s ever. Neither the pictures, nor
the company, nor the staring of many eyes that wondered at his black
skull-cap and scarred swarthy face, were capable of disturbing the
Olympian serenity of this Jupiter of the back-woods.

"There!" cried Zack, pointing triumphantly across the room to
"Columbus." "Cudgel your brains, old boy, and guess what that is a
picture of, without coming to me to help you."

Mat attentively surveyed the figure of Columbus, the rig of his ship,
and the wings of the typical female spirits, hovering overhead in
the morning clouds--thought a little--then gravely and deliberately
answered:--

"Peter Wilkins taking a voyage along with his flying wives."

Zack pulled out his handkerchief, and stifled his laughter as well as he
could, out of consideration for Mat, who, however, took not the smallest
notice of him, but added, still staring intently at the picture.

"Peter Wilkins was the only book I had, when I was a lad aboard ship.
I used to read it over and over again, at odds and ends of spare time,
till I pretty nigh got it by heart. That was many a year ago; and a good
lot of what I knowed then I don't know now. But, mind ye, it's my belief
that Peter Wilkins was something of a sailor."

"Well?" whispered Zack, humoring him, "suppose he was, what of that?"

"Do you think a man as was anything of a sailor would ever be fool
enough to put to sea in such a craft as that?" asked Mr. Marksman,
pointing scornfully to Columbus's ship.

"Hush! old Rough and Tough: the picture hasn't anything to do with Peter
Wilkins," said Zack. "Keep quiet, and wait here a minute for me. There
are some friends of mine at the other end of the room that I must go and
speak to. And, I say, if Blyth comes up to you and asks you about the
picture, say it's Columbus, and remarkably like him."

Left by himself, Mat looked about for better standing-room than he then
happened to occupy; and seeing a vacant space left between the door-post
and Mr. Blyth's bureau, retreated to it. Putting his hands in his
pockets, he leaned comfortably against the wall, and began to examine
the room and everything in it at his leisure. It was not long, however,
before he was disturbed. One of his neighbors, seeing that his back was
against a large paper sketch nailed on the wall behind him, told him
bluntly that he was doing mischief there, and made him change his
position. He moved accordingly to the door-post; but even here he was
not left