“Captain Hardwick,” protested Henry, “don’t you trust me at all?”
The captain smiled. “It isn’t a matter of trust, Henry. You come to me with something you regard as evidence against Black. I’m glad to have any evidence in the matter that is evidence, but we must be sure that it is, before we use it. Don’t you understand what I am driving at?”
“I see,” said Henry, drawing a breath of relief. “The finding of these nails isn’t proof of anything. I grasp that all right. But it’s—suggestive.’
“Now you are on exactly the right tack. It’s very suggestive. You think that I’ve been a little hard on you, Henry. I want to be fair. Now I’ll say that I think it much more likely that Black would have had nails in his coat than that you would have had them about you. Boys dressed to go visiting don’t ordinarily carry nails with them.”
Henry’s face evidently showed the relief he felt. The captain smiled again. “It was quite right for you to bring me this coat,” he continued. “I shall follow up this suggestion. Meantime I want you to go on about your work and say nothing about the matter.”
Henry thanked the commander and withdrew from the cabin. Hardly had he left before the