“I don’t know about that,” replied Jack. “It doesn’t sound very serious when you have to admit that no actual crime has been committed. I’m not at all satisfied. I was going to tell the chief about that man Martin, but I saw it wasn’t any use. My guess is as good as any one else’s, and my guess is that Martin was the man who tore something or other on that nail. I’ve got no real reason for saying so, mind you, and perhaps it isn’t fair to Martin to suspect him, but there isn’t any one else to suspect.”
“I looked as closely as I could to-day at his coat and pants,” said George, “in case there was any sign of a tear.”
“So did I. I didn’t see anything, of course.”
“No.”
“What did you notice, though?” Jack asked. “I mean something that fitted in with the clue?”
“Nothing.”
“Well, I could swear he had a different suit on from the one he generally wears,” Jack declared. “Unfortunately I hadn’t taken particular notice before.”
“Now you mention it, I believe that’s right, too,” agreed George. “But I know what the police would tell you if you pointed that out. They’d say a man couldn’t be arrested for having two suits of clothes. And he couldn’t, of course, or else both you and I would be in prison.”
That night Jack decided not to keep the lantern burning. As he explained to the mate, they were not sleeping on board so much for the purpose of keeping people off the boat, as to find out who it was who was displaying such peculiar interest in her. They stayed awake until rather late, chatting, with occasional pauses in which they both listened intently when some trifling sound caught their ears, but toward twelve o’clock both dropped off to sleep, and awoke next morning without having been disturbed.
When the following Sunday came the weather was perfect, and Tony gave his young apprentices permission to take Mrs. Farnham and her family outside the breakwater. They sailed past Greenport Lighthouse on the tip of the Point, and manœuvered for an hour or two in the broad ocean. Mrs. Farnham expressed herself as delighted with the trip, and Rodney, who had rarely been in a sailing-craft since his father had acquired their motor-boat, declared he was as much in love with the old Sea-Lark as ever.