"What shall I do?"
"Nothing. Let matters take their course. If he is the man you think he is he will never break the silence."
"And you will suffer on—and the doctor?"
Jane bowed her head and the tears sprang to her eyes.
"Yes, always; there is nothing else to do."
CHAPTER XX
THE UNDERTOW
Within the month a second letter was handed to the captain by Tod, now regularly installed as postman. It was in answer to one of Captain Holt's which he had directed to the expected steamer and which had met the exile on his arrival. It was dated "Amboy," began "My dear father," and was signed "Your affectionate son, Barton."
This conveyed the welcome intelligence—welcome to the father—that the writer would be detained a few days in Amboy inspecting the new machinery, after which he would take passage for Barnegat by the Polly Walters, Farguson's weekly packet. Then these lines followed: "It will be the happiest day of my life when I can come into the inlet at high tide and see my home in the distance."