ed upon the minds of all present,
with the exception of the Fleetwoods and the Wakefields. The facetious
Hardy, in fulfilment of his promise, had watched the child to a remote
part of the vessel, and, suddenly appearing before him with the most
awful contortions of visage, had produced his paroxysm of terror. Of
course, he now observed that it was hardly necessary for him to deny the
accusation; and the unfortunate little victim was accordingly led below,
after receiving sundry thumps on the head from both his parents, for
having the wickedness to tell a story.

This little interruption having been adjusted, the captain resumed, and
Miss Emily chimed in, in due course. The duet was loudly applauded, and,
certainly, the perfect independence of the parties deserved great
commendation. Miss Emily sung her part, without the slightest reference
to the captain; and the captain sang so loud, that he had not the
slightest idea what was being done by his partner. After having gone
through the last few eighteen or nineteen bars by himself, therefore, he
acknowledged the plaudits of the circle with that air of self-denial
which men usually assume when they think they have done something to
astonish the company.

'Now,' said Mr. Percy Noakes, who had just ascended from the fore-cabin,
where he had been busily engaged in decanting the wine, 'if the Misses
Briggs will oblige us with something before dinner, I am sure we shall be
very much delighted.'

One of those hums of admiration followed the suggestion, which one
frequently hears in society, when nobody has the most distant notion what
he is expressing his approval of. The three Misses Briggs looked
modestly at their mamma, and the mamma looked approvingly at her
daughters, and Mrs. Taunton looked scornfully at all of them. The Misses
Briggs asked for their guitars, and several gentlemen seriously damaged
the cases in their anxiety to present them. Then, there was a very
interesting production of three little keys for the aforesaid cases, and
a melodramatic expression of horror at finding a string broken; and a
vast deal of screwing and tightening, and winding, and tuning, during
which Mrs. Briggs expatiated to those near her on the immense difficulty
of playing a guitar, and hinted at the wondrous proficiency of her
daughters in that mystic art. Mrs. Taunton whispered to a neighbour that
it was 'quite sickening!' and the Misses Taunton looked as if they knew
how to p