“Call him, and tell him to get me a beefsteak as soon as he can, with a cup of hot coffee,” added Capt. Bendig. “Have it on the shelf in my state-room; and tell him if he is more than thirty minutes about it, I will discharge him as soon as we get back to New York.” This was decided enough to show the character of the man; and Wade did not much like the idea of dealing with him, as he felt that he must before the cruise was finished; and it appeared now that it might last two or three days. Wade had slept full eight hours when he woke, and he was wide awake now. In a few minutes he heard a rattling of the stove in the kitchen, which was separated from the state-room only by a thin bulkhead. Capt. Bendig returned to the deck as soon as he had ordered his breakfast. Wade could tell about every thing that was done on board by the sounds that came to him. “Does that man know about this miserable business?” asked Mrs. Wallgood, when he had heard the retreating steps of the captain. “I suppose he does, though I did not tell him,” replied a man whom Wade took to be the husband of the lady. “I know he does,” added the other female; and Wade had yet to learn who she was, though the information soon came to him. “He has managed the whole of this business: he has brought us all to New York, and will put us all on board of my husband’s vessel.” She was the wife of Capt. Crogick, then; and Wade knew that she was the sister of Mrs. Wallgood, the cashier’s wife. There was something about the Walnut National Bank that was wrong; and Capt. Trustleton was the president of the bank. “Are you not afraid that this man will betray you?” asked Mrs. Wallgood. “No, I am not: he is a strong friend of Capt. Crogick; and he told me I might trust the life of myself and my wife in his keeping,” answered Mr. Wallgood. “I almost wish he might betray you,” said Mrs. Wallgood, after a pause. “Why do you wish that, my dear?” asked the husband, in trembling tones. “Because I think the crime is a good deal worse than being found out,” replied the lady, with considerable spirit. “If I had known what all this was for, I would not have come with you.” “Would you desert me?” demanded the wretched man. “You have robbed the bank of a hundred thousand dollars; you have forfeited your bonds, and disgraced yourself and your wife. I feel that I no longer owe you any thing.” “Do not be so hard upon him, Julia,” pleaded Mrs. Crogick. “Your husband led him into the crime,” snapped the wife of the cashier. “Neither of them intended to do any wrong. When the captain was in trouble, your husband helped him. Do not blame him for this,” continued the shipmaster’s wife. “It was not the fault of either of us. Capt. Trustleton drove me to the wall, by shutting me out from the use of the money of the bank, when I was willing to pay as good interest as any other man,” argued the cashier.