lly
Mrs. Harmon, who felt keenly what Mrs. Royal had said.

"I was never so mortified and offended in all my life," she confided to
Miss Arabella, as they walked along the road together. "Just think of
her talking that way, and she a clergyman's wife, too."

"Umph!" and Miss Arabella tilted her nose higher than ever, "she talked
mighty big to-day, but she'll find out her mistake sooner than she
expects. Just think what she said about that horrid old captain, who
can't speak a civil word to any one. Why, he swears awful. I heard
him say 'dang hang it' one time, and a man who uses such language as
that is not a fit companion for a little boy."

Little did Captain Josh and Rod care what people said. Though months
had now passed into years, their friendship was as firm as ever. Happy
were they in each other's company, and many were the trips they made up
and down the river in the _Roaring Bess_. The captain had sturgeon
nets in a cove five miles away from his own shore. Twice a day he
visited these, and when Rod was on hand he went with him. The boy was
always interested in the big fish which were often caught, and when
they were sometimes tethered in the shallow water near the Anchorage he
felt sorry for the poor creatures.

"I wonder if they mind it," he once remarked to the captain. "Do you
suppose they think of their little baby sturgeons, and how they are
getting along?"

"Guess they don't bother much about it, lad," was the reply. "They
haven't enough sense fer that. They are like a lot of people who are
willin' to be led around by the nose jist like that big feller out
there. He is always swimmin' around, but he gits nowhere. He soon
comes to the end of his rope, and yet he keeps on swimmin' the same as
before."

The day this conversation took place, the wind was blowing in strong
from the northwest, and the captain was making ready for a trip to his
nets. Soon the boat was speeding up the river, with her sail full
spread to the stiff breeze. Having reached the cove and taken a number
of fish from the nets, they began to beat homeward. By this time the
wind had increased in strength, and as they ran backwards and forwards
across the river, they were continually washed by the waves which raced
to meet them.

"Isn't this great!" Rod exclaimed, as he nestled in the cock-pit, and
held on firmly lest he should be swept overboard. "I was never out in
such a breeze as this before."

The captain