ven that day. I know he did not. Now, Don
John, we must go to Turtle Head to-night, and see about that box."

"I am ready, sir."

"I will go with you," added Captain Patterdale; "and we will take the
Sea Foam."

Donald was permitted to go home and comfort his mother with the
assurance that he was entirely innocent of the crime with which he was
charged; and great was the joy of his mother and sister. The mainsail of
the Sea Foam was hoisted when he went on board. The wind was rather
light, and it was midnight before the yacht anchored off Turtle Head.
The party went ashore in the tender, the sheriff carrying a lantern and
a shovel. Donald readily found the place where the earth had been
disturbed by Laud's clam-digger. Mr. Beardsley dug till he came to a
rock, and it was plain that no tin box was there.

"But I am sure that Laud had been digging here, for I saw the print of
his clam-digger," said Donald.

"This hole had been dug before," added the sheriff.

"Even Laud Cavendish would not be fool enough to bury the box in such an
exposed place as this," suggested Captain Patterdale.

"I know he came down here on the day the box was stolen," said Donald,
"and that he was here with his clam-digger on the day I met Captain
Shivernock. He must have put those papers in the shop."

"If the box was ever buried here, it has been removed," added the
captain.

"Just look at the dirt which came out of the hole," continued Mr.
Beardsley, pointing to the heap, and holding the lantern over it. "What
I threw out last is beach gravel. That was put in to fill up the hole
after he had taken out the box. When he first buried it, he had to carry
off some of the yellow loam. In my opinion, the box has been here."

"It is not here now, and we may as well return," replied Captain
Patterdale. "I am really more desirous of finding the papers in the box
than the money."

"He has only chosen a new hiding-place for it," said the sheriff. "If we
say nothing, and keep an eye on him for a few days, we may find it."

As this was all that could be done, the party returned to the city; and
early in the morning Donald went to bed, to obtain the rest he needed
before the great day. Possibly Mr. Beardsley slept some that night,
though it is certain he was at Saturday Cove, in Northport, the next
forenoon. He had a "theory;" and when a man has a theory, he will
sometimes go without his sleep in order to prove its truth or its
falsity. Jacob Ha