But Jack stopped Don--stopped him all of a sudden, by rushing at him
and forcing him back up against a tree trunk. Whack! thump! It was
no time for delicacy. Young Benson struck Don two hard blows in the
face, next wrenching the stick away from him.

"The ground's good enough for you--full length!" snapped Jack;
wrathfully. Leaping at the Melville heir once more, he bore that
angered youth to the ground. Had not Don been winded by so much running
he would not have been so easy to handle.

"Now, you stay there," commanded Jack, testily. "I believe you know a
good deal about things that have happened to me to-night, and we've got
to get it all straightened out."

"I've got this one, Jack," called Mr. Farnum, gleefully.

The arrival of the real Jack Benson on the scene, in contrast with the
sham one, had opened the boatbuilder's eyes. He could not fathom, yet,
what it all meant, but he was certain that his hitherto trusted young
captain would be able to explain it all satisfactorily.

The young stranger in blue now lay on his back, while Jacob Farnum sat
astride of him. The boatbuilder felt carefully over the outside of the
clothing of his captive, until his hands encountered the feel of paper.

"I guess this is what I'm looking for," muttered the "Pollard's" builder,
thrusting his hand into a pocket and pulling out an envelope. "This
looks like the envelope Don Melville handed you, back there up the road.
Let us see how much you got for your rascality to-night."