three boats
from ours, was owned by a wealthy brewer and had a pavilion built on the
land back of where it was moored and connected by a broad gangplank with
the boat. They used this pavilion for dancing and vaudeville, but
although it was very nice and we were immensely entertained, still we
all decided that it was not much like a house-boat to be so much of the
time on land.

Each morning we would be wakened by the lapping of the water between the
boat and the bank, caused by the early swims of the men from the
neighbouring boats. The weather was just cool enough and just warm
enough to be delightful. They told us that it generally rained during
Henley week, but some one must have been a mascot, and we, with our
usual becoming modesty, announced that it must have been our Eagle. The
English, however, did not take kindly to that little pleasantry, and
only said, "Fancy" whenever we got it off.

The dining-room was too small to hold such a large dinner as we gave
the night we entertained the Princeton Track Team, so we had the table
spread on the upper deck in plain view of the craft on the river and our
neighbours on each side. Jimmie had the piano brought up too, when he
heard that two of them belonged to the Glee Club and could sing.

It seemed such a simple thing to us to take up an upright baby grand
piano that we never thought we were doing anything out of the common,
until we looked down over the railing and saw that no less than fifty
boats had ranged themselves in front of our house-boat, with as much
curiosity in our proceedings as if we were going to have a trained
animal exhibit. There were two English women dining with us, and I
privately asked one of them what under the sun was the matter.

"Oh! It is nothing much," she replied. "We cannot help thinking that you
Americans are so queer."

"Queer, or not!" I replied, stoutly, "we have things just as we want
them wherever we go. If we wanted to bring the punt up here and put it
on the dining-table filled with flowers, Jimmie would let us," to which
she replied, "Fancy!"

The table was very pretty that night. We had orange and black satin
ribbon down the middle of it and across the sides, finishing in big
bows. The centrepiece was made of black-eyed Susans. We women wore
orange and black wherever we could, and the men wore their sweaters as
they had been instructed. The dinner was slow in coming on, so between
courses we got up and danced. Then the men