, the sail-maker, who paid it to Captain Patterdale, and he
says it was one of the bills in the tin chest when it was stolen. Don
John says he had it from me."

"Precisely so; and that is what makes it unpleasant to be suspected of a
crime," laughed Captain Shivernock. "But you don't state where you got
the bill, Mr. Cavendish. Perhaps you don't wish to tell."

"I shall tell the whole story with the greatest pleasure," added Laud.
"I was sailing one day down by Haddock Ledge, when I saw a man tumble
overboard from a boat moored where he had been fishing. He was staving
drunk, and went forward, as I thought, to get up his anchor. The boat
rolled in the sea, and over he went. I got him out. The cold water
sobered him in a measure, and he was very grateful to me. He went to his
coat, which he did not wear when he fell, and took from his pocket a
roll of bills. He counted off ten fifties, and gave them to me. Feeling
sure that I had saved his life, I did not think five hundred dollars was
any too much to pay for it, and I took the money. I don't think he would
have given me so much if he hadn't been drunk. I asked him who he was,
but he would not tell me, saying he didn't want his friends in Boston
to know he had been over the bay, and in the bay; but he said he had
been staying in Belfast a couple of days."

"Good story!" laughed the wicked nabob.

"Every word of it is as true as preaching," protested Laud.

"Just about," added the captain, who hadn't much confidence in
preaching.

"You can see, Captain Shivernock, that I am in an awkward position,"
added Laud. "I have no doubt the man I saved was the one who stole the
tin box. He paid me with the stolen bills."

"It is awkward, as you say," chuckled the strange man. "I suppose you
wouldn't know the fellow you saved if you saw him."

"O, yes, I think I should," exclaimed Laud. "But suppose, when Captain
Patterdale comes to me to inquire where I got the marked bill, I should
tell him this story. He wouldn't believe a word of it."

"He would be a fool if he did," exclaimed Captain Shivernock, with a
coarse grin. "Therefore, my gay buffer, don't tell it to him."

"But I must tell him where I got the bill," pleaded Laud.

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the eccentric, shaking his sides as though they
were agitated by a young earthquake. "Tell him I gave you the bill!"

The captain seemed to be intensely amused at the novel idea; and Laud
did not object; on the contrary, he