"Indeed, there is a sea, but it is far, far away. It is thirty days
away."

"And how do you go?" asked Lewis.

"I do not know. I only know that one must go to Joazeiro, and from there
they say there is a road of iron that leads one to the sea."

"Joazeiro!" exclaimed the guide. "Ah, that is some sense. Joazeiro is a
place. It is on the river. Petrolina is on this side, Joazeiro on that.
As for this road of iron, hah!" He turned on the muleteer. "Thou, too,
art mad."

The stranger listened to what Lewis had to say, then he drew out a map
from his pocket, unfolded it, and spread it on the table. "A road of
iron, eh? Well, let's see."

The guide grinned at Lewis.

"It is a picture of the world," he said. "He stares at it daily."

"Yes," said the stranger, "here we are--Joazeiro."

Lewis leaned over his shoulder. He saw the word "Joazeiro." From it a
straight red line ran eastward to the edge of the map.

The stranger measured distances with a pencil. "We can make Joazeiro in
fifteen days," he said. "Tell the men we will rest to-day and to-night.
To-morrow we start."

The marvels of that camp were a revelation to Lewis. He kept his mouth
shut, but his eyes were open. One battered thing after another revealed
its mystery to him. He turned to the stranger.

"You are a great traveler," he said.

The stranger started. He had been day-dreaming.

"A great traveler? Yes. I have been a wanderer on all the faces of the
earth. I have lived seven lives. I'll give them to you, if you like."

Lewis smiled, puzzled, but somehow pleased.

"Give them to me--your seven lives?"

The stranger did not answer. Gloom had settled on the face that Lewis
had seen only alight. Lewis, too, was silent. His life with Ann and the
Reverend Orme had taught him much. He recognized the dwelling-place of
sorrow.

Presently the stranger shook his mood from him.

"Come," he said, "let us begin." From one of his bags he took a pack of
cards. He sat at the table and shuffled them. "There are many games of
patience," he continued. "They are all founded on averages and thousands
of combinations, so intricate that the law of recurrence can be
determined only by months of figuring. However, one can learn a patience
without bothering with the law of recurrence. I shall now teach you a
game called Canfield."

Time after time the cards were laid out, played, and reshuffled.

"Now," said the stranger, "do you think you know the game?"

"Yes,