He had been a sailor in his time--and that's a trade which teaches a man (if he's good for anything) to think, and act on his thought, at one and the same moment.

He had taken a peep at the blackguards in front of the house, and had recognized the shortest of the two as a native of the place, perfectly well aware that one of the features attached to the cottage was a boathouse.

'That chap is not such a fool as he looks,' says the gardener.

'If he mentions the boat-house, the other fellow from London may have his suspicions.

I thought I would post my son on the pier--that quiet young man there with the gun--to keep a lookout.