interlarded her curt speech with curiously hard words. In dress she
carried matters with an incomparably high hand. She wore hoops 'all day
long,'--a freak then never even so much as thought of in our
village,--adorned her fingers with many rings, and her throat with large
florid brooches, and in the evening, after having brought her household
duties to a close, sat here or there with her sewing, in silks (though
perhaps not of the newest), or other highly-civilized stuffs.

Most of our crew regarded their hostess with greatly mingled feelings;
but old Bill entertained but one sentiment for her,--that of unqualified
admiration. As we only 'wrought' at the stranded schooner on the high
water,--some five hours out of the twenty-four,--he had plenty of
opportunity to dangle after his dearie, and did so unremittingly. While
the rest of us were either napping, dancing the lively 'straight four,'
hunting herns' eggs among the sand-hills, and so on, according to our
inclination, he, in far more romantic mood, seized all possible
opportunities to quickly gather fire-wood for his charmer, fill her
tea-kettle, open whatever clams and oysters she was about to cook, and,
above all, to recount for her delight one of those inimitable yarns of
his, at whose points he himself was sure to laugh till the rafters of
the house shook and the plates in the dresser rattled again. But this
was merely the first stage of his passion. Before long, as is not
unusual in such cases, it took another and more bodeful turn. That
inextinguishable laughter of his was heard no more, or at best gave
place to a feeble tittering; his stories dropped from his lips with but
flat pungency; and instead of performing his lady-love's 'chores' with a
mirthful readiness, he went through them in a heartsick way, the while
directing towards her furtive looks of supplication. The true state of
matters was now obvious to all Old Bill was another fatally-stricken
victim of that spooney archer-boy who next to death holds dominion over