mber.
The Severn, blue and placid, flung up an occasional white cap to greet
him, as he crossed the bridge. He nodded to the draw-keeper, who
recognized him, drew aside for an automobile to pass, and then trotted
sedately up the hill, and into the woods beyond.

He could hear the Band of the Academy pounding out a quick-step, and
catch a glimpse of the long line of midshipmen passing in review,
before some notable. The "custard and cream" of the chapel dome
obtruded itself in all its hideousness; the long reach of Bancroft Hall
glowed white in the sun; the library with its clock--the former, by
some peculiar idea, placed at the farthest point from the dormitory,
and the latter where the midshipmen cannot see it--dominated the
opposite end of the grounds. Everywhere was quiet, peace, and
discipline--the embodiment of order and law,--the Flag flying over
all.

And yet, he was on his way to pay a ransom of very considerable amount,
for two women who were held prisoners!

He tied his horse to a limb of a maple, and walked out on the Point.
Save for a few trees, uprooted by the gales, it was the same Point they
had dug over a few weeks before. A negro, chopping at a log, stopped
his work, a moment, to look at him curiously, then resumed his labor.

"The Pinkerton man!" thought Croyden, but he made no effort to speak to
him.

Somewhere,--from a window in the town, or from one of the numerous
ships bobbing about on the Bay or the River--he did not doubt a glass
was trained on him, and his every motion was being watched.

For full twenty minutes, he stood on the extreme tip of the Point, and
looked out to sea. Then he faced directly around and stepped ten paces
inland. Kneeling, he quickly dug with a small trowel a hole a foot deep
in the sand, put into it the package of bills, wrapped in oil-skin,
and replaced the ground.

"There!" said he, as he arose. "Pirate's gold breeds pirate's ways. May
we have seen the last of you--and may the devil take you all!"

He went slowly back to his horse, mounted, and rode back to town. They
had done their part--would the thieves do theirs?

Adhering strictly to the instructions, Croyden and Macloud left
Annapolis on the next car, caught the boat at Baltimore, and arrived in
Hampton in the evening, in time for dinner. They stopped a few minutes
at Ashburton, to acquaint Captain Carrington with their return, and
then went on to Clarendon.

Both men were nervous. Neither wanted the