"We were too far at sea for that," said Oliver. "If it really was Merkin he must have been picked up by some craft plying around the islands."
"I am going to look for news in the Honolulu Gazette," said I, and when we were in the hotel I asked to see all of the local English papers which were handy. At first I found nothing, but presently this item caught my eye:
"The bark Cambra has arrived at Wailuku after a stormy voyage from Waimea. When off the eastern coast of Oahu a castaway was picked up. He was a one-armed sailor named Caleb Merkin, and stated that he had fallen overboard from the Mariposa during a storm. The Mariposa officers know nothing of the fellow and no such name appears on the passenger list. After being held for two days by the local authorities, the sailor was allowed to go on his way rejoicing."
"There!" I cried, showing the item to my chums. "I'll wager he shipped on the Mariposa under an assumed name—doing that to avoid us,—although the game didn't work."
"Mark must be right," said Dan. "It's a great pity we didn't catch the fellow."
"He is another enemy to beware of," put in
