e; is that
so?"

"Wouldn't you want to do that, if he was your uncle?" asked the
money-lender's son, flushing deeply.

"Certainly. But it looks, now, as if you couldn't do it alone."

"I might have done it, if you hadn't come up and queered my game."

"He didn't see us until he ran out of the cabin," said Roger. "He just
got a wild streak on, that's all. I don't think you could have
managed him alone. He wouldn't let you tie him up with that rope."

"Well, he's gone, that's sure," grumbled Nat. "I'm going back to the
cabin for my valise."

"He may come back," suggested Dave.

"I don't think so. But I'll wait and see. I hung around once for
him--on that island--but he never came back. It isn't often he visits
the same spot twice. That's the reason the authorities around here
haven't caught him."

"What is his name, Nat?"

"Wilbur Poole, if you must know. He is my father's half-brother."

"Where did he come from?"

"From the Blossmore Sanitarium, in New York state. It's a private
place, near Lake Erie. He lost a lot of money several years ago in a
speculation in Sumatra tobacco and that made him crazy, and that is
why, I suppose, he calls himself the King of Sumatra."

"Did you know he was missing when you heard of the wild man?"
questioned Dave, with interest.

"No, I did not, for the sanitarium people did not notify us that he
had gotten away. I suppose they thought he would stay near the
institution and that they would be able to get him again. I can't
imagine what brought him away out here, excepting that I went to see
him once, when he was somewhat better, and I told him about Oakdale
and our school. I knew he called himself the King of Sumatra, and that
is why I got interested in the wild man as soon as I heard you mention
that name. Then, when the handkerchief was found, I was sure the man
was my uncle."

"And you put the hole in the handkerchief," said our hero.

"Yes, because--well, I didn't want folks to find out from the
Blossmore authorities that the man was my uncle," answered Nat,
casting down his eyes. "I thought I might be able to catch him and
send him back on the quiet. I didn't want the whole school talking
about it."

"I can understand your feelings, Nat," said our hero, kindly. "And if
I can help you in the matter, I'll do it."

"I suppose you'll tell everybody he's my uncle," came bitterly from
the money-lender's son.

"No, I won't. But I think Doctor Clay ought to know it."