“And how soon did you see flames coming up from the location of the hotel?” “I could not say exactly; it might have been half an hour. I was out in the bay in my sloop.” “Had you seen any suspicious characters in the village on that day?” “I had not.” Then the squire also recounted the events of the pursuit of the yacht _Spray_, the escape through Little Reach, and the subsequent surrender of the boys. From Squire Barker it was brought out, as in the testimony of the colonel, the fact that after Harvey and his crew in the yacht _Surprise_ had suddenly set sail on the very morning of the fire, they had not been seen nor heard of since. This, the squire admitted, was common knowledge throughout the village. Then there came to the stand Captain Sam, standing awkwardly, with a hard clutch on the rail in front of him, as if he were afraid of the court-house suddenly dipping and rolling on a breaker and spilling him overboard. No, he had no objection to removing his tobacco in deference to the Court, and did so; but forgot that august presence before he had been testifying long, and took another and a bigger chew. Did he know the accused? Reckoned he did, with a haw-haw that shook the court-room. Had he pursued them in his sloop the _Nancy Jane_, in an endeavour to serve the warrants? He had, and they worked their boat like sailors, if he did say it. “And were you assisted in your pursuit by Colonel Witham and Squire Brackett?” “Assisted!” drawled Captain Sam, and grinning from ear to ear. “Well, I dunno how much assisting you’d be pleased to call it, being as they were sick as a boy that had eaten a peck of green apples, and was sprawling around in the bottom of the boat like a couple of halibut just catched.” Which, being pronounced by Captain Sam with the utmost gravity, produced such a decided impression on the audience of fisher-people and sailor-folk, that there was a roar throughout the court-room, at which His Honour announced that any such further interruption would be followed by the clearing of the room. The squire and the colonel turned red in the face and looked rather foolish, inwardly wishing that Captain Sam was at the bottom of the bay. Captain Sam, under further questioning, told again the story of that afternoon’s sailing, mentioning casually that the colonel had requested to be set ashore when the _Nancy Jane_ was out in the middle of the bay, which request, as Captain Sam explained, there being no land near by excepting that straight down under water, he was unable to grant. Another titter through the court-room, the colonel and the squire blushing redder than ever. It was embarrassing enough to Captain Sam to tell how he had put the _Nancy Jane_ aground in Little Reach, for he knew there was scarce a man or boy within the sound of his voice who wouldn’t vow to himself that, if he had been in Captain Sam’s place, he would have known better. It was really mortifying.