"Yes, sir. But—" and Richard paused, while his heart beat rapidly.
"And was his first name John?"
"Yes, sir—John Cartwell Dare. But why do you ask, Mr. Clover? Is it possible that you knew him?"
Tom Clover raised himself up to a sitting position.
"Know him?" he cried. "We were bosom companions for eighteen months!
Why, I caught him in my arms the day he was shot!"
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE FIRM OF MASSANET AND DARE.
Tom Clover's unexpected statement was a revelation to Richard, and subsequent questioning convinced the boy that all that Doc Linyard's brother-in-law had said concerning the acquaintance with his father was perfectly true.
It was a fact that Clover had been drafted in Boston, but during the second year of his service his time had expired, and then he had enlisted in a Brooklyn regiment, and become a member of the same company to which Mr. Dare belonged.
"It seems too good to be true," cried Richard finally. "Perhaps Doc has already told you of the pension we are trying to get."