“And to think you came north, and was so close to me!” said Mr. Greene to his son.
He said he had been half crazy when he signed articles for the trip on the Betsey Andrews. Then he had gotten word about A. Q. Hopton, and had discovered that the real estate man was guilty of the crimes of which he himself was accused. He had gone to the captain of the whaler to get his release, but the captain had refused to let him go, and had locked him up aboard the ship until the voyage was well begun.
“He was a strange man, that captain,” said Mr. Greene. “And it is no wonder that he lost his ship and his life in the frozen north.”
“And you have the evidence to prove your innocence, and prove this A. Q. Hopton guilty?” asked Chet.
“Yes, my son, I can prove that Hopton was guilty, and nobody else.”
“Oh, how glad I am of it!” murmured Chet.
A substantial supper was prepared for all,—Andy assisting his uncle in getting it ready.
“Uncle Si isn’t a bit like his old self,” whispered Andy to Chet, when they sat down. “Going to work has waked him up and made another man of him.”
“Hope he sticks to it,” answered Chet.
That evening, after all the stories had been told in detail, Josiah Graham brought out the papers Andy had lost in the woods. As the storekeeper had said, they had been well soaked by the snow and rain, but they were still decipherable.