"well, nellie, did you have a good time to-day?" asked captain patterdale, as his daughter seated herself near his desk.
"i did; a capital time. everybody seemed to enjoy it," replied she.
"but some seemed to enjoy it more than others," added the captain, with a smile.
"now, father, you have something to say," said she, with a blush. "i wish you would say it right out, and not torment me for half an hour, trying to guess what it is."
"of course, if i hadn't anything to say, i should hold my tongue," laughed her father.
"everybody don't."
"but i do."
"do you think i enjoyed the occasion more than any one else, father?"[208]
"i thought you were one of the few who enjoyed it most."
"perhaps i was; but what have i done?"
"done?"
"what terrible sin have i committed now?"
"none, my child."
"but you are going to tell me that i have sinned against the letter of the law of propriety, or something of that kind. this is the way you always begin."
"then this time is an exception to all other times, for i haven't a word of fault to find with you."
"i am so glad! i was trying to think what wicked thing i had been doing."
"nothing, child. don john seemed to be supremely happy this afternoon."
"i dare say he was; but the firm of ramsay & son had a successful launch, and don john had compliments enough to turn the head of any one with a particle of vanity in his composition."
"no doubt of it; and i suppose you were not behind the others in adding fuel to the flame."
"what flame, father?"
"the flame of vanity."[209]
"on the contrary, i don't think i uttered a single compliment to him."
"it was hardly necessary to utter it; but if you had danced with him only half as often, it would have flattered his vanity less."
"how could i help it, when he asked me? there were more gentlemen than ladies present, and i did not like to break up the sets," protested nellie.
"of course not; but being the lion of the occasion, don't you think he might have divided himself up a little more equitably?"
"i don't know; but i couldn't choose my own partner," replied nellie, her cheeks glowing.
"you like don john very well?"
"i certainly do, father," replied she, honestly. "don't you?"
"perhaps it don't make so much difference whether i like him or not."
"you have praised him to the skies, father. you said he was a very smart boy; and not one in a hundred young fellows takes hold of business with so much energy and good judgment. i am sure, if you had not said so much in his favor, i[210] shouldn't have thought half so much of him," argued nellie.
"i don't blame you for thinking well of him, my child," interposed her father. "i only hope you are not becoming too much interested in him."
"i only like him as a good-hearted, noble fellow," added nellie, with a deeper blush than before, for she could not help understanding just what her father meant.
"he appears to be a very good-hearted fellow now; but he is young, and has not yet fully developed his character. he may yet turn out to be a worthless fellow, dissolute and dishonest," continued the captain.
"don john!" exclaimed nellie, utterly unwilling to accept such a supposition.
"even don john. i can recall more than one young man, who promised as well as he does, that turned out very badly; and men fully developed in character, sustaining the highest reputations in the community, have been detected in the grossest frauds. i trust don john will realize the hopes of his friends; but we must not be too positive."
"i can't believe that don john will ever become a bad man," protested nellie.[211]
"we don't know. 'put not your trust in princes,' in our day and nation, might read, 'put not your trust in young men.'"
"why do you say all this, father?" asked nellie, anxiously. "has don john done anything wrong; or is he suspected of doing anything wrong?"
"he is at least suspected," replied captain patterdale.
"why, father!"
"you need not be in haste to condemn him, or even to think ill of him, nellie."
"i certainly shall not."
"there is the white cross of denmark," added the captain, holding up the bank bill which had told him such a terrible story about the boat-builder.
"what is it, father? it looks like a bank note."
"it is; but there is the white cross of denmark on it."
"i don't understand what you mean."
"i only mean that these white slips of paper make the bill look like the flag of denmark."
nellie took the bill and examined it.
"it has been torn into four pieces and mended," said she.[212]
"that is precisely how it happens to be the white cross of denmark. do you think, if you had ever seen that bill before, you would recognize it again, if it fell into your hands?" added the captain.
"certainly i should."
"well, it has been in my hands before. do you remember the day that michael had the sun-stroke?"
"yes, sir; and your tin box disappeared that day."
"precisely so; and this bill was in that tin box. jacob hasbrook, of lincolnville, paid me a note. i put the money in the box, intending to take it over to the bank before night, and deposit it the next day. i looked at the bill when i counted the money, and i spoke to hasbrook about it. i called it the white cross of denmark then."
"where did you get it now?" inquired nellie, her heart in her throat with anxiety.
"mr. leach, the sail-maker, paid it to me just before you came into the library."
"mr. leach!" exclaimed she, permitting herself to be cheered by a ray of hope that her father was not working up a case against donald ramsay.[213]
"yes; you remember who were in the library on the day i lost the tin box."
"i remember very well; for all of you went out and carried michael into the house. besides we talked about the box ever so long. you asked me who had been in the library while you were up stairs; and i told you mr. hasbrook, laud cavendish, and don john."
"precisely so; i remember it all very distinctly. now, one of the bills that was in that box comes back to me."
"but it was paid to you by mr. leach."
"it was; but he had it from don john half an hour before he paid it to me."
"why, father!" exclaimed nellie, with real anguish; for even a suspicion against donald was a shock to her. "i can never believe it!"
"i don't wish you to believe anything yet; but you may as well be prepared for anything an investigation may disclose."
"that don john should steal!" ejaculated nellie. "why, we all considered him the very soul of honor!"
"you are getting along faster than i do with your conclusions, child," added captain patter[214]dale. "a suspicion is not proof. the bill came from him, beyond a doubt. but something can be said in his favor, besides the statement that his character is excellent. of the three persons who were in the library that day, two of them had wagons on the street. it does not seem probable that don john walked through the city with that tin box in his hand. if he did, some one must have seen it. of course he would not have carried it openly, while it could easily have been concealed in the wagon of hasbrook or laud cavendish."
"certainly; if don john had taken it, he would not have dared to carry it through the streets," added nellie, comforted by the suggestion.
"again, if he had stolen this white cross of denmark, he would not have been likely to pass it off here in belfast," continued the captain; "for he is sharp enough to see that it would be identified as soon as it appeared. very likely mr. leach told him he intended to pay me some money, and he surely would not have allowed the bill to come back to me."
"i know he didn't do it," cried nellie, with enthusiasm.[215]
"you are too fast again, child. it is possible that he did, however improbable it may seem now, for rogues often make very silly blunders. is edward in the house?"
"i think so; he was reading the age when i came in."
"tell him to go down and ask don john to come up and see me. we will have the matter cleared up before we sleep. but, nellie, don't tell edward what i want to see don john for. not a word about that to any one. by keeping my own counsel, i may get at the whole truth; whereas the thief, if he gets wind of what i am doing, may cover his tracks or run away."
"i will be very discreet, father," replied nellie, as she left the library.
in a few moments she returned.
"he has gone, father; though he is very tired," said she.
"i suppose he is; but i don't want to believe that don john is a thief even over one night," replied the captain.
"he asked me what you wanted of don john; but i didn't tell him."
the father and daughter discussed the painful[216] suspicion until donald arrived, and entered the library with edward. a conversation on indifferent topics was continued for some time, and the boat-builder wondered if he had been sent for to talk about the launch of the maud, which was now an old story.
"how is the wind, edward?" asked captain patterdale.
"'sou'-sou'-west, half west," laughed edward, who understood precisely what his father meant by his question; and bidding donald good night, he left the library, without the formality of saying he would go and see which way the wind was.
"you know which way the wind is, nellie; and so you need not leave," added the captain, as she rose from her seat to follow the example of her brother.
"so did ned, for he told you," she answered.
"and you heard him, and know also."
when captain patterdale had private business with a visitor, and he wished any member of his own family to retire, he always asked which way the wind was.
"don john, you had a great success in the launch of the maud to-day," said the nabob; but[217] as the same thing had been said half a dozen times before since the boat-builder entered the room, it was hardly to be regarded as an original idea; and donald was satisfied that the launch was not the business upon which he had been sent for.
"yes, sir; we got her off very well," he replied. "i was sorry i couldn't launch her with the mast stepped, so as to dress her in the colors."
"in that case, you would have needed the flags of all nations. i have them, and will lend them to you any time when you wish to make a sensation."
"thank you, sir."
"i have here the white cross of denmark," added the captain, holding up the mended bill.
"a fifty-dollar white-cross," laughed donald. "i have seen it before."
"this bill?"
"yes, sir; i paid it to mr. leach for the maud's sails since dark," answered donald, so squarely that the nabob could not help looking at his daughter and smiling.
"he said you paid promptly, which is a solid virtue in a business man. by the way, don john, you will be out of work as soon as the maud is finished."[218]
"i hope to have another yacht to build by that time, especially if the maud does well."
"i wanted to say a word to you about that, and tell you some good news, don john," continued captain patterdale, as calmly as though he had no interest whatever in the mended bill. "i had a long talk with mr. norwood this afternoon. he says he shall give you the job if the maud sails as well as the skylark or the sea foam. he don't insist that she shall beat them."
"but i expect she will do it; if she don't i shall be disappointed," added donald.
"don't expect too much, don john. i thought you would sleep better if you knew just how mr. norwood stood on this question."
"i shall, sir; and i am very much obliged to you."
"do you think you will make any money on the building of the maud?" asked the nabob.
"yes, sir. i think i shall do pretty well with her."
"you seem to have money enough to pay your bills as you go along. did mr. rodman pay you this bill?" inquired the captain, as he held up the cross again.[219]
"no, sir; he did not. i have had that bill in the house for some time," replied donald.
"are you so flush as that?"
"yes, sir; i had considerable cash in the house."
"your father left something, i suppose."
"yes, sir; but he never had that bill and the other two i paid mr. leach," replied donald; and he could not help thinking all the time that they were a part of the sum laud cavendish had paid him for the juno, under promise not to say where he got it, if everything was all right.
though the boat-builder was a square young man, he could not help being somewhat embarrassed, for his sense of honor did not permit him to violate the confidence of any one.
"if it is a fair question, don john, where did you get this bill?" asked the captain.
donald thought it was hardly a fair question under the circumstances, and he made no answer, for he was thinking how he could get along without a lie, and still say nothing about laud's connection with the bill, for that would expose captain shivernock.
"you don't answer me, don john," added the nabob, mildly.[220]
"i don't like to tell," replied donald.
"why not?"
"i promised not to do so."
"you promised not to tell where you got this money?"
poor nellie was almost overwhelmed by these answers on the part of donald, and her father began to have some painful doubts.
"i did, sir; that is, i promised not to tell if everything about the money was all right."
"if you don't tell where you got the money, how are you to know whether everything is all right or not?" demanded captain patterdale, in sharper tones than he had yet used.
"well, i don't know," answered the boat-builder, not a little confused, and sadly troubled by the anxious expression on miss nellie's pretty face.
perhaps her father, who understood human nature exceedingly well, had required her to remain in the library during this interview, for a purpose; but whether he did or not, donald was really more concerned about her good opinion than he was about that of any other person in the world, unless it was his mother. he was con[221]scious that he was not making a good appearance; and under the sad gaze of those pretty eyes, he was determined to redeem himself.
"you ought not to make such promises, don john," said the captain; and this time he spoke quite sternly.
"you have that bill, sir. is there anything wrong about it?" asked donald.
"yes."
"then my promise covers nothing. laud cavendish paid me that bill," added the boat-builder.
"laud cavendish!" exclaimed nellie.
her father shook his head, to intimate that she was to say nothing.
"laud cavendish gave you this bill?" repeated the captain.
"yes, sir, and six more just like it; only the others were not mended. i paid mr. leach three of them, and here are the other four," said donald, producing his wallet, and taking from it the four bills, which he had not returned to their hiding-place in the bureau.
captain patterdale examined them, and compared them with the two in his possession. they looked like the bills he had deposited in the tin[222] box, when hasbrook paid him the thirteen hundred and fifty dollars and interest. twelve of the bills which made up this sum were fifties, nearly new; the balance was in hundreds, and smaller notes, older, more discolored, and worn.
"laud cavendish paid you three hundred and fifty dollars, then?" continued the nabob.
"yes, sir; just that. but what is there wrong about it?" asked donald, trembling with emotion, when he realized what a scrape he had got into.
"following your example, don john, i shall for the present decline to answer," replied the captain. "if you don't know—"
"i don't!" protested donald, earnestly.
"if you don't know, i thank god; and i congratulate you that you don't know."
"i haven't the least idea."
"of course, if you don't wish to answer any question i may ask, you can decline to answer, as i do, don john."
"i am entirely willing to answer any and every question that concerns me."
"as you please; but you can't be called upon to say anything that will criminate yourself."
"criminate myself, sir!" exclaimed donald, aghast. "i haven't done anything wrong."[223]
"i don't say that you have, don john; more than that, i don't believe you have; but if you answer any question of mine, you must do it of your own free will and accord."
"i will, sir."
"for what did laud cavendish pay you three hundred and fifty dollars?"
"for the juno," replied donald, promptly.
"i did not know he owned the juno."
"he said he did to-day; at least, he said he was going to change her name," added nellie.
"the fact that i did not know it doesn't prove that it was not so. you sold the juno to laud, did you, don john?"
"i did, sir."
"did you own the juno?"
"yes, sir."
"did you buy her of captain shivernock?"
"no, sir; i did not buy her; he made me a present of her."
"a present!"
"yes, sir; he got disgusted with her, and gave her to me. i could not afford to keep her, and sold her to laud cavendish."
"gave her to you! that's very strange."[224]
"but captain shivernock is a very strange man."
"none will dispute that," replied captain patterdale, with a smile and a shrug of the shoulders. "that man throws away his property with utter recklessness; and i should not be surprised if he ended his life in the almshouse. i will not ask any explanation of the conduct of captain shivernock. laud cavendish is not a man of means. did he tell you, donald, where he got his money to buy a boat worth three hundred and fifty dollars?"
"he did, sir, and explained the matter so that i was satisfied; for i would not sell him the juno till he convinced me that there was no hitch about the money."
"well, where did he get it?"
"i don't feel at liberty to tell, sir; for he told me it was a great secret, which did not affect him, but another person. i inquired into the matter myself, and was satisfied it was all right."
"i am afraid you have been deceived, don john; but i am convinced you have done no wrong yourself—at least, not intentionally. secrets are dangerous; and when people wish you to conceal[225] anything, you may generally be sure there is something wrong somewhere, though it may look all right to you. i have no more questions to ask to-night, don john; but i may wish to see you again in regard to this subject. i must see mr. laud cavendish next."
donald answers questions. page 225. donald answers questions. page 225.
donald declared that he was ready to give all the information in his power; and after a little chat with nellie, he went home, with more on his mind than had troubled him before, since he could remember.
