Robert was intensely interested.  Charteris’ fund of information was wonderful, and he flavored it with a salt of his own.  He not only knew the people, but he knew all about them, their personal idiosyncrasies, their rivalries and jealousies.  Robert soon gathered that New York was not only a seething city commercially, but socially as well.  Family was of extreme importance, and the great landed proprietors who had received extensive grants along the Hudson in the earlier days from the Dutch Government, still had and exercised feudal rights, and were as full of pride and haughtiness as ducal families in Europe.  Class distinctions were preserved to the utmost possible extent, and, while the original basis of the town had been Dutch, the fashion was now distinctly English.  London set the style for everything.

When they were all seated, the display of fine dress and jewels was extraordinary, just as the wealth and splendor shown in some of the New York houses had already attracted the astonished attention of many of the British officers, to whom the finest places in their own country were familiar.

And while Robert was looking so eagerly, the party to which he belonged did not pass unnoticed by any means.  Master Benjamin Hardy was well known.  He was bold and successful and he was a man of great substance.  He had qualities that commanded respect in colonial New York, and people were not averse to being seen receiving his friendly nod.  And those who surrounded him and who were evidently his guests were worthy of notice too.  There was Edward Charteris, as well born as any in the hall, and a pattern in manners and dress for the young men of New York, and there was the tall youth with the tanned face, and the wonderful, vivid eyes, who must surely, by his appearance, be the representative of some noble family, there was the young Indian chief, uncommon in height and with the dignity and majesty of the forest, an Indian whose like had never been seen in New York before, and there was the gigantic Willet, whose massive head and calm face were so redolent of strength.  Beyond all question it was a most unusual and striking company that Master Benjamin Hardy had brought with him, and old and young whispered together as they looked at them, especially at Robert and Tayoga.

Mr. Hardy was conscious of the stir he had made, and he liked it, not for himself alone, but also for another.  He glanced at Robert and saw how finely and clearly his features were cut, how clear was the blue of his eyes and the great width between them, and he drew a long breath of satisfaction.

“’Tis a good youth.  Nature, lineage and Willet have done well,” he said to himself.

More of the fashion of New York came in and then a group of British officers, several of whom nodded to Grosvenor.