"May I read it? Your life may depend on what I find here."
"Sartinly,—by all manner of means," replied Jo, not a little surprised at the turn affairs were taking.
Dan opened and perused the epistle for a few minutes, during which intense silence was maintained in the crowd, as if they expected to hear the thoughts of the young man as they passed through his brain.
"Ha! I thought so," exclaimed Dan, looking up and again addressing the crowd. "At the trial yesterday you heard this man say that he was engaged at San Francisco by Gascoyne on the 12th of April last, and that he believed the schooner to be a sandal-wood trader when he shipped."
"Yes, yes,—ho!" from the crowd.
"If this statement of his be true, then he was not a pirate when he shipped, and he has not had much time to become one between that time and this. The letter which I hold in my hand proves the truth of this statement. It is dated San Francisco, 11th April, and is written in a female hand. Listen,—I will read it; and you shall judge for yourselves."
The young man then read the following letter, which, being a peculiar as well as an interesting specimen of a love-letter, we give verbatim et literatim:
"Peelers farm near
Sanfransko Aprile 11
"For
John bumpuss,
aboord the Schooner fome
"my darlin Jo,