“I do not.”
“And yet you have confidence in this disguised stranger?”
“Have I alluded to him as a stranger, sir?”
Alan passed his hand across his brow, and said slowly:
“He is not a stranger to you and, evidently, he knows me remarkably well; I might say too well.”
“Ahem! You would be likely to recall your words, if you did.”
“Mr. Follingsbee, who is this man?”
“I am not at liberty to speak his name.”
“What is he, then?”
“First of all, a gentleman; a man whose championship does you honor, for it proves that he believes in you, in spite of this Van Vernet.”