“So far as the case is concerned,” went on the lawyer, “I think we should have won that, anyway. It's a curious thing. Thomas has disappeared. How he got word, or who he got it from, _I_ don't know; but he must have, and he's gone somewhere, no one knows where. And yet I'm not certain that we were on the right trail. It seemed certain a week ago, but now--” The captain had not been listening. He was thinking. Thomas had gone, had he! Good! Heman was living up to his promises. And Bos'n, God bless her, was free from that danger. “Have you heard from Emmie, I asked you?” he repeated. He would not listen to anything further concerning Thomas, either then or later. He was sick of the whole business, he declared, and now that everything was all right, didn't wish to talk about it again. He asked nothing about the appropriation, and the lawyer, acting under strict orders, did not mention it. Only once did Captain Cy inquire concerning a person in his home town who was not a member of his household. “How is--er--how's the teacher?” he inquired one morning. “How's who?” “Why--Phoebe Dawes, the school-teacher. Smart, is she?” “Yes, indeed! Why, she has been the most--” The doctor came in just then and the interview terminated. It was not resumed, because that afternoon Mr. Peabody started for Boston on a business trip, to be gone some time. And at last came the great day, the day when Captain Cy was to be taken home. He was up and about, had been out for several short walks, and was very nearly his own self again. He was in good spirits, too, at times, but had fits of seeming depression which, under the circumstances, were unexplainable. The doctor thought they were due to his recent illness and forbade questioning. The original plan had been for the captain to go to Bayport in the train, but the morning set for his departure was such a beautiful one that Mr. Peabody, who had the day before returned from the city, suggested driving over. So the open carriage, drawn by the Peabody “span,” was brought around to the front steps, and the captain, bundled up until, as he said, he felt like a wharf rat inside a cotton bale, emerged from the house which had sheltered him for a weary month and climbed to the back seat. The attorney got in beside him. “All ashore that's goin' ashore,” observed Captain Cy. Then to the driver, who stood by the horses' heads, he added: “Stand by to get ship under way, commodore. I'm homeward bound, and there's a little messmate of mine waitin' on the dock already, I wouldn't wonder. So don't hang around these waters no longer'n you can help.” But Mr. Peabody smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Just a minute, captain,” he said. “We've got another passenger. She came to the house last evening, but Dr. Cole thought this would be an exciting day for you, and you must sleep in preparation for it. So we kept her in the background. It was something of a job but--Hurrah! here she is!”