"You talk as if you meant well," he said, "but no one can be trusted nowadays. Who are you?"
"Oh, never mind that," replied the young man, "just keep quiet."
"But I want to know your name," persisted the wounded man.
"My name is Monterey Gray."
The miser leaped to his feet, his teeth clenched, and his eyes rolling frightfully.
"It's a lie!" he shrieked. "Monterey Gray is dead!--died years ago! He died on the yacht! I saw him. Oh, you can't fool me! His ghost is in the falls, but he is dead; and his gold and silver--oh, you can't fool me! This ain't his; it's mine, all mine!"
CHAPTER XXIV.
A GLIMPSE OF THE PAST
The miser's wild and unexpected revelation was certainly a most astonishing thing to Mont Gray. As we know, he had surmised that this strange man knew much of the history of the past, and he had already decided to put several questions to Max Pooler on the first available opportunity. But such a statement as he had just heard took away his breath, and he stared at the prostrate man, scarcely able to move.
Deb, too, was astonished, but, woman-like, paid more attention to the effect upon the young man than to what was said.