“No, but perhaps my father knows.”

“Then I'm going to see your father as soon as I can,” said Joe, decidedly.

“Mind you, I don't say that this Bill Bodley is the man you are after, Joe. I don't want to raise any false hopes.”

“Did you ever hear where the man came from?”

“I think he told somebody that he once owned a farm in Kansas or Iowa.”

“This William A. Bodley once owned a farm at Millville, Iowa.”

“Is that so! Then he may be the same man after all. To tell the truth, he looked a little bit like you.”

“Was he a good man?” asked Joe, eagerly.

“Yes, indeed. But some of the men poked fun at him because he was so silent and strange at times. I liked him and so did father. He left us to go prospecting in the mountains.”

Thus the talk ran on for half an hour, when the train came to a sudden halt.