"The boy is Felix Stillwell's nephew."
"What!"
"It is a fact. You could have knocked me down with a feather," said the captain. "How he should come on board the Spitfire is the strangest thing I ever heard of."
"I reckon Stillwell would be mightily surprised if he knew his nephew was with us," observed Lowell.
"And I reckon you'd treated the lad differently if you'd known who he was."
And Captain Hannock gave a loud laugh.
This bit of conversation puzzled me not a little. What did these men know about my uncle? Could it be possible that he had anything to do with the Spitfire?
I knew that he occasionally made a venture in lumber from down East. On one occasion I knew him to invest several thousand dollars in a raft from Maine, although whether it paid or not I never found out.
I had always believed my uncle straightforward and honest, but now, since receiving the letter from England, my confidence in him was shaken. He had not treated me rightly, and this being so, who knew where his wrongdoing ended?
"It don't make a bit of difference if he is the president's son," replied Lowell savagely. "I won't allow any boy to square up to me. And besides, Felix Stillwell is no great friend of mine."