“We’ll go up and see him at once,” said Mr. Williams.
Leaving the other man in charge of the Catch Me, with instructions to sail her over to Bayport, the boat-owner told the constable and me to lead the way.
We met Darrow just coming away from the Hallett cottage. He was surprised to see me, and more surprised when I informed him of the object of our coming.
“What! Rube steal that boat!” he exclaimed. “Why, Mr. Williams, it’s plain to see you don’t know much about the Bend! The Stones are every one of them as honest as a summer day is long.”
And then he told what he knew of the affair.
His statement corroborated mine so well that the boat-owner was forced to believe that I had told him the truth; but he was still indignant regarding the treatment the Catch Me had received, and he made us promise to appear against Carney whenever wanted.
We then walked back to the mill-landing. As we did so, Mr. Norton came out of the mill, and approached with a questioning look on his face.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Nothing much,” I replied briefly.
“There seems to be,” he went on.