“No, sir,” said I. “A fair fight, and you’ve won.”
As I was pushing off, he added:
“When you arrive, send me word.”
I nodded silently.
“Good-by, and good luck,” he said again.
I turned the boat’s head put to sea, and went forth on my lonely way into the night.
CHAPTER XV. — A DIPLOMATIC ARRANGEMENT.
As far I am concerned, this story has now reached an end. With my departure from Aureataland, I re-entered the world of humdrum life, and since that memorable night in 1884, nothing has befallen me worthy of a polite reader’s attention. I have endured the drudgery incident to earning a living; I have enjoyed the relaxations every wise man makes for himself. But I should be guilty of unpardonable egotism if I supposed that I myself was the only, or the most, interesting subject presented in the foregoing pages, and I feel I shall merely be doing my duty in briefly recording the facts in my possession concerning the other persons who have figured in this record and the country where its scene was laid.