"Luckily, in my belt that Captain Vando had appropriated was my
passport. I went to the United States consul at Palermo, Mr. Drake,
had the passport vised, and got him to cash one of the bills of
exchange for me. Suddenly, one day, the thought came into my mind,
had you, Alice, thinking me dead, married again? I decided to find
out before the announcement of my return to the land of the living
could be spread broadcast, and I persuaded Mr. Drake to keep back the
information from his official report for a while, at least. This he
was able to do easily, as he was on the point of going away for a
vacation of a few months, and the other members of the consulate knew
very little of my case.
"I decided to continue bearing the name of Alessandro Nondra for a
while, at least, and I knew I could make a living in some way when my
present funds were exhausted. How I regretted the cashing of that
bill of exchange, because I knew it would eventually lead to my
discovery; but I was so changed, with my iron-gray hair, and Van Dyke
beard, that I felt I could escape detection until I knew whether my
wife still waited for me or not.
"I decided to make my way north to Ostend, and would cross from there
to England, where I felt sure I could find some news of you, or Aunt
Ella. I stopped off here in Vienna for a day or two. When I heard my
son called by name this morning I could not resist, and instead of
finding my son alone, I have also found his mother, my wife.
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