"The star boarder at the Fairville Insane Asylum," snarled Timothy Fletcher, "an' may the devil catch that fool doctor who said you was cured!" he added.
Wigmore lifted his face.
"I am John Edward Jackson," he said pleasantly, as if introducing himself to strangers, "Captain Jackson—the exile."
"Jackson!" cried Jim Harley. "Jackson? What do you mean? Not the Jackson?"
The old man nodded. "That's right, Jim. That's why I marked the cards. I came here on purpose to look after Nell, you know. It was my duty."
"He is mad," said Banks. "He is not responsible for what he says or does. He must be taken back to Fairville."
"Yes, I am Captain Jackson," continued old Wigmore. "I had to go away from my home, so I took to seafaring for a while. What was the trouble? Sometimes I remember and sometimes I forget. I got hold of a mine and made money. Then I made a voyage back to my own country, on very important business."
"That's one of the stories he used to tell me when I was his keeper in the lunatic asylum," said Timothy Fletcher. "Sometimes he was Jackson an' sometimes he was the Grand Turk."
"You keep your mouth shut till you are spoken to," screamed Wigmore, in sudden fury.
Harley stooped and gazed anxiously at the old man.