We had hardly gone any distance, when he stopped at a gate which proved to be the back entrance to a garden, and following him through it, I was led along a path which was strewn with leaves in all the wealth of autumnal coloring, while through the trees there was the deep blue of the sea, flecked with crests of foam. We had gone about fifty yards when we came upon a cottage, in front of which, on a promontory, was a neatly trimmed lawn, guarded by six trees that stood like sentinels. The lower branches had been cut to give a better view, and their appearance lent a quaintly tropical look to the place, as if they were palms. In front of the house, fields sloped gradually to the edge of the cliff, which overlooked the sea beneath. "My dear old Pest!" Against the background of trees I had failed to notice him sitting in an invalid's chair. In three strides I was by his side, his hands in mine ... but no words came to my faltering lips. For a moment the gray of his eyes softened to a look of understanding; then the old smile, just as charming as ever, irradiated his face. "This is an event," he said, "to be entered in the log.--Sindbad!" The ex-seaman who had acted as my guide pulled at his forelock. "Ay, ay, cap'n!" "Take this gentleman's things to the guestroom upstairs." "The cabin to starboard? Werry good, cap'n." Heavens! such a voice! There were fog, gale, piracy, rum, and combat in it. "Sindbad," said Norman, in answer to my look, "is one of my indiscretions--like 'Arcadia.' He turned up here one day with such a tale of the sea as would have shamed Robert Louis Stevenson at his best. So far as I can discover, he has been in every naval fight since Aboukir Bay. He's a bit hazy on the Jutland scrap, but hints darkly at the possibility of an invasion by Spain. He is convinced that the _Armada_ is only hiding and waiting its time." In spite of myself, I laughed. "As he refused to go, I decided to employ him as a man-of-all-work, and, as he appeared to have forgotten his own name, I gave him that of 'Sindbad,' which pleased him as much as me. As a result of my engaging him, the lawn you stand on is the quarter-deck which he never fails to salute. As nearly as I can discover, we are sailing a perpetual voyage--you see by this view that the illusion is possible--and we're living in the imminent danger and hope of an attack by the Spanish. By the way, old man, would you rather go upstairs and clean up? Are you cold sitting there? Sometimes, being so comfortable myself, I forget all about my guests." I protested, sincerely, that I was quite contented where I was. "Good!" he smiled. "Now tell me all about London.... I see you were hit twice. From more than a dozen sources I've heard how splendid you were in France."