"Yes, sir."

"That's right. That's right," said Mr. Button, nodding his head
approvingly. "Go on."

"Well, when we came back from the bank whom should we find on
board our motor-boat but this same man, that we had seen on the
Erie Canal. He demanded that we should give up the bond."

"So he knew about the bond, did he?"

"So it seemed. But we told him we didn't have it. Then he wanted
to know what we had done with it and we wouldn't tell him. When
we wanted him to go ashore he wouldn't do it, and just stayed on
board and said he was coming with us. I thought it was better to
let him come--"

"That was kind of you," broke in his grandfather, with a smile.

"I thought it was better to let him come and turn him over to you
to deal with than it was for us to have any trouble up there at
Cape Vincent."

"That's all right, Fred," said his grandfather. "I'll go right
down there and talk with him."

Fred watched his grandfather as he started toward the dock and
then he quickly entered the house and went to his room.

A half-hour later when he returned to the piazza and joined his