“Uncle Ed!” she cried, in wildest excitement.
Linda and Lord Dudley looked about them, questioningly.
“You’ve found him, haven’t you, Linda?” demanded the girl, rushing over and grabbing Lord Dudley by the arm. “Hand over my money!” she commanded, dramatically.
Lord Dudley pretended to look puzzled, but beneath it all Linda could see a hidden tinge of fear in his eyes.
“But this is Lord Dudley, Helen—” Linda insisted.
“It’s my uncle Ed Tower!” repeated the girl, emphatically. “I know it. Don’t you remember, Linda—when I saw him before on the Country Club porch, at that tennis match, I said he looked familiar?”
“Why, this is nonsense,” objected the man, trying to keep his voice calm. “I will appeal to the Captain if you think it is necessary, Miss Carlton.”
But the Captain, it seemed, was only too ready to help the girls. Immediately he demanded a search of the man’s belongings; if Lord Dudley was in reality Edward Tower, the money and the bonds must be hidden somewhere in his quarters. The Captain sent three trusted officers to find out.
Linda and Helen remained on deck with the Captain and the man posing as Lord Dudley, and the girls told the story of the finding of the will and the confession of Mrs. Fishberry. Ten minutes later the searchers returned, bringing fifty thousand dollars in bonds, and fifty thousand in cash! There could be no doubt now of the man’s identity.
“You want to arrest Tower, don’t you, Miss Carlton?” asked the Captain, as he put the valuables into her hands. “Even though you got the money?”