"Do you know the Sheriff of Dubuque County?"
"Who—Riley? Yes, I know him."
"Do you know his skiff?"
"As well as I know my own boat, for I built it."
"Have you seen it pass down the river to-day, containing only a boy between sixteen and seventeen years old?"
"No. Haven't seen it or any other skiff. What's the matter? Has it been stolen?"
"That'll do, thank you. Good-night," came the reply, without an answer to this last question, and then the stranger passed out of hearing down the river.