doorway led into a larger room, which was
furnished like the interior of a house. Upon a walnut table stood a
lamp, which the stranger lighted. He took the boy, already beginning to
breathe more freely, and laid him on a lounge, covered with a buffalo
skin, at the opposite side of the apartment. From a shelf he took a
bottle and administered a cordial to Robert, who, though not yet
sensible, mechanically swallowed it.

The effect was almost instantaneous.

The boy opened his eyes and looked about him in bewilderment.

"Where am I?" he inquired.

"What can you remember?" asked the old man.

Robert shuddered.

"I was struggling in the water," he answered. "I thought I was
drowning."

Then, gazing at the strange apartment and the majestic face of the
venerable stranger, he said hesitatingly:

"Am I still living or was I drowned?"

He was not certain whether he had made the mysterious passage from this
world to the next, so strange and unfamiliar seemed everything about
him.

"You are still in life," answered the stranger, smiling gravely. "God
has spared you, and a long life is yet before you if He wills."

"And you saved me?"

"Yes."

"How can I thank you? I owe you my life," said Robert gratefully.

"I am indebted to you for the opportunity once more to be of use to one
of my race."

"I don't understand how you could have saved me. When I went down I
could see no one near."

"On account of the dusk. I was not far away in my boat. I saw your peril
and hastened to your assistance. Fortunately I was not too late. Do you
know who it is that has saved you?"

"Yes," answered Robert.

"You have seen me before?"

"Yes, but not often."

"How do people call me?"

"They call you 'the hermit of the cliff.'"

"As well that as anything else," said the old man. "What more do they
say of me?"

Robert seemed reluctant to tell, but there was something imperative in
the old man's tone.

"Some say you are crazy," he answered.

"I am not surprised to hear it. The world is apt to say that of one who
behaves differently from his fellows. But I must not talk too much of
myself. How do you feel?"

"I feel weak," answered Robert.

"Doubtless. Swimming against such a current was a severe strain upon
your strength. Let me feel your pulse."

He pressed his finger upon Robert's pulse and reported that the action
was slow.

"It means exhaustion," he said. "You must sleep well, and to-morrow
morning you will f