“‘My dear Sir:
“‘I see by the newspapers that the ship Amazonia was wrecked near your station, and the sole survivor was a boy ten or twelve years of age, who gave his name as Benjamin H. Foster, stating that his father and mother had died in Calcutta.
“‘I have every reason to believe that boy to be my brother’s son, in which case it shall be my duty to care for him.
“‘Will you kindly ask him his father’s name? If it should have been “Stephen G.,” then you may draw on me for sufficient money to pay young Benny’s passage to this place, and for so much additional as he may be indebted to you for board and other necessaries of life.
“‘Very respectfully yours,
“‘Andrew Foster.’”
For fully a moment after Mr. Downey ceased reading no one spoke, and the silence was so profound that Fluff looked anxiously from one to the other as if fearing some disaster had befallen the crew.
Then it was Sam Hardy who spoke, and he found it necessary to clear his throat several times before it was possible to control his voice.
“What was your father’s name, Benny?”
“It was Stephen G., but I don’t believe the man who wrote that letter is my uncle, because if he is, why didn’t I know something about him? Or, when father and mother were so sick, why didn’t he write to them?”