come in a blinding flash that would have unsettled a man
not so well trained to control emotion.

"Drive along," he curtly commanded Nute, paying no heed to the
incensed Colonel's railings. "You look me in the eye," he continued,
as soon as they were out of hearing. "Do you see any signs that I
am out of my head, or that I need these ropes on me?"

"I can't say as I do," admitted the constable, after he had quailed
a bit under the keen, straightforward stare of the ex-mariner's hard,
gray eyes.

"Take 'em off, then," directed the Cap'n, in tones of authority. And
when it was done, he straightened his hat, set back his shoulders,
and said:

"Drive me to the town house where I was bound when that hoss of yours
run away with me." Mr. Nute stared at him wildly, and drove on.

They were nearly to their destination before Constable Nute ventured
upon what his twisted brow and working lips testified he had been
pondering long.

"It ain't that I'm tryin' to pry into your business, Cap'n Sproul,
nor anything of the kind, but, bein' a man that never intended to
do any harm to any one, I can't figger out what grudge you've got
against me. You said on the station platform that--"

"Nute," said the Cap'n, briskly, "as I understand it, you never went
to sea, and you and the folks round here don't understand much about
sailormen, hey?"

The constable shook his head.

"Then don't try to find out much about 'em. You wouldn't understand.
The folks round here wouldn't understand. We have our ways. You have
your ways. Some of the things you do and some of the things you say
could be called names by me, providin' I wanted to be disagreeable
and pick flaws. All men in this world are different--especially
sailormen from them that have always lived inshore. We've got to take
our feller man as we find him."

They were in the town-house yard--a long procession of teams
following.

"And by-the-way, Nute," bawled the Cap'n, from the steps of the
building as he was going in, using his best sea tones so that all
might hear, "it was the fault of your horse that he run away, and
you ought to be prosecuted for leavin' such an animile 'round where
a sailorman that ain't used to hosses could get holt of him. But I'm
always liberal about other folks' faults. Bring in your bill for the
wagon."

Setting his teeth hard, he walked upon the platform of the town-hall,
and faced the voters with such an air of authority and such
self-possession