"Not much. He never married, as I guess no woman would have him. But I know for sure that he has a nephew. He sailed once on my ship, and that was the first time I met him. He was a gay one."
"Do you remember his name?" Lois was much excited now.
"Sure; it was Melburne Telford. I couldn't forget that for if he told it to us once on that trip he told it a hundred times. He was always boasting that he was the nephew of old Simon Dockett, and that he was to fall heir to his wealth."
"Have you ever seen him since, Captain?"
"Not until he struck this place, travelling under the name of Sydney Bramshaw. I knew him, though he didn't know me," and the captain smiled as he ran his hand over his bearded face. "I didn't have this then. At first I couldn't exactly make out where I had seen the fellow before, but when I remembered I gave such a whoop that the women folk thought I had gone out of my mind, and came running in to see what was wrong."
"So that was the matter with you that day, was it?" Mrs. Peterson asked as she paused in her knitting.
"Yes, that was it, and poor little Betty thought I had something in my head like 'Mr. David,' ho, ho!"
"But why didn't you tell us who Sydney Bramshaw really was?" Lois asked.
"At first I thought I would. But then I decided to await developments, and see what the fellow was doing around here, and why he was sailing under another name. If I told what I knew it would have been gabbled all over the place in no time, and the chap would have been looked upon with suspicion. He seemed to be harmless enough, and so I thought I might as well hold my tongue for a while anyway. But since he's gone and you've asked me point blank about him, I can't see any harm in telling what I know."
"Would it surprise you, Captain, to learn that Melburne Telford, alias
Sydney Bramshaw, is David Findley's nephew?" Mr. Westcote asked.