r
with a mighty crash, landing upon one corner and bursting open. During
the long years it had stood in Cap'n Abe's storeroom the wood had
suffered dry rot.

"Land o' Liberty an' all han's around!" bawled the irrepressible Milt
Baker. "There ain't ho corpse in that dust, for a fac'!"

"What kind of a mess d'ye make that out to be, I want to know?" cackled
Washy Gallup.

The hinges had torn away from the rotting wood so that the lid lay wide
open. Tumbled out upon the floor were several ancient garments,
including a suit of quite unwearable oilskins, and with them at least a
wheelbarrow load of bricks!

"Well, I vum!" drawled the expressman, at length recovering speech. "I
hope Huldy'll be satisfied."

But Cap'n Joab Beecher was not. He stood up and pointed his stick at
the heap of rubbish on the floor and his voice quavered as he shrilly
asked:

"Then, _where's Cap'n Abe_?"

They all turned to stare again at Cap'n Amazon. That hardy mariner
seemed to be quite as self-possessed as usual. His grim lips opened
and in caustic tone he said:

"You fellers seem to think that I'm Abe Silt's keeper. I ain't. Abe's
old enough--and ought to be seaman enough--to look out for Abe Silt.
What tomfoolery he packed into that chest is none o' my consarn. I
l'arnt years ago that Moses an' them old fellers left the chief
commandment out o' the Scriptures. That's 'Mind your own business.'
Abe's business ain't mine. Here, you Amiel! clear up that clutter an'
let's have no more words about it."

The decisive speech of the master mariner closed the lips of even Cap'n
Joab. The latter did not repeat his query about Cap'n Abe but, with a
baffled expression on his weather-beaten countenance, departed with
Perry Baker.

That a trap had been for Cap'n Amazon, that it had been sprung and
failed to catch the master mariner, seemed quite plain to Louise.
Betty Gallup's oft-expressed suspicions and Washy Gallup's gossip
suddenly impressed the girl. With these vague thoughts was connected
in her mind the discovery she had made that one of Cap'n Amazon's
thrilling stories was pasted into the old scrapbook. Why she should
think of that discovery just now mystified her; but it seemed somehow
to dovetail into the enigma.

Cap'n Amazon lifted the flap in the counter for Louise and in his usual
kindly tone said:

"Good fishin', Niece Louise? Bring home a mess?"

"Yes, indeed," she told him. "The baskets are outside. Let Am