"Dick, do you know that Tad Sobber is alive? That he escaped from that dreadful hurricane in West Indian waters?"
"Yes, I know it. But I didn't know it until a few days ago, when
Songbird Powell came to Brill He said he had met Sobber in Ithaca,"
"He came to see mamma."
"I was afraid he would. What did he say?"
"He came one evening, after supper. It was dark and stormy, and he drove up in a buggy. Mamma and I and the servants were home alone, although Nellie had been over in the afternoon. He rang the bell, and asked for mamma, and the girl ushered him into the parlor. He asked the girl if we had company, and he said if we had he wouldn't bother us."
"Guess he was afraid of being arrested."
"Perhaps so. He told the girl he was a friend from New York. I went down first, and when I saw him I was almost scared to death. I thought I was looking at a ghost."
"Naturally, since you thought he had been drowned. It's too bad he scared you so, Dora."
"He said he had come on business, and without waiting began to talk about the treasure we had taken from the isle. He insisted upon it that the treasure belonged to him, since his uncle, Sid Merrick, was dead. When my mother came in he demanded that she give him some money and sign some papers."
"What did your mother do?"