"This Haley must be a villain," he said. "You are, indeed, fortunate in having escaped from the snare he laid for you."
"I have been fortunate in another way also," said Robert. "I have succeeded in the object of my voyage."
"You have not found your father?"
"I found him in Calcutta, and I have brought him home with me."
"You must have been born under a lucky star, Robert," said the merchant. "Were your father's adventures as remarkable as yours?"
"It was the same man who nearly succeeded in accomplishing the ruin of both—Captain Haley was my father's mate, and was he who, in revenge for some fancied slight, set fire to the vessel in mid-ocean, and then escaped."
Scarcely had this revelation been made, when a clerk entered, and approaching Mr. Morgan, said, "Captain Haley would like to see you."
Mr. Morgan glanced at Robert significantly.
"I wish to know what explanation Mr. Haley has to give of your disappearance. There is a closet. Go in, and close the door partially, so that you may hear what passes without yourself being seen."
Robert was hardly established in his place of concealment when Haley entered the office.