"Of course he did! I was so much interested in you that I paid little
attention to your name, and it glided past me as if I'd not heard it. He
told of a friend of his, name of yours, who had been lost, murdered they
all believed by some spy."

"And did he say nothing also of Tayoga, a wonderful Onondaga Indian, and
of David Willet, a great hunter?"

"Aye, so he did. I recall those names too. Said the Indian was the most
marvelous trailer the world had ever known, could trace the flight of a
bird through the air, and a lot more that must have been pure romance."

"It's all true! every word of it. I'll see that you meet Tayoga, and
then you'll believe, and you must know Willet, too, one of the grandest
men that ever lived, soul of honor, true as steel, all those things."

"I believe you! Every word you say! But I can't keep you talking here
with the water dripping from you. We really couldn't question your
truth, either, after you'd saved our ship and all our lives. I see you
have a naval uniform of ours. Well, we'll give you a dry one in its
place. See that the best the _Hawk_ has is his, Lanham."

Robert was taken to a small cabin that was vacant and he exchanged into
dry clothing. He went back a little later to the captain's room with
Lanham, where they insisted upon his taking refreshment, and then
Captain Whyte sent him to bed.

"I've a million questions to ask you, Mr. Lennox," he said, "but I won't
ask 'em until to-morrow. You must sleep."