By this time they had entered the house, and Dick shut the door behind him. He had left a light burning, when they went out. Dick was so agitated that he felt unable to speak, but gazed earnestly in the man's face.
"What is it, old chap?" the latter said, surprised at the close scrutiny. "Is anything wrong with you?"
Dick took off his spectacles, rather to gain time than to see more clearly, for a plain glass had been substituted for the lenses.
"I want to ask you a question," he said. "Is your name Holland?"
The man started.
"My name is Jack Holland," he said, "sure enough; though how you come to know it beats me altogether, for I am always called Jack, and except the governor, I don't think there is a man here knows my other name."
"You were captain of the Hooghley, wrecked on the Malabar coast, nine years ago," Dick said, this time speaking in English.
After an exclamation of startled surprise, the man stared at him in an astonishment too great for words.
"Are you English?" he said slowly, at last. "Yes, I was in command of the Hooghley. Who, in God's name, are you?"
Dick took his two hands.