first-class boys if you belong there; and he is glad of a
chance to give you a little fun. There he is calling us now!"--as a deep
voice shouted:

"All aboard, boys and girls! We're off in an hour! All aboard!"

"Dan--Dan," piped Freddy's small voice. "Jim and Dud are dressing for the
party, Dan. Come, we must dress, too."

And Dan, feeling like one venturing into unknown waters, proceeded to make
the best of the things Good Brother Francis had packed in his small shabby
trunk. There was the suit that bore the stamp of the English tailor; there
was a pair of low shoes, that pinched a little in the toes; there was a
spotless shirt and collar outgrown by some mother's darling, and a blue
necktie that was all a necktie should be when, with Freddy's assistance,
it was put properly in place. Really, it was not a bad-looking boy at all
that faced Dan in the "Lady Jane's" swinging mirror when this party
toilette was complete.

"You look fine, Dan!" said his little chum, as they took their way down to
the wharf where "The Polly" was awaiting them,--"so big and
strong--and--and--"

"Tough," said Dan, concluding the sentence with a forced laugh. "Well,
that's what I am, kid,--big and strong and tough."

"Oh, no,--Dan, no!" said Freddy. "You're not tough at all, and you mustn't
say so when you go to a girl's party, Dan."

"Well, I won't," said Dan, as he thought of the violet eyes that would
open in dismay at such a confession. "I'll play the highflier to-night if
I can, kid; though it's a new game with Dan Dolan, I must say."

And, with a queer sense of shamming that he had never felt before, Aunt
Winnie's boy started off for Miss Polly's party.

XVII.--POLLY'S PARTY.

To all Miss Polly's guests, that evening was a wonderful experience; but
to Dan it was an entrance into a fairy realm that his fancy had never
pictured; for in the hard, rough ways his childish feet had walked neither
fairies nor fancies had place. He had found sailing over sunlit seas in
Killykinick's dingy boats a very pleasant pastime; but the "Sary Ann"
seemed to sink into a drifting tub when he stood on the spotless deck of
"The Polly" as she spread her snowy wings for her homeward flight.

Dad, who, though very rich and great now, still remembered those "pirate
days" when he was young himself, proved the most charming of hosts. He
took the boys over his beautiful boat, where every bit of shining brass
and chain and rope and bit of rigging