“Know him, boy? Yes, I knew him once—slightly. I haven’t met him for years.”
“Did you know him in California?” asked Tom, urged by an irresistible impulse to ask this question.
The man started.
“What makes you ask that question?” he demanded, quickly.
“Because you said you knew Mr. Simpson some years ago.”
“Well, yes, I knew him in California,” said the other, slowly.
“Then perhaps you knew my father there?” said Tom, eagerly.
“Your father!”
“Yes; my father was in California at the time. He went out with Mr. Simpson.”
“What was your father’s name?”