"I do not yet know why I have come to Albany, but I feel sure it is well that I have come." Mr.Huysman hustled about, his great red face glowing while fat Caterina brought in more to eat.

He insisted that the new guests sit at the table and eat tremendously.

It was a time when hospitality meant repeated offerings of food, which in America was the most abundant of all things, and Mr.Hardy and Mr.Pillsbury easily allowed themselves to be persuaded.
"And now, Robert, you must tell me something more about Dave," said the merchant as they rose from the table.
Young Lennox promptly narrated their adventures among the peaks and about the lakes while the older men listened with breathless attention.
Nor did the story of the great hunter suffer in Robert's telling.

He had an immense admiration for Willet and he spoke of his deeds with such vivid words and with so much imagery and embroidery that they seemed to be enacted again there in that quiet room before the men who listened.
"Ah, that is Dave! True as steel.

As honest and brave as they ever make 'em," said Master Benjamin Hardy, when he had finished.