for, my Imp?"

"Why, don't you remember, pirates always had a plank for people to
'walk,' you know, an' used to 'swing them up to the yard-arm.'

"You seem to know all about it," I said as I pulled slowly down stream.

"Oh, yes, I read it all in Scarlet Sam, the Scourge of the South Seas.
Scarlet Sam was fine. He used to stride up and down the quarterdeck
an' flourish his cutlass, an' his eyes would roll, an' he'd foam at the
mouth, an--"

"Knock everybody into 'the lee scuppers,'" I put in.

"Yes," cried the Imp in a tone of unfeigned surprise. "How did you
know that, Uncle Dick?"

"Once upon a time," I said, as I swung lazily at the sculls, "I was a
boy myself, and read a lot about a gentleman named 'Beetle-browed Ben.'
I tell you. Imp, he was a terror for foaming and stamping, if you
like, and used to kill three or four people every morning, just to get
an appetite for breakfast." The Imp regarded me with round eyes.

"How fine!" he breathed, hugging himself in an ecstasy.

"It was," I nodded: "and then he was a very wonderful man in other
ways. You see, he was always getting himself shot through the head, or
run through the body, but it never hurt Beetle-browed Ben--not a bit
of it."

"An' did he 'swing people at the yard-arm--with a bitter smile'?"

"Lots of 'em!" I answered.

"An' make them 'walk the plank--with a horrid laugh'?"

"By the hundred!"

"An' 'maroon them on a desolate island--with a low chuckle'?"

"Many a time," I answered; "and generally with chuckle."

"Oh. I should like to read about him!" said the Imp with a deep sigh;
"will you lend me your book about him, Uncle Dick?"

I shook my head. "Unfortunately, that, together with many other valued
possessions, has been ravaged from me by the ruthless maw of Time," I
replied sadly.

The Imp sat plunged in deep thought, trailing his fingers pensively in
the water.

"And so your Auntie Lisbeth is going for a row with Mr. Selwyn, is
she?" I said.

"Yes, an' I told her she could come an' be a pirate with me if she
liked--but she wouldn't."

"Strange!" I murmured.

"Uncle Dick, do you think Auntie Lisbeth is in love with Mr. Selwyn?"

"What?" I exclaimed, and stopped rowing.

"I mean, do you think Mr. Selwyn is in love with Auntie Lisbeth?"

"My Imp. I'm afraid he is. Why?"

"Cause cook says he is, an' so does Jane, an' they know all about love,
you know. I've heard them read it out of a book lots an' lots of
times