When the last pirate had disappeared behind the rocks of Holmes
Island, and all was in readiness for action, the good old lady, who
had hitherto been as calm and unruffled as a child, began to get red
in the face and to bustle about in a manner which betrayed
considerable perturbation of spirit.

"Now, Mrs. Noah," said Cleopatra, as, peeping out from the billiard-
room window, she saw Morgan disappearing in the distance, "the coast
is clear, and I resign my position of chairman to you. We place the
vessel in your hands, and ourselves subject to your orders. You are
in command. What do you wish us to do?"

"Very well," replied Mrs. Noah, putting down her knitting and
starting for the deck. "I'm not certain, but I think the first thing
to do is to get her moving. Do you know, I've never discovered
whether this boat was a steamboat or a sailing-vessel? Does anybody
know?"

"I think it has a naphtha tank and a propeller," said Elizabeth,
"although I don't know. It seems to me my brother Raleigh told me
they'd had a naphtha engine put in last winter after the freshet,
when the House-boat was carried ten miles down the river, and had to
be towed back at enormous expense. They put it in so that if she
were carried away again she could get back of her own power."

"That's unfortunate," said Mrs. Noah, "because I don't know anything
about these new fangled notions. If there's any one here who knows
anything about naphtha engines, I wish they'd speak."

"I'm of the opinion," said Portia, "that I can study out the theory