"We had a mighty reesky time a-gittin' here," said the captain. "Run up agin' two Chinese junks full o' pirates; but we showed 'em a clean pair o' heels."
Gilbert told him of the condition of affairs at Tien-Tsin, and of how he dould find Amos Bartlett and Nuggy Polk. The next day the captain journeyed to Tien-Tsin, and spent two days with the Bartletts, paying a visit to Nuggy Polk each day. What was said and done never reached Gilbert's ears in detail; but later on he found out that the whole matter had been turned over to Amos Bartlett for adjustment, and that Nuggy had written a long letter to his father concerning the state of affairs. This letter came as a thunderbolt to Ramsey Polk; and reaching him as it did, immediately after an interview with the lawyer Gilbert had appointed to take up his case, he found himself so hedged in that he was compelled to bow to the inevitable.
"There has been a great mistake made," he wrote back. "I am willing to do what is right, and both Mr. Bartlett and Lieutenant Pennington shall have all that is coming to them. I hope you will not make the whole affair public. If necessary, I will
