"Ha! Now I remember!" cried Paul. "I know you, James Shallock! I remember all! It all comes back to me when I see you face to face."
"Who is he?" asked Frank eagerly.
"And who are you, if you can tell us?" demanded Mr. Racer. This was more important than learning about the prisoner. Frank and Andy thought it even more to the point than learning how their father had come to their rescue. While, as for Mr. Racer, as long as his boys were safe he could forgive them the anxiety they had caused him. "Who are you, Paul?" demanded the silk merchant.
"I am—I am—" the lad hesitated. He denied to be undergoing a severe mental struggle. "I am Paul—Bartlett!" he cried. "That's it! I remember it all now! And this man, who tried to swindle my sick father and myself, ought to be in jail!"
"That's where he'll be, soon," declared Frank.
"Tell us about it," urged Andy.
"How did you happen to come for us, dad?" asked Frank.
"We came here as a last hope, after we ran down your rowboat at sea, and found the Gull adrift."
"The Gull adrift!" exclaimed Frank. "That explains it then. Our rowboat was washed away by the tide. The Gull pulled her anchor in the storm."
"And we thought you were drowned or had fallen overboard," said the father. "Thank the Lord you are safe! It will be good news to your mother. But let us hear Paul's story."