aged man, when there came a sudden knock on the cabin door.
"Who's that?" whispered Frank, startled.
"It can't be Mr. Jessup, back already," remarked Bob.
"No, he'd walk right in," said Sammy.
The knock was repeated.
"See who it is," spoke Bob.
"I'll go," said Sammy, and he went to the door.
He saw a young man standing there—a young man he had never seen before, as far as he knew. The stranger's face was a pleasant one, and he smiled at the boy.
"Well," said the visitor, "I don't know you, and it's rather odd to see Mr. Addison having company. Is he in?"
"Yes," said Sammy, "but he's hurt." He noticed that the caller had a pair of skates in his hand, showing how he had reached the island.
"Hurt!" exclaimed the young man. "And just when I come to bring him good news! Let me see him, please."
He quickly entered the cabin, and bent over the form of the hermit on the bunk. The boys looked on in wonder. Who could this stranger be?
The young man seemed to know something about the duties of a doctor, for he rapidly felt about the aged man, for signs of broken bones, and then, finding none, passed his hand over the sufferer's head.
"Ah, there's the trouble," he said. "He's had a bad knock there, but it doesn't seem to be serious. I think he'll soon come around. You have coffee?" and he sniffed the air.
"Good and hot!" answered Sammy.
"Let me have some," suggested the young man, and some was given him in a cup. Holding the aged man up in one arm, the young man managed to get some of the hot coffee down his throat. It did good at once, for Mr. Addison opened