CHAPTER XVI.
AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.
When I left the cabin after my interview with Captain Hannock I knew not what to do. I was unwilling to leave the vessel with the promise that I would not prosecute him for what had been done to me, and, on the other hand, I did not care particularly to stay on board if the Spitfire should continue her journey.
Of course I knew Mr. Ranson would stop the schooner at New Bedford if he could, and have the captain, Lowell and Crocker arrested for conspiracy to defraud. But there might be some slip, and I wished to take no chances.
Had I had the London letter that had been taken from me I should not have cared what Captain Hannock wished me to do, but watched my chances, and gone ashore at the first opportunity.
Where the letter was I could not imagine, excepting that it might be in the cabin or the captain's stateroom.
