Since that hour I have been a wanderer on the face of the earth, finding small comfort in this life; yet Ezekiel Cairnes is merely the poor servant of the Lord, the chief of sinners, and must abide in travail until He cometh." He cast up his eyes in pious affectation, his lips moving as though he meditated in prayer.
"Then your name is Cairnes ?" "Ezekiel Cairnes, late of the Connecticut colony, and am permitted by the Lord's mercy to write Reverend before my unworthy appellation." "A Puritan preacher!" I exclaimed in some disgust.

"I have heard of your sort before, yet have been spared a meeting until now.

Where do you propose going ?" "The Lord leadeth His anointed, young man.

Even as Jonah abode in the belly of the whale, so doth the water bear me onward as the Almighty willeth." His wandering eyes rested thoughtfully upon my companion, now returning toward us, sauntering listlessly along the sandy shore.
"I know not, friend, who you may be, save as you have seen fit to reveal," he said shrewdly.

"Yet I would venture a guess as to yonder gayly attired cavalier." "A guess ?" I echoed, taken completely by surprise.