Page:Last Cruise of the Spitfire.djvu/242

232 "I will never realize what I am not guilty of. What are you going to do with me next?"

"Just sit down until I finish the morning mail and you will see. Augustus, watch him so that he does not escape again."

"Don't fear. I told you I would not run away; and I always keep my word."

I sat down on a chair, and Mr. Stillwell began to look over his letters. I wondered what would happen next, but I was not quite prepared for what did happen.

Suddenly the door opened, and Mr. Canning rushed in. He held a morning paper in his hand, and was highly excited.

"What does this mean?" he demanded of my uncle.

"What does what mean, Mr. Canning?" asked Mr. Stillwell, as sweetly as he could.

"This account of the burning of the Spitfire?"

"Dear! dear! the Spitfire burned!" cried my uncle, wringing his hands in assumed anguish. "And I had a cargo on board of her, and but partly insured!"

"Yes; and this paper states that the vessel was set on fire by the captain and his accomplices," went on Mr. Canning.

With a bound my uncle was on his feet.