sarvice--and then his digging his head right
into your stomach, when he come thundering into the boat, I call a
regular assault and battery."

"How you like you cold duck wid sea-weed saace, Missa Gladding?"
retorted Primus; and here the two united in peals of laughter.

"Cunning fellow, dat Basset," said Primus. "He kill two bird wid one
stone--knock me into de bottom ob de boat, and chuck you oberboard,
all at once." And the merriment was renewed.

"Do you think he has any suspicions, Prime!" said Tom.

"Dat question acquire some reflexum," answered the General. "Whedder
it was old Holden or de fisherman ghost dat gib him de strike on de
back?"

"No, I don't mean that. I mean whether he thought you or me had
anything to do with it."

"I guess not," said the General, doubtingly. "If sich an idee git into
his head, somebody will put it dere."

"Well, what did he say coming home?"

"Not much; dere he set in front, wid his back to me, rowing, and his
head all tie up wid my bandanna, and he seem sort o' snarl up, as if
he want a night's rest to take de kinks out ob him. He was not much
'cline to 'greeable conversashum. I feel kind o' sorry when I see him
so mellancholliky like."

"You needn't be so liberal with your sorry. The scamp desarves it all
and more, too. The cretur's cheated us out of half our fun." How I
should ha' liked to leave him, as we intended, alone with old Holden
on the island! The chicken-hearted booby would ha' half died o'
fright, and then 'twould ha' been worth nuts to see how he looked when
the old man caught him in the morning, and asked after his business."

"He nebber stay till dat time. He would hab swum 'cross de channel,
and run home."

"Well, he'd found out, then, how a fellow likes to be soused in the
water, as the blundering blunderbus did me, darn him."

"O, nebber bear no malice. I 'scuse Basset 'cause he don't know no
better, and you must forgib him."

"As to that, you needn't fret your gizzard. But how did you git home,
Prime, with your broken leg?"

"Dat is a secret atween me and Basset; but I didn't walk."

"Then, I vow," said Tom, bursting into a laugh, "he either trundled
you along in a wheelbarrow, like a load o' pumpkins, or else carried
you on his back."

"Nobody roll me in a wheelbarrow," said the General, drawing himself
up, and affecting to be offended.

"I would ha' given all my old shirts to see a darkey riding Basset,"
said Tom, whose merriment increa