ing of his tormentor. Nine
times in ten he did not better himself any; for, while he was running
away from Johnny, he would encounter some one else who had something to
say about the yacht or the Crusoe band. He was thus kept continually in
hot water, and he knew that such would be his condition as long as he
remained in the village. There was one way of escape, and that was to do
as Johnny Harding had done, when he came home from the memorable
expedition of the Night-Hawks. He saw his folly, acknowledged it, and
resolved that his future life should make some amends for it. He held
to this determination; and was now in a fair way to make a man of
himself. Tom, however, did not possess the moral courage to do this. He
was one of those boys who are always in the right, and he did not
believe that the troubles he had got into were the results of his own
misdeeds. He laid the blame upon somebody else--principally upon his
father, at whom he was highly enraged. He wanted to get out of the
village, and he set his wits at work to conjure up some plan to induce
the merchant to send him to sea, or permit him to make another contract
with Mr. Hayes; but Mr. Newcombe thought the office was the best place
for Tom, and told him so in a manner so decided, that the boy knew that
argument was useless.

All this while he had been busy with his plan for the organization of a
new secret society, but he was obliged to confess that, under the
circumstances, it was not likely to amount to any thing. He needed the
assistance of the old members of the Crusoe band; but his father had
ordered him to have nothing further to do with them, and, more than
that, he took care to see that the order was obeyed. Tom, knowing that
he was closely watched, kept aloof from the ferry-boys, and when his
work for the day was over, he found relief from his troubles by sailing
about the bay in the Mystery. One evening he extended his cruise around
Block Island; and it was then an incident happened that brought about
the events we have yet to describe. He was sailing around a high rocky
promontory which formed the southern part of the island, his mind, as
usual, busy with his new scheme, when he was aroused by hearing his name
pronounced. He looked toward the shore, and was frightened nearly out of
his senses when he discovered a boy, who bore a strong resemblance to
Sam Barton, standing on a rock at the foot of the bluff, waving his hat
to him. Tom was not supers