called down, "Tubal Cain!"

The pair gave a start, and there was some whispering before the
answer came up to me.

"Is that you, sir?"

"To be sure," said I. "What are you two about on board _The
Gleaner?_"

Some more whispering followed, and then Tubal Cain spoke again--

"It doesn't matter now, sir. We've lived aboard here for a week, and
to-night's the end of our honeymooning. If 'tis no liberty sir,
Annie's wishful that you should join us."

Somehow, the invitation, coming through this mysterious atmosphere,
seemed at once natural and happy. The fiddle began again as I
stepped away from the fence and went down to get my boat out.
In three minutes I was afloat, and a stroke or two brought me to the
ship's ladder. Annie and Tubal Cain stood at the top to welcome me.


But if I had felt no incongruity in paying this respectful visit to
my ex-cook and her lover, I own that her appearance made me stare.
For, if you please, she was dressed out like a lady, in a gown of
pale blue satin trimmed with swansdown--a low-necked gown, too,
though she had flung a white shawl over her shoulders. Imagine this
and the flood of blue light around us, and you will hardly wonder
that, half-way up the ladder, I paused to take breath. Tubal Cain