-coloured oozing mud, scrubbing away at
the bottom of the ship, and laughing and singing among themselves,
while the reflective Warington, pipe in mouth, looked on and
encouraged the toilers.

All round the English coast sailed the Baden-Powells, fighting their
way to glory in regattas, and enjoying themselves from sunrise to
sunset. On racing days it was a case of "strictly to business," and
each boy had his proper station and knew well how to pull or slack out
ropes. On other days it was a case of fun and frolic, and here, of
course, B.-P. was the life and soul of the party. There were no
squabbles, no petty jealousies; never did the brothers throughout
their boyhood come to fisticuffs. But while there was perfect equality
among them and no favouritism was ever shown, Ste was regarded as the
prime comedian, and there was never any question that when theatricals
were the order of the day he should reign in supreme command.

One of the houses taken by Mrs. Baden-Powell for the holidays was
Llandogo Falls, a most romantic place on the Wye, the property of Mr.
Gallenga, the Italian correspondent of the _Times_, who had previously
got mixed up in a deep political plot in Italy, whereby he gained many
useful secrets, but whereby, at the same time, he was obliged to flee
out of Italy and return to England. We fancy this story in its full
details must have appealed strongly to the imagination of
Baden-Powell, whose after-life, could it be fully written, would
satisfy the keenest appetite for daring, excitement, and romance. But
to return to Llandogo Falls. Mrs. Baden-Powell, her daughter, and all
the servants made the journey from London by means of the railway; but
to the boys the fastest of express trains would have seemed slow, and
accordingly Warington made ready his collapsible boat, and, rowing by
day and sleeping on board by night, these indefatigable youngsters
left London behind them, crossed the Severn, and, pulling up the Wye,
arrived at Llandogo Falls, the first intimation of their arrival to
Mrs. Baden-Powell being the sight of them dragging the boat over the
lawn to the stables. This feat succeeded in endearing them to the
Welsh people in the neighbourhood, who were greatly struck by the
courage of the boys in crossing the Severn in a collapsible boat.

Here, at Llandogo Falls, the boys spent a great deal of time in riding
practically wild ponies, and even in those days Ste was famous for his
graceful seat, h