"When the time came for my departure," continued O'Rourke, "and the carriage was waiting at the curb, I just kissed her hand and left without saying a word. I came North and got doctors to examine me. They said that my heart and lungs were right as could be, and that the rest of my gear would straighten up in time. They promised even a return of my complexion with the departure of the malaria from my blood. But I must live a quiet life for awhile, they said; so to begin the quiet life I returned to Tampa, and that hospital. But I did not find the girl." "Was she hiding?" inquired Hemming. "Perhaps she had heard some stories to your discredit." "No," said O'Rourke, "she had resigned, and left the town, with her father. Evidently her troubles were ended--just as mine were begun." "What did you do about it?" asked Hemming, whose interest was thoroughly aroused. "Oh, I looked for her everywhere--in Boston, and New York, and Baltimore, and Washington, and read all the city directories," replied the disconsolate lover, "but I do not know her father's first name, and you have no idea what a lot of Hudsons there are in the world." Hemming discarded the butt of his cigar, and eyed his friend contemplatively. "I suppose you looked in the registers of the Tampa hotels?" he queried. "The old chap's name and perhaps his address would be there." O'Rourke started from his chair, with dismay and shame written on his face. "Sit down and have another," said Hemming; "we'll look it up in a few days." CHAPTER X. LIEUTENANT ELLIS IS CONCERNED By the time Hemming and O'Rourke reached Tampa, about thirty thousand men had gone under canvas in the surrounding pine groves and low-lying waste places. There were Westerners and Easterners, regulars and volunteers, and at Port Tampa a regiment of coloured cavalry. Troops were arriving every day. Colonel Wood and Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, with their splendid command of mounted infantry, had just pitched their shelter-tents in a place of scrub palmetto, behind the big hotel. Taken altogether, it was an army that made Hemming stare. The friends went to a quiet hotel with wide verandas, cool rooms, open fireplaces, and what proved equally attractive, reasonable rates. They inquired of the clerk about Mr. Hudson. He remembered the gentleman well, though he had spent only two days in the place. "He had a daughter with him," the man informed them, and, turning to the front of the register, looked up the name. "There's the signature, sir, and you're welcome to it," he said. The correspondents examined it intently for some time. "We know that _that_ means Hudson," remarked O'Rourke, at last, "and I should guess _John_ for the other sprawl." "Sprawl is good," said Hemming, straightening his monocle, "but any one can see that _Robert_ is the name." "I've put a lot of study on it," said the clerk, "and so has the boss, and we've about agreed to call it _Harold_."