"Did any of your family live there?"
"No." Old Burr looked away from Alan, and the queer cloudiness of his eyes became more evident.
"Why, do you ask all this?" he said irritably. "What have they been telling you about me? I told you about myself; our farm was in Emmet County, but we had a liking for the lake. One of my brothers was lost in '95 with the Miwaka and another in '99 with the Susan Hart."
"Did you know Benjamin Corvet?" Alan asked.
Old Burr stared at him uncertainly. "I know who he is, of course."
"You never met him?"
"No."
"Did you receive a communication from him some time this year?"
"From him? From Benjamin Corvet? No." Old Burr's uneasiness seemed to increase. "What sort of communication?"
"A request to send some things to Miss Constance Sherrill at Harbor Point."
"I never heard of Miss Constance Sherrill. To send what things?"
"Several things—among them a watch which had belonged to Captain Stafford of the Miwaka."
Old Burr got up suddenly and stood gazing down at Alan. "A watch of Captain Stafford's?—no," he said agitatedly. "No!"
He moved away and left the place; and Alan sprang up and followed him.
He was not, it seemed probable to Alan now, the James Burr of Corvet's list; at least Alan could not see how he could be that one. Among the names of the
