“How long are you going to stay?”
“At least long enough to sell old Hippolyte a good bill of goods, I hope.”
“You are not going to see the old man himself?” he incredulously inquired.
“Surely. I hope to see him to-day.”
“You’d better be careful, Boynton. He remembers you in a way that is likely to make trouble for you.”
“He ought to have forgotten all about our little difference by this time, or at least he should not harbor hatred of me.”
“The old man has a long memory. He never forgets and I never have known him to forgive.”
I laughed at his friendly anxiety but he continued in the same strain. While we were talking we saw a young officer coming up the path to the hotel. “Here comes one of the old man’s aides,” said Belford. “He’s after you already.”
I told him it was impossible, for I had been in town only a few hours, but he insisted he was right and quickly left me so we should not be found together. I stepped into a side room where the young officer came up to see me in a few minutes, guided by the hotel proprietor.
“This is Captain Boynton?” he said, with more of declaration than inquiry.