"Have you received any letters signed 'An old friend'?"
"Many! I presume, then, that you are that friend; but why not avow yourself?"
"I could not."
"If all you tell me in those letters be true, it is an odious and infamous action," cried Tom Mitchell.
"I know it is, and I have counted on you and your father to see that justice be done," continued Durand.
"Count on me," said Tom. "I have seen your friend, and though he does not like me, he won my heart at once."
"He will change his mind."
"But what can my father do in the matter?"
"Everything. You must now understand, my friend, that if I have abandoned my ship in New York to the care of my mate, if I, who hate dry land, have started on a journey through the desert, it must be for powerful reasons."
"Doubtless. May I ask what they are?"