About an hour after his brief conversation with the red-whiskered sailor, Van saw him coiling a length of rope.
To catch on to the way it was done so neatly, he watched him keenly.
Suddenly Van gave a start.
He noticed that the man was minus a thumb, and that, too, from his right hand.
He thought of Doc Clancy, his uncle's murderer, but said nothing.
What if this man was the scoundrel in disguise?
[CHAPTER IV.]
ON THE CONGO RIVER.
Van kept a good watch upon the red-whiskered sailor during the voyage, and every day he became more and more satisfied that he was no other than Doc Clancy, alias John Moreland.