“Did she have any success in finding her brother?” asked Mr. Bobbsey.

“No,” answered Mrs. Whipple, “she did not, I’m sorry to say.  She and my husband feel bad about it.  But he may be found some day.  He has been missing many years.”

It was two or three days after this talk that, one evening, Mr. and Mrs. Whipple and Laddie were in the hotel rooms of the Bobbseys, paying a visit, when a telegram was brought up for Mr. Bobbsey.

“It’s from Lakeport,” he said, as he opened it and saw the date and the name of the place from which it had come.

“From Lakeport?” asked Mr. Whipple, as Mr. Bobbsey was reading the message.  “That’s where the old woodsman lives, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” answered Mrs. Bobbsey.  “And, though he is very ill, he is being well looked after, thanks to the money you gave for him.”

“Oh, I didn’t give much.  It was your husband who did the most.  I was glad to help, for I always have a soft spot in my heart for those who camp in the woods.  How is Uncle Jack, by the way?  I believe that’s his name?”

“Yes, that was his name,” said Mr. Bobbsey in a queer voice, as he held the telegram out to Mr. Whipple.

“It was his name—­what do you mean?”

“I mean that he has come to his senses now.  The doctors have operated on him and he will get better.  There was an injury to his head that made him forget much of his early life.  But now he is all right and he remembers his real name.”

“What is it?” asked Mrs. Bobbsey, while the others breathlessly waited for an answer.  “What is his real name?”

“John Whipple,” was the answer.  “That’s what this telegram is about.  Though everybody called the woodchopper Uncle Jack, his real name is John Whipple!”

CHAPTER XXII

REUNITED

The Bobbsey twins were not as much surprised at what their father said, after reading the telegram, as was Mr. Whipple.  He fairly jumped up from his chair, on hearing what Mr. Bobbsey answered, and reached out his hand for the message.

“His name is Whipple!” cried the department store owner.  “Are you sure his name is John Whipple?”

“That’s what the telegram says,” went on Mr. Bobbsey.  “You may read it.  It seems he asked to have it sent to me as soon as he knew he was getting better, and when he remembered who he was.  He says he remembers he had a brother and a sister.”

Mr. Whipple seemed very much excited.  Even Flossie and Freddie, young as they were, could tell that.  He took the telegram from Mr. Bobbsey, but he did not read it.  Instead he looked at the children’s father and asked: 

“Do you know this old woodchopper very well?”

“I have seen him a number of times,” said Mr. Bobbsey, “and he often comes to my house with loads of wood.  The children know him, too.  I have told you how he helped Freddie and Flossie out of the snow bank and took them to his cabin.”