“How can I blame you?” replied Harry. “The fog is as thick as mud.”
“My name is Nares. My ship the Benares of the P. & O. line. We will compensate you for your loss. Was yours a yacht?”
“No. A schooner.”
“Are you in trade here?”
“It will be necessary, Mr. Nares, to tell you my story.”
“I will listen to it with pleasure.”
“If it is too long I must apologize and claim your kind attention.”
“My time is at your disposal.”
“Good!”
Harry told him what had happened to Young Jack Harkaway and himself in Arabia, and recent events in Mecca.