But the man in the bed knew nothing of what was going on. His eyes were closed. His face was white and calm. Had it not been for an occasional slight twitching of the nostrils one might have thought that he was dead.
The doctor, who knew nothing of the reason for Miss Todd’s outburst, was astonished, but in a few words Fenton Hardy explained the situation to him. He shook his head sadly.
“And this is where she has found her brother, at last?”
“Yes. He has been missing for months.”
“I’m afraid,” said the doctor, “that she has found him only to lose him.”
“Is it that serious?”
“It’s concussion of the brain, and there seem to have been complications. He has only a slim chance to live.”
XXV
The Last of Captain Royal
Todham Todd hovered between life and death for almost two weeks. For days he lay unconscious, knowing nothing of the efforts that were being made to save him. He had the best of care, and the doctor gave him every attention, but admitted that the case was one in which he could do little.
“We simply have to wait,” he told the Hardy boys and Miss Todd. “He may be restored to consciousness at any moment. On the other hand, he may die just as quickly. He has a good constitution, so we may at least hope for the best.”
They were anxious days. Every morning, the Hardy boys called at the hospital to inquire about the strange patient, and every morning the answer was the same.
“Mr. Todd’s condition is unchanged.”
One morning Fenton Hardy came to his sons with a newspaper in his hand. He was smiling broadly.
“I think the mystery is explained,” he said. “Read this.”
In the newspaper was an account of the capture of Lieutenant Patwick. The man had been shot down on the seacoast by detectives. Thinking he was going to die, he had admitted the murder of Barton Bixby. He also spoke of hiding in a cave with a strange old man, a lunatic.
“Todham Todd,” murmured Frank.
“That makes everything as clear as day,” added Joe.
“He must have left his clippings with Captain Royal,” said Mr. Hardy. “Murderers usually like to read all that is printed about their crimes.”
The boys told Evangeline Todd the entire story of their meeting with Captain Royal, although in deference to the good lady’s feelings they refrained from mentioning the fight in the cave or the incident of the shotgun. How Todham Todd had found his way down to the coast and what had prompted him to call himself Captain Royal and take up his hermit existence in the cave, were mysteries.
“If he recovers, he may remember nothing about that phase,” the doctor had said. “You may use your own judgment whether to tell him of it or not.”
“We shan’t tell him,” declared Evangeline Todd decisively. “Let him take up the threads of his old life anew.”
Then her face clouded.
“That is—if he recovers,” she added, with a catch in her voice.
There came a morning when the nurse in charge saw the eyelids of the sick man flutter, and then he spoke.
“Where am I?” he asked, in a puzzled tone.
“You are quite safe,” the nurse told him. “You have met with an accident. You are in the hospital.”
“Ah, yes,” he said. “I remember now. There was a railroad accident. Something must have struck me on the head. I can remember a sudden blow, and that is all.”
“You have been unconscious for a long time, Captain. You must be quiet.”
“Captain?” he said. “I’m not a captain. My name is Todd. My name is Todham Todd. I’m a professor at the university.”
The doctor was called. He questioned the patient carefully and it was soon evident that Todham Todd had recovered his memory with the exception of the time following the first accident that had resulted in amnesia. From that time, everything was a blank. He knew nothing of his wanderings, knew nothing of what had happened in the caves, knew nothing of the accident that had restored his memory again.
“He will live,” the doctor told Evangeline Todd a short time later. “His memory is completely restored. Unless complications set in, he should be able to leave the hospital within a few days.”
The doctor’s prediction was correct.
Todham Todd, completely restored in memory, was able to leave the hospital before the week was out. The reunion between the man and his sister was an affectionate one. The professor had not the slightest inkling of all the strange events that had transpired from the time of the first accident until he woke up in the hospital at Bayport. He was deeply puzzled when he learned where he was, but the doctor covered up his bewilderment by explaining that his case had been so unusual that he had been brought there for special treatment when the doctors of his home city had failed to bring him back to consciousness.
He was introduced to the Hardy boys by Miss Todd, who was pathetically grateful to the lads for restoring her brother to her, safe and sound again. But there was no sign of recognition. Seeing the boys struck no responsive chord in Professor Todd’s memory. He knew nothing of the days when he had played at being Captain Royal. To all intents and purposes, he was seeing the Hardy boys for the first time.
They were content to let it remain at that and were careful to say nothing that might indicate they had known him previously. And when Todham Todd finally left the hospital and went to the hotel where his sister was staying, to rest there a few days before going back home, the Hardy boys were his firm friends.
“We must never let him know,” said Evangeline Todd to the boys that evening.
“You may rely on us, Miss Todd,” they assured her.
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am,” she said. “If you boys had
