IN WHICH THE ENEMY IS CORNERED
The loud talking had attracted the attention of Captain Blossom, and now the master of the Golden Wave strode up to the crowd.
"What's going on here?" he demanded of the Rover boys. "Why are you not at work, as I ordered?"
"I have made an important discovery," answered Dick. "Is this your passenger, Captain Blossom?"
"He is. What of him?"
"He is a thief and ran away from San Francisco to escape the police."
"It's a falsehood!" roared Dan Baxter. "They have made a mistake. I am a respectable man just out of college, and my father, Doctor L. Z. Brown, is a well-known physician of Los Angeles. I am traveling to Australia for my health."
"His real name is Daniel Baxter and his father is now in prison," said Tom. "He robbed us of our money and some diamonds while we were stopping at a hotel in San Francisco. The detectives followed him up, but he slipped them by taking passage on your ship."
"I tell you my name is Brown—Robert Brown!" stormed Baxter. "This is some plot hatched up against me. Who are these fellows, anyway?" he went on, turning to the captain.
"They came from the steamer we ran into," answered Captain Blossom.