ich wise men sometimes assume when listening to foolish suggestions.
"I could almost as easily forget my mother!"

"A very proper sentiment, Nigel, very--especially the 'almost' part of
it."

"Besides," continued the son, "she is not so _very_ young--and that
difficulty remedies itself every hour. Moreover, I too am young. I can
wait."

"The selfishness of youth is only equalled by its presumption," said
the captain. "How d'ee know _she_ will wait?"

"I don't know, father, but I hope she will--I--I--_think_ she will."

"Nigel," said the captain, in a tone and with a look that were meant to
imply intense solemnity, "have you ever spoken to her about love?"

"No, father."

"Has she ever spoken to _you_?"

"No--at least--not with her lips."

"Come, boy, you're humbuggin' your old father. Her tongue couldn't well
do it without the lips lendin' a hand."

"Well then--with neither," returned the son. "She spoke with her
eyes--not intentionally, of course, for the eyes, unlike the lips,
refuse to be under control."

"Hm! I see--reef-point-patterin' poetics again! An' what did she say
with her eyes?"

"Really, father, you press me too hard; it is difficult to translate
eye-language, but if you'll only let memory have free play and revert to
that time, nigh quarter of a century ago, when you first met with a
certain _real_ poetess, perhaps--"

"Ah! you dog! you have me there. But how dare you, sir, venture to think
of marryin' on nothin'?"

"I don't think of doing so. Am I not a first mate with a handsome
salary?"

"No, lad, you're not. You're nothin' better than a seaman out o' work,
with your late ship wrecked in a cocoa-nut grove!"

"That's true," returned Nigel with a laugh. "But is not the cargo of the
said ship safe in Batavia? Has not its owner a good bank account in
England? Won't another ship be wanted, and another first mate, and would
the owner dare to pass over his own son, who is such a competent
seaman--according to your own showing? Come, father, I turn the tables
on you and ask you to aid rather than resist me in this matter."

"Well, I will, my boy, I will," said the captain heartily, as he laid
his hand on his son's shoulder. "But, seriously, you must haul off this
little craft and clap a stopper on your tongue--ay, and on your eyes
too--till three points are considered an' made quite clear. First, you
must find out whether the hermit would be agreeable. Second, you must
look the matter st