As he moodily arranged things in the captain's stateroom, wondering for
the hundreth time why Gary should appear to wish to persecute him after
having been so courteous at Savannah, Ralph's eye fell on an open
letter lying on the floor before the half open door of a small iron
safe. Evidently Gary, in his haste or excitement over the approach of
the warship, had left the safe in this condition. The letter had
probably fallen there unnoticed.
Ralph picked it up, intending to lay it on the table, when a certain
familiarity in the handwriting struck him as peculiar and he started to
read the contents.
"My dear Cousin:--" it began; but after getting thus far the boy threw
the sheet down upon the table.
"Why should I be reading the captain's letters?" thought he, and a
flush of shame crept momentarily to his forehead. "And yet--it doesn't
seem to be the one I gave him."
He remembered that Shard had mentioned an intention to write Gary by
mail.
As Ralph hesitated, a desire strengthened within him to read further,
despite the monitions of conscience. A vague idea that the strange and
contradictory behavior of Gary might be explained was perhaps at the
bottom of the lad's mental persistence.
He hesitated until his fingers burned, then made a sudden grasp at the
letter.
CHAPTER XXI.
At Close Quarters.
Without giving himself time to think, Ralph now read as follows:
My Dear Cousin:
If he does not get lost on his way you will be apt to see an awkward
country boy in Savannah in a day or two, who is quite anxious to go to
sea.
Pages:
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146