"'An attempt,' said he, 'at robbery and perhaps upon my life. You saw a boat?' "'Yes,' I said, 'we saw a boat. Was that the man who has been attempting robbery?' "'The leader,' said he; 'we have the others,' he looked at his retainers, who looked down at us in a most theatrical way. "'Do you know who he was--the leader?' I asked. All this time I was sitting in the dancing boat while the boatman fended her off with his long arms. "'No, I regret not.' "'I can tell you, if you want to know,' I said. He leaned down to get a good look at me, looked back over his shoulder, and called in a reproving voice, upon which one of his minions flew down with a lantern, and we viewed each other in the glare. "'I think it will be better if you accept my hospitality,' he said, studying me thoughtfully. 'My carriage will take you back to your ship.' He spoke again to my man who replied with grave decorum. I saw him now, a tall, sunburned fellow with an immense black moustache, a round flat cap on his black head, and an embroidered coat with innumerable small buttons and frogs. He held the boat a little nearer in shore and I stepped on to the sea-worn marble stairway. And without a word, in accordance with the magical nature of the affair, my romantic boatman, who had borne me away from my youth and who had proceeded methodically to bear me onward toward my inevitable destiny, pushed off with an oar into the fog and was lost. "And I assure you," insisted Mr. Spenlove in an aggrieved tone, "that I have the same memory of the scene which followed as one has of a complicated dream. I am not prepared, at this moment, to go into a court of law and swear to all that passed between myself and that perturbed gentleman in the silk pajamas and the fur overcoat. I was living very intensely at the time, you must remember. The exact incidence of the adventure was not clear to me until I was back on the ship. Even when we sat in an apartment of immense size and sombre magnificence, and he said courteously, 'Have we by any chance met before?' I did not fully wake up. I said: "'I believe so, but I must admit I have forgotten your name.' "'That is easy,' he smiled. 'It is Kinaitsky. I am equally guilty--more so, for I am not certain whether I have seen you....' he paused as he passed me some cigarettes. "'At the ---- Hotel in London,' I suggested. He pondered for a moment, observing me intently. "'It would be as well to give me the details,' he remarked. 'Since you are about to do me a valuable service, I should know to whom I am indebted.' "I told him. He remained silent for quite a while and I sat enjoying a perfect cigarette and an almost equally perfect glass of wine. At length he said: "'And I understand that your interest in this lady has led you here?' "'Oh, no,' I assured him. 'People in my walk of life can't do things like that. It just happens my ship's charter was changed, that is all. You can call it good luck, if you like, or bad.'