"I feel better now, Dory," said Mr. Hawlinshed. "I have given you a feather's weight where I owe you a ton, but I hope the time will come when I can do better. I am going to write a letter now, and I want you to deliver it for me to-morrow. Will you do so?" "To be sure I will," replied Dory warmly. "I shall leave by the boat going south in the morning; and I want this letter delivered after I am gone," added Mr. Hawlinshed, as he began to write on a sheet of paper on the table. Dory considered his brilliant scheme. CHAPTER IV. IN THE CABIN OF THE GOLDWING. "Here is the letter, Dory," said Mr. Hawlinshed when he had sealed and directed the envelope. "You will have to go about a mile beyond the place where we met last night. Mr. Pearl Hawlinshed," he added, reading the address upon the letter. "Pearl!" repeated Dory, as he took the letter and read the name for himself. "That is the name; and the person to whom it is addressed is my son," replied the writer of the missive. "Your son!" exclaimed Dory, looking intently into the face of his new friend. "Yes: is there any thing very strange about that? He is my only son, my only child; and his mother has been dead many years." "Your son!" repeated Dory, as though he was unable to comprehend the relation. "Pearl Hawlinshed; and he is my son. Is there any thing very strange about it?" asked the father, looking anxiously at Dory. "But he is the man who fired the gun at you, and then pitched into you," added Dory. Mr. Hawlinshed manifested a great deal of emotion. He dropped into his chair, from which he had risen when he finished his letter. He appeared to be greatly astonished that his companion had discovered the relationship between himself and the person to whom the letter was addressed. "How do you know all that, Dory?" asked Mr. Hawlinshed, trying to calm himself. "I heard you call him 'Pearl' before I took a hand in the affair," replied Dory candidly. "I don't know that I should ever have thought of the name again if you hadn't given me this letter." "Then it is very unfortunate that I gave you the letter; but I wished to be sure that it reached him," said Mr. Hawlinshed, very much perplexed at the situation. "You know more than I supposed, and I am very sorry for it. The terrible truth is no longer a secret between my son and myself." "I ought not to have let on that I knew his name," added Dory, who felt that he had made a mistake. "Since you knew the fact, I am glad that you spoke. You know that it was my son that attacked me, and who attempted to take the money from me," continued the poor father bitterly. "But it shall be all the same as though I did not know any thing about it," protested Dory. "After one year or ten you will find that I can keep a secret."