had a gray beard,--Deacon Chick, as I found out later. They shook
hands with Mr. Snider very warmly, and introduced him to some of
the other people as they stepped off the gang-plank.

"The Professor not here!" I heard the big man say; "that's a great
disappointment!"

Then they all started up the wharf toward the house. The men of
the band had scrambled ashore, and they headed the procession,--
still playing "Sweet Marie" with loud blasts. Then came Mr.
Snider, accompanied by the big man (he was the Hon. J. Harvey
Bowditch) and by Deacon Chick. Behind him were the people from
Lanesport, two by two, some of them carrying baskets, and most of
them in their Sunday clothes. At the end were some men from the
steamboat with armfuls of camp-stools.

Captain Bannister was not there. I had watched all the men as they
came ashore, and I asked one of the crew of the "May Queen" about
him. He had never heard of such a man, he said. So I decided to go
up to the house, hear what was going to happen, and then go back
to Lanesport on the steamboat. It would leave, so the man told me,
at twelve o'clock sharp, and get to Lanesport about one. I would
be in time to meet Ed and Jimmy, Mr. Daddles and the rest, and
find out if they had had better luck at Big Duck Island.

Mr. Snider had a great amount of trouble in getting the people
placed as he wished them. The band was in one corner of the garden
playing "Razzle Dazzle" in very lively fashion. This helped make
the occasion gay, but it also made it hard for anyone to hear what
was being said. Mr. Snider's smooth remarks, as he teetered about,