forever have his lips sealed?

Someone must have heard him sigh, for there was a movement close by, and
his eyes took in the eager face of Paul Singleton.

"Bully for you, Darry! We were getting mighty anxious about you, but I
can see you're all right now. It has been hard to keep Abner at his duty
watching the shore. Every little while he appears at the door to ask if
you have recovered your senses yet. Why, he couldn't be more fond of you
if you were his own Joe," said Paul, running his hand tenderly over the
boy's forehead.

"I don't understand how I got here," declared Darry; "the last thing I
remember was being struck by the fist of that brute, big Jim Dilks. He
had just robbed a passenger from the wreck. I saw him pull the body out
of the water, clean out the pockets, and then throw the poor fellow back
again. And, Mr. Singleton, it's a terrible thing to say, but I'm most
sure there was life still in the body of the man he robbed when he
tossed him back!"

"The scoundrel, I wouldn't put it past him a particle. And that isn't
the first time he and his gang have done the same thing either. But
their time has come, Darry. Even now I chance to know that the
government has sent agents down here to make arrests, urged on by the
women of Ashley, and before another day rolls around all of those
rascals will be in the toils. You may be called on to give evidence
against Dilks. But please forget all about this gruesome matter just
now, my dear boy. There is something else of a vastly different nature
that awaits you--some delightful intelligence, in fact."

Paul paused to let the half-dazed lad drink in the meaning of his words.

"Oh! Mr. Singleton!" he began.

"No, from this hour let it be Paul--Cousin Paul, in truth. You know, I
said I wanted you to look upon me as an elder brother, but now it seems
that we are actually related, and that I am your full-fledged cousin."

"My cousin! Oh! what can you mean?" gasped the bewildered Darry.

"I'll tell you without beating around the bush, then. You are no longer
the poor homeless waif you used to believe yourself."

"No, that is true, thanks to dear old Abner and Nancy," murmured Darry,
loyal to his good friends in this hour.

"But there is someone who has a better claim upon your affection than
either Abner or Nancy, kind-hearted though they undoubtedly are. It is
your own mother, Darry!" exclaimed the young man, leaning over closer as
he said that word of magic.