"Then I s'pose I must take them," said Zekle, "but it don't seem like my duty to;" and as he spoke he carefully wrapped up the notes and placed them with the gold in his pocket. "Now, you'll swear you'll never say a word to a soul about this, Zekle." "Of course I won't, Mas'r Mark. But it goes again the grit. I wouldn't do it for anyone, you know; but as you say it would be hard on your poor father, I won't tell." Penelly bit his lips and said nothing, while Zekle went maundering on about his duty, and how unwilling he was to take the money, till, seeing an awkward look in his victim's eyes, he concluded that he had better go, and went out, turning at the door to tell Penelly that he might be quite comfortable now, and wishing him good-night. "Comfortable, you scoundrel!" cried Penelly as soon as he was alone. "I shall never be comfortable till the news comes in that you have been lost overboard in a storm. I've been a fool. I was a fool to do such a thing. I only thought it would give him a ducking; and I'm a greater fool to try and bribe that scoundrel. He'll be always bleeding me now. I'd far better have set him at defiance and bid him do his worst. Bah! I wish I was not such a coward." "If I don't make him pay me pretty heavy for all this," said Zekle, chuckling to himself, "I'll know the reason why. Five-and-twenty pounds earned right slap off by just seeing that net pitched overboard! That's cleverness, that is. Now I'll just go up to Mas'r Harry Paul and see what he has got to say. P'r'aps there's a five or a ten to be made there. It's better than fishing by a long way." Harry Paul's home was a pleasant cottage on the cliff-side, and on Zekle knocking the door was opened by Harry's widowed mother, who fetched her son and left the two together. "Ah, Zekle!" cried Harry frankly, as he held out his hand, "I'm afraid I did not half thank you for helping to save my life." "Oh! it don't matter, Mas'r Harry," said the fellow, smiling and shuffling about. "But it does matter," said Harry warmly; "and I am very grateful to you. I am going into Penzance to-morrow, Zekle, and when I come back I'm going to ask you to accept a silver watch to keep in remembrance of what you did." "Oh, you needn't do that, Mas'r Harry," replied Zekle; "but I thought I'd like to tell you, don't you know, all about like how it happened. I kinder felt it to be my duty, you see, and then if you liked to say to me, `Here, Zekle Wynn, here's five or ten pounds for you for what you did,' why you could, you know; but if you didn't, why it wouldn't matter a bit, for I always feel as if it was a man's duty not to take no money 'less he's earned it." "Ah!" said Harry, looking at him with quite an altered expression. "You see, you don't know all," said Zekle mysteriously, as he went softly to the door, peeped out, and then spoke in a whisper. "Know all!" said Harry. "Why, I know I was nearly drowned."