“Now, you’re getting down to brass tacks!” shouted Jule. “Did these men catch the kid?”
“Yes, they discovered his whereabouts, but they hadn’t the heart to disturb him. You see, he had fallen into good hands. After being robbed of his boat and beaten almost to death, one of the searchers found him, one wild night, lying on his back in the rain.”
“Thought it was Paul,” Alex announced. “Why didn’t these men take him back to his uncle?”
“Not so you could notice it!” was the reply.
Alex and Jule both arose and gravely shook the hands of both men. Then they returned to their seats.
“But I don’t yet understand how the surgeon came to be standing on the river bank in the rain,” Jule cut in.
“He had just been put off the Rambler, then in possession of the pirates,” Alex added.
“Not so fast!” Rube continued. “He had been put off the Rambler some time before, after setting a broken leg for the boy. At that time the pirates began to see that the boy was worth more to them alive than dead. In other words, they decided to hold him for ransom.”
“But where does the surgeon come in?” asked Alex. “He says he was engaged in the practice of medicine in a little town up the river—was he?”
“Yes, I think he told the truth about that,” was the reply. “I reckon he wasn’t making any too much money though, and was about ready to quit when the miser offered his reward.”