Chapter XIX.
A Committee calls upon John Bishop.
In a few days every inhabitant of Chesterfield and Nottingham had an inkling of the truth, and so were forced to content themselves with weaving theories and predicting the outcome of the whole affair. Outside the Pearson household, with the exception of John Bishop, no one knew the whole truth, and the inquisitive public—which was all of it—were more at sea than ever as to the incident on the Watson boat, when William Blake appeared upon the scenes. He had failed in all else, and why not pose as a hero now, when nothing but Ruth's flight was talked of? He had, he said, gone on board the shallop but an hour before,—lucky that he and John did not meet in mid-stream,—and was called by one of the crew, saying there were drunken Indians about. He rushed to Ruth's cabin to defend her, and she
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