Chapter XVIII.
Robert defies Matthew.
Wild stories of pirates, robbery, and abduction were soon rife about Bordentown, and fearful tales as carried from one to another soon reached Matthew Watson. His boat had been destroyed, the crew lashed to the deck, and Ruth carried away; and then, quickly following these harrowing details, came a more nearly correct version of the incident. No one was injured, no property taken or destroyed, but Ruth had disappeared. There had been no outcry, no call for help, the crew were asleep, and everything pointed to its having been a voluntary act on the girl's part, but with whom was she in collusion? Well, Matthew could not say he was surprised, much as he regretted it. The affair cast a shadow upon him as her natural guardian, but he had done his whole duty for sixteen years, and should submit his version
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