"Half a mo'," she said; "I'm acquiring a lot of useful information
about 'Plaster.' I never knew--"

"Hurry up," I said, "or we shan't get any lunch."

R.C.L.

* * * * *

DERELICT.

_(Notices to Mariners. North Atlantic Ocean. Derelict reported.)_

"We left 'er 'eaded for Lord knows where, in latitude forty-nine,
With a cargo o' deals from Puget Sound, an' 'er bows blown out by a mine;
I seen 'er just as the dark come down--I seen 'er floatin' still,
An' I 'ope them deals'd let her sink afore so long," said Bill.

"It warn't no use to stand by 'er--she could neither sail nor steer--
With the biggest part of a thousand mile between 'er and Cape Clear;
The sea was up to 'er waterways an' gainin' fast below,
But I'd like to know she went to 'er rest as a ship's a right to go.

"For it's bitter 'ard on a decent ship, look at it 'ow you may,
That's worked her traverse an' stood 'er trick an' done 'er best in 'er day,
To be driftin' around like a nine-days-drowned on the Western Ocean swell,
With never a hand to reef an' furl an' steer an' strike the bell.

"No one to tend 'er binnacle lamps an' light 'er masthead light,