error.

"We must be off at once."

"What's the matter with you? What makes you cough so?"

"A cold."

"What will you do with the fawn, Ben?"

"She is not agreed to anything," I replied, as I struck a match, for I
thought it was time to have a little more light on the subject.

I had waited till he was in a comfortable position on the locker
opposite me, with the table between us. I lighted the lamp, which was
suspended from the ceiling of the cabin. My cough was suddenly and
miraculously cured.

"What are you going to do, Ben?"

"That will depend upon what you do," I replied, in my natural voice.

"Who are you?"

"Your obedient servant," I answered, throwing off the hat I had worn,
which concealed my face in part.

"Phil!" gasped he, starting back with astonishment.

"Assistant book-keeper, &c.," I replied.

"What are you doing here?"

"Attending to the affairs of the firm which I have the honor to serve.
I am here on their business, though I have a little of mine to attend
to at the same time."

"Where is Mr. Waterford?" demanded he; and I saw by the light of the
lamp that he was as pale as when I had startled him with my balance
sheet in the counting-room.

"I left him over at the mouth of that creek on the other side of the
lake."

"You left him there? Do you mean to say that you have stolen his
yacht?"

"No, sir; I don't mean to say so, and I don't think it is quite fair
for you to say so, since I intend to restore her to Mr. Waterford, or
to his legal representative, on claim, and sufficient evidence of
ownership."

"Who wrote the letter which Peter brought me?"

"I did; but, as I told you in the letter, my hand was injured in the
fight, and I couldn't do justice to my own style of penmanship."

"It was a forgery then."

"I signed no name to it, but left you to draw your own inferences."

"It is just as much a forgery as though you had signed it."

"But not half so much a forgery as receipting a lumber bill of the
Michigan Pine Company. I hope the whiskey reached you in good order and
condition."

"None of your impudence, Phil. This isn't the way to treat one who has
used you as well as I have."

"For all the kindness you have bestowed upon me, I am very grateful;
and I am only sorry you were not worthy of the confidence I felt in
your integrity."

"We need not quarrel, Phil," said he, after a short pause. "We have
always been good friends; let us be so still. I saw a scuffle b