"Oh; but he was in Sangoa then," protested Patsy, who was really bewildered by the striking resemblance.
The stranger smiled indulgently.
"As a matter of fact, there is no Sangoa." said he; "so we may doubt the young man's assertion that he was ever there."
"Why are you interested in him?" inquired Mr. Merrick.
"A natural question," said Le Drieux, after a moment of hesitation. "I know you well by reputation, Mr. Merrick, and believe I am justified in speaking frankly to you and your niece, provided you regard my statements as strictly confidential. A year ago I received notice from my friend in Austria that the young man had gone to America and he was anxious I should meet him. At the time I was too busy with my own affairs to look him up, but I recently came to California for a rest, and noticed the strong resemblance between the boy, A. Jones, and the portrait sent me. So I hunted up this picture and compared the two. In my judgment they are one and the same. What do you think, sir?"
"I believe there is a resemblance," answered Uncle John, turning the card over. "But here is a name on the back of the photograph: 'Jack Andrews.'"
"Yes; this is Jack Andrews," said Le Drieux, nodding. "Have you ever heard the name before?"
"Never."
"Well, Andrews is noted throughout Europe, and it is but natural he should desire to escape his notoriety by assuming another name out here. Do you note the similarity of the initials? 'J.A.' stand for Jack Andrews. Reverse them and 'A.J.' stand for A. Jones. By the way, what does he claim the 'A' means? Is it Andrew?"
"It means nothing at all," said Patsy. "He told us so."