"Yes."
"How so?"
"Well, I've nothing else to do, and it's very monotonous down here, and I am interested in old sea stories."
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
"I could tell you hundreds of them."
"I am going to get you to do so, but first tell me all about old Jake Canfield."
CHAPTER VII.
OLD BERWICK'S RECOLLECTIONS—A GOOD REASON FOR A STRANGE DEPOSIT—A GIRL IN THE CASE—EXTRAORDINARY DETECTIVE RESULTS—A NEW "SHADOW"—GREAT POSSIBILITIES—SURE TO WIN.
"Well, there ain't much to tell. Jake went off in his boat one morning before daylight; he was seen to go off, and that was the last ever seen of him around here, but I've my idea. They say he was drowned, that he was run over by a steamer and went to the bottom, boat and all, but I tell you Jake was too good a sailor to be run down by a big steamer on a clear day. No, no, I never took any stock in that theory, but I never said anything because I rather honored Jake for letting it appear that he was drowned, and thus he saved all the trouble."