48 DETECTING A THIEF. 



was appointed inquisitor, to find out the perpetrator 

 or perpetrators of the heinous crime ; sailors viewing 

 theft from a shipmate, even of the slightest article, 

 as an offence second in enormity only to murder ; 

 and woe betide the poor wretch who is detected in 

 the act, as he can never recover an intimate footing 

 with his shipmates. 



I said that old Jack was appointed inquisitor. lie 

 went about his task very methodically. Taking a 

 number of matches, he handed one to each of the 

 denizens of the forecastle, stating that he would call 

 on them to return them in half an hour, and that 

 the one who should then have possession of the longest 

 one would be considered the culprit. On calling the 

 matches in, one was found to have been broken oft' 

 by its recipient, and information was immediately 

 given to the captain by old Jaclc, who had satisfied 

 himself regarding the guilty party. The boy was 

 questioned, but denied the point so strenuously that 

 we did not know whether to think him guilty or not. 

 The captain let it pass without further remark, and 

 some twelve months afterwards we discovered the 

 offender; then the boy who had previously been 

 suspected, acknowledged that he had broken off his 

 match so that there should be no question about his 

 having the longest one ; and in his endeavors to ward 

 off suspicion, took the readiest means of arousing it 

 — old Jack saying that his conscious guilt caused 

 him to break his match. 



"VVlien our North latitude had been almost run out 

 we were struck by a very heavy squall. By working 

 smart we managed to get all snug without being 

 damaged. On the succeeding morning we saw three 



