He gave the canoe a prodigious shove. A moment later he was paddling steadily towards the North River. I watched him until he was lost in the darkness; then I set out across the island to Gravesoon, for I intended to repeat the journey that I had formerly made when I first came to New York. If, when I appeared at the manor-house, Van Volkenberg should doubt the truth of the story I was going to tell him, he would be likely to inquire into the circumstances of my arrival. I resolved to let him trace me to the very edge of the broad Atlantic. There he might stare to his heart’s content. He would see nothing but the wide blue circle of the sea. Fortune was on my side that morning. By day-light I was standing on the shore of the cove where I had been set down a few days before by Captain Tew. There was, by accident, at that very moment a great ship hull down in the offing. The presence of this vessel did me good service. When I approached the ordinary at Gravesoon, in spite of the early hour of the morning, I found a number of people about the door. One of them held a spy-glass in his hand and was trying to make out the identity of the distant ship. I was much relieved to find, when I came to speak with the landlord, that he had but the vaguest recollection of my former appearance. To be sure, he had seen me only once; yet he had a slight remembrance of the fact. When I hinted pretty plainly that I had come ashore from the ship, which by that time was almost out of sight, he said: “You are the second man this week. The other fellow came at night and, bless you! not a word would he say of where he came from or where he was going to.” This reassured me, for I had inquired after Van Volkenberg, and I was glad that the landlord had forgotten the fact. Then he said abruptly, “Can you blow a shell?” I assured him that I could. “Well, he couldn’t; he was a poor piece.” That ended our consultation. By noon I had left the ordinary at Gravesoon far behind me and had crossed the East River once more into New York. On different occasions during the day I met both my mistress and the Earl of Bellamont. I smiled to myself to think how I could have astonished them had I wished to speak out. I spent so much of the afternoon bartering for a horse and attending to other small matters that it was nearly sunset before I was ready to set out for the manor-house. To tell the truth, I had another reason for delay. I was minded to put my disguise to a more thorough test before I threw myself into the power of the patroon. With this end in view, I presented myself at Marmaduke Hall and inquired for the mistress.