"True."
"You haven't the satisfaction of saying it," retorted Hunston, quickly; "I have said it for you. But the two men who hid me here had no idea who I was. Being hard pressed on shore—where you made it too hot to hold me—I took to the water, and when I was nearly sinking, I hailed their boat. They took me in and—"
"And you returned the compliment."
"How?"
"By taking them in," said Harkaway.
"They hid me away here to do me a service. I made my tale good to them. As my time, I feel, is nearly up in this world, I don't want to do them any wrong."
Harkaway listened in some astonishment.
The wretch's allusion to his approaching end thrilled Harkaway strangely.
"Do you feel so ill?" he asked.
Hunston smiled sardonically at this.