"Well, yes, although that is a thought too arrogant, perhaps; and yet Master Lion is ofttimes a stupid fellow, though he is styled king of beasts."
"And what is the net just now, my Lord Lion?" demanded Standish, who could not quite relish Bradford's philosophy. The governor roused himself at the question, and laying aside his meditative mood replied,
"We both know, Captain, that all who are with us are not of us, and we have not forgot what false reports those disaffected fellows carried home in the Anne, nor the mutterings and plottings we have heard and suspected since."
"Shorten John Oldhame by the head and you will kill the whole mutiny."
"That sounds very simple, but is hardly a feasible course, Captain, especially as we have no proof in the matter, and it is upon this very question of proof that I came to consult you."
"And I just shut off the only source of proof I am like to get."
"Nay, it is not likely that Mistress Alden knows more than my wife has already repeated to me of what Dame Lyford can reveal, but our good friend Master Pierce came to my house to-day about some matters I am sending to my wife's sister, Mary Carpenter, and all by chance mentioned that he had in trust a parcel of letters writ by Lyford, with one or two by Oldhame, and that both men had charged him to secrecy in the business. Now, Standish, those letters contain the moral of the whole matter."
"To be sure; it is like drawing a double tooth to see them sail out of the harbor."
