The voice was heard and there stood the lad in their midst, as innocent looking as a babe. One matter all hands considered settled—the boy had nothing to do with the mysterious occurrences.
They were still questioning Ike when one of the men discovered a blood stain on his clothes.
The captain of the schooner had scrubbed off the lad’s clothes, but one stain escaped his attention, and the gentleman who found the mark said:
“Hello, lad, you’ve been bleeding.”
“Yes.”
“The captain said he picked you up.”
“I know he did.”
“Tell us about it.”
“The captain lied, that’s all.”
“Tell us about it.”