I turned to the letter; it was all but a pulp, and in its present state illegible. Carefully smoothing it out, I slipped it inside the strap and turned to hide my prize; for such was my fear of the man who called himself Apollyon, that I could know no peace of mind whilst it remained about me. How should I hide it? After some thought, I remembered that a stone or two in the now empty cow-house had fallen loose. With a hasty glance over my shoulder, I crept around and into the shed. The stones came away easily in my hand. With another hurried look, I slipped the packet into the opening, stole out of the shed, and entered the house by the back door. My mother had been up for some time--it was now about nine o'clock-- and had prepared our breakfast. Her face was still pale, but some of its anxiety left it as I entered. She was evidently waiting for me to speak. Something in my looks, however, must have frightened her, for, as I said nothing, she began to question me. "Well, Jasper, is there any news?" "There was a ship wrecked on Dead Man's Rock last night, but they've not found anything except--" "What was it called?" "The _Mary Jane_--that is--I don't quite know." Up to this time I had forgotten that mother would want to know about my doings that morning. As an ordinary thing, of course I should have told her whatever I had seen or heard, but my terror of the Captain and the awful consequences of saying too much now flashed upon me with hideous force. I had heard about the _Mary Jane_ from the unhappy John. What if I had already said too much? I bent over my breakfast in confusion. After a dreadful pause, during which I felt, though I could not see, the astonishment in my mother's eyes, she said-- "You don't quite know?" "No; I think it must have been the _Mary Jane_, but there was a strange sailor picked up. Uncle Loveday found him, and he seemed to be a foreigner, and he said--I mean--I thought--it was the name, but--" This was worse and worse. Again at my wits' end, I tried to go on with my breakfast. After awhile I looked up, and saw my mother watching me with a look of mingled surprise and reproach. "Was this sailor the only one saved?" "No--that is, I mean--yes; they only found one." I had never lied to my mother before, and almost broke down with the effort. Words seemed to choke me, and her saddening eyes filled me with torment. "Jasper dear, what is the matter with you? Why are you so strange?" I tried to look astonished, but broke down miserably. Do what I would, my eyes seemed to be beyond my control; they would not meet her steady gaze. "Uncle Loveday is coming up later on. He's looking after the Cap--I mean the sailor, and said he would run in afterwards." "What is this sailor like?"