rwards) ran that a
second body--alleged by some to be mine, by others to be Ann the
cook's--had been discovered lying in its own blood in the attic; but
the marvel was how the report could have spread at all, since Miss
Belcher had sworn the two woodmen to secrecy. Whoever spread it
could have known very little, for the sightseers wasted all their
curiosity on the house and concerned themselves not at all with the
plantation.

From the plantation Miss Belcher had led me straight to the house,
and there in the darkened parlour I had told my story, corroborated
here and there by Mr. Goodfellow. In the intervals of my narrative
Miss Belcher insisted on my swallowing great spoonfuls of hot
bread-and-milk, against which--faint though I was and famished--my
gorge rose. Also the ordeal of gulping it under four pairs of eyes
was not a light one. But Miss Belcher insisted, and Miss Belcher
stood no nonsense.

I told them of my acquaintance with Captain Coffin; how he had
invited me to his lodgings and promised me wealth; of his studying
navigation, of his reference to the island and the treasure hidden on
it, and of the one occasion when he vouchsafed me a glimpse of the
chart; of the French prisoner, Aaron Glass, and how we escaped from
him, and of the plan we arranged together at the old windmill; how
Captain Danny had taken boat to board the St. Mawes packet; how the
man Glass had followed; how I had visited the lodgings, and of the
confusion I found there. I described the ex-prisoner's appearance
and clothing in detail, and here I had Mr. Goodfellow to confirm me
under cross-examination.

"An' the cap'n," said he, "was afraid of him. I give you my word,
ladies and gentlemen, I never saw a man worse scared in my life.
Put up his hands, he did, an' fairly screeched, an' bolted out o' the
door with his arm linked in the lad's."

Three or four times in the course of my narrative I happened to
thrust my hands into my breeches-pocket, and was reminded of the gold
eyeglass concealed there. I had managed very artfully to keep
Captain Branscome entirely out of the story, but twice under
examination I was forced to mention him--and each time, curiously
enough, in answer to a question of Miss Belcher's.

"You are sure this Captain Coffin showed the chart to no one but
yourself?" she asked.

"I am pretty sure, ma'am."

"There was always a tale about Falmouth that Cap'n Danny had struck a
buried treasure," said Mr. Good