“Boy I what am I to think of your silence?” demanded the old skipper, more in sorrow than in anger.
“Oh, my dear old captain, you will think as well of me as you can.”
“Are you Capt. Silver’s mate? Yes or no?”
“I cannot tell you.”
“Roland, if you were the pirate’s mate, you would be brave enough to avow it. If you were not, you would be sure to deny it. I do not understand your silence.”
The young man did not attempt to explain, but sat with his elbows on his knees and his head bowed upon his hands, in an attitude of despair.
“I will ask you one other question. Perhaps you will answer it. Did you recognize in the pirate Silver the man whom you once knew as Angus Anglesea?”
“Yes, I recognized him,” replied Roland, wearily.
“And he recognized you as the youth he was accustomed to see with the Forces?”
“Yes, he knew me at once.”