"I certainly am," responded the youth, in puzzled tones, "but I thought your name was Alantrez."
"I changed my name when I lost my money, as I was too proud to let my friends know of my misfortune," went on Senor Valdez, as we must now call him, "but we really are the last of the Valdez family, as I shall soon convince you. We are your mother's relatives, though I never suspected it, for the name Hamilton is not uncommon. Please to be seated, senor, and I will relate our story to you," and the Cuban politely waved Dick to a seat on the sand.
"And to think that I have been chumming with you all this while, and never knew you were my relatives!" cried the young millionaire. "This beats a story in a book. Go ahead, senor, tell me all you can, and then we'll hurry back to camp with the good news."
CHAPTER XXVIII BUILDING A RAFT
Senor Raphael Valdez was not long in proving the identity of himself and his son. Several years back he had fallen in love with a Miss Rose Martin, who was Dick's mother's cousin. He had married her, taken her to Cuba, where he had large possessions, and, after many years of happiness she had died, leaving him an only son. When the war with Spain broke out, all of the wealth of Senor Valdez was swept away, and he became poor.
Unwilling to let his friends know of his plight—for his was a proud Spanish nature—he changed his name, and he and his son set out to mend their broken fortunes. But it was hard work, and for years he struggled along, concealing his whereabouts to such advantage that none of Mr. Hamilton's inquiries located him.
Finally Senor Valdez, under the name of Alantrez, secured a place with the government, in Santiago, his former home, but he and his son had so changed in appearance that none of their former friends knew them, and they had no near relatives.
All this the elder Cuban related to the young millionaire, as they sat on the sands at the foot of the signal mast.