"Had he a family?"
"He had a wife, but she left him years ago. She was a very pretty woman, they say, though I never saw her."
"Did you ever hear that he and his wife were on board a steamer which was burned on the upper Missouri?"
"Never did."
Very likely this man was the owner of the steamer after which I had been named; but it was not probable that he was in any manner related to me. My curiosity was satisfied, or rather my new friend could give me no further information in regard to him.
"There was a steamer of that name burned on the Missouri about eleven years ago," I added.
"Well, I was a boy then, and did not come to St. Louis till years after."
"I should like to ascertain something about that boat, Mr.—You didn't tell me your name."
"Just so; I did not. My name is—my name is Lynchpinne," he replied, with some hesitation, so that I wondered whether he had not forgotten his name—"Leonidas Lynchpinne."