第 11 页

and have his breakfast when we have done," her father replied.

"Are both the apprentices out, then?" she asked.

"The apprentices are in limbo," the Captain said grimly.

"In limbo, father! What does that mean?"

"It means that they are in gaol, my dear."

Nellie put down the knife and fork that she had just taken up.

"Are you joking, father?"

"Very far from it, my dear; it is no joke to any of us--certainly not

to me, and not to Robert Ashford, or Tom Frost. They have been

robbing me for the last year, and, for aught I know, before that. If

it had not been for Master Cyril it would not have been very long

before I should have had to put my shutters up."

"But how could they rob you, father?"

"By stealing my goods, and selling them, Nellie. The way they did it

was to lower themselves by a rope from their window on to the roof of

the warehouse, and to get down at the other end on to the crane, and

then into the loft. Then they went down and took what they had a

fancy to, undid the door, and went into the yard, and then handed

over their booty to the fellows waiting at the gate for it. Last

night we caught them at it, after having been on the watch for ten

days."

"That is what I heard last night, then," she said. "I was woke by a

loud whistle, and then I heard a sound of quarrelling and fighting in

the lane. I thought it was some roysterers going home late. Oh,

father, it is dreadful to think of! And what will they do to them?"

"It is a hanging matter," the Captain said; "it is not only theft,

but mutiny. No doubt the judges will take a lenient view of Tom

Frost's case, both on the ground of his youth, and because, no doubt,

he was influenced by Ashford; but I would not give much for Robert's

chances. No doubt it will be a blow to you, Nellie, for you seem to

have taken to him mightily of late."

Nellie was about to give an emphatic contradiction, but as she

remembered how pointedly she had asked for his escort during the last

few days, she flushed up, and was silent.

"It is terrible to think of," she said, after a pause. "I suppose

this is what you and Cyril were consulting about, father. I have to

ask your pardon, Master Cyril, for my rudeness to you; but of course

I did not think it was anything of consequence, or that you could not

have told me if you had wished to do so."

"You need not beg my pardon, Mistress Nellie. No doubt you thought it

churlish on my part to refuse to gratify your curiosity, and I am not

surprised that you took offence. I knew that when you learned how

important it was to keep silence over the matter, that you would

acquit me of the intention of making a mystery about nothing."

"I suppose you knew, mother?" Nellie asked.

"I knew that your father believed that he was being robbed, Nellie,

and that he was keeping watch for some hours every night, but I did

not know that he suspected the apprentices. I am glad that we did

not, for assuredly we should have found it very hard to school our

faces so that they should not guess that aught was wrong."

"That was why we said nothing about it, Nellie. It has been as much

as I have been able to do to sit at table, and talk in the shop as

usual, with boys I knew were robbing me; and I know honest John

Wilkes must have felt it still more. But till a week ago we would not

believe that they had a hand in the matter. It is seven nights since

Cyril caught them creeping along the roof, and called me to the

window in John Wilkes's room, whence he was watching the yard, not

thinking the enemy was in the house."

"And how did you come to suspect that robbery was going on, Cyril?"

"Simply because, on making up the books, I found there was a great

deficiency in the stores."

"That is what he was doing when he was sitting up at night, after you

were in bed, Miss Nellie," her father said. "You may thank your stars

that he took a berth in this ship, for the scoundrels would have

foundered her to a certainty, if he had not done so. I tell you,

child, he has saved this craft from going to the bottom. I have not

said much to him about it, but he knows that I don't feel it any the

less."

"And who were the other men who were taken, father?"

"That I can't tell you, Nellie. I went to the Bridewell with them,

and as soon as I saw them safely lodged there I came home. They will

be had up before the Lord Mayor this morning, and then I dare say I

shall know all about them. Now I must go and take my watch below, and

let John Wilkes come off duty."

"Why, John, what is the matter?" Mrs. Dowsett said, when the foreman

entered.

"Nothing worth speaking of, Mistress. I got a clip over the eye from

one of the pirates we were capturing. The thing mattered nothing, one

way or the other, but it might have cost me my life, because, for a

moment, it pretty well dazed me. That young villain, Bob, was just

coming at me with his knife, and I reckon it would have gone hard

with me if Master Cyril here hadn't, just in the nick of time,

brought his stick down on Robert's knuckles, and that so sharply that

the fellow dropped his knife with a yell, and took to his heels, only

to fall into the hands of two of the watch coming from the other end

of the lane. You did me a good turn, lad, and if ever I get the

chance of ranging up alongside of you in a fray, you may trust me to

return it."

He held out his hand to Cyril, and gave a warm grip to the hand the

latter laid in it.

"It is a rum start, Mistress," John went on, as he sat down to his

meal, "that two old hands like the Captain and I were sailing on, not

dreaming of hidden rocks or sand-banks, when this lad, who I used to

look upon as a young cockerel who was rather above his position,

should come forward and have saved us all from shipwreck."

"It is indeed, John," his mistress said earnestly, "and I thank God

indeed that He put the thought into the minds of Captain Dave and

myself to ask him to take up his abode with us. It seemed to us then

that we were doing a little kindness that would cost us nothing,

whereas it has turned out the saving of us."

"Dear, dear!" Nellie, who had been sitting with a frown on her pretty

face, said pettishly. "What a talk there will be about it all, and

how Jane Greenwood and Martha Stebbings and the rest of them will

laugh at me! They used to say they wondered how I could go about with

such an ugly wretch behind me, and of course I spoke up for him and

said that he was an honest knave and faithful; and now it turns out

that he is a villain and a robber. I shall never hear the last of

him."

"You will get over that, Nellie," her mother said severely. "It would

be much better if, instead of thinking of such trifles, you would

consider how sad a thing it is that two lads should lose their

character, and perhaps their lives, simply for their greed of other

people's goods. I could cry when I think of it. I know that Robert

Ashford has neither father nor mother to grieve about him, for my

husband's father took him out of sheer charity; but Tom's parents are

living, and it will be heart-breaking indeed to them when they hear

of their son's misdoings."

"I trust that Captain Dave will get him off," Cyril said. "As he is

so young he may turn King's evidence, and I feel sure that he did not

go willingly into the affair. I have noticed many times that he had a

frightened look, as if he had something on his mind. I believe that

he acted under fear of the other."

As soon as John Wilkes had finished his breakfast he went with

Captain Dave and Cyril to the Magistrates' Court at the Guildhall.

Some other cases were first heard, and then the apprentices, with the

two men who had been captured in the lane, were brought in and placed

in the dock. The men bore marks that showed they had been engaged in

a severe struggle, and that the watch had used their staves with

effect. One was an elderly man with shaggy grey eyebrows; the other

was a very powerfully built fellow, who seemed, from his attire, to

follow the profession of a sailor. Tom Frost was sobbing bitterly.

One of Robert Ashford's hands was bandaged up. As he was placed in

the dock he cast furtive glances round with his shifty eyes, and as

they fell upon Cyril an expression of deadly hate came over his face.

The men of the watch who had captured them first gave their evidence

as to finding them in the act of robbery, and testified to the

desperate resistance they had offered to capture. Captain Dave then

entered the witness-box, and swore first to the goods that were found

on them being his property, and then related how, it having come to

his knowledge that he was being robbed, he had set a watch, and had,

eight days previously, seen his two apprentices getting along the

roof, and how they had come out from the warehouse door, had opened

the outer gate, and had handed over some goods they had brought out

to persons unknown waiting to receive them.

"Why did you not stop them in their commission of the theft?" the

Alderman in the Chair asked.

"Because, sir, had I done so, the men I considered to be the chief

criminals, and who had doubtless tempted my apprentices to rob me,

would then have made off. Therefore, I thought it better to wait

until I could lay hands on them also, and so got four men of the

watch to remain in the house at night."

Then he went on to relate how, after watching seven nights, he had

again seen the apprentices make their way along the roof, and how

they and the receivers of their booty were taken by the watch, aided

by himself, his foreman, and Master Cyril Shenstone, who was dwelling

in his house.

After John Wilkes had given his evidence, Cyril went into the box and

related how, being engaged by Captain David Dowsett to make up his

books, he found, upon stock being taken, that there was a deficiency

to the amount of many hundreds of pounds in certain stores, notably

such as were valuable without being bulky.

"Is anything known as to the prisoners?" the magistrate asked the

officer of the city watch in charge of the case.

"Nothing is known of the two boys, your honour; but the men are well

known. The elder, who gave the name of Peter Johnson, is one Joseph

Marner; he keeps a marine shop close to the Tower. For a long time he

has been suspected of being a receiver of stolen goods, but we have

never been able to lay finger on him before. The other man has, for

the last year, acted as his assistant in the shop; he answers closely

to the description of a man, Ephraim Fowler, who has long been

wanted. This man was a seaman in a brig trading to Yarmouth. After an

altercation with the captain he stabbed him, and then slew the mate

who was coming to his assistance; then with threats he compelled the

other two men on board to let him take the boat. When they were off

Brightlingsea he rowed away, and has not been heard of since. If you

will remand them, before he comes up again I hope to find the men who

were on board, and see if they identify him. We are in possession of

Joseph Marner's shop, and have found large quantities of goods that

we have reason to believe are the proceeds of these and other

robberies."

After the prisoners had left the dock, Captain Dave went up to the

officer.

"I believe," he said, "that the boy has not voluntarily taken part in

these robberies, but has been led away, or perhaps obliged by threats

to take part in them; he may be able to give you some assistance, for

maybe these men are not the only persons to whom the stolen goods

have been sold, and he may be able to put you on the track of other

receivers."

"The matter is out of my hands now," the officer said, "but I will

represent what you say in the proper quarter; and now you had better

come round with me; you may be able to pick out some of your

property. We only made a seizure of the place an hour ago. I had all

the men who came in on duty this morning to take a look at the

prisoners. Fortunately two or three of them recognised Marner, and

you may guess we lost no time in getting a search warrant and going

down to his place. It is the most important capture we have made for

some time, and may lead to the discovery of other robberies that have

been puzzling us for months past. There is a gang known as the Black

Gang, but we have never been able to lay hands on any of their

leaders, and such fellows as have been captured have refused to say a

word, and have denied all knowledge of it. There have been a number

of robberies of a mysterious kind, none of which have we been able to

trace, and they have been put down to the same gang. The Chief

Constable is waiting for me there, and we shall make a thorough

search of the premises, and it is like enough we shall come across

some clue of importance. At any rate, if we can find some of the

articles stolen in the robberies I am speaking of, it will be a

strong proof that Marner is one of the chiefs of the gang, and that

may lead to further discoveries."

"You had better come with us, John," Captain Dave said. "You know our

goods better than I do myself. Will you come, Cyril?"

"I should be of no use in identifying the goods, sir, and I am due in

half an hour at one of my shops."

The search was an exhaustive one. There was no appearance of an

underground cellar, but on some of the boards of the shop being taken

up, it was found that there was a large one extending over the whole

house. This contained an immense variety of goods. In one corner was

a pile of copper bolts that Captain Dave and John were able to claim

at once, as they bore the brand of the maker from whom they obtained