ce.

He was amazed that the stranger had come so boldly into Albany, but
second thought told him that there was no proof against him, it was
merely Robert's word against his. Among people absorbed in a great war
his own story would seem wildly improbable and the stranger's would have
all the savor of truth. But he knew that he could not be mistaken. He
saw now the spare face, clean shaven, and the hard eyes, set close
together, that he remembered so well.

Robert did not know what to do. He listened for a little while to
Grosvenor's narrative but his attention wandered back to the seafaring
man. Then he decided.

"Will you fellows talk on and excuse me for a few minutes?" he said.

"What is it, Lennox?" asked Colden.

"I see an acquaintance on the other side of the room. I wish to speak to
him."

"That being the case, we'll let you go, but we'll miss you. Hurry back."

"I'll stay only a few minutes. It's an old friend and I must have a
little talk with him."

He walked with light steps across the room which was crowded, humming
with many voices, the air heavy with smoke. The man was still at the
small table, and, opposite him, was an empty chair in which Robert sat
deliberately, putting his elbows on the table, and staring into the hard
blue eyes.

"I'm Peter Smith," he said. "You remember me?"

There was a flicker of surprise in the Captain's face, but nothing more.

"Oh, yes, Peter," he said. "I know you, but I was not looking for you
just at this moment."

"But I'm here."

"Perhaps you're coming back to your duty, is that it? Well, I'm glad.
I've another ship now, and though you're a runaway seaman I can afford
to let bygones be bygones."

"I hope your vessel has changed her trade. I don't think I'd care to
sail again on a slaver."

"Always a particular sort of chap you were, Peter. It's asking a lot for
me to change the business of my ship to suit you."

"But not too much."

The conversation was carried on in an ordinary tone. Neither raised his
voice a particle. Nobody took any notice. His own comrades, engrossed in
lively talk, seemed to have forgotten Robert for the moment, and he felt
that he was master of the situation. Certainly the slaver would be more
uncomfortable than he.

"I was wondering," he said, "how long you mean to stay in Albany."

"It's a pleasant town," said the man, "as I have cause to know since
I've been here before. I may remain quite a while. Still, I shall decide
w