"Don't believe he ever wrote it there," the lightkeeper replied doggedly.
"Why, Tobias?"
"Them figgers don't look like what Ralph makes. I took a squint at some of his'n. Of course, folks writes diff'rent with a pencil from what they do with a pen 'most always. But, then——"
"Oh, Tobias! you are saying these things just to try to convince yourself—and me—that Ralph is not guilty."
"Oh, sugar! I don't have to convince myself of any such thing. I'd have to try mighty hard to made myself believe that he was guilty."
The young woman stared at him, her countenance very much troubled. She said at last slowly:
"There is no reason in your mind for a belief in his possible guilt, Tobias Bassett?"
"Nary reason," he declared in amazement.
"How about his poverty? If he is penniless? Suppose he needed a large sum of money to save him from trouble—from disgrace?"
"What the——"