"I think," he said, "that I will visit Colonel Strong at his house, and
as my time in Boston must be short 'twill be best for me to go now."

Both Mr. Carver and Mr. Mason urged him to spend the night at their
houses, and Captain Whyte and Lieutenant Lanham were zealous for his
return with them to the _Hawk_, but he declined the offer, though saying
he would certainly visit the sloop before he left Boston. He judged that
it would be wise to leave the four together, in the coffee-house, and,
after receiving careful instructions how to reach the mansion of that
most respectable and worthy Bostonian, Colonel Elihu Strong, he went
into the street.

He found the Strong home to be a goodly house, one of the best in the
city, partly of brick and partly of wood, with columns in front, all
very spacious and pleasing. He knocked with a heavy brass knocker and a
trim colored maid responded.

"Is Colonel Strong at home?" he asked.

"He is, sir," she responded in English as good as his own, "though
confined to his chair with a wound in the leg which makes his temper a
trifle short at times."

"Naturally. So would mine be if I couldn't walk. I wish to see him."

"What name, sir, shall I say?"

"Tell him 'tis one who served with him in wilderness fighting, on the
eve of Ticonderoga."