he met the adoring glances of three pairs of innocent eyes.

There was quite a little assembly by the boat-house to speed the
expedition on its way, and it is safe to say that no boat on the river
that afternoon carried a happier, more excited party. The Captain
rowed; Pixie sat in the stern and pulled the rudder-lines according to
instructions, with occasional lapses of memory when she mistook her
right hand for her left, and was surprised to find the boat going in an
opposite direction from what had been intended; the little girls sat on
either side, as yet too mindful of their promises of good behaviour even
to splash the water. They snored with excitement at the mystery of the
first lock, and wrapped their hands in their pinafores to keep them
safely out of the way, since the Captain said that it was impossible to
be too careful in such places.

Along the banks were dotted beautiful houses set back in luxuriant
gardens; round the bend of the river stood a house-boat known by the
fascinating name of The Yellow Butterfly. The paint was white, but
everything else was a rich, glowing yellow--yellow plants and flowers in
baskets; yellow curtains to the windows; yellow cushions on the chairs;
actually--if you can believe it--a yellow parakeet in a golden cage on
the top deck.

"I should like to live and _die_ in that house-boat!" cried Viva
rapturously.

Presently came the sound of music from afar and a thud, thud, thud,
which foretold the advent of a steamer. Now there would be waves--real,
true, up-and-down waves, and you could pitend you were going to be
drowned, and the boat go upside down. What fun! What fun! The gurgles
of excitement, the clutchings of Mamzelle's skirts, the shrieks of
exultation as the happy moment drew near, were as charming to the
beholder as to the children themselves.

In the sunny reaches of the river the boats carried Japanese umbrellas
which made charming touches of colour against the green. Under the
great trees more boats were moored in the shade, while their occupants
brought out the tea-baskets from beneath the seats.

Viva and Inda regarded all such proceedings as deliberate offences
against their exclusive rights, and angrily pointed out the fact that
"other people" were having picnics too; but the Captain soothed them by
a promise that the island should be their private property, and that he
would fight to the death to keep off foreign invasions. Already this
land of p