motive power of the
_Whatnot_ still remained unprovided, Sabella begged that he would draw
some of her money from the bank and use it, but this the old man firmly
declined to do.

"No, Sabella," he would say; "what is mine is yours; but what is yours
is your own, and it would be as bad as stealing for me to touch it."

"But it is mine," the girl would argue; "and if I want to give it to
you, more than I want to do anything else with it, I don't see why you
shouldn't let me."

"No, dear," her guardian would reply. "It is not yours. It is only
held in trust for you until you become of age, by which time you will
have many other uses for money besides gratifying an old man's whim."

"But you will pay it back long before then."

"I might, and then again I might not. There is nothing more uncertain
than the things we think we are sure of."

Then the girl would throw her arms about his neck and exclaim, "Oh, you
dear old stupid! How horridly honest you are! and what a beautiful
world this would be if everybody in it was just like you."

"Yes, my dear; Stupidity and Honesty are apt to be comrades, and
undoubtedly they would make a beautiful world if left to themselves;
but it would be frightfully dull. Now don't you worry your pretty
head about the mule, for we can drift with the current until we have
given two or three exhibitions, and so made money enough to buy one.
Then, having earned him, how much more shall we enjoy him than if he
were only a borrowed mule?"

Cap'n Cod would have preferred a steamboat to one propelled by
mule-power, but the expenses of machinery and an engineer were too
great to be considered. He made the _Whatnot_ look as much like a
steamboat as he could, and even proposed ornamenting her with an
imitation chimney as soon as he could afford such a luxury. He also
hoped soon to be able to engage some active young fellow as deck hand
and general assistant. In the mean time the _Whatnot's_ crew consisted
of himself, Sabella, and Solon, an old negro who had been cook of the
mess to which Cap'n Cod had belonged in the army, and who had followed
his fortunes ever since.

As nearly every one in Dubuque who was at all interested in such things
had seen the panorama during its painting and construction, and as
Cap'n Cod's dramatic reputation was well known there, he deemed it
advisable to give the first exhibitions of his show in some smaller and
less critical places. He called it a "show,