"Yes, and the lady is very anxious to know you. It is Madame de la Maine."
A very warm color flushed the cheeks of the invalid. He remembered all he had heard and all he had known. He congratulated his friend with sincere warmth, and after a few moments said:
"If you really want me to go back with you on the yacht, old chap—"
"I really do," said Tremont serenely. "You see, when we came on the boat we scarcely hoped to be so fortunate as to bring back the distinguished captain."
Sabron smiled.
"But you have not told me yet," he said, "why you came down."
"No," said Tremont, "that is true. Well, it will make a story for the sea."
CHAPTER XXVII
VALOR IN RETROSPECT
In the month of May, when the chestnuts bloom in the green dells, where the delicate young foliage holds the light as in golden cups, a young man walked through one of the small allées of the Bois at the fashionable noon hour, a little reddish dog trotting at his heels. The young man walked with an imperceptible limp. He was thin as men are thin who have lived hard and who have overcome tremendous obstacles. He was tanned as men are browned who have come from eastern and extreme southern countries.