h the wire, Pharo?"

"Yis, by clam! and I'm a-comin' for ye, Shamgar, an' the next crack I
git on that thar rollin' cruiser o' yourn, she'll wish she'd 'a' died
las' week!"

The Basin conception of the game not being based on a spirit of
emulation so much as on the cheerful clash of immediate vivid strokes,
Captain Shamgar laughed loudly.

"We are now open for remarks," intimated Elder Skates feebly, afflicted
but firm in his rubber boots.

After a season of respectful silence within the school-house there was
a sepulchral whisper from one elderly female to another on the back
seats:

"Did ye know 't Elvine had plucked her geese?"

"Sartin. She plucked 'em too clost, and they was around fryin' in the
sun scand'lous; but I don't surmise as she knew no better."

"In course not. Ye know Miss Lester's boardin' some folks 't Gov'ment
sent down t' inspect the lighthouse. It's a young man, an' he brought
his wife, an' after he'd finished his job they liked it so well they're
jest stayin' on, cruisin' 'round an' playin' tricks on each other. So,
ef you'll believe me, what does that Gov'ment young man do one day but
go an' bring home a passel o' snakes----"

The voice, to the eager ears of the listeners, ventured more and more
upon audibility--

"An' he fixed 'em in a box in the woodshed, with a string to the cover,
an' then stepped into the kindlin'-closet, holdin' the string, ter wait
till the women came out, ter pull it an' then see what the verdick
would be! Wal, what think you--but his wife she suspicioned of 'im,
an' she was around thar hidin', an' jest as soon as he stepped into the
closet, afore he could pull the string, she flounced up an' fastened
the door on the outside. An' she kep' 'im in there till he'd say:
'Wife, wife, there's lots o' green in my eye; but I'll make my supper
on humble pie. I'll dump them snakes in the pond, dear wife; an' ef
you'll only let me out I'll be good all my life."

"Wal, thar now!" said an admiring voice; "I should think she must be
r'al gifted. Did he say it?"

"Yes, he got it out, somewheres along in the shank o' the evenin'. But
Miss Lester says it's jest as good as bein' to the front seat in a
show, the whole livin', endurin' time."

"Gov'ment pays their board, in course?"

"Sartin, and well it c'n be some use now an' then, settin' 'round
there, not knowin' nothin' in this world what to do with its surplice."

A sharp peal rang through the window.

"Thar