"Luckily, I am a strong man, and I soon overpowered him. But he then got a strange fit, and I knew I must get him to a doctor at once. So I took the boat and left the island. If I had thought that you were still alive you may rest assured I would not have left you behind."
Ralph hardly knew what to say. He did not believe that Martin was telling the truth, plausible as the villain tried to make his story appear.
"You took him to a doctor's?" he asked.
"I did. Then he got away and disappeared in the woods. I had just found him when I saw you. That is the whole story. Why, my young friend, what reason would I have for pushing you over the cliff?"
"I don't know," returned Ralph. "That is something I have been trying to find out."
"I had none in the world. I never saw nor heard of you previous to hiring your boat, and I might have hired anybody in Glen Arbor for that matter."
"How is it you are in New York now?" questioned Ralph, suddenly.
"I brought Toglet home to his folks."
"Does he belong here?"
"Yes. He lives but a few blocks from here. I will tell you what we had better do. We had better go to his home, and you can interview his folks and make sure that I have told you the truth about him. Perhaps he will even confess, if he is in a proper state of mind to do so."