it ? " 
 
 "I see it's no use to talk with you," said Dock, 
 petulantly. "If you think I'd steal, I can't depend 
 upon you, or you upon me. So there's an end of 
 it." 
 
 Dock rose from his seat, looked at The Starry 
 Flag, which was just coming to anchor, and then 
 began to walk up the Point ; but he expected to be 
 called back, and he was not disappointed. 
 
 " Why don't you tell me on't, so I can know what 
 you're go'n' to do?" demanded the miser. 
 
 "I shall not say anything to you. I don't think 
 I can trust you. The business isn't all regular; but 
 it isn't stealing," protested Dock. 
 
 " You can trust me, Cap'n Vincent, jest as long as 
 you can trust anybody. You know I never says 
 
166 FEEAKS OP FOETUNE, OE 
 
 nothin' to nobody about business. I allers keeps 
 things to myself," whined Mr. Fairfield. 
 
 "Will you keep this to yourself?" 
 
 "Sartin, I will." 
 
 " 'Pon honor ? " "added Dock, earnestly. 
 
 "Yes; 'pon honor. Nobody ever knowed me to 
 say nothin' about business. I never trust nobody, 
 not even my wife, with business matters." 
 . " Sit down, squire, and we'll talk it over between 
 us," replied Dock, apparently satisfied with the old 
 man's promise. 
 
 Mr. Fairfield, with some difficulty, seated himself 
 on the rock, and with glaring eyes — so interested 
 was he in a project which was to put twenty thou- 
 sand dollars in his pocket — he listened to the rather 
 prolix explanations of his companion. For twenty 
 thousand dollars he would have sold his soul ; but he 
 was timid. 
 
 « I never fail in doing a thing without wanting to 
 try it over again," Dock began. "I always put 
 things through when I begin upon them." 
 
 The old man was not quite sure of this, but he 
 did not interrupt the speaker. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 167 
 
 "Three years ago twenty thousand dollars slipped 
 through my fingers just as easy as though the money 
 had been greased," continued Dock. 
 
 "I didn't know on't," 
 
 "Yes, you did. Watson had his money all ready 
 to pay over to me when I had the girl before, and 
 if Levi Fairfield hadn't come between me and him, I 
 should have had the money. Now, Squire Fairfield, 
 I'm going to try that over again ; and I'm not going 
 to fail this time. I've got things fixed so that I 
 can't fail." 
 
 "I donno about that," said the old man. 
 
 "I know, and I'm just as certain about it as 
 though the thing was. done already. But I'm not 
 going to tell you anything more about it than I'm 
 obliged to, and then you won't know anything about 
 it, and can't be held responsible for it." 
 
 "I don't see how I'm go'n' to make any money 
 by it," interposed the miser, who was more interested 
 in this part of the plan than any other. 
 
 "Don't you, squire? How much money do you 
 suppose Watson's worth?" 
 
 "I donno." 
 
168 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OE 
 
 "More than a million! I know that to be a fact; 
 and I shouldn't wonder if he was worth two millions : 
 folks in Boston think he is." 
 
 "He's spendin' on't all on yacks and sech things." 
 
 "What that yacht cost to him is no more than a 
 copper to you and me. He don't mind a hundred 
 thousand dollars any more than you would half a 
 cent." 
 
 Not so much! 
 
 "But he don't believe in throwin' on't away." 
 
 "I'm going to bleed him just seventy thousand 
 dollars — fifty thousand for myself, and twenty thou- 
 sand for you." 
 
 " I don't see how it's go'n' to be done." 
 
 " He shall -pay the money over to you ; that's what 
 I wan t^ you for." 
 
 " Then they'll ketch me, and put me in jail," sug- 
 gested the old man, timorously. 
 
 " Nonsense ! They won't do it. The whole mat- 
 ter will be between you and Watson. You won't 
 know anything about the business — not a thing. All 
 you've got to do is to take the money and keep it 
 till I call for it. After the girl has been gone a 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 169 
 
 month or two, he will be glad to give you twice as 
 much as I ask. I shall get her aboard the Carib- 
 bee." 
 
 "How you go'n' to do it? She won't go with 
 you, any more 'n she'll go with the evil sperit." 
 
 " I'll take care of that. You are to know nothing 
 about it. I shall leave things so that Mr. Watson 
 will go to you, and offer to pay the money without 
 your saying a word about it beforehand. All you 
 have to do is to keep what he gives you till I call 
 for it." 
 
 "I donno about it." 
 
 "It's all right. We shan't hurt the girl. She 
 shall have a good state-room, and my wife will be 
 on board to see to her. I tell you I'm going to 
 have this thing done over again." 
 • "Where's Levi go'n' to be all this time ? He 
 sticks to the gal all the^time, and if you git her off, 
 he'll follow you way round the world." 
 
 " He won't know anything about it ; besides, I cal- 
 culate he'll be in jail for stealing your money before 
 that time." 
 
 "You don't think so!" 
 
170 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " Yes, I do ; I'm going to fix that nigger, and I'll 
 bet Levi won't have his wool to hold on to much 
 longer." 
 
 "But I don't understand nothin' about this busi- 
 ness, Cap'n Vincent," said the old man, doubtfully. 
 
 "I don't want you to understand anything about 
 it. It's all right as it is. When the money comes, 
 you hold on to it." 
 
 " Ain't you go'n' off to Australia ? " 
 
 " Of course I am." 
 
 "Then how you go'n' to git the money?" 
 
 "Leave all that to me," replied Dock, impatiently. 
 " If you don't know anything, you'll keep out of 
 trouble. You will make your twenty thousand dol- 
 lars out of it, and that ought to satisfy you. Now, 
 Squire Fairfield, there's only just one thing more to 
 be done." 
 
 "What's that?" • 
 
 " I'll give you a chance to make another ten thou- 
 sand, if you like." 
 
 The old man's eyes brightened again, as he asked 
 how it was to be done. 
 
 "I find I'm going to be a little short fitting out. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 171 
 
 I'm going to take out some notions to sell that will 
 pay me five dollars for one ; but I haven't got the 
 money to do it," continued Dock. 
 
 The old man's chin dropped, and . he looked sad 
 and sorrowful. 
 
 "I want ten thousand dollars more than I've got. 
 I shall make forty thousand out of the venture, and 
 I can afford to pay a heavy interest. I will give 
 you ten thousand for the use of ten thousand." 
 
 " I hain't got no sech money," protested the miser. 
 
 "But you can raise it." 
 
 "I ain't sure of ever gittin' on't back." 
 
 "Yes, you are. You will lend me ten thousand 
 dollars, and then take twenty thousand out of my 
 fifty when Watson pays it over to you." 
 
 "Perhaps he never'll pay it over to me." 
 
 " You may be sure he will. If he don't, he never 
 will see his daughter again. He will be glad of the 
 chance to pay it. But if he don't, you know, you 
 shall have my note, and I will pay it as soon as I've 
 turned my notions." 
 
 Mr. Fairfield, eager as he was to make the ten 
 thousand dollars, had no more idea then of letting 
 
172 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 the sum asked for pass out of his hands than he had 
 of giving away that amount. It was not his style to 
 let money go from him without the best of security. 
 The approach of a boat interrupted Dock's argument, 
 and the old man promised to think of the proposition. 
 
 "I shall not want that dory any more, and I'll 
 give it to you, Squire Fairfield," said Dock, hoping 
 his munificence would touch the money-lender's heart, 
 as he walked away. 
 
 " I'm much obleeged to you ; it will sarve me 
 a good turn," replied Mr. Fairfield. 
 
 " Think over my offer, and I'll see you again soon," 
 added Dock, as he passed out of hearing. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 173 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 PISTOLS FOR TWO. 
 
 IT was about three o'clock in the afternoon when 
 The Starry Flag arrived from her cruise. Her 
 passengers were immediately landed; and, after the 
 vessel had been put in order, the four young men 
 who lived in Rockport were permitted to go on 
 shore ; and the cook went with them, intending to 
 return in the evening with the boat. The steward 
 did not wish to visit the town, and remained on 
 board as ship-keeper. 
 
 Mr. Ebenier was so polite and attentive to the 
 wants of the passengers, and, above all, used such 
 choice language, that he had become quite a favorite. 
 Bessie, who had made considerable progress in her 
 French, was delighted with him, as well because he 
 was an original character, as because he anticipated 
 all her wants. She talked French with him; indeed, 
 
174 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 all except Levi used the "polite language" at the 
 table to a great extent. The steward was treated 
 with a great deal of consideration by all the occu- 
 pants of the cabin. This was what he most desired, 
 and after the party had been on board two or three 
 days, he ceased to think of leaving the yacht before 
 the close of the season. Such a friend as Mr. "Wat- 
 son was worth more than the contents of the three 
 bags concealed in the vessel's run. 
 
 But ever since he had placed the treasure in its 
 hiding-place, the gospel malediction, "lose his own 
 soul," had been thundering in his ears. The tempta- 
 tion was a strong one ; but the steward had thus far 
 been an honest man, and the present seemed to be 
 the crisis of his lifetime. The kindness and consid- 
 eration of the captain and his passengers won his 
 heart, and he had determined that Levi, in the words 
 with which he clothed the idea, should be triumph- 
 antly vindicated. 
 
 Mr. Ebenier reasoned that his captain could not be 
 
 vindicated by simply returning the gold to the old 
 
 man, his uncle. The two men whom he had failed 
 
 • to identify in the Hotel de Poisson must be disco v- 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOELD. 175 
 
 ered ; and he determined to find them, if it were 
 possible. On this subject he had some views of his 
 own, and he concluded to let the gold remain where 
 it was until he could institute an investigation: we 
 use the gentleman's own words, subsequently uttered. 
 The steward dared not leave the yacht when the 
 others went on shore. If he had not recognized the 
 two men, they had probably recognized him. They 
 must suppose he had taken possession of the money, 
 and they would expect to find it if an opportunity 
 to search the yacht was afforded to them. Mr. Ebe- 
 nier did not intend to give them any such opportu- 
 nity; therefore he remained on board. He went 
 farther than this. The robbers might come on board 
 while he was there alone, overpower him, and thus 
 regain their plunder. The steward kept a revolver 
 in his carpet-bag; for, being a man of varying for- 
 tunes, he was liable at any time to be in a situa- 
 tion to need such a weapon. He took the pistol from 
 the bag, loaded it, . and put it into his j)ocket. It 
 was his duty, as ship-keeper, to defend the vessel in 
 the absence of the captain; and the weapon gave 
 him a strong assurance of safety. 
 
176 FKEAKS OF F0KTUNE, OB 
 
 From his house Dock Vincent watched the move- 
 ments of the crew of the yacht. Levi and five men 
 had landed; consequently the steward must be on 
 board alone. But he had decided to pay him a visit, 
 whether alone or not. In Dock's classic speech, he 
 was " going to fix that nigger," and he was watching 
 for the opportunity to do the " fixing." One of the 
 Caribbee's boats was at the landing, and as soon as 
 the crew of the yacht had landed, he pulled off to 
 her. His coming was not unexpected, and Mr. Ebe- 
 nier, in spite of the injuries he had received at the 
 hands of the visitor, was as smooth and polite as 
 though his temper had never been ruffled. 
 
 "Steward, I want to talk with you a little while," 
 said Dock, as, without an invitation, he stepped upon 
 the deck of the yacht. 
 
 "Though I have no particular inducements to con- 
 descension, so far as you are concerned, I am willing, 
 in this instance, to gratify you," replied Mr. Ebenier, 
 graciously. 
 
 " If you don't object, we will go down into the cabin, 
 where we shall not be interrupted," added Dock. 
 
 " Though it is not customary to admit any but 
 
IIALF ROUND THE V, OCLD. 177 
 
 gentlemen into the cabin, I shall be happy to waive 
 the rule in this instance, as all our people are on 
 shore," answered Mr. Ebenier, as he led the way to 
 the cabin. 
 
 Dock Vincent paid no attention to the polished 
 insults of the steward, but seated himself on a stool, 
 at the side of the table. Mr. Ebenier took his place 
 oj^posite the guest. 
 
 u Now, Captain Dock Vincent, I am entirely at 
 your service," said the steward. 
 
 "It won't take a great while to get off what I 
 want to say," Dock began, putting a very uncompro- 
 mising look upon his ugly face. " I suppose you 
 know the old man that lost the money." 
 
 " I have not the honor to be personally acquainted 
 with him, but I am informed that he is the paternal 
 uncle of Captain Levi Fairfield." 
 
 " That's so ; and Levi has treated him in the most 
 shabby manner." 
 
 " Permit me to interrupt you, Captain Vincent," in- 
 terposed the steward. " It would not be possible for 
 Captain Fairfield to treat any person in a shabby 
 manner, certainly not his own uncle." 
 12 
 
178 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " On that point we differ, steward ; but let me say 
 what I was going to say." 
 
 "Proceed, Captain Vincent. I simply refuse to 
 indorse your statement, and I j^rotest against it." 
 
 " All this is neither here nor there. To come right 
 down to the p'int, the old man lost four thousand 
 dollars in gold. I'm trying to help him find it. I 
 know just as well as I know anything, that Levi stole 
 that money. All the circumstances go to show that 
 he did, letting alone the fact that one of the bags was 
 found in his state-room." 
 
 "Not without an earnest protest can I permit my 
 worthy captain to be maligned in this unjustifiable 
 manner. On my own responsibility I declare that 
 your statement is utterly false." 
 
 "I am satisfied it's just as I say," persisted Dock. 
 "Now, we'll go a p'int closer to the wind. I'm al- 
 most certain that the gold Levi stole is hid aboard 
 this vessel." 
 
 "And you wish to search the yacht for it?" add- 
 ed the steward. 
 
 "That's just my idea," replied Dock, promptly. 
 
 "Permitting such a search would be an acknowl- 
 
HALF BOUND THE WORLD. 179 
 
 edgment, on my part, of the possibility of my worthy 
 captain's guilt ; therefore I cannot suffer such an in- 
 vestigation to be instituted." 
 
 " Well, steward, whether you are going to suffer it 
 or not, it's going to be done," said Dock, savagely. 
 " I didn't come off here, this time, to be fooled with. I 
 know the gold 's on board, and I'm going to have it." 
 
 "You know it," repeated the steward, calmly. 
 
 "Yes, I know it." 
 
 "So do I," added Augustus, quietly. 
 
 "You do!" exclaimed Dock. "I knew you did! 
 I've been satisfied all along that you knew all about 
 it, and that you was helping Levi cover up his guilt. 
 I suppose he was going to give you something for it." 
 
 " One of your statements, namely, that the money 
 is on board of this yacht, is assuredly correct ; but 
 your theory, your logic, your premises, and your con- 
 clusions are undoubtedly false and absurd," said the 
 steward, a cheerful smile playing beneath his huge 
 mustache. 
 
 "Isn't the gold here?" demanded Dock, impa- 
 tiently. 
 
 "It is." 
 
180 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 "Then quit your flabbergast, and talk in plain 
 English. Of course Levi stole it." 
 
 " Not he ! " 
 
 "Who did, then?" 
 
 "You and another person. Excuse me, Captain 
 Yincent, if my remarks seem too personal; but I 
 have a theory of my own, which, with your permis- 
 sion, I will unfold to you. Have a glass of cold 
 water, sir?" 
 
 The steward filled a tumbler from the ice pitcher, 
 and politely tendered it to the guest. 
 
 "No; I don't want any; go on with your yarn," 
 growled Dock, fourly, for he desired to ascertain 
 what the steward knew. 
 
 "We need use no undue haste in our delibera- 
 tions," replied Augustus, as he drank the glass of 
 water. 
 
 "Go on, and don't talk any flabbergast." 
 
 "The money was stolen by you and another per- 
 son." 
 
 "Hunrph! What other person?" 
 
 "To be entirely candid with you, I do not yet 
 know who the other person is; but a certain con- 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 181 
 
 tirigent event will expose him." He referred to tho 
 return of the fishing vessel, with Ben Seaver, who 
 had handed him the bag. " You and the other per- 
 son — to me at present unknown — stole the money, 
 and concealed it in the Hotel de Poisson." 
 
 "In the what?" 
 
 "I refer to the fish-house, which was consumed in 
 the conflagration of ten days ago. After you had 
 knocked me down by hurling a stone at me in the 
 basest and most unchivalrous manner, on my recov- 
 ery from the effects of the blow, I went to the fish- 
 house to sleep, being too late to return on board. I 
 was in the loft when you and th^fcother person were 
 below. The floor broke, and It had the misfortune 
 to be precipitated upon you and your companion in 
 infamy. You ran away; but I found the gold, and 
 brought it on board. This is my theory, Captain 
 Dock Vincent." 
 
 " This is all a lie ! " gasped Dock, putting his hand 
 into his side pocket. 
 
 " On the contrary, it is all the sacred truth." 
 
 "See here, steward ; you can't fool me. I want 
 that money." 
 
182 FREAKS OE FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " Allow me to inform you that you cannot have 
 it. In due time it shall be restored to the rightful 
 owner." 
 
 " I can and will have it," said Dock, fiercely, as he 
 took a revolver from his pocket, and pointed it at 
 the head of the steward. 
 
 " I think not," replied Mr. Ebenier, producing his 
 revolver ; and, straightening out his legs under the 
 table, he threw himself into an attitude as impudent 
 as the human form could assume, while upon his 
 face played an expression of smiling assurance, which 
 took the ruffian all aback. 
 
 Dock's hand trembled, and the pistol vibrated in 
 his grasp, as he looked in dismay at the steward's 
 weapon, all capped and cocked, as his own was not 
 — a circumstance which probably helped Mr. Ebenier 
 in keeping so cool and self-possessed. 
 
 "Why don't you fire, Captain Dock Vincent?" 
 taunted the steward. " If you move you are a dead 
 man ! " 
 
 At this moment a boat touched the side of the 
 vessel ; and while the two men were confronting each 
 other as described, Levi entered the cabin. He was 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 183 
 
 startled by the array of deadly weapons presented 
 to him as he descended the steps ; but neither Dock 
 nor the steward appeared to notice him, for each was 
 afraid the other would fire if his atl^ntion was for 
 an instant diverted. 
 
184 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 THE GOLD RESTORED* 
 
 LEVI could see no good reason why Dock Yin- 
 cent and the steward of the yacht should bo 
 such deadly enemies as to draw pistols on each other. 
 He had come on hoard for a travelling bag, which 
 Bessie had left in her state-room, and he was not 
 prepared for the scene that met his view in the* 
 cabin. 
 
 " What are you about, Augustus ? " demanded he. 
 
 But the steward was obliged to attend to the ugly 
 customer opposite him at the table, and he made 
 no reply — a piece of rudeness, however, which he 
 regretted as an absolute necessity. 
 
 " Captain Dock Vincent, I will trouble you to lay 
 your weapon on the table," said the steward. "If 
 you don't do it, I will fire." 
 
 Dock did it. 
 
HALF ROUXD THE WOJRLD. 185 
 
 " Pardon mo, Captain Fairfield, for my rudeness in 
 not replying to your question,'* continued Augustus. 
 
 " I asked you what you were about," repeated Levi. 
 
 " I was about to shoot this ruffian, and I should 
 have done so if I had not happened to observe, in 
 good time, that his weapon was not in condition to 
 go off." 
 
 Dock Vincent rose from his seat, leaving his re- 
 volver on the table. Probably he had not expected 
 to use it, believing the sight of it would be sufficient 
 to intimidate the steward, and induce -him to give up 
 the three bags of gold. He looked at the colored 
 man, then at Levi. The former had dropped his re- 
 volver, seeing which the ruffian walked towards the 
 cabin door. As the movement was not opposed, he 
 ran up the steps, jumped into his boat, and pulled 
 for the Caribbee. 
 
 Levi again impatiently demanded an explanation 
 of the scene he had witnessed. The steward, com- 
 mencing back at the day of the examination, related, 
 in his prolix and grandiloquent speech, all the events 
 in which he had been the chief actor, up to the cur- 
 rent incident of the day. He did not confess that 
 
186 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 ho had been tempted to steal the money, for he re- 
 garded ^the overcoming of the temptation as a suffi- 
 cient virtue, without the humiliation of exposing his 
 own weakness. 
 
 " Then the gold is on board now ! " exclaimed the 
 astonished Levi. 
 
 "Yes, sir; it is concealed in the run," replied Au- 
 gustus. 
 
 " Why didn't you tell me of all this before ? " 
 
 "Because I wished to find the men that stole the 
 money. I thgught I could do it better alone than 
 I could with the constables, or anybody else," an- 
 swered Augustus ; but he hung his head as he 
 thought of the dishonest purpose he had cherished. 
 
 He had resisted the temptation, but his conscience 
 was sensitive enough to make him regret that he 
 had even been tempted to steal. 
 
 Levi was thoughtful and troubled. The triumph- 
 ant vindication of his captain which the steward had 
 promised himself to bring about was not likely to be 
 realized. The gold was on board of the yacht, and 
 could be restored to Mr. Fairfield ; but the vessel 
 had been searched for it, and restoring it looked 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOliLD. 187 
 
 more like confirming the vile charge against him than 
 like disproving it. Perhaps it would be better for 
 his reputation to keep the money until the return of 
 Ben Seaver ; but Levi could not believe it was right 
 to retain the gold even a single day. He was honest 
 and true, and he determined to do his duty before 
 God and man, letting his reputation take care of itself. 
 
 He directed the steward to bring out the bags 
 from their hiding-place. The name on the tow-cloth, 
 in his uncle's cramped writing, assured him there 
 could be no mistake in regard to the ownership. 
 The steward told him there was thirty-eight hun- 
 dred and fifty dollars in the bags — one hundred 
 and fifty dollars less than the sum lost. The robbers 
 had j^robably taken out one hundred dollars for pres- 
 ent use, and fifty for the snare which was to intrap 
 the captain of the yacht. One of the bags had been 
 emptied, and its contents distributed among the other 
 three. 
 
 The gold was transferred to the boat, the cabin 
 doors and forward scuttles were locked, and Levi, 
 accompanied by the steward, pulled ashore, and land- 
 ed at Mr. Watson's house. 
 
188 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 The exciting story of the recovery of the money 
 was repeated, and the young skipper declared his in- 
 tention to restore the bags to Mr. Fairfield. Mr. 
 Watson volunteered to go with him on this inter- 
 esting errand. With the bags in his hands, Levi 
 entered the kitchen, where his uncle was seated, fol- 
 lowed by his constant friend. 
 
 " There is your money, uncle Nathan," said he, as 
 he placed the bags on the table. 
 
 " What ! the gold ? " demanded the miser, with 
 breathless eagerness. 
 
 "Yes, sir, the gold," replied Levi. 
 
 " All of it ? " gasped the old man, rising from his 
 chair, while his frame trembled under the excitement 
 of the moment. 
 
 "All but one hundred and fifty dollars." 
 
 "I think you ought to give me back the whole 
 on't, Levi." 
 
 " Fifty dollars more of it is in the hands of Squire 
 Saunders." 
 
 " But then there's a hund'ed gone," added the old 
 man, as he clutched the bags, and raised them to 
 test their weight. 
 
HALF BOUND THE WOULD. 189 
 
 "I suppose the thieves took a hundred dollars of 
 the money," said Levi. 
 
 "Who's the thieves?" 
 
 " I don't know who they are ; but I think they 
 will be discovered in due time. The steward of the 
 yacht found these bags in the old fish-house that was 
 burned." 
 
 Mr. Watson and Levi had agreed that the ends 
 of justice would best be answered by saying no more 
 than this at present. Both of them were satisfied 
 that Dock Vincent was one of the robbers, but un- 
 fortunately there was no evidence that connected him 
 with the crime. Though he had gone on board the 
 yacht, and demanded the gold of the steward, he 
 had clone so in the name of the owner ; and the act 
 was consistent with his j)osition as the agent of Mr. 
 Fairfield. 
 
 The old man asked a great many questions, but he 
 obtained only the facts ; all theories and suspicions 
 were suppressed. Mr. Watson had sent the steward 
 for Mr. Gayles, and before they left the miser's house 
 he arrived; and the party proposed to visit the fish- 
 house, and examine the premises, in search of any 
 evidence that might be obtained. 
 
190 FEEAKS OF FOETUKE, OE 
 
 Though Mr. Fairfield was overjoyed to find his 
 gold, his satisfaction did not prevent him from growl- 
 ing sorely at the loss of the hundred dollars. He in- 
 sisted that Levi ought to make it up to him. He 
 followed the party out of the house, and would have 
 gone to the ruins of the Hotel de Poisson with them, 
 if Dock Vincent, who had just landed, had not joined 
 him. 
 
 The steward told his story over again ; and the 
 metallic parts of the lantern, which still remained 
 there, were a partial confirmation of the truth of it. 
 Mr. Gayles took possession of these pieces, hoping to 
 be able to prove something by them. While they 
 were still discussing the matter, Dock Vincent and 
 Mr. Fairfield joined them. 
 
 " If you make up that hund'ed dollars, Levi, I 
 won't say nothin' - more about it," whined the old 
 man. 
 
 "I shall not do so, uncle Nathan," replied Levi. 
 
 " Certainly not," added Mr. Watson. 
 
 " He ought to do it," interposed Dock. " He stole 
 the money, and the least he can do is to give it all 
 back." 
 
HALF BOUND THE WOULD. 191 
 
 "I do not wish to hold any conversation with 
 you on the subject," answered the merchant, coldly. 
 
 "I suppose you don't," sneered Dock. "It has all 
 turned out just as I said it would. Levi stole the 
 money, and got that black steward to help him when 
 he was like to be found out. I knew, all the time, 
 that money was on board the yacht; and Squire 
 Fairfield may thank me for getting it for him. I 
 made the steward own up that the gold was on 
 board; and after that Levi didn't dare to keep it 
 any longer. I suppose you don't want to say any- 
 thing more about it after that." 
 
 "Not to you," added Mr. Watson, as he walked 
 away, followed by his companions. 
 
 "There, Squire Fairfield, you can see them sneak- 
 ing off like sheep-stealers," said Dock. "It's just as 
 I tell you, you may depend upon it; and if Levi 
 don't make up that hundred, I should put him 
 through a course of sprouts." 
 
 "He ought to gim me the whole of the money," 
 replied Mr. Fairfield, who accepted Dock's explana- 
 tion in regard to the recovery of the gold. 
 
 "I reckon you'll get it yet. But, Squire Fairfield, 
 
192 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OR 
 
 I expect I shall get off in two or three clays now, 
 and I want that money I spoke to you about," add- 
 ed Dock, as they walked towards the road. "I am 
 going to sail for "New York first, buy the goods 
 there, and then go to Australia. You are going to 
 make thirty thousand dollars out of me, and you can 
 afford to accommodate me a little. I exj)ect you 
 will get the whole thirty thousand before I sail from 
 New York; I know you will." 
 
 Dock talked half of that night to the old man, 
 and finally persuaded him to raise the sum he re- 
 quired. The gold which had been restored to him 
 made up a large portion of it, and the next day he 
 obtained the rest. The emigrant had sold his house, 
 and disposed of his furniture to the buyer, who was 
 to have possession as soon as Dock sailed. 
 
 While Mr. Fairfield and his villanous companion 
 were discussing the loan, Mr. Gayles called at Dock's 
 house, after dark, to borrow a lantern, having ascer- 
 tained that he had recently purchased one at a store 
 in town. 
 
 "We haven't any lantern now," replied Mrs. Yin- 
 cent. 
 
HALF ROUXD THE WORLD. 193 
 
 "I thought you had one. Captain Vincent bought 
 one not long ago," added the constable. 
 
 " Well, he hasn't any now. I'm sure I don't know 
 what's become of it. It may be he left it on board 
 of the vessel. He never said what had become 
 of it." 
 
 "Without having proved the fact, Mr. Gayles was 
 satisfied that Dock's lantern was the one broken by 
 the steward when he fell from the loft of the fish- 
 house. The parts he had taken from the ruins cor- 
 responded, in size and form, with one which the 
 shopkeeper declared was like that he had sold Dock. 
 The constable worked hard to obtain evidence enough 
 to warrant the arrest of Dock before he sailed for 
 Australia ; but Squire Cleaves declared that the lan- 
 tern was not sufficient. 
 
 On the day after Dock obtained the money from 
 Mr. Fairfield, he moved his family on board of the 
 Caribbee, which had already cleared at the custom- 
 house. Mr. Gayles was alarmed lest he should escape, 
 and hastened to Squire Cleaves for advice. 
 
 " We must not let him go," said the lawyer. 
 "Where is that colored man, Mr. Ebenier?" 
 13 
 
194 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 "I saw him at Mr. Watson's house ten minutes 
 ago." 
 
 " Bring him to me." 
 
 The steward was brought to him, and he was in- 
 duced to make a charge against Dock of assault and 
 battery. A warrant was obtained, and Mr. Gayles, 
 with a sufficient posse, went to the Caribbee to arrest 
 him. His wife, and a man whose name was not 
 known, but who was said to be a passenger in the 
 schooner, declared that he had gone to New York 
 on Jbusiness, and the vessel would not sail till his 
 return. Certainly Dock was not on board, and it 
 was ascertained at the depot that he had taken the 
 train for Boston. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 195 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 MAT MOGMORE. 
 
 MR. GAYLES watched the Caribbee night and 
 day; but he saw nothing of Dock Vincent. 
 Mr. Fairfield said his neighbor and friend had in- 
 formed him, several days before, of his intention to 
 go to New York. The constable was forced to 
 believe that the people on board his vessel had told 
 the truth, and he could only wait for his return. Of 
 course the Caribbee would not sail on her long voy- 
 age without him, and there seemed to be but little 
 danger of losing his man. 
 
 The only strange circumstance was, that Dock had 
 sent his family on board of the vessel ; but he had 
 not much consideration for his wife and children, and 
 would not scruple to add a week of confinement to 
 the three or four months' duration of the proposed 
 voyage. The man on board, who was said to be a 
 
196 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 passenger, and was a stranger in Rockport, appeared 
 to take a 'lively interest in the affairs of the vessel 
 and her owner. It was surmised that, as Dock was 
 not a skilful navigator, he had been employed to 
 furnish the science for the vessel. Neither he nor 
 any one on board professed to know when Dock 
 would return, or when the Caribbee would sail. 
 
 On Monday evening, when Dock had been gone 
 three days, Levi had taken tea at Mr. Watson's, and 
 was reading the daily paper, which the merchant had 
 brought from Boston. 
 
 "That's too bad!" suddenly exclaimed the young 
 skipper, dropping the paper, and looking at Bessie. 
 
 "What's too bad, Levi?" she asked. 
 
 " There's to be a yacht race in Portland harbor to- 
 morrow, at eleven o'clock, to sail for a silver pitcher." 
 
 "I do not see anything wicked in that," laughed 
 Bessie. 
 
 " Nor I ; but it is wicked that I did not know of 
 it before. I am sure The Starry Flag will beat any- 
 thing of her size this side of New York ; and I am 
 provoked to think I did not know of this race sooner, 
 for a silver pitcher would be a very handsome orna- 
 ment for our cabin." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. . 197 
 
 "Is it too late now?" asked Mr. Watson. 
 
 " The race comes off at eleven, to-morrow forenoon, 
 and five yachts have already entered," answered Levi, 
 glancing at the paper again. 
 
 "Well, haven't you time to sail down there before 
 the race?" 
 
 " If we sail to-night we have time enough. We 
 can get there in ten hours with a good breeze ; with 
 a stiff one, in six," replied Levi, beginning to be ex- 
 cited. 
 
 " How is the wind now ? " 
 
 " About west — a six-knot breeze." 
 
 " Let us start at once, then. I had as lief sleep 
 on board the yacht as on shore," said Mr. Watson. 
 
 " O, do go ! " exclaimed Bessie. 
 
 " Do go ! " repeated Mr. Watson, laughing. " Do 
 you expect to sail in a regatta, Bessie ? " 
 
 " To be sure I do ! I must go, father ! I have 
 been longing, ever since we had the yacht, to sail in 
 a real live race." 
 
 "But, Bessie, we must make a night run to Port- 
 land." 
 
 "So much the better! I shall enjoy it above all 
 
198 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OE 
 
 things. My state-room on board is just as good as 
 my chamber up stairs, and I like it better." 
 
 " Your aunt Mary is sick, and cannot go with you," 
 suggested her father, alluding to Mrs. McGilvery. 
 
 "But you are going, father," persisted Bessie. 
 
 "True, I am; but — " 
 
 "Do let me go, father." 
 
 "I suppose you must go if you insist upon it." 
 
 "I do insist with all my might!" exclaimed Bes- 
 sie, delighted with the prospect. 
 
 " It will take us a couple of hours to get ready," 
 said Levi, as he looked at his watch; "but we can 
 get off by ten o'clock. The only difficulty I can see 
 is, that yachts must be entered on the day before the 
 race ; " and he jacked up the news]3aper again. 
 
 "We must get over that somehow," replied Mr. 
 "Watson, who seemed to be quite as much interested 
 as Levi and his daughter. 
 
 "How? With the best breeze we can expect, we 
 can hardly reach Portland before six in the morn- 
 ing." 
 
 " While you are getting the yacht ready, I will ride 
 over to Gloucester, and telegraph to a friend of mine 
 
HALF HOUND THE WOULD. 199 
 
 in Portland, who will have The Starry Flag entered 
 to-nio-ht." 
 
 o 
 
 " That will do it splendidly ! " exclaimed Bessie, 
 delighted to have the obstacle removed. 
 
 " The cook and steward are on board, but the 
 hands are all at home," said Levi. "I will go and 
 find them." 
 
 Mr. Watson rang ■ the bell, and ordered the horse 
 and buggy. Bessie went to her room to prepare for 
 the cruise, and Levi hastened over to Mr. Mogmore's 
 house, where he found Mat, whom he sent to look 
 up the other three hands. The young skipper pulled 
 off to the yacht. The water tanks were examined, 
 and found to contain a week's supply at least. The 
 steward was sent on shore, with directions to bring 
 off the men, and a stock of ice and fresh j^rovisions, 
 after he had put the two state-rooms in order. 
 
 By the time Augustus had procured his steak, 
 cho23S, butter, milk, and ice, the four hands had as- 
 sembled at the landing-place, in readiness to go on 
 board. 
 
 " Hurry up, now ! " said the steward. " Captain 
 Fairfield is waiting for us." 
 
'200 FEEAXS OF FOIITUNE, OR 
 
 " There ! " exclaimed Mat Mogmore, " I have for- 
 gotten one thing. The captain told me to see Mr. 
 Gayles, and tell him the yacht was going to Port- 
 land ; and I did not think of it till this minute." 
 
 "We can't wait for you," replied the steward, im- 
 patiently. 
 
 "You needn't wait. I will get some one to put 
 me on board. Go ahead!" And Mat ran up the 
 rocks, and hastened towards Mr. Gayles's house. 
 
 But he hurried only a moment, till the darkness 
 
 concealed his form from his shipmates. Instead of 
 
 * 
 going up to the town, he returned to the landing- 
 place as soon as the boat had left. While he stood 
 on the rocks, the clock struck nine. A few moments 
 later, a boat, containing one man, pulled up to the 
 Point. 
 
 "Is it all right?" asked the person in the boat. 
 
 " All right," answered Mat Mogmore, as he stepped 
 into the boat. " We have no time to lose ; Mr. Wat- 
 son will return soon." 
 
 Mat took one of the oars, and they rowed over to 
 the landing-place, in the rear of Mr. Watson's house. 
 Mat went up to the side door and rang the bell. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOULD, 201 
 
 He was admitted to the entry, and told the servant 
 he wished to see Miss Watson. Bessie, who was 
 now all ready, came down stairs with her travelling 
 bag in her hand. 
 
 " Captain Fairfield sent me on shore for you," said 
 Mat. 
 
 " Where is my father ? " asked Bessie. 
 
 " He is on board. He was in a hurry to see the 
 captain, and went on board with the steward. The 
 yacht is all ready to sail now, as soon as you go on 
 board." 
 
 It was not exactly like Levi to send one of his 
 hands after her; but the yacht was going off in a 
 hurry, and he must be very busy. It was strange 
 that her father did not come home before he went 
 on board; but perhajDS he had learned something 
 more about the race, and was in haste to inform Levi 
 of it. She was only afraid that the trip would be 
 abandoned. Her mother came to the entry, told her 
 to " wrap up warm," be careful not to take cold, 
 and then kissed her with an affectionate adieu. Mat 
 Mogmore led the way down to the boat, and assist- 
 ed her to a seat in the stern-sheets. 
 
202 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 The night was clear; but it was quite dark, and 
 the darkness on the water is deeper, and more dense, 
 to a person unaccustomed to the sea, than ,on the 
 land. Bessie was not afraid ; but after the boat had 
 gone a few rods from the shore, she had no idea 
 where she was, for the gloom of night breeds confu- 
 sion in the mind on the sea. 
 
 Bessie did not recognize Mat's companion in the 
 boat; but she supposed he was one of the crew of 
 the yacht. He did not speak, and she had no reason 
 to suspect that anything was wrong. Mat Mogmore 
 was well known to her, and had been long before the 
 yacht was built. He was one of Levi's hands, and 
 his presence, if she had had any suspicions, would 
 have been enough to satisfy her. 
 
 " How dark it is ! " said Bessie to Mat, who pulled 
 the after oar. 
 
 "Not very dark, miss," replied Mat. "The stars 
 are out, and we don't call it very dark when we can 
 see them." 
 
 "But I cannot see anything, or tell where I am. 
 I can see the lights in the town, but I can't make 
 out anything else " 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 203 
 
 "Because you are not used to it. Can't you see 
 the yacht right ahead of us?" 
 
 "I can see the outline of a vessel, but I couldn't 
 tell whether it was The Starry Flag or a fishing 
 vessel." 
 
 "It's the yacht." 
 
 Bessie looked around her, and tried to distinguish 
 the headlands, which looked like masses of darkness 
 resting beneath the star-lit sky. 
 
 "Now you can see the yacht," said Mat, as the 
 boat approached a vessel which was not unlike the 
 yacht. 
 
 _ " Yes, I see her plain enough now," answered Bes- 
 sie, taking it for granted. 
 
 "It's a very pleasant night to sail," added Mat, 
 as the boat ran up alongside the vessel. 
 
 " Beautiful ! " exclaimed Bessie, as she looked up 
 to the stars. 
 
 The boat was brought up to the gangway; the 
 man at the bow oar stepped out and assisted her on 
 board. Mat Mogmore did not follow her, but pushed 
 off the boat, and pulled away into the darkness. It 
 still wanted more than half an hour of the time 
 
204 FREAKS OF FOETTJXE, OS 
 
 appointed for the sailing of the yacht. Mat pulled a 
 short distance from the vessel, and then lay upon his 
 oars. He waited there fifteen minutes, either to kill 
 the time or to arrange his plans, and then ran up 
 alongside the yacht. 
 
 He had j)ut Bessie on board of the Caribbee ! 
 
 He was actually in the employ of Dock Vincent. 
 
 Mat stepped on the deck of The Starry Flag, 
 whose foresail and mainsail had been hoisted, and 
 her anchor hove short. The lamps in the cabin and 
 state-rooms were lighted, and the steward was as 
 busy as a bee, and delighted at the thought of once 
 more having the beautiful young lady on board; for 
 it was a joy to serve her, her smile was so sweet, 
 her voice so pleasant, and her heart so full of kind- 
 ness. 
 
 "Where are you, Mat?" demanded Levi, as the 
 treacherous seaman came on board. 
 
 "My mother has just had a fit, and they say she 
 will not live till morning," replied Mat, in the most 
 disconsolate of tones. "I shouldn't have come on 
 board at all if Mr. Watson hadn't sent me with a 
 message to you." 
 
HALF HOUND THE WORLD. 205 
 
 " What was the message ? " asked Levi, tenderly, 
 for he was full of pity for Mat. 
 
 "lie told me to tell you that he and Miss Bessie 
 would meet you in Portland on your arrival. Her 
 mother made such a fuss about her going oif in the 
 night without her aunt, that her father decided to 
 take the cars, for he heard in Gloucester that an ex- 
 cursion train would come along about twelve o'clock." 
 
 " Very well," said Levi. " I will go on shore with 
 you and see about it. I hope your mother will get 
 better." 
 
 "I hope so. Mr. Watson started right off in the 
 buggy with Bessie." 
 
 "Has he gone?" 
 
 "Yes, he went right off. He was in a hurry, for 
 he has to drive to Beverly to catch the train. You 
 won't see him if you go on shore." 
 
 " Then I think I will not go ; but I will not keep 
 you a moment," added Levi. 
 
 " If you want another hand in my place, I can get 
 Tom Sampson." 
 
 "We can get along very well without any more 
 help," replied Levi, as Mat pushed off. 
 
20G FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 Levi was vexed that Mrs. Watson's timidity had 
 deprived him of Bessie's company ; but it was like 
 her, and on their trip to the eastward, he had been 
 obliged to be in port every night to please her. 
 However, he would receive his passengers on board 
 at Portland the next morning ; and, in a few minutes 
 more, the yacht tripped her anchor, and sailed out 
 of the bay. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 207 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE CAEIBBEE. 
 
 BESSIE WATSON" stood upon the deck of the 
 Caribbee, and in the darkness of the night she 
 did not at first discover that the vessel was not The 
 Stany Flag. She wondered that Levi, with his ac- 
 customed devotion, did not spring to receive her 
 when she came on board; that the steward did not 
 present his smiling face ; and that her ever-anxious 
 father failed to assure himself that she did not fall 
 overboard in passing from the boat to the vessel. 
 She was an only daughter, and when she appeared 
 it was customary to " turn out the guard " and pay 
 all the honors. 
 
 To say that Bessie Watson was a pretty girl, is 
 saying very little. She was a good girl — and this 
 is saying something more, and something better. 
 Nothing but a true heart and excellent common 
 
208 FKEAKS OF FOSTUKEj OJS 
 
 sense saved her from being spoiled by the indulgence* 
 of her father and mother. Another devotee was 
 added to those who adored her; but she refused to- 
 be spoiled even by Levi's flattery, if such it could be 
 called ; for the young skipper was as sincere in his 
 admiration of her as of the yacht he commanded. 
 Bessie did not pout or flout when neither Levi nor 
 her father appeared to receive her. 
 
 The man who had been in the boat with Mat 
 Mogmore was Captain Gauley, the stranger. After 
 handing Bessie on board, he led the way, in silence, 
 towards the cabin. There were no lights on deck, 
 and she could see no difference between the two 
 vessels, even when she had descended the steps into 
 the cabin; for no light appeared there. The dark- 
 ness had been chosen to help the illusion, and Bes- 
 sie had to feel her way. She came to the table in 
 the middle of the cabin, and knowing that there were 
 lockers forming seats below the berths, she groped 
 her way to the side of the apartment, and seated 
 herself. 
 
 "All hands are busy forward in getting under 
 way," said her conductor, from the steps. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 209 
 
 "Where is tlie steward?" asked Bessie. 
 
 "He has been so hurried putting away his stores 
 that he has not been in the cabin." 
 
 " Are you a new hand ? " asked Bessie, who did 
 not recognize the voice of the man. 
 
 " I am ; I am only going this trip." 
 
 " Send the steward, if you please, to light the 
 lamps," added Bessie, who was reasonable enough to 
 understand that the yacht was going to sea on short 
 notice, and she did not demand any unnecessary at- 
 tention under the circumstances. 
 
 " I will send him right down if I can find him." 
 
 Captain Gauley went on deck ; and Bessie heard 
 a great rattling of ropes, a swaying of booms, and 
 hasty footsteps above her. She could not see a 
 thing ; but she waited in the gloom for the stew- 
 ard to come and light the lamps. The noise on deck 
 indicated that all hands were busy, as the man had 
 said ; and even yet she suspected nothing. 
 
 Mat Mogmore did not go on shore to see his sick 
 
 mother. He heard the order of Captain Fairfield to 
 
 man the windlass and stand by the head sails ; then 
 
 he pulled for the Caiibbee, to which his boat be- 
 
 14 
 
210 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 longed. Everything had worked to his entire satis- 
 faction. Levi had been as credulous as he desired 
 hini to be, and The Starry Flag was standing out of 
 the bay on her way to Portland. 
 
 " How is it ? " asked Captain Gauley, in a low 
 tone, as Mat came on deck. 
 
 "All right; the yacht is under way," replied Mat. 
 
 " We must get off at once, then." 
 
 " Don't be in a hurry ; wait till the Flag has made 
 a couple of miles, so that Levi won't notice the move- 
 ments of this vessel. Where is the girl ? " 
 
 " In the cabin. It is pitch dark there, and she has 
 not found out where she is yet," answered Gauley, 
 with a suppressed chuckle, as though the plan was 
 not only a success, but a capital joke. 
 
 The foresail and the mainsail of the Caribbee were 
 hoisted, and her crew were busy in getting up the 
 anchor. By the time the preparations were complet- 
 ed, the yacht had disappeared in the darkness and 
 the distance. The jib was hoisted, and the vessel 
 stood out of the bay in a direction nearly opposite 
 to that taken by the yacht. 
 
 Bessie began to be impatient. The yacht was 
 
HALF EOUND THE WORLD. 211 
 
 under way, and still the steward did not come; still 
 her father, who had nothing to do with working the 
 vessel, did not make his appearance. Had they for- 
 gotten that she was on board ? If they had, it would 
 be the most remarkable thing that ever occurred. 
 She could not understand it. She knew, as the ves- 
 sel was now sailing, that Levi must be at the helm, 
 just at the head of the stairs, and she decided to 
 go up and speak to him. She could see the stars 
 through the opening of the companion-way, and she 
 had no difficulty in finding her way out of the 
 cabin. 
 
 "Levi?" said she, as she stepped upon deck. 
 
 " He is not here," replied Captain Gauley, who was 
 at the helm. 
 
 " Where is he ? " asked Bessie ; and, without know- 
 ing that anything was wrong, things began to look 
 a little strange to her, or rather to feel so, for she 
 could not see anything. 
 
 " I really don't know where he is, just now," re- 
 plied the helmsman. " But he cannot be far off." 
 
 "The steward has not lighted the cabin yet," 
 added she. 
 
212 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OE 
 
 "The captain told the steward not to do so." 
 
 "Did he — why?" 
 
 " I think you cannot be accustomed to sailing near 
 the land at night" added Captain Gauley. 
 
 "I really am not." 
 
 " The light would blind the helmsman's eyes so 
 that, he could not see the shore. As soon as we are 
 clear of the Selvages we shall light up." 
 
 Bessie was satisfied with this explanation. On 
 board of a Sound steamer she had observed that the 
 windows in the forward part of the saloon were cov- 
 ered with thick canvas at night, so that the glare 
 of the light near the boat should not deepen the 
 gloom beyond it, and thus prevent the pilot from 
 seeing the land, or other vessels in the distance. 
 But she was not satisfied with her situation other- 
 wise. The vessel did not feel like the yacht, and 
 Levi and her father did not appear. 
 
 While she stood watching the helmsman, and 
 trying to comprehend the inexplicable position of 
 affairs, she saw a light in the cabin. She looked 
 down, and perceived a woman in the act of lighting 
 a lamp. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 213 
 
 " Don't light that lamp ! " shouted the man at the 
 helm. "It blinds my eyes so that I can't see to 
 steer." 
 
 The woman extinguished the match she was ap- 
 plying to the lamp, and darkness reigned in the 
 cabin again. Who was the woman? She asked the 
 helmsman. 
 
 "Your father thought you ought to have a female 
 waiter, and he has obtained one," replied Captain 
 Gauley ; but she did not notice the chuckle with 
 which he spoke. 
 
 Bessie knew that her father would not have pro- 
 vided a woman without consulting her, and she de- 
 termined to inquire into the situation. She went 
 down the cabin steps again, guided by faith, rather 
 than sight, and felt her way to the locker where she 
 had before been seated. 
 
 " Who is it ? " asked the woman, from her place at 
 the forward part of the cabin. 
 
 "It is I," replied Bessie. "Did my father employ 
 you as stewardess of the yacht ? " 
 
 " I guess not," replied the woman. " I'm not any- 
 body's stewardess, I can tell you ! " 
 
214 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " Who are you then ? " asked Bessie, now really 
 alarmed. 
 
 "Well, I'm Mrs. Vincent, of course. This is my 
 husband's vessel, and I never expect to be a servant 
 to anybody," answered the woman, rather indignant 
 at being thought a stewardess, even in the dark. 
 "Now, who are you?" 
 
 "I am Miss Watson," rejolied Bessie, her heart 
 sinking within her, so that she could hardly utter 
 the words. 
 
 " Miss Watson ! Bless me ! What, Mr. Watson's 
 daughter ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Well, that is strange, sure enough ! " 
 
 "Is Captain Dock Vincent your husband?" asked 
 Bessie, almost choked with terror. 
 
 " Certainly he is." 
 
 "And this vessel is not The Starry Flag?" 
 
 " Why, no ; it's the Caribbee. How on earth came 
 you here ? " 
 
 " I supposed it was the yacht — my father's yacht," 
 gasped the poor girl, overwhelmed when she realized 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 215 
 
 that she had fallen into a snare set by her former 
 enemy. 
 
 " That's too bad ; but I didn't know nothing at all 
 about it. Waldock " — she called her husband by 
 his full given name — "Waldock is up to some awful 
 trick." 
 
 It was a consolation to know that the woman was 
 not a party to her husband's wicked scheme. Bessie 
 explained how she had been entrapped ; but Mrs. 
 Vincent declared that she did not even know the 
 vessel was .to sail that night. She had retired with 
 her two children at nine o'clock, and got up when 
 she felt the motion of the vessel under way. 
 
 " Where is she going ? " asked Bessie, wiping away 
 the tears that dimmed her eyes. 
 
 "We are all going to Australia." 
 
 " Where is your husband ? " demanded Bessie, with 
 a shudder. 
 
 "I'm sure I don't know. He went off to New 
 York ; but of course we are not going to Australia 
 without him." 
 
 While they were talking, Mat Mogmore came into 
 the cabiu : and lighted a lamp. 
 
216 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 "Mat, what does all this mean?" said Mrs. Yin- 
 cent, sharply. 
 
 "We have carried the thing out just as Captain 
 Vincent told us to do," replied Mat. 
 
 "What did he tell you to do?" 
 
 " He left us to get Miss Watson on board. We 
 haven't had a chance to do so before, though we 
 have been watching three or four days for one." 
 
 " Why did you wish to get me on board ? " in- 
 quired Bessie, trembling in every fibre of her frame. 
 
 " O, you needn't be frightened, Miss Watson. You 
 are not to be hurt, and you are to be treated as 
 well as if you were on board of the yacht. Three 
 years ago your father and Levi sent Captain Yin- 
 cent to the state prison. He didn't forget it, and 
 he is going to carry out the plan he began upon 
 then." 
 
 " Am I to be carried to Australia ? " ashed Bessie. 
 
 "That depends on your father. If he pays the 
 money Captain Yincent asks, we shall send you back. 
 Your father and Levi served the captain a mean 
 trick, and he always said he would get even with 
 them ; and I think he will now." 
 
HALF HOUND THE WOELD. 217 
 
 *'But how came you in this vessel, Mat?" asked 
 Bessie. 
 
 "I went into the yacht for the sole purpose of 
 doing the little job I finished up to-night," answered 
 Mat, with a sneaking smile. 
 
 " O, what a wretch ! " exclaimed Bessie. 
 
 "A wretch? Well, perhaps I am; but it pays 
 bettor than going before the mast in the yacht. Cap- 
 tain Vincent has your father this time where he can 
 hold him," added Mat. " Levi has gone off to Port- 
 land to sail in the race, and he can't do anything for 
 you this time. If you have a mind to write to your 
 father, and tell him to come down with the rocks, I 
 will see that he gets the letter within a week or so. 
 He must put down about a hundred thousand dol- 
 lars this time." 
 
 " Poor girl ! " ejaculated Mrs. Vincent. " I pity 
 you; but my husband is an awful man, and I can't 
 do anything about it." 
 
 " We haven't anything against her," said Mat. 
 " She is to have a state-room by herself, and live 
 like a lady. That's the captain's orders. The matter 
 
218 FKEAKS OF FORTUNE, OK 
 
 rests there, and it isn't any use to say anything more 
 about it." 
 
 Mat went on deck, leaving Bessie to weep over 
 her unhap]3y fate, with no one but Mrs. Vincent to 
 comfort her. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 219 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 DOCK VINCENT'S LETTER. 
 
 M : 
 
 R. WATSON" drove to Gloucester; but at 
 JlTJL this hour in the evening he had some diffi- 
 culty in finding the telegraphic operator, and it was 
 fully ten o'clock before he returned to his house in 
 Rockport, -ready to go on board of the yacht. 
 
 " Why, I thought you had gone ! " exclaimed Mrs. 
 Watson, when her husband presented himself. 
 
 "No; I was detained in Gloucester. Where is 
 Bessie." 
 
 "Bessie has gone on board of the yacht. Mat 
 Mogmore came for her, and said you had gone off in 
 the steward's boat." 
 
 "There is some mistake about it," replied Mr. 
 Watson ; but he had no idea of the stupendous mis- 
 take which had been made. 
 
 He went out to the pier; but, having no boat, he 
 
220 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 hastened over to the Point to obtain a skiff, though 
 he could not see why a boat from The Starry Flag 
 was not waiting for him. All was still on the Point ; 
 but he found a dory, in which he pulled off to the 
 place where the yacht usually lay when in port. He 
 could not find her. It was evident that she had 
 sailed; and it was more certain than before that a 
 great mistake had been made. He returned to the 
 Point. Mr. Gayles was there. He had come down 
 to assure himself that the Caribbee had not stolen a 
 march upon him. He could not see her in the gloom 
 of the night. He recognized Mr. Watson, as he 
 landed from the dory. 
 
 "Did you see the Caribbee?" asked the constable. 
 
 " No ; did you see the yacht ? " demanded the anx- 
 ious father. 
 
 "I did not." 
 
 Mr. Watson stated the circumstances ; but the offi- 
 cer could neither assist nor enlighten him. 
 
 The Starry Flag was miles away to the north- 
 north-east, and the Caribbee was miles away to the 
 south-south-east. 
 
 Levi had gone, Bessie had gone, the Caribbee had 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 221 
 
 gone. Mr. Watson wanted to know why Levi had 
 gQne without him ; but there was no one to tell him. 
 He did not suspect that Bessie had not gone with 
 him. Mr. Gayles wanted to know why the Caribbee 
 had sailed without Dock Vincent ; but there was no 
 one to tell him. Standing on the Point, both were 
 vexed and perplexed ; but neither could help himself, 
 and neither could solve the mystery. Both went 
 home. 
 
 Mrs. Watson was alarmed when her husband told 
 her that the yacht had gone without him. It was a 
 fact — as Mat Mogmore had stated — that an excur- 
 sion train left Boston at eleven o'clock for Portland. 
 Many of the people of Pockport had gone to the 
 city to hear a great singer, and were to return in 
 this train. Levi knew of it, or he might have doubt- 
 ed Mat's story. Mr. Watson was a man of action. 
 He ordered his fastest horse to be brought to the 
 door; and he drove, at a furious pace, to Ipswich, 
 which was a little nearer than Beverly, and the train 
 would arrive there half an hour later. At five o'clock 
 in the morning he was in Portland. He chartered 
 a large sail-boat, and stood down the harbor. At 
 
222 FEEAKS OF F0BTUNE, OR 
 
 seven o'clock he discovered The Starry Flag, off Cape 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 Mr. Watson was angry because Levi had left him 
 behind ; angry because Levi had taken Bessie and 
 not taken him. Though an unpleasant word had 
 never before passed between them, the father — 
 whose ideas of propriety were very clearly defined 
 — determined that some emphatic words should be 
 used on the present occasion. He paid his boatman, 
 when the yacht had been hailed, and in due time 
 was transferred to her. 
 
 " Where is Bessie ? " asked Levi, before her father 
 had time to utter a single sharp word. 
 
 The emphatic words were never spoken. 
 
 "Where is she?" repeated Mr. Watson. "Isn't 
 she on board of the yacht ? " 
 
 "No, sir," replied Levi, now alarmed, as her father 
 was. 
 
 " Not here ? " 
 
 " Certainly not. Didn't she come by railroad with 
 you?" 
 
 "No; I haven't seen her since I started for Glouces- 
 ter last night." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 223 
 
 Levi almost sank upon the deck, and Mr. Wat- 
 son's strength was all taken from him by the discov- 
 ery that some mishap had befallen his daughter. 
 Levi explained when he had breath enough to do so. 
 Mr. Watson also explained, and each was in posses- 
 sion of all the information the other had ; but their 
 wisdom was foolishness, since it fell far short of the 
 requirements of the moment. 
 
 "The Caribbee sailed last night, Levi," said Mr. 
 Watson, who, however, did not regard the fact as 
 of much importance, or as having any especial con- 
 nection with the absence of Bessie. 
 
 " Sailed ! " exclaimed Levi. " Then Bessie has 
 sailed in her." 
 
 " I can hardly believe it," added Mr. Watson. 
 
 "It is another plan to extort money from you." 
 
 Levi persisted in his belief. Putting this and that 
 together, he could almost demonstrate that Mat Mog- 
 more was in the employ of Dock Vincent; indeed, 
 Dock had told him that Mat intended to sail for 
 Australia with him. Mr. Watson decided to return 
 immediately to Rockport, and the yacht lay to off the 
 railroad wharf long enough to land him. He took 
 
224 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OB 
 
 the morning train for Boston, and reached home at 
 two o'clock. 
 
 The Starry Flag did not sail in the race that day. 
 As soon as her owner had been landed, she was 
 headed for Caj)e Ann again, and arrived before night. 
 Levi was bewildered and confounded by the shock 
 of the blow which had fallen upon him and the 
 Watson family. He could do nothing, and in his 
 inactivity he chafed like a caged lion. Mr. Watson 
 had gone to Boston soon after his arrival, taking 
 Mr. Gayles with him. lie did not return till the 
 next day. He had chartered a swift steamer, and 
 the constable, with other officers, had gone in pursuit 
 of the Caribbee. 
 
 In the morning mail, on the second day after the 
 disappearance of Bessie, came a letter to her father. 
 Levi was present when it was opened,* and it con- 
 tained a full confirmation of his theory that Bessie 
 had been carried off in the Caribbee, and was now 
 going half round the world to Australia. The let- 
 ter was written by Dock Vincent, and dated ten 
 days before its receipt. The villain assured the dis- 
 tracted parents that Bessie should be kindly cared 
 
IIALF HOUND THE WORLD. 225 
 
 for by Mrs. Vincent, and should be restored to her 
 friends as soon as possible after her father had paid 
 over to Mr. Fairfield the sum of seventy thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 Mr. Watson dropped the letter on the floor, and 
 breathed a deej) sigh. He would have given double 
 the sum for the return of Bessie ; but his conscience 
 would not permit him to reward villany like that of 
 Dock Vincent. 
 
 " Levi, your uncle is concerned in this affair," said 
 Mr. Watson, turning to the young skipper with a 
 sad look. 
 
 "I suppose he is. I will go and see him at once." 
 
 " I will go with you." 
 
 They went. 
 
 "Mr. Fairfield, where is Dock Vincent?" asked the 
 suffering father, when he and Levi had been admitted 
 to the kitchen. 
 
 "I don't know no more'n nothin' in the world," 
 whined the miser. " I hain't seen nothin' on him." 
 
 " You don't know ! " repeated Mr. Watson, sternly. 
 
 "No more'n nothin' in the world," answered the 
 old man, who realized that the first Instalment of 
 15 
 
226 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 trouble on account of Dock's little plan was about 
 to come upon him. 
 
 "Yes, you do know where he is. Read that let- 
 ter;" and the merchant handed him the epistle he 
 had received from Dock. 
 
 Mr. Fairfield took the letter, put on his glasses, 
 and studied out its contents. 
 
 "I don't know nothin' about it," pleaded the old 
 man, as he looked over his spectacles at the stern 
 parent. 
 
 " Don't tell me that ! I'm not to be trifled with. I 
 want my daughter, and you are a party to this con- 
 spiracy. If you don't speak I'll wring an answer out 
 of you by force," said Mr. Watson, his patience ex- 
 hausted, and his indignation so aroused that he could 
 not control it. 
 
 " I tell you I don't know nothin' at all about it. I 
 hain't seen your darter, nor Cap'n Vincent nuther," 
 whimpered the miser. 
 
 " No evasion ! Answer me at once," thundered the 
 enraged merchant, goaded to desperation by the an- 
 guish his injury called forth. "Your name is men- 
 tioned in this letter. You are to receive the money, 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 227 
 
 and share it with the scoundrel who intends to filch 
 it from me. Vincent did not go in the vessel. 
 Where is he?" 
 
 "I don't know nothin' at all about it," answered 
 Mr. Fairfield, wriggling like a worm in his chair. 
 
 " Yes, you do. You are to send the money to him. 
 Where is he ? " demanded Mr. Watson, as he seized 
 the old man by the throat, and dragged him out of 
 his chair. 
 
 " Lem me be ! " sputtered the miser, trying to free 
 himself from the grasp of the wrathful father. 
 
 " Speak, old man ! Where is he ? Speak, or I will 
 tear the answer from you." 
 
 " Be calm, Mr. Watson," interposed Levi, gently. 
 
 " For niassy's sake ! You don't mean to kill him 
 — do you ? " exclaimed Mrs. Fairfield, alarmed for 
 the safety of her husband. " Don't hurt him ! He's 
 a poor old man, and don't know no better." 
 
 Mr. Watson, conscious that he had gone too far in 
 his violent indignation, released his grasp upon the 
 miser, and he sank back into his chair more fright- 
 ened than hurt. 
 
 "If I knew anything consarnin' this business, I'd 
 
228 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OE 
 
 tell you all about it," added the old man, when he 
 had regained his breath. 
 
 "Uncle Nathan, this money is to be paid over to 
 yon, and you must know something about it," said 
 Levi, decidedly. 
 
 " O, yes ; you hate me, and you want to persecute 
 me," replied the old man, bitterly, as he glanced 
 spitefully at his nephew. "There, now, you broke 
 my glasses," continued the miser, as he picked them 
 up from the hearth, on which they had fallen. " I 
 gin a dollar for them glasses; I'm a poor man, and 
 'tain't right I should lose 'em." 
 
 "Will you tell me where Vincent is, or shall I 
 send a constable to arrest you for conspiracy ? " de- 
 manded Mr. Watson. 
 
 " I don't know nothin' at all where he is," replied 
 the miser, alarmed by this threat. 
 
 " You were to receive this money." 
 
 " That may be. Cap'n Vincent did tell me if you 
 paid any money to me for him to keep it till he 
 come for't. He didn't tell me nothin' at all he was 
 go'n' to do, nor where he was goin' to. I hain't no 
 idee in the world where he is." 
 
HALF BOUND THE WORLD. 229 
 
 This was all that either Mr. Watson or Levi could 
 get out of the old man. It was really all he knew ; 
 and the visitors, disappointed and disheartened, re- 
 tired from the miser's presence, though not till the 
 merchant had declared that he did not intend to 
 pay one penny to Dock to restore his daughter. 
 The old man groaned when they had gone ; but it 
 was because he was to lose his reward, and probably 
 the money he had loaned. It was a bitter hour to 
 him. 
 
 Mr. Watson and Levi conferred together as they 
 walked home. From that time no one passed in or 
 out of the miser's house without being observed. 
 Levi watched that day ; but at nine o'clock in the 
 evening, Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier took his place, to 
 serve for the night. 
 
230 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE CAEIBBEE SAILS FOR AUSTRALIA. 
 
 IF, Mrs. Dock Vincent had not been a person of 
 higher moral purposes than her husband, sad 
 indeed would have been the lot of the two children 
 that slept in the captain's state-room on board of 
 the Caribbee. As is often the case, she knew less 
 of her husband's moral obliquity than the world at 
 large, though even she knew enough to believe that 
 he was not what he should be. People did not tell 
 her of Dock's wicked deeds, and he complained bit- 
 terly to her of the hard treatment which the world 
 bestowed upon him. That good men frowned at 
 him and spurned him he unjustly attributed to their 
 hypocrisy and self-esteem, rather than to his own evil 
 deeds and evil intentions. 
 
 Dock had spent a term in the state prison, and 
 his character was damaged, if not ruined. Men would 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 231 
 
 not trust him, and the reprobate chafed under the 
 public censure. To his wife and his friends he made 
 himself appear like a deeply injured person, like a 
 martyr — in what good cause he could not say. He 
 was going to Australia to begin life anew, to carve 
 out his fortune in a strange land, where he was not 
 known. Mrs. Vincent was willing to leave her native 
 land, and make a new home in a distant country for 
 this purpose, for the motive seemed to be a laudable 
 one. 
 
 . She had no knowledge, guilty or innocent, of the 
 abduction of Bessie, until after the Caribbee had 
 sailed ; but she felt herself powerless to undo the 
 mischief. If her husband had been on board, she 
 would not have dared to oppose him, he was so vio- 
 lent and savage when she interfered with his plans. 
 She could at least protect the poor girl from insult 
 and injury, and she determined to do this at all 
 hazards. It was evident to her that the Caribbee 
 would not proceed, immediately to her destination 
 without her owner and captain. It was probably the 
 intention of Captain Gauley to put into some port 
 before she started on her long voyage, when Dock 
 would join her. 
 
232 FllEAKS OF FORTUNE, 012 
 
 Mrs. Vincent pitied Bessie "Watson, and almost 
 hated her husband when she realized of what infamy 
 he was capable. She comforted the poor girl as well 
 as she was able, and promised to be her friend under 
 all circumstances. She conducted her to an unoccu- 
 pied state-room, which had doubtless been reserved 
 for her use, and spent half the night with her; for 
 Bessie trembled at the thought of being alone on 
 board of the vessel of her great enemy. 
 
 Bessie was truly grateful to Mrs. Vincent, who, 
 though rough and rude in her manners, was kind at. 
 heart ; and her presence was a great comfort. The 
 poor girl, torn thus suddenly from her friends, wept 
 long and bitterly at her sad fate ; but at last she fell 
 asleep, committing herself to the care of the heaven- 
 ly Father, and relying upon him for the succor which 
 he alone could give. No one disturbed her; and 
 Mrs. Vincent watched over her, as a child, till she 
 was fast asleep. 
 
 When she awoke, late in the morning, she heard 
 the voices of children in the cabin, and it was hard 
 to realize that she was the victim of Dock Vincent's 
 villany. She was kindly greeted by Mrs. Vincent, 
 
HALF EOUND THE WORLD. 233 
 
 and the children stared at her as though she had 
 come up from the depths of the ocean. She soon 
 made friends with the boy of eight and the girl of 
 ten, who were included in the family of her perse- 
 cutor. After breakfast she went on deck with them, 
 and learned that the vessel was off Cape Cod. Cap- 
 tain Gauley was very civil to her ; but she did not 
 allude to the events of the previous evening. He 
 was a bad man, and she could hardly help shudder- 
 iug in his presence. 
 
 All day long she played with the children, and 
 short as she made the hours to them, they were very 
 long to her. She was so gentle, and kind, and un- 
 selfish, even in her woe, that the little ones loved 
 her, and would hardly leave her for a moment. She 
 was certainly comforted by their presence, and her 
 endeavors to assure them lightened the moments of 
 the* long day. The kindness of Mrs. Vincent did 
 much to assure her ; she was satisfied that nothing 
 worse than a long separation from her parents was 
 likely to happen to her. Feeling that it was useless 
 to re]mie at her condition, or to weep over what 
 she could not avoid, she resolved to make the best 
 
234 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 of it. There was no real hardship in her situation, 
 and the circumstances were certainly more agreeable 
 than when she had before been an involuntary pas- 
 senger in Dock's vessel. The absence of the villain 
 himself was perhaps her greatest consolation ; but 
 the presence of Mrs. Vincent and the children was 
 a real comfort. 
 
 In the evening Bessie and Dock's wife talked the 
 matter over again in her state-room. Mrs. Vincent 
 roundly and unequivocally condemned the conduct 
 of her husband. She had discovered that the Carib- 
 bee was now headed to the west, and it was plain 
 to her that she was not yet on her way to Australia. 
 Dock had told her he was going to New York, and 
 it was possible that he intended to join them there. 
 She told Bessie that she might be able to leave the 
 vessel when she reached her destined port. The poor 
 girl became more reconciled to her situation only be- 
 cause it was no worse, rather than because it was 
 not bad enough. She slept well that night. 
 
 The next day she played with the children, read 
 to them, and dressed the girl's doll in the latest 
 fashion. In the evening, after Bessie had retired, 
 
HALF HOUND THE WORLD. 235 
 
 the Caribbee ran by Sandy Hook, and made a har- 
 bor near Amboy, where she came to anchor. She 
 was moored a mile from the shore, and no other 
 vessel was near her. Captain Gauley had carried out 
 the plans of Dock to the letter. He had been a 
 steamboat pilot in these waters, and was quite famil- 
 iar with the navigation. Dock had made his ac- 
 quaintance while he was acting as mate of a boat, 
 and the mate and the jjilot were congenial spirits. 
 
 When Bessie went on deck with the children in 
 the morning, Captain Gauley told her, if she wished 
 to write to her father, her letter should be forwarded, 
 as he was going on shore during the forenoon. She 
 was glad to assure her parents of her safety, and she 
 wrote a long letter, describing her capture and her 
 situation on board of the Caribbee. She stated the 
 facts as they were. Dock's agent was writing at 
 the same time in the cabin; and when she was 
 about to fold her sheet, he wished to see it. He 
 read it through, tore off the heading, "Near IsTe^f 
 York," and the date, and then suggested that she 
 had better ask her father to pay the money required 
 for her release. 
 
236 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " My father must do as he thinks best about that," 
 replied Bessie, decidedly. 
 
 "You don't understand your situation, I see," add- 
 ed the cajitain. " It is impossible for you to escape 
 from the vessel, and if your father does not pay the 
 money, you will go to Australia with us." 
 
 "My father will do what is best," repeated Bessie. 
 
 "Very well," added Captain Gauley, sourly. "If 
 your father is not wiser than you are, you may spend 
 the rest of your days in Australia." 
 
 Bessie made no reply, but folded and directed her 
 letter. It was plain now that Dock was to levy his 
 contribution on Mr. Watson before he came on board. 
 This out-of-the-way place had been selected, where no 
 one would be likely to hear of her, for the vessel to 
 remain until Dock could obtain his money. Captain 
 Gauley went off in a boat, with one man, leaving the 
 schooner in charge of Mat Mogmore. He did not 
 return till night ; but Bessie, though she considered 
 -prions plans to escape from the vessel, was satisfied 
 that nothing could be done, for Mat watched her all 
 the time. Pier only hoj^e was, that she might induce 
 one of the sailors to assist her by promising him a large 
 
HALF EOUND THE WORLD. 237 
 
 sum of money ; but her vigilant guardian would not 
 permit her to speak to any man on board. If one of 
 the seamen came aft, he was ordered forward ; and 
 Bessie's hope faded away. 
 
 The Caribbee remained for ten days in the vicinity 
 of Sandy Hook, changing her anchorage several times. 
 Every day, either Mat Mogmore or Captain Gauley 
 went on shore, evidently expecting to see Dock, or 
 to hear from him. Bessie watched in vain for an op- 
 portmrity to make a friend of one of the sailors, or 
 to hail a passing boat ; but so carefully was she 
 guarded, that all hope in this direction was cut off. 
 She began to wish that her father would pay the 
 money, for this seemed to be her only chance of 
 escape. Dock's non-appearance indicated that his lit- 
 tle plan was not working as well as he had expected, 
 and Mrs. Vincent and Bessie saw that Captain Gauley 
 and Mat were becoming very anxious. 
 
 On the tenth day after the arrival of the Caribbee, 
 Mat Mogmore, who had been on shore, returned with 
 a letter, directed, in a strange hand, to Captain Gauley. 
 He opened it in the cabin. It contained but a few 
 lines, which he read and then hastened upon deck, 
 
238 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 leaving the letter on the table. The rattling of ropes 
 and the flapping of sails were immediately heard ; 
 and it was plain to Bessie that the vessel was getting 
 under way. 
 
 "I wonder what is to be done now," said Mrs. Yin- 
 cent, coming out of her state-room. 
 
 " I don't know. Captain Gauley read the letter 
 which lies on the table, and then hurried on deck," 
 replied Bessie. 
 
 " A letter ! " exclaimed Mrs. Vincent, who was con- 
 tinually on the lookout for news ; for she was hardly 
 less a prisoner than Bessie. 
 
 She took it from the table, and without hesitation 
 ojoened it. 
 
 "It is from my husband," said she, glancing at the 
 signature. " Things are going wrong with me, and 
 you will sail for Australia without me," she read, 
 " the moment you get this letter. Keep things as 
 before, and do not let any one leave the vessel. If 
 you don't do this, my only chance is lost. Be care- 
 ful, for they are after you. I shall get the money, 
 and go to Australia by steamer from England, -and 
 shall probably be there before you." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 239 
 
 " Then we are actually starling for Australia ! " ex- 
 claimed Bessie, with a deep sigh. 
 
 "I suppose so." 
 
 Bessie went into her state-room and wept bitterly, 
 as all hope deserted her. She cried, and she prayed, 
 and then endeavored to reconcile herself anew to her 
 situation. The sails were hoisted, and the Caribbee 
 was standing out to sea. 
 
 CajDtain Gauley was at the helm, and Mat Mogmore 
 was at his side, talking with him about the pros- 
 pect. 
 
 " If he wrote a letter at all, he ought to have told 
 us all about it," said Mat, disappointed at the meagre- 
 ness of the news from Dock. 
 
 "He says things are going against him." 
 
 "And he says they are after us; but he don't say 
 who, nor what," added Mat. "I would like to know 
 what has gone wrong, and who is after us." 
 
 " Do you see that schooner on the weather bow ? " 
 said Captain Gauley, pointing to a trim-looking craft. 
 " She has an eye on us, and we must give her a wide 
 berth. She came about just now, and is running 
 across our fore-foot." 
 
240 FBEAKS OF FOETUJSTE, OE 
 
 " That's the yacht, as true as I live ! " exclaimed 
 Mat, when he discovered her. 
 
 "What yacht?" 
 
 "The Starry Flag!" 
 
 She had been standing off and on between Sandy 
 Hook and Coney Island for twenty-four hours, on the 
 lookout for the Caribbee. 
 
HALF HOUND THE WOULD. 241 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE TRAVELLER WHO LOST HIS WAY. 
 
 THE steward of the yacht watched the house of 
 Mr. Fairfield all night l but no one entered or 
 left it. Levi took his turn the next day again; and, 
 when he proposed to employ a fresh hand for the 
 second night, Augustus insisted upon serving, himself. 
 He had slept enough during the day, and he wanted 
 the satisfaction of capturing Dock, if he presented 
 himself 
 
 This time he was in luck, as he declared, for about 
 one o'clock at night, when the town was as still as 
 though it contained not a single living inhabitant, the 
 villain came to obtain his money, probably not doubt- 
 ing that by this time it had been paid to his agent. 
 
 The steward had stationed himself in such a posi- 
 tion that no one could approach the house unseen by 
 him. Just after the clock on one of the churches had 
 16 
 
242 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 struck one, he heard footsteps on the road, and pres- 
 ently a man stopped in front of the miser's house. 
 Contrary to the usual custom of rogues and villains, 
 he went up to the front door, and knocked vigorously. 
 The heart of the watcher leaped with expectation, 
 and he crept like a cat on the grass till he had ob- 
 tained a position behind a lilac bush, near the front 
 door. The first summons of the unseasonable visitor 
 did not procure a response from within, and the man 
 knocked again. 
 
 Though the vigilant sentinel did not recognize his 
 cowardly enemy, he had no doubt -it was he. The 
 form was about the height of Dock, but aj:>peared to 
 be better dressed than when he had seen the ruffian. 
 Who else should go to the house of the miser at 
 that unseemly hour? 
 
 " Who's there ? " called Mr. Fan-field, with his im- 
 patient whine, as he threw oj)en one of the windows 
 of his chamber. • 
 
 "I've got lost, and I want some one to show me 
 the way to Gloucester," replied the visitor, in a tone 
 so different from the voice of Dock that Augustus 
 did not recognize it, and began to fear that the villain 
 
HALF KOUXD TILTS WOELD. 243 
 
 was not within his reach, as he had confidently be- 
 lieved. 
 
 "Got lost — have you? "Well, take the right hand 
 road out by the school-'us," added the miser, not so 
 sourly as most people would have spoken when roused 
 from their sleep to direct a night traveller. 
 
 "There are two or three roads there, and I can't 
 afford to go much out of my way. Come out and 
 show me, and I'll pay you for your trouble." ■ 
 
 This was quite enough for the miser, and he prom- 
 ised to come. The caller stepped out into the road, 
 and Augustus crouched down under the lilac bushes 
 to escape observation. In a few moments Mr. Fair- 
 field appeared, muffled up in a ragged overcoat. 
 
 "Well, Squire Fairfield, what's the news?" de- 
 manded the visitor, when the old man joined him. 
 
 If the steward had any doubts before, he had none 
 now. It was Dock Vincent beyond a peradventure, 
 and his voice sounded as natural as on former occa- 
 sions. It was plain that the bewildered traveller was 
 a myth for the benefit of Mrs. Fairfield, who, being 
 "women folks," and not understanding business, was 
 not permitted to share the heavy secrets of her hus- 
 
244 FEEAKS OF FOETUXE, OR 
 
 band, especially on the present momentous occa- 
 sion. 
 
 "There ain't nothin' at all for news," replied the. 
 old man, as he glanced at the house, as if to assure, 
 himself that his wife was not watching him. 
 
 "No news?" exclaimed Dock. "Hasn't "Watson 
 come done with the money yet?" 
 
 " No ; nor that ain't the wust on't, nuther. I don'te 
 believe he will." 
 
 " O, yes, he will ! " replied Dock, confidently. " I've 
 got things fixed this time so that he can't help plank 
 ing down the money. He'll be glad to pay it, I ca^ 
 tell you." 
 
 "What have you done with the gal, cap'n?" 
 
 " We've got her ; and Watson never '11 see her 
 again unless he pays the money — that's so." 
 
 " But he won't pay it ; and I ain't go'n' to git my 
 share on't at all," whined the miser. 
 
 "Yes, you will; don't be alarmed, Squire Fair- 
 field." 
 
 " They've sent a steamer off arter the vessel." 
 
 "Have they, though?" 
 
 "Yes, they have; and Gayles has gone in her." 
 
HALF KOUXD THE WOBLD. 245 
 
 "All riglit; the steamer '11 cost some money, and 
 won't do any good. She'll come back without the 
 girl. My vessel isn't a great ways from Hew York, 
 and when I say the word she'll start, whether I go 
 in her or not. I tell yon, Mr. Watson will be glad 
 to pay the money before many days. He don't un- 
 derstand the matter yet. I'll come again in two or 
 three days; and I reckon you'll have the money 
 next time I come." 
 
 "Where are you stoppin' now?" asked Mr. Fair- 
 field. 
 
 " Nowhere in these parts ; but I'll be here in two 
 or three days." 
 
 "But Watson won't pay that money, no more'n 
 4iothin' in the world." 
 
 " Yes, he will. He can't help doing it, if he wants 
 iris daughter again. Where's Levi now?" 
 
 " He's' round here ; but what am I go'n' to do for 
 What you owe me, if Watson don't pay the money?" 
 asked the old man, anxiously. 
 
 "I'll pay it all just as I agreed to do. Now go to 
 bed again, Squire Fairfield, or your wife will be out 
 looking for you." 
 
246 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " But I want to know sunthin more about this 
 business." 
 
 "You mustn't know any more than you do. I 
 didn't mean you should know anything about it. I 
 never told you anything. When you get the money, 
 you hold on to it till I come. I don't know as it's 
 quite safe for me io conic here again, even in the 
 night. I guess we'll fix it some other way." 
 
 Dock did "fix it some other way" — it is of no 
 consequence how. 
 
 " After I get this money, and get all ready to start, 
 I'm going to settle up matters with Levi and that 
 nigger before I go. I expect I shall kill that nigger 
 if I ever see him again." 
 
 " Shall you ? Then now's your time ! " yelled Mr. 
 C. Augustus Ebenier, as he sprang from his covert, 
 and rushed upon his enemy. 
 
 Dock Vincent was startled, as a braver man than 
 he might have been under such circumstances; but 
 the steward did not permit him to recover his self- 
 possession. With an oak stick he carried in his 
 hand, he dealt a heavy blow upon the head of the 
 villain. But his cranium seemed to be made of more 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 247 
 
 solid material than his African assailant's, for he at- 
 tempted to rise, when the steward repeated the stroke 
 so effectually that he lay still on the ground. 
 
 " Don't ! Don't ! " pleaded Mr. Fairfield, terrified 
 by the tragic event. "Don't tech him ag'in. Let 
 him be." 
 
 But Dock was not deprived of his consciousness 
 even by the severe blows he had received, and again 
 he attempted to rise. 
 
 " Lay still ! If you don't there'll be a dead man 
 not far from here," said the steward, as he took his 
 revolver from his pocket. 
 
 Dock saw it, and dared not move. 
 
 "Don't tech him no more. Let him go now." 
 
 " Not if I know it ! Allow me to insinuate, in 
 the most direct manner possible, that this man is my 
 prisoner; and if he don't spend the rest of his days 
 in the state prison, it will be an outrage upon human- 
 ity," added the steward. 
 
 "Don't tech him no more. Let him go. I'll give 
 you twenty-five cents if you will," whined the miser, 
 who had to open his heart very wide to make this 
 liberal offer. 
 
248 FREAKS OF FORTUHE, OF. 
 
 " He is going to jail, if there is such an institu- 
 tion in these parts," replied Augustus. 
 
 " I'll give you fifty cents if you'll let him go," 
 pleaded Mr. Fairfield. 
 
 " If you would give me fifty thousand dollars, I 
 wouldn't let him go," replied the steward. "Do you 
 think I would sell my own soul for money?" 
 
 Augustus, with the revolver in his right hand, felt 
 in all the pockets of his prostrate enemy for danger- 
 ous weapons, but he found none. 
 
 "Now get up," said he. 
 
 Dock obeyed, in momentary fear that one of the 
 pistol balls would be spinning through his head. 
 
 "Do you know where Mr. Watson's house is?" 
 continued he. 
 
 "I do," replied Dock. 
 
 " Then march ; and if you turn to the right or the 
 left, or attempt any irregular proceeding, I promise 
 you, on the honor of Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier, that 
 I will give you the benefit of every bullet this pistol 
 contains, six in number, by actual count. Forward ! " 
 
 Dock marched in the direction indicated ; he could 
 not help doing so, bitter as the necessity was. Mr. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 249 
 
 Fairfield followed, begging and pleading with all his 
 
 eloquence, and even offering as high as a dollar for 
 the release of his friend. 
 
 " Old man, return to your humble abode, and give 
 up your weary frame to the arms of Morpheus," said 
 Augustus, when his patience was exhausted. " In 
 other words, venerable sir, go home, and go to bed." 
 
 The miser was terribly stricken by the sudden mis- 
 fortune of Dock ; not from sympathy, bat because it 
 foreboded the loss of the money the prisoner owed 
 him. It is possible that he had some fear of being 
 compromised before the courts. If he had, it was over- 
 borne by the greater dread of losing his money. He 
 could not willingly return ; and it was only when 
 the steward threatened him with the terrible pistol 
 that he did so. 
 
 Augustus walked about six feet behind his victim 
 till he came to Mr. Watson's house, and then direct- 
 ed him to go up to the side door. 
 
 " Ring the bell ! " said the steward, in the stern 
 tones of command.- 
 
 " See here, steward, can't we arrange this thing," 
 replied Dock, turning to his remorseless captor. 
 
250 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OH 
 
 " Ring the bell ! We'll arrange it in the court." 
 
 Dock rang the bell. Little did the father and 
 mother of Bessie sleep while she was away from them, 
 and they heard the bell the first time it was rung. 
 
 " Who's there ? " called Mr. Watson from a second- 
 story window. 
 
 " Augustus, sir," replied the steward, in the mildest 
 of tones. u There's a gentleman here to see you, 
 sir." 
 
 " I will be down in a moment ; " and presently a 
 light appeared in the dining-room. 
 
 " Walk in," said Mr. Watson, opening the door. 
 
 " Walk in ! " repeated Augustus, in stern tones. 
 
 Dock followed the merchant into the dining-room, 
 closely attended by his guard. 
 
 "Yin cent! " exclaimed Mr. Watson, when he turned 
 to see who his midnight visitor was. 
 
 "Yes, sir," replied the steward. "You w T ill par- 
 don me for bringing him here, sir; but I did not 
 know what else to do with him." 
 
 " Yincent, where is my daughter ? " demanded the 
 merchant, earnestly. 
 
 " She is on her way to Australia," replied Dock, 
 
HALF HOUND THE WORLD. 251 
 
 who was now beginning to recover his self-posses- 
 sion, and to measure the consequences of his misfor- 
 tune. 
 
 "I beg to suggest, Mr. Watson, that his reply is 
 a wretched falsehood," interposed the steward. " I 
 heard him tell Mr. Fairfield that his vessel wasn't a 
 great ways from New York." 
 
 " In the latitude of. New York, I meant merely. 
 Mr. Watson, this man is making a mess of it for yon. 
 I made my demand of you by letter. Give me the 
 money, and your daughter shall be restored. If you 
 don't, you will never see her again, whatever may 
 happen to me," said Dock. 
 
 " Not a dollar ! Not a penny ! " replied Mr. Wat- 
 son, with emphasis. 
 
 " Very well, Mr. Watson. You will discover your 
 mistake soon enough," added Dock. 
 
 " We want an officer and a pair of handcuffs," said 
 Mr. Watson. " Can you keep him while I procure 
 assistance ? " 
 
 " I can," answered Augustus, confidently, as he dis- 
 played his pistol. 
 
252 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, Oil 
 
 Mr. Watson called his two men, and sent one of 
 them for Constable Cooke, who was the only officer 
 available at that hour of the night. He came, and 
 the villain was ironed. The constable and the stew- 
 ard kept guard over him till morning. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 OFF SAKDY HOOK. 
 
 LEVI did not learn that the great enemy had 
 been captured till he went up in the morning 
 to relieve the steward ; but the news was spreading 
 rapidly, and it came to his ear before he reached his 
 station. He hastened to the house of Mr. Watson, 
 where Constable Cooke and the steward still kept 
 vigil over the fallen foe. The officer evidently did 
 not relish his employment; but Mr. C. Augustus Ebe- 
 nier had jjroved that he was a first-class tiger, as well 
 as an exquisite of the first water. 
 
 Mr. Watson had another interview with the wretch 
 as soon as Levi arrived; but Dock Vincent was as 
 obstinate as a mule. He took no pains to conceal 
 the fact that he enjoyed the distress of the suffering 
 father and the intense anxiety of Levi. The prisoner 
 was to be examined before Squire Saunders during 
 
254 FREAKS OP FOETUXE, OE 
 
 the forenoon, and it was hoped that some develop- 
 ment of the plan of the conspirator would be obtained. 
 
 By the morning train came Mr. Gayles. . The steam- 
 er sent in pursuit of the Caribbee had returned to 
 Boston in the night. Of course she had not seen or 
 heard of the vessel, which had gone through Vine- 
 yard Sound, while the steamer followed the track' of 
 ships bound round the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 " Has he been searched ? " asked Mr. Gayles, when 
 • he had reported the result of his mission to his em- 
 ployer. 
 
 " No ; I proposed it to Mr. Cooke, but he declined 
 to do it until a warrant had been obtained," replied 
 Mr. Watson. 
 
 " It should be done at once ; " and Mr. Gayles 
 hastened to attend to this important duty. 
 
 Dock blustered, and attempted to resist the indig- 
 nity, as he termed it; but the constable was deter- 
 mined, and heeded not the prisoner's protest or his 
 struggles. On his person was found a variety of 
 papers, and among them the letter which Captain 
 Gauley had written in the cabin of the Caribbee. But 
 this document had no signature, and was hardly more 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 255 
 
 satisfactory than the letter which Mr. Watson had 
 received from Bessie ; at least it contained no accu- 
 rate information. One sentence, however, was suffi- 
 ciently definite to make a beginning upon. " We are 
 somewhere inside of Sandy Hook, ready to go to sea 
 at a moment's notice," Captain Gauley wrote. " You 
 know where to leave a letter in New York, when 
 you are ready to go on board ; and one of us goes 
 up to the city every day now." 
 
 " It's no use," said Dock, maliciously. " You can't 
 find the Caribbee. Mr. Watson, I may rot in jail; 
 but you will never see your daughter again if you 
 go on with this matter. If you want to get her back, 
 pay me the money I ask, let me go, and you shall 
 have her in a week." 
 
 " I will not pay you a dollar," replied Mr. Watson, 
 firmly. 
 
 " All right," added Dock, with a sneer. " You will 
 wish you had in the course of a year or two. I 
 know what I'm about this time." 
 
 Mr. Watson, Mr. Gayles, and Levi went to anoth- 
 er room to consider the situation, leaving Constable 
 Cooke in charge of the prisoner. 
 
256 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " Cooke, do you want to make a hundred dollars 
 easy?" said Dock, in a whisper. 
 
 "I don't know," replied the officer. "I can't com- 
 promise myself." 
 
 "You run no risk," added Dock, as he wrote with 
 a pencil, on half a sheet of note paper, the letter 
 which Captain Gauley received just before the Carib- 
 bee sailed. " Put this in an envelope, direct it to 
 Captain John Gauley, care of E. G. Baines & Co., 
 No. — Maiden Lane, New York, and put it into the 
 post office. That's all ; and here is a hundred dollars." 
 
 Constable Cooke took the note and the money. 
 Dock wrote the direction for the letter on a piece of 
 paper. He thrust the whole into his pocket. He had 
 his doubts, as well he might, about the propriety of 
 mailing the letter. 
 
 Levi, from the information obtained, was satisfied 
 that the Caribbee was at anchor in one of the seclud- 
 ed inlets below New York, waiting for Dock to join 
 her. It was not likely that she would go to sea with- 
 out her owner, whose family were on board of her. 
 
 "Dock says she will go to Australia, whether he 
 joins her or not," said Mr. Gayles. 
 
HALF KOUNT> THE WORLD. 257 
 
 " She will not sail till those on board have heard 
 from Dock. "We must take care that he does not 
 send any letter or message," added Levi. 
 
 "Perhaps it would be better to let him do so, if 
 we could only stop the letter at the post office." 
 
 " But we don't know who has charge of the vessel. 
 It is plain that he has a captain on board of her; 
 15ut he does not sign his name to the letter we found 
 upon Dock," interposed Mr. "Watson. 
 
 "Don't let him send any letters," persisted Levi. 
 "Then the Caribbee will stay where she is till we 
 find her." 
 
 " That is the better way," replied Mr. "Watson. 
 
 "Perhaps it is," said Mr. Gayles. "But it would 
 clo no harm to ask the postmaster to stop any letter 
 to Mat Mogmore, for instance." 
 
 "Mat Mogmore did not take that vessel round to 
 New York," added Levi. "There is a bigger man 
 than he on board of her, and we don't know his name. 
 "We can't do anything in this way, unless we stop all 
 the letters directed to the vicinity of New York." 
 
 " Doesn't this man's name appear in any of Dock's 
 papers ? " 
 
 17 
 
258 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OK 
 
 " No ; I have looked in vain for it." 
 
 "Mr. Watson," said Levi, suddenly springing to 
 his feet, "I am sure I can find Bessie." 
 
 Both Mr. Watson and Mr. Gayles looked at him 
 with interest. He had done a similar work once 
 before, and his confident expression was entitled to 
 respect. 
 
 " I am as sure as I want to be that the Caribbel 
 is anchored somewhere in New York Bay. Dock's 
 letter says so. He sent her there, intending to join 
 her as soon as he had collected his black mail. The 
 facts and the theory agree with each other." 
 
 "Admit what you say," added Mr. Watson, "and 
 there is no doubt of it. What shall we do ? " 
 
 "I will go to New York in The Starry Flag. I 
 can tell the Caribbee as far as I can see her, by night 
 or by day. I will stand off and on by Sandy Hook, 
 so that she cannot pass me You and Mr. Gayles 
 shall go to New York to-night, charter a small steam- 
 er, and explore all the inlets and bays below the 
 city till you find her." 
 
 " She may escape before you get there," suggested 
 Mr. Gayles. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 259 
 
 "No; she will wait till she hears from Dock." 
 
 " It may get into the newspapers." 
 
 "We will see that it does not." 
 
 Various objections to Levi's plan were considered ; 
 but it was adopted without material alteration. Mr. 
 Watson thought it would be better to charter a steam- 
 er in New York for Levi's use ; but he preferred the 
 yacht. She would be under his control, and at the 
 critical moment would not be out of coal, or her ma- 
 chinery out of order. 
 
 Levi determined to sail as soon as the examination 
 of Dock Vincent was finished. He engaged three 
 extra hands, and put provisions and water enough on 
 board to meet any emergency, in case the cruise 
 should be unexpectedly prolonged. He was confident 
 that his plan could not fail; and if Constable Cooke 
 had not been unfit for a place of trust, probably it 
 would not have failed, either in whole or in part. 
 
 Mr. Fairfield was arrested, and at ten o'clock both 
 he and Dock were arraigned for examination. The 
 old man was dreadfully alarmed. With the arrest of 
 Dock his fondest hopes had gone out in darkness. 
 Not only was the rich reward he had been promised 
 
260 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 forever lost, but his neighbor's note for ten thousand 
 dollars was not worth the paper on which it was 
 written. Though the conspirator did not yet believe 
 that his plan had failed, the old man did. 
 
 Dock was held on a complaint of kidnapping Bessie 
 Watson, and an attempt to extort money from her 
 father. The evidence, including Dock's letter and the 
 absence of Bessie, was more than enough to hold 
 him, and he was committed for trial. The testimony 
 was strong enough to hold Mr. Fairfield, and he also 
 was committed ; but Mr. Watson, out of considera- 
 tion for the poor old man, procured bail for him. It 
 was in vain he protested that he had nothing to do 
 with the affair, and knew nothing about it. His mid- 
 night meeting with Dock Vincent condemned him. 
 
 The deputy sheriff bore Dock to the jail ; for Mr. 
 Gayles suggested that Constable Cooke's fingers were 
 slippery, though he did not know that they had al- 
 ready been soiled by a bribe. Levi hastened on board 
 of the yacht as soon as the case had been disposed 
 of, where his crew had made every preparation for 
 the intended cruise — how long it was to be they 
 knew not then. The wind was bio win g a smashing 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 261 
 
 breeze when she sailed, and in forty hours she was 
 off Sandy Hook. Mr. Watson and Mr. Gayles ar- 
 rived a day earlier, but did not deem it prudent to 
 commence the search till the next day, fearful that 
 the Caribbee might slip away before the yacht ar- 
 rived; but they were not idle. They visited all the 
 small ports in the vicinity ; but Captain Gauley kept 
 the vessel away from any harbor. 
 
 Constable Cooke could not settle his mind in re- 
 gard to the letter in his pocket, and he kept it there 
 till the day after the examination. Mr. Watson and 
 Mr. Gayles had both neglected, and even snubbed 
 him. They did not ask his advice ; they did not 
 employ him to assist in the search. They had gone 
 off without him, and he saw no chance to make any 
 money with the information in his possession. If 
 Mr. Watson wanted Mr. Gayles to do his business 
 for him, he might employ him. Mr. Cooke enclosed 
 the pencilled note, directed it, and then mailed it in 
 Gloucester. 
 
 Mr. Watson commenced his search in the steamer 
 he had engaged for the purpose. He went a dozen 
 miles up North River, examining every vessel in the 
 
262 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OB 
 
 stream, passed down the bay, through The Kills, up 
 Newark Bay, through Staten Island Sound to Am- 
 boy, scoured Raritan Bay and River, without suc- 
 cess, and thus used up the first day of the search. 
 The next day — that on which Mat Mogmore went 
 to the city and brought off the letter — she followed 
 East River to Throg's Point ; ran into Harlem River, 
 Flushing Bay, and all the inlets, examining the Long 
 Island shore as far as Rockaway, but with no better 
 results than on the preceding day. Off Coney Island 
 she spoke The Starry Flag. The captain of the 
 steamer was confident that the Caribbee was not in 
 the vicinity ; it was more probable that she had come 
 through the Sound, and put into Cow Bay, or some 
 other waters beyond Throg's Point; and the steam- 
 er returned to the city, to renew the search on the 
 third day. 
 
 Captain Gauley changed his anchorage every day 
 or two. On the first clay he had been behind Coney 
 Island, but had moved over to a point south of Staten 
 Island that evening, and thus, by accident, escaped 
 discovery. 
 
 Mat brought the letter to him, and the Caribbee 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOBLD. 2G3 
 
 went to sea instantly; but it was only to encounter 
 The Starry Flag, lying in wait for her. The quick 
 eye of Levi immediately recognized her, and his or- 
 ders to come about were given in sharp, quick tones. 
 He was excited ; Bessie was almost within hail of 
 him ; indeed, he saw her standing on deck, with Mrs. 
 Vincent and the children. The wind was fresh, and 
 the Caribbee had spread every inch of her canvas. 
 Levi arranged his plan to cut her off while she was 
 still nearly half a mile distant from him. 
 
264 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 
 
 THE wind was fresh, and The Starry Flag was 
 under easy sail when the Caiibbee was discov- 
 ered. Though Levi immediately ordered the foresail 
 to be hoisted, he saw, with intense chagrin, that the 
 advantage was against him. He had hauled down 
 the fly, and he hoped, as Dock Vincent was not on 
 board of the Caribbee, that her people would not 
 recognize the yacht. The wind was east, and the 
 vessel was beating out, while The Starry Flag had the 
 wind on the beam. 
 
 Levi, trusting that his craft would not be identified, 
 intended to crowd the Caribbee so as to oblige her to 
 tack, and then, while she was in stays, to lay along- 
 side, and board her. Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier stood, 
 with his revolver in his hand, ready to follow his 
 "excellent captain," who was similarly armed, to the 
 
half round thti: world. 265 
 
 deck of the chase. Three other men were also de- 
 tailed to join the party, though Levi did not expect 
 much, if any, resistance. 
 
 The young' shipper kept out of sight himself that 
 he might not he recognized before the decisive mo- 
 ment came. His heart hounded with excitement* 
 He saw Bessie standing on the deck with Dock's 
 wife, and a few moments more would restore her to 
 him, and lie should have the proud satisfaction of 
 sailing up New York Bay, and giving her back to her 
 father. The steward was ready to do greater won- 
 ders than ever before. Thus far he had done all the 
 hard fighting, and he was prepared to do it unto the 
 end. 
 
 The decisive moment did not come then. The 
 quick eye of Mat Mogmore had recognized the yacht, 
 and the Caribbee suddenly tacked, and stood away to 
 the south-east. But Levi did not give up the chase. 
 He had the weather-gage, and his foresail was now 
 drawing well. In spite of Dock's brags about the 
 speed of his vessel, the young skipper believed the 
 yacht would outsail her; but this was only a blind 
 confidence. 
 
286 FREAKS OP FORTUNE, OR 
 
 The Caribbee was Leaded directly towards a shoal 
 j)lace called the " Oil Spot," and as it was dead low 
 tide, Levi thought she could not pass over it. Far- 
 ther to the southward was a ledge, with only nine 
 feet of water on it. But Captain Gauley knew all 
 about the dangers of the navigation on this part of 
 the coast. He went just to the southward of the Oil 
 Spot ; and, instead of gaining anything, Levi was 
 obliged, to keep away, and lose the weather-gage, in 
 order to avoid the shoal himself. 
 
 He was disappointed and felt cheap after his failure. 
 The Caribbee, close-hauled, was standing off to the 
 south-east, while The Starry Flag was a quarter of a 
 mile astern of her. Neither had the advantage, and 
 it was still an open question which could make the 
 best time. Levi soon found that the Caribbee was 
 running away from him ; but she carried a main gaff- 
 topsail and a staysail. Fortunately he had similar 
 sails on board, though he seldom used them. They 
 were set when the two vessels were about a mile 
 apart. 
 
 The wind held fresh and steady, and Levi was happy 
 when he realized that the Caribbee was no longer 
 
HALF HOUND THE WORLD. 2G7 
 
 gaining upon him. Hour after hour lie followed her, 
 without any perceptible change in the distance be- 
 tween them. It was plain now that the two vessels 
 were about equally matched, and day and night Levi 
 held his course. On the third day out he spoke a 
 shij) bound to New York. He knew what agony 
 Mr. Watson w T as suffering, and he wrote two letters 
 to him, one directed to New York, and the other to 
 Rockport. "I shall follow the Caribbee round the 
 world if necessary, and I will not return without 
 Bessie," he wrote. These letters he sent on board 
 of the ship, and in due time both were received by 
 Mr. Watson. 
 
 For weeks and weeks The Starry Flag followed 
 the Caribbee ; but the voyage would be as tedious to 
 the reader as it was to Bessie Watson. From the 
 summer time, the yacht went into the heat of the 
 torrid zone, and from that to the spring time of the 
 south temperate. A week out from New York she 
 encountered a heavy gale, and lost sight of the chase ; 
 but Levi, true to his promise, did not give up the 
 pursuit, though he did not see the Caribbee again for 
 weeks. As the yacht was getting short of water and 
 
268 FREAKS OE FORTUNE, OR 
 
 provisions, he put in at the Island of St. Helena for 
 fresh supplies, and learned that the Caribbee had left 
 the port only the day before. 
 
 Again he made a harbor at Cape Town ; but the 
 chase had not been there. With fresh provisions, he 
 sailed again, not expecting to see the Caribbee till 
 he found her at Melbourne, the j>ort for which she 
 had cleared ; but as he went out of the harbor, he 
 discovered her coming in. The Caribbee went about, 
 and stood on her course again to the eastward. Levi 
 was in high spirits now. He had outsailed his rival 
 from St. Helena. He had profited by an attentive 
 study of the current chart, and gained a day. Proud 
 of this triumph over the skilful seaman who was in 
 charge of the chase, he persevered in the pursuit. 
 
 Bessie saw The Starry Flag from the deck of the 
 Caribbee, and understood why Captain Gauley put 
 about. She was amazed at the persistent devotion 
 of Levi in following her so far, and hope brightened 
 aid inspired her. Captain Gauley and Mat laughed 
 at what they called the folly of Levi, and assured Bes- 
 sie he would never find her. 
 
 Week after week both vessels held on their course, 
 
HALF HOUND THE WOULD. 2G0 
 
 through sunshine and tempest. Off the southern const 
 of Australia a fearful storm burst upon them, and for 
 the third time since leaving the Cape of Good Hope, 
 they parted company ; but both of them weathered 
 the tempest. One hundred and seven days from New 
 York, in the spring time of the southern hemisphere, 
 The Starry Flag was approaching Bass Straits. The 
 navigation was difficult and dangerous. Levi had 
 read up his nautical library, and carefully studied the 
 charts he had obtained at Cape Town. The wind 
 was blowing a fresh gale from the southward and 
 westward, and the young commander was full of doubt 
 and anxiety. The night was coming on, with the 
 promise of thick and heavy weather. Another day 
 would enable him to reach Melbourne; but it was 
 hazardous to attempt to thread his way among the 
 rocks and coral reefs in the night and the storm. 
 Prudently, therefore, he put about, and stood away to 
 the southward, close-hauled, with the heavy seas wash- 
 ing his decks, for his bulwarks had been stove in the 
 tempest a week before. 
 
 " Sail, ho ! " shouted the man on the lookout for- 
 ward. 
 
270 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " Where away ? " asked Levi. 
 
 " On the weather bow." 
 
 " It's the Caribbee ! " exclaimed Levi to Bob Thom- 
 as, who had been made first mate of the yacht. 
 
 " Ay, ay ! It is," replied the mate. 
 
 "She went to the southward of Hammetts, while 
 we went to the northward, after the great storm. 
 The southerly current has carried her off her course, 
 I should judge," added Levi. 
 
 The captain and the mate watched her with the 
 most intense interest. The Caribbee stood on her 
 course, and it was evident that she intended to enter 
 the Straits, regardless of the perils before her. Levi 
 could not do less than follow, reckless as it seemed 
 to him. He did follow ; but he took extraordinary 
 precautions. He bent oh his heavy anchor, and made 
 other preparations for trying events. But the Carib- 
 bee, instead of entering the Straits in the darkness, 
 stood away to the northward. All night long the 
 gale piped its angry notes, and The Starry Flag again 
 lost sight of the chase in the gloom. 
 
 The weather moderated in the morning, though the 
 gale only partially subsided. Again the Caribbee was 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 271 
 
 discovered, hull down, in the south. She was then 
 entering the Straits, to the southward of King's Island, 
 where no prudent navigator would venture in bad 
 weather. The yacht was headed in that direction, 
 and anxiously did Levi watch the chase. He had no 
 intention of following her through the intricacies of 
 that rock- bounded channel. Two hours later, the cry 
 ran through the yacht that the Caribbee had struck 
 on a hidden reef! 
 
 The heart of the young skipper was in his mouth. 
 Bessie was in great peril, and he was almost distracted 
 as he thought of her, perishing in the angry waves, 
 surrounded only by enemies. The yacht dashed 
 madly on towards the scene of the disaster. Trem- 
 bling with anxiety, Levi went below to consult his 
 chart, which lay all the time on the cabin table. He 
 found the locality, and the ledge on which the Carib- 
 bee had struck. There was no other peril very near 
 it, and he stood on confidently till The Starry Flag 
 was within hail of the wreck, or would have been in 
 less tempestuous weather. 
 
 The foremast of the Caribbee had gone by the 
 board, and the waves were making a clean sweep over 
 
272 FEE&KS OF FORTUNE, OP. 
 
 her decks. The life-boat, which swung at the port 
 davits of the yacht, had been cleared away, in readi- 
 ness to be lowered. Finding he had good holding- 
 ground under him, Levi ordered the men to let go 
 the heavy anchor. Fortunately it brought her up; 
 but the other anchor was also thrown over. The sails 
 were lowered, and the yacht rode tolerably easy. The 
 gale was abating, and Levi was satisfied that the two 
 anchors would hold her, 
 
 The life-boat was manned with four men, and Levi 
 took his j^lace in the stern-sheets. It was no easy 
 matter to board the wreck while the sea was making a 
 clean breach over her. She had struck her bow upon 
 the sharp rock, and stove in her bottom. She had 
 filled, and her stern had settled down, and the water 
 Was over her taffrail, while her stem projected up into 
 the air. Her hull had swung round a little, so that 
 there was a choice of sides in ai)proaching her. The 
 foremast had been jammed up by the breaking of the 
 keelson where it was set, and hung over the side. To 
 this the life-boat was made fast, and Levi, followed 
 by Bob Thomas, climbed on board. 
 
 Crouching under the lee of the camboose, the young 
 
HALF KOTJND THE WOULD. 273 
 
 skipper found Bessie, Mrs. Vincent, and llie two chil- 
 dren, while the crew were clinging to the rigging of 
 the bowsprit to prevent being washed overboard. 
 
 " O, Levi! " cried Bessie, when she saw the manly 
 form of her. true friend. 
 
 In the blast and the spray, Levi -clasped her hands, 
 and both of them wept, It was more than three 
 months since they had parted in the house of Mr. 
 Watson. There was no time to think of the past, or 
 oven of the future ; the present absorbed all the ener- 
 gies of the young seaman. With the assistance of 
 Bob Thomas, Levi conveyed Bessie along the fallen 
 spar, and lowered her into the life-boat, Mrs. Yin- 
 cent and her two children were assisted Into the boat 
 in the same manner. Mat Mogniore asad two men 
 — all that were left of the crew — were then permit- 
 ted to enter the boat, which pulled fcaek to the 
 yacht. 
 
 With much difficulty, and the exercise of no little 
 skill, the life-boat was kept right side up, and the. 
 rescued party were safely placed on board of The 
 Starry Flag, though the females had to fee hoisted 
 up in slings over the stern. 
 18 
 
274 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 "You are safe, Bessie," said Levi, as he conducted 
 her to the cabin. 
 
 "Thanks to our Good Father, and to you, Levi, I 
 am!" 
 
 " I have the inexpressible happiness of greeting you 
 again," said Mr. C. Augustus Ebenier, as he threw 
 0]3en the door of her state-room. 
 
 The gale rapidly subsided, and in the afternoon, 
 after the wreck had been boarded again, the yacht 
 sailed for Melbourne. 
 
HALF HOUND T1IE WOULD. 275 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 A HAPPY REUNION. 
 
 P^nHE sea in the Strait was comparatively smooth, 
 
 JL and the yacht sped on her way to Melbourne. 
 
 Mrs. Vincent and her children had been installed in 
 
 Mr. Watson's state-room, while Bessie occupied her 
 own. From her Levi had obtained all the particulars 
 of her voyage. She told him what she had suffered, 
 what she had feared, and what she had hoped. 
 
 "Who had charge of the Caribbee?" asked -Levi, 
 when, after Bessie and Mrs. Vincent had been made 
 comfortable, they gathered in the cabin. 
 
 " Captain Gauley," replied Bessie. 
 
 "Who was he?" 
 
 " He was a pilot on a steamer," replied Mrs. Vin- 
 cent. " He and my husband became acquainted 
 while they were on a boat near New York. I never 
 
276 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 saw him till just before we sailed from the Cape. 
 He is a bad man." 
 
 " That is plain enough," added Levi ; " but where 
 is he now?" 
 
 "He and three other men were washed overboard 
 when the vessel struck on the rocks." 
 
 " And three of the men were saved ? " 
 
 " Yes ; Mat Mogmore, the steward, and another 
 man." 
 
 "Why did you sail without your husband, Mrs. 
 Vincent?" asked Levi. 
 
 "I don't know anything about this business. I 
 hadn't anything to do with it," replied the poor 
 woman; and Levi and Bessie pitted her because she 
 was the wife of such a bad man. 
 
 "I am sure she had nothing to do with carrying 
 me off, Levi," interposed Bessie. " She has been very 
 kind to me from the moment I went on board of the 
 Caribbee, and would have assisted me to escape, if 
 there had been any chance." 
 
 " I am very glad indeed to know that," added Levi. 
 "I don't see why this Captain Gauley sailed without 
 your husband." 
 
HALF EOUND THE WOKLD. 277 
 
 " Captain Yincent sent a letter to him, saying that 
 things were going wrong with him, and ordered him 
 to sail at once." 
 
 Levi wondered how Dock had sent the letter. 
 When told that it was written in pencil, and that the 
 address on the envelope was not in her husband's 
 hand, he was satisfied that Constable Cooke had ren- 
 dered him this important service. 
 
 "My husband was to come to Australia by the 
 steamer from England," added Mrs. Yincent. "Per- 
 haps he is here now." 
 
 "I think not," replied Levi. 
 
 "Why so?" 
 
 " Because he was arrested, and committed to jail 
 before I left the Cape. Augustus caught him." 
 
 "I had that honor," said the steward, who was 
 standing near the party; and the incident was fully 
 described. 
 
 "I suppose my poor father and mother do not 
 know what has become" of me," continued Bessie, the 
 tears starting to her eyes. 
 
 "Yes, they do. I sent two letters by a ship we 
 spoke. If this vessel reached New York, I am sure 
 
278 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 he knows where you are. I wrote him that I should 
 follow you round the world, if need be." 
 
 " How brave and noble you are, Levi ! " she said, " 
 bestowing a glance of admiration upon him. " And 
 this Starry Flag has rendered me a greater service 
 than the other Starry Flag." 
 
 " She has indeed ! She is the finest little craft 
 that ever floated ; and I shall love her as long as I 
 live. In that great gale a week ago, she was under 
 water half the time, I believe. We had to batten 
 down everything, and lash ourselves to the deck." 
 
 "That was a fearful storm. I hope I shall never 
 see another such. How grateful we ought to be for 
 our preservation ! " 
 
 " I trust we are grateful to God for his goodness 
 and his mercy," replied Levi, devoutly. 
 
 On the following day the yacht took a pilot, and 
 came to anchor in the harbor of Melbourne. Mat 
 Mogmore had kept out of sight since he came on 
 board, spending all his time in the forecastle ; but 
 when the anchor was dropped he appeared on deck. 
 
 "I think I will go on shore now, Levi," said he, 
 with an assumed coolness. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 279 
 
 "I think not," replied Levi, decidedly. 
 
 "What do you mean by that?" demanded the 
 young villain. 
 
 " I mean that you shall not leave this vessel, un- 
 less you leave it in irons. I shall state the case to 
 the American consul ; and I think you will return to 
 the United States as a prisoner." 
 
 "Why, what have I done?" asked Mat. 
 
 " What have you done ! " exclaimed Levi, indig- 
 nantly. " Besides being guilty of meanness and 
 treachery, you have committed a crime which will 
 send you to the state prison for the next ten years." 
 
 "Do you mean to say that I stole your uncle's 
 money ? " 
 
 " I didn't say anything of the kind. You and Dock 
 Vincent conveyed Miss Watson on board of the Car- 
 ibbee. That's a state-prison offence, to say nothing 
 of stealing the money." 
 
 "Don't be hard on me, Levi." 
 
 " Hard on you ! I'm not half so hard on you as 
 you are on yourself. You were employed as a hand 
 on board of this vessel, and you used your position 
 to deceive Miss Watson, and get her on board of the 
 
280 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 Caribbee. You then came to me, with your mouth 
 full of lies, and told me she had gone to Portland 
 "with her father, by railroad, I trusted you, and you 
 betrayed me, I can forgive you, but I can never 
 respect you again," said Levi, warmly. 
 
 "Don't be too hard on me, Levi," pleaded Mat. 
 " I got into a scrape, and Dock helped me out ; but 
 he made me do everything he said after that" 
 
 " You needn't commit yourself to me. I don't ask 
 you to make any confessions. Dock Vincent is in 
 jail now, and the whole truth will come out in due 
 time." 
 
 " What's the use ! " exclaimed Mat, in despair. " I'm 
 ruined now. If you'll let me go ashore here, I'll try 
 to be an honest man." 
 
 " It is not for me to let you go, though I have no 
 doubt you were the tool of Dock Vincent. I have 
 no right to let you escape." 
 
 "I'll tell you all about it, Levi; and you will see 
 what a bad scrape I was in," said Mat, fixing his 
 eyes on the planks of the deck. " Your uncle bor- 
 rowed a screw-driver in the shoj) — " 
 
 " Levi ! Levi ! " shouted Bessie Watson, who was 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 281 
 
 in the standing-room, looking at the shipping in the 
 vicinity. 
 
 The young skipper sprang towards her, fearful that 
 some terrible event was about to happen ; for Bessie 
 was waving her handkerchief, and dancing about the 
 deck like an insane person. A boat, with two gen- 
 tlemen in the stern-sheets, was approaching the yacht, 
 and at this Bessie was gazing with intense earnest- 
 ness. 
 
 "What is the matter, Bessie?" asked he, looking 
 at her, rather than the boat, to assure himself that 
 her trials had not affected her reason. 
 
 "Why, don't you see, Levi?" 
 
 " I don't see anything. What is it ? " 
 
 " My father ! My father ! " cried she, laughing, al- 
 most in hysterics. 
 
 Levi glanced at the boat. One of the gentlemen 
 was certainly Mr. Watson, though he was not quite 
 willing to believe the evidence of his own senses. 
 The boat had approached near enough to enable him 
 to be sure of the fact. 
 
 "It is my father!" repeated Bessie, as the boat 
 
282 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 ran up to the accommodation ladder, and Mr. Wat- 
 son leaped on board of the yacht. 
 
 "My child! My child!" ejaculated the fond father, 
 as he folded her in his arms. 
 
 " O, father!" exclaimed she, as she hugged him in 
 a transport of joy. 
 
 Twined in each other's arms, they wept and laughed, 
 in the exuberance of delight, at this happy reunion. 
 Levi could hardly restrain his own tears as he gazed 
 upon the affecting scene, and in the depths of his 
 heart he thanked God, who had guided his little 
 bark over the stormy ocean, half round the world, 
 and enabled him to. save Bessie from the hands of 
 her grasping enemies. 
 
 " Levi ! " said Mr. Watson, gently disengaging him- 
 self from his daughter's embrace, and giving the young 
 captain his hand. 
 
 " I am glad to see you, Mr. Watson," replied Levi, 
 grasping the offered hand. 
 
 " If Levi hadn't followed me, you would never have 
 seen me again," added Bessie, throwing herself upon 
 her father's breast a^ain. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 283 
 
 "God bless you, Levi!" exclaimed the delighted 
 father, wringing the young man's hand again. 
 
 Mr. Watson seemed to be bewildered by the ec- 
 stasy of his joy. He grasped the hand of Augustus, 
 who was so pleased that he forgot to use any high- 
 flown speech. The gentleman who had come in the 
 boat with Bessie's father was introduced to the party 
 as the American consul. 
 
 " We did not expect to see you, Mr. Watson," said 
 Levi. 
 
 "I have been in Melbourne for three weeks," re- 
 plied he. " This is the port for which the Caribbee 
 cleared at the Custom House. „But where is the 
 Caribbee ? " 
 
 " She struck on a rock to the southward of King's 
 Island, in the gale, yesterday morning. She has bro- 
 ken up before this time." 
 
 " And I was on board of her at the time," said 
 Bessie. 
 
 " Though the Carribbee was twenty tons larger 
 than The Starry Flag, we were just a match for her 
 in sailing," added Levi. " We lost her a week out 
 of New York, saw her again at the Cape of Good 
 
284 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 Hope, and then lost sight of her three or four times ; 
 but we arrived at the entrance of Bass Strait about 
 the same time." 
 
 " I think I will not stop to hear the story now. 
 Bessie, there is some one on shore who wishes to 
 see you," replied Mr. Watson. 
 
 "Who? O, I know, father! It is mother! Come, 
 let us go on shore, this minute ! " exclaimed the be- 
 wildered girl, dancing about again, as this new joy 
 dawned upon her. 
 
 Levi informed the consul that one of the conspira- 
 tors had been saved from the wreck, and this gen- 
 tleman promised to attend to the matter. The life- 
 boat was lowered ; and leaving his mate in charge 
 of the vessel, with strict injunctions not to let Mat 
 Mogmore escape, Levi went on shore with Bessie and 
 her father. 
 
 " My mother in Australia ! " exclaimed Bessie. 
 
 " And Mrs. McGilvery, too ! " added Mr. Watson. 
 
 "Why, then the whole family are here! Only 
 think of it ! I didn't expect to see you or mother 
 for months yet." 
 
 "We could not do anything but come, for every 
 
1IALF ROUND THE WORLD. 285 
 
 hour seemed like an age to us," replied Mr. Watson. 
 " When I received Levi's letter, I saw that nothing 
 more could be done on our side of the world, and I 
 decided to follow you. Dock Vincent assured me I 
 should never see my daughter again ; and I was sat- 
 isfied by the confidence he exhibited, and the per- 
 sistency with which he urged me to pay his demand, 
 that the Caribbee had indeed sailed upon her long 
 voyage. Levi's letter, written when he had been 
 three days at sea, with the Caribbee in sight, fully 
 confirmed my view. I was sorry Levi did not re- 
 turn to New York, instead of following the vessel." 
 
 " Why so ? " asked Levi, blushing under the im- 
 plied censure. 
 
 "If I had known the result in season, I might 
 have sent a steamer in pursuit of the Caribbee. As 
 it was, I did not get the letter till a week after her 
 departure." 
 
 "The chances of a steamer finding the Caribbee 
 were not more than one in fifty," replied Levi. 
 
 " I was sorry then, Levi ; but I am not now. You 
 have achieved almost a miracle, and I am willing to 
 believe now that your course was the best and the 
 
286 FEEAKS OF FOETUNE, OE 
 
 safest. I decided at once to be in Melbourne when 
 the Caribbee arrived. I sailed for England in the 
 steamer with your mother and your aunt. We came 
 from there by the way of Egypt, and landed here three 
 weeks ago. I have an agent in every principal port 
 in Australia on the lookout for the Caribbee. When 
 any fore-and-aft vessel came into this harbor I was 
 informed of the fact, and you may judge my surprise 
 when I saw The Starry Flag. I will not tell you 
 what I feared when I recognized her, for all that 
 passed away when I saw Bessie on the deck ; " and 
 the devoted father clasped her in his arms again. 
 
 The party landed. In a few moments they reached 
 the hotel, and Bessie was folded in the embrace of 
 her mother. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WOULD. 287 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 M : 
 
 RS. WATSON wept tears of joy over her lost 
 -.Jy_1_ child, now restored to her. Mrs. McGilvery 
 declared that the pleasure of witnessing such a joy- 
 ful meeting was worth a voyage half round the world, 
 or, indeed, all the Way round the world. 
 
 "Well, Levi, what shall we do next?" asked Mr. 
 Watson, when the young skipper had been thanked 
 and extolled by the ladies till his cheeks burned with 
 blushes. 
 
 " Go home, I suppose, sir, unless the ladies desire 
 to settle here," replied Levi. 
 
 " Doubtless we shall go home," added Mr. Watson ; 
 " but how shall we do it ? I think the ladies will not 
 care to be kept on board of the yacht for three 
 months or more." 
 
 "I will do what I can to make them comfortable 
 
288 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 if they will return in The Starry Flag; but that is 
 saying only a little." 
 
 "You would arrive on the coast of the United 
 States in the middle of the winter, and you will see 
 many heavy storms, and much bad weather," suggest- 
 ed Mr. Watson. 
 
 "Yes, sir; it was bad enough coming out here, 
 especially after we left the Cape of Good Hope ; but 
 it would be worse returning. I cannot honestly ad- 
 vise them to go back in the yacht, glad as I should 
 be of their company ; " and Levi glanced at Bessie. 
 " I think they had better go by the way you came." 
 
 " I am very clear of that," added Mr. Watson. 
 "But, Levi, I can't bear the idea of your knocking 
 about for three or four months, perhaps six, in such 
 a small vessel." 
 
 " It won't hurt me any. I rather like it," laughed 
 Levi. "I will have a stove put up in the cabin for 
 use when we get into the cold region, and we shall 
 be as comfortable as a bug in a rug." 
 
 "I'll tell you my plan, Levi. I can sell the yacht, 
 and you can return with us by steamer." 
 
 "Sell The Starry Flag!" exclaimed Levi. "I 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 289 
 
 should as soon think of selling my mother, if I had 
 one. I love her, after the good service she has done, 
 and I don't think any builder could got up another 
 as good as she is. I know what she is now. She 
 has weathered a hurricane, and don't mind an ordina- 
 ry gale any more than a summer zephyr. Besides, I 
 have a crew of six men, without the cook and stew- 
 ard. If you want to sell her, I'll buy her." 
 
 " She is yours now, and you may do as you please 
 with her." 
 
 " Then I shall certainly take her home. She needs 
 .some repairs, and then she will be as good as new." 
 
 " If the ladies are willing, we will all go on board 
 of her," said Mr. Watson. "We must make some 
 arrangements for Mrs. Vincent and her children, and 
 attend to Mat Mogmore's case." 
 
 The party went on board of the yacht. Mr. Wat- 
 son summoned the crew, as soon as they reached the 
 deck, and gave each of them a check for a thousand 
 dollars. This little incident made the day a happy 
 one to them, as well as to the members of Mr. Wat- 
 son's family. He then asked Mrs. Vincent what she 
 purposed to do; and Levi offered her a return pas- 
 19 
 
290 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OB 
 
 sage in the yacht. She had been kind to Bessie, had 
 been her companion and friend in her distress, and 
 her conduct merited a grateful recognition. The poor 
 woman did not know what to do. She had no idea 
 what her husband had done with all the money he 
 had collected. It was not to be found, and no one 
 knew anything about it. It was afterwards ascer- 
 tained that the proceeds of the sale of his house and 
 furniture had been expended upon the fitting out of 
 the Caribbee, and he had deposited the ten thousand 
 borrowed of Mr. Fairfield * in Boston until he was 
 ready to leave the country. 
 
 Mrs. Yincent did not wish to return to her native 
 land. Her husband had ruined himself and disgraced 
 his family, and she did not care to meet the obloquy 
 which awaited her in the midst of her friends. The 
 consul informed her, when she had stated her views, 
 that she could make a good living, and perhaps a 
 competency, by keeping a boarding-house in Mel- 
 bourne. Mr. Watson promptly offered to assist her 
 to the means for making a beginning. Before the 
 yacht sailed on her home voyage, the consul had 
 purchased for her such an establishment as she need- 
 
HALF ROUND TIIE WORLD. 291 
 
 ed, and she was in a fair way to do better for her- 
 self than her husband had ever done for her. 
 
 The consul met the family in the cabin of the yacht, 
 and Mat Mogmore's case came up for discussion. The 
 steward, and the other seamen from the Caribbee, 
 had gone on shore to shift for themselves, as Mat 
 would have done if he had been permitted. 
 
 "Mat says he got into a scrape, and Dock helped 
 him out," said Levi, when the matter was brought 
 up. " The old rascal had him in his power then, and 
 made a tool of him in this business." 
 
 " What scrape did he get into ? " asked Mr. Wat- 
 son. 
 
 " I don't know. He began to tell me when your 
 boat came alongside," replied Levi. " He said my 
 uncle borrowed a screw-driver of him ; but I don't 
 know what this had to do with it." 
 
 " Send for him, Levi," added Mr. Watson. " If he . 
 tells the truth, and means to do well, perhaps we 
 may do something to help him." 
 
 The steward was called, and directed to bring the 
 prisoner — for such he was — into the cabin. Mat 
 was on the stool of repentance. All his expectations 
 
292 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 had been blasted ; and, whichever way he turned, the 
 prospect was dark and forbidding, as it must sooner 
 or later be to all evil-doers. Even if permitted to 
 go on shore, he was alone and friendless in a strange 
 land. The share he was to receive of Bessie's ran- 
 som had failed him ; another evil speculation had 
 also come to nought. If he returned to his native 
 land in the yacht, it was only to be covered with mer- 
 ited disgrace, and to spend years of his life in the state 
 prison. 
 
 When Mat Mogmore entered the cabin under the 
 escort of the steward, he felt like a ruined man — 
 one who, by his own folly and wickedness, had sac- 
 rificed all his hopes in this world. Mr. Watson and 
 the consul spoke to him with the utmost plainness, 
 the latter informing him that, if he declined to return 
 home in the yacht, he should procure his arrest on a 
 criminal charge. 
 
 "I will return in her, if you say so," blubbered 
 Mat, whose pluck was all gone. 
 
 " If you wish to explain your conduct, you may do 
 so," added Mr. Watson. 
 
 " I don't know as it's any use. I wish I had been 
 drowned in the Caribbee." 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 293 
 
 "You began to tell me your story," said Levi. 
 
 " I was going to tell you how I happened to help 
 Captain Vincent. He made me do it. I'll tell you 
 about it, if you like." 
 
 "Go on," added Mr. Watson. 
 
 "Perhaps I'm worse than you think I am; but I'll 
 tell the whole truth." 
 
 "That's what we want." 
 
 "Levi's uncle borrowed a screw-driver of me in 
 the shop. I wanted to use it pretty soon, and I 
 went over to Mr. Fairfield's after it. He was fixing 
 a board to put over a hole in the plastering in his 
 chamber. I saw he had cut away the laths, and I 
 knew he wasn't putting up the piece to keep the 
 cold out, as he said. I made up my mind he had 
 money hid in that hole. At the fire, when the folks 
 had left the room, and all the men were on the roof, 
 I took off that board, for I thought the money would 
 be all lost if there was any there. I found the four 
 bags of gold. I dropped them out the window into 
 the lilac bushes, and put the board up again. I 
 didn't mean to steal it then. I never stole anything 
 in my life, not even a pin." 
 
294 FEEAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 "What did you put the board up again for?" 
 asked Levi. 
 
 "I didn't screw it up till afterwards. I carried 
 the gold over to the shop, and hid it under the floor. 
 Then I went back and fastened up the board, just as 
 I found it. While I was doing this Dock Vincent 
 came in, and saw what I was doing. I turned it off 
 as well as I could, and helped move the furniture 
 where the water was coming down upon it. There 
 was a lot of money in those bags, and I didn't like 
 to give them up. Dock had said something to me 
 about going to Australia with him, and I thought I 
 could take the money out here with me. 
 
 "Just as soon as it came out that the gold was 
 gone, Captain Vincent pitched into me. He knew 
 then what I was screwing up that board for. It wasn't 
 any use to deny it to him after what he had seen. I 
 said I would give it back to the pld man, and tell him 
 I had taken it to keep it from being lost in the fire. 
 Dock said it wan't worth while to do that ; the old 
 man had lost it, and he wouldn't feel any worse if 
 he didn't find it. We talked it over, and after a 
 while I agreed to divide with him. 
 
IIALF ROUND TTIE WORLD. 295 
 
 "Then he began to tell me, a little at once, about 
 carrying off Miss Watson again. I didn't like the 
 job ; but Dock said he'd send me to jail for*stealing 
 the gold if I didn't go in with him ; and I had to 
 go. When the new Starry Flag came round, he told 
 me Levi wanted to hire me before the mast, and told 
 me to engage with him, so as to help him get Miss 
 Watson when the time came. All along, Dock said 
 that Levi was in his way. If he could get rid of 
 him, he could carry her off without any trouble. So 
 he laid the stealing to him, and tried to prove it on 
 him. 
 
 "Dock told me to put the bag and some of the 
 gold in the state-room, but I hadn't any chance to 
 do it ; the steward was in my way all the time. The 
 yacht was going off the next day, and Dock wanted 
 to have Levi taken up before he started. I handed 
 the bag I had fixed to Ben Seaver, and told him I 
 had forgotten to do what the captain had ordered. 
 I asked him to give it to the steward, and tell him 
 Levi wanted him to put it into a locker in his state- 
 room. Ben did just what I told ham ; and I knew 
 he was going off that day. Levi was taken up ; but 
 
296 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 things didn't work as Dock wanted. He was dis- 
 charged. 
 
 "All 4his time the money was hid under the shop. 
 After the examination, Dock wanted the money di- 
 vided. I had taken out one hundred and fifty dol- 
 lars. We put fifty in the bag before, and divided a 
 hundred. I agreed to meet him at the old fish- 
 house, that was burned, and I carried the bags down, 
 and put them under an old sail, where I could get 
 the money when we wanted it. 
 
 "Dock and I met in the fish-house at ten o'clock. 
 He had a lantern, so that we could see to count the 
 money. We sat down on the rocks to talk the mat- 
 ter over, for Dock wanted the whole of the money 
 then, and promised to give me my share when we 
 got to Australia. I didn't like this; and while we 
 were talking about it, the steward tumbled down 
 through the floor of the loft right between us. I 
 never was so scared in my life. I thought the evil 
 one was after me for what I had done. Dock was 
 as scared as I was, and we both ran off as fast as 
 our legs would carry us. 
 
 "We went into Dock's back kitchen, and staid 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 297 
 
 there till the alarm of fire was given. We meant 
 to go back, but neither of us dared to do so. The 
 fish-house got afire, and burned up ; and that was the 
 last we saw of the gold. Augustus can tell you bet- 
 ter than I can where it went to." 
 
 " I have told that already," interposed the steward. 
 
 " When the Caribbee was ready to sail," continued 
 Mat, "Dock went to New York,, and told Captain 
 Gauley to follow as soon as Miss Watson was on 
 board. I was told to watch my chance when Levi 
 was on board the yacht, and go to her, saying he 
 had sent me for her. I waited three days without 
 having such a chance, when the race at Portland fixed 
 things just as I wanted " them. You know how I 
 worked it. ■ I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't been 
 afraid Dock would send me to jail. As soon as we 
 got to New York, Captain Gauley sent a letter to 
 Boston, where Dock was keeping himself out of sight 
 till he could get the money. I suppose he sent his 
 letter to Mr. Watson as soon as he heard Miss Wat- 
 son was missing. We waited ten days below New 
 York; but Dock didn't come. Then Captain Gauley 
 got a letter from him, saying things were going wrong 
 
298 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 with him, and ordering the vessel to sail without him. 
 He was to come out here by steamer." 
 
 Mat Mogmore's confession made everything plain. 
 What was not understood before was clear enough 
 now. Dock Vincent did not believe in the power 
 of goodness ; and when he took advantage of the rob- 
 bery to charge the crime upon Levi, he did not real- 
 ize that a young man's character is his tower of 
 strength. He failed to break down his reputation, 
 failed to ruin him, failed to injure him in the oj)inion 
 of any for more than a brief period. Perhaps, if he 
 could have ruined Levi, and got him out of the way, 
 as he desired, he might have succeeded in his wicked 
 intention, though God does not often permit such in- 
 iquity to prosper. 
 
 By the next steamer Mr. "Watson's family dej^art- 
 ed for home. The Starry Flag was carefully repaired, 
 an abundant supply of provisions put on board, and 
 she sailed for the United States. Mat Mogmore 
 returned voluntarily in her. As Mr. Watson had de- 
 cided "to spend two or three months in Europe on his 
 return, Levi did not hasten his homeward voyage. 
 At the Cape of Good Hope he staid a couple of 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 299 
 
 weeks, to see the country. He remained about the 
 same time at St. Helena, at Ascension, at the Cape 
 Yerde Islands, and at the Bermudas, thus avoiding 
 the winter storms of the North Atlantic, besides see- 
 ing the wonders of the sunny isles of the ocean. 
 
 About the middle of May The Starry Flag was 
 discovered entering Sandy Bay. Mr. Watson and 
 his family, who had arrived a month before, had gone 
 to their summer home ; and when those who cast 
 frequent glances to seaward discovered the yacht, 
 Mr. Watson was informed of her arrival. With 
 Bessie on his arm, he hastened down to the Point, 
 where hundreds of Levi's friends had already gath- 
 ered to welcome him. The anchor of the yacht went 
 down among the rocks off the Point, the sails were 
 furled, and all hands went on shore. 
 
 Levi's reception was worthy of a hero. He was 
 cheered as though he had been a great admiral com- 
 ing home from his conquest of the seas ; but the tear- 
 ful welcome which Bessie Watson bestowed upon 
 him was more grateful than the plaudits of the mul- 
 titude. He went with her to her father's house, and 
 the rest of the day and a long evening were spent in 
 
300 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 relating the incidents of their return from that distant 
 land, half round the world. 
 
 "How is my uncle now?" asked Levi of Mr* 
 Gayles, who formed one of the party, 
 
 " He is about the same as usual," replied the con- 
 stable. "He has lost ten thousand dollars by Dock 
 Vincent, arfd he groans about that night and day." 
 
 " That money can be recovered," said Mr. Watson. 
 "Vincent did not use it." 
 
 " The trial of Dock has been postponed from time 
 to time on account of your absence," added Mr. 
 Gayles. "The case, will be called again next week." 
 
 "When it was assigned the next time, the witnesses 
 were in the court-room. Dock and Mr. Fairfield were 
 arraigned. Mat Mogmore was permitted to testify for 
 the government. Both were found guilty ; but, while 
 Dock was sentenced to the longest term of imprison- 
 ment provided by law for his crimes, the old man 
 was sentenced to the shortest, with a fine of one 
 thousand dollars. Dock's term was ten years. It 
 broke his spirit. His little plan was a total failure, 
 and too late he found that the way of the wicked 
 shall not prosper. He was sent to the state prison, 
 and disappeared from public view. 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 301 
 
 Mr. Fairfield was sent to the common jail; but it 
 was evident that he was dying by inches of mental 
 disorder, and his pardon was procured by the influ- 
 ence of Mr. Watson. He went back to his home. 
 The ten thousand dollars which Dock had borrowed 
 of him was recovered, in process of law, of the person 
 with whom the swindler had deposited it. The old 
 man had really lost but a thousand dollars, the amount 
 of his fine ; but he was too miserable to survive long, 
 and died two years after his discharge from prison. 
 Levi was his heir, but he gave his aunt the use of 
 the money while she lived. Her Bible and her reli- 
 gious newspaper were her best friends, and she learned 
 to ojDen her heart and open her purse-strings. She 
 had nothing to do now, and she became, under Levi's 
 good advice, a blessing to the poor and the suffering. 
 
 "When Levi was twenty-one, Mr. Gayles's function 
 as guardian ceased, and he paid over to his ward his 
 entire fortune. But this was a trivial event compared 
 with another, which occurred a few months later, in 
 Boston ; when, in Mr. Watson's elegant mansion, Levi 
 and Bessie received the congratulations of all their 
 friends. Rockport was strongly represented on this 
 interesting occasion. 
 
302 FREAKS OF FORTUNE, OR 
 
 " May all angels, celestial and terrestrial, keep per- 
 petual vigil over you, Mrs. Fairfield," said Mr. C. Au- 
 gustus Ebenier, as he touched the gloved hand of the 
 bride, whom he did not presume to kiss, as others did. 
 " And the next time you attempt the semi-circumnav- 
 igation of this mundane sphere, may I have the honor 
 to be the cabin steward of the bark that bears you 
 o'er the stormy sea." 
 
 " May prosperity and hapj)iness be yours, Mrs. Fair- 
 field," said Squire Saunders. " Levi, this time I must 
 commit you — to the care of this lady." 
 
 " I have taken care of Levi for a good many years, 
 Mrs. Fairfield," added Mr. Gayles; "but I cheerfully 
 resign in your favor." 
 
 " I never saw so many grand people and sech nice 
 things in all my born days," said aunt Susan ; " but 
 Levi's wuth the whole on 'em. I know he'll make 
 you a good husband, and you'll make him a good 
 wife ; " and the old lady planted a hearty smack on 
 the cheek of each. 
 
 When Levi and Bessie returned from their bridal 
 tour in Europe, in the following spring, they took 
 up their residence in the mansion of Mr. Watson, on 
 
HALF ROUND THE WORLD. 303 
 
 the Point. The Starry Flag and The Starry Flag, 
 Jr., both lie in sight of the house, and both of them 
 are frequently used for long and short trips. While 
 Captain Fairfield — as he is generally called — and his 
 beautiful wife hope the day is far distant which will 
 make him a millionnaire, this event, in the course 
 of nature, must occur ; yet is he richer now, in the 
 possession of a noble character and a true Christian 
 spirit, than he can be made by any Freaks of For- 
 tune. 
 
mn 
 
 ■•■ ■ '-• v : • 
 
 1 
 
 mm 
 
 mm 
 
 •.'./•''.'"■'■■ ■■■:''' ■;. 
 
 HH! 
 
 1 
 
 ■,;, 
 
 nP 
 
 Ti 
 
 in 
 
 ■■■■■Hi 
 
 H 
 
 I 
 
 Swam 
 
 ■B^^H^H 
 
 
 wmmBr 
 
 WmSBKm 
 
 wa 
 
 i. .1