“To help me lick Wade Brooks before we left the boat.” “They were not so anxious to lick me as they were to get that wallet,” said Wade. “Lon came at me behind, and tried to pull me down. If he wanted to lick me, he would have taken that stick, and used it as I did.” “I don’t believe a word of that story!” exclaimed Swikes. “If that story is not true, Brooks has more talent for lying than your boy or mine,” answered Capt. Trustleton. “It is a straightforward statement.” Wade Brooks began to have some hope that he might not be utterly condemned. CHAPTER XI. A HUNGRY SKIPPER. Capt. Trustleton went over the case; but he was unable to convince Obed Swikes that his boy took the money. He was simply determined not to accept the explanation. It was a good deal more convenient for him to believe that Wade Brooks had done the deed. The wallet was in his possession, and he must have taken it. “Open the wallet, Mr. Swikes, and let us see if the money is all there,” suggested Capt. Trustleton. “You have the wallet; but there may be no money in it.” Swikes was appalled at the very suggestion. He took the wallet from his pocket, and opened it. His eyes lighted up with joy when he saw the two rolls of bills. “How much was there in the wallet?” asked the captain. “Just two hundred dollars,” replied Swikes, as he took the two rolls of bills from the wallet. “If you will count one of these, I will the other.” The captain took the one handed to him, and proceeded to count it. “Just one hundred dollars,” he replied, when he had finished it. “And there is just one hundred in this one,” added Swikes. “Now, Matthew, why did you divide the money into two parts?” demanded the captain sharply, as he turned upon Matt. “I was going to give half-- I didn’t divide it! I didn’t have the money. I didn’t know the money was stolen!” protested Matt, recovering his self-possession a little too late. “You were going to give half to Alonzo, was what you began to say,” added Capt. Trustleton. “Now, Mr. Swikes, I regard this as a plain case. You find the money divided into two parts, just as Brooks said. Your boy was surprised into saying he was going to give half, before he changed his tone. If Brooks stole the money, he had no motive for dividing it in this way. Let us look at it on another tack. Whether your boy and mine set fire to Garlick’s barn, I don’t know: if they did, that was a good reason why they should clear out as they did. We find these boys here ten miles from home. They say they were going down to the Sound, two miles farther. We find in the boat nothing to eat. My boy has no money. Neither of them is fool enough to start on such a trip without food or money. It is more likely to me that your boy took the money from the closet, to enable them to pay the expenses of the trip to New York, than that Brooks took it and my boy is just as guilty as yours. I don’t want to believe this, but it is forced home to my mind.”