“Your friend is excitable, Mr. Merriwell,” said the unknown. “Why should he care to know my name?”
“Oh, I have a reason!” asserted Starbright.
“And I have a reason for declining to give it—just now. Some time, perhaps, I may choose to make myself known to Frank Merriwell.”
Merry felt convinced that he had seen this man before—that he knew the man. In vain, however, he tried to remember when and where they had met.
“Don’t bother about it,” said the other, as if he surmised that Frank was trying to recall him. “It’s of no consequence, and you may be mistaken.”
Merry shook his head.
“I know I have seen you some time,” he said unswervingly.
A faint smile seemed to hide itself in the stranger’s beard.
“Still I assure you it is of no consequence.”
“But it’s very perplexing. I have a way of remembering faces perfectly.”