e was
acting, he certainly did it well. He glanced down at his clothes.

"Ah's all wet," he murmured to himself.

"I suppose you don't remember jumping into this boat and being out here
all night," exclaimed John skeptically, though he was nettled by Sam's
appearance of innocence.

Sam merely looked at him and shook his head.

"How about your fight with--"

"Keep quiet, John," said Grant sharply. "Don't mention that yet."

"What dat?" asked Sam, looking curiously from one boy to the other.

"Nothing, Sam," said Grant quickly. "Don't you remember the fire?"

"De fire?" said Sam, completely mystified. "Wha' fire?"

"On the _Josephine_," exclaimed John. "Don't you know that she
burned to the water's edge?"

"Ah does remember dat fire now," said Sam eagerly, a gleam of
understanding showing in his face. "She done come out ob de hatchway,
didn't she?"

"It did," agreed Grant. "After that don't you remember how we all jumped
into the boats and rowed away? Don't you remember that?"

"'Deed Ah don't," said Sam. "Ah don't remembah a thing about dat ar."

"Are you sure?" demanded John sharply.

"Sho' Ah is," exclaimed Sam sincerely. It did not seem to the four boys
that he could be fooling, his manner seemed so earnest.

For some moments no one on the little boat spoke a word. The boys sat
and looked at Sam, and he sat and looked at them and at the boat and the
boundless ocean stretching on every side as far as the eye could see.
Not a sign of life could be seen on it anywhere. There was no trace of
the other boats that had set out from the burning brig and it was
impossible to conjecture what had happened to them.

Finally Sam sighed deeply and he sank back against the stern of the boat
as though he was exhausted. His eyes half closed and he yawned sleepily.

"Ah's tired," he murmured, and straightway fell asleep once more.

"What do you think of it?" demanded John a moment later.

"Think of what?" asked Fred.

"Do you think that Sam really doesn't remember all that happened?"

"It's possible, all right," said Grant.

"But how could it be?" John insisted.

"Well, I'll tell you," explained Grant. "Sam was scared to death in that
storm; you all know that. He was moaning and groaning around the boat
and when the fire started he might easily have gone out of his head.
Perhaps he was even stunned by the lightning. Since that time he has
been in a state of unconsciousness, and now he doesn't remember a thing