"You are very young to be traveling alone."
"I can't help that. I want to find my father, and do it as soon as I can."
"Is he expecting you?"
"I don't know. I sent him a cablegram, but I do not know if he received it."
"That expedition—do you know anything about it?" asked the officer, shrewdly.
"No, sir—nothing more than what I saw in the English papers."
"Didn't your father tell you anything about it?"
"No, he couldn't." And Dave hesitated.
"Why?"
"Because—well, he doesn't know me—that is, he doesn't know I am alive."