"Nobody asked you to pay a red cent. The boat is yours. If you don't want her, sell her to the first man who is fool enough to buy her. That's all." "I'm very grateful to you for your kindness, Captain Shivernock; and I hope--" "All stuff!" interposed the strange man, savagely. "You are like the rest of the world, and next week you would be as ready to kick me as any other man would be, if you dared to do so. You needn't stop any longer to talk that sort of bosh to me. It will do for Sunday Schools and prayer meetings." "But I am really--" "No matter if you are really. Shut up!" "I hope I shall be able to do something to serve you." "Bah!" "Have you heard the news, Captain Shivernock?" asked Donald, suddenly changing the topic. "What news?" "It's in the _Age_. A man over in Lincolnville, by the name of Hasbrook, was taken out of his bed last night, and severely beaten." "Hasbrook! Served him right!" exclaimed the captain, with a rough string of profanity, which cooled the blood of the listener. "He is the biggest scoundrel in the State of Maine, and I am much obliged to the man who did it. I would have taken a hand with him at the game, if I had been there." [Illustration: THE BILL OF SALE. Page 119.] This was equivalent to saying that he was not there. "Do you know this Hasbrook?" asked Donald. "Do I know him? He swindled me out of a thousand dollars, and I ought to know him. If the man that flogged him hasn't finished him, I'll pound him myself when I catch him in the right place," replied the strange man, violently. "Who did the job, Don John?" "I don't know, sir. He hasn't been discovered yet." "If he is discovered, I'll give him five hundred dollars, and pay the lawyers for keeping him out of jail. I wish I had done it myself; it would make me feel good." Donald was entirely satisfied that Captain Shivernock had not done it. He was pleased, even rejoiced, that his investigation had resulted so decidedly in the captain's favor, for he would have been very sorry to feel obliged to disregard the injunction of secrecy which had been imposed upon him. "Did you fall in with any one after we parted this morning?" asked Donald, who desired to know whether the captain had met Laud Cavendish when the two boats appeared to be approaching each other. "None of your business!" rudely replied the captain, after gazing a moment into the face of the young man, as if to fathom his purpose in asking the question. "Do you think the world won't move on if you don't wind it up? Mind your own business, and don't question me. I won't have anybody prying into my affairs." "Excuse me, sir; I don't wish to pry into your affairs; and with your permission I will go home now," replied Donald. "You have my permission to go home," sneered the strange man; and Donald availed himself of it without another instant's delay.