“All to the good,” was Bill’s verdict.
“He seems to be the real thing,” agreed Lester.
“He’s certainly had hard luck,” said Fred. “If his father had been able to carry through his plans, life would be a mighty different thing to Ross from what it is.”
“It must be an awful strain on a fellow to be on a still hunt like his,” mused Bill.
“Yes, and with so little to work on,” chimed in Teddy. “If he had anything definite to go on, like a map or a letter or a confession, it would be another thing. But he seems to be relying altogether on chance and the ravings of his father. And a crazy man may say anything. What does his speaking about Bartanet Shoals mean? It might have been just chance that he didn’t mention Cape Horn or Baffin Bay or any other place.”
62“Do you think,” asked Lester slowly, “that Ross has told us everything he knows?”
The others looked at him in surprise.
“Why, what makes you ask that?” inquired Teddy.
“I don’t know just how much there is to it,” was the answer; “but did you notice how he checked himself last night, when some one asked him whether those were all the clues he had?”
“Now that you speak of it, I do remember that he said he hadn’t anything else, and then he used the word ‘except,’” said Fred. “Then he stopped suddenly and didn’t explain what that ‘except’ meant.”