und her waist, and she looking up into his eyes
like they were peekholes in the fence 'round paradise. That was enough.
It just simply COULDN'T go any further, so that night me and Jonadab had
a confab up in my room.

"Barzilla," says the cap'n, "if we tell Peter that that relation of
his is figgering to marry Maudina Stumpton for her money, and that he's
more'n likely to elope with her, 'twill pretty nigh kill Pete, won't it?
No, sir; it's up to you and me. We've got to figger out some way to get
rid of the critter ourselves."

"It's a wonder to me," I says, "that Peter puts up with him. Why don't
he order him to clear out, and tell Belle if he wants to? She can't
blame Peter 'cause his uncle was father to an outrage like that."

Jonadab looks at me scornful. "Can't, hey?" he says. "And her high-toned
and chumming in with the bigbugs? It's easy to see you never was
married," says he.

Well, I never was, so I shut up.

We set there and thought and thought, and by and by I commenced to sight
an idee in the offing. 'Twas hull down at first, but pretty soon I got
it into speaking distance, and then I broke it gentle to Jonadab. He
grabbed at it like the "Labrador mack'rel" grabbed Stumpton's hook. We
set up and planned until pretty nigh three o'clock, and all the next
day we put in our spare time loading provisions and water aboard the
Patience M. We put grub enough aboard to last a month.

Just at daylight the morning after that we knocked at the door of
Montague's bedroom. When he woke up enough to open the door--it took
some time, 'cause eating and sleeping was his mainstay--we told him that
we was planning an early morning fishing trip, and if he wanted to go
with the folks he must come down to the landing quick. He promised to
hurry, and I stayed by the door to see that he didn't get away. In about
ten minutes we had him in the skiff rowing off to the Patience M.

"Where's the rest of the crowd?" says he, when he stepped aboard.

"They'll be along when we're ready for 'em," says I. "You go below
there, will you, and stow away the coats and things."

So he crawled into the cabin, and I helped Jonadab get up sail. We
intended towing the skiff, so I made her fast astern. In half a shake we
was under way and headed out of the cove. When that British poet stuck
his nose out of the companion we was abreast the p'int.

"Hi!" says he, scrambling into the cockpit. "What's this mean?"

I was steering and feeling tol