"He robbed me."

"Do tell, Dick! When?"

"About half an hour ago. I was coming from the Corners with the
mail, when he pounced on me near our berry patch and knocked me
down. He took my pocketbook and my watch, but Sam and Tom came
up, and we chased the fellow and got the pocketbook back."

"But he kept the watch?"

"Yes."

"Was it a good one?"

"It was a gold watch that my father paid sixty-five dollars for --
and the chain was worth ten; and, what is more, the watch was one
my father used to wear; and as he is gone now, I thought a good
deal of it on that account."

"That's natural, my boy. But where did the thief go?"

"Came across the river about quarter of a mile above here."

"Then he had a boat?"

"Yes -- a craft painted brown, with a white stripe around her."

"That's Jerry Rodman's boat. He must have stolen her in the first