some face, with its severely clear-cut features,
his black hair and brows, his somber eyes, are the legitimate
qualifications of the stage villain. Even the well-known cigarette is
seldom lacking; therefore, if I wished for revenge, I have often had it.
When I am to blame for anything, Alb is sure to be suspected.

Indeed, any one might have thought, from the impatient fire in his eyes,
as he steered "Lorelei" (alias "Mascotte") through the canal after
leaving Groningen, that his was the secret need for haste, his the
guilty desire to escape.

As for me, I hid my rage at the legal mandate which here compelled us to
"go no faster than a man can walk." Under an air of blithe _insouciance_
I disguised my fears, never starting perceptibly at "any toot" behind us
which might mean Sir Alec on our track, and appearing to enjoy with the
free spirit of a boy, the one great amusement of the day.

This consisted in surprising and making happy many families of children
on board the lighters we passed, by bestowing upon them toys and
strange sugary cakes bought at Leeuwarden Kermess. Not all the lighters
had children, but those that had, owned dozens, and all the ugly ones
had whooping-cough.

If I had been given my way, only the pretty children and those who did
not whoop should have got presents; but the extraordinary lady who plays
the part of aunt to me, and chaperon to the Angels, said that the uglier
you are, the more gifts you need. Perhaps it is on this principle she
has demanded so many from me. But--_is_ she ugly? I hardly know. She has
one of those strange little faces which do not seem to express the soul
behind them--a face whose features I can't see when I shut my eyes. I
should like, by the way, to know what hers are like, behind her big blue
spectacles; but she says they are not strong, so possibly the blue glass
is a merciful dispensation.

Her mildest hints, as well as her commands, are invariably acted upon,
and though she seldom insists, she magnetizes. Accordingly, the ugliest
children got the best things; but as there were more pretty than ugly
ones, the toys lasted all the way along the somewhat monotonous canal to
Assen, a little town half lost in its own forests.

It took us till evening to get there, and as we were to sleep on the
boats, rather than risk the hotel, I proposed to Alb that we should
start again early the next morning, before the ladies waked. "There
can't be much to see at Assen," said